The film noir transported to a present-day high school in Southern California.

Except that in this high school, only a few kids seem to occupy the premises, the principal strikes some unusual deals with the students, mothers offer glasses of milk to gang members and the high school itself and the grounds around it seem to exist somewhat out of time and out of space, a fake reality that plays with our senses, expectations and paradigms.

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Cypher is, surprisingly, not based on a Philip K. Dick short story. But Brian King, the writer, and Vincenzo Natali, who previously directed the intriguing Cube, must have clearly watched Total Recall, Paycheck and Blade Runner or read the stories they are based on and decided to explore the theme that was at the centre of Dick’s oeuvre: what is reality? The premise is clever, the film moves at a strong pace and the acting keeps it all believable, in spite of a bit of overindulgence towards the end.

Creepy at times, funny at others, The Tenant is hard film to pin down. It disturbs us a little, scares us occasionally, confuses us somewhat and even makes us laugh at times (perhaps, sadly, unintentionally). Such a combination is clearly not for everyone. And it is this combination that makes The Tenant a diluted and confused effort. Polanski’s own Repulsion is a far superior tale of madness and Rosemary’s Baby a great deal scarier.

This very pretentious film, based on a story by Stephen King, claims to explore the nature of evil through the relationship between a young man who is fascinated by the Holocaust and the ex SS officer he helps unmask. With the exception of Ian McKellen, who is at his usual best, the film has in fact very little to offer in terms of interesting psychological or sociological insights. Any serious attempt at investigating ‘what makes us do what we do’ is unfortunately quickly sacrificed in favor of a cheap, action-driven narrative that has the audacity to pretend that it can deal with such a serious and grave subject matter.

Believe it or not, i did enjoy Vanilla Sky. So to see Open your Eyes, the original Spanish film upon which the Cameron Crowe remake was based, proved quite an enjoyable experience. No Tom Cruise, no overbearing and dictative typical Cameron Crowe pop soundtrack, this original version feels truer, richer and deeper.

No wonder Park won the Grand Prize of the Jury at Cannes 2004, a jury led by Tarantino. Oldboy is stylish, violent, cool, hip, and much better than Kill Bill (which shows what i thought of Kill Bill). But it is difficult for something that is cool and hip to endure and for its essence to break through that surface, if such essence did in fact exist. Oldboy was good fun, very well made fun, but that’s all it will be remembered for.

Dark and negative endings have never been Hollywood’s forte. The fact that The Manchurian Candidate has one does not make it automatically a good film. Despite its reputation, and despite the acting by Lansbury and some very interesting shots, the film is nevertheless fairly standard Hollywood fare with over-the-top characters and little regard for plausibility or realism.

Flight Plan starts by pretending to be interesting, mysterious and psychologically challenging, only to quickly plummet into the banal, the boring and the unforgivably predictable.

A couple of years ago, someone lent me Session 9 on DVD. I had never heard of Brad Anderson before and as such, wasn’t sure what to expect from the film. But it turned out to be one very scary, well crafted flick. It is therefore not surprising that The Machinist, just a few days after its release here in London, seems to already be establishing itself as a cult phenomenon.

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