AltWeeklies Wire
The Homeless World Cup Gets Mainstream Exposure in 'Kicking It'new
The popularization of sports documentaries in recent years has allowed for the rise of a new genre dealing exclusively with fringe athletic pursuits, and the appeal of Kicking It falls between the intensity of furious quadriplegics in Murderball to the full-grown geeks reigning over the arcade world in King of Kong.
New York Press |
Eric Kohn |
06-26-2008 |
Reviews
Catherine Breillat Proves She's More Than a Porno-polemicistnew
As if to legitimize her unorthodox approach, the period drama of The Last Mistress brings Breillat into the haughty realm of Choderlos de Laclos' Les Liaisons Dangereuses, the infamous (often adapted) 18th-century novel of sexual gamesmanship as psychological and political intrigue.
New York Press |
Armond White |
06-26-2008 |
Reviews
'Roman de Gare' is a Story of Reversals and Revengenew
Claude Lelouch's Roman de Gare is full of deceitful characters, all unaware that they are making their way into a novel called God, the Other.
San Antonio Current |
Ashley Lindstrom |
06-25-2008 |
Reviews
Christophe Honore's Menage-a-trois Musical Hits All the Right Notesnew
The characters in Love Songs live life at such an animated pitch that you almost don't notice when they begin to sing.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Sam Adams |
06-24-2008 |
Reviews
'Mongol' Desperately Wants to be 'Braveheart'new
You can see these aspirations in every shot, but its meandering, anti-climactic story arcs and an unrealized main character handicap the movie from early on.
Baltimore City Paper |
Cole Haddon |
06-24-2008 |
Reviews
'Love Songs' Offers Perverse Entertainmentnew
The film takes a sudden nosedive into a deep, deep funk, vying to becoming the most depressing musical since Cabaret.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Matt Prigge |
06-23-2008 |
Reviews
Mongol: Meet the Barack Obama of 12th-century Asianew
Genghis Khan's all about rejecting the politics and divisions of the past. He's a new kind of leader, ready to unify the fractious clans of Central Asia into one nation under a new code of law.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
06-23-2008 |
Reviews
'Before the Rains' Explores Love, Lust and Empirenew
Before the Rains is a carefully recreated and opulent period drama that explores the psychology of individuals grappling, and losing their grip, with the historical conditions of their time.
Shepherd Express |
David Luhrssen |
06-13-2008 |
Reviews
Director Sergei Bodrov Retraces the Footsteps of Genghis Khannew
Just over a decade ago, Bodrov made his mark in the West with his Academy Award–nominated movie Prisoner of the Mountains. After frustrating stints as a director-for-hire, he did the smart thing and made the movie he wanted to make.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
06-13-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Guy Maddin Explores His Hometown and Childhood in New Docufantasianew
When someone grows up on tales of stampeding racehorses being frozen in a river, leaving just their rearing heads above the ice, how can they not be a little off-kilter in their sensibilities?
New York Press |
Mark Peikert |
06-12-2008 |
Reviews
Norwegian Pie: Joachim Trier's 'Reprise'new
Like their American youth-movie counterparts, the 20-something guy friends of Norwegian director Trier's Reprise spend a lot of time talking about and clumsily pursuing the fairer sex. Only, his characters are as much (or more) concerned with getting published as getting laid.
L.A. Weekly |
Scott Foundas |
05-30-2008 |
Reviews
The Incest of 'Savage Grace' Knocks Julianne Moore from Her Gay Cinema Thronenew
Moore plays a woman who is the target of her gay son's frustrations in Savage Grace -- the story of Barbara Baekeland, the unbalanced wealthy socialite who led her son to incest and murder in 1972.
New York Press |
Armond White |
05-29-2008 |
Reviews
'The Unknown Woman' Struggles to Hold on to Her Humanitynew
One of the unexpected byproducts of the economically disastrous Soviet collapse was the massive export of mainly unwitting prostitutes from formerly socialist republics, a theme rarely shown as poignantly as in Giuseppe Tornatore's latest feature.
The Georgia Straight |
Mark Harris |
05-27-2008 |
Reviews
'The Children of Huang Shi': Epic Borenew
Spottiswoode is hardly alone in distilling a distant country's pain into the story of one white Westerner, armed with a similarly pale romantic interest and wry native sidekick, making a difference while world history rages around him.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
05-27-2008 |
Reviews
'The Children of Huang Shi' is Lovely to Look Atnew
But that's about it. The real star of Huang Shi is the cinematographer, Zhao Xiaoding, who was a camera operator on the breathtaking epic Hero and director of photography on House of Flying Daggers.
New York Press |
Raphaela Weissman |
05-22-2008 |
Reviews
