Philadelphia City Paper | Movies+TV | AAN.org

Stoner Movies: They're Not Just for Stoners Anymore!new

Yes, Pineapple Express a stoner flick, but rather than kowtow to the patently American genre, they've turned it on its haze-filled head by realizing that--whoa--many people don't find Cheech & Chong that funny

Philadelphia City Paper | Drew Lazor | 07-31-2008 | Reviews

Tags: comedy, David Gordon Green, action, marijunana, Pineapple Express

'Bottle Shock's Randall Miller and Jody Savin Pour It Onnew

The wine story at the core of Bottle Shock details the moment at which the wine business changed, turning the Napa Valley from a farm town to a tourist mecca.

Philadelphia City Paper | Shaun Brady | 07-31-2008 | Profiles & Interviews

Tags: wine, Randall Miller, Napa Valley, California wines, Judgment of Paris, Bottle Shock

Fatih Akin Returns to Fiction in 'The Edge of Heaven'new

Over the course of two features, one documentary and a handful of shorts, Akin has devoted himself to depicting the lives of Turks within present-day Germany, and the complicated relationship between the two countries.

Philadelphia City Paper | Sam Adams | 07-31-2008 | Reviews

Tags: turkey, Fatih Akin, Germany, The Edge of Heaven

'The Last Mistress' Frames Intense Performances with Relative Restrainnew

Although it's based on a scandalous 19th-century novel by Jules-Amedee Barbey d'Aurevilly, Catherine Breillat's film makes few concessions to the conventions of costume drama.

Philadelphia City Paper | Sam Adams | 07-22-2008 | Reviews

Tags: Catherine Breillat, The Last Mistress

Inaugural Philadelphia Independent Film Festival Programs Honest-to-goodness Indie Filmsnew

Coming as it does in between April's behemoth Philadelphia Film Festival and July's ever-expanding Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, the Independent Film Fest has to be looked at as David next to a pair of well-established Goliaths.

Philadelphia City Paper | Shaun Brady | 07-01-2008 | Movies

Tags: Philadelphia, film festivals, Nerdcore for Life, Philadelphia Independent Film Festival, This is My Cheesesteak

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

Tags: Drama, Christophe Honore, Love Songs, Chiara Mastroianni, Clotilde Hesme, Gregoire Leprince-Ringuet, Louis Garrel, Ludivine Sagnier, musical

Preachy Politics Spoil Thomas McCarthy's Otherwise-quiet Character Studynew

For his sophomore effort McCarthy has burdened his slight character drama with a capital-M Message, which weighs down even the most intimately observed character moments.

Philadelphia City Paper | Shaun Brady | 04-29-2008 | Reviews

Tags: comedy, The Visitor, Thomas McCarthy, Drama, Danai Gurira, Haaz Sleiman, Hiam Abbass, Richard Jenkins

Norah Jones Wanders Through 'My Blueberry Nights' in a Dazenew

This is Wong Kar-Wai's first movie in a decade to be set in the present day, but it still feels as if it were retrieved from some other time and place.

Philadelphia City Paper | Sam Adams | 04-21-2008 | Reviews

Tags: My Blueberry Nights, Wong Kar-Wai

Morgan Spurlock Talks About His Hunt for the World's Most Wanted Mannew

"I expected to go find him," Spurlock insists, fending off any suggestion that his hunt for Osama bin Laden was a mere pretense. "I had a 50/50 shot, right?"

Philadelphia City Paper | Shaun Brady | 04-21-2008 | Profiles & Interviews

Tags: Morgan Spurlock, Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?

'Street Kings' is Far from Kinglynew

David Ayer's first stab behind the camera was 2005's Harsh Times, and there are more than a few thematic similarities between that film and Street Kings -- namely, protagonists who can't be held responsible for their own flaws.

Philadelphia City Paper | Drew Lazor | 04-15-2008 | Reviews

Tags: David Ayer, Street Kings