Best Worst Movie

Premiering in Austin, this documentary is about the purportedly "best worst movie" ever made, Troll 2, and its enthusiastic fans.

"...also living in a mental institution), Stephenson focuses his camera on the fan phenomenon that has grown up around..."

April 23, 2010 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

"Hubble 3D"

This breathtaking IMAX documentary follows NASA's May 2009 mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.

"...goosebumps as the telescope's newest tweaks: The Wide Field Camera with infrared imaging capabilities truly goes where no one..."

March 19, 2010 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done

An unsatisfying film/experiment/prank that combines the forces of Werner Herzog and David Lynch.

"...both Lynch (coffee, coffee everywhere) and Herzog (jittery hand-held camerawork, deadly raging rivers, wild animals). Unfortunately, the end result..."

Jan. 29, 2010 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

The Maid

In this acclaimed drama from Chile, the maid in question is a compelling enigma.

"...sentiments. Silva films the drama with a handheld video camera that allows for greater intimacy, though not necessarily better..."

Jan. 22, 2010 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Beeswax

This Austin-shot indie from Andrew Bujalski is a remarkably naturalistic slice of life.

"...range of talent that's more often found behind the camera than in front of it, Beeswax has a languid,..."

Oct. 9, 2009 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

The Horse Boy

This locally produced film is an intimate and endlessly inspiring look at one family's struggle to cope with autism.

"...a stream (“You’ll Photoshop this out?” she asks the cameraman hurriedly as she gets down to it). The journey..."

Sept. 18, 2009 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Summer Hours

The French filmmaker Olivier Assayas (Irma Vep, Demonlover) has upped his game with this new work of uncommonly lyrical humanism.

"...our passages from the past into the present. Assayas’ camera glides dexterously among the family members, uniting them in..."

June 12, 2009 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Crank: High Voltage

If Takashi Miike happened to be possessed by the spirit of Chuck Jones, the result might turn out something like this sequel.

"...a car, and then died three inches from the camera operator in Crank, escapes the white light only to..."

April 24, 2009 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li

The director of Doom takes on another video-game franchise, this time one about a female martial artist seeking justice.

"...cities in the world where you can aim your camera at a lint ball in the gutter and end..."

March 6, 2009 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Che: Part Two

Steven Soderbergh concludes his two-part biopic with Che's Bolivian endgame.

"...life’s insignificant moments are the ones to keep a camera on that allows him to spin history into art..."

Jan. 30, 2009 Movie Review by Josh Rosenblatt

A Christmas Tale

Catherine Deneuve stars as the matriarch of this family, whose holiday gathering is like some marvelous do-si-do in which the characters partake in endless swirls of accusations, confessions, and glimpses of grace.

"...spastic skipping from character and catharsis, its near fetishistic camera trickery, bursts of song, and loving lifts from the..."

Dec. 19, 2008 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Patti Smith: Dream of Life

Fashion photographer Steven Sebring made this impressionistic documentary over the course of 12 years with Smith's full participation.

"...attitude lends an immediacy to Sebring's documentation as his camera accompanies Smith throughout her life, and we see her..."

Aug. 29, 2008 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

26 Years on My Way to Hell

I am a Nine Inch Nails superfan

"...was in middle school and first picked up a camera. The motivation grew stronger the first time I saw..."

Aug. 19, 2008 Music Post by Shelley Hiam

Speak Low If You Speak Love

"...immorality and to indulge in all sorts of hyperkinetic camera trickery and audio manipulation when you’re shooting a bunch..."

Aug. 19, 2008 Screens Post by Josh Rosenblatt

'Night' Flight

The National, the documentary

"...beautifully bizarre, evoked in the intentionally lo-fi footage, distracted camera work, and often grating lighting. Consider Ramesh Srivastava's version..."

May 22, 2008 Music Post by Doug Freeman

Son of Rambow

Amid this endearing story about two boys in Eighties England who join together to make their own Rambo movie, lies an uncommon, unaffected portrayal of young male intimacy.

"...who's more or less raising himself. Borrowing a video camera, the two boys, both terribly starved for male affection,..."

May 16, 2008 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Freaks and Geeks alum Jason Segel stars in this new sex comedy from the Judd Apatow production factory.

"...with his ability to be utterly naked, literally, on camera – that makes his performance in what might otherwise..."

April 18, 2008 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?

Morgan Spurlock of Super Size Me fame chases after the world's most wanted man and comes up empty but fulfilled.

"...Osama bin Laden?: Armed with little more than a camera, a healthy sense of humor, and an unhealthy amount..."

April 18, 2008 Movie Review by Josh Rosenblatt

Doomsday

In this UK thriller, the so-called Reaper virus threatens the Isles with extinction.

"...wracking up, but his filmmaking technique – antsy, gliding camera movements punctuated by sudden, extreme moments of gore or..."

March 21, 2008 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Sleuth

Surprisingly, this powerhouse combination of writer Harold Pinter, director Kenneth Branagh, and co-stars Michael Caine and Jude Law adds up to a load of nonsense.

"...to run off in the opposite direction, relying on camera stunts and manic energy to cover up the fact..."

Nov. 9, 2007 Movie Review by Josh Rosenblatt

Interview

Steve Buscemi directs and co-stars in this film with Sienna Miller as the pair play out an emotionally charged pas de deux.

"...spoken, trusts are broken. And then … the video camera comes out. (Only in the movies do portable video..."

Sept. 7, 2007 Movie Review by Josh Rosenblatt

Self-Medicated

It contains some freshman mistakes, but this microindie has such dramatic momentum, such a need to tell its story, that it's well worth a look.

"...always hit his mark quite as well behind the camera, however. The film suffers from televisiony fade-outs, dialogue scenes..."

Aug. 31, 2007 Movie Review by Marrit Ingman

Syndromes and a Century

Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul creates a baffling yet intriguing film of meandering abstractions. (AFS@Dobie)

"...Weerasethakul was trying to say something with his detached camera placement about the emotional distance that separates people in..."

July 13, 2007 Movie Review by Josh Rosenblatt

Provoked

What should have turned out as a terrific movie about the crime of spousal abuse has instead received the equivalent of a ham-handed molestation by director Jag Mundhra.

"...work that is barely adequate in terms of its camera choices and shot compositions, pacing and editing. Provoked is..."

June 8, 2007 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

The Wendell Baker Story

The Wilson brothers deliver this shaggy comedy – which was written and directed by Luke and Andrew and co-stars Luke, Owen, and seasoned pros Harry Dean Stanton, Seymour Casssell, and Kris Kristofferson.

"...the Coen brothers' Raising Arizona – with its cockeyed camera angles, elaborate comic set-pieces, and its story about a..."

May 18, 2007 Movie Review by Josh Rosenblatt

Year of the Dog

In his directorial debut, Mike White embraces the awkward with this story of a woman (played by Molly Shannon) who just wants to be loved.

"...is gentle, with highly composed symmetry and hardly any camera movement. Giving the actors plenty of time to rest..."

April 27, 2007 Movie Review by Toddy Burton

Into Great Silence

At once eerie, picaresque, and evocative, this is a daring and breathtakingly constructed documentary about the Carthusian monks of the French Alps, who have taken a vow of silence.

"...the lives of his subjects. Working with an unobtrusive camera, Gröning seeks the furthest reaches of faith, and what..."

April 27, 2007 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Senate Scuppers Speed Cameras

Two bills passing through Senate last week could deter city councils from putting up speed cameras.

"...Two bills about traffic cameras skipped through the Senate last week. Both bills, sponsored..."

April 9, 2007 News Post by Richard Whittaker

Iraq in Fragments

This multiaward-winning documentary was two years in the making and tells stories about modern Iraq in the words of civilians of various ethnicities.

"...a nonfiction topic may find Longley's use of subjective camera jarring. (We see Mohammed's abusive boss from cowering low..."

March 9, 2007 Movie Review by Marrit Ingman

Volver

No working male director loves the community of women more than Almodóvar, and Volver is his ode of love to women’s congress and fortitude.

"...body (which is celebrated from every angle by Almodóvar’s camera) but as a real person with money trouble, husband..."

Jan. 12, 2007 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

« 1    ‹ BACK    3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   12     NEXT ›    34 »