AltWeeklies Wire
If You Want a Nerve-Wracking Trip, Turn to 'Timecrimes'new
Writer/director Nacho Vigalondo's first feature film is that rarest of films: a movie about mystery that remains impenetrable even after its hand is played.
New York Press |
Simon Abrams |
12-11-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Nacho Vigalondo, Timecrimes
Movie Buzz: Alien Beingnew
Movie Buzz is a weekly film preview column. This week: Keanu Reeves in The Day the Earth Stood Still plus Nothing Like the Holidays, Delgo, and Doubt.
Metro Spirit |
Mariah Gardner |
12-11-2008 |
Movies
Clint Eastwood Casts Himself as a Nice Archie Bunker in 'Gran Torino'new
To insist that Eastwood's trite, B-movie storytelling is classical requires an excessive regard for junk. Gran Torino is a calculated throwback to All in the Family's topicality, plus a comic/tragic star vehicle for Eastwood to show off his late-career legend as a serious actor-auteur.
New York Press |
Armond White |
12-11-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino
'The Reader' Glazes Familiar Sexual-Awakening Story with Highbrow Affectationnew
This film should have been a comedy like Paul Verhoeven's Black Book, shaking up the calcified presumptions of quasi-Holocaust dramas. But it's also Oscar season and historically based, award-baiting mawkishness is no laughing matter.
New York Press |
Armond White |
12-11-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Stephen Daldry, The Reader
It's Hard to Take John Patrick Shanley's Devout 'Doubt' Seriouslynew
Problem is, Shanley examines faith (and doubt) while crafting what is essentially Broadway fodder.
New York Press |
Armond White |
12-11-2008 |
Reviews
Elliott Murphy's Second Actnew
The literate rocker comes home for a rare U.S. appearance.
New York Press |
David Freeland |
12-11-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Elliott Murphy
Ben Vida brings His International Noise Convention to Brooklynnew
Like a musical conjurer, Ben Vida coaxes a remarkable array of instruments to take on lives of their own and reveal their extraordinary songs. For his third full-length record under the moniker Bird Show, Vida continues his obsession with an exotic assortment of music makers.
New York Press |
Amre Klimchak |
12-11-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
W.: As Bad as Hoover?new
With six weeks to go before his exit and a longer period after that needed for reflection, it is too early to settle the big academic question of our time: Was George W. Bush as bad as Herbert Hoover?
Arkansas Times |
Ernest Dumas |
12-11-2008 |
Commentary
Steven Soderbergh's Che Opus is Indulgentnew
Out-perversing Gus Van Sant's Milk, Soderbergh makes a four-hour-plus biopic about a historical figure without providing a glimmer of charm or narrative coherence.
New York Press |
Armond White |
12-11-2008 |
Reviews
Remembering the Lessons of Harvey Milknew
As the 30th anniversary of his assassination approached last week, coupled with the opening of the new Sean Penn biopic on his life, it became clear that the lessons of Milk are being lost to the newest generation of the LGBT community.
Vermont's Iraqi Refugees Struggle to Rebuild Shattered Livesnew
In the last year, about 50 Iraqis have been resettled in the Burlington area, and their numbers are growing.
Seven Days |
Ken Picard |
12-10-2008 |
Immigration
How I Ended Up Taking My Cat in for Acupuncturenew
I've long been someone who sings popular songs to his cat, rewriting the lyrics around "kitty." But now I'm someone whose cat gets acupuncture, which I feel is an order of magnitude more ridiculous.
Willamette Week |
Ethan Smith |
12-10-2008 |
Culture
'The Day The Earth Stood Still' is Remote and Affectlessnew
Something's not right when a movie made in the aughts is cheesier than the 1950s movie it's a remake of, a movie famous for its iconic image of a Jiffy-Pop-style flying saucer settling down on the Mall in D.C. so that an alien named Klaatu can deliver a message to mankind.
Willamette Week |
Andy Davis |
12-10-2008 |
Reviews
Gift Guide: Coffee Table Books Galorenew
Here is a selection of books we found particularly creative or interesting, most of them new this year. While choosing, we kept one particular criterion in mind: The books couldn't just be beautiful dust collectors -- they had to be actually worth reading.
Creative Loafing (Charlotte) |
John Grooms |
12-10-2008 |
Shopping
Gift Guide: Books for Cooksnew
For the people in your life who love food, here are some picks for what to leave them under the Christmas tree.
Creative Loafing (Charlotte) |
Tricia Childress |
12-10-2008 |
Food+Drink
