AltWeeklies Wire
Gift Guide: Oodles of Splendid DVD Ideasnew
The following is a list of DVD favorites from the last year -- choices that would make great presents for somebody just like me.
Tucson Weekly |
Bob Grimm |
12-11-2008 |
Movies
Tags: DVDs, gift guides
'Punisher: War Zone' is Sort of Awfulnew
The Punisher gets another shot at big-screen glory -- but the result is mediocrity.
Tucson Weekly |
Bob Grimm |
12-11-2008 |
Reviews
'Milk' is Compelling from Start to Finishnew
Gus Van Sant shows that not only can he put a story together; he can do it better than just about anyone working in film.
Tucson Weekly |
James DiGiovanna |
12-11-2008 |
Reviews
New Mexico is Not Ready for Digital TVnew
In May, Nielsen Company rated the Albuquerque-Santa Fe media market as the 9th worst prepared for the transition. By October, the ranking had actually worsened: the region's audiences are the 6th worst prepared of the nations top 56 media markets. Nearly 13 percent of households in the area are "completely unready" and 10 percent are "partially unready."
Santa Fe Reporter |
Dave Maass |
12-11-2008 |
Movies
Kelly Reichardt on Working with Michelle Williams and the Realities of Being Poornew
A relentlessly independent director working far outside the confines of the studio system, Reichardt has fashioned a film that illuminates the ways in which people treat one another, from compassion to indifference, during tough times. She spoke us about her new film.
New York Press |
Christopher Wallenberg |
12-11-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
If You Want a Nerve-Wracking Trip, Turn to 'Timecrimes'new
Writer/director Nacho Vigalondo's first feature film is that rarest of films: a movie about mystery that remains impenetrable even after its hand is played.
New York Press |
Simon Abrams |
12-11-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Nacho Vigalondo, Timecrimes
Movie Buzz: Alien Beingnew
Movie Buzz is a weekly film preview column. This week: Keanu Reeves in The Day the Earth Stood Still plus Nothing Like the Holidays, Delgo, and Doubt.
Metro Spirit |
Mariah Gardner |
12-11-2008 |
Movies
Clint Eastwood Casts Himself as a Nice Archie Bunker in 'Gran Torino'new
To insist that Eastwood's trite, B-movie storytelling is classical requires an excessive regard for junk. Gran Torino is a calculated throwback to All in the Family's topicality, plus a comic/tragic star vehicle for Eastwood to show off his late-career legend as a serious actor-auteur.
New York Press |
Armond White |
12-11-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino
'The Reader' Glazes Familiar Sexual-Awakening Story with Highbrow Affectationnew
This film should have been a comedy like Paul Verhoeven's Black Book, shaking up the calcified presumptions of quasi-Holocaust dramas. But it's also Oscar season and historically based, award-baiting mawkishness is no laughing matter.
New York Press |
Armond White |
12-11-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Stephen Daldry, The Reader
It's Hard to Take John Patrick Shanley's Devout 'Doubt' Seriouslynew
Problem is, Shanley examines faith (and doubt) while crafting what is essentially Broadway fodder.
New York Press |
Armond White |
12-11-2008 |
Reviews
Steven Soderbergh's Che Opus is Indulgentnew
Out-perversing Gus Van Sant's Milk, Soderbergh makes a four-hour-plus biopic about a historical figure without providing a glimmer of charm or narrative coherence.
New York Press |
Armond White |
12-11-2008 |
Reviews
'The Day The Earth Stood Still' is Remote and Affectlessnew
Something's not right when a movie made in the aughts is cheesier than the 1950s movie it's a remake of, a movie famous for its iconic image of a Jiffy-Pop-style flying saucer settling down on the Mall in D.C. so that an alien named Klaatu can deliver a message to mankind.
Willamette Week |
Andy Davis |
12-10-2008 |
Reviews
'Slumdog Millionaire' is Worth the Pricenew
I'm not entirely sure how a film in which a small boy gets permanently blinded by someone deliberately pouring hot liquid onto his eyeballs while he's unconscious ends up being hyped (by critics and audiences alike) as the "feel-good" movie of the year, but that's the strange case with Slumdog Millionaire.
Creative Loafing (Charlotte) |
Matt Brunson |
12-10-2008 |
Reviews
'Milk': Great Film Does a Viewer Goodnew
Although Milk is set in the 1970s, it couldn't possibly be more relevant to today's events.
Creative Loafing (Charlotte) |
Matt Brunson |
12-10-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Gus Van Sant, Milk
'Frost/Nixon' Doesn't Pull its Punchesnew
I'm not a huge fan of Ron Howard's films. They're usually well made, but I often leave them with a feeling of insincerity. In Frost/Nixon, however, Howard is wisely restrained—in the film's climactic moment.
San Diego CityBeat |
Anders Wright |
12-10-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
