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WALL·E (2008): A-
WALL·E is Pixar’s most overtly political film, but more impressive than its ecologically minded message is its modestly profound portrait of loneliness, obligation and the desire for reciprocated affection. On an abandoned future Earth – its skyscrapers standing alongside towers of garbage, its horizon mucked up by endless fast food billboards, and its dusty atmosphere…
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Get Smart (2008): C
TV’s Get Smart was a trifle hardly worthy of big-screen treatment, but given that Warner Bros. greenlit the project, couldn’t someone have actually put some effort into making it mildly entertaining? Peter Segal’s comedy concerns CONTROL rookie agent Maxwell Smart’s maiden mission against evil terrorist outfit KAOS, though the particulars of his assignment – something…
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The Mother of Tears (2007): C
Dario Argento has been inadvertently parodying himself for years, and that trend unfortunately continues with The Mother of Tears, yet another of the horror maestro’s futile attempts to recapture the magic that made his seminal ‘70s giallos so bewitching. As with his contributions to Showtime’s Masters of Horror series, Argento’s latest feature functions as an…
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Bigger, Stronger, Faster* (2008): B+
Christopher Bell uses his family as a microcosm for America’s relationship with steroids in Bigger, Stronger, Faster*, an engaging pop-documentary about the myriad implications of our national love-hate affair with performance-enhancing drugs. Bell’s younger brother “Smelly” juices for powerlifting meets and his older bro “Mad Dog” does it to land a professional wrestling contract with…
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Reprise (2006): A-
That rare debut in which self-conscious formal daring proves exhilarating rather than excruciating, Joachim Trier’s Reprise is a constantly fracturing wonder that finds exuberant expressiveness in its splintered structure. Trier’s film, set in Oslo, commences by imagining a potential bright future for writer best friends Phillip ( befuddled, morose Anders Danielsen Lie) and Erik (smiling,…
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Baghead (2008): B-
When it pokes fun at itself – and the low-fi “mumblecore” movement from which it sprang – Baghead can be a minor lark. However, when this latest from Jay and Mark Duplass (The Puffy Chair) attempts to both scare and, to a lesser extent, deconstruct its own horror movie devices, it deflates rapidly. With considerable…
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Standard Operating Procedure (2008): B-
Errol Morris’ trademark aesthetic – a combination of free-reign confessional interviews, dramatic recreations, expressionistic interludes and a grandiose score (here by Danny Elfman) – does more harm than good in Standard Operating Procedure, the documentarian’s examination of the Abu Ghraib scandal. For his latest, Morris provides a forum for the thoughts of, among others, Lynndie…
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Leatherheads (2008): C
George Clooney loses the proverbial thread with his third directorial outing Leatherheads, a 1920s football saga that blends rusty screwball comedy and perfunctory romance under a period piece veneer. Clooney is Dodge Connelly, the leader of a ragamuffin pro football team during an era when the sport was played with few pads, no rules, and…
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Street Kings (2008): C
Los Angeles crime novelist extraordinaire James Ellroy is credited as one of Street Kings’ three screenwriters, though that doesn’t prevent David Ayers’ second directorial outing from being a lousy mediocrity. Ayers’ latest is, after 2006’s Harsh Times, his second straight overwrought and unfulfilling tale concerning a loco white boy knee-deep in the City of Angels’…
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Funny Games U.S. (2008): C
Given that Michael Haneke has been making the same movie for his entire career, it’s fitting that his latest is a shot-for-shot English-language redo of his 1997 meta-shocker Funny Games (technically dubbed Funny Games U.S.). Consequently, there’s nothing new here for the initiated, as the Austrian director’s stateside debut is a thoroughly unnecessary photocopy of…
