AltWeeklies Wire
Fortunate Sonnew
This film directed by the son of Michael Eisner is a stunning piece of work -- stunningly inept, stunningly incoherent, stunningly awful in every way imaginable.
Seeking the Elusive Johnny Deppnew
A musician is making a documentary about his attempt to present film star Johnny Depp with a special guitar created by a reformed robber along with a screenplay about the guitar-maker's life.
Westword |
Adam Cayton-Holland |
03-09-2005 |
Profiles & Interviews
Listening to Klingonnew
The documentary Earthlings transports us into a secret society ruled by codes and wonders all its own, the province of Trekkies who joined the Klingon Language Institute.
Hail Snail Mailnew
In this film about a father and son delivering a mail route in the mountains of South Hunan lurks a stone-faced reverence for civil service that may seem downright bizarre to most Americans.
Next Best Thing to Being Therenew
The Radio City concert that was performed a century after the birth of the blues and gorgeously filmed by Antoine Fuqua gives us a profound sense of how the blues has blossomed over the years -- and the far corners it has reached.
For Sheer Carnage, Saw Shreds the Competitionnew
In case it isn't already abundantly clear, this is not a casual date movie. Many will decry it as excessive or sadistic; cultural conservatives will most certainly deem it abhorrent. This is a movie for those who think Natural Born Killers wasn't sufficiently bloodthirsty.
Soft-Shoe Soft Sellnew
What's most impressive about Shall We Dance? is how Peter Chelsom wipes the glitter and glamour off his stars and makes them seem like ordinary people.
Puppet Mastersnew
The creators of this raunchy action farce made with prancing marionettes open fire on American militarism, French indifference, Peter Jennings, Hollywood blockbusters, Nebraska football and left-leaning movie stars who think they have interesting things to say about politics.
Gallo's Polenew
Despite its formalistic failings and truly absurd Porn Moment, there's a morbidity here that feels quite genuine, and after the movie is over, it amounts to rough-hewn poetry.
Cruel, Vapid and Unfunny, This Shark Bitesnew
There's nothing at all sweet or endearing about Shark Tale, no warmth compensating for the clinically cold computer-generated animation.
Like Moths to a Flamenew
Jay Russell's action-packed, flame-broiled Ladder 49 is an all-out valentine to the firehouse fraternity. While it's good with mayhem, it's pretty weak in terms of actual human behavior.
Shallow Popnew
Mr. 3000 isn't really about the athletes. It's more about the fans and even the beat writers who adore them and reward them and forgive them, no matter their arrogance or insolence.
Shell Shocknew
Innocence isn't a movie for animé neophytes. Embodying the best and worst stereotypes of the genre, it's amazingly beautiful to look at and often utterly incomprehensible.
Silver City Express Takes Film Stars Around Coloradonew
John Sayles' new film, laden with Colorado political lore, is the first made in the state in many years. Westword editor Patricia Calhoun accompanies the director, actor Kris Kristofferson, cartoonist Tom Tomorrow and others on a promotional bus tour.
Silver City Stands Out in Season of Political Intriguenew
The new John Sayles movie, set and shot in Colorado, is downright bracing, and it has the kind of dramatic acumen the blunt propagandists can only dream about. There's no mistaking its liberal, or progressive, stance, but it's neither a bag of tricks nor a self-righteous rant.
