AltWeeklies Wire
'The Hurt Locker': Kathryn Bigelow's Ticket to the Oscarsnew
This film is a career best for Bigelow: tense, compressed, and often wordless for page after page of action. With the field opened up for 10 nominees this year, this movie has a lock on an Oscar nom.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
07-13-2009 |
Reviews
Harry Potter Franchise Hits its Stride in 'Half-Blood Prince'
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the most balanced Harry Potter film to come along, perhaps because the right combination of screenwriter and director has been firmly established, along with an appropriate team of special effects wizards and talented production crew.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
07-13-2009 |
Reviews
'Public Enemies' Takes Historical Liberties but is Still Captivatingnew
Michael Mann continues to be a master of stylistic crime drama. Public Enemies stands alongside his Heat, Collateral and Manhunter in the genre.
Tucson Weekly |
Bob Grimm |
07-08-2009 |
Reviews
'Moon' Could Have Been Great With a Better Directornew
In Moon, we have an interesting case of great acting and a smart story that's hampered only by some bad decisions coming from the top: cheesy and manipulative music, uninteresting cinematography and a failure to let the ideas speak for themselves.
Tucson Weekly |
James DiGiovanna |
07-08-2009 |
Reviews
'Summer Hours' is a Simple Film, but That's its Greatest Strengthnew
The Musee d'Orsay commissioned four directors to create films that feature both the gallery and living French treasure Juliette Binoche. Olivier Assayas' Summer Hours is the second in this series.
Boise Weekly |
Jeremiah Wierenga |
07-08-2009 |
Reviews
'Downloading Nancy' Interrogates Sacrifice in the Hyperdigital Zeitgeistnew
Swedish music video director Johan Renck's first feature is largely a meditation on metaphysical atmospheres -- the suffocating air of tract homes, the cold showers of sexual dysfunction, the liquid plasma of the sickly blue computer screen -- and one woman's compulsion for escape.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Erik Morse |
07-08-2009 |
Reviews
Sacha Baron Cohen Hunts for Narrow-Minded Bigots in 'Bruno'new
While so many public figures are deliberately shocking and offensive because they want us to join them in being small and mean and petty and tribal, Baron Cohen does the same thing but for the very opposite reasons. That is a good thing, and a thing very much worth celebrating -- and it's also outrageously funny to watch, too.
Charleston City Paper |
MaryAnn Johanson |
07-08-2009 |
Reviews
Norwegian Death Metal Doc 'Until the Light Takes Us' Aims High(brow)new
Norwegian death metal is a fascinatingly dark corner of the musician-as-fanatic landscape. Until the Light Takes Us is an attempt to create the definitive film on the subject, but directors Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell instead offer a passive, jumpy synopsis that's more artsy than insightful.
'The Hurt Locker' is the First Good Film About the Iraq Warnew
So, yes, someone finally made a decent feature about the Iraq War. Bigelow accomplishes that because she doesn't make it about the war at all, but rather about men whose incredibly stressful jobs put them smack in the war zone.
San Diego CityBeat |
Anders Wright |
07-08-2009 |
Reviews
'Public Enemies' Starts With a Bang & Ends With a Whimpernew
The first hour or so comes on like, well, gangbusters as Michael Mann sets up compelling scenes of bank theft and manhunt procedures. The script feints at overarching themes, such as the idea that neither Dillinger nor Purvis have a place among "modern" mobsters or feds, but the script leaves both men underdeveloped as characters.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
07-07-2009 |
Reviews
'Whatever Works' Hardly Worksnew
In addition to the film's skeevy May-December romance, Woody Allen displays breathtaking condescension to Southerners that makes him seem utterly parochial, despite his recent productions in Europe.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
07-07-2009 |
Reviews
'Moon' Hits Your Eye Like Old-School Sci-Finew
In a season of silly sci-fi films like Transformers, Moon's thoughtful approach proves inspiring. If we're not going back to the real moon anytime soon, how about launching a space program for serious films?
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
07-07-2009 |
Reviews
'Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone': C'mon, Dad, Give Me the Giant Battle-Bot!new
Evangelion 1.0 lacks the sophistication, darkness, and violence of Ghost in the Shell or Akira. It's a tamer work that may improve -- through releases 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 -- as Shinji starts to shave and possibly acts upon his hormonal urges.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
07-06-2009 |
Reviews
The Good Girl Returns in Jennifer Aniston's New Filmnew
This romantic comedy about an emotionally stunted saleswoman and her loopy stalker strains credibility.
Austin Chronicle |
Marjorie Baumgarten |
07-03-2009 |
Reviews
'Whatever Works': Confessions of a Cranky Misanthropenew
Though Larry David makes for a good Woody Allen avatar, consider our enthusiasm for Whatever Works curbed.
Austin Chronicle |
Marjorie Baumgarten |
07-03-2009 |
Reviews
