AltWeeklies Wire
Biggest Losers: A Desert-Island Serial's Fading Shinenew
Like the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815, ABC's Lost has found the world a very different place upon returning to civilization.
Metro Times |
Jim McFarlin |
02-03-2009 |
TV
Insulting Sellers: Steve Martin and Company Cash In Again

The second installment in the "Pink Panther" do-over franchise is enough to make you wish that the ghost of Peter Sellers would come back to haunt every human and animal that contributed to what amounts to cinematic sacrilege.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
02-02-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Harald Zwart, The Pink Panther 2
'Coraline' Turns a Dark Fairy Tale into a Dazzling Stop-Motion Horror Film

What potential viewers will need to wrap their heads around is that while Coraline may be about childhood, it isn't really for children.
Salt Lake City Weekly |
Scott Renshaw |
02-02-2009 |
Reviews
Renée Zellweger Says You’re Fired!new
A corporate tool, but a stylish corporate tool, Renée Zellweger is dispatched from sunny Miami to rural Minnesota to close the local factory. The effect is like Fargo without the wood-chipper.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
02-02-2009 |
Reviews
Six Animated Black-and-White Shorts Shed Some Light on Fearnew
Fear(s) of the Dark is a French-produced, 85-minute compilation of six animated shorts. Fear is the common denominator in these films; so too is "dark."
Pittsburgh City Paper |
Al Hoff |
02-02-2009 |
Reviews
Winter Walk: Lance Hammer's 'Ballast'new
A confident, if downbeat debut, Ballast eschews "indie" style for lean storytelling.
Pittsburgh City Paper |
Al Hoff |
02-02-2009 |
Reviews
Going Going, Back Back, in Rap History: 'Notorious'new
Maybe it’s not a work of sheer genius, but Notorious blows past all the recent tragedy-tinged pop music biopics.
Santa Barbara Independent |
D.J. Palladino |
02-02-2009 |
Reviews
'Transit' Aims for High Intrigue on a Low Budget, With Mixed Resultsnew
Shot on video and with minimal lighting, the film has a cheap aesthetic that it struggles to overcome. The plot doesn’t break out of the genre’s clichés. It’s a common case of a filmmaker’s ambition being greater than his means.
Montreal Mirror |
Malcolm Fraser |
01-30-2009 |
Reviews
Laray Mayfield Basks in the Glow of 'Benjamin Button'new

How was Laray Mayfield's day last Thursday? Nothing special -- the Middle Tennessee native fixed some coffee, sat down in front of the TV, and watched the movie she cast rack up more Oscar nominations than any other film made in 2008.
Nashville Scene |
Jim Ridley |
01-30-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
The Sundance Experiencenew
If the highs weren’t as high as those of some Sundances past — no radical, out-of-left-field debut features or eight-figure sales deals to write home about — neither were the lows as dispiritingly low.
L.A. Weekly |
Scott Foundas |
01-30-2009 |
Movies
Tags: Sundance Film Festival
Couscous de Coeur: 'The Secret of the Grain'new
The French-Tunisian director Abdellatif Kechiche is that rare thing at the movies these days: an intelligent humanist.
L.A. Weekly |
Scott Foundas |
01-30-2009 |
Reviews
Six Directors, 126 Actors, and Two Days in North Chucknew
Two days, six directors casting as many as nine film and stage productions, and 126 actors — most of them previously unknown to the directors and their companies — cycled through a mass casting call in five-minute segments. Nerve-jangling for the actors? Sure. But a tangible step toward a better-connected local indie community.
Charleston City Paper |
Dan Conover |
01-28-2009 |
Movies
'Waltz With Bashir'new
Ari Folman's surreal remembrance of Israel's 1982 war with Lebanon, ends on the most wrenching note imaginable, yet leaving the theater offers no relief to the audience. The real world only amplifies the movie's disheartening themes.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
01-28-2009 |
Reviews
Kill Skills: 'Taken'new
In Taken, Liam Neeson kicks so much ass. How much? Well, imagine the exact amount of ass-kicking you think is enough, plus even more. Now double it.
C-Ville Weekly |
Jonathan Kiefer |
01-28-2009 |
Reviews
Desperate Times: An Interview with 'Wendy and Lucy' Director Kelly Reichardtnew
The accident of timing has everything to do with how a movie is received, and there's no question Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy hits home more forcefully now than when it premiered last May. The spare, lyrical story seems tailor-made for hard times, when even the formerly comfortable are staring destitution in the face.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Sam Adams |
01-27-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews