AltWeeklies Wire
'Absurdistan' is Full of Village Peoplenew
Filmmaker Veit Helmer's dusty, imaginative yarn Absurdistan is a fable so curious even Benjamin Button might hesitate to tell it.
East Bay Express |
Kelly Vance |
02-18-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Absurdistan, Veit Helmer
Jean-Pierre Gorin and the Art of the Essay Filmnew
UC San Diego film professor Jean-Pierre Gorin claims that the "unruly" version of the essay film on display in his collection "flirts with genres" but "attaches itself to none" in true Gerber termite fashion.
East Bay Express |
Kelly Vance |
01-23-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
'Slumdog Millionaire' is One of the Best Films of the Yearnew
At first glance just another Third World children-of-the-slums weepie, it transcends the limitations of that slender genre in leaps and bounds.
East Bay Express |
Kelly Vance |
11-12-2008 |
Reviews
'Trouble the Water': The Big Uneasynew
This new documentary goes into the eye of the Hurricane Katrina disaster that wiped out a community.
East Bay Express |
Kelly Vance |
09-04-2008 |
Reviews
Labor Dispute at Movie Theater Hinges on Skills of Projectionistsnew
As projectionists picket to get a contract at the landmark Alameda Theatre, some patrons lose faith.
East Bay Express |
Rin Kelly |
07-30-2008 |
Movies
Ready for '90s Nostalgia? 'The Wackness' is Ill to the Corenew
Writer-director Jonathan Levine's ingratiatingly funny comedy does more than just riff on a time and place -- it belongs to that great fraternity of novice-and-mentor films, a la Cinema Paradiso, in which an inexperienced person comes of age with the help of a kindly and more worldly friend.
East Bay Express |
Kelly Vance |
07-10-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: The Wackness, Jonathan Levine
Gone with the 'Gonzo'new
Remember when journalism was cool and everybody wanted to be a reporter?
East Bay Express |
Kelly Vance |
07-02-2008 |
Reviews
'Tuya's Marriage', 'Savage Grace' and 'Brick Lane': A Trio of No-Hanky Women's Picsnew
Three unhappy marriages, three desperate wives, three drastically dissimilar circumstances. Whom to feel sorry for? The bored spouse of the American plastics heir in Savage Grace? The homesick Bengal immigrant confined to her claustrophobic London council flat on Brick Lane? How about the eponymous protagonist of Tuya's Marriage, a woman who lives in a yurt on the Mongolian steppes, caring for her disabled husband and two children by herding sheep and running a farm by herself?
East Bay Express |
Kelly Vance |
06-25-2008 |
Reviews
'Bigger, Stronger, Faster' Explores Steroid Culturenew
Our cultural obsession with hulking heroes explains widespread steroid use, according to filmmaker Chris Bell.
East Bay Express |
Kelly Vance |
06-04-2008 |
Reviews
The Fourth Indy Jones Adventure is Arguably OKnew
We could call Crystal Skull the senior citizens' special of the year. Or an amiably expensive timewaster. Or loads of fun for the easily amused -- no, that's probably too dismissive. Or the Boomers' Revenge. Or perhaps it's just a popcorn movie made from, uh, mature corn.
East Bay Express |
Kelly Vance |
05-22-2008 |
Reviews
'Dark Matter' Explores Strange Territorynew
Chen Shi-Zeng wrote Dark Matter to investigate the unhappy flip side of the immigrant experience, in particular the forces at work beneath the cheerful surface of cross-culturalism that he lampoons so devastatingly in the film.
East Bay Express |
Kelly Vance |
05-01-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Chen Shi-Zeng, Dark Matter
Boys Will Be Boysnew
The adventures of a fascist (My Brother Is an Only Child) and a professional poker player (Deal). Choose the fascist.
East Bay Express |
Kelly Vance |
04-23-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: crime, poker, Drama, Deal, Angela Finocchiaro, Anna Bonaiuto, Bret Harrison, Burt Reynolds, Charles Durning, Daniele Luchetti, Elio Germano, facists, Gary Grubbs, Gil Cates Jr., Italy, Jennifer Tilly, Luca Zingaretti, Maria Mason, Massimo Popolizio, My Brother is an Only Child, Riccardo Scamarcio, Shannon Elizabeth
What We Like About the Southnew
South of France, South of Arkansas. What's the difference? Shotgun Stories and Priceless sort it all out.
East Bay Express |
Kelly Vance |
04-03-2008 |
Reviews
Asses and Diamondsnew
Supporting actors steal the show in both the frantic comedy Run Fatboy Run and the sour heist pic Flawless.
East Bay Express |
Kelly Vance |
03-27-2008 |
Reviews
Once Upon a Time in the Southwestnew
In The Hammer and Under the Same Moon, a middle-aged boxer and an illegal immigrant kid burn up Arizona highways and LA streets.
East Bay Express |
Kelly Vance |
03-20-2008 |
Reviews
