AltWeeklies Wire
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
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
Hard-Boiled, Soft-Centered: What does Casablanca mean in a post-9/11 world?new
Conservatives will lay nostalgic claim to Casablanca as an exemplar of tradition to be gotten back to; liberals like it, because its idealism is worldy, not naïve, and tough enough to triumph over both wrongness and cynicism.
It endures as a classic because both parties are essentially correct.
Charleston City Paper |
Jonathan Kiefer |
07-23-2008 |
Movies
Tags: Casablanca, Michael Curtiz
A New York Teen Tries Deals with Life in 'The Wackness'new
These days, if you were to drop stale slang terms like the adjective forms of "wack" or "dope," you'd probably sound, well, pretty wack.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
07-23-2008 |
Reviews
'Up the Yangtze' Reveals China's Growing Painsnew
The New China could well be the dominant power of the 21st century, but cinema frequently trains its cameras on the Old China.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
07-23-2008 |
Reviews
'Step Brothers' is a Good Joke with No Place to Gonew
This feels less like a story than just an amusing idea, having Reilly and Ferrell, two very funny guys, acting like pubescent 15-year-olds.
San Diego CityBeat |
Anders Wright |
07-23-2008 |
Reviews
'Step Brothers' Wastes Its Comedy Giantsnew
Even avoiding Semi-Talla-Anchor-Blades-of-Dewey comparisons, the jokes are old. But underneath the recycling is a sadder story of several very talented comic giants, including Judd Apatow, wasting their credentials on tired gags.
San Antonio Current |
G. Brian Davis |
07-23-2008 |
Reviews
'Step Brothers' Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly Perfect the Comedy of Retardationnew
The touched man-child is a comedy staple. Step Brothers marks the apotheosis of exploiting a repressed urge to laugh at brain-damaged antics. It is also the best film Ferrell and company have made since Anchorman.
Willamette Week |
Chris Stamm |
07-23-2008 |
Reviews
J. Gary Mitchell's Puppets Fight Pedophilianew
Mitchell, a soft-spoken 70-year-old with a dapper white mustache, has been directing and producing short educational movies for three decades, creating characters who warn against smoking and drinking. But his specialty since 1985's What Tadoo is gently informing children about sexual abuse.
Willamette Week |
Aaron Mesh |
07-23-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
'Wanted and Desired' Takes Aim at Roman Polanski and the Culture of Celebritynew
Some critics will probably deride Wanted and Desired as pure hagiography, or worse yet, a legitimization of Polanski's crimes and subsequent fugitive status. But Zenovich's intentions circumnavigate any idol worship, as her refusal to err toward his guilt or exoneration makes clear.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Erik Morse |
07-23-2008 |
Reviews
Constructing 'American Teen' with Nanette Bursteinnew
American Teen debuted at Sundance 2008, and some viewers begrudged the sale of Nanette Burstein's eminently entertaining, beautifully constructed snapshot of the lives of several teenagers across a senior year at a Warsaw, Indiana high school.
Chicago Newcity |
Ray Pride |
07-23-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: American Teen, Nanette Burstein
Religion and Power Collide in 'Constantine's Sword'new
The film looks at several historical examples of a fused church and state and documents the marginalization, oppression and death such a merging produces--often in Christianity’s name.
Weekly Alibi |
Simon McCormack |
07-22-2008 |
Reviews
'Mamma Mia!' Cast Sings Much Evilnew
Like those freakish deep-sea creatures living happily in a toxic soup of methane brine miles beneath the water's surface, the cast of Mamma Mia! is unaware they're living in an equally noxious ABBA-rich environment.
Baltimore City Paper |
Violet Glaze |
07-22-2008 |
Reviews
