AltWeeklies Wire
The Duplass Brothers Give Horror Films a Hipster Twist in 'Baghead'new
The Strangers has already proven that people with bags over their heads are terrifying, but the Duplass Brothers--whose first feature film, The Puffy Chair, is already a cult favorit--have gone out of their way to explore the funny side of a faceless man wearing a brown paper bag.
New York Press |
Mark Peikert |
07-24-2008 |
Reviews
Epic 'Santago' Can Be Easily Seen and Handled on a Three-disc Versionnew
The term "greatness" is often heaped upon Satantango as a fail-safe. It's easier to kowtow to the heft of the thing, rather than make sense of it--that is, submitting its tale of shiftless folk in a rural Hungarian hamlet (deceitful members of a farm collective) to real critical scrutiny.
New York Press |
Armond White |
07-24-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Bela Tarr, Satantango
Standing Beside Philippe Petit Atop the World in 'Man on Wire'new
The biggest risk director James Marsh takes in Man on Wire, Marsh's documentary about Philippe Petit's daring tightrope walk between the Twin Towers in 1974, is in indulging Petit.
New York Press |
Simon Abrams |
07-24-2008 |
Reviews
The Quirky Adolescent Alienation of 'Boy A' Leaves a Lot Out of Life's Complexitynew
Over-stylized and under-thought, Boy A ruins its simple story of a young man in Manchester, England, trying to escape a grievous youthful error.
New York Press |
Armond White |
07-24-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Boy A, John Crowley
Nanette Burstein Pretends to Document Our Country's Soul in 'American Teen'new
Not exactly a humanist document, American Teen actually belongs to the Disaster Movie genre. It gathers a mixed group of high school students in their senior year—a preppie, a jock, a nerd, a princess (The Breakfast Club cliches)--and leers at their hostility to each other.
New York Press |
Armond White |
07-24-2008 |
Reviews
It's the 'End of the World' as Werner Herzog Knows Itnew
It takes some time to realize that what seems like a whimsical travelogue is in fact something much more. It is cliche, at this point, to refer to Herzog's work as "poetic." But then that ultimate and most cliched cliche becomes necessary: It's cliche because it’s true.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Emiliano Garcia-Sarnoff |
07-24-2008 |
Reviews
A New York Teen Tries Deals with Life in 'The Wackness'new
These days, if you were to drop stale slang terms like the adjective forms of "wack" or "dope," you'd probably sound, well, pretty wack.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
07-23-2008 |
Reviews
'Up the Yangtze' Reveals China's Growing Painsnew
The New China could well be the dominant power of the 21st century, but cinema frequently trains its cameras on the Old China.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
07-23-2008 |
Reviews
'Step Brothers' is a Good Joke with No Place to Gonew
This feels less like a story than just an amusing idea, having Reilly and Ferrell, two very funny guys, acting like pubescent 15-year-olds.
San Diego CityBeat |
Anders Wright |
07-23-2008 |
Reviews
'Step Brothers' Wastes Its Comedy Giantsnew
Even avoiding Semi-Talla-Anchor-Blades-of-Dewey comparisons, the jokes are old. But underneath the recycling is a sadder story of several very talented comic giants, including Judd Apatow, wasting their credentials on tired gags.
San Antonio Current |
G. Brian Davis |
07-23-2008 |
Reviews
'Step Brothers' Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly Perfect the Comedy of Retardationnew
The touched man-child is a comedy staple. Step Brothers marks the apotheosis of exploiting a repressed urge to laugh at brain-damaged antics. It is also the best film Ferrell and company have made since Anchorman.
Willamette Week |
Chris Stamm |
07-23-2008 |
Reviews
'Wanted and Desired' Takes Aim at Roman Polanski and the Culture of Celebritynew
Some critics will probably deride Wanted and Desired as pure hagiography, or worse yet, a legitimization of Polanski's crimes and subsequent fugitive status. But Zenovich's intentions circumnavigate any idol worship, as her refusal to err toward his guilt or exoneration makes clear.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Erik Morse |
07-23-2008 |
Reviews
Religion and Power Collide in 'Constantine's Sword'new
The film looks at several historical examples of a fused church and state and documents the marginalization, oppression and death such a merging produces--often in Christianity’s name.
Weekly Alibi |
Simon McCormack |
07-22-2008 |
Reviews
'Mamma Mia!' Cast Sings Much Evilnew
Like those freakish deep-sea creatures living happily in a toxic soup of methane brine miles beneath the water's surface, the cast of Mamma Mia! is unaware they're living in an equally noxious ABBA-rich environment.
Baltimore City Paper |
Violet Glaze |
07-22-2008 |
Reviews
'The Last Mistress' Frames Intense Performances with Relative Restrainnew
Although it's based on a scandalous 19th-century novel by Jules-Amedee Barbey d'Aurevilly, Catherine Breillat's film makes few concessions to the conventions of costume drama.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Sam Adams |
07-22-2008 |
Reviews
