AltWeeklies Wire
Six Animated Black-and-White Shorts Shed Some Light on Fearnew
Fear(s) of the Dark is a French-produced, 85-minute compilation of six animated shorts. Fear is the common denominator in these films; so too is "dark."
Pittsburgh City Paper |
Al Hoff |
02-02-2009 |
Reviews
Winter Walk: Lance Hammer's 'Ballast'new
A confident, if downbeat debut, Ballast eschews "indie" style for lean storytelling.
Pittsburgh City Paper |
Al Hoff |
02-02-2009 |
Reviews
Going Going, Back Back, in Rap History: 'Notorious'new
Maybe it’s not a work of sheer genius, but Notorious blows past all the recent tragedy-tinged pop music biopics.
Santa Barbara Independent |
D.J. Palladino |
02-02-2009 |
Reviews
'Transit' Aims for High Intrigue on a Low Budget, With Mixed Resultsnew
Shot on video and with minimal lighting, the film has a cheap aesthetic that it struggles to overcome. The plot doesn’t break out of the genre’s clichés. It’s a common case of a filmmaker’s ambition being greater than his means.
Montreal Mirror |
Malcolm Fraser |
01-30-2009 |
Reviews
Couscous de Coeur: 'The Secret of the Grain'new
The French-Tunisian director Abdellatif Kechiche is that rare thing at the movies these days: an intelligent humanist.
L.A. Weekly |
Scott Foundas |
01-30-2009 |
Reviews
'Waltz With Bashir'new
Ari Folman's surreal remembrance of Israel's 1982 war with Lebanon, ends on the most wrenching note imaginable, yet leaving the theater offers no relief to the audience. The real world only amplifies the movie's disheartening themes.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
01-28-2009 |
Reviews
Kill Skills: 'Taken'new
In Taken, Liam Neeson kicks so much ass. How much? Well, imagine the exact amount of ass-kicking you think is enough, plus even more. Now double it.
C-Ville Weekly |
Jonathan Kiefer |
01-28-2009 |
Reviews
Daydream Believer: 'Waltz With Bashir'new
Israeli filmmaker Ari Folman reconstructs a tragedy using animations and his own experiences as a grunt soldier.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Sam Adams |
01-27-2009 |
Reviews
'Outlander': Spaceman Won’t Share His Ray-Gun With Vikingsnew
I miss Arnold Schwarzenegger right about now, and so does this movie. Instead we have dour, scrawny Jim Caviezel, come down from the cross, as a spaceman who crashes in eighth-century Norway.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
01-26-2009 |
Reviews
Family, for Better or for Worse: Abdellatif Kechiche's 'The Secret of the Grain'new
Abdellatif Kechiche’s third feature is the slow-building saga of an Arab clan in the south of France.
Chicago Reader |
J.R. Jones |
01-26-2009 |
Reviews
Puppy Love Blooms at 'Hotel for Dogs'new
The kids are cute and the pooches are even more so in this latest addition to the doggie genre of the past year. Hotel For Dogs falls short of earning a loud bark, but still deserves a big paws-up for its animals-as-part-of-the-family theme.
Pasadena Weekly |
Lisa Miller |
01-26-2009 |
Reviews
'Defiance': Into the Woodsnew
Somewhere, lost under the posturing and pat plot points, something in Defiance probably reflects what actually happened. But not even the combined intensity of Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber can transform Defiance into a film that might do justice to the incredible story it hopes to tell.
Eugene Weekly |
Molly Templeton |
01-22-2009 |
Reviews
'Last Chance Harvey': Romance takes flight in Londonnew
The humor and the setbacks are small in Last Chance Harvey, accumulating — like life itself — slowly, then all at once.
Eugene Weekly |
Jason Blair |
01-22-2009 |
Reviews
Reading Is Magical!: Too Bad 'Inkheart' Is a Movienew
Inkheart is intent on letting you know that books are magically wonderful, and thusly shoots itself in the foot—you'll wish it would hurry up and end so you can go home and read.
The Portland Mercury |
Ned Lannamann |
01-22-2009 |
Reviews
Blood and Boredom: 'My Bloody Valentine 3-D'new
The first horror flick with the new 3-D technology looks cool, but the movie itself stinks.
Tucson Weekly |
Bob Grimm |
01-22-2009 |
Reviews
