AltWeeklies Wire
In Front of the Blue Curtain: Bad Cop Story Too Smarmy for Its Own Good
A melodramatic riff on the "Bad Lieutenant" corrupt cop theme that Abel Ferrara so eloquently nailed down for all eternity in 1992, "Rampart" is the blemished work of writer/director Oren Moverman and famed crime author James Ellroy.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
01-30-2012 |
Reviews
Passing Strange: Glenn Close Outdoes Streep
Glenn Close's muted, carefully nuanced portrayal of Albert Nobbs is a career-defining performance that commands the deepest regard...
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
01-30-2012 |
Reviews
Hammer Horror Time Daniel Radcliffe Goes Gothic
"The Woman in Black" is a minor key gothic spooky that feels like visiting with a long-lost friend thanks to its renowned Hammer films pedigree.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
01-30-2012 |
Reviews
Chaotic Nature Joe Carnahan Explores the Minds of the Walking Wounded
There’s a strand of “Moby Dick” that runs through director/co-writer Joe Carnahan’s wild and wooly tale of brutal survival in the Alaskan wilderness.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
01-23-2012 |
Reviews
Confusion: Steve McQueen is a Deceased Actor, Not an Accomplished Director
Director/co-screenwriter Steve McQueen makes half movies. The sophomore follow up to his over-praised 2008 debut film "Hunger," about Irish Republican Army leader Bobby Sands's prison hunger strike, attempts to disguise its lack of narrative rigor with an unsatisfying minimalist approach.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
01-18-2012 |
Reviews
Slap Happy: Soderbergh Knocks Off Tarantino
Proof positive that Steven Soderbergh can make a shamelessly fluffy action thriller, "Haywire’s” trump card is the estimable abilities of mixed-martial-arts-fighter-turned-actress Gina Carano.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
01-17-2012 |
Reviews
All Talk: Lynne Ramsay Can’t Commit to Horror
Forced, stultifying, and artificial beyond belief, "We Need to Talk About Kevin" is Scottish director Lynne Ramsay's off-key treatment of Lionel Shriver's novel.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
01-09-2012 |
Reviews
Nuri Bilge Ceylon Investigates The Impurity of Human Motivation
Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylon continues his minimalist yet universal exploration of society (in the meta sense of the word) with a fascinating police procedural that values story over plot and character over prejudice.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
01-09-2012 |
Reviews
Social Media Government
A social media mechanism that allows every American citizen to propose public policy (foreign
and domestic) and vote on such proposals, on the other hand, would effectively put every single politician out of work.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
01-02-2012 |
Commentary
A Remake by Any Other Name: David Fincher Takes One for the Team
David Fincher can do a great re-make. Now, let’s hope he never does one again.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
12-12-2011 |
Reviews
Crowd-Pleaser Cameron Crowe Does the Thing He Does
Cameron Crowe casts a heart-warming cinematic spell that will milk many a tear from its widespread target audience.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
12-12-2011 |
Reviews
Cole Smithey’s Worst & Best Films of 2011
This year’s 10 best films showed an exceptional amount of originality, rigor, and inventiveness. It’s with great pleasure that I share my favorite examples of why I keep returning to the cinema day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
12-12-2011 |
Movies
Cold War Spies: John le Carré's Novel Goes Full Tilt
International espionage during the Cold War period of the early ‘70s, as practiced by British MI6 double agents, is one very icy dish.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
12-05-2011 |
Reviews
Not that Steve McQueen: Sex-Addict Movie is a Half Effort
Director Steve McQueen makes half movies. The sophomore follow up to his over-praised 2008 debut film "Hunger," about Irish republican leader Bobby Sands's prison bound hunger strike, reveals a coincidental lack of narrative rigor disguised in an unsatisfying minimalist approach.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
11-28-2011 |
Reviews
Fiennes Does Shakespeare: Revenge Takes its Bloody Toll
Confucius: "Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves."
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
11-28-2011 |
Reviews
