AltWeeklies Wire

'Hideous Men' Transcribes Interviews With Jerksnew

John Krasinski’s adaptation comes off awkward and obvious. Krasinski (of "The Office") wrote, directed and co-stars in his adaptation of the book by the late David Foster Wallace, but wastes his cast's manpower on themes that could fit on the average tweet, with letters to spare.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta)  |  Curt Holman  |  01-26-2010  |  Reviews

Swedish Director Takes Us On a Guilt Trip Around the Worldnew

Lukas Moodysson’s Mammoth employs a polyglot cast, a wide-ranging backdrop and assorted convergent storylines to ruminate on the sad state of interpersonal politics — in this case, modern parenthood and the worldwide socioeconomic factors that affect it both positively and negatively.
Weekly Alibi  |  Devin D. O’Leary  |  01-26-2010  |  Reviews

The Latest 'Bad Lieutenant' Isn't Good or Bad. It Just Isnew

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (why the "Port of Call" part? Who knows! Who cares!) is a conventional detective thriller in basic form, but the procedural elements are sometimes listless.
The Memphis Flyer  |  Chris Herrington  |  01-22-2010  |  Reviews

André Téchiné Explores Difficult Emotional Territory With Exquisite Detailnew

America may not be ready for André Téchiné’s superb new movie The Girl on the Train. To judge by the audience’s gasp at the film’s Lincoln Center world premiere last year, Téchiné’s signature interest in how race, class and sex intersect remains shocking.
New York Press  |  Armond White  |  01-21-2010  |  Reviews

The Anvil Experience: Our Resident Metalhead Mano y Mano With 'Lips'new

The acclaimed rags-to-slightly-better-rags (but still not rich) documentary Anvil! The Story of Anvil brought a notoriety the Canadian band failed to achieve in 30 years. But chatting with us from his Toronto home, Steve "Lips" Kudlow made it clear that what you see is what you get.
Dig Boston  |  Dave Wedge  |  01-20-2010  |  Profiles & Interviews

'Extraordinary Measures' a Dependable but Unflashy Ridenew

The picture’s most revelatory aspect, for me, was its introduction of the affliction at its crux: Pompe disease. I’d never heard of it, and now probably won’t soon forget it.
San Antonio Current  |  Brian Villalobos  |  01-20-2010  |  Reviews

A Fire Within: Charles Darwin Biopic Stays Cold

As reworked by screenwriter John Collee, Jon Amiel's adaptation of Randal Keynes's novel "Annie's Box" is too driven by melodrama to work as a biopic. The story moves to the relationship between Darwin and his brilliant daughter Annie (wonderfully played by newcomer Martha West).
City Pulse  |  Cole Smithey  |  01-18-2010  |  Reviews

Colin Firth's Presence Elevates Tom Ford’s Directorial Debutnew

A deeply felt and slickly polished adaptation of a novel by Christopher Isherwood, the directorial debut by designer-turned-filmmaker Tom Ford primarily succeeds as a showcase for its star. Indeed, it’s exciting to see what Colin Firth can do when he’s pushed out of his comfort zone.
Fast Forward Weekly  |  Jason Anderson  |  01-14-2010  |  Reviews

Peter Jackson's 'The Lovely Bones' is Dark and Staticnew

Surprisingly, apart from Stanley Tucci's acclaimed turn as serial killer George Harvey, The Lovely Bones has been shut out of the awards-season accolades. Frankly, some of the catcalls are nitpicky and unjustified.
INDY Week  |  Neil Morris  |  01-14-2010  |  Reviews

Pretentiously Played: Peter Jackson's Sickly Sweet Schlocknew

'The Lovely Bones' is a steaming, treacly pile of excrescence, frosted with visuals that look like they were adapted from the pink, lace-covered dream journal of a unicorn-collecting scrapbooker. Essentially, if Walt Disney made a movie about the rape and murder of a teenager, this is the movie he'd make.
Tucson Weekly  |  James DiGiovanna  |  01-13-2010  |  Reviews

'Avatar' Really Annoys the Top Pointyheads on the Rightnew

Athens (Ohio) News editor summarizes the criticisms of James Cameron's blockbuster, Avatar, by four leading lights of the conservative movement, and then explains why they're full of baloney.
The Athens NEWS  |  Terry Smith  |  01-12-2010  |  Movies

'The Messenger' Delivers Stark Lesson About Casualties of Warnew

Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery (Ben Foster) receives new orders in the first scenes of The Messenger. Will endured injuries to his eye and leg in an Iraqi firefight, and has the wounds and decorations to prove it, but his latest assignment will leave its own kind of scars.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta)  |  Curt Holman  |  01-12-2010  |  Reviews

With a Bible, Denzel Washington Walks Through the Valley of Death

Falling on the heels of The Road, The Book of Eli is a similarly themed vision of a post-apocalyptic dystopia where cannibals and criminals make up what's left of the human species.
City Pulse  |  Cole Smithey  |  01-11-2010  |  Reviews

'Strongman': Like 'The Wrestler,' Only Realnew

Ten years in the making, Strongman both anticipates and follows The Wrestler: Stanley Pleskun is no longer young, keeps hoping for his luck to change, and ekes out a living as a scrap-metal dealer. (He inks the design on his costume with a Sharpie.)
Seattle Weekly  |  Brian Miller  |  01-11-2010  |  Reviews

'Leap Year': Amy Adams Deserves Betternew

Leap Year belongs to the Prada-backlash subgenre of women's pictures—epitomized by The Proposal — in which smart, stylish women must be muddied, abased, ridiculed, and degraded to get their man.
Seattle Weekly  |  Brian Miller  |  01-11-2010  |  Reviews

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