AltWeeklies Wire
'The Damned United' is One Damned Entertaining Movie

In his portrayal of famed British soccer team manager Brian Clough, Michael Sheen solidifies his status as this generation's Laurence Olivier.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
10-05-2009 |
Reviews
'An Education' is an Absorbing and Evocative Exploration of Womanhood

Danish director Lone Scherfig impeccably captures her film's early '60s cold war British setting with glorious attention to detail.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
10-05-2009 |
Reviews
Michael Moore's Latest Doc Sticks it to 'the Rich' ... Sort Ofnew
Capitalism filled me with a sensation that's previously been foreign to the Michael Moore viewing experience: boredom. It's longer, sloppier and less interesting than his usual demagoguery.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Sean Burns |
10-05-2009 |
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
'The Invention of Lying' is High-Concept Done Rightnew

As a high-concept comedy, Invention gets to cover a lot of ground, from commercialism to religion and societal conventions. Fortunately, Gervais actually has insight into most of those issues, which means the film never gets overly sanctimonious.
Fast Forward Weekly |
Peter Hemminger |
10-01-2009 |
Reviews
Ricky Gervais Lands in Cloudcuckooland With 'Invention of Lying'new
Ricky Gervais, the film's star and co-writer/co-director, doesn't do philosophical scrutiny or hermeneutic analysis; he merely undermines religion using the glib condescension of Hollywood leftists who assume the only people who still believe in God live in fly-over America. A hostile new trend has begun.
New York Press |
Armond White |
10-01-2009 |
Reviews
'Zombieland' is Comic Goldnew

Flesh-eating monsters are still so popular that it's hardly surprising to see a comic action send-up of the genre like Zombieland. The fact that it's really damned good, on the other hand, is as welcome a surprise as a hidden cache of weapons in a post-zombie wasteland.
Fast Forward Weekly |
Jeff Kubik |
10-01-2009 |
Reviews
The Coen Brothers Clarify Their Jewishness -- Without Guiltnew
The Coens admit their own Jewishness the way their best recent films admit Americanness: with genuine feeling for the complexities, abundance and absurd conventions that give us our identity.
New York Press |
Armond White |
10-01-2009 |
Reviews
Ellen Page Whips it Good in Her Best Post-'Juno' Rolenew
After seeing Juno, my outraged teen daughter rightly asked, "Where is the girl's version of Ferris Bueller's Day Off?" Whip It steps into that void.
Michael Moore's Antics are Finally Justified in 'Capitalism'new
To summarize the sentiment fueling Michael Moore's latest agitprop, one need only quote Tony Montana: "You know what capitalism is? Gettin' fucked!"
'Capitalism': Love It or Leave It?new
If Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story teaches us one thing about the global economic crisis, it is how much the stunt-documentary gold standard has declined in value.
C-Ville Weekly |
Jonathan Kiefer |
09-30-2009 |
Reviews
'Zombieland' Gets a Little Horror in the Funniest American Comedy of the Year

There are plenty of folks who will peruse their local move listings, and -- whether due to assumptions about quality or a queasy stomach -- won't bother going past the first six letters of the title Zombieland. And that's a shame.
Salt Lake City Weekly |
Scott Renshaw |
09-29-2009 |
Reviews
'No Impact Man': What’s the Big To-Do About Doing With Less?new

Is No Impact Man a landmark documentary? Is the book a Walden for our time? Not really. Both, in a modest, agreeable fashion, tell us what we already know: We buy too much, we waste too much, and we're using up resources disproportionate to our presence on the planet.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
09-28-2009 |
Reviews
Coen Brothers Miss Rather than Hit With 'A Serious Man'

A Serious Man is not an awful movie, and it may well be a fantastic film for the audience that the Coens are speaking to.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
09-28-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: A Serious Man, The Coen Brothers
How Exactly is Diablo Cody's Update of the Rape-Revenge Shocker 'Feminist'?new
In the earlier rape-revenge movies, patriarchy was an evil to be overcome. In Jennifer's Body, on the other hand, an opening voice-over tells us that "hell is a teenaged girl"—or more precisely, the friendships between teenage girls. Cody claims that's feminist, but I must confess, I don't see it.
Chicago Reader |
Noah Berlatsky |
09-28-2009 |
Reviews