AltWeeklies Wire
Documentaries Don't Get More Compelling Than 'The Cove'new
The Cove is one of the best documentaries of 2009. It deserves an audience for its aesthetic beauty alone. But the film, like almost every issue-driven doc, lacks much-needed nuance, and audiences should remember to approach anything set out to manipulate their heartstrings with a decent level of skepticism.
New York Press |
David Berke |
07-31-2009 |
Reviews
750 Words About '(500) Days Of Summer'new
We adore Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel. Their new movie ... not so much
SEE Magazine |
Luke De Smet and Clara Loginov |
07-31-2009 |
Reviews
Kathryn Bigelow Talks About 'The Hurt Locker'new
I'd call it an existential war movie, but the appeal of The Hurt Locker is more visceral than cerebral. After all, it's directed by the woman who made Point Break, perhaps the most shamelessly enjoyable action picture of the '90s, and in an odd way, The Hurt Locker could be regarded as a companion piece to that film.
SEE Magazine |
Paul Matwychuk |
07-31-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
The Dardenne Brothers Deliver More Visual Poetry in 'Lorna's Silence'new
The Belgian film team of Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne do small things profoundly. Their new movie, titled Lorna's Silence, makes its strongest, most persuasive moments when Albanian immigrant Lorna silently weighs her options and her moral choices.
New York Press |
Armond White |
07-31-2009 |
Reviews
'Thirst' is Out to Impress Somebody With its Perverse Outragenew
Bad boy Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook gives himself away in the birthday party orgy of Thirst when Tae-ju, a tantrummy young housewife, gets her wish:The undead priest Sang-hyun punctures Taeju's arteries and makes her one of the unholy. It's a brat's dream come true.
New York Press |
Armond White |
07-31-2009 |
Reviews
'The Collector': A Nail in the Torture Porn Coffinnew
From the writer and director of Saw 4-6 comes this horror film about a handyman who tries to rob his employers' home but finds it rigged with a lethal maze.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
07-30-2009 |
Reviews
In 'Funny People,' A Master of Giggles Goes for Real Laughsnew
With this story about comedians, filmmaker Judd Apatow rewrites his own songbook in the key of James L. Brooks, a tricky mix of humor and heartfelt.
Austin Chronicle |
Kimberley Jones |
07-30-2009 |
Reviews
'The Stoning of Soraya M.' Preaches to the Choirnew
This impassioned work of persuasion is like a splatter film made for the Lifetime network, a screed against stoning made for audiences who already agree.
Austin Chronicle |
Marjorie Baumgarten |
07-30-2009 |
Reviews
'Unmistaken Child' Crawls Toward Enlightenmentnew
This documentary is a full-immersion glimpse into the ancient traditions of Buddhist reincarnation and one that no filmmaker has ever before explored with this level of freedom and insight.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
07-30-2009 |
Reviews
'(500) Days of Summer' Inspires the Inner Crotchety Old Mannew
The makers of the parenthetically titled movie at hand would do well to set aside the pop-culture bells and whistles that choke their film and focus on the task of engrossing an audience in a love story between two intelligent people in their late 20s.
Orlando Weekly |
Justin Strout |
07-30-2009 |
Reviews
The Ending of 'Orphan' Shocks and Redeems the Entire Movienew
All of the tired cliches wore down my expectations -- resulting in a major moment of surprise in the film's final act. It doesn't make the film a classic by any means, but it does turn the proceedings into a semi-respectable horror film. It's a big, sometimes darkly funny fake-out that works.
Tucson Weekly |
Bob Grimm |
07-29-2009 |
Reviews
'(500) Days of Summer': The Need to Pleasenew
(500) Days of Summer comments on and rejects romantic-comedy conventions -- well, some of them.
Tucson Weekly |
James DiGiovanna |
07-29-2009 |
Reviews
Judd Apatow on the Making of His 'Citizen Kane'new
The director talks about what it's like casting his preteen daughters in a comedy with so many penis references, why comedians are such dicks and his hard-on for Steve Martin.
Boston Phoenix |
Lance Gould |
07-29-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
'The Girl From Monaco': Trial and Erosnew
To say that writer-director Anne Fontaine's film wanders from genre to genre doesn't exalt her (and Benoit Graffin's) screenplay, but their transparent lift of the trio relationship from Simone de Beauvoir's She Came to Stay is an inspired move.
San Antonio Current |
Ashley Lindstrom |
07-29-2009 |
Reviews
'The Hurt Locker' Shows a Slower, but No Less Scary, Side of Warnew
With fierce performances by a largely unknown cast and restrained and effective direction, The Hurt Locker helps complete a picture the nightly news cannot hope to show.
Boise Weekly |
Jeremiah Wierenga |
07-29-2009 |
Reviews
