AltWeeklies Wire
An American Journey: Commemorating Robert Frank’s Landmark Booknew
Driving from New York to San Francisco, Robert Frank couldn't have foreseen how his photo essay The Americans would define both him and his adopted country. This short documentary is one of several tributes this year marking the 50th anniversary of that landmark book.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
12-21-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
In 'Precious,' Quite Possibly the Most Abusive Upbringing in Motion Picture Historynew
While there are certainly things about Precious one can’t help but admire, I’m not so sure about the picture overall. I don’t quite see, for example, the point of conjuring this vision of a girl in hell; of creating a character just to put her through it.
Seven Days |
Rick Kisonak |
12-18-2009 |
Reviews
Penelope Cruz on Almodovar and 'Broken Embraces'new
“The first time I worked with him, I was a whore giving birth in a bus. Then, a nun that gets pregnant from a transvestite. Every time I have my moment of ‘Really, isn’t this going to be too much? How are we going to make this believable?’ And then, he does it. Every single time.”
Montreal Mirror |
Mark Slutsky |
12-18-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Is it Possible 'The Road' Isn't Grim Enough?new
Wanting the movie version of Cormac McCarthy's The Road to be even more bleak may sound like the ultimate in moviegoer masochism—thank you, sir, may I have another cannibal holocaust?
Nashville Scene |
Jim Ridley |
12-18-2009 |
Reviews
'Nine': Rob Marshall Tries to Connect the Dance Numbersnew
An assault on the senses from every conceivable direction—smash zooms, the earsplitting eruption of something like music, the spectacle of a creature called Kate Hudson—Nine thrashes about in search of “cinema” the way a child thrown into the deep end of a pool flails for a flotation device.
L.A. Weekly |
Scott Foundas |
12-18-2009 |
Reviews
Disney's First African-American Princess is a Modern Galnew
The Princess and the Frog begins and ends with a good story. A dynamic 19-year old African-American woman dreams of owning her own restaurant. Turned into a frog with a kiss, she’s drawn into a funny adventure, twisting and turning through Louisiana’s bayous in a quest to become human again.
San Antonio Current |
Melissa Tarun |
12-16-2009 |
Reviews
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
Will Actor and Country Has-been Jeff Bridges Finally Snag the Elusive Oscar?new
Jeff Bridges is a physical presence who leads with his body in a way that often obscures the intelligence he lends his characters — a gallery of American manhood in all its compromised, destroyed or hopeful ambiguity.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
12-11-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Eastwood on the Pitch: At 79, Clint tackles Mandela in 'Invictus'new
It’s the 24th day of filming on Clint Eastwood’s Invictus, the 30th film he has directed in a career that now spans more than a half-century — and, as usual on an Eastwood set, if you didn’t know they were shooting a major Hollywood movie here, you’d be none the wiser.
L.A. Weekly |
Scott Foundas |
12-11-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Keanu Reeves on Rebecca Miller's Unconvincing 'Private Lives of Pippa Lee'new
How much you may or may not enjoy The Private Lives of Pippa Lee depends on either a) your interest in a crowded genre (stifled housewife wonders if she has wasted her life) or b) your interest in watching good actors do interesting work with material that is less than top shelf.
Artvoice |
Peter Rainer |
12-11-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
'Bronson' Fails at Melding Violence, Artsy Filmmaking and Naked Penisesnew
Knowing that there's an audience of action-loving young men who'll pay to see violence and bloodshed, director Nicolas Winding Refn loaded his movie up with fighting, Dada-esque mime sequences and full frontal male nudity. Because: Huh?
Tucson Weekly |
James DiGiovanna |
12-10-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Bronson, Nicolas Winding Refn
It's Been a Banner Year For Brooklyn-Based Movies. But Is There a 'Brooklyn Film'?new
The notably thriving social enclaves of Brooklyn—particularly the areas of Williamsburg and Greenpoint—have grown increasingly gentrified in direct proportion to the down-and-dirty mystique. In that conflict lies a distinct two-headed beast ever-present in the movies of the region.
New York Press |
Eric Kohn |
12-10-2009 |
Movies
John Hillcoat's 'The Road': Brutalism on Celluloidnew
"One for The Road," I said to the ticket taker. "Ha ha ha, that's not the first time I've heard that," he said. And that was the last laugh I had at the movies that day.
Dig Boston |
David Day |
12-09-2009 |
Reviews
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
'Up In The Air' Steers Clear of the Predictable Route, Lands the Emotionnew
Jason Reitman's very loose and awfully affecting adaptation of Walter Kirn's 2001 novel about Ryan Bingham, who, when he's not busy traversing the flyover states delivering pink slips, delivers motivational speeches about emptying out one's metaphoric backpack.
Dallas Observer |
Robert Wilonsky |
12-07-2009 |
Reviews
