AltWeeklies Wire
Fantasy Island This Isn’tnew
With great swipes of heavy cello music, the brooding, frightening Shutter Island opens aboard a ferry sluicing through the fog. Aboard the vessel are Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio), a federal marshal, and his new partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo). Their destination is Shutter Island in the Boston harbor.
Eugene Weekly |
Jason Blair |
03-04-2010 |
Reviews
Tags: Shutter Island, Martin Scorsese
Wake Up and Smell the Oscars: They Stink!new
Everyone has their wakeup moment about the Academy Awards: A moment when you put away childish belief and realize it’s not at all about art but about popularity (as Sally Field once indicated and then got lambasted for her clarity).
New York Press |
Armond White |
03-04-2010 |
Movies
Lost Down the Rabbit Hole: Tim Burton's Hesitant 'Alice in Wonderland'new
Messing with classics is dangerous business. The fact that Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland isn't a straight retelling of the Lewis Carroll books might be motivated, as stated, by a desire to give the tale more narrative heft, but it also feels like a pulled punch.
The Portland Mercury |
Marjorie Skinner |
03-04-2010 |
Reviews
Portland Stays Weird at TV’s 'America’s Got Talent' Auditionsnew
The AGT crew was in Portland looking for more talented and crazy people. It was the last and smallest stop on an eight-city audition circuit that included New York, L.A. and Chicago. Jason Raff, one of the show’s executive producers, says AGT chose Portland this year in part because “not many shows are filmed here.” In other words, we’re fresh meat.
Willamette Week |
Ari Phillips |
03-03-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: America's Got Talent, Portland
Damaged Goods: Antoine Fuqua Does His Due Diligence
Director Antoine Fuqua returns to the gritty cop drama genre that made him a household name in 2001 with "Training Day."
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
03-01-2010 |
Reviews
Tags: Brooklyn's Finest, Antoine Fuqua
'Fish Tank' Deserves Awards it's Winningnew
In the very first few minutes Mia is on the screen in Fish Tank, a frank and powerful glimpse of a dead-end British teenage life, she's screaming on the phone to a friend, head-butts another girl because she doesn't like the way she's dancing, and gets into a tussle with her mom.
Boulder Weekly |
Cary Darling |
03-01-2010 |
Reviews
Tags: Fish Tank, Andrea Arnold
Whose Turn is It Now? The 2010 Oscar Race
You can practically already hear Academy Award producers shouting, after the fact, "Whose idea was this?" about changes in the ceremony that are doomed to be criticized for months after the last statue is handed out.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
02-25-2010 |
Movies
Tags: The 2010 Oscar Race, Cole Smithey
Landmark Film is an Answer to the Age of Snarknew
Dealing with Davy Mitchell’s rush to maturity makes Easier With Practice more than a story about a young man obsessed with a phone-sex relationship. Davy’s dilemma captures a classic emotional uncertainty many people know but that most movies avoid. It features a true shock of recognition.
New York Press |
Armond White |
02-25-2010 |
Reviews
'The Last Station' an Amusing, Breast-Filled Romantic Comedynew
It's as though modern breasts are sleazy and exploitive, but period breasts enlighten our moral conscience. Strangely, audiences that get picky about the historical accuracy of sets and costumes never complain about an anachronistic bosom.
Tucson Weekly |
James DiGiovanna |
02-17-2010 |
Reviews
Tags: The Last Station, Michael Hoffman
Invisible Ink: Polanski's Political Thriller Evaporates
It's a big deal when Martin Scorsese and Roman Polanski both release mystery thrillers in the same week. Coincidentally, Shutter Island and The Ghost Writer are mutually set on islands and both begin with the arrival of a boat coming directly into the frame.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
02-15-2010 |
Reviews
Tags: The Ghost Writer, Roman Polanski
A Look at the Academy's Expanded Oscar Fieldnew
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has elected to raise the total number of nominees from five to 10, thus greatly increasing the chances of inviting more audience-adored endeavors to the party.
Creative Loafing (Charlotte) |
Matt Brunson |
02-11-2010 |
Movies
Tags: The 2010 Oscars, N/A
Half-Eaten Chocolates: A Sampler You Don't Want to Give
Valentine's Day is yet another date movie that's less than the sum of its parts. The sheer number of A-list actors involved spells trouble. Jessica Biel, Julia Roberts, Jamie Foxx, and Anne Hathaway provide cast padding for the likes of B-listers Taylor Swift, George Lopez, and Emma Roberts.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
02-08-2010 |
Reviews
Tags: Garry Marshall, Valentine's Day
Sundance Festival Goes Back to its Roots... Or Does It?new
This year, the movie that's attracted the scalping scene outside Eccles is The Runaways, a stylish biopic of the all-teen girl band of the same name. The film has been the subject of blog gossip, thanks to casting of Twilight starlet Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett.
L.A. Weekly |
Karina Longworth |
02-05-2010 |
Movies
Mel Gibson Crosses the Line in 'Edge of Darkness'new
In the pair of emotionally contradictory images that open Mel Gibson’s Edge of Darkness, swollen corpses surfacing on a moonlit river are followed without pause by grainy home video of a little girl playing in the surf.
Shepherd Express |
David Luhrssen |
01-29-2010 |
Reviews
Tags: Edge of Darkness, Martin Campbell
Hal Holbrook Shines in 'That Evening Sun'new
Like the Jeff Bridges vehicle Crazy Heart (scheduled to open locally this Friday), That Evening Sun is one of those films that generates nearly all of its goodwill from a smashing central performance by a long-established veteran.
Creative Loafing (Charlotte) |
Matt Brunson |
01-27-2010 |
Reviews
Tags: Scott Teems, The Evening Sun
