1927: The Lodger

Though it is sometimes hailed as Hitchcock's first masterpiece, I was not that impressed by the story of a family who rents an apartment to a man who may or may not be the serial killer the whole town is looking for. Some interesting visuals at the beginning; apart from that it seems a little old, probably because it is. (6)

2000: Fail-Safe

The black-and-white remake of the 1960s classic (which I've never seen) about an impeding nuclear war between the US and the USSR is sort of outdated, but manages to entertain throughout with a tight screenplay and good visuals. (7)

2005: Red Eye

Highly conventional thriller about a young woman who's forced to assist a stranger in killing a celebrity, or else. Nothing wrong with it, nothing impressive about it. (6)

1971: Confessione di un commissario di polizia al procuratore della repubblica

Though somewhat trashy in an Italian-film-from-the-1970s kind of way, the movie about a policeman and a DA with different approaches to fighting crime entertains throughout. (7)

2004: Enduring Love

You can't expect any movie to be as gripping as Ian McEwan's masterful novel Enduring Love, about a well-off man who gets stalked by a not-so-well-off one. The screenplay does, in fact, do a decent job - with the notable exception of its attempts to bring the evolutionary psychology of love onto the screen, a feature of the film which pulls off the trick of being trivial and wrong at the same time. But the quality of the movie that really sucks is its piss-poor "modern" visual style. The whole thing looks like a fucking Ikea catalogue! (5)

1964: The Killers

A couple of killers wonder why a victim they killed just stood there and took the hit, and soon they're tracing the million from a robbery he was involved in. When they line up accomplice after accomplice, the victim's story is told in a series of flashbacks. - No-nonsense, hardboiled and well-photographed movie of the kind that one imagines Tarantino enjoys. (7)

1961: Experiment in Terror

The thriller about a bank clerk blackmailed into stealing 100,000 dollars is shot in pristine black and white and all-around well made. Not much else to say about it. A weak 7.

1974: The Odessa File

Yes, the screenplay makes suspension of disbelief hard at times, but it's a 1970s Hollywood thriller involving an upstanding journalist, old Nazis and Israel. Is it going to be entertaining? Of course it is! (7)

2010: Inception

Reviewed here (6.5).

2004: Collateral

A run-of-the-mill script about a cabbie who gets kidnapped by a contract killer to drive him around L.A. so he can go about his job. Directed by Michael Mann, but it's not in the same league as Heat. It's not even in the same league as Manhunter. (5.5)

1962: Knife in the Water

A married couple invite a hitchhiker to join them for a weekend sailing trip. He has a personality problem and a knife. - Good screenplay, good direction, good all around. (7)

2002: Femme Fatale

A heist and its aftermath have repurcussions when their protagonists meet again in Paris 7 years later and everybody's looking for revenge. This no-punches-pulled, wham-bam-bam, in-yo-face film is another quality piece of work from the underrated Brian de Palma, mainstream auteur. (7.5)

2007: Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Although it's been a while since Pulp Fiction hit the screens (let alone the first printing of Tristram Shandy), nonlinear storytelling is still considered all the rage in contemporary Hollywood. There's nothing wrong with it per se, but when it is employed mainly as a gimmick, as in this thriller-drama about a robbery that goes all pear-shaped, the nonlinear fashion is a little annoying. Also, one wonders why an accomplished director like Sidney Lumet - with Dog Day Afternoon, perhaps the classic in the robbery-gone-pear-shaped genre, to his name - tries so hard to make this film look modern, making it look run-of-the-mill in the process, is a bit baffling. None of which is to say that this movie is as badly done as the previous sentence. (6)

2009: Angels & Demons

With its high production values and general wham-bam-bam-ness, the film version of Dan Brown's thriller, about the hunt for kidnapped bishops in Rome, could be more fun if the viewer had to expand less energy on suspending disbelief. (6.5)

2009: Män som hatar kvinnor (Men Who Hate Women or The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)

Like the Stig Larsson runaway bestseller it is based on, the film takes its time, clocking in at about 150 minutes, though this is by no means to its detriment. Good work all around. (7)

1967: Le samouraï (a.k.a. The Godson)

Melville's 1967 film about a killer who is chased by both the police and his clients, but, strangely, never seems to even think of leaving Paris, is wildly famous for its style. The cinematography is very nice indeed, but then, it's nothing spectacular, and the plot is a bit meagre. Overrated. (6.5)

1962: Le doulos (Doulos: The Finger Man)

Very stylish b/w pick by Jean-Pierre Melleville about two gangsters, featuring Jean-Paul Belmondo and a great unassuming long take. Bit confusing at times, but plot is overrated anyway. (7)

1960: Le trou (The Hole or The Night Watch)

Despite being in no hurry - among other things, there is a four-minute shot of people hammering away at a cell's floor - Jaques Becker's b/w film about a prison break feels quick, well-timed and disciplined, making it possibly the best in its genre. (7.5)

1997: Kiss the Girls

Filmed in the standard turn-of-the-century-American-suspense-film cinematography, this movie about a pervert kidnapper, a victim and a policeman reliably takes us from one plot point to another, but fails to make the audience care about the characters. (6)

1981: Diva

In my memory, this film, which was released in Germany only in 1983, seems to be on constant reruns at the local arthouse throughout the mid and late 1980s, so it was always a noteworthy classic in my mind, a bit below Blade Runner perhaps. Funny I only saw the movie - about a postman chased by gangsters because they want his bootleg recording of a famous opera singer's performance - now. It turns out not to be so remarkable; I guess its popularity has a lot to do with its aesthetics, including a general stiltedness, looking very hip, very zeitgeist at the time. An interesting historical document. (6.5)