AltWeeklies Wire
Bless Our Dronesnew
The drone operator, typically a high school graduate from Marion, Ind., sits safely on the ground in a control module somewhere in Australia; he looks at a screen and flies the drone with a gaming handset similar to what he uses to play Mario Bros.
Weekly Alibi |
Alex Limkin |
12-15-2009 |
Commentary
Up in the Air: A Big-hearted Film about Corporate Downsizingnew
Ryan Bingham spends nearly his entire year traveling, hopping from company to company in his position as a "career-transition counselor," and he likes it that way.
Washington City Paper |
Tricia Olszewski |
12-07-2009 |
Reviews
Unemployment Gets a Lift in 'Up in the Air'
George Clooney's intentionally ambiguous character Ryan Bingham is a poster boy for America's lack of ethical direction in this thought-provoking satire about America's unemployment epidemic.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
11-30-2009 |
Reviews
Animated Cartoon: Git-Mo Help
President Obama says he can't close Guantanamo because he doesn't know where to send the detainees. How about a free-market solution to this conundrum: the Gitmo Helpers servant service!
'The Informant!' Takes Soft Approach to Satirenew
Matt Damon packing on layers of doughy flab to play a biochemical whistleblower isn't exactly a formula for comedy gold, but the film is funnier than it has any right to be.
San Antonio Current |
Jeremy Martin |
09-17-2009 |
Reviews
Cartoon: Rejection.comnew
Rejection.com: the company that not only accepts the awful truth that there are no jobs out there for you to find -- but also exploits it. Finally, a win-win!
Steven Soderbergh's Satire 'The Informant!' Pales
Soderbergh has loads of fun with a perky musical score and jaunty '70s-era visual hat-tips toward a certain Get Smart aura of goofy charm. But the filmmaker is unable to tease out substance from what is essentially an off-key one-note samba.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
09-14-2009 |
Reviews
'In the Loop' is a Dark Satire for Dark Daysnew
Taking his cue from The Office, Armando Iannucci delivers a deliciously corrosive backstage view of the Iraq War years, as Brits and Yanks danced around what they knew was a foregone conclusion of their own making.
San Antonio Current |
Jeff Meyers |
08-12-2009 |
Reviews
'Bruno' Pushes the Limits but Isn't As Consistent as 'Borat'new
Whatever Sacha Baron Cohen does next, he's bound to give the folks at the Motion Picture Association of America some major headaches. This movie pushes the boundaries of the R rating to the limit, and some will undoubtedly think it goes too far.
Tucson Weekly |
Bob Grimm |
07-16-2009 |
Reviews
Sacha Baron Cohen Hunts for Narrow-Minded Bigots in 'Bruno'new
While so many public figures are deliberately shocking and offensive because they want us to join them in being small and mean and petty and tribal, Baron Cohen does the same thing but for the very opposite reasons. That is a good thing, and a thing very much worth celebrating -- and it's also outrageously funny to watch, too.
Charleston City Paper |
MaryAnn Johanson |
07-08-2009 |
Reviews
Sacha Baron Cohen Makes Funny, But Can't Get His Story Straight in 'Bruno'
Sacha Baron Cohen's follow-up to the hilarious Borat provokes half as many laughs in a seemingly less improvised comedy that goes twice again as far as Borat in goosing sexual sight gags designed to make even the most numb audience members blanch.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
07-02-2009 |
Reviews
Sanford Biopic 'The Earth Moved' is a Sexy Affairnew
Not only can Twitter topple regimes and replace newspapers, but it can see into the future. And thanks to Twitter, we now have a review of The Earth Moved, a sexy film about the love affair between S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford and his soulmate Maria.
Charleston City Paper |
Chris Haire |
07-01-2009 |
Commentary
Restive Americans Form a Nascent Resistance ... But Will Anyone Notice?
Why the anger? Six months after a new chancellor came to power amid promises of dramatic change, the Reich remains at war. Between the officially unemployed and the long-term dispossessed, 20 percent of North Americans are out of work. Auschwitz is closing and torture has been banned, but dissidents say Adolf Hitler III's reforms are merely window-dressing.
Maui Time |
Ted Rall |
06-13-2009 |
Commentary
Taking Time Takes Patience
A what-if satire of what America would look like today if the Allies had lost at D-Day 65 years ago. First of two parts.
Maui Time |
Ted Rall |
06-08-2009 |
Commentary
Tags: satire
'Der Decidermeister': An Opera on the Unlikely Rise and Ignominious Fall of George W. Bushnew
It's an opera. The curtain rises on a young George Bush in a Texas Air Guard uniform and follows the 43rd president through his business dealings, his time as governor of Texas and eight long years as president of the country.
Boise Weekly |
Bill Cope |
01-21-2009 |
Commentary
Tags: George W. Bush, satire
