AltWeeklies Wire
Bad Cop to Good Cop: David Ayers Switches Teams
“End of Watch” is a gritty brief apologia from writer-director David Ayer for his less than complementary Los Angeles copsploitation films “Training Day” and “Harsh Times.”
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
09-18-2012 |
Reviews
Problem Childnew
Starring Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly and Ezra Miller as Kevin.
Boise Weekly |
George Prentice |
04-05-2012 |
Reviews
'In Darkness' finds humanity plumbing the sewers of Lvovnew
The darkness that pervades Agnieszka Holland's new film is figurative and physical. In Darkness (nominated to a Best Foreign Film Oscar) begins with a bungled burglary attempted under cover of night.
San Antonio Current |
Steven G. Kellman |
04-02-2012 |
Reviews
Robert De Niro Settles Down in a Travelogue Family Dramanew
Everybody's Fine is sort of like a square version of the more lauded recent Jack Nicholson vehicle About Schmidt, and its squareness is the main reason I prefer it.
The Memphis Flyer |
Chris Herrington |
12-07-2009 |
Reviews
Brothers Brings the War Homenew
Director Jim Sheridan's adaptation has a contemplative steadiness far more common in European films than American ones.
The Portland Mercury |
Alison Hallett |
12-07-2009 |
Reviews
Eastwood Examines a Chapter of LA's Sordid Past in 'Changeling'
Apart from a flashing neon light coda that extends the film 10 minutes too far, Eastwood's drama is an engrossing drama with a keen line of social commentary.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
10-20-2008 |
Reviews
Roger Spottiswoode's Western-Do-Gooder-in-the-Third-World Flick Lacks Heartnew
The script suggests that the whole point of the brutal Japanese invasion of China in the 1930s was the moral redemption of a cynical British journalist and a guilty American ex-army wife.
Baltimore City Paper |
Geoffrey Himes |
07-08-2008 |
Reviews
'The Children of Huang Shi' Offers a Middling Historical Dramanew
The film is a "based on a true story" movie that feels about nine degrees removed from what probably really did happen -- and that within those degrees was probably a more interesting story.
The Memphis Flyer |
Greg Akers |
07-07-2008 |
Reviews
Young Novelists Navigate Ambition and Their 20s in Coming-of-Age Flick, 'Reprise'new
Although it has its moments, for the most part it is a shopworn story of young, well-off people who confuse celebrity with greatness and suffering with an unsatisfactory job.
Baltimore City Paper |
Martin L. Johnson |
07-01-2008 |
Reviews
'Mongol' Paints a Historically Hazy but Kick-ass Picture of Genghis Khannew
Here's a brawny old-school epic to make the CGI tumult of 300, Alexander and Troy look like sissy-boy slap parties.
Nashville Scene |
Jim Ridley |
06-27-2008 |
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
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
'Roman de Gare' is a Story of Reversals and Revengenew
Claude Lelouch's Roman de Gare is full of deceitful characters, all unaware that they are making their way into a novel called God, the Other.
San Antonio Current |
Ashley Lindstrom |
06-25-2008 |
Reviews
Christophe Honore's Menage-a-trois Musical Hits All the Right Notesnew
The characters in Love Songs live life at such an animated pitch that you almost don't notice when they begin to sing.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Sam Adams |
06-24-2008 |
Reviews
'Mongol' Desperately Wants to be 'Braveheart'new
You can see these aspirations in every shot, but its meandering, anti-climactic story arcs and an unrealized main character handicap the movie from early on.
Baltimore City Paper |
Cole Haddon |
06-24-2008 |
Reviews
