The Foot Fist Way

Faux documentary about a strip-mall kung-fu sensei without the sense to come in out of the pain has moments of laugh-out-loud greatness but also much dopiness.

"...Lopez IV. My tolerance for the mockumentary form of comedy has curdled somewhat in the wake of the past..."

June 6, 2008 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Made of Honor

Heart-on-the-sleeve sweets mix with pure raunch as Dr. McDreamy stars in this mean-spirited and uncomfortably blue romantic comedy.

"...red rubber ball off the wall, and trying to come up with that killer idea that will get him..."

May 2, 2008 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

The Unforeseen

Executive-produced by Robert Redford and Terrence Malick, Dunn's award-winning documentary looks at the history of Barton Springs, Gary Bradley's role in development issues, and the relationship of Austin's environmental activism to the world at large.

"...a former farm boy who would grow up to become arguably the most reviled man in Austin. Together, these..."

March 28, 2008 Movie Review by Josh Rosenblatt

Water

Don't come to this movie expecting a doom-and-gloom forecast about ecological catastrophe. It's instead an encounter with "voodoo chemistry" that aims to show why we all should start imbibing "structurized water."

"...have just encountered "voodoo chemistry" in this 2006 Russian film Water, and the result looks an awful lot like..."

March 21, 2008 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

My Great Big Booty

Taking home more than souvenirs from Mardi Gras lady krewes

"...Mardi Gras speak. Throws are the baubly/trickety things that come flying at you off of a float, hurled with..."

Feb. 6, 2008 Design Post by Kate X Messer

Josh Rosenblatt Has Seen the Future, and It Isn't Pretty

Magic eight-balling 2008, month by month

"...The Year 2008 in Film, Culture, Uprising: Speculation This week, my fellow Chronicle Film..."

Jan. 3, 2008 Screens Post by Josh Rosenblatt

Awake

The phenomenon of "anesthetic awareness," in which the patient is fully conscious yet physically paralyzed during surgery, is grist for this psychological thriller.

"...sly, Clay receives word that a donor heart has become available the very same night. He has previously had..."

Dec. 7, 2007 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

The Golden Compass

The special effects are mostly spectacular in this story of a 12-year-old orphan whose fate is connected to a holy, multiverse war yet to come.

"...Cinema (the producers of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy) would risk precious box-office returns and a cultural..."

Dec. 7, 2007 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

August Rush

August Rush is a rather prosaic, oddly anxious, contemporary take on Oliver Twist, with Robin Williams – in nasty-man twee mode – thrown in for bad measure.

"...at a crucial juncture in this very poorly titled film, he hisses at musical prodigy and soulful orphan August..."

Nov. 23, 2007 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Southland Tales

Six years after Donnie Darko, filmmaker Richard Kelly returns with this incomprehensible, self-indulgent mess of post-apocalyptic anxiety, political paranoia, and pop-culture references.

"...Donnie Darko came out of nowhere and introduced the independent-film world to a precocious 26-year-old writer/director named Richard Kelly...."

Nov. 16, 2007 Movie Review by Josh Rosenblatt

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.

"...the reigning No. 1 British screen heartthrob and still come up with nonsense. But somehow the producers of Sleuth..."

Nov. 9, 2007 Movie Review by Josh Rosenblatt

King of California

Michael Douglas plays a wild-eyed dreamer who sways his daughter and friend into digging clandestinely for treasure underneath a California superstore.

"...from writer/director Cahill, which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, pulls off some surprising feats of heartfelt storytelling...."

Oct. 12, 2007 Movie Review by Toddy Burton

Weirdsville

Weirdsville accomplishes something that is rare for Canadian-made comedies: It's actually funny.

"...Weirdsville accomplishes something that is rare indeed for Canadian-made comedies: It's actually funny. Most of the story takes place..."

Oct. 5, 2007 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

The Kingdom

Initially, The Kingdom seems like it might be another of this season's politically charged movies, but it actually plays more like an explosive episode of CSI: Riyadh.

"...coincidentally, appear as a married couple in the upcoming film Juno) are serviceable but interchangeable, while Foxx, despite being..."

Sept. 28, 2007 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Halloween

Michael Myers is back in this "reimagining," courtesy of Rob Zombie.

"...apparently culminated with this strange "reimagining" of the original film. Zombie proved his genre mettle with 2005's unabashedly sleazy..."

Sept. 7, 2007 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Right at Your Door

Harrowing doesn't even begin to describe this low-budget exercise in siege paranoia, which builds on our current terrorist-related night sweats.

"...terrorist-related night-sweats. Cochrane and McCormack are riveting as the film's everycouple faced with impossible choices on the worst day..."

Aug. 24, 2007 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Sipping From the Spigot

The time has come for the great boxed-wine challenge

"...Steve Tipton is on the board of the Wine & Food Foundation of Texas and owner of one of..."

Aug. 10, 2007 Food Feature by Wes Marshall

No Reservations

While No Reservations is no Big Night, it's surprisingly winsome in parts, by virtue of Catherine Zeta-Jones' performance, and a romantic fable that lingers on the palette of the mind's eye.

"...helmed the 1996 Oscar-winning meltdown-melodrama Shine and hasn't yet recaptured the dotty brilliance of that film (Geoffrey Rush had..."

July 27, 2007 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

TV Eye

Walls come tumbling down

"...months. Since the Jericho reversal, the TV industry has come closer to standards for measuring online viewers. Meaning, one..."

July 13, 2007 Screens Column by Belinda Acosta

Bug

The Exorcist's William Friedkin directs this psychological thriller that never really gets under your skin.

"...this disturbing love story about two damaged people who come to share the same paranoid fantasy in a secluded..."

June 1, 2007 Movie Review by Steve Davis

Next

Nicolas Cage plays a man who can see into the future – a talent the FBI wants to put to use capturing terrorists.

"...pseudo-Phildickian actioner is chum for the bigger fish to come this summer; for Moore, it’s a slummer. As Cris..."

May 4, 2007 Movie Review by Marrit Ingman

Spider-Man 3

When cascading through the cityscape, Spider-Man 3 still makes us gasp with delight, but on Earth those gasps come solely in reaction to the cynical dreariness of the script.

"...inserted but then treated like second-tier guests at the film’s real party: its gravity-defying heroics. The numerous chases and..."

May 4, 2007 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Le Draft 2007

"...year on “le Draft," as I call it, has become the centerpiece of spring, and the doorway to summer...."

April 29, 2007 Sports Post by Timothy Braun

Perfect Stranger

The fishy smell that permeates Perfect Stranger comes from all of the red herrings flopping around this absurdly plotted Hollywood thriller.

"...Clea Lewis. The fishy smell that permeates Perfect Stranger comes from all of the red herrings flopping around this..."

April 20, 2007 Movie Review by Steve Davis

Amazing Grace

Unfortunately, what makes British abolitionist William Wilberforce a great man is also what makes him dull: his single-minded righteousness.

"...would lay aside saving the world for a while, come down from his cloudy perch, and dabble in sin..."

Feb. 23, 2007 Movie Review by Josh Rosenblatt

Epic Movie

The filmmakers are completely tone-deaf when it comes to the art of film parody, and their special form of sadism-as-punch-line leaves the audience in a perpetual cringe.

"...the world. Stealing shamelessly from the kitchen-sink approach to comedy pioneered by Jim Abrahams and the Zucker brothers (Airplane!,..."

Feb. 2, 2007 Movie Review by Josh Rosenblatt

Smokin' Aces

A person could have a reasonably good time with this confusing, Tarantinoid actioner starring Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Jeremy Piven, and Alicia Keys, but there’s not actually much tension in the movie.

"...Mad Max types who, I’m happy to report, eventually come blazing out of a smoke-filled hotel elevator waving machetes..."

Jan. 26, 2007 Movie Review by Marrit Ingman

Sunday Afternoon at the Convention Center

"...of the Chicago Bulls – the guy I had come to see - is dressed to impress in a..."

Dec. 23, 2006 Sports Post by Josh Rosenblatt

Guadalupe

Guadalupe is amateur hour dressed up in ecclesiastical purple: a poorly drawn, poorly directed, and poorly acted attempt to film something of weight and religious significance.

"...drawn, poorly directed, and poorly acted attempt at a film of weight and religious significance. This profoundly mawkish story..."

Dec. 15, 2006 Movie Review by Josh Rosenblatt

The Bridesmaid

Claude Chabrol's latest film is based on a Ruth Rendell novel and, though not one of his best films, is still a good reminder of the madness that sometimes lurks in plain sight.

"...– mostly, that men are eternal suckers for their come-hither gaze. The Bridesmaid, Chabrol's latest film to reach the..."

Dec. 15, 2006 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

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