burn after reading (2008)

the coen brother's most recent film is more in the vein of "the ladykillers'' than it is "no country for old men", which is hardly a good thing. at times i felt like screaming at the tv, and while it was fairly inoffensive and fairly free-wheeling, one cant help but be of the attitude that the talent on screen would have been better utilised in an alternative film. brad pitt is great tho, as is richard jenkins in a supporting role. frances mcdormand is beyond annoying tho, and while i understand that this was the intention she still grates beyond belief. john malkovich once again proves that no one can do angry quite as well as him, with tilda swinton great as his wife and george clooney as affable as usual as her lover.

all in all it was ok, but ok isnt really expected or downright good enough coming off of the back of "no country for old men".

solaris (2002)

steven soderbergh's often frowned upon remake of the tarkovsky classic was given a recent viewing, in light of the upcoming release of "che" next month. while its not the marvel that is the original 1972 film, it is actually rather interesting, at least as an example of soderbergh trying a different genre. over the next week or so im going to watch a few more soderbergh films, in the shape of ''the limey'' (one i havent seen) and ''traffic'' (one i havent seen since its theatrical release), alongside the previous ''out of sight''.

out of sight

being my first steven soderbergh experience i didnt know what to expect when i first saw 'out of sight', back during the dawn of dvd back in 1999. i picked the film up at the recommendation of a colleague at the time, he being the sole other dvd player owner that i knew back then. its difficult to explain the sheer exhileration that came with each and every dvd that i picked up back then, an impossible thing to explain now that the format is the most successful home entertainment platform of all time. alas, i was dubious of seeing 'out of sight' at first, the credentials of its cast being enough to cast doubt (clooney was fresh off of 'batman and robin' at the time, while jennifer lopez was, well, jennifer lopez) over the apparent quality of the picture. i was pleased to find that not only was i wrong to make such assumptions, but i was ridiculously wrong.

the shifting of time feels innovative, despite it being de-rigeur at the time of production to rely on such gimmicks, and the film has a none-too-shaky -cam handheld style that compliments proceedings well. and wouldnt you know it, clooney and lopez are both great in their roles. its since become apparent that clooney wasnt the clown that the misfire that was 'batman and robin' suggested, and miss lopez has seemingly all but disappeared, leaving not very much to be aspired.