AltWeeklies Wire
ABBA's Pop Goes Head-to-head with the Darker Rock of 'Lou Reed's Berlin'new
Both Mamma Mia! and Lou Reed's Berlin reveal what impact pop music has on the aesthetics and sensibilities of filmmakers, pointing to a bigger issue: What meanings do people take from pop music?
New York Press |
Armond White |
07-17-2008 |
Reviews
Roman Polanski Finally Gets His Due in This Penetrating Documentarynew
Polanski, in life, has been as fascinatingly enigmatic as his films, with a personal back-story capable of trumping even his most bizarre fictions, and now it's all dredged up in Marina Zenovich’s HBO documentary.
New York Press |
Felicia Feaster |
07-10-2008 |
TV
Brendan Fraser Gets in Your Face in 'Journey to the Center of the Earth'new
While the actual meat of the film features at least one spectacular sequence involving a chasm and floating magnetic rocks, the rest is marred by badly conceived 3-D effects.
New York Press |
Mark Peikert |
07-10-2008 |
Reviews
Guillermo Del Toro's 'Hellboy II' is All About Rock-hard, Right-handed Self-pleasurenew
The movie is lax on personal expression, simply a spook-the-kids, psyche-the-hipsters carnival.
New York Press |
Armond White |
07-10-2008 |
Reviews
'The Exiles' Presents a Regrettably Ignored View of L.A. Life and American Historynew
Mackenzie's sparkling, moody black-and-white images of what might be called the Native American Diaspora (following a generation of Indians who moved off the reservation and migrated to post-war Los Angeles), depict a classic American story of aspiration and tragedy. It is beautiful and devastating.
New York Press |
Armond White |
07-10-2008 |
Reviews
The People 'Holding Trevor' (Back) are His Two Best Friendsnew
Strangely, however, the friendship between Andie, Jake and Trevor is what separates Holding Trevor from the rest of the mediocre gay movie pack.
New York Press |
Mark Peikert |
07-03-2008 |
Reviews
Pining for Hunter S. Thompson May Do More Harm Than Goodnew
Part hagiography, part head trip, Gonzo stitches together the Thompson legacy courtesy of some surprising high/low sources.
New York Press |
Felicia Feaster |
07-03-2008 |
Reviews
'The Wackness' and 'Gunnin' for That #1 Spot' Achieve Emotional Resonancenew
Neither is a special effects extravaganza, but they stir emotion by emphasizing the human scale of what movies can show.
New York Press |
Armond White |
07-03-2008 |
Reviews
Will Smith's 'Hancock' Brazenly Embraces the Post-racial Strategy of the Obama Campaignnew
Movie star Will Smith is also a political figure. His big screen exploits reflect the way we think about race, masculinity, humor, violence and fantasy.
New York Press |
Armond White |
07-03-2008 |
Reviews
The Homeless World Cup Gets Mainstream Exposure in 'Kicking It'new
The popularization of sports documentaries in recent years has allowed for the rise of a new genre dealing exclusively with fringe athletic pursuits, and the appeal of Kicking It falls between the intensity of furious quadriplegics in Murderball to the full-grown geeks reigning over the arcade world in King of Kong.
New York Press |
Eric Kohn |
06-26-2008 |
Reviews
Hollywood's Liberal Elite Builds the Dalton Trumbo Mythnew
The one-word title is suitably mythic since Trumbo himself spent the latter years of his career creating a mythology around his victimization by the post-WWII House Un-American Activities Committee and Hollywood's eventual enforcement of a blacklist.
New York Press |
Armond White |
06-26-2008 |
Reviews
Catherine Breillat Proves She's More Than a Porno-polemicistnew
As if to legitimize her unorthodox approach, the period drama of The Last Mistress brings Breillat into the haughty realm of Choderlos de Laclos' Les Liaisons Dangereuses, the infamous (often adapted) 18th-century novel of sexual gamesmanship as psychological and political intrigue.
New York Press |
Armond White |
06-26-2008 |
Reviews
Werner Herzog's Gross 'Encounters'new
In his latest attempt to capture visual wonder, Herzog finds the quirky; but it's not that amazing.
New York Press |
Armond White |
06-19-2008 |
Reviews
'Brick Lane' Feels More Like an Alley Thanks to Sloppy Scriptnew
Brick Lane revels in confrontations, but they burst forth without any build. Fewer incendiary incidents and a red pencil applied to the script might have freed the good movie that's buried somewhere beneath layers of unearned emotional conflict.
New York Press |
Mark Peikert |
06-19-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Brick Lane, Sarah Gavron
'Get Smart': Bomb Threatnew
Steve Carrell and Anne Hathaway look great together -- too bad it's in a pointless TV remake.
New York Press |
Armond White |
06-19-2008 |
Reviews
