AltWeeklies Wire
'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
'Death Race' is a Shaky, Blurry, Messy, Stupid Borenew
Death Race is a movie aimed squarely at -- beyond the stated gender and age constraints -- idiots. By idiots, we refer specifically to adults who find WWF wrestling "compelling."
Santa Fe Reporter |
Emiliano Garcia-Sarnoff |
08-28-2008 |
Reviews
Fortunately, 'Traitor' Has Don Cheadle's Moral Heftnew
Now that Traitor is done, it seems like puffing this package up with commercial viability also was a way of watering its premise down.
Charleston City Paper |
Jonathan Kiefer |
08-27-2008 |
Reviews
You'll Get Drunk Watching 'Bottle Shock'new
The story is perfect timing for our foodie-obsessed age, showing the backstory behind something we take for granted -- global wine culture -- while also delving into the finer points of winemaking, like the potential disaster of too much oxygen in producing a winning chardonnay.
Charleston City Paper |
Felicia Feaster |
08-27-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Randall Miller, Bottle Shock
'Elegy' Captures the Pathos of Love Lostnew
Elegy, based on the Philip Roth novel The Dying Animal, is a funeral song not just for a lost love, after all, but a lost man.
Baltimore City Paper |
Wendy Ward |
08-26-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Elegy, Isabel Coixet
Anna Faris Produces Her Way to Ditsy Comedic Successnew
The twist here is that Faris not only conceived of the idea but also produced the movie for Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Productions -- a feat sure to inspire legions of young women, who are rarely taken seriously in big-screen comedy, even a woman who is one of her generation's funniest actresses.
Baltimore City Paper |
Cole Haddon |
08-26-2008 |
Reviews
'The Longshots' Tosses an Incomplete Passnew
After a series of family vehicles, Ice Cube sticks to the all-too-familiar game plan of the underdog movie.
NOW Magazine |
Radheyan Simonpillai |
08-26-2008 |
Reviews
'Elegy' Deals with Issues That Actually Matternew
In a season dominated by comic book adaptations suitable for teenagers, along comes Elegy, the story of womanizing college prof David Kepesh, who gets more than he bargains for when he takes up with his ex-student, Consuela.
NOW Magazine |
Susan G. Cole |
08-26-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Elegy, Isabel Coixet
Steve Coogan Suffers the Slings and Arrows of Being a Dopey Shakespeare Hopefulnew
Coogan spends the film in a tug-of-war with the script; he's forced into some blatantly obvious humor, from the broad commercial parodies to the endless mangling of his character's consonant-heavy name. But he also maximizes the thinly veiled rage burbling under Marschz's veneer of undying optimism.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Shaun Brady |
08-26-2008 |
Reviews
'Father' is a Bittersweet Look Backnew
Dear old dad takes another left hook to the chin in When Did You Last See Your Father? -- well, not a hook so much as a series of jabs.
'Baghead': The Sacknessnew
An ingenue, a diva, a chucklehead, and a seemingly regular guy who turns out to be a chucklehead go into the woods to write a movie for their struggling-actor selves. It sounds like the setup for a bad joke, but in fact it's the premise of Baghead.
Washington City Paper |
Tricia Olszewski |
08-25-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Baghead, Jay and Mark Duplass
'The Rocker' and 'Hamlet 2': Stage Plightnew
The heroes of two new films struggle to find themselves—and an audience.
Washington City Paper |
Tricia Olszewski |
08-25-2008 |
Reviews
The Sly 'Baghead' Spoofs Itselfnew
In Baghead's opening scene, the Duplass Bros. seem to poke fun at the self-importance of their indie universe. However, they go further: This self-deprecation becomes part of the film's goof.
Tags: Baghead, Jay and Mark Duplass
German Climbers Philosophize in 'To the Limit'new
For this mountain climbing doc, Bavarian brothers Thomas and Alexander Huber opted into Yosemite's recent speed-climbing fad, which makes the Nose into a vertical racetrack.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
08-25-2008 |
Reviews
Patrick Creadon's Chilling Doc Proves the Economy is About to Implodenew
For a topic as inherently boring as economics, Creadon (who accomplished something similar with his doc Wordplay) has managed a creditable job of keeping our attention throughout I.O.U.S.A.
New York Press |
Mark Peikert |
08-25-2008 |
Reviews
