http://metropulse.com/news/ae-reviews/movies/?partner=RSSMetroPulse Stories: Moviesen-usae-reviews/movieshttp://metropulse.com/news/2008/dec/23/who-wants-be-millionaire/?partner=RSS ]]>Tue, 23 Dec 2008 19:01:00 -0000urn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-14129-733399ae-reviews/moviesKieron BarryKnoxville, TNWho Wants to Be a Millionaire?MetroPulsewho-wants-be-millionaireurn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-14129-733399Change0Usablehttp://metropulse.com/news/2008/dec/17/van-sant-delivers-milk/?partner=RSSMilk, a biopic about the late San Francisco gay activist and politician Harvey Milk, which feels like it might be Van Sant’s Great Work in that it is marked by all of the best elements of his previous films, with none of the excesses or tripe. ]]>mconnergibson@gmail.com (Mike Gibson)Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:55:00 -0000urn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-14100-733393ae-reviews/moviesMike GibsonKnoxville, TNVan Sant Delivers MilkMetroPulsevan-sant-delivers-milkurn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-14100-733393Change0Usablehttp://metropulse.com/news/2008/dec/10/punished/?partner=RSSThe Punisher, the tolerably entertaining predecessor of this alleged reboot. Both men bolted when it became apparent that plans for a sequel were going nowhere fast. And now their version of Punisher—a middling actioner that did a modest box office but scored big in video release—looks like a work of Welles-ian complexity in comparison to Levi Alexander’s beetle-browed clunker. ]]>mconnergibson@gmail.com (Mike Gibson)Wed, 10 Dec 2008 18:33:00 -0000urn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-14078-733386ae-reviews/moviesMike GibsonKnoxville, TNPunishedMetroPulsepunishedurn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-14078-733386Change0Usablehttp://metropulse.com/news/2008/dec/03/ineffective-immediately/?partner=RSSSynecdoche, New York. And here’s some more. I believe this movie was made specifically for me at this point in my life. Yes, there’s an implied qualifier there. It’s perhaps not for everyone. If you’re not obsessed with your own failings when put up against your peers, if you’re not constantly waiting for death or expecting to be found out as the fool you know yourself to be, if you’re not so hopelessly, narcissistically self-loathing that you can’t find the energy to see anything beyond the world in your own head—in other words, if you’re not just like Kaufman’s protagonist Caden Cotard, maybe you should skip this one. ]]>maldonadoc@metropulse.com (Charles Maldonado)Wed, 03 Dec 2008 22:00:00 -0000urn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-14057-733379ae-reviews/moviesCharles MaldonadoKnoxville, TNIneffective, ImmediatelyMetroPulseineffective-immediatelyurn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-14057-733379Change0Usablehttp://metropulse.com/news/2008/nov/26/mending-fences/?partner=RSSThe Boy in the Striped Pajamas dutifully strikes the proper notes, in that respect, and it does so effectively. ]]>mconnergibson@gmail.com (Mike Gibson)Wed, 26 Nov 2008 14:38:00 -0000urn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-14022-733372ae-reviews/moviesMike GibsonKnoxville, TNMending FencesMetroPulsemending-fencesurn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-14022-733372Change0Usablehttp://metropulse.com/news/2008/nov/19/shaken-not-stirred/?partner=RSSCasino Royale ends, British secret agent James Bond (Daniel Craig) is in agony over the betrayal and suicide of his lover, Vesper. When Quantum of Solace begins, he is still consumed by past events, but his duty to country continues, leading him to an international group of criminals named Quantum, which he finds to have infiltrated the exclusive circle of agents run by his boss, M (Judi Dench). Now Bond is so determined to root out the head of Quantum, he can’t even kill straight. ]]>Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:00:00 -0000urn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-14001-733365ae-reviews/moviesAmanda MohneyKnoxville, TNShaken, Not StirredMetroPulseshaken-not-stirredurn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-14001-733365Change0Usablehttp://metropulse.com/news/2008/nov/12/lucky-charms/?partner=RSSHappy-Go-Lucky, you’d assume that it’s an ironic title. It’s not, exactly—the phrase provides a perfect description of the movie’s protagonist, Poppy, an effervescent 30-year-old London schoolteacher played with exquisite and delicate intensity by Sally Hawkins—but it does downplay the serious way that Leigh uses her story to examine just what happiness is, and how it works. ]]>everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett)Wed, 12 Nov 2008 22:00:00 -0000urn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-13974-733358ae-reviews/moviesMatthew EverettKnoxville, TNLucky CharmsMetroPulselucky-charmsurn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-13974-733358Change0Usablehttp://metropulse.com/news/2008/nov/05/long-time-gone/?partner=RSSChangeling, the new film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Angelina Jolie, begins and ends in much the same way. The perspective is high above a colorless Los Angeles street in the late 1920s, Model A Fords trundling along it. The music behind is a muted trumpet, playing a sparse and tentative line. In between those bookends are nearly two-and-a-half hours of story, with only a slight improvement in hue. ]]>Wed, 05 Nov 2008 22:00:00 -0000urn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-13939-733351ae-reviews/moviesKent PriestleyKnoxville, TNLong Time GoneMetroPulselong-time-goneurn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-13939-733351Change0Usablehttp://metropulse.com/news/2008/oct/29/musical-dares/?partner=RSSHigh School Musical 3. But East High’s favorite basketball champ Troy Bolton (Efron) has a problem: It’s senior year, and he’s questioning his future. All of his friends know exactly what they want, but Troy, not so much. To add suckage to lameness, his beautiful, turning-the-world-on-with-her-smile girlfriend Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens) is going to college a thousand miles away (literally) while he’s expected to stay in town to be a college basketball star at his father’s alma mater. Thing is, when Troy raises his arms to catch a pass, he doesn’t know whether he’s doing it to score the winning basket for the team, or if he’s preparing to make perfectly posed jazz hands. What’s his real passion? Could his coach/dad ever understand? God a’mighty, could Zac Efron be any prettier? ]]>Wed, 29 Oct 2008 21:00:00 -0000urn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-13879-733344ae-reviews/moviesAmanda MohneyKnoxville, TNMusical DaresMetroPulsemusical-daresurn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-13879-733344Change0Usablehttp://metropulse.com/news/2008/oct/22/w-only-america/?partner=RSS ]]>maldonadoc@metropulse.com (Charles Maldonado)Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:00:00 -0000urn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-13847-733337ae-reviews/moviesCharles MaldonadoKnoxville, TNW: Only in AmericaMetroPulsew-only-americaurn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-13847-733337Change0Usablehttp://metropulse.com/news/2008/oct/15/going/?partner=RSSWed, 15 Oct 2008 21:00:00 -0000urn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-13827-733330ae-reviews/moviesKent PriestleyKnoxville, TNGoing Up?MetroPulsegoingurn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-13827-733330Change0Usablehttp://metropulse.com/news/2008/oct/08/arrested-development/?partner=RSSNick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, an iPod-generation mash-up of the road movie, the romantic teen comedy, and the rock ’n’ roll midnight-show cult classic in which Cera plays essentially the same character he’s always played. ]]>everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett)Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:00:00 -0000urn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-13799-733323ae-reviews/moviesMatthew EverettKnoxville, TNArrested DevelopmentMetroPulsearrested-developmenturn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-13799-733323Change0Usablehttp://metropulse.com/news/2008/oct/01/sight-unseen/?partner=RSSCity of God and The Constant Gardener from 2005—Fernando Mereilles was perhaps due for a letdown. And his latest movie, Blindness, is certainly a drop-off—less focused, occasionally over-stylized, and, at times, difficult to watch. But it’s far from a failure. ]]>mconnergibson@gmail.com (Mike Gibson)Wed, 01 Oct 2008 21:00:00 -0000urn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-13778-733316ae-reviews/moviesMike GibsonKnoxville, TNSight UnseenMetroPulsesight-unseenurn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-13778-733316Change0Usablehttp://metropulse.com/news/2008/sep/24/beer-and-loathing-oklahoma/?partner=RSSThe Andy Griffith Show’s bumbling foil to Griffith’s own straight-laced Sheriff Andy Taylor. The combination of the series’ brilliantly eccentric scripts and the equally marvelous characterization of the late Don Knotts made it easy to overlook the fact that never in a million years would you actually want this man protecting you. ]]>Wed, 24 Sep 2008 21:00:00 -0000urn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-13755-733309ae-reviews/moviesChris NealKnoxville, TNBeer and Loathing in OklahomaMetroPulsebeer-and-loathing-oklahomaurn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-13755-733309Change0Usablehttp://metropulse.com/news/2008/sep/17/slow-burn/?partner=RSSBurn, written while the Coen brothers were making the Best Picture-winning No Country for Old Men, is a ludicrous, one-joke farce, and that tone is reflected in its one-dimensional characters. Still, for all its silliness and nihilism—and because of them—Burn is surprising, insightful, and hilarious throughout. ]]>maldonadoc@metropulse.com (Charles Maldonado)Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:00:00 -0000urn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-13728-733302ae-reviews/moviesCharles MaldonadoKnoxville, TNSlow BurnMetroPulseslow-burnurn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-13728-733302Change0Usablehttp://metropulse.com/news/2008/sep/10/mild-plus/?partner=RSS ]]>maldonadoc@metropulse.com (Charles Maldonado)Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:00:00 -0000urn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-13701-733295ae-reviews/moviesCharles MaldonadoKnoxville, TNMild PlusMetroPulsemild-plusurn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-13701-733295Change0Usablehttp://metropulse.com/news/2008/sep/03/playing-both-sides/?partner=RSSTraitor is that its political observations are blindingly, painfully obvious, and, for nearly two-thirds of the film, they obscure the simple pleasures of what could have been a perfectly fine double-agent story. ]]>everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett)Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:00:00 -0000urn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-13681-733288ae-reviews/moviesMatthew EverettKnoxville, TNPlaying Both SidesMetroPulseplaying-both-sidesurn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-13681-733288Change0Usablehttp://metropulse.com/news/2008/aug/27/light-rocker/?partner=RSSThe Rocker, an earnest comedy starting Rainn Wilson as a past-his-prime drummer who gets a second chance to rock in his nephew’s high-school emo band. It’s cute. It has a few laughs. The characters are mostly likable. And you won’t stop wondering why you’re not watching it on the USA Network instead of in a theater. ]]>coury@metropulse.com (Coury Turczyn)Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:00:00 -0000urn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-13658-733281ae-reviews/moviesCoury TurczynKnoxville, TNLight RockerMetroPulselight-rockerurn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-13658-733281Change0Usablehttp://metropulse.com/news/2008/aug/20/teen-beat/?partner=RSSJuno, Superbad, High School Musical, Gossip Girl, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. It’s like filmmakers and network executives can’t get enough of us and our supposedly wild shenanigans. ]]>Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:00:00 -0000urn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-13643-733274ae-reviews/moviesHalley CorapiKnoxville, TNTeen BeatMetroPulseteen-beaturn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-13643-733274Change0Usablehttp://metropulse.com/news/2008/aug/13/pineapple-flambe/?partner=RSSMovie Guru: In the golden age of R-rated comedies—roughly, 1975 through 1982—there was much to gladden the hearts of 14-year-old boys: National Lampoon’s Animal House, Caddyshack, Used Cars, Stripes. Now considered classics of the form, they all delivered on their promises of zany hijinks, hopelessly immature boy-men, and gratuitously topless women. It was a great time to be alive, if you could manage to sneak into the theater with your buddies. ]]>coury@metropulse.com (Coury Turczyn)Wed, 13 Aug 2008 21:00:00 -0000urn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-13611-733267ae-reviews/moviesCoury TurczynKnoxville, TNPineapple FlambéMetroPulsepineapple-flambeurn:publicid:metropulse.com:news-Story-13611-733267Change0Usable