AltWeeklies Wire
Del Toro's Hollywood Order: Gifted Director Holds Back the Dream
Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy sequel is a simultaneously exhilarating and underwhelming experience due to the idleness of its characters and nebulous sub-plot elements that contrast blankly against del Toro's trademark of baroquely drawn details.
Icelandic Beauty Export: Anita Briem Makes a 3-D Debut in "Journey to the Center of the Earth"
An example of the famed Icelandic fact that its women are stunningly beautiful, Anita Briem is also a stage-trained actress, perfectly at home on a green screen set for a big Hollywood action/adventure movie.
Maui Time |
Cole Smithey |
07-02-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
The Constitution, à la Carte
Liberals like the First Amendment. Conservatives prefer the Second. Can't we all agree on what America is about?
Maui Time |
Ted Rall |
06-30-2008 |
Commentary
A Real Cure for High Gas and Food Prices
Other countries have low gas and food prices fixed by the government. Maybe they're on to something.
Anti-Superhero; Genre Bending and Plot Surprises Follow
Will Smith plays anti-hero Hancock in director Peter Berg's against-the-grain superhero movie that features a tricky plot revelation to put a fresh spin on its storyline.
Tags: Peter Berg, Hancock
America: The 'Oops' Nation
Prisoners at Guantánamo and possibly other American gulags, will now be allowed to demand their day in court. Since the government doesn't have evidence against them, legal experts say, most if not all of "the worst of the worst" will ultimately walk free. "Liberty and security can be reconciled," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority.
In short: Oops.
Maui Time |
Ted Rall |
06-16-2008 |
Commentary
'Get Smart' Never Gels, but Still Earns its Entertainment Value
With so much comic grist to build on, it's a shame that the writers chose to ignore the no-brainer elements that should have shoehorned the comedy as a recognizable poke of infectious laughter.
Looking Past Obama: For Millions, it Still Sucks to be Black in America
Good for Barack Obama, but what about the millions of people of color who aren't getting ahead?
Maui Time |
Ted Rall |
06-12-2008 |
Commentary
Despite the Insistence of the Press & Politicians, America Doesn't Have Any 'Enemy Nations'
Who are they referring to? An enemy is a country with whom a nation is at war. "Enemy countries"? We have enemies (hi, Osama). We have critics. We even have competitors. But the United States doesn't have enemy countries.
Tags: war & peace
Kung Fu Fighting: Jack Black Kicks Kid’s Humor from the Hip
Jack Black inhabits the animated panda called Po with so much of his signature whimsy that audiences get a double dose of Black’s comic persona.
Why is the Media Covering Up Bush's War Crimes?
Kids in secret prisons. Chinese intelligence officers invited to torture at Gitmo. Why is the American media covering up these horror stories?
New Values: Corruption and Death in Cannes
The big movies at Cannes this year treated the subject of corruption, from betrayal of personal ethics for cash to systematic governmental abuse, with cinematic inoculations of hope for an equalizing justice for humanity.
The 61st Cannes Film Festival Awards its Favorites
CANNES, France May 25. At this year's Cannes Film Festival, the jury, presided over by Sean Penn, awarded the Palme d'Or to Laurent Cantet for his heavily work-shopped film about a French junior high school teacher in a tough neighborhood, whose teaching style is challenged by his difficult students.
Cannes So Far: Sean Penn's Festival of Response
Cannes is much more than an all-you-can-watch buffet of world cinema (more than 2,300 films are shown during its 10 days), it's a bellwether of cinematic, economic, and global social values. But to weigh these new values, we have to wait until the climactic awards ceremony on May 25th.
Why Are Journalists Suckers?
They don't call it state-controlled media, at least not here in the U.S. But, when reporters check with the government before they go to press, they might as well.
