AltWeeklies Wire
The Price of Freedom Is Eternal Vengeancenew
Munich is dense, thoughtful filmmaking that nonetheless flies along: Seething with multilayered, subtextual arguments, it’s also a heck of a thriller.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
12-27-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Munich, Steven Spielberg
L'Chaimnew
This Israeli comedy is a wholly original movie that's set and filmed entirely within the insular realm of Jerusalem’s ultra-orthodox Hasidim.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
12-21-2005 |
Reviews
Run Jackass, Runnew
This Farrelly brothers comedy purports to have a message about treating the intellectually challenged as regular human beings, which is about as disingenuous as a comedy about seeing past a person’s body size that stars Gwyneth Paltrow in a fat suit.
Austin Chronicle |
Marjorie Baumgarten |
12-21-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Barry W. Blaustein, The Ringer
Girls, Interruptednew
Well, we’re not in Chicago anymore, or even its soundstage approximation, but that hasn’t stopped Oscar-nominated director Rob Marshall from fashioning another epic spectacle out of two squabbling women in (a sort-of) show business.
Austin Chronicle |
Kimberley Jones |
12-21-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Memoirs of a Geisha, Rob Marshall
The Life of a Persian Polymathnew
Houston-based, Iranian-born filmmaker Mashayekh relates the story of the pioneering 11th-century mathematician, astronomer, and poet, and reminds Western audiences that there’s more to Iran and the Middle East than suicide bombers and hummus.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
12-21-2005 |
Reviews
See Dick and Jane Run Agroundnew
The original version of this comedy was little countercultural, a lot class-conscious, and a touch subversive; this remake is all farce when what is needed is satire.
Austin Chronicle |
Marjorie Baumgarten |
12-21-2005 |
Reviews
No Bargain at Any Pricenew
This unasked-for sequel fuses the original concept with the well-worn formula of the family-vacation romp.
Austin Chronicle |
Marrit Ingman |
12-21-2005 |
Reviews
Western Weepienew
The beautifully wrought film is a tragic love story (not a "gay cowboy movie") that’s defined by its staggering heartbreak.
Austin Chronicle |
Marjorie Baumgarten |
12-15-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
The Eighth Wonder of the Worldnew
Peter Jackson's remake is a corker of an action/monster movie: part RKO serial; part square-jawed, manly romp; and part classic journey into the unknown that recalls and references Heart of Darkness.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
12-15-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: King Kong, Peter Jackson
Shelter From the Stormnew
There's a sweet bent to this simple South African film about a multicultural group of employees at a Cape Town animal shelter who find both goodness and hope in their troubled lives.
Austin Chronicle |
Steve Davis |
12-15-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Cape of Good Hope, Mark Bamford
All in the Familynew
This likable romantic comedy runs the gamut of emotions -- hitting tenderness, rage, remorse, and everything in between -- but there are too many characters with too little chemistry to be a real keeper.
Austin Chronicle |
Kimberley Jones |
12-15-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: The Family Stone, Thomas Bezucha
Oil Makes the World Go Roundnew
One of the most uncompromising movies of the year, Syriana is like a living tableaux composed from all the stories that lurk just behind the news, the stories that put human faces on the demand for oil.
Austin Chronicle |
Marjorie Baumgarten |
12-08-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Stephen Gaghan, Syriana
Comedian Lost in the Byways of Songnew
Spotty comedy delivers on its promise of Total Silverman, but that turns out to be not such a good thing after all.
Austin Chronicle |
Marjorie Baumgarten |
12-08-2005 |
Reviews
Important Subject Marred by Poor Filmmakingnew
This film is a passionate if clunky cri du coeur for the kidnapped and murdered women of Juarez, Mexico -- a silent epidemic of as many as 450 crimes in the last 10 years.
Austin Chronicle |
Marrit Ingman |
12-08-2005 |
Reviews
Acting the Partnew
This Naomi Watts performance showcase has been slipping into theatres that are presently readying themselves for the onslaught of King Kong, which just happens to star Watts as the woman who would be Fay Wray.
Austin Chronicle |
Marjorie Baumgarten |
12-08-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Ellie Parker, Scott Coffey
