AltWeeklies Wire
Philip Roth Looks Back on a Legendary Career, and Forward to His Final Actnew
The backward-looking, documentary storytelling impulse in Indignation is a continuation of a growing vein of Roth's work in the past decade, books obsessed and possessed by American history.
Las Vegas Weekly |
John Freeman |
09-19-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
The Botox Bluesnew
After the the Endoscopy Center's hepatitis C scare, the way we use needles draws attention to the wrinkle industry.
Las Vegas Weekly |
Stacy J. Willis |
09-11-2008 |
Culture
The Coen Brothers' Latest is an Entertaining Triflenew
Burn After Reading's madcap tone recalls Coen projects like The Big Lebowski and O Brother, Where Art Thou?, although it doesn’t reach the heights of sublime absurdity that those movies (especially Lebowski) achieved.
Las Vegas Weekly |
Josh Bell |
09-11-2008 |
Reviews
Martin Amis Favors Language Over Logic to Make Sense of 9/11new
It's not surprising that a writer known more for his turns of phrase than his political acumen turned in The Second Plane, an aesthetically pleasing work of weak analysis.
Las Vegas Weekly |
Stacy J. Willis |
09-11-2008 |
Nonfiction
Forget Palin's Shortcomings as a VP Pick ... Who's Going to Play Her in the Movie?new
Barack Obama exudes the cool glamour of a movie star, but all he's promising the masses is hope and change. Palin, on other hand, is promising drama. Wacky, quirky, fish-out-of-water drama. And right now, America's Got Talent and CSI reruns aren't cutting it.
Las Vegas Weekly |
Greg Beato |
09-11-2008 |
Commentary
'Baghead' is a Sometimes Awkward Marriage of Horror and Talkinessnew
Brothers Mark and Jay Duplass made one of the foundational movies of the so-called "mumblecore" movement with 2005's The Puffy Chair, and their follow-up, Baghead, finds them struggling to break out of what's become a somewhat stifling and limiting label.
Las Vegas Weekly |
Josh Bell |
09-05-2008 |
Reviews
It Seems Almost Cruel to Criticize 'The Little Red Truck'new
The Missoula Children's Theatre is undoubtedly a worthwhile organization that provides a valuable service to thousands of children, but that doesn't mean it's fun to sit through what amounts to a 90-minute advertisement for the company.
Las Vegas Weekly |
Josh Bell |
09-05-2008 |
Reviews
Vegas Won't Host a Political Convention Any Time Soonnew
Las Vegas has all the conveniences a political convention requires, for sure, but it also has other conveniences that deter the DNC or RNC from setting up here, like strip clubs, poker tables and nearby brothels.
Las Vegas Weekly |
Richard Abowitz |
09-05-2008 |
Commentary
I Posed Today: How I Came to Bare Some an Open Playboy Auditionnew
I was surfing Playboy.com, looking for writing opportunities, and I stumbled upon its national casting call instead. It just so happened that the next stop was Vegas. I took the synchronicity as a sign from the Writing Gods. "This is your chance!" they whispered as a star on the website's map blinked on Vegas.
Las Vegas Weekly |
C. Moon Reed |
09-05-2008 |
Culture
'Transsiberian' Uses its Atmosphere to Great Effectnew
The film uses expert sleight-of-hand to juggle drugs, murder and various shades of villainy at the exact right times. Even if you've seen lots of movies of this type and can figure out exactly what's going to happen, Anderson takes great pleasure in the pure form and execution of it.
Las Vegas Weekly |
Jeffrey M. Anderson |
08-28-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Brad Anderson, Transsiberian
'Elegy' is Remarkably Dour and Unsexynew
Based on the novel "The Dying Animal" by Philip Roth, Elegy is meditative and glum, but not quite as profound as its tone seems to suggest it is.
Las Vegas Weekly |
Josh Bell |
08-28-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Elegy, Isabel Coixet
'Traitor' is a Popcorn Thriller in Political-Drama Clothingnew
Nachmanoff, working from an idea by Steve Martin (yes, that Steve Martin), does try to address some serious questions about the religious motivations behind terrorist acts, but in the end he's more concerned with gotcha moments than with intellectual discourse. That's not necessarily a bad thing.
Las Vegas Weekly |
Josh Bell |
08-28-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Jeffrey Nachmanoff, Traitor
What's in a Skin Color? The Perils of Ethnic Impersonation in Moviesnew
Why is it that Robert Downey Jr. is celebrated for his clever meta-performance in Tropic Thunder, while Ben Stiller is attacked for denigrating a whole group of people in the same film? The line between respect and offense in cases like these is razor-thin, and it's not always easy to see where it should be drawn.
Las Vegas Weekly |
Josh Bell |
08-22-2008 |
Movies
The Foreclosure Crisis Meets Homelessness in the Nevada Desertnew
By matching homeowners who have empty houses with homeless folks who need shelter, Calvin Leslie feels he's doing Las Vegas a service while making himself a little money. Some neighbors disagree.
Las Vegas Weekly |
Tovin Lapan |
08-22-2008 |
Housing & Development
'Vicky Cristina Barcelona' is an Invigorating Trip Abroadnew
The fourth (and apparently final) film in what might be called Woody Allen's European period, this is the closest to what fans of his classic relationship comedies keep hoping the writer-director will produce again. It's a light, entertaining and romantic movie without the strained zaniness of 2006's Scoop, filled with mild humor, some wonderfully drawn characters and a lovely Spanish setting.
Las Vegas Weekly |
Josh Bell |
08-15-2008 |
Reviews
