AltWeeklies Wire
'Death Race' is a Shaky, Blurry, Messy, Stupid Borenew
Death Race is a movie aimed squarely at -- beyond the stated gender and age constraints -- idiots. By idiots, we refer specifically to adults who find WWF wrestling "compelling."
Santa Fe Reporter |
Emiliano Garcia-Sarnoff |
08-28-2008 |
Reviews
'The X-Files: I Want to Believe' is Not a Movienew
It is, instead, a pastiche of eye-roll-inducing clichés, pointless conversations, logic-defying coincidences and a production that, from beginning to end, is so lazy, sloppy and utterly idiotic that one thing is quite clear: It really is the perfect crime.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Emiliano Garcia-Sarnoff |
08-01-2008 |
Reviews
It's the 'End of the World' as Werner Herzog Knows Itnew
It takes some time to realize that what seems like a whimsical travelogue is in fact something much more. It is cliche, at this point, to refer to Herzog's work as "poetic." But then that ultimate and most cliched cliche becomes necessary: It's cliche because it’s true.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Emiliano Garcia-Sarnoff |
07-24-2008 |
Reviews
Adam Sandler Demonstrates How Far He's Fallen Since 'Happy Gilmore'new
Beginning encouragingly with a bit of charming stupid-funny, You Don't Mess with the Zohan rapidly disintegrates into blank-staring, brain-cell-destroying inanity, alighting, occasionally, on the rarest flowers of slap-yourself-on-the-forehead-because-it's-so-stupid funny and then, about 12 minutes into the two-hour-long slog, it settles into illimitably stupefying, comatose-inducing and transcendentally dimwitted, anti-funny.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Emiliano Garcia-Sarnoff |
06-13-2008 |
Reviews
'The Unforeseen' is a Mezmorizing Doc on Development and the Environmentnew
The Unforeseen centers on the ambitions of one developer, Gary Bradley, and those who would oppose his will in Austin, Texas. Dunn merges her findings with a cinematic style that alternates between impressionistic, cinematic poetry and solid, straight-ahead uses of narrative and interview.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Emiliano Garcia-Sarnoff |
05-30-2008 |
Reviews
'Prince Caspian' is Inappropriate for All Agesnew
Of the 144 minutes that the new fantasy-adventure film The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian runs, there isn't a single clever one to be found. There are, perhaps, three or four that sufficiently stimulate the eyes. This leaves at least 140 more to be bored by, to laugh at, to be further bored by and, finally, to plan an escape from.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Emiliano Garcia-Sarnoff |
05-23-2008 |
Reviews
'Iron Man' Ushers in the Season of Big-Budget Escapism with Stylenew
The heart of the film's success belongs to its central star, Robert Downey Jr., who raises glib murmuring to an art form and serves as a reminder that true charisma is a rare gift indeed.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Emiliano Garcia-Sarnoff |
05-08-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Jon Favreau, Iron Man
'Beaufort' Doesn't Retreat from War's Futilitynew
The semi-fictionalized film is adapted from a novel by Israeli writer Ron Leshem and set in the waning days of Israeli control over an ancient fortress. It is -- rather originally for a war film -- not about conquest, but about retreat.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Emiliano Garcia-Sarnoff |
05-01-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Beaufort, Joseph Cedar
'Moon' Made of Cheesenew
Immigration-themed weeper is deported from greatness.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Emiliano Garcia-Sarnoff |
03-27-2008 |
Reviews
'Taxi to the Dark Side': Too High a Farenew
Alex Gibney pulls the hood off of America's use of torture.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Emiliano Garcia-Sarnoff |
03-06-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Alex Gibney, Taxi to the Dark Side
'City of Men' Explores the Masculine Bondnew
Set against the sprawling orgy of violence and poverty that are Rio's favelas, the film examines how the fraternal and paternal urges survive in an environment hostile to them.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Emiliano Garcia-Sarnoff |
02-28-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: City of Men, Paulo Morelli
The Winners Are(n't) ...new
What should (and therefore won't) win at the Oscars.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Emiliano Garcia-Sarnoff |
02-21-2008 |
Movies
The Oscar-Nominated Shorts: Live Action Falls Short, Animation Soarsnew
The selection of animated shorts from 2007 is stellar. The live action shorts, on the other hand, are fairly awful all around (save for one). There are reasons for this.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Emiliano Garcia-Sarnoff |
02-14-2008 |
Reviews
El Violin Plays a Song That Hurts to Hearnew
It is unsurprising how seamlessly writer/director Francisco Vargas’ filmic language in El Violin melds a 1970s tale of peasant rebellion with intimations toward the country’s entire history of oppression, struggle and survival.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Emiliano Garcia-Sarnoff |
02-07-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Francisco Vargas, El Violin
'The Great Debaters': Oprah-ticnew
This Oprah-produced and Denzel-directed historical tale is powerful, but over-polished.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Emiliano Garcia-Sarnoff |
01-03-2008 |
Reviews
