AltWeeklies Wire
Between Heaven and Hellnew
Adapted from Alan Moore’s groundbreaking DC/Vertigo comic title, Constantine is sure to divide the series’ most rabid fans, but those who can set aside their preconceptions will discover one of the more artfully designed comic-based films in some time.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
02-18-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Francis Lawrence, Constantine
All the World Is Not a Stagenew
Despite some bright spots in this woefully earnest modern romance, Bigger Than the Sky is awash in the obvious and exhibits a cloying adulation of theatre folk.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
02-18-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Al Corley, Bigger Than the Sky
A Dog Is a Girl's Best Friendnew
There are no big surprises in this family picture, but neither is the admonition against working with children and animals appropriate here.
Austin Chronicle |
Marjorie Baumgarten |
02-18-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Wayne Wang, Because of Winn-Dixie
Shylock Contextualizednew
Al Pacino stars as Shylock in this film rendition of Shakespeare's thorniest comedy.
Austin Chronicle |
Marjorie Baumgarten |
02-11-2005 |
Reviews
Animé Epic Tells Old Storynew
With its deeply humanistic take on the Pinocchio story filtered through the prism of cyberpunk animé, this film is a heady, dense metaphor for everything from the struggle for self-knowledge and personal growth to the aging process.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
02-11-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: A Tree of Palme, Takashi Nakamura
Move Over, Hong Kongnew
The mass release of this top-notch Thai action film should have American audiences grinning ear to ear and shore to shore.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
02-11-2005 |
Reviews
Hidden Wondersnew
The strange artwork and life of primitivist Harry Darger is given dimension by master documentarist Jessica Yu.
Austin Chronicle |
Marrit Ingman |
02-11-2005 |
Reviews
Don't Go Into the Closetnew
Although the film has the look and feel of an old dark house horrorthon, there’s simply not much else to it beyond a brief and unrealized subplot about all those missing kids emblazoned on the back of your morning milk being the victims of Boogey-napping.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
02-11-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Boogeyman, Stephen T. Kay
Eastwood Delivers a Knockoutnew
Glorious performances and Eastwood's confident direction result in a film that transcends the rules of its genre and shows us, with an unvarnished simplicity, how human beings struggle to come to terms with the unthinkable.
Austin Chronicle |
Steve Davis |
02-05-2005 |
Reviews
Pot Calling the Tea Kettle Blacknew
With this period piece set in 1950 London, British filmmaker Mike Leigh delivers his best picture in some time, and with it he seemingly aims to provoke conversation about the ethics of abortion.
Austin Chronicle |
Marjorie Baumgarten |
02-05-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Mike Leigh, Vera Drake
Wedding Bell Bluesnew
Inexplicable Fantasy Romances for the Harried Modern Gal 101 is a more fitting title for this shameless mediocrity.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
02-05-2005 |
Movies
Tags: Clare Kilner, The Wedding Date
An Unsentimental Educationnew
Almodóvar delivers the finest movie of his career: a film noir melodrama that maybe should be called film sanguine.
Austin Chronicle |
Marjorie Baumgarten |
02-05-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Pedro Almodóvar, Bad Education
Shadow Playnew
There's a certain majesty to German director Boll's style of filmmaking: a freedom from art, talent, skill of any formal kind, and the sheer pigheadedness to keep going at any cost.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
02-05-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Uwe Boll, Alone in the Dark
Viewing the Sexual Predator as a Human Beingnew
Writer-director Nicole Kassell’s debut film is a lean drama anchored by subject matter which, although difficult, remains distantly disquieting yet never challenging.
Austin Chronicle |
Marjorie Baumgarten |
01-13-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Nicole Kassell, The Woodsman
Horsing Aroundnew
Just as the titular zebra, Stripes, is not really a horse of a different color, this kids' picture is not a movie of a different stripe.
Austin Chronicle |
Marjorie Baumgarten |
01-13-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Frederik Du Chau, Racing Stripes
