Critic's Notebook

By Crook and Off the Hook

MOVIE REVIEW
Mesrine: Killer Instinct (2008)

By ROBERT LEVIN

Music Box Films

Part one of a bifurcated, four-hour magnum opus, “Mesrine: Killer Instinct” offers a close, nostalgic approximation of classical Hollywood gangster cinema. As a French picture about famed mid-century Robin Hood-type Jacques Mesrine (played by Vincent Cassel), the film benefits from an added dose of fond memories, as director Jean-François Richet’s New Wave predecessors so ably reshaped and deepened the early Warner Bros. aesthetic.

It is, in the best sense, a throwback, even if the presentation of Mesrine’s story also offers an unintended reminder of modern audiences’ decaying attention spans. To offer the film — made during one gargantuan nine-month shoot — in a palatable fashion, the producers have siphoned the second half into “Public Enemy #1” (out in the United States on Sept. 3), requiring a separate admission.

Housekeeper Makes Herself at Home

MOVIE REVIEW
The Maid (2009)

By SARAH MANVEL

Elephant Eye Films

Not every movie needs has-beens preening in front of great whacking explosions. It’s so refreshing to see a movie that knows the biggest changes in anyone's life come in quiet moments, and that grants the inner life of a maid as much respect as anyone else's.

The Expendable

MOVIE REVIEW
The Tillman Story (2010)

By ROBERT LEVIN

Donald Lee/The Weinstein Company

Pat Tillman was a hero. The U.S. government got that right. Yet the bungling of the story of that heroism, the misshaping of the late soldier’s legacy to fit a classical propaganda narrative stands as one of the shameful episodes of the past decade.

In covering-up the ex-football player’s friendly-fire death, transforming it into a story of demise amid enemy fire, the military hierarchy did more than simply embellish a tragic mistake with a feel-good spin. It transformed a unique, three-dimensional man — a person with thoughts and feelings, hopes and dreams — into a caricature of martyrdom.

Death Fish

MOVIE REVIEW
Piranha 3D (2010)

By ROBERT LEVIN

Gene Page/Dimension Films

The 3-D craze currently sweeping Hollywood is, at its worst, little more than a sorry excuse for price gouging. Beware movies, such as “Clash of the Titans” and “The Last Airbender,” that are converted to the third dimension in post-production. They are the cinematic equivalent of those annoying, ubiquitous airline fees.

Yet, after months of dreck, a picture such as “Piranha 3D” arrives and reminds your sorry, skeptical self exactly why that extra dimension exists. Boobs, gore and gratuitous close-ups abound in Alexandre Aja’s loose remake of Roger Corman’s original “Jaws” rip-off, which more closely evokes the B-movie spirit that gave birth to stereoscopic cinema than any of its contemporaries.

Guitar Zero

MOVIE REVIEW
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

By ROBERT LEVIN

Kerry Hayes/Universal Studios

Fanboys and fellow critics have worked themselves into a tizzy over Edgar Wright’s “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.” Smart, dependable reviewers have called the movie a “masterpiece” and a “generational milestone,” a “genius turn” in the "Shaun of the Dead" filmmaker’s career.

If a picture as gleefully vapid as this is what passes for a generational milestone in 2010, we’re in trouble. Mr. Wright’s adaptation of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s beloved graphic novel series (unread by this reviewer) is about as complete and coherent a film as was the blur of light and sound that comprised “Speed Racer.”

Keeping Captives in Stitches

MOVIE REVIEW
The Human Centipede (First Sequence) (2010)

By ALEX BEATTIE

IFC Films

Tom Six, who made his name as a director on the original run of Endemol's revolutionary TV production "Big Brother," has since established himself as one of the most pioneering, controversial and divisive producers/writers/directors in his native Netherlands. His debut feature "Gay" was the country's first gay feature film; and with his latest effort "The Human Centipede (First Sequence)," Mr. Six seems intent on continuing to push boundaries.

Bum's Rush Hour

MOVIE REVIEW
The Other Guys (2010)

By M. TSAI

Macall Polay/Columbia Pictures

In the pre-Judd Apatow era, bromance blossomed only in the buddy-cop genre. The rationale must have been that sexual tension in a homosocial environment would seem a lot less gay if these characters could kick some ass. Come to think of it, you could even get away with bestiality in the buddy-cop genre. As you might recall, the dog in “K-9” got jealous and barged in to cause coitus interruptus between James Belushi and his human romantic interest.