Email Author L.A. Weekly Film Critics

2009 Stories by L.A. Weekly Film Critics

• Movie Reviews: The White Ribbon, Gigante, The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond, 3 Idiots

  published December 31, 2009

  GIGANTE The title refers to Jara (Horacio Camandule), a swaybacked lug who stands a head taller than his co-workers at a... More >>

• Movie Reviews: Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, Creation, Sherlock Holmes

  published December 24, 2009

  ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: THE SQUEAKQUEL Closing out a pretty great year for children’s movies — Up, Cloudy With a... More >>

• Movie Reviews: Did You Hear About the Morgans?, Iron Cross, The Young Victoria

  published December 17, 2009

  GO  CRAZY HEART Yesterday’s honky-tonk hero, Bad Blake, arrives at a Clovis, New Mexico, bowling alley.... More >>

• Movie Reviews: Broken Embraces, Paa, A Single Man, Armored

  published December 10, 2009

  ACCORDING TO GRETA The title character of According to Greta is a daughter of Juno, but even those who fell for the... More >>

• Movie Reviews: Armored, Brothers, Everybody's Fine

  published December 3, 2009

  ACROSS THE HALL Directed by Alex Merkin and adapted by Jesse Mittelstadt from Merkin’s original story, Across the Hall... More >>

• Movie Reviews: La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet, Planet 51, The Twilight Saga: New Moon

  published November 13, 2009

  BLOOD EQUITY If you’ve already read Malcolm Gladwell’s excellent recent New Yorker article on the disturbing... More >>

• AFI FEST 2009: Final Weekend

  published November 5, 2009

  *CRITIC’S PICK*  POLICE, ADJECTIVE (Romania) A similar spirit of literal-mindedness guides Romanian... More >>

• Movie Reviews: The Box, A Christmas Carol, The Men Who Stare at Goats

  published November 5, 2009

  THE BOX Click here for a full review by J. Hoberman.... More >>

• AFI Fest, A to W

  published October 29, 2009

  GO  ABOUT ELLY (Iran) There’s something of Chekhov (by way of The Big Chill) to Asghar Farhadi’s... More >>

• Movie Reviews: This Is It, Boondock Saints II, Gentlemen Broncos, The House of the Devil

  published October 29, 2009

  BOONDOCK SAINTS II: ALL SAINTS DAY The Boondock Saints filmmaker Troy Duffy certainly makes for an easy target — at... More >>

• Movie Reviews: Amelia, Astro Boy, Saw VI

  published October 22, 2009

  AMELIA Hilary Swank, slender, toothsome and long-jawed, is a gussied-up physical match for Amelia Earhart — and this is... More >>

• Movie Reviews: Black Dynamite, The Stepfather, Law Abiding Citizen

  published October 15, 2009

  ADVENTURES OF POWER Adventures of Power, the jejune writing and directorial debut of Ari Gold, wants very badly to win you... More >>

• Movie Reviews: Couples Retreat, The Damned United, Good Hair

  published October 8, 2009

  GO  BELIEVE Sometimes appearances aren’t deceiving: As a cross-dressing comic and sometimes dramatic actor,... More >>

• Movie Reviews: The Invention of Lying, Whip It, Zombieland, Paranormal Activity

  published October 1, 2009

  A BEAUTIFUL LIFE “One must have a heart of stone to read the death of little Nell without laughing,” Oscar Wilde... More >>

• Movie Reviews: Fame, Pandorum, Surrogates

  published September 24, 2009

  THE BLUE TOOTH VIRGIN or anyone who has ever hated a movie because it’s too “arty” or “edgy,”... More >>

• Movie Reviews: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Jennifer's Body, Love Happens

  published September 17, 2009

  AMERICAN CASINO At the very least, former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson owes Denzel Mitchell a nice eCard: Mitchell, a... More >>

• Movie Reviews: All About Steve, Loren Cass, Ink, Walt & El Grupo

  published September 10, 2009

  GO  ALL ABOUT STEVE In this refreshingly quirky comedy, Sandra Bullock is Mary Horowitz, a Sacramento... More >>

• Movie Reviews: Amreeka, Gamer, The Headless Woman

  published September 3, 2009

  GO  ALL ABOUT STEVE In this refreshingly quirky comedy, Sandra Bullock is Mary Horowitz, a Sacramento... More >>

• Movie Reviews: The Final Destination, Halloween II, World's Greatest Dad

  published August 27, 2009

  CLOUD 9 Seamstress Inge (Ursula Werner), professorial husband Karl (Horst Westphal), and silver fox Werner (Horst Rehberg)... More >>

• Movie Reviews: Casi Divas, Post Grad, Shorts

  published August 20, 2009

  CASI DIVAS Casi Divas, a none-too-clever but hustling-to-please Mexican comedy, concerns a diverse citizenship drawn together... More >>

• Movie Reviews: Bandslam, Flame & Citron, The Time Traveler's Wife

  published August 13, 2009

  BANDSLAM Deep into this latest ride on the High School Musical bandwagon, the death of a main character’s father is... More >>

• Movie Reviews: A Woman in Berlin, A Perfect Getaway, Paper Heart

  published August 6, 2009

  GO  A WOMAN IN BERLIN One of the best of a new breed of indigenous movies prying open the Pandora’s Box of... More >>

• Movie Reviews: Adam, Aliens in the Attic, The Collector

  published July 30, 2009

  OPENING THIS WEEK ADAM Other than Rose Byrne’s onscreen radiance and a soothingly warm... More >>

• Movie Reviews: American Cowslip, Deadgirl, In the Loop, Orphan

  published July 23, 2009

  GO AFGHAN STAR If you think it’s impossible to underestimate the cultural significance of... More >>

• In Like Outfest

  published July 16, 2009

  AND THEN CAME LOLA (USA)Imitation is usually the sincerest form of plagiarism, but in the case of this delightful... More >>