Adaptation (2002)

Adaptation (2002)

[6]  [Warning: This review contains spoilers.]  Spike Jonze directs this meta tale of a screenwriter losing his mind trying to adapt a book called The Orchid Thief. While his twin brother moves in and begins mirroring him in many ways,…
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

[7] This film and Top Gun are the ones that really launched the Simpson/Bruckheimer brand of action/comedy that would dominate the box office through the late 80s and 90s. (Even after Simpson's death in '96, Bruckheimer is still a top…
Blood Simple (1984)

Blood Simple (1984)

[8] The Coen Brothers broke onto the film scene with this claustrophobic mystery/thriller featuring Frances McDormand, John Getz, and Dan Hedaya in a murderous love triangle. M. Emmet Walsh complicates matters for all of them as a hitman for hire.…
The Way Back (2010)

The Way Back (2010)

[6] There's no director I admire more than Peter Weir (Fearless, Mosquito Coast), even if his latest film left me a tad underwhelmed. The Way Back is about a group of men who escape a Russian labor camp during WWII…
30 Minutes or Less (2011)

30 Minutes or Less (2011)

[5] Working from a stale script that comes too late in the Tarantino wake, this dark, violent 'who's conning who' comedy is made tolerable by its flavor-of-the-week casting. If you like Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride, and Aziz Ansari (like I…
Mara Maru (1952)

Mara Maru (1952)

[6] Errol Flynn stars as a deep sea diver hunting for a rumored sunken treasure while fending off a trio of baddies that are trying to swipe it out from under him. Flynn is a little past his prime here,…
Rocky V (1990)

Rocky V (1990)

[5] If you can get past the fact that the Rocky series never should have lived to see a fifth entry, Rocky V may actually surprise you a little. I'm glad it doesn't retread the old narrative of every installment…
The Drowning Pool (1975)

The Drowning Pool (1975)

[5] Paul Newman returns as private eye Lew Harper, hired by an ex-flame to solve a blackmail case involving adultery and oil-rich land. As with the previous Harper film, the stakes are never high enough and no one's quite worth…
The MacKintosh Man (1973)

The MacKintosh Man (1973)

[4] Paul Newman stars as a British agent posing as a jewel thief who gets embroiled with Russian spies, goes to prison, gets broken out of prison, and lands in the hands of a secretive organization that drugs and kidnaps…
Cursed (2004)

Cursed (2004)

[5] There's a good concept at the core of this Wes Craven/Kevin Williamson (Scream) collaboration -- a brother and sister coming to terms with the fact that they may be werewolves. But serious werewolf fans will bemoan the cheesy Hollywood…