Los Angeles Movie Reviews - Los Angeles Movies Guide

Bruno: Sacha Baron Cohen's Totally Gay for You

“Heterosexuals can’t understand camp because everything they do is camp,” opined an associate of the old Playhouse of the... More>>

By J. Hoberman

Published: July 09, 2009

Joshua Leonard: The Man Behind (Ahem) Humpday

Joshua Leonard came undone at Cannes. It wasn’t just that Humpday, the film in which he stars, had made it into the festival’s... More>>

By Joe Donnelly

Published: July 09, 2009

Soul Power: The Other Rumble in the Jungle

Documenting an epic concert in Zaire

“When you bad,” boasts the young and beautiful, piss-and-vinegar-filled Muhammad Ali early in the documentary Soul Power, “you... More>>

By Ernest Hardy

Published: July 09, 2009

Film Reviews: Blood: The Last Vampire, Herb & Dorothy, I Love You Beth Cooper

Also, An Unlikely Weapon and Weather Girl

BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE The studios continue to dilute the meaning of “Asia Extreme,” and self-serious commercial pap like this... More>>

By L.A. Weekly Film Critics

Published: July 09, 2009

OUTFEST: VOTE "YES"

It's a politically charged year for L. A.'s Gay & Lesbian Film Festival

Entering its 27th year, Outfest remains an inherently political affair. No matter how much cultural currency the LGBT community accrues, or how... More>>

By DAVID EHRENSTEIN, ERNEST HARDY AND CHUCK WILSON

Published: July 09, 2009

Back in Blue: Battered But Not Broken, Jean-Jacques Beineix Returns

Director brings a reissue, a retrospective and a project in progress

When director Jean-Jacques Beineix packed his bags, fired his agent and left Hollywood for his native Paris, he vowed never to return.... More>>

By Scott Foundas

Published: July 02, 2009

Digital Dillinger: Public Enemies’ Johnny Depp plays hard to get

Michael Mann’s latest is fast and furious

“They’re all about where people come from. Nobody seems to wonder where somebody’s going.” So says the Depression-era... More>>

By Scott Foundas

Published: July 02, 2009

Movie Reviews: The Girl From Monaco, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Kambakkht Ishq, I Hate Valentine's Day

Also, New York and Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love

GO THE GIRL FROM MONACO There’s not much to this thin, sun-drenched concoction about a straight-arrow Paris lawyer (Fabrice Luchini)... More>>

By L.A. Weekly Film Critics

Published: July 02, 2009

Agnès Varda From Zero to 80

A filmmaker’s life, as a beautiful waking dream

The great, idiosyncratic original of the French Nouvelle Vague generation, Agnès Varda began her career as a photographer and, in her use... More>>

By J. Hoberman

Published: July 02, 2009

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: Michael Bay Can’t Live Up to Michael Bay

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a bewildering, noisy, sloppy, cynical piece of work, a movie that sneers at the audience for 147 minutes... More>>

By Robert Wilonsky

Published: June 25, 2009

Surveillance: Highway to Hell

Jennifer Lynch returns triumphant, bringing Julia Ormond along for the ride

Jennifer Lynch — like Sofia Coppola, on occasion — has been tarred with the unfounded claim that her films get made only because of... More>>

By Melissa Anderson

Published: June 25, 2009

The Hurt Locker: There Will Be Blasts

Kathryn Bigelow’s Iraq War drama is an explosion waiting to happen — in your head

Kathryn Bigelow’s Iraq War drama The Hurt Locker is a full-throttle body shock of a movie. It gets inside you like a virus, puts your... More>>

By Scott Foundas

Published: June 25, 2009

The Windmill Movie: Mr. Rogers' Nieghborhood

One filmmaker finishes another's self-portrait

When it premiered at last year’s New York Film Festival, where it was one of the most memorable entries, Alexander Olch’s The... More>>

By Philippe Garnier

Published: June 25, 2009

Movie Reviews: Cheri, My Sister's Keeper, The Stoning of Soraya M.

Also, Dead Snow, Life Is Hot in Cracktown and more

CHERI “For the first time in my life, I felt morally certain of having written a novel for which I need neither blush nor doubt,”... More>>

By L.A. Weekly Film Critics

Published: June 25, 2009

Coming to Amreeka

Sundance, Cannes standout makes local premiere at L.A. Film Fest’s closing weekend

In its basic outline, this first feature from Arab-American writer-director Cherien Dabis sounds like a collection of hoary coming-to-America... More>>

By Scott Foundas

Published: June 25, 2009

Los Angeles Film Fest: Hot Rods and Fast Times

Get your motor running with LAFF's auto stimulus package

Think of it as a wake for Pontiac. Three drag-racing movies, three decades of cars, shifting attitudes toward rule of law and youth culture as... More>>

By Nick Pinkerton

Published: June 25, 2009

At the Helm of the L.A. Film Festival

Producer Rebecca Yeldham fights the good film fight

“It’s really interesting how much overlap there is in terms of skill sets,” says veteran independent film producer Rebecca... More>>

By Scott Foundas

Published: June 18, 2009

I, Muppet at the Los Angeles Film Festival

One writer's lifelong pursuit of the rainbow connection

My first reported word was “Piggy.” This was by no means a shallow judgment on my parents, or some infantile attempt at... More>>

By CHRISTOPHER WEEKES

Published: June 18, 2009

Billy Jack Is Back at the Los Angeles Film Festival

LAFF restores a drive-in classic to its karate-chopping glory

“Listen, children, to a story that was written long ago ... ” So begins “One Tin Soldier” the relentlessly catchy theme... More>>

By Chuck Wilson

Published: June 18, 2009

Movie Reviews: The End of the Line, The Proposal, Whatever Works

Also, Daytime Drinking, Irene in Time and more

GO DAYTIME DRINKING The early warnings of Noh Young-seok’s debut feature from the festival circuit suggested either a South Korean... More>>

By L.A. Weekly Film Critics

Published: June 18, 2009

Los Angeles Film Festival: Reviews, A to Z

Our critics weigh in on what — and what not — to see

AFTER THE STORM (USA) Following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, actor and writer James Lecesne wanted to go to New Orleans to help but was... More>>

By L.A. Weekly Film Critics

Published: June 18, 2009