AltWeeklies Wire
Movie Buzz: 2008 Year in Review
2008: Year of the Superhero? With no major movie releases on January 2, this week's Movie Buzz reflects on the truly buzz-worthy flicks of 2008.
Metro Spirit |
Mariah Gardner |
12-29-2008 |
Movies
Tom Cruise Plots to Kill Hitler in 'Valkyrie'new
What truly fueled Stauffenberg's desire to kill Hitler -- his breeding, that bleeding or just his fear of the approaching Allies -- is a question for which Valkyrie has little interest.
Dallas Observer |
Robert Wilonsky |
12-29-2008 |
Reviews
Who's the More Oscar-Ready Nazi, Tom Cruise or Kate Winslet?new
This year, in a striking reversal of roles (and award-getting strategies), the stars are playing the Nazis. The Reader features Kate Winslet as former camp guard Hanna Schmitz, and Valkyrie has Tom Cruise as a German officer, Col. Claus von Stauffenberg, trying to assassinate Hitler.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
12-29-2008 |
Movies
Jeffrey Katzenberg's Cure-All for the Movie Industry: 3-Dnew
No longer, says Katzenberg, will 3-D serve as a cheap "gotcha" gimmick -- an exploitation hustle -- but as a way to advance storytelling and "emotionally immerse" the audience into the film.
Dallas Observer |
Robert Wilonsky |
12-29-2008 |
Movies
'Valkyrie' is an Impressive Historical Drama with a Strong Ensemble Castnew
Valkyrie tells a story that may better have been served by a television miniseries, but it's an engrossing story nonetheless.
Many Will Find 'The Reader''s Treatment of Bernard Schlink's Novel Distastefulnew
Director Steven Daldry and writer David Hare's extensive depiction of the physical nature of the affair is, in itself, redolent of the old erotic convention of the older woman and the youth craving initiation. There's a soft porn lubricity which may have been intended to convey what it is that Michael feels he has lost.
Brad Pitt Nails 'Button'new
How crazy ... or bold ... or foolhardy ... do you have to be to make a big, expensive movie out of F. Scott Fitzgerald's least adaptable short story?
Los Angeles CityBeat |
Andy Klein |
12-29-2008 |
Reviews
'Benjamin Button' & 'Gran Torino': Showcasing Artful Codgersnew
Two of the holiday season's most prestigious, Oscar-baiting movies seem informed by the resentment of aging and mortality summed up in Dylan Thomas' poem "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night."
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
12-24-2008 |
Reviews
Hollywood Product: 'The Spirit'new
Imagine the stark, monochromatic visuals of Miller's Sin City as a backdrop for the campy humor of Adam West's Batman series. Then imagine that the visuals hurt your eyes and the humor leaves you cold, and you get a sense of The Spirit as a wearying waste.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
12-24-2008 |
Reviews
Will Smith on Personal Triumph, Middle East Peace and Obamanew
He's hoping to take what he learned from his part in Obama's election and apply it to a new business investment in the United Arab Emirates -- part of his Seven Pounds-inspired attempt to make a difference in his work.
Metro Times |
Cole Haddon |
12-23-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
'Yes Man' Repackages Jim Carrey's Greatest Hits ... It's a Small Packagenew
For so major a movie star -- at least, once upon a time -- Jim Carrey seems to make a lot of awfully minor films, several of them over and over again.
Dallas Observer |
Robert Wilonsky |
12-22-2008 |
Reviews
Michelle Williams Finds a Safe Haven With Outsider Director Kelly Reichardtnew
It's a rare bankable star who lends her name to a tiny project budgeted at $300,000 and shot over 18 days with a mostly volunteer crew by a director whose name, had Williams bothered to ask permission from her agents, would doubtless have inspired the response "Who?"
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
12-19-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Will Smith Encores His 'Pursuit of Happyness'new
Watching Smith and Muccino's latest collaboration, Seven Pounds, I marveled (to paraphrase the great Jermaine Jackson) that something so right could go so wrong.
L.A. Weekly |
Scott Foundas |
12-19-2008 |
Reviews
'The Class': To Sir, With Attitudenew
French cinema is famously dialogue-heavy, but next to Arnaud Desplechin's A Christmas Tale, The Class qualifies hands down as the chattiest movie of the year.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
12-19-2008 |
Reviews
Clint Eastwood, America's Directornew
"You've made the first movie of the Obama generation!" exclaimed an audience member, as he rushed up to Clint Eastwood after a recent screening of Gran Torino. "Well," the 78-year-old actor-director replied, without missing a beat, "I was actually born under Hoover."
L.A. Weekly |
Scott Foundas |
12-19-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino
