AltWeeklies Wire
'Precious' is an Urban Drama Pressure-Cooker Steeped in Verite Realism
The intrinsic truth in this unforgettable drama outweighs any exploitation or politics that might attend such material. If you're looking for a gritty socially-conscious movie, this is it.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
11-02-2009 |
Reviews
'The Boys Are Back': Clive Owen Learns to Cook and Nurturenew
In the Oscar derby for Best Actor, is it better to die or to grieve? Clive Owen opts for the latter in this strained, sentimental adaptation of a memoir by widowed English journalist Simon Carr.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
10-05-2009 |
Reviews
'Disgrace' Faces the Facts of Post-Apartheid South Africanew
This film adaptation of J.M. Coetzee's brilliant 1999 novel looks the chaos and hatred of postapartheid South Africa squarely in the face, probing the terrible fallout from white denial and pride without patronizing blacks by caricaturing them as noble victims.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
09-25-2009 |
Reviews
'Amreeka' is Too Predictable to be Great, Too Broad to be Profoundnew
By keeping the tone impish, the characters humane and the issues personal, Amreeka explores post-9/11 Arab anxieties and injustices without condemnation or proselytizing. In fact, Dabis smartly puts the focus on sisterhood and family while tackling the obstacles to assimilation and acceptance.
Metro Times |
Jeff Meyers |
09-22-2009 |
Reviews
'Summer Hours': The Objects and the Affectionnew
Olivier Assayas' tastefully made family drama is compact and close, calm and collected.
Eugene Weekly |
Molly Templeton |
09-11-2009 |
Reviews
'The Time Traveler's Wife' is Rather Stupid -- but It's the Good Kind of Stupidnew
I never thought a movie about a guy trying to maintain a marriage while involuntarily time-traveling could possibly be worth squat.
Tucson Weekly |
Bob Grimm |
08-28-2009 |
Reviews
A Ho-Hum Predictability in 'Adam'new
"I'm not Forrest Gump, you know," deadpans Adam when Beth gifts him a box of chocolates. Unfortunately, Adam is a pedestrian film in which, protagonist's eccentricities aside, you pretty much know what you're going to get.
'Adam' is Pretty Schmaltzynew
The movie's trajectory is more that of a made-for-TV special than a feature, and its subplot concerning Beth's fraudulent father is completely extraneous.
Baltimore City Paper |
Jeff Niesel |
08-25-2009 |
Reviews
The Simple Drama of 'Lemon Tree' Makes for a Powerful Middle East Parablenew
The story, based on a real incident, reads like a fable. Paying attention strictly to the David vs. Goliath surface of it, viewers will be amply rewarded. But Lemon Tree has a number of subtle stories lurking just under the surface.
Weekly Alibi |
Devin D. O'Leary |
08-25-2009 |
Reviews
'The Time Traveler's Wife' Keeps a Light Onnew
This romance is based on a popular novel in which the comings and goings of a time traveler wreak havoc on his marriage.
Austin Chronicle |
Kimberley Jones |
08-20-2009 |
Reviews
'Tetro' Aspires to Opera but Plays Like a Power Balladnew
Francis Ford Coppola's latest is by no means as tragically ambitious as Youth Without Youth, thus it makes much less of a mess when it collapses under its own weight as Youth Without Youth does. In fact, what hampers Tetro is not its surfeit of ideas and narrative impenetrability but, rather, its insufficiency of thematic hooks and dramatic content.
Austin Chronicle |
Marjorie Baumgarten |
08-20-2009 |
Reviews
'The Time Traveler's Wife' Isn't Timeless, but it Works For Nownew
It might not be high art, but The Time Traveler's Wife is just what any sappy romantic could ask for.
Boise Weekly |
Jeremiah Robert Wierenga |
08-19-2009 |
Reviews
'One Day You'll Understand' Employs a Steely Form of Thoughtfulnessnew
In adapting Jerome Clement's book for the screen, Israeli director Amos Gitai is fully aware of the amount of restraint, denial, and dissociation that must be employed to survive a trauma the size of the Holocaust.
The Georgia Straight |
Mark Harris |
08-18-2009 |
Reviews
'Flame & Citron' Looks Over its Shoulder at the Nazi Occupation of Denmarknew
Even “good” wars are complicated. In director Ole Christian Madsen's Flame & Citron, the loyalties and motivations of citizens in Denmark during the Nazi occupation become so murky that the two title characters aren’t sure who can be trusted.
Pasadena Weekly |
Jana J. Monji |
08-17-2009 |
Reviews
'Summer Hours': Helene Doesn't Live Here Anymorenew
Three siblings must sell off their late mother's art-filled country house in the exquisite Summer Hours
SEE Magazine |
Paul Matwychuk |
08-13-2009 |
Reviews
