City Pulse | AAN.org

Vampire Majority : Blood is the Commodity

Sibling Australian filmmakers Michael and Peter Spierig (Undead, 2003) flip Hollywood's teen-friendly vampire trend on its head with a gory sci-fi world run by a majority population of bloodsuckers.

City Pulse | Cole Smithey | 01-04-2010 | Reviews

Tags: Daybreakers, Michael and Peter Spierig

Dragging 'Titanic': James Cameron's Opus is all Wet

The most expensive film ever made leaves much to be desired. Paralyzed from the waist down, former Marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington - Terminator Salvation) voices several movies worth of tell-don't-show narration for the benefit of audiences who like being read to when they watch a movie.

City Pulse | Cole Smithey | 12-15-2009 | Reviews

Tags: Avatar, James Cameron

Mandela's Lessons Come Across Loud and Clear in 'Invictus'

Morgan Freeman's brilliant performance as Nelson Mandela is the kind of transformation that Academy Award members aggressively reward come Oscar season. Whether or not they'll be as impressed with Anthony Peckham's airy adaptation of John Carlin's book Playing the Enemy is questionable.

City Pulse | Cole Smithey | 12-07-2009 | Reviews

Tags: Invictus, Clint Eastwood, Matt Damon, Nelson Mandela, Morgan Freeman

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

Tags: Up in the Air, George Clooney, Jason Reitman, satire

Despite Rich Source Material, 'The Road' is Lacking One Thing: Ideas

The Road is a one-note road version of Waiting for Godot, minus Samuel Beckett's brilliant sense of existentialist humor.

City Pulse | Cole Smithey | 11-23-2009 | Reviews

Tags: The Road, Cormac McCarthy, John Hillcoat

John Woo's 'Red Cliff' is a Must-See Chinese War Epic

Compared to typical big spectacle Hollywood blockbusters like 2012, Red Cliff contrasts its visually stunning epic-scale compositions with a far greater sense of historic purpose.

City Pulse | Cole Smithey | 11-16-2009 | Reviews

Tags: Red Cliff, Chinese film, John Woo

With 'Fantastic Mr. Fox,' Wes Anderson Finds His Genre: Animation

In Wes Anderson's hands, Roald Dahl's imaginative child's story takes on a meta significance as a human-development-coming-of-age story that applies across age groups, generations, social strata, and even species.

City Pulse | Cole Smithey | 11-09-2009 | Reviews

Tags: Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wes Anderson, animation, Roald Dahl

'Precious' is an Urban Drama Pressure-Cooker Steeped in Verite Realism

The intrinsic truth in this unforgettable drama outweighs any exploitation or politics that might attend such material. If you're looking for a gritty socially-conscious movie, this is it.

City Pulse | Cole Smithey | 11-02-2009 | Reviews

Tags: Precious, Sapphire, Lee Daniels, drama films

'Antichrist' is the Best Horror Film of the Last 30 Years

Von Trier is a master filmmaker, and his exploration into the genre of horror has given us a film far more frightening than anything Hollywood would ever allow.

City Pulse | Cole Smithey | 10-26-2009 | Reviews

Tags: Antichrist, Lars von Trier

Kids' Horror Movie 'Cirque du Freak' is all Trick and No Treat

Cirque du Freak is an obvious grab at the current vampire-crazed teen audience spawned by the Twilight franchise. That it fails so miserably is a predictable symptom of overreaching greed.

City Pulse | Cole Smithey | 10-19-2009 | Reviews

Tags: Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant, Paul Weitz

Blaxploitation Homage 'Black Dynamite' Had Me Rolling on the Floor

Not only could Scott Sanders' film serve as a textbook DIY how-to primer for what it takes to make Blaxploitation cinema, it may also be the all-time best party film next to Animal House. If this movie doesn't make you laugh, call a doctor.

City Pulse | Cole Smithey | 10-14-2009 | Reviews

Tags: Black Dynamite, Scott Sanders, Blaxploitation films

Spike Jonze Sincerely Adapts 'Where the Wild Things Are'

Jonze's no-nonsense movie expands gently on Maurice Sendak's elegant 20-page kids' book to address children, acknowledging their primal impulses -- which they must eventually control.

City Pulse | Cole Smithey | 10-12-2009 | Reviews

Tags: Spike Jonze, Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak, Max Records, Dave Eggers