Peter L'Official
Tomatometer-approved critic
Village Voice film critic.
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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ATL (2006) |
It unpretentiously serves class consciousness and conflict with its Cadillac music, attempting to capture -- not capitalize on -- the Atlanta scene that's spawned an aesthetic and a mythology all its own. - Village Voice
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| Posted Mar 28, 2006
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Mirage (2004) |
Marko's story is far from novel, but its wicked evocation of hopelessness transcends any familiarities. - Village Voice
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| Posted Mar 14, 2006
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Eight Below (2006) |
The plot's slavish schmaltz proves as oppressive as the harsh winter that descends upon the dogs. - Village Voice
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| Posted Feb 21, 2006
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Curious George (2006) |
Misanthropic toddlers will be rolling in the aisles. - Village Voice
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| Posted Feb 07, 2006
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The Tollbooth (2004) |
The question of whether Sarabeth will make it as a big-city artist is less fascinating than wondering when she'll discover that her art is terrible. - Village Voice
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| Posted Jan 31, 2006
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Tristan & Isolde (2006) |
I dub thee tolerable. - Village Voice
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| Posted Jan 17, 2006
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The Car (2003) |
First-timer Luis Orjuela paint-rollers on soupy layers of humor and emotion while mixing in measured shots of class commentary. - Village Voice
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| Posted Jan 03, 2006
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Zathura (2005) |
Let's play Jumanji! No, let's not, but say we did -- in space! - Village Voice
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| Posted Nov 08, 2005
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G (2002) |
No green light but the one mistakenly given to start production. - Village Voice
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| Posted Nov 01, 2005
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The Dark Hours (2005) |
[A] taut '70s throwback thriller. - Village Voice
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| Posted Oct 11, 2005
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Life, Translated (2006) |
Kiefer Liu's eccentric bit of teen sigh candy is veined with enough chewy oddities to give it texture, but its sappy center isn't sustainable over 100 minutes. - Village Voice
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| Posted Oct 07, 2005
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(undefined) |
Wolfe's anecdotal musicology succeeds precisely because of its bare-bones, bawdy yet beautiful approach -- just like the music Vargas makes. - Village Voice
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| Posted Sep 27, 2005
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Into the Fire (2005) |
If there's an element of Into the Fire that isn't rank and offensive, I've failed to find it. - Village Voice
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| Posted Sep 20, 2005
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Below the Belt (2004) |
Watch it with your eyes closed. - Village Voice
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| Posted Sep 13, 2005
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Green Street Hooligans (2005) |
Hooligans loses the plot late though -- in the filmic and Brit-speak sense -- revealing Hollywood, not hooligan, roots. - Village Voice
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| Posted Sep 06, 2005
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Margaret Cho: Assassin (2005) |
Her embrace of controversial political topics might be welcome if her jokes weren't so predictable. - Village Voice
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| Posted Aug 30, 2005
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The Dukes of Hazzard (2005) |
Prepare to witness an amazing feat of filmmaking: Shocked and delighted will you be to see real Hollywood actors and real musicians outperformed by your favorite inanimate objects! - Village Voice
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| Posted Aug 02, 2005
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Cronicas (2004) |
Oscillating between furor and languor, rage and repose, Crnicas mixes ethnography with media critique. - Village Voice
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| Posted Jul 06, 2005
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The War on Kids (2009) |
Ineptitude is so thorough here that War on . . . could only make sense as a sinister governmental smear campaign to justify the war on drugs and total sobriety. - Village Voice
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| Posted Jun 22, 2005
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POV (2005) |
Weisberg, whose stripped-down style seems refreshing amid the current spate of super-produced docs, gives you what you want, if what you want are dismally deferred American Dreams and harsh economic realities. And you should. - Village Voice
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| Posted Jun 22, 2005
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After You (2003) |
As genre fare, Aprs Vous is saved by its irresistibly sympathetic performances. - Village Voice
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| Posted May 31, 2005
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Bomb the System (2003) |
A needlessly circuitous plot twist leaves a bitter taste, but not before the film's scruffy charm does its work. - Village Voice
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| Posted May 24, 2005
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Red Passport (2003) |
I'm in jail. Whoops! Now I'm not. - Village Voice
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| Posted May 10, 2005
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XXX: State of the Union (2005) |
Explosions abound, along with expository dialogue and a ham-tastic triad of performances from Sam Jackson, Willem Dafoe, and Peter Strauss. - Village Voice
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| Posted May 03, 2005
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Death of a Dynasty (2003) |
In Dynasty, even caricature becomes commodity. - Village Voice
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| Posted Apr 26, 2005
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King's Ransom (2005) |
Little in this film suggests 'director' Jeff Byrd and writer Wayne Conley possess any facility -- or familiarity -- with irony or any other comedic device. - Village Voice
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| Posted Apr 26, 2005
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Perlasca (2002) |
More courageous than Spielberg in its depiction of Nazi brutality, Perlasca occasionally feels like the made-for-Italian-TV film that it is. - Village Voice
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| Posted Apr 12, 2005
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Guess Who (2005) |
The film is predictable and its humor is tension free. - Village Voice
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| Posted Mar 29, 2005
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Naked Fame (2004) |
There are many dreadful elements in this chronicle of aging gay male porn star Colton Ford's quest for crossover success in the music industry: sub-amateurish camera work, a maddeningly repetitive score, and a listless narrative. - Village Voice
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| Posted Mar 22, 2005
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With Friends Like These... (1998) |
Plot and characterization are drawn strictly off the rack. - Village Voice
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| Posted Feb 22, 2005
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The Letter (2003) |
Hamzeh's film eschews voice-over to allow the more despicable characters to embarrass themselves with their ludicrously foolish invective. - Village Voice
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| Posted Feb 08, 2005
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Assisted Living (2003) |
The problem with Greenebaum's approach is that in courting the confusion between real and constructed realities, he allows our emotional response to become similarly confused. - Village Voice
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| Posted Feb 02, 2005
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