Black Bag (2025)

An espionage thriller about a British intelligence officer and his wife who investigate an internal leak among four other spies. It's a premise that starts out intriguing and shrouded in mystery, but quickly proves to be dry and dull as ditchwater. It's the kind of film that thinks it's cleverer than the audience, but joke's on them: I didn't give a single shit about any of it in the first place.

The good thing about Steven Soderbergh is if you don't like one of his movies, just wait 6 months, and he'll come out with another one.

2 polygraphs out of 5

Spinning Man (2018)

Pierce Brosnan plays a respectful but resolute detective who's investigating the disappearance of a seventeen-year-old girl, last seen near a lake that college professor Evan Birch (Guy Pearce) had reason to be close to on the day in question. Birch outright denies the accusations, but his weak memory envelops his movements with an air of doubt for both police and viewer.
It resembles a Nordic crime thriller, which makes sense when you consider that director Simon Kaijser da Silva is Swedish, but the distinctive Nordic approach doesn't work quite as well in a US environment. Also, while the professor's lectures on philosophical approaches to truth play into the plot, their use isn't compelling enough to permeate the overall feeling.

2½ apropos talks out of 5

Seraphim Falls (2006)

An unceasing Liam Neeson and a small hired posse hunt a lone Pierce Brosnan across a changing terrain. We're not told early on which of the two men has the higher moral ground, or the most lawful position, etc, or if indeed either of them has, but the reasons for why things are happening being drip-fed to the viewer throughout only serves to heighten the realism of the hunt.
Before watching Seraphim Falls, if someone mentioned Brosnan I'd have pictured him as James Bond, Not anymore. Henceforth he'll be as he is herein, bearded, with superb survival skills and a bucketful of courage.
It might sound silly, but much of the film's final act felt to me like it could be happening within Stephen King's The Dark Tower books.

4 curatives out of 5

The Ghost (2010)

The 'ghost' of the title is of the writer variety, semi-reluctantly penning the memoirs of a former British Prime Minister at a time that coincides with a political and personal upheaval for the very public figure.
Polanski is a master of his craft and I feel that all the actors gave great performances with varying levels of subtlety, together achieving a believable kind of 'filmic harmony', but overall I just wasn't gripped by any of it. It's now a part of the 'watch once and pass onto someone else' stack of discs.
Strangely, what I'll remember most is the view through the PM's study window; the blustery beach environment with sporadic tufts of grass atop sandy dunes was in some way a kind of unspoken commentary on the life he was living.

2½ cures for insomnia out of 5

A LONG WAY DOWN [2014]

If I had to pick one thing that makes director Pascal Chaumeil's adaptation of Nick Hornby's so-so novel A Long Way Down worth seeing,  I would not hesitate with the answer: Imogen Poots.
Poots is the shining star in this offbeat drama about a group of suicidal folks who form a pact to help each other through the hard times.  The film has a helluva time finding what sort of tone it's going for, which results in a somewhat frustrating experience.  At times it's quite funny, charming, likeable and driven by interesting character moments but the tone is so off-shooting one can't help but be completely distracted by it.
It's a miss but still manage to be an enjoyable miss I have no desire to see again.

3 bad trips out of 5

The Lawnmower Man (1992)

Kick a dog enough times and it’ll eventually turn and bite you in the ass and you’ll deserve it. Jobe is like that dog. Born with learning difficulties, he’s a simple man who enjoys simple pleasures. Science can change what nature gave him. Commerce can shaft him in every other way.
TLM is sci-fi that’s very much a product of its time, despite stealing a large portion of its premise from an older Daniel Keyes story. As such, even though the CGI is dated it’s not a problem within the context. What's more problematic is how the sympathy cultivated in the first half isn't maintained well enough in the second half, so by the end it’s difficult to care if anyone survives the threat. It's flawed but I enjoy it regardless.

2½ cold calls out of 5

THE WORLD'S END [2013]

The final instalment of Edgar Wright's Three Flavors Cornetto Trilogy comes as an apocalyptic alien invasion pub crawl in the coming of age sci-fi comedy The World's End.
Reuniting Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman and Paddy Considine as well as adding the scene-stealing Eddie Marsan to the mix makes for a fantastic character piece that's witty, heartfelt and hilarious.  At first glance, it's just as goofy as the first two films but under the surface it's actually quite emotional and thoughtful.  It's not as good as the Shaun Of The Dead or Hot Fuzz but it is by no means a disappointment.  It's a zany sci-fi comedy as well as a celebration of accepting the rather flawed humanity we're all a part of whether we like it or not.

3½ burly bathroom brawls out of 5

MARS ATTACKS! [1996]

As much of a hugely unfocused mess Tim Burton's sci-fi comedy Mars Attacks! is, it's still one of my top five favorite films of his.

Inspired by 1960's Topps' trading cards of the same name, the film is more of a homage than a satire of 1950's sci-fi b-movies and 1970's ensemble cast disaster films.  Beneath all the goofiness and scattered chaos is a ruthlessly funny dissection of American society and culture that ultimately hurt it's popularity in the States but was a great success in the rest of the world.  It's colorful, loud, hilarious, tremendously corny and occasionally shocking, all of which makes for one of Burton's craziest films to date.  

3 peace doves of war out of 5

Stephen King's Bag of Bones (2011)

A writer is haunted by visions of his late wife and the mystery surrounding a lake house in this made-for-TV adaptation. Pierce Brosnan seems oddly out of place in this type of movie, but I warmed up to him by the second half. It's not terribly well-done, but it's okay. Yeah, that's the best you're going to get out of me. "It was okay."

2.5 Dark Scores out of 5