AltWeeklies Wire
Will Smith: The Stuff of 'Legend'new

Moment for moment, Smith is simply dazzling, and for all the undeniably impressive work the actor has done on his physique for this role, what's most appealing about Smith is his native intelligence -- the way you see him thinking his way through a role -- and his capacity for human weakness.
L.A. Weekly |
Scott Foundas |
12-14-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Francis Lawrence, I Am Legend
Green Party, RIPnew
Cynthia McKinney's shenanigans sent the party further into irrelevance.
L.A. Weekly |
Marc Cooper |
12-14-2007 |
Commentary
Matt Taibbi on How the U.S. Is Like Ike Turnernew

Taibbi has single-handedly brought Rolling Stone to a place of political relevance not seen since the days of Hunter S. Thompson. His new book is a compendium of his best pieces since joining the magazine in 2005.
L.A. Weekly |
Matthew Fleischer |
12-14-2007 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Can Rock Video Games Save the Music Universe?new
"We are in many respects the new MTV," says Steve Schnur, worldwide executive for music and marketing for Electronic Arts, a distributor for Rock Band. "We warm up the marketplace and create a familiarity for many artists."
L.A. Weekly |
Lina Lecaro |
12-07-2007 |
Video Games
Tags: video games
Strike Up the Bandnew
Eran Kolirin, the 34-year-old writer-director of The Band's Visit, has a sense of humor as dry as Bet Hatikva's arid desert wind and is too smart to bore us with ham-fisted humanistic bromides.
L.A. Weekly |
Scott Foundas |
12-07-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Eran Kolirin, The Band's Visit
John Cusack Enters the Iraq Weepstakesnew
Grace is Gone wants to massage liberal sensibilities about the war without alienating the church-going, Wal-Mart-shopping Middle Americans who might see, in Stanley Phillips, a reflection of themselves.
L.A. Weekly |
Scott Foundas |
12-07-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Grace is Gone, James Strouse
Knocked-up Knockoutnew
Tart of tongue and sweet of disposition, Juno offers living proof that crisp writing, graceful directing and an abundantly poised young lead can perk up a premise that’s been bludgeoned to death.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
12-07-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Juno, Jason Reitman
Are You Not Devo? You Are Mutatonew

How Mark Mothersbaugh, an Agent of De-Evolution, wormed his way into America's subconscious.
L.A. Weekly |
Randall Roberts |
12-07-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Mark Mothersbaugh
California Fire Whisperersnew
Facing down the region's wildfires by divining where the flames will spread.
L.A. Weekly |
Christine Pelisek |
12-07-2007 |
Disasters
Tags: disasters
James Marsden: Low Profile and Loving Itnew
"I'm more comfortable with the bar set low," he says with a flash of his milky-white smile. "If expectations are low, you can only impress people."
L.A. Weekly |
Scott Foundas |
12-04-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tamara Jenkins Keeps It Realnew
Coming almost 10 years after Slums of Beverly Hills, her new movie, The Savages, mines a difficult time in Jenkins' early 30s, when she saw both her grandmother and her father succumb to senility.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
12-04-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Tamara Jenkins, The Savages
Savage Lovenew
Tamara Jenkins plumbs the depths of choosing a nursing home in her new film, The Savages, and jacks it up a few notches by asking what it's like to care for a demented father who never cared for you.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
12-04-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Tamara Jenkins, The Savages
Iron 'Butterfly'new
There is more directing per square inch of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly than one is likely to find in any other movie released this year.
L.A. Weekly |
Scott Foundas |
12-04-2007 |
Reviews
Gambling Lobby Lapdogsnew
Governor Schwarzenegger and California's Dems are neutered puppies when it comes to tribal gaming.
L.A. Weekly |
Marc Cooper |
12-03-2007 |
Commentary
'Starting Out in the Evening': Intelligent Designnew
If Starting Out in the Evening is a movie about how little we know and how much we presume, it is also about transformation, and heartbreak and halting renewal.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
11-26-2007 |
Reviews