AltWeeklies Wire
'Three Monkeys': Great Photography, Not Enough Crimenew
Rooted in the old Confucian proverb ("See no evil..." etc.), this slow-paced Turkish crime tale is constructed more from holes than plot.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
02-23-2009 |
Reviews
Renée Zellweger Says You’re Fired!new
A corporate tool, but a stylish corporate tool, Renée Zellweger is dispatched from sunny Miami to rural Minnesota to close the local factory. The effect is like Fargo without the wood-chipper.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
02-02-2009 |
Reviews
'Outlander': Spaceman Won’t Share His Ray-Gun With Vikingsnew
I miss Arnold Schwarzenegger right about now, and so does this movie. Instead we have dour, scrawny Jim Caviezel, come down from the cross, as a spaceman who crashes in eighth-century Norway.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
01-26-2009 |
Reviews
Who's the More Oscar-Ready Nazi, Tom Cruise or Kate Winslet?new
This year, in a striking reversal of roles (and award-getting strategies), the stars are playing the Nazis. The Reader features Kate Winslet as former camp guard Hanna Schmitz, and Valkyrie has Tom Cruise as a German officer, Col. Claus von Stauffenberg, trying to assassinate Hitler.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
12-29-2008 |
Movies
'Slumdog Millionaire' Director Talks About Mumbai Before the Terrornew
English director Danny Boyle was visiting Seattle a while back, raving about the inspiration Mumbai provided during the filming of his acclaimed new Slumdog Millionaire. Then we all know what happened in that city.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
12-08-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
'Transporter 3': Jason Statham Takes His Shirt Offnew
After the disappointingly shallow new James Bond movie, maybe a third helping of Frank Martin isn't a bad thing. The guy was never particularly deep to begin with.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
12-02-2008 |
Reviews
'Fuel': One Suggestion for Our Petroleum Addictionnew
Tickell is preaching to the converted, who already fill their vintage Benzes with French-fry grease from Dr. Dan, Propel, or other local vendors. But they already know the gospel, and already have DVDs of the better told, better argued Who Killed the Electric Car? and An Inconvenient Truth at home.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
11-25-2008 |
Reviews
Bush on Film: Will He Have a Screen Life After 'W.'?new
Both W. and American Carol partisans, I think, need catharsis for the same reason: After eight years of the same movie, everyone wants to see a different show.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
11-10-2008 |
Movies
'Call + Response': Slavery Is Bigger Than Illegal Downloading?new
A Bay Area musician and Live Aid baby, Justin Dillon recently discovered human trafficking, then decided to make a movie about it.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
10-14-2008 |
Reviews
'Humboldt County': Like 'The Graduate' on Potnew
The film settles down like the mellow last ember of a joint at sunset, then sustains that mood too far beyond its initial buzz.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
09-29-2008 |
Reviews
'Battle in Seattle': At Last, Our WTO Protests Hit the Silver Screennew
I'd love to tell you that Battle is a feat of guerrilla filmmaking or a Godardian critique of international capitalism, but it's conventional to its core.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
09-22-2008 |
Reviews
'Cthulhu' is Smartly Creepy, if Not Quite Compellingnew
Although murky in its storytelling, Cthulhu isn't stifled by its artiness (notwithstanding the Yeats quotes). But neither does the movie ever achieve the clarity of good, honest bloodletting.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
09-15-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Cthulhu, Dan Gildark
Forest Whitaker Wants You to Bang His Wifenew
It's hard to be too indignant about Forest Whitaker's small, heartfelt contribution to this spiritual exercise-cum-vanity project by writer-director-star Philippe Caland, who once devised the story for that '90s crash-and-burn Madonna/David Lynch fiasco Boxing Helena.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
09-08-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Philippe Caland, Ripple Effect
German Climbers Philosophize in 'To the Limit'new
For this mountain climbing doc, Bavarian brothers Thomas and Alexander Huber opted into Yosemite's recent speed-climbing fad, which makes the Nose into a vertical racetrack.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
08-25-2008 |
Reviews
'Chris & Don: A Love Story': A May-December Gay Romancenew
Nowhere in this fine, quiet, richly-sourced documentary is the phrase "gay marriage" ever uttered.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
08-04-2008 |
Reviews
