AltWeeklies Wire
Up in the Air: A Big-hearted Film about Corporate Downsizingnew
Ryan Bingham spends nearly his entire year traveling, hopping from company to company in his position as a "career-transition counselor," and he likes it that way.
Washington City Paper |
Tricia Olszewski |
12-07-2009 |
Reviews
Unemployment Gets a Lift in 'Up in the Air'
George Clooney's intentionally ambiguous character Ryan Bingham is a poster boy for America's lack of ethical direction in this thought-provoking satire about America's unemployment epidemic.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
11-30-2009 |
Reviews
'The Informant!' Takes Soft Approach to Satirenew
Matt Damon packing on layers of doughy flab to play a biochemical whistleblower isn't exactly a formula for comedy gold, but the film is funnier than it has any right to be.
San Antonio Current |
Jeremy Martin |
09-17-2009 |
Reviews
Steven Soderbergh's Satire 'The Informant!' Pales
Soderbergh has loads of fun with a perky musical score and jaunty '70s-era visual hat-tips toward a certain Get Smart aura of goofy charm. But the filmmaker is unable to tease out substance from what is essentially an off-key one-note samba.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
09-14-2009 |
Reviews
'In the Loop' is a Dark Satire for Dark Daysnew
Taking his cue from The Office, Armando Iannucci delivers a deliciously corrosive backstage view of the Iraq War years, as Brits and Yanks danced around what they knew was a foregone conclusion of their own making.
San Antonio Current |
Jeff Meyers |
08-12-2009 |
Reviews
'Bruno' Pushes the Limits but Isn't As Consistent as 'Borat'new
Whatever Sacha Baron Cohen does next, he's bound to give the folks at the Motion Picture Association of America some major headaches. This movie pushes the boundaries of the R rating to the limit, and some will undoubtedly think it goes too far.
Tucson Weekly |
Bob Grimm |
07-16-2009 |
Reviews
Sacha Baron Cohen Hunts for Narrow-Minded Bigots in 'Bruno'new
While so many public figures are deliberately shocking and offensive because they want us to join them in being small and mean and petty and tribal, Baron Cohen does the same thing but for the very opposite reasons. That is a good thing, and a thing very much worth celebrating -- and it's also outrageously funny to watch, too.
Charleston City Paper |
MaryAnn Johanson |
07-08-2009 |
Reviews
Sacha Baron Cohen Makes Funny, But Can't Get His Story Straight in 'Bruno'
Sacha Baron Cohen's follow-up to the hilarious Borat provokes half as many laughs in a seemingly less improvised comedy that goes twice again as far as Borat in goosing sexual sight gags designed to make even the most numb audience members blanch.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
07-02-2009 |
Reviews
Hollywood Takes a Stab at Hollywood in 'What Just Happened?'new
I'm going to suggest one measure for judging a Hollywood satire: Does it leave you wanting to see the fictional film-within-the-film it dramatizes? If not, the L.A. story probably doesn't qualify as a success
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
10-29-2008 |
Reviews
Grocery-store Politics Create a Successful Satire in 'The Promotion'new
The Promotion not only satirizes the American dream's moral price tag, it suggests that grocery stores, as possible places of employment, offer the worst of both worlds.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
06-11-2008 |
Reviews
The Civil War Parodiednew
The faux documentary C.S.A. is funny, but to appreciate the humor, audiences must summon the courage to laugh at the absurdity of enslaving an entire race of people.
The Pitch |
Justin Kendall |
09-13-2005 |
Profiles & Interviews
Masters of Puppetsnew
The South Park guys score big with Team America: World Police.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Cheryl Eddy |
10-13-2004 |
Reviews
