AltWeeklies Wire
'Nine' Turns Camera on Visionary Filmmakersnew
New films about filmmaking put plenty of talent on display without fully engaging their audiences.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
01-12-2010 |
Reviews
Tags: Nine, Rob Marshall
'The Maid' Movingly Explores Domestic Disturbancesnew
In the Chilean drama The Maid, an upper-middle class family treats the title character like part of the family, but comparable to the way that the appendix is part of the body. Like a vestigial organ, a servant can be removed if she starts causing trouble.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
01-12-2010 |
Reviews
Tags: Sebastian Silva, The Maid
'Avatar' Immerses Audiences in an Alien Ecosystemnew
Director James Cameron's long-awaited Avatar depicts an alien race with a fondness for bows and arrows, but keeps the 3-D jutting clichés under control. Even when bloody arrowheads stick out at your face, Cameron ensures the stunts don't distract from his otherworldly story.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
01-12-2010 |
Reviews
Tags: Avatar, James Cameron
Robert De Niro is OK in 'Everybody’s Fine'new
Director Kirk Jones' remake of the 1990 Marcello Mastroianni vehicle of the same name casts Robert De Niro as a widower preparing for the annual visit of his four grown children. Despite his lonely efforts to clean house, buy meat and build a new grill, the kids all find excuses not to come.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
01-12-2010 |
Reviews
Tags: Everybody's Fine, Kirk Jones
'Fantastic Mr. Fox' Brings Out the Animal in Wes Andersonnew
Rather than break out of Andersonville and into the real world, the filmmaker burrows further into the fantasy realm with 'Fantastic Mr. Fox.' Ironically, Anderson’s latest turns out to be his most heartfelt, human movie since 'Rushmore,' despite its cast of woodland beasts.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
01-12-2010 |
Reviews
Tags: Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wes Anderson
Sandra Bullock Blind Sides Atlantanew
'The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game' fumbles a potentially intriguing story of a nouveau riche family who adopts Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron), a future NFL star.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
01-12-2010 |
Reviews
Tags: John Lee Hancock, The Blind Side
'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
Tags: Oren Moverman, The Messenger
Too Baaad 'Goats' Falls Flatnew
Where Three Kings cast Clooney in a wartime caper story to critique the first President Bush's Iraq war, Goats attempts to use hippie-style anti-authority comedy to satirize his son's sequel. But the early sight gags of super-macho G.I.s failing to run through walls or drive blindfolded don't mesh with the film's anger over the corporate exploitation of the Iraqi occupation.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
11-10-2009 |
Reviews
Grim 'Precious' Treasures Passionate Actressesnew
Oprah's film has enough sorrow for several Greek tragedies.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
11-10-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Precious, Lee Daniels
'Antichrist' Canonizes Genital Mutilationnew
An instantly notorious award-winner at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Antichrist proves to be an alternately draggy, repellent and opaque cinematic experience, while clearly representing devoted efforts from several master screen artists.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
11-10-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Antichrist, Lars von Trier
'Damned United' and 'An Education' Upend Clichesnew
The establishment seems more firmly established in England than anywhere else. Two terrific new British films depict prodigiously intelligent characters who challenge entrenched English institutions and nearly outsmart themselves along the way.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
11-10-2009 |
Reviews
Hollywood Product: '9'new
With so many computer-animated cartoon features devoted to pop-savvy kiddie comedies about talking animals, it's refreshing to see a CGI adventure with a unique vision. Acker's makeshift, Rube Goldberg-style inventions and landscapes can be fascinating. That said, 9 is PG-13 for a reason, and may be too intense for little kids and too dark for many adults.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
09-22-2009 |
Reviews
'Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg' Gushes Over First Lady of Televisionnew
Documentary pays tribute to Gertrude Berg, a pioneering Jewish writer and actress at the dawn of television.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
09-22-2009 |
Reviews
'World's Greatest Dad' and 'Big Fan' Offer Winning Portraits of Losersnew
Robin Williams and Patton Oswalt engage with darkly comic portraits of quiet desperation.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
09-22-2009 |
Movies
'It Might Get Loud' Climbs Stairway to Guitar Heavennew
An Inconvenient Truth director Davis Guggenheim presents a summit of three generations of rock guitarists.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
09-22-2009 |
Reviews
