The only thing we English teachers hate more than Sparknotes is a high-quality, mostly faithful movie version of a book. Why would a student slog through Pride and Prejudice when she can drool over Colin Firth in the excellent BBC miniseries? And shh! Don’t tell the eighth-graders about Gregory Peck’s…
One of the more infamous figures in the Valley’s rave scene and local party monster lore has resurfaced in the media recently after being featured on the popular National Geographic Channel reality show Locked Up Abroad. Shaun Attwood, the British-born gentleman who was the onetime kingpin of a massive local…
This summer has an abundance of noteworthy films coming out and quite a few that might not be worth the cost of admission. Jackalope Ranch is here to help guide you through the movie madness with five must see indie flicks that should go mainstream and five more that can…
Season five of RuPaul’s Drag Race is one of the most dramatic seasons to date. Unlike previous seasons, there was no clear winner from the get-go. We had a feeling Sharon Needles and Raja were going to win, and we’re still disappointed that Tyra Sanchez beat out Raven and Jujubee…
After perusing the prolific amounts of art, jewelry, and clothing this weekend at First Friday, take a break and escape the heat to catch a controversially classic book’s second film adaptation by director Michael Radford. Bookmans presents the latest feature in its Banned Books on Film series, with the polarizing…
Where has Robert Downey Jr. gone? There’s no doubt he’s the star of Iron Man 3; he sprints through the picture like a neurotic panther. And yet he’s absent, detached in a Zen-like way from the whole affair. The nakedness that defines his best performances — in any role, up…
“The meek shall inherit the Earth,” somebody said once — probably Truffaut. Two pictures into his thrilling career, writer-director Antonio Campos seems determined to show us that might not be anything to celebrate. Campos’ debut, 2008’s Afterschool, was essentially one part Blow Up to three parts Rushmore-as-psychological-horror-flick. While it took…
Would you sign on for three months in shark-infested waters on a tippy raft under a captain who can’t swim? The shrewdest joke in Kon-Tiki’s surefire story — about Thor Heyerdahl’s 4,000-mile South Pacific expedition to prove that ocean-faring Incans could have settled Tahiti — is that practically every character…
Just as Mad Men charms its viewers by using sex, drugs, snappy banter, and pretty people to make heavy topics (sexism, racism, dreams diffused) palatable, the editors of Mad Men, Mad World trust that some TV glamour will get readers interested in digesting academic theories. It’s not wrong. Full of…
Stephanie Zacharek is the new chief film critic at the Village Voice. Alan Scherstuhl is the Voice’s film editor. Sometimes they gab about how the review-sausage gets made. To: Stephanie Zacharek From: Alan Scherstuhl Hi, Stephanie, welcome again to the Voice! Like you, I found myself worn out by Iron…
Iron Man 3 has opened. For some viewers, the film’s appeal isn’t the eponymous superhero, but the sarcastic-yet-sensitive hero behind the gravity-defying, repulsor-ray-shooting suit of armor. I refer, of course, to Shane Black. Iron Man 3’s co-writer/director recharged the buddy-cop flick in the ’80s with his screenplay for Lethal Weapon…
This summer has an abundance of noteworthy films coming out and quite a few that might not be worth the cost of admission. Jackalope Ranch is here to help guide you through the movie madness with five must see geek flicks that will have you lining up for the midnight…
When Ben Kitnick first hung out at lo-fi art space and weirdo hangout Funny World last year, the ASU film student thought the house-show haven was a fascinating place. So much so that he immediately was struck by the notion that “someone needs to tell a story about this place.”…
Daniel Lugo (Mark Wahlberg) believes life has cheated him. Doesn’t America promise riches and luxury to people who deserve it? He’s worked hard to build his body into a hulking knot of muscles; success should follow. But Lugo (the lead in Michael Bay’s neon-noir ode to Miami, muscle tone, and…
There’s a thin line between what’s truly mysterious and what’s totally bogus. A movie that leaves you feeling unclear about what’s happening isn’t necessarily mysterious — it may just be inept. In other words, the problem may be it, not you. Shane Carruth’s second feature, Upstream Color, a dystopian romance…
Though he’s long been among the most recognizable celebrities in the world, Tom Cruise has always seemed vaguely irritating, like the popular kid at school everybody secretly dislikes. His is an odd sort of fame: Globally recognized but rarely acclaimed, he remains more reliably bankable than nearly any other actor…
In The Client List, Lifetime’s pseudo-steamy take on the world of sensual massage, Jennifer Love Hewitt plays a struggling housewife who takes a rub-down side job in order to support her kids after her husband disappears. The show, which jumps from scenes of Hewitt pleasuring executives to her dancing with…
Perhaps the first great indie apocalypse potluck comedy, Todd Berger’s It’s a Disaster aces many of the fundamentals bobbled by too many of the films with which it shares DNA. Like dopey ol’ Cloverfield, this opens with get-to-know-the-cast party scenes (in this case, a sharply observed and performed couples’ brunch)…
Steve Jobs will be directed by Aaron Sorkin. Jobs stars Ashton Kutcher. But this year’s third Steve Jobs biopic, Funny or Die’s iSteve, has its own advantage: It’s first. As of April 15, audiences were able to watch the hour-plus feature on Funny or Die’s website, while Sorkin continues to…
Picking up a mere seven years after the previous installment, Scary Movie V features no original cast members, no Wayans brothers producing (they bailed after No. 3) and a new director (first-timer Malcolm D. Lee). It’s still terrible. Why, you may ask, does one even bother to review Scary Movie…
Last week, America received two embarrassing reminders of its doting but asexual love for the Nonthreatening Black Man (NTBM). First, professional cowboy-hat-wearer Brad Paisley and Kangol connoisseur LL Cool J unintentionally trolled the entire Internet with “Accidental Racist,” a country song that argues that access to necklaces today totally makes…
A big winner at last year’s SXSW, Gimme the Loot is a pocket-size Bronx indie with the wispiest of narrative ideas: A couple of teen graffiti bombers decide to gain fame by tagging the Mets’ Home Run Apple. Malcolm (Ty Hickson) and Sofia (Tashiana Washington) are mates only in spraying,…
