AltWeeklies Wire
In 'Noah's Arc' Movie, We Meet the Black Carrie Bradshawnew
The LOGO show makes the jump to the big screen -- showing a completely different African-American experience.
New York Press |
Armond White |
10-23-2008 |
Reviews
'Max Payne' Prefers Good Looks to Smartsnew
Gorgeously shot as a color noir (though the colors are more likely to run the gamut from gray to black than red to gold), Max Payne is one of those ludicrous action movies based on a videogame that's all style and little substance.
New York Press |
Mark Peikert |
10-23-2008 |
Reviews
Charlie Kaufman Turns to Philip Seymour Hoffman to Tackle His Neurosesnew
Entirely too "clever," this story about an upstate New York theater director parades all of Kaufman’s neuroses: sexual frustration, creative surfeit (not a creative block), body hatred and celebrity paranoia. What's missing is universality; that's swallowed up by Kaufman's intellectual egomania.
New York Press |
Armond White |
10-23-2008 |
Reviews
Softcore Porn Leads to Love in the Strange New Romcom 'Good Dick'new
Whatever success Good Dick may achieve as a film is almost entirely thanks to Jason Ritter's performance. Without his charisma and boy-next-door appeal, the movie would be just a cautionary tale about not using Netflix.
New York Press |
Mark Peikert |
10-16-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Good Dick, Marianna Palka
'What Just Happened?' Proves Barry Levinson Still Can't Directnew
In addition to getting wrong the proverbial Hollywood shibboleths (about violence, pets, etc.), Levinson and screenwriter Art Linson fake concern over selling out when everybody knows it is the way of things: Our tabloid media specializes in celebrating it.
New York Press |
Armond White |
10-16-2008 |
Reviews
Oliver Stone Doesn't Settle for Easy Ridicule, He Looks Deep Inside Bush's Soulnew
The hard work of Stone’'s new film about George Bush -- that uses the synecdoche title W. -- is to avoid impertinence and rebuild the concepts of fairness and empathy while examining the Bush enigma.
New York Press |
Armond White |
10-16-2008 |
Reviews
Guy Ritchie Manages to Upend Thuggish Machismo in 'RocknRolla'new
Guy Ritchie didn't make the mistake of putting his wife Madonna in RocknRolla; but his latest gangster film queers a sense of Macho to match Madonna's sense of Slut. Hopefully, Ritchie's fantasy won't roll back human progress; but this time it's shaped an unexpectedly enjoyable movie.
New York Press |
Armond White |
10-09-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Guy Ritchie, RocknRolla
Mike Leigh Gets at the Heart of Joy and Painnew
Like Rachel at the Wedding, Happy-Go-Lucky latest suggests that life goes beyond partisan politics and that politics is what happens moment to moment, day by day. Both are authentically social visions, and they're sure to rank as the best films this year.
New York Press |
Armond White |
10-09-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky
'Ballast': An African-American Indie Film Fantasy Made for White Liberalsnew
Director-writer Lance Hammer shows a black Mississippi family torn apart by a double suicide attempt, drugs and alienation. But you have to see through these ludicrous black phantoms to the actual white middle-class fantasies at the film's core.
New York Press |
Armond White |
10-02-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Ballast, Lance Hammer
The Gospel According to Bill Mahernew
A documentary hoax readymade for the bitter barroom politico.
New York Press |
Armond White |
10-02-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Larry Charles, Religulous
'Blindness' is Just Apocalypse Pornnew
Who'd guess that Miracle at St. Anna wasn't the worst film of the week? That honor goes to Fernando Meirelles' Blindness.
New York Press |
Armond White |
10-02-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Fernando Meirelles, Blindness
Jonathan Demme Succeeds with Anne Hathaway in His Family-Chaos Filmnew
Avoiding the hip nihilism of repugnant family dramas like Margot at the Wedding and Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Demme offers compassion.
New York Press |
Armond White |
10-02-2008 |
Reviews
Keira Knightley Laces Up Her Corset Againnew
Nancy Mitford's hilarious novel The Pursuit of Love has a young girl as its narrator who lives with relatives because her mother -- dubbed The Bolter -- couldn't resist the siren call of amour for the hearthside. Alas, The Duchess features the duller version of that story.
New York Press |
Mark Peikert |
09-25-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Saul Dibb, The Dutchess
Clark Gregg Chokes on 'Choke'new
Gregg embraces Chuck Palahniuk's faux nihilism at the expense of his characters.
New York Press |
Eric Kohn |
09-25-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Choke, Clark Gregg
Soldiers on Leave Have the Usual Wacky Road Trip Adventures in 'The Lucky Ones'new
The only movie genre more exhausted than the road-trip movie is the coming-home movie.
New York Press |
Mark Peikert |
09-25-2008 |
Reviews
