AltWeeklies Wire
Run Jackass, Runnew
This Farrelly brothers comedy purports to have a message about treating the intellectually challenged as regular human beings, which is about as disingenuous as a comedy about seeing past a person’s body size that stars Gwyneth Paltrow in a fat suit.
Austin Chronicle |
Marjorie Baumgarten |
12-21-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Barry W. Blaustein, The Ringer
Girls, Interruptednew
Well, we’re not in Chicago anymore, or even its soundstage approximation, but that hasn’t stopped Oscar-nominated director Rob Marshall from fashioning another epic spectacle out of two squabbling women in (a sort-of) show business.
Austin Chronicle |
Kimberley Jones |
12-21-2005 |
Reviews
Tags: Memoirs of a Geisha, Rob Marshall
The Life of a Persian Polymathnew
Houston-based, Iranian-born filmmaker Mashayekh relates the story of the pioneering 11th-century mathematician, astronomer, and poet, and reminds Western audiences that there’s more to Iran and the Middle East than suicide bombers and hummus.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
12-21-2005 |
Reviews
See Dick and Jane Run Agroundnew
The original version of this comedy was little countercultural, a lot class-conscious, and a touch subversive; this remake is all farce when what is needed is satire.
Austin Chronicle |
Marjorie Baumgarten |
12-21-2005 |
Reviews
No Bargain at Any Pricenew
This unasked-for sequel fuses the original concept with the well-worn formula of the family-vacation romp.
Austin Chronicle |
Marrit Ingman |
12-21-2005 |
Reviews
Yule's Tidenew
A critic searches the season's discs for gems and finds that Elton John has better taste in Christmas pals than Martha Stewart.
The Butt of the Jokenew
At least Home Depot didn't accuse Bob Dougherty of shoplifting after he had to leave the store with a toilet seat stuck to his backside.
Westword |
Patricia Calhoun |
12-21-2005 |
Commentary
Tags: Larry Borovay, www.gotglued.com
Black Biker Club Pays Tribute to Fallen Presidentnew
Some might have viewed the Suns of Darkness as a bunch of "black rednecks," but the bikers emphasized family, job and religion.
Westword |
Luke Turf |
12-21-2005 |
Recreation
Tags: motorcycle, Alvin Maxie
Catch Them If You Cannew
Steven Spielberg's dour tale of assassination gets lost in a morass of moral ambivalence.
The Village Voice |
J. Hoberman |
12-21-2005 |
Reviews
Hear What We Hearnew
Don't waste your time at the local listening station comparing 20 versions of "Deck the Halls." The critics have already done that for you (ugh) to recommend the best seasonal albums of 2005.
Dallas Observer |
John Nova Lomax and Sam Machkovech |
12-21-2005 |
Reviews
Seminal Syntaxnew
Having grown sick of impenetrable jargon, a rock critic pledges from this day forward not to describe anything as "a seminal, coruscating slab of minimalist pop."
Dallas Observer |
Rob Harvilla |
12-21-2005 |
Music
Tags: Various Artists, vocabulary
Justice Delayed for Inmates in Need of Medicationnew
For the crime of driving with a suspended license, a 45-year-old woman with lupus lost the ability to walk.
Dallas Observer |
Matt Pulle |
12-21-2005 |
Crime & Justice
The Hanukkah Songsnew
When it comes to music, Jewish songwriters and performers have played no small part in fostering confusion over the question of whether Hanukkah is the Jewish Christmas.
Free Love and Enterprise in San Francisconew
Peace and wow gets San Francisco an image to sell to tourists, but the threat of bogusness has always hung over the city's famed countercultures.
Super-Hyped Infection Stirs Fearnew
Sensational headlines coupled with fearmongering public health reports have HIV-positive men in San Francisco running scared. But the existence of an HIV superinfection is yet to be explicitly proven.
