AltWeeklies Wire
Al Pacino Plays Beat the Clock in '88 Minutes'new
Jon Avnet's cheesy new thriller is 105 minutes long, and going in, I feared that 100 of them would be eaten up by Al Pacino chewing the furniture. Alas, it's worse than that.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
04-18-2008 |
Reviews
'88 Minutes' Wastes Timenew
For a guy who's just been told he has less than an hour and a half to live, Al Pacino sure does seem relaxed.
NOW Magazine |
Norman Wilner |
04-18-2008 |
Reviews
'Ben X' Boresnew
First-time director Nic Balthazar has already worked this fact-based material as a novel and a play. At bottom, he seems to be making a plea for tolerance and understanding for the autistic; what he's put on the screen is a merely okay problem drama.
NOW Magazine |
Andrew Dowler |
04-18-2008 |
Reviews
A Decent Novel Becomes an Indecent Movie that Reaches for Artnew
Evan Rachel Wood as Diana finds herself trapped in a Columbine-style high school massacre, confronting her classmate-gunman in the girls' lavatory. The movie comprises memories and fantasies that flash through her mind's eye.
New York Press |
Armond White |
04-17-2008 |
Reviews
Screenwriter Daniel Taplitz Makes Screwball Comedy Less Screwynew
Working outside of mainstream chick flicks (You've Got Mail), hipster flicks (Before Sunrise) and chump flicks (Knocked Up), Taplitz has pursued questions of attraction and commitment through personal language and neurotic obsession.
New York Press |
Armond White |
04-17-2008 |
Reviews
Isn't It Funny When 'Smart People' Do Stupid Things?new
On the surface of their new film, first-time filmmakers Mark Poirier and Noam Murro are in danger of stepping into all the cliche pitfalls of the genre. Fortunately, an intelligent script and a fine cast conspire to make this a sharper-than-average slice of indie satire.
Weekly Alibi |
Devin D. O'Leary |
04-15-2008 |
Reviews
Unpolished Actors Shine in 'The Year My Parents Went on Vacation'new
Director Cao Hamburger's key achievement in this finely crafted, rich, visually appealing, and absorbing story of an extreme latchkey childhood is in the unvarnished behavior of the youngest cast members.
Baltimore City Paper |
Joe MacLeod |
04-15-2008 |
Reviews
'Bella' Chokes with Amatuerismnew
There's a difference between pleasing the crowd and hugging all the oxygen out of your audience -- and Bella definitely edges toward asphyxiation.
The Georgia Straight |
Ken Eisner |
04-14-2008 |
Reviews
'Smart People' is All Brains, No Heartnew
Smart People is about what can happen when the mind is divorced from the heart and spirit.
Shepherd Express |
David Luhrssen |
04-11-2008 |
Reviews
Director Ira Sachs Gets Back to His Memphis Rootsnew
Sachs, who was raised in East Memphis, where his mother still lives, celebrates the local debut of Married Life, which pairs the indie-identified filmmaker with a heavyweight Hollywood cast
The Memphis Flyer |
Chris Herrington |
04-11-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Thomas McCarthy Revisits 'The Station'new
Like The Station Agent, The Visitor opens in a state of mourning, with 62-year-old economics professor Walter Vale (Richard Jenkins) staring longingly out the window of his Connecticut home, wine glass in hand, while a solemn piano sonata plays on the soundtrack.
L.A. Weekly |
Scott Foundas |
04-11-2008 |
Reviews
Meryl Streep's Brillance May Go Unnoticednew
Long after her highly praised, highly artificial performances in the 1980s (and her by-default Oscar-nominated parts in the 1990s), she has recently entered her most interesting phase as an actress.
New York Press |
Armond White |
04-10-2008 |
Reviews
Solid Acting Helps 'Smart People'new
The cast is understated in painting a portrait of an unhappy, too-clever family in suburban Pittsburgh, writer/director Noam Murro hits several choice moments of sweet, sharp, and melancholy humor.
The Portland Mercury |
Erik Henriksen |
04-10-2008 |
Reviews
