AltWeeklies Wire
'American Gangster' Shows Crime Doesn't Paynew
The film is quite a high-caliber affair, with a star-studded cast and close attention to period details -- but it's overlong, a little too morally precise, and spends too much time on Russell Crowe's character, who is hardly as interesting as Denzel Washington's smooth, sinister schemer.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Cheryl Eddy |
10-31-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: American Gangster, Ridley Scott
A Conversation With the Godfather of Gorenew
Between 1960 and 1972, Herschell Gordon Lewis ruled the drive-in with a steady stream of exploitation movies, made on the cheap for crowds unafraid to experience the kind of special effects that earned him the nickname "the Godfather of Gore."
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Cheryl Eddy |
10-31-2007 |
Movies
'King Corn' Examines What Health is Worthnew
This documentary follows the directors as they arrange to farm an acre of corn in Iowa, then follow the harvest as best they can as it flows into the whitewater river of agrocommerce.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Paul Reidinger |
10-31-2007 |
Reviews
'Terror's Advocate' Creates a Visceral Ethical Disquietnew
Barbet Schroeder adds to his library of alluring evil with this documentary.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Stephen Beachy |
10-31-2007 |
Reviews
'Control' Charts the Angst of Ian Curtisnew
While Control -- beautifully filmed and performed -- can't quite crack his entire enigma, it's almost enough that it hints at answers.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Cheryl Eddy |
10-24-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Control, Anton Corbijn
'The Monastery': Thinking Big With Vignew
As if the presentation of a hard-boiled, aged man who spends his days alone in his slowly decaying shelter weren't enough, this documentary's rough human and physical landscape is completed by Sister Amvrosija.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Maria Komodore |
10-24-2007 |
Reviews
Grief, Love & Plastic Mingle in 'Lars and the Real Girl'new
The film couches its outrageous concept in classic Amer-indie trappings, including a naturalistic setting that incorporates small-town vistas, snowy cinematography, and a Sundance Channel-ready cast.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Cheryl Eddy |
10-17-2007 |
Reviews
Laboring with Childhood in 'My Kid Could Paint That'new
Amir Bar-Lev's excellent documentary starts out as a straight-up chronicle of a way-underage artistic phenomenon, until unforeseen developments suggest some sort of mass-media con job based on dreams of squeaky-clean white suburbia.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Dennis Harvey |
10-10-2007 |
Reviews
'The Last Winter' Certifies Fessenden as a Horror Auteurnew
Larry Fessenden's The Last Winter isn't the first global-warming horror film, and it surely won't be the last, but it's unlikely there will be a better one anytime soon -- or a better horror movie this fall.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Dennis Harvey |
09-26-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Larry Fessenden, The Last Winter
Viggo Mortenson is Complicatednew
Mortensen's comfort level with director David Cronenberg has freed him to do things he might normally be hesitant to do -- for instance, fend off an attack from two mobsters in a bathhouse while wearing nothing but tattoos.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Michelle Devereaux |
09-12-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: David Cronenberg, Eastern Promises
Two Takes on William Friedkin's 'Cruising'new
The 1980 tale of an undercover cop's pursuit of a serial killer in the West Village's leather-clad S-M scene is being screened in select cities in anticipation of the DVD release.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Matt Sussman and Jason Shimai |
09-05-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: William Friedkin, Cruising
Johnnie To's 'Exiled' (John) Woos Leonenew
It doesn't get much better than a movie that balances hair-trigger violence with moments of gentle humor.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Cheryl Eddy |
09-05-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Exiled, Johnnie To
'Revolution Summer' Runs on Anxietynew
Featuring a score by Jonathan Richman and real-life footage of protesters and riot cops, Montalbano's film is lightly plotted and heavily atmospheric.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Lynn Rapoport |
08-29-2007 |
Reviews
Emotion Trumps Class in 'Live-In Maid'new
The Argentinean film relies heavily on a very exact choreography between the two characters: a formerly famous and wealthy woman in decline and her maid.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Maria Komodore |
08-29-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Jorge Gaggero, Live-In Maid
Fall Movie Preview: Fresh Coppola and Eternal Winternew
Running down the top 10 new movies to hit screens this fall, from Across the Universe to Youth Without Youth.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Dennis Harvey |
08-22-2007 |
Movies
