2007: Disturbia

The film directed by one D.J. Caruso - no, I'm not making this up - is so close in its basic setup to Rear Window that some might say it faces copyright issues. Here it is a stereotypical male teenager that may not leave his house, his clownish mate and the dream girl who's just moved into the house next door spying on the neighbour who may or may not be hauling body parts around in his garage. The film does what it wants to do pretty well, but must stay within the self-chosen confines of its mediocricy, most clearly demonstrated by the almost constant playing of nondescript pop songs for no discernible reason. (6)

I'm generally a fan of the mainstream approach to film, but the more I watch, the more I'm coming to the conclusion that there are more great artsy films out there than great mainstream films, despite the preponderance of the latter.