AltWeeklies Wire
The Way of the Gunnew
Gattaca writer-director Andrew Niccol shines his usual cynicism on the subject of gunrunning in his new film, a strange amalgam of compelling visuals and fascinating vocational details forged with deep moral ambivalence and often hollow didacticism.
Austin Chronicle |
Marjorie Baumgarten |
09-16-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Andrew Niccol, Lord of War
Amour, Interruptednew
A languorous, bittersweet take on Scenes From a Marriage comes from French auteur Francois Ozon.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
09-16-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: 5x2, François Ozon
Satan's Little Helpernew
This yawner fails to amount to much more than an overlong exercise in Jesuit Theosophy 101, played against the backdrop of Law & Order.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
09-16-2005 |
Reviews
Play It Again, Jacquesnew
A character study of a young man torn between disparate career paths as either a mob enforcer for or a virtuoso pianist, this French adaptation of the American film Fingers adds little to original.
Austin Chronicle |
Marjorie Baumgarten |
09-16-2005 |
Reviews
Nice Guys Finish ...new
Director Michael Showalter misses a terrific opportunity to pull back the curtain on "the other guy" -- and ends up making a pretty good case for why the sad sack never gets the girl.
Austin Chronicle |
Kimberley Jones |
09-16-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Michael Showalter, The Baxter
Ghost Worldnew
This romantic comedy about a winsome, charming ghost and the man who loves her sidesteps abundant potential clichés through sheer dint of the acting skills on display.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
09-16-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Mark Waters, Just Like Heaven
Love Interruptednew
At once tremendously dense and gossamer-thin, this period romance/sci-fi hybrid from Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar-Wai is a riot of sight and sound that has an irresistible, elemental pull.
Austin Chronicle |
Kimberley Jones |
09-09-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: 2046, Wong Kar Wai
Growth of a Franchisenew
For all its gimmicky mayhem, Transporter 2 is an improvement over the original, completely setting aside such yawn-inducing cinematic standbys as a romantic interest and realism.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
09-09-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Louis Leterrier, Transporter 2
Sweet Revengenew
South Korean horror cultist Park Chan-wook's 2002 film is the opening freshet in his bloody cinematic revenge triptych; it’s also a finely wrought and emotionally complex film of surpassing, stylized beauty.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
09-09-2005 |
Reviews
The Sound of No Hands Clappingnew
Abandoning any pretense of respect for the Ray Bradbury source material, this film manhandles the author’s delicacies into a lumbering and bewildered mess of grade-Z sci-fi clichés.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
09-09-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: A Sound of Thunder, Peter Hyams
Saying and Doingnew
Based on an eponymous 1996 erotic novel, Lila Says is the story of a French girl and an Arab boy who learns the difference between words and actions.
Austin Chronicle |
Marjorie Baumgarten |
09-09-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Lila Says, Ziad Doueiri
Save Yourselfnew
Earnest and well-intentioned Dallas-based cast and crew have created a puzzling and inauthentic youth drama that promotes teenage sexual abstinence.
Austin Chronicle |
Marrit Ingman |
09-09-2005 |
Reviews
Some Things Are Best Left Undiscoverednew
A musician and an actress circle and sniff, and generally run through every cliché in the why-can’t-we-be-together playbook.
Austin Chronicle |
Kimberley Jones |
09-01-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Meiert Avis, Undiscovered
Guess Who’s Coming to The OC With a Lethal Weapon 2?new
Nick Cannon from Drumline plays a smart-aleck LAPD bicycle cop in this movie awash in clichés.
Austin Chronicle |
Marrit Ingman |
09-01-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Marcos Siega, Underclassman
Another Cruel Monthnew
November, starring Courteney Cox, is a dense, dark head-trip of a movie that seems like the bastard offspring of Memento and Mullholland Dr.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
09-01-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Greg Harrison, November
