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
'Eagle Eye': The Man Who Knew Too Littlenew
DJ Caruso's latest isn't like anything Alfred Hitchcock ever made (it's much too loud for that), but it does offer clear evidence that Caruso learned almost everything he knows about storytelling from the Master.
Baltimore City Paper |
Cole Haddon |
09-30-2008 |
Reviews
If Only 'Tropic Thunder' Were as Naughty as the P.C. Protesters Complainnew
Tropic Thunder arrives in theaters hyped, virally marketed and decreed by no less an authority than The New York Times as the naughtiest little studio release of the summer-movie season.
L.A. Weekly |
Scott Foundas |
08-18-2008 |
Reviews
'Tropic Thunder': When Satire Goes Badnew
Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Tom Cruise all play parodies of recognizable Hollywood types—the lunkhead, the coke fiend and the unscrupulous executive—but who exactly is Tom Cruise in the position to lampoon? This is a satire of movie-industry excess constructed by the very people made fat and happy by that industry.
Willamette Week |
Aaron Mesh |
08-13-2008 |
Reviews
Brendan Fraser Meets Another Mummy ... and Some Yetisnew
Based on The Mummy franchise alone, it would be real easy to hate Brendan Fraser ... but, damn if the dude isn't totally harmless and likeable.
The Portland Mercury |
Courtney Ferguson |
07-31-2008 |
Reviews
Stoner Movies: They're Not Just for Stoners Anymore!new
Yes, Pineapple Express a stoner flick, but rather than kowtow to the patently American genre, they've turned it on its haze-filled head by realizing that--whoa--many people don't find Cheech & Chong that funny
Philadelphia City Paper |
Drew Lazor |
07-31-2008 |
Reviews
Human Desire Becomes Almost Kinky In 'The Duchess of Langeais'new
If you've been feasting on a steady cinematic diet of superhero blockbusters this summer, this adaptation of Honore de Balzac's novel, directed by lesser known (in this country) French New Wave alumnus Jacques Rivette, is like switching to Melba toast after too many banana splits.
Baltimore City Paper |
Violet Glaze |
07-29-2008 |
Reviews
Heath Ledger Cements His Legend Playing Nemesis to Christian Bale's Gotham City Heronew

What a brooding pleasure it is to return to Nolan's Gotham City -- if pleasure is the right word for a movie that gazes so deeply and sometimes despairingly into the souls of restless men.
L.A. Weekly |
Scott Foundas |
07-18-2008 |
Reviews
Heath Ledger's Joker is No Jokenew
Aside from Ledger, The Dark Knight's other huge star is the IMAX screen on which it should be seen.
San Diego CityBeat |
Anders Wright |
07-16-2008 |
Reviews
Holy Bummer, Batmannew

Why so serious? Maybe because Heath Ledger's dead.
Willamette Week |
Aaron Mesh |
07-16-2008 |
Reviews
Guillermo del Toro Goes to Hell and Backnew
The point is fun: In any other movie, it'd be a sign that things had gone seriously awry if a red demon and a blue talking fish got together, drank too much Tecate, and started slurring out a drunken duet, but in Hellboy II: The Golden Army, it kind of makes sense.
The Portland Mercury |
Erik Henriksen |
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
'Hancock', America's Low-rent Superhero, Just in Time for the Recessionnew
Even bearing in mind the conventional wisdom that superman movies keep coming back to cheer us through hard times, I'm not clear whether Hancock is meant to be a representative of the homeless, a midcareer-burnout case or a troubled brother from another planet.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
07-07-2008 |
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
Rectum? Will Smith Damn Near Killed 'Emnew

I had hoped that Hancock would be a departure, that it might restore some of Smith's Fresh Prince swagger, but instead it's the most explicit demonstration yet of the wallowing that has drained a superstar of his powers.
Willamette Week |
Aaron Mesh |
07-02-2008 |
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