STEVEN SODERBERGH

Perfectly structured, skillfully directed, and acted with for the most part quite well.

A terrific breath of nostalgia, masterfully crafted by one of the best working directors today, Steven Soderbergh. The film is a series of subtle homages and tributes to a large handful of great old Hollywood favourites. While the story sprawls a little and isn't structured as well as need be, the cast carries it very well. Clooney in particular is perfectly cast as the typical 40's Bogartesque lead. I didn't love this film, but it's undoubtebly a masterwork, very underrated. Photography is beyond beautiful, slipping into the rare rhelm of genius.

A very unusual piece of auteur filmmaking from Steven Soderbergh. His ambition to make this kind of a movie garners my respect immediately, and the final product was actually better than I expected after reading so many negative reviews. Although lacking in cohesive themes the film entangles a mosaic of very interesting characters in a number of different story-lines that blur the line between reality and fiction by means of having two different movies playing within the movie. It's all certainly a bit confusing keeping whose acting, who's real, who's just a character in Full Frontal. But I really enjoyed all the performances, particularly David Hyde Pierce and Catherine Keener, the sense of humour, the honest portrait of vague insight so prevalent in real life, and a number of inside jokes among the industry stars who appear in the movie. Although marketed poorly I think Full Frontal has the potential to find an audience eventually who will really enjoy it.

An extremely successful heist picture, fueled by the charm of the all-star cast and a deliciously dislikable performance by Al Pacino. Unlike the previous Ocean film, this one strays along a simple plotline without being distracted by it's own cool factor. Great summer entertainment, on par with Ocean's 11.