AltWeeklies Wire
Let There be Raganew
Films set in India and Pakistan offer some serious issues as well as the expected melodrama.
Orlando Weekly |
Steve Schneider and Jason Ferguson |
07-15-2005 |
Reviews
Forget Your R.S.V.P.new
The film’s sour tone, unremarkable direction, and bewildering characterizations of sexuality and race will probably not hurt the comedy's charm at the box office.
Austin Chronicle |
Kimberley Jones |
07-14-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: David Dobkin, Wedding Crashers
Lessons in Frigid Parentingnew
The documentary nature photography is so intimate, and the story of the penguins' mating is so carefully crafted into a sustained and satisfying narrative, that they become epic heroes: brave, if not fearless, and stalwart fools for love.
Austin Chronicle |
Marrit Ingman |
07-14-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Luc Jacquet, March of the Penguins
Young Malaise in Sharp Focusnew
Writer-director Bujalski in his micro-budget film shows a superb knack for capturing real moments (the stuff that happens in between all the big moments) and the residue of our half-fulfilled inclinations.
Austin Chronicle |
Marrit Ingman |
07-14-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Andrew Bujalski, Funny Ha Ha
Waterloggednew
Despite a dream cast, this Hollywood remake of a Japanese horror classic is all wet.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
07-14-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Dark Water, Walter Salles
Jumping-Off Pointsnew
This intersecting story that follows a half-dozen New Yorkers over the course of one long day to night is intellectually engaging and genuinely surprising, although not terribly risky.
Austin Chronicle |
Kimberley Jones |
07-14-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Chris Terrio, Heights
Christine's Worldnew
Performance artist Miranda July's feature-length debut is packed with arresting images, moments, and single lines of dialogue -- enough to earn the film top awards at Sundance and Cannes.
Austin Chronicle |
Kimberley Jones |
07-14-2005 |
Reviews
Gold Ticket Confectionnew
Burton and Depp's screen version of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s book is truer to the source material and generally splendid, artful, and often sinister, yet it doesn't completely displace the earlier screen version.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
07-14-2005 |
Reviews
Dream on Silly Dreamernew
This Florida Film Festival short-form documentary decries the gutting of the Walt Disney Company's hand-drawn animation division.
Orlando Weekly |
Steve Schneider |
07-14-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Dan Lund, Dream on Silly Dreamer
The Animation Shownew
The movie's eager young contributors don't have nearly enough ideas of a narrative nature to justify their tedious displays of technical virtuosity.
Orlando Weekly |
Steve Schneider |
07-14-2005 |
Reviews
Palindromesnew
Pointing filmmaker Todd Solondz back toward the salad days of his Welcome to the Dollhouse and Happiness, Palindromes paints a fearlessly perverse portrait of a 12-year-old girl who desperately wants to get pregnant.
Orlando Weekly |
Steve Schneider |
07-14-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Palindromes, Todd Solondz
Bird Brainednew
San Francisco's alternate-universe vibe pervades this documentary about Mark Bittner, a resident of the city's North Beach neighborhood who cares for some 45 conures that congregate in and around his cottage.
Orlando Weekly |
Steve Schneider |
07-14-2005 |
Reviews
The Children's Hournew
In Kore-eda's Nobody Knows (inspired by true events, it's said), the twilight zone of choice is modern-day Tokyo, where a quartet of siblings, none older than 12, putters around a small apartment, waiting for a mother who may never return.
Orlando Weekly |
Steve Schneider |
07-14-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Hirokazu Kore-eda, Nobody Knows
Wings Over Americanew
In nearly its every frame, Batman Begins is modern-day mythmaking of the grandest scale. And its only substantial failing is that it doesn't mind telling you so itself.
Orlando Weekly |
Steve Schneider |
07-14-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Christopher Nolan, Batman Begins
Desert of Despairnew
Iranian filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi's film captures the life of a cursed band of war orphans in a culture fraught with political, religious and ethnic clashes.
Orlando Weekly |
Lindy T. Shepherd |
07-14-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Bahman Ghobadi, Turtles Can Fly
