AltWeeklies Wire
Hollywood Product: Cinematic Equivalent to Lump of Coalnew
Based on John Grisham's Skipping Christmas, the movie could gain some depth by revealing characters' motivations the way the book does instead of using dialogue simply as a break between slapstick bits.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Heather Kuldell |
12-02-2004 |
Reviews
Blues Revue Is a Mixed Bag of Bluesnew
The blues are a changeable thing, made up of equal parts ecstasy and despair. But the combination packaged into a 106-minute form makes for an odd laughter and tears rhythm.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Felicia Feaster |
12-02-2004 |
Reviews
I Am David Chronicles a Journey That Takes a Preachy Turnnew
Based on Anne Holm's 1963 novel North to Freedom, I Am David takes a taut tale and gradually deflates it. David begins as a compelling escape thriller, but as the story becomes more symbolic, it takes on schmaltzy baggage that brings it heavily to the ground.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
12-02-2004 |
Reviews
Tags: Paul Feig, I Am David
Closer Offers a Stylish, Superficial Take on Modern Relationshipsnew
Closer is all very saucy and sharp-witted, but it isn't exactly a startling, incisive read on modern relationships. An NPR-styled date film, it's meant to provoke moderate uneasiness and enough heated conversation to last through a drink and an appetizer.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Felicia Feaster |
12-02-2004 |
Reviews
Tags: Mike Nichols, Closer
Four to Tangonew
Two couples, multiple infidelities, and countless lies: The math doesn't add up in Mike Nichols' latest male-female equation.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
11-30-2004 |
Reviews
Tags: Mike Nichols, Closer
Hail Snail Mailnew
In this film about a father and son delivering a mail route in the mountains of South Hunan lurks a stone-faced reverence for civil service that may seem downright bizarre to most Americans.
Misdirectednew
The Spanish director's latest is a movie about a movie, which Almodóvar addresses with his usual strengths -- zest, humor, and sharp visual beauty -- as well as his weaknesses, including the failure to acknowledge the gravity of his subject.
New Times Broward-Palm Beach |
Melissa Levine |
11-30-2004 |
Reviews
Ghost in the Machinistnew
Cadaverous industrial worker Trevor Reznik is prone to temper tantrums, brooding, inhabiting colorless environments, and staying awake all night as
he operates heavy equipment that may, among other things, be used to drive nine-inch nails into solid objects.
East Bay Express |
Luke Y. Thompson |
11-30-2004 |
Reviews
Diva Downnew
The joy of Callas Forever is watching Fanny Ardant and Jeremy Irons bitch at each other as only a prima donna and a full-blown queen could.
East Bay Express |
Gregory Weinkauf |
11-30-2004 |
Reviews
But What About Patty?new
The film used to be known as Neverland: The
Rise and Fall of the Symbionese Liberation Army. That is the more accurate title because the director doesn't pay enough attention to the group's captive, Patty Hearst.
East Bay Express |
Melissa Levine |
11-30-2004 |
Reviews
Skip Itnew
Christmas With the Kranks offers an obnoxiously condescending portrait of Regular People who live in the red states and wouldn't think of getting blue at Christmastime.
Cleveland Scene |
Robert Wilonsky |
11-29-2004 |
Reviews
No Dicking Aroundnew
Bill Condon, faithful to several texts about Alfred Kinsey, brings the man to life in this affectionate, warm, and surprisingly funny movie -- at least, till the hordes of righteousness descend upon the famous sex researcher like locusts on a fertile field.
Cleveland Scene |
Robert Wilonsky |
11-29-2004 |
Reviews
Tags: Bill Condon, Kinsey
An Epic Story Turns Human, Falliblenew
This broad, bold, and ambitious film by Oliver Stone presents itself as a fairly straightforward endeavor, but its rhythms quickly go strange, while its participants hobble and flail about, remarkably out of sync yet hell-bent on not falling down, no matter what, for nearly three hours.
Cleveland Scene |
Gregory Weinkauf |
11-29-2004 |
Reviews
Tags: Oliver Stone, Alexander
Do Not Operate Heavy Machinerynew
Christian Bale lost 63 pounds in order to play this unsettling title character, a man who maybe has shed his sanity along with his weight.
Austin Chronicle |
Marjorie Baumgarten |
11-28-2004 |
Reviews
Tags: Brad Anderson, The Machinist
The Sounds of Musicnew
Admiring documentary about Robert Moog, the inventor of the music synthesizer, reveals little that hasn't been heard before.
Austin Chronicle |
Marjorie Baumgarten |
11-28-2004 |
Reviews
Tags: Hans Fjellestad, Moog
