AltWeeklies Wire
Jonathan Miles' Epistolary Debut Gets Buried Under the Weight of its Own Baggagenew
Ultimately, Dear American Airlines is only as redeemable as its protagonist, which is to say, not very.
The Texas Observer |
Emily DePrang |
07-24-2008 |
Fiction
Olympic Marathon Runner Magdalena Lewy Boulet is Back on Tracknew
After failing to make the team in 2004, she had to start from scratch for this year's Olympic qualifier.
East Bay Express |
Kibby Kleiman |
07-24-2008 |
Sports
Gypsies, Tramps and Reeds Take the Stage as Balkan Bands Blow Upnew
Beyond seeking respite from mainstream songs, one reason Balkan-style music has gained such a following is that it makes you want to dance.
New York Press |
Linnea Covington |
07-24-2008 |
Music
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
Eddie Murphy's Skin Color -- Not His Movies -- Makes the Media Hate Himnew
By beautiful coincidence, the critical drubbing of Murphy's Meet Dave preceded controversy over the New Yorker magazines cover cartoon of Barack Obama as a terrorist-agent.
New York Press |
Armond White |
07-24-2008 |
Movies
Monterey Bay Wildlife Has Come Back This Year, but Will the Resurgence Last?new
Cooling currents have sparked a huge comeback for life in the Bay this year. But scientists say global warming could put an end to the extraordinary conditions that breathe new life into local waters.
Metro Silicon Valley |
Steve Hahn |
07-24-2008 |
Animal Issues
The Blasters' Phil Alvin Sorts Through the Unholy Mess They've Made of American Musicnew
Frankly, between his rapid delivery of music history, his mind that seems to operate faster than his mouth and his penchant for breaking into 19th-century songs, the passer-by would think Phil Alvin is a certified loon. But really, he has built himself into a musicologist through playing and mastering America's early styles and now exists at a level of musical awareness that seems baffling to the lay ear.
Metro Silicon Valley |
John Gentile |
07-24-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: The Blasters
Five Things to Love About Summer Foodnew
The summer eating season is in full swing. Here's what I eat to make the most of it.
Metro Silicon Valley |
Stett Holbrook |
07-24-2008 |
Food+Drink
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
Yonder Mountain String Band Keeps it Realnew
They may look like urban hipsters, but the Yonder Mountain String Band is countrified class.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Gabe Gomez |
07-24-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Faraquet Had Novel Ideas About what Guitars Can Do, but Don't Call it Math Rocknew
Of course they could play in odd time signatures. And, yes, they were, at times, willfully obtuse. But at the heart of every Faraquet song is an actual song.
Washington City Paper |
Brent Burton |
07-24-2008 |
Reviews
