Idle Hands (1999)
Jun 29, 1999Possessed/Disembodied Hand
Surely the first slacker horror film in which teenager Devon Sawa's hand becomes possessed. A comedy that feels as though it should have been a lot funnier than it ends up being on screen
Jessica Alba
Paranoid (2000)
May 4, 2001Imprisonment Psycho-Thriller
Psycho-thriller in which Jessica Alba finds herself drugged and then held a captive prisoner by Iain Glen
Fantastic Four (2005)
Jul 8, 2005Comic-Book Superheroes
One of the big hits among the spate of Marvel Comics adaptations in the 2000s. This has a very mixed reputation but brings the comic-book team to life in a reasonable effort
Sin City (2005)
Aug 20, 2005Graphic Novel Adaptation/Ultra-Violent Film Noir Tales
Robert Rodriguez's adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novels is groundbreaking and one of the most visually adventurous films in years. A trio of film noir-styled tales where he sets out to replicate the look of Miller's comic panels
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
Jun 25, 2007Comic-Book Superheroes
The 2005 Fantastic Four was an amiable entry among the Marvel Comics adaptations of the 2000s. This sequel substitutes lowbrow comedy and renders the great character of the Silver Surfer as a CGI cartoon
The Eye (2008)
Mar 29, 2008Woman Sees the Dead
An English-language remake of the ghost story from the Pang Brothers follows the other film faithfully but in terms of atmosphere is a pallid copy of the original
The Killer Inside Me (2010)
Nov 17, 2010Psycho Deputy
Disappointing adaptation of a classic noir novel where neither Michael Winterbottom nor a blank Casey Affleck do much to get inside the noirish mood or the troubled central character of a psychopathic sheriff's deputy
Spy Kids: All the Time in the World (2011)
Aug 27, 2011Juvenile Spy Adventures
A series that reached its maximum level of cuteness two films ago is dragged out for another pointless entry that nobody was asking for. Robert Rodriguez delivers shabby juvenile slapstick
Escape from Planet Earth (2013)
Mar 4, 2013Animation/Aliens Imprisoned at Area 51 Comedy
This is fake SF, an animated film that has no interest in its concept, one that exists solely as a series of pop culture jokes, cutsie supporting characters, thrills and feelgood epiphanies
Machete Kills (2013)
Oct 12, 2013Gonzo Action Film
Robert Rodriguez turns his earlier action film into an insanely creative comic-book overflowing with SF devices (and homages). The casting alone is side-splitting and Rodriguez's visual absurdism wins the day
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014)
Aug 23, 2014Graphic Novel Adaptation/Ultra-Violent Film Noir Tales
Robert Rodriguez makes his return to Frank Miller's classic film noir-styled graphic novels. You keep expecting this to hit in with the astonishing freshness the first film did. Rodriguez and Miller give us more of the same amazing visuals but there is the feeling it is no longer original and new
The Veil (2016)
Mar 7, 2016Ghosts of Mass Suicide Cult Members
This has a great premise – a camera crew revisiting the site of a cult mass suicide stir up the ghosts of the cult members – and a director who I always maintained had much untapped potential. Alas, the finished result seems to slip by his hands