February 2012

Steven Soderbergh has always been one of those filmmakers critics and audiences love to love. However, outside Traffic and The Limey, there hasn't been much to fawn over. Haywire, thankfully, shares much of its DNA with The Limey: it's lean, mean, and very retro-cool.

Dull, unimaginative tripe. [C]

Anyone looking to debunk the auteur theory need only watch an Apocalypse Now/The Cotton Club double feature. Coppola's creative instinct died in the late 70s. [F]

There's not a whole lot to this film, but some of the shots are so breathtakingly gorgeous they make the entire film somewhat memorable.

Despite Aussie Sam Worthington's noble efforts to hold a Texan accent, Texas Killing Fields is a largely forgettable affair. [D-]

A grueling experience, a fine showcase for a young Al Pacino, but not the great film some say it is; it's too straightforward for that.

I'm sure modern dance lovers will adore this film to pieces, but most of this was torture to watch. Only in the last 20 minutes or so does it connect on any emotional level, and by then it's too late. [C]

A well directed film that captures the spirit of classic British war films like The Four Feathers. [B+]

The cultural reaction to it is actually far more interesting than the film itself.

While you won't remember anything about Stake Land a week after you've seen it, it does manage to breathe life into a few genre cliches. [B-]

I love the characters Cassavetes creates, I love the music he so skillfully employs, but he never achieves the depth that would propel Shadows into the ranks of the great American films.

Good direction manages to make the audience look past the headache-inducing shaky cam and tired plot. [C+]

Sleek, sexy, sophisticated and way past its time. That being said, as a huge Noel Coward fan, I was a bit diappointed to learn that this was more Ben Hecht's film than it was Coward's.

Simply awful. A few unintentional laughs here and there, but nothing more. [F]

A middle-of-the-road crime flick that could have been so much more. Monahan is so concerned with making a snappy Layer Cake-type film (never a good thing) that he carefully purges anything potentially engaging from the film. However, it is quite snappy, and does at least partially succeed on its own terms. [C+]

Every minute of this was a struggle to get through. The usually mediocre Shelley Winters gives perhaps on of the worst performances ever committed to film. [F]

Everything experimental cinema has the capability to become. It captures a feeling, a complex mishmash of human emotions like few other films I have ever seen. [A+]

My eyes never strayed from the screen watching this one. It wasn't that the plot is marvellously complex (which it is), but because every scene, every shot is magnificently and meticulously composed. [A]

Everything a popcorn movie should be: fast, tough, and self-aware. [B-]

For a film this startlingly intimate, Grey Gardens is a very cold film; you want the Maysles to develop their portrait of the Beales , but instead they remain observing the claustrophobic insanity of two bizarre women. [C]

A masterpiece. A Western in the spirit of Easy Rider, The Hired Hand is gently devastating in its portrait of a West not seen in the movies too often. [A+]

This was a case of misguided expectations, but for a film titled Corridors of Blood, it plays awful safe. [C]

Edward Furlong is a bit miscast, but overall Little Odessa explores crime in an immigrant family in an effective if somewhat conventional manner.

A brutal portrayal of masculinity remarkable for, but not defined by, a fantastic lead performance. [B+]

A massive disappointment considering the talent involved. Mitchum makes it watchable, but in the end The Yakuza tries to mix the kung fu action with the serious crime drama, compromising both in the process. [C]