POMO

The Transporter is an exemplary case of a dumb screenplay transported into a deliciously effective form. Whereas this combination is usually maddening in a Hollywood movie, in a French film it induces a kind of pleasant relaxation thanks to the typical French sense of detachment. The unconventional use of music adds to the film’s distinctiveness. And Jason Statham is good throughout.

Crimson Tide is a Hollywood attempt at cinematic psychology between characters that won’t insult your intelligence and you will be delighted by the spectacular visuals (Tony Scott’s typical camera filters) and Hans Zimmer’s brilliant music, as well as by the excellent actors.

A cliché seen a hundred times before, dressed up in slightly more elegant garb and played by a more likable pair of comedians. But it’s still basically just a run-of-the-mill action flick.

The Score is an intelligent and well-acted thriller, but it’s screenplay is lifeless.

A refined, atmospheric, psychological and rather disturbing study of a killer’s psyche. Expect an average thriller set in a desert and you’ll be satisfied.

The Car is mainstream entertainment inspired by Spielberg’s Duel. Though it’s a bit formulaic and cringely awkward in one acrobatic scene, it’s surprisingly atmospheric and dynamic overall. Director Elliot Silverstein created a truly demonic fluidity around the superbly designed car and, in the dusty desert locations, he pushed it literally to an Oscar-worthy performance through great cinematography, quick cuts and refined sound. Generally well-done silliness.

An interesting study of a peace-loving killer of women with a disturbed childhood who records his crimes on celluloid and plans to make an “epic film”. Peeping Tom has top-tier production values with artistic ambitions and it’s perfectly acted and filmed, but director Michael Powell focuses so much on the central character that he forgets the viewer. Suspense and shock are sadly absent from the film. Perhaps it seems so because of the time that has passed since the film was released. But considering the impact that Hitchcock’s thrillers still have on today’s viewers, that doesn’t excuse Powell.

Given the genre, the slower pace of X-Men 2 is a handicap. More characters, more dialogue, more solving of problems than action. I wouldn’t have minded any of that if it weren’t 133 minutes long and if the dialogue didn’t somewhat fizzle out into nothing. X-Men 2 isn’t as deep as it pretends to be. But it’s just as intelligent and the characters are just as cool as they were in the first X-Men.

This is such a soulless, dumb and impossible comedy that I can’t believe  heartless, stupid and impossible comedy until I can't believe who all is behind it.

The directorial debut of the cinematographer of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which looks like anything but the directorial debut of the cinematographer of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Good characters, bad characters, a hunt for a relic, adventure in the desert. A clichéd screenplay, unimaginative directing and boring acting. And the fiery climax, or rather the technical execution thereof, is perhaps a bad joke. The Touch would have been a fiasco even in the 1980s.