AltWeeklies Wire
Death and Loss Play Key Roles in Marc Forster's Finding Neverlandnew
It's not hard to see how Marc Forster might identify with J.M. Barrie, both in shared loss and in using creation as an antidote. "It's also letting go of grief," says Forster of the creative process. "And also embracing it in a different way. It's sort of like a more enlightened way."
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Felicia Feaster |
11-11-2004 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Marc Forster, Finding Neverland
Cartoon Network's Programs Appeal to Hip, Humor-Hungry Insomniacsnew
Cartoon Network used to be the unlikeliest place on basic cable to see a decapitation. Or a nipple. Or hear a curse word. But that was before Adult Swim.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman and Heather Kuldell |
11-11-2004 |
TV
Tags: TV
Undertow Evokes Fairy Tale, Myth and the Cain and Abel Storynew
Filmmaker David Gordon Green cultivates a mood of impending bloodshed, but by evoking Southern horror flicks and crime potboilers of the 1970s. Using natural light and shaky camera work, Undertow plays out like the bad dream you might have after watching a night of R-rated films.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
11-04-2004 |
Reviews
Tags: David Gordon Green, Undertow
Arrested Development's First Season DVD Releasednew
TV's best comedy recaps the tribulations of the conniving Bluth family with such a hot-foot pace that it looks more like the high-speed prologues of Raising Arizona or The Royal Tannenbaums than a conventional sitcom.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
11-04-2004 |
TV
Tags: TV
Documentary Charts Parallel Paths of Two Bandsnew
Members of the Dandy Warhols and the Brian Jonestown Massacre started off as friends, grooving on shared interests and the contact high of close collaboration with like-minded souls. Then fame strikes.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Felicia Feaster |
11-04-2004 |
Reviews
Tags: Dig!, Ondi Timoner
The Guy's Chick Flicknew
This Alfie feels like Bridget Jones with a sex change or "Sex and the City" from the guy's perspective. According to chick flick formula, Alfie's Englishman chauffeur in New York learns various life lessons as he progresses from a playa seducing every woman in sight to a vulnerable charmer who's been schooled and chastened by all the girls he's loved before.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Felicia Feaster |
11-04-2004 |
Reviews
Tags: Alfie, Charles Shyer
Film Demonstrates How to Drown in a Wineglassnew
Perhaps the filmmaker identifies more with Jack and Miles as struggling artists -- he torments them only because they should know better. But when the director ultimately treats them with generosity, Sideways suggests that, like a fine wine, Payne's sensibility is turning less sour with age.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
11-04-2004 |
Reviews
Tags: Alexander Payne, Sideways
Incredibles Proves Super; Express Fails to Impressnew
No doubt future films will improve on The Polar Express' technology, but The Incredibles finds true innovation simply by wrapping wild effects around a thoughtful metaphor. Superman's not the only one who's more powerful than a locomotive.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
11-04-2004 |
Reviews
Reconstruction Guided by Faith in and a Skepticism of Fatenew
Christoffer Boe's impressive first feature gives an analytical cast to ideas of our destiny and in the process forces us to question why we want so desperately to believe in stories like Aimee and Alex's
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Felicia Feaster |
10-28-2004 |
Reviews
Tags: Christoffer Boe, Reconstruction
Implausible Story Reaps Ill-Conceived Birthnew
Co-written by one-time Luis Buñuel collaborator Jean-Claude Carriére, Birth aims for the somnambulist surreality and social critique of Belle de Jour or Diary of a Chambermaid, but achieves only spookiness for spookiness' sake.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Felicia Feaster |
10-28-2004 |
Reviews
Tags: birth, Jonathan Glazer
Ominous Primer Goes Back to the Futurenew
Primer explores how two would-be businessmen stumble across an invention with unthinkable consequences for their futures -- and possibly the very concept of "the future" itself. Director Shane Carruth stays just far enough ahead of the audience to keep us intrigued.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
10-28-2004 |
Reviews
Tags: Primer, Shane Carruth
Ray shines light on R&B legendnew
Ray proves bracingly earthy and candid, with none of the soft edges of an "authorized" biography. The film presents the groundbreaking R&B singer in flesh and blood, not gold and platinum, and argues that Charles' steely determination fed both his musical achievements and personality flaws.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
10-28-2004 |
Reviews
Tags: Ray, Taylor Hackford
The Man Behind Bushnew
Contrary to White House spin, the man behind Dubya is not God, but Bush's key political adviser, Rove, lurking like Forrest Gump over Bush's shoulder.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Felicia Feaster |
10-21-2004 |
Reviews
The Watcher: Men Dressed as Women Guarantees Laughsnew
Contestants struggle to master the most superficial aspects of being a woman -- from dealing with bras, walking in heels, planning a wedding, and being a bridesmaid. If the show were called "She's A Guy," girly-girl contestants would undoubtedly learn how to throw a football, barbecue and scratch their balls.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Heather Kuldell |
10-21-2004 |
TV
Tags: TV
Director Demonstrates How to Make an 'Issues Movie'new
Vera Drake makes a powerful pro-choice argument without resorting to polemical speeches or manipulative villainy. Instead, Leigh's exquisite treatment of character and setting speaks with impeccable moral authority.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
10-21-2004 |
Reviews
Tags: Mike Leigh, Vera Drake
