Alex Wehrung

May 21, 2015

‘Mad Max’: Burning Man meets the Blues Brothers in Fury Road

By Alex Wehrung

Seriously. Holy motherfreakin’ crap. The thing about car chases is that they’re a common staple of action movies and it’s very difficult to make them seem fresh and new. George Miller’s fourth “Mad Max” movie...

May 7, 2015

“Age of Ultron” Gives Us What We Expected And Not Much Else

By Alex Wehrung

Like the Hulk, I feel I have two sides: one that wants to say how fun “Avengers: Age of Ultron” was and recommend that everyone see it. The other half thinks, “CRITIC SMASH!”  As much as I’d love to make that ...

April 28, 2015

“Danny Collins” Isn’t Original, But Who Cares?

By Alex Wehrung

This movie is like a roller-coaster. No, it’s not full of twists and turns; instead, you know exactly what you’re going to get before it’s all over. But it’s still a lot of fun to go on the ride anyhow. Partiall...

April 28, 2015

New Sean Astin Film Barely Scratches “The Surface,” Spoiler Alert!

By Alex Wehrung

The surface of Lake Michigan is tepid, slow and without a hint of danger. Oh, the irony. Starring Sean Astin (“The Lord of the Rings”) and Chris Mulkey, “The Surface” is a well-shot and ballsy effort, yet also a ...

April 24, 2015

Woyzeck: A Good Musical Like This is Hard to Find

By Alex Wehrung

The original version of Georg Büchner’s tragi-comedy Woyzeck was left unfinished on account of the author’s untimely death. And thus, for the past century and a half, the play has been molded in various fashions. Wo...

March 11, 2015

Nick Frost: Conversation with a Zombie Slayer, Alien Fighter and Bad-Ass Cop

By Alex Wehrung

If you’ve been asked who Nick Frost is, chances are you’ve shook your head in confusion before being told, “You know, the fat guy from ‘Shaun of the Dead’ and ‘Hot Fuzz?’” Suddenly, your eyes light up as ...

February 22, 2015

Kirk Cameron and More “Honored” at 35th Golden Raspberry Awards

By Alex Wehrung

The Academy Awards are the most prestigious awards for film in the world. Actors, directors and writers dream of getting onstage and exposing their faces to millions who would otherwise not give two shits about them. Bu...

February 16, 2015

Fifty Shades of Grey: Still a better love story than….actually, not really

By Alex Wehrung

Finally, it’s here. The mommy-pornographic, masturbatory, former Twilight fanfiction fantasy hit that has taken the sexually-frustrated world by storm: “Fifty Shades of Grey,” the movie. Now, to this film’s credi...

February 15, 2015

Directors Given Prestigious Honors at SBIFF Chazelle, Linklater, Miller, Poitras and Tyldum Reflect at Arlington

By Alex Wehrung

The Outstanding Directors of the Year tribute event was admittedly more low-key than one would imagine. While there was certainly a long line to get into the Arlington, there weren’t any screaming fans descending upon ...

February 12, 2015

SBIFF Awards Steve Carell at Ceremony Looking Back on his Career

By Alex Wehrung

“Woo! Steve!” shouted someone way in the back of the Arlington Theatre. In one of the front rows, the man of the hour himself shot up in his seat, turned around and yelled, “Hey! Quiet!” in true maniacal Steve Ca...

February 6, 2015

South Korean Thriller “Confession” Debuts at SBIFF

By Alex Wehrung

Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong. -Murphy’s law

February 6, 2015

Documentary “Caffeinated” is Stimulating, Fresh

By Alex Wehrung

Ironic story: right before I went to see this documentary, I sat on a State Street bench, catching up on my Gothic literature reading. I yawned, and some random man passing by me said, “You should get some coffee.” A...

January 29, 2015

Artsweek Picks for Santa Barbara International Film Festival

By Phi Do, Arasch Blurfrushan, Alex Wehrung, Bin Nguyen, Nadine Bedwan

  “Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Secret Ocean 3D” Phi Do, staff writer In many ocean documentaries, large creatures like dolphins, sharks and whales often dominate the frame. But thanks to the groundbreaking filming ...

January 22, 2015

SB International Film Festival Promises Big Celebrities and Films

By Alex Wehrung, Audrey Bachelder, Bin Nguyen, Jane Huson, Nadine Bedwan, Phi Do

Jennifer Aniston, Steve Carell and Eddie Redmayne walk into Wildcat, sit down and sip on $10 whiskey sours while a crowd of Gauchos dance their faces off to “I don’t give a f*ck,” the latest ramble of sophisticatio...

January 15, 2015

“Big Eyes” Review: Amy Adams rules in biographical. Christoph Waltz, not so much. Spoiler Alert!

By Alex Wehrung

Tim Burton made a colorful comedy-drama?  Is he well? His newest take to the silver screen is “Big Eyes,” based on the real-life drama surrounding artist Margaret Keane (Amy Adams) and her swindler husband, Walter K...

January 11, 2015

“Foxcatcher” Review: Carell sheds his funny-guy image in somber biographical drama

By Alex Wehrung

This critic resolves from now on to never watch any Steve Carell comedies, so that his perception of Carell will always be as an amazing actor, as opposed to a comedian. Although that promise will likely be broken like m...