Top 25 Recent Horror Movies You Haven't Seen: 11 to 15

15. Pontypool (2008)

Character actor Stephen McHattie (2012, Watchmen) is outstanding in a rare lead performance as a shock jock trapped inside his radio station as an epidemic breaks out in the outside world. The movie has a lot of ambition, and puts a unique twist on the classic disease/zombie outbreak genre. My biggest gripe is that it tries to be a bit too clever at times, though I definitely prefer when a movie is too ambitious rather than not ambitious at all.



14. Julia's Eyes (2010)

Guillermo del Toro produced this Spanish thriller about a woman who starts going blind while investigating the supposed suicide of her twin sister. While the movie has some deep flaws in its plotting, there are some masterful suspense sequences (including a search through the darkness lit only intermittently by a camera's flashbulb) and good character development. And while I generally consider jump-scares to be the laziest kind of horror filmmaking, the ones in this movie are set up and executed very well.



13. The Horde (2009)

A group of corrupt policeman raid a derelict housing complex in the Paris slums seeking revenge against a powerful drug lord for killing one of their fellow officers. But soon the complex is under siege from hundreds of ravenous zombies and the cops, drug dealers and housing residents must work together to survive. The film is clearly paying homage to John Carpenter's classic Assault on Precinct 13, but makes up for its lack of originality by turning the volume up to 11. The film's pace is frantic, the action sequences are really fun, and the blood is plentiful. Plus it contains possibly the best "one man's last stand against the zombies" sequence I've ever seen (and I've seen a mind-boggling amount of them).


(Ignore the awkward English dubbing in the trailer's dialogue. The actual movie is in French with English subtitles)

12. The Dead (2010)

The Dead may be "horror" in its setup, but not in its execution. The film takes place in a zombie-ravaged West Africa, as a lone US Airforce engineer tries to make it back to safety after his cargo plane crashes. It's really a road movie across a barren land where water is scarce and zombies slowly wander around looking for flesh. The zombies are ignored just as often as they are put down. In fact, the first zombie encountered in the film is left alone and merely side-stepped, as though it were nothing more than an object in the way. Obviously the filmmakers use the movie to make a comment on how America and the United Nations largely ignore Africa's problems, but the point is never so heavy-handed as to become distracting. And it should be noted that the movie looks fantastic, and having sweeping vistas of the African plains in the background of every shot gives the movie a huge sense of scale.



11. YellowBrickRoad (2010)

Ah, this movie.

First, the plot synopsis:
40 years ago the entire population of a small New Hampshire town walked up a local mountain trail and were never heard from again, nor was any evidence of what happened to them ever found. So a small documentary crew gathers and heads up the trail to look for clues to what happened. Things don't end well.

Now the explanation:
The movie is rather divisive. It catches a lot of backlash for posing a bunch of interesting questions and ideas, and not answering or explaining a goddamn one of them. Plus the final scene is just terrible. Like really, really bad. So naturally, this turns a lot of viewers off. But as a story of people pursuing a mystery until it drives every last one of them mad, I found it to be a huge success (except for that last scene. Seriously, fuck that scene). All kinds of weird things happen, and the movie keeps getting creepier and creepier. The film's first act of violence is extremely effective, since it seemingly comes out of nowhere (but is not a jump-scare, just an unexpected act). It works almost like the inverse of horror's "torture porn" sub-genre. Instead of watching people be ripped apart physically, you want them all psychologically crumble.

Top 25 Recent Horror Movies You Haven't Seen: 16 to 20

20. Dead End (2003)

Ray Wise (Swamp Thing, Robocop) stars as a man driving his family (including genre favorite Lin Shaye as his wife) to a Christmas dinner at their in-laws' house. He takes a short cut down a side road that seems to go on forever, and from which there appears to be no escape. Plus they are being haunted by the mysterious Woman in White (former Supermodel Amber Smith, still smoking-hot even in ghost form). One by one the family members start to descend into madness, while daughter Alexandra Holden (Sugar and Spice) tries to hold them together. The film's big twist is obvious pretty early on, but it's still a lot of fun to watch the family slowly fall apart. There's an incredibly stupid coda which adds nothing to the previous story, and is best ignored.




19. The Burrowers (2008)

A family in the Civil War-era Midwest goes missing, presumably victims of the local Indians. A small group of men goes looking for them, led by the always-awesome Clancy Brown. They soon discover the family was taken by something much worst than Indians. Unlike most horror films, this one doesn't completely disintegrate in the third act. But it also takes a little while to get going, which knocks it down a few notches.




18. The Woods (2006)

Writer/Director Lucky McKee's follow-up to his cult hit May is set in a 1960's girl's reform school, where Agnus Bruckner (Blood and Chocolate) has been sent by her estranged father Bruce Campbell (don't act like you don't know who he is). The school is overseen by a very ominous Patricia Clarkson, and Bruckner makes a fast enemy in fellow student Rachel Nichols (GI Joe's Scarlett). As can be expected, there are strange occurrences at the school and people seem to be keeping some kind of secret which may or may not be supernatural in nature. The movie keeps the secret well hidden until its somewhat lackluster reveal and most of the school girls are interchangable, but Clarkson can always be counted on for a good performance. While Bruckner makes a decent enough lead, it's Nichols that gives the film's other standout performance as the school's bully who acts tough out of fear and a survival instinct in a place where the weak are preyed upon.




17. The Objective (2008)

I've written about this one before. It maintains a great sense of dread throughout its entire runtime, even if the ending leaves way too many questions unanswered.




16. Splinter (2008)

Shea Wingham (HBO's Boardwalk Empire) carjacks young couple Paulo Costanzo (Road Trip) and Jill Wagner (host of TV's Wipeout), and soon the three of them end up trapped inside a remote gas station by what can best be described as a walking disease. The acting is solid, the creature effects are good, the suspense is tight, and the characters act thoughtfully and logically. There's the expected last-minute effort to make Wingham's character more sympathetic, but otherwise the movie doesn't misstep. It's not original, but it's very well executed.

Top 25 Recent Horror Movies You Haven't Seen: 21 to 25

25. Dead Birds (2004)

A group of Confederate soldiers rob a bank and then hide out in a haunted plantation. The movie establishes a good atmosphere of dread, and features some quality scares. It's hampered a bit by ghosts with, at best, inconsistent rules/powers. But the production design is quite good for an independent period film, and the movie's hugely overqualified cast includes Henry Thomas, Patrick Fugit, Isaiah Washington, Mark Boone Junior and Michael Shannon.




24. Vanishing on 7th Street (2010)

The first of two Brad Anderson (The Machinist, Transsiberian) movies that will appear in this list. The shadows have come alive and wiped out most of the world, while a group of survivors (including Hayden Christensen, Thandie Newton and John Leguizamo) try to stay in the light for protection. The first hour is incredibly atmospheric and scary, particularly an early scene with Leguizamo when the shadows first attack in a mall's movie theater. Sadly the film sputters out in the end, it's characters suddenly making a series of terrible decisions that go against all logic. But the terrifying first hour is easily enough to earn a place on the list.




 23. Outpost (2008)

Ray Stevenson (Punisher: War Zone, HBO's Rome) leads a group of mercenaries who discover an abandoned Nazi bunker that isn't as abandoned as they think. The film's best sequences involve investigating the bunker's labyrinth of underground corridors, with most shots being lit by a single flashlight beam. Once the movie turns into a battle between the mercenaries and Nazi zombie-ghost things (the explanation is a bit hazy)(also that's not really a spoiler, since the setup pretty much guarantees that undead Nazis will show up sooner or later), the movie loses all of its suspense. But the last act does still work as an action movie, so it's not all bad.




22. Carriers (2009)

A post-biological-apocalypse road movie about a quartet of young survivors led by Star Trek's Chris Pine, which also includes Piper Perabo (Coyote Ugly), Lou Taylor Pucci (Thumbsucker) and TV's Emily Van Camp (Everwood, Brothers and Sisters, Revenge). A highly contagious disease has decimated the human population and Pine's group is slowly making their way to the west coast in search of safety. During their journey they encounter desperate survivors, crazed doctors, and biohazard agents who try to contain the disease by any means necessary. As the movie grows increasingly hopeless, it becomes a little bit of a slog to watch. But it's suspensefully directed and Pine makes a charismatic lead.



21. Undead (2004)

A fun, fast-paced Aussie zombie/alien/disease action/horror/sci-fi indie movie directed by the Spierig Brothers (the underrated Daybreakers), featuring decent CGI effects that the brothers rendered on their home PC. There are zombies, and aliens, and crazy guns, and spurs, and...y'know what, just watch the trailer. You'll get the idea.

Top 25 Recent Horror Movies You Haven'Seen: Intro

The title kinda says it all, really.

This will be a list of 25 horror movies that have been released since the year 2000. The list is made up of independent, foreign, or studio films that received, at best, a limited theatrical release. I'll be posting the list 5 movies at a time, for the next 5 days (starting later today). And because I don't believe in traditional timing, I'll be starting this list on Halloween and moving away, rather than leading up to it. Suck it, conventional thinking!

But before I get started with the list, a couple Honorable Mentions.

Dog Soldiers (2002)
A group of Scottish soldiers find themselves trapped in a remote house, under siege by a pack of werewolves. A very enjoyable hybrid of Predator and Night of the Living Dead, but with werewolves in the place of the alien/zombies. This filmed launched the career of director Neil Marshall (new horror classic The Descent and the batshit crazy Doomsday), but has a bit too large of a cult following for me to include it in my list proper. If you have yet to see this movie, you should pop yourself a big bowl of popcorn and check it out.


May (2002)
Almost made the list, but leans a little bit too far towards indie drama to really be called a "horror" movie. Features an incredible lead performance by indie actress Angela Bettis as the titular character, a social wallflower with a lazy eye and strange interests. She develops a crush on pretentious film student Jeremy Sisto (Clueless, TV's Law & Order), who initially dates her but grows uncomfortable with some of her weird questions and tries to move to greener pastures. She also befriends a ditzy bisexual sorority girl (a never-better Anna Faris), who may or may not have ulterior motives. The movie only really becomes "horror" in its third act, and even then is fairly muted. But as a character study of a disturbed young woman, it is a smashing success.

Oscars: 2011 Edition

The Academy Awards are this coming Sunday (list of nominees can be found here).  This is my breakdown.

Best Picture

Who Will Win:  The King's Speech
America has officially fallen in love with this charming British film, and the Academy sure does love uplifting English period pieces and making populist choices.

Who Should Win:  The Social Network
Everything came together perfectly for this film.  Great script, director, actors, cinematography, music, editing, sound design, art design, the whole works.  Not a weak link in the bunch.

Doesn't Belong:  127 Hours
Every nomination this film received is basically a way to apologize to James Franco because his powerhouse performance is going to have to lose to Colin Firth.  Because other than that performance, this film has no value.

Best Actor

Who Will Win:  Colin Firth, The King's Speech
Everyone knows he will win.  Even poor James Franco knows it.

Who Should Win:  Colin Firth
Because he was great, that's why.

Doesn't Belong:  N/A
Everyone in this category deserved to be here.

Best Actress

Who Will Win:  Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Like Firth, she's had this one in the bag for months.

Who Should Win:  Natalie Portman
Like Firth, because she's great.  Though if by some insane miracle the Oscars pull one of their occasional out-of-left-field surprise upsets (without which Americans would still have no clue who Marion Cotillard was) and give the award to Jennifer Lawrence for Winter's Bone, my cheers of joy will be heard from several miles away.

Doesn't Belong:  N/A
Also a pretty solid list of nominees.

Maybe if she gets the award she'll stop doing crap like No Strings Attached.

Best Director

Who Will Win:  David Fincher, The Social Network
He took a movie about people sitting around and talking and directed it like a fast-paced thriller.  And it worked.

Who Should Win:  David Fincher
Seriously, he builds tension while people are sitting on a dorm room couch.

Doesn't Belong:  Tom Hooper, The King's Speech
There is something to be said about a director who is smart enough to just sit back and let your great cast act out a great script.  That level of restraint is rare these days.  But that shouldn't get you an Oscar nomination.  Fincher and Darren Aronofsky are in this category because they took what was great on the page and made it even better on the screen.  Hooper is just riding the wave of King's Speech love.

Best Supporting Actor

Who Will Win:  Christian Bale, The Fighter
Sometimes the public confuses hammy overacting with great acting.  The Academy does so regularly.

Who Should Win:  John Hawkes, Winter's Bone
A quietly intense, modulated performance from a consistently good but usually-overlooked actor.

Doesn't Belong:   N/A
Again, hard to fault any of the acting nominees.

Best Supporting Actress

Who Will Win:  Melissa Leo, The Fighter
The Academy loves veteran actors making a late-career comeback.  And she's definitely a good choice...

Who Should Win:  Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
...but not the best one.  Steinfeld is in the wrong category.  She was the lead actor of True Grit, moreso than even Jeff Bridges.  But knowing that nothing could stop the Portman juggernaut, the film's producers submitted her for this category instead, citing the film as an ensemble piece.  Anyone who has seen True Grit knows differently.  She's in every scene, stealing the film out from under veteran actors 3 to 4 times older than her.  And as such, she dominates over every other performance in this category.  Though while Leo seems like a lock for this one (based on how previous awards have been going this season), Steinfeld does have a toe in the door.  After all, the Academy are known for handing awards to pretty people who get all uglied up for a role.

Your move, Academy.

Doesn't Belong:  N/A
What else can I say?  It's a good year for the acting categories.

Best Original Screenplay

Who Will Win:  David Seidler, The King's Speech
Because America is in love with it, and the Academy abides.

Who Should Win:  Christopher Nolan, Inception
He took a complex concept and multi-layered (in ways both figurative and literal) story and created something that a mass audience could follow without getting lost.

Doesn't Belong:  Mike Leigh, Another Year
The final script was mostly transcribed improvisations done by the actors during rehearsal.  This award is not for transcription.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Who Will Win:  Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
And rightfully so.  It's an amazing script.

Who Should Win:  Aaron Sorkin
No one expects otherwise.

Doesn't Belong:  Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy, 127 Hours
Mr. Franco, the Academy would once again like to apologize.  In any other year you'd get the award, but Colin was just so damn good.

Best Cinematography

Who Will Win:  Roger Deakins, True Grit
No one can make the old west seem as beautiful as Deakins can.

Who Should Win:  Roger Deakins
He's a national treasure.

Doesn't Belong:  Jeff Cronenweth, The Social Network
Don't get me wrong, the film looks fantastic.  But that's because of Fincher, not Cronenweth.  Fincher micromanages every aspect of his films, including cinematography.  Cronenweth may have been physically behind the cameras, but he was just doing what his boss told him to do.

The Annual Pixar Award (also commonly known as the Best Animated Feature award)

Who Will Win:  Toy Story 3
Here's a hint about how this category will turn out: of the 3 nominees, only one of them was deemed good enough to also be nominated for Best Picture.

Who Should Win:  Toy Story 3
See above.

Doesn't Belong:  N/A
Kinda hard for a film to not belong when the Academy only allows 3 nominees.

Best Documentary

Who Will Win:  Exit Through the Gift Shop
The Academy loves pretentious, self-important art films, and this is as pretentious and self-important as they come.  Plus, there are no holocaust documentaries on this list this year.

Who Should Win:  Inside Job
Charles Ferguson's last film (No End in Sight) was robbed of the Oscar, and this one will be, too.

Doesn't Belong:  Exit Through the Gift Shop
Because in all likelihood it's not actually a documentary, but an art piece created by Banksy.

Top 5: 80's Horror Movie Rock Songs

The rules for this list were simple:

1.  The movie had to be from the 1980's.
2.  Horror movie.
3.  Rock song.
4.  The song had to be written specifically for the movie's soundtrack, ideally referencing the movie's title or plot in the lyrics.

And wow, there were a LOT to choose from.  Apologies to The Cramps' "Surfin' Dead" from Return of the Living Dead, which I would have included if I could find a streaming version of it anywhere.  But I could not (at least not in the 30 seconds of energy I was willing to devote to the task).

5.  Alice Cooper, "He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask)", from Friday the 13th, Part 6: Jason Lives

Fun Fact: First film in the franchise to gross less than $20 million.

4.  Dokken, "Dream Warriors", from A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors

Fun Fact: Patricia Arquette's film debut.

3.  The Dickies, "Killer Klowns", from Killer Klowns From Outer Space

Fun Fact: Anyone who had cable in the 80's hates clowns because of this film.

2.  The Ramones, "Pet Sematary", from, you guessed it, Pet Sematary

Fun Fact: This director's most recent credit is the Tiffany/Debbie Gibson vehicle Mega Python vs. Gatoroid.

1.  AC/DC, "Who Made Who", from Maximum Overdrive

Fun Fact: To date, the only film directed by Stephen King himself.

Movie Awards: 2010 Edition

I will post a Top 5 list in the near future.  For now here are some random awards I'd like to...well, award.

Best Movie I Was Led To Believe Was Terrible: Robin Hood
  Sure, it's not a great film by any stretch of the imagination, but it was entertaining and not a waste of my time.  The film's biggest flaw is being called Robin Hood.  Since it has almost nothing to do with the classic Robin Hood story, they could have just changed the character names and given it a generic middle ages title without altering the story one bit.  Then maybe people wouldn't have been so disappointed.

Runner-Up: MacGruber
  It stretches a single joke out for way too long, but it also has a stand-out comedic performance by Val Kilmer and enough clever one-liners to make the viewing experience worthwhile.


Biggest Letdown: Predators
  I should never be bored by a film in the Predator franchise.  Even AVP-R managed to hold my attention.

Runner-Up: Machete
  I enjoy Lindsey Lohan's breasts as much as the next guy, but that's really all this movie has going for it.

Nice, but not enough to warrant a theatrical release.

Best Remake: Piranha 3D
  Piranha 3D delivered on everything that Machete promised.  Gore, boobs, humor and overqualified actors who are in on the joke.  And the film was intentionally shot too bright, so the natural dimming caused by 3D glasses doesn't hurt the movie's visuals.  This was just plain fun.

Runner-up: The Crazies
  It may be sacrilege for me to say this, but George Romero's original film wasn't very good.  Which makes it even more surprising that Breck Eisner (Michael's son and director of the dreadful Sahara) was able to make it into a really good thriller that holds up for 3/4 of its runtime (and really, horror/thrillers almost always fall apart at the end anyway).

Also I have an obsession with Radha Mitchell.
Even more than with Olivia Wilde.

 

 

 

 

 

Best Movie From 2009 That I Didn't See Until 2010: Moon
  Sam Rockwell gives a powerhouse performance in this small sci-fi drama.  Actually, he gives powerhouse performances, plural.  And director Duncan Jones (David Bowie's son) make great use out of a limited budget and essentially one set.

Runner-up: Cargo
  This Swiss sci-fi thriller was made for less than Moon, and the visual scope of it is simply astounding.  It looks like a sixty million dollar movie, yet cost less than five.  The story has its issues, but the film has a lot of really cool ideas, decent acting, and tense pacing.


Best Short Film: Sintel
  Sintel is the latest short film from the Blender Foundation, a group which uses free open-source 3D animation software and a community of users to produce its CGI animated films.  Sintel is their most ambitious project to date, and looks damn good for a movie made by a few thousand amateurs.  But beyond the visuals, the story of Sintel is an emotionally devastating one, especially to anyone who has ever had a beloved pet.


Runner-up: Ollie Klublershturf vs. The Nazis
  An amusing little short starring some familar faces and written by Lost's Damon Lindelof that centers around a nice family dinner which happens to feature espionage, Nazis, a boy genius, and some time travel.  It's quite funny.

2010 Music Roundup

After spending roughly 10 hours on a bus last weekend listening to music, I've decided to do a music list instead of the usual movie stuff.  That's all the introduction I'm giving.

My Favorite Songs of 2010

20.  Goldfrapp, "Rocket"
A catchy 80's song that just happened to be released 30 years too late.

19.  MC Chris, "IG-88's '57 Chevy"
A spiritual successor to Chris' most popular song to date ("Fette's Vette," which has shown up many times on TV and in movies), "IG-88" continues his trend of making catchy songs about Star Wars bounty hunters and their respective modes of personal transportation. 

18.  The Pipettes, "Call Me"
After swapping out 3 of the original 4 members of the band after their 60's-influenced debut album, the new Pipettes lineup is still just as retro-pop infectious as the old one.

17.  The Pretty Reckless, "Just Tonight"
A shameless rock ballad from Gossip Girl actress Taylor Momsen's band is better than it has any right to be.  I actually feel kinda bad for liking this.

16.  Robyn, "Dancing On My Own"
In a perfect world, Robyn would be outselling Ke$ha and Katy Perry by leaps and bounds.  I just don't understand other people.

Well, maybe I do kinda understand.

15.  OK Go, "This Too Shall Pass"
The video for this song garnered a lot of (well deserved) attention, but no one was ever really listening to the actual music.  It's a good song that was overshadowed by its amazing video.

14.  8mm, "Los Angeles"
I heart 8mm.  I heart them so much.

13.  Metric, "Eclipse (All Yours)"
Hidden in the giant bucket of cinematic puke that was the 3rd Twilight movie was a surprisingly decent soundtrack, including the perpetually-awesome Metric doing the movie's title track.

12.  Brandon Flowers, "Only The Young"
It's a good The Killers song, but without the rest of The Killers.

11.  The Birthday Massacre, "Shallow Grave"
Even though I should have grown out of it by now, I still have a soft spot for catchy Goth pop.

10.  Robyn, "Cry When You Get Older"
Robyn rules.  End of discussion.

9.  The Pretty Reckless, "Since You're Gone"
Again, this band shouldn't be as good as it is, but Momsen really knows how to conjure up some good old fashion white trash rock.

8.  Duffy, "Well, Well, Well"
Her sophomore album was a giant letdown, but a few good tracks still snuck through.  This was the best of them.

7.  Jimmy Eat World, "My Best Theory"
When it comes to well-written pop-rock,  Jimmy eats World still stands supreme.

6.  How To Destroy Angels, "The Space In Between"
Trent Reznor's post-NIN project with Atticus Ross (who also co-created the kick-ass original score for The Social Network) and Mrs. Reznor didn't live up to expectations.  In fact, it kinda sucked.  But at least the lead track was still really good.  And bonus points for a cool music video.

OK Trent, we get it, you have a hot wife. Will you please bring back NIN now?

5.  Hooverphonic, "The Night Before"
Their first single after splitting with their longtime singer Geike Arnaert in 2008.  New vocalist Noémie Wolfs (the band's 4th) fills Arnaert's shoes nicely.

4.  Shiny Toy Guns, "Major Tom"
I was hesitant to include a cover song, but they just do such a good job with Peter Schilling's 80's hit that I couldn't help myself.  This showed up in a bunch of commercials for Lincoln, who sponsored the song's "official" live music video.

3.  Killola, "Cracks In The Armor"
Killola is the balls.

2.  8mm, "Deep Blue You"
 They are just so damn good.  Plus I'm a sucker for foxy singers with sultry voices.

But really, who isn't?

1.  Metric, "Black Sheep"
Metric was all about dominating soundtracks this year.  This one comes from Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.  And it kicks all of the ass.  All of it.  (In the film, a slightly reworked version of the song is performed with vocals rerecorded by actress Brie Larson.  Larson's not bad, but she's no Emily Haines.)

Honorable Mention:

Hey Riki, you're so fine.

Riki Lindhome, "Places to Rest"
The blond half of musical comedy duo Garfunkel and Oates, Lindhome generally gets overshadowed by the 1000-watt adorableness of her partner Kate Micucci.  But in reality Lindhome has the better voice.  And she's cuter.  Her solo work is some low-key greatness, like this simple-but-sad little number.

Did I say 1000-watt?  I meant 1000000000000-watt.

Intermission: Freestylin'

My reactions to the various movies I have watched recently.

The Other Guys
"I'm laughing at a recent Will Ferrel comedy, and I'm not actively hating Mark Wahlberg's comedic acting. I find both of these developments surprising."

Restrepo
"I can totally see why everyone else was impressed by it, but I really wish I hadn't been told so many times how good it was. It didn't live up to my hopes. I blame people, not the movie."

Centurion
"Neil Marshall really knows how to keep my eyes entertained while he absolutely wastes my brain's time."

The Siege
"This movie was really damn prescient, almost scarily so. Also it's preachy as all Hell and kinda sucks."

John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars
"I love everything about this movie except for everything about it."

Best Worst Movie
"That was sorta okay, I guess. Must have been a really slow year for documentaries if critics were giving positive reviews for nostalgic trifle like this."

Monster in the Closet
Before: "Troma's one attempt to make a real movie? This should be interesting."
After: "I probably should have known that Troma's definition of 'real' would differ from mine."

TRON: Legacy
"Wait, was this directed by Neil Marshall?"

Other notes:

• I also saw Unstoppable, but that will get its own Tony Scott-related entry.
• Whatever happened to Natasha Henstridge? I tried to do an IMDB search for her, but the next thing I remember is waking up in a dumpster behind Campbell's Nutrition crying, eating day-old organic yogurt and mumbling something to myself about The Whole Ten Yards.
• While Tron: Legacy failed to be awesome, I really loved the look, music, and effective use of 3D. And I've been thinking about Olivia Wilde nonstop for 2 weeks now.

Petite, short hair, prone to violence. We totally could have dated.

My Descent Into Madness: True Romance (1993)

  For the second film in a row, Tony Scott gets overshadowed by his screenwriter.  Though in fairness to Scott, it’s hard for anyone to not be overshadowed when the screenwriter is Quentin Tarantino (Oliver Stone managed to do it with Natural Born Killers, but that’s largely because no one but Oliver Stone wanted to be associated with the final product).  The film is stuffed with “cool” dialogue, pop culture references and plenty of violence, just like everything Tarantino has ever written.  The babes are hot, the cars are classics, and the guns are plentiful.  And every last second of it works. 

  True Romance is generally considered by critics to be Tony Scott’s best film.  And rightfully so, as it is one of those rare instances where everything just falls together.  Scott’s direction has the flash to match Tarantino’s script, and the cast is overloaded with talent.  Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette (who seems out to prove that she’s hotter than her sister)

Suck it, Rosanna!

do good work serving as our guides through a plot that allows characters to enter the film, rock one or two great scenes, then exit to make way for the next actor in line.  It’s hard to pick out any individual scene as the film’s highlight, though if a vote were taken it would likely be the onscreen pairing of Dennis Hopper and Christopher Walken, who share a tense interrogation scene in a dimly lit mobile home (with rays of light shining in through the windows, in case you forgot who was directing).  But on that same level of quality are scenes with Gary Oldman as a very intimidating drug dealer and pimp,

"I carried this watch...wait, which
Tarantino film is this one again?"

Brad Pitt as the greatest stoner ever put on film, James Gandolfini as a henchman who is not at all afraid to hit a woman, and a massive climactic shootout that Scott would later repeat in several of his films (and which Tarantino himself had already used in Reservoir Dogs).  And that’s just scraping the surface.  Samuel L. Jackson, Bronson Pinchot, Saul Rubinek, Michael Rapaport, Chris Penn and Tom Sizemore are there, too, along with a host of great character actors including Kevin Corrigan, Ed Lauter, and Paul Ben-Victor (aka Spiros 'Vondas' Vondopoulos, and if you don’t know what that name means then you are missing out).  Also Val Kilmer plays the ghost of Elvis Presley.  Go ahead, reread that last line.


Trivia & Whatnot:

• True Romance and Natural Born Killers were originally a single massive screenplay by Tarantino and Roger Avary (who also co-wrote Pulp Fiction together).
• Tarantino based Saul Rubinek’s movie mogul character on Oliver Stone, whom Tarantino had a grudge against after developing Natural Born Killers.  Likewise, when it came time to film, Tony Scott had Rubinek portray the character as a caricature of producer Joel Silver, whom Scott had a grudge against after working together on The Last Boy Scout.
• Jack Black appears in a deleted scene, because the cast clearly needed more people.

My Descent Into Madness: The Last Boy Scout (1991)

  Tony Scott is listed as director of The Last Boy Scout, but it is clearly a Shane Black film.  Scott manages to sneak in a few of his signature shots (that man is in love with dark rooms being pierced by small rays of sunlight), but every action scene, character name and line of dialogue has Black’s name prominently stamped on it.
  Black can be a divisive figure among critics and film fans.  He wrote one of the most over-the-top action hits of the 80’s (Lethal Weapon), and one of the biggest flops of the 90’s (Last Action Hero).  His salary for The Last Boy Scout ($1.75 million) was the highest ever paid to a screenwriter at the time, a feat which he later topped with his salary for The Long Kiss Goodnight ($4 million).  He and fellow screenwriter Joe Eszterhas earned a reputation for churning out commercial blockbuster scripts for increasingly large sums (Eszterhas eventually tied Black’s $4 million record with his screenplay for One Night Stand), with decreasing box office returns.  Then, after a major critical backlash in the mid-90’s, they both stopped writing.  The Long Kiss Goodnight was written in 1995 (released in ‘96), and Black wouldn’t have another writing credit for a decade.
  But Shane Black made big money for a reason:  he’s good at what he does.  Joe Eszterhas made his reputation by writing mediocre thrillers that featured lots of sex, and owes most of his fame to the outsized direction of Paul Verhoeven (who helmed Basic Instinct and Showgirls).  When other directors tried their hand at Eszterhas’ scripts, the results were less impressive (seriously, read the IMDB credits for Jade and count how many careers went down in flames because of that film).  Black made his millions by writing inventive, witty, and admittedly ridiculous action-packed films that were always entertaining, even when they bombed at the box office.  Last Action Hero and The Long Kiss Goodnight both sank in theaters, but are highly entertaining and clever movies (the latter containing arguably the best series of one-liners Samuel L. Jackson has ever had).  Last Action Hero was stuck going up against Jurassic Park, which briefly set the U.S. record for highest grossing film of all time.  The Long Kiss Goodnight suffered from a lot of last minute marketing changes after director Renny Harlin’s prior would-be blockbuster Cutthroat Island became one of the decade’s biggest bombs, severely damaging the marketability of Harlin and star Geena Davis. Black was an unfortunate victim of circumstances beyond his control. He was turning in surefire hits, and the forces of fate were burying them. Even the likes of Joel Silver couldn't make things work out right for Black, and he's the guy who was able to turn a profit on The Matrix: Revolutions for Christ's sake.

  Which, at last, brings us back to The Last Boy Scout, the Silver-produced, Scott-helmed, and Black-written blockbuster-that-wasn't.  Bruce Willis plays a trenchcoat-wearing grizzled detective (it’s cliché now, but this was the first time Willis had done this kind of role), Damon Wayans is a disgraced ex-football player, and future Oscar winner and Adrien Brody’s tongue recipient Halle Berry is one of those movie strippers who always has clothes on.

Maybe if you actually took your clothes off,
your customers wouldn't get this angry.

The overly-complicated plot involves corruption in the NFL, Willis taking a private detective job offered by his best friend, the best friend dying, Willis finding out his wife was having an affair with the best friend, Wayans getting ahold of information that would expose the football corruption, Willis having a personal history with one of the politicians who may be involved in the corruption, Willis having to guard Berry, Wayans also guarding Berry, both of them failing to guard Berry, Berry dying because she knows too much, Wills and Wayans making things personal, Willis and Wayans arguing because Wayans takes drugs, Willis’ hilariously foul-mouthed daughter (played by horror movie staple Danielle Harris) getting kidnapped,

In 16 years I'm going to be
topless and covered in blood. Fucker.

a henchman being shot in the face with a stuffed rabbit, shotgun shells called “shredders” that explode like grenades, a climax in a sports stadium, a suitcase full of explosives, and an intimidating-yet-effeminate hitman named Milo.  But all of that is just the framework on which to hang Black’s wonderful dialogue.

  Black’s biggest strength as a dialogue writer is his self-awareness.  His characters are always acknowledging the plot inconsistencies, genre clichés, and overall infeasibility of of the master plot.  A few samples from this film:

• “This is the '90s. You can't just walk up and slap a guy, you have to say something cool first. “
• “You're trying the save the life of the man who ruined your career, and avenge the death of the guy that fucked your wife.”
• “Excuse me, but did any of you stupid shits bother to frisk this fuck?”

  Willis and Wayans spend 1% of their time advancing the plot, and the rest trading increasingly sarcastic one-liners, all of which are worth the price of admission (though if you look in the right bargain bin, you can easily own the DVD for less than the price of movie admission).  Sure, Tony Scott adds a little punch to a few scenes (most notably the amazing opening scene during a football game where the star running back pulls out a gun and starts shooting the oncoming defensive players), but as I said before, the film belongs to Shane Black.

  Why this movie failed is beyond my comprehension. This movie provides everything that the Lethal Weapon movies have, yet audiences just shrugged at The Last Boy Scout and helped the truly reprehensible (and not scripted by Black) Lethal Weapon 3 break the $100 mark. I just don't understand people anymore.

Trivia & Notes

• Modern records for highest screenplay salary have become muddled, since writer/directors like Quentin Tarantino and M. Night Shyamalan lump their various fees into one giant figure.  A recent example is James L. Brooks, who was reportedly paid $10 million to write, direct and produce How Do You Know.
• Danielle Harris has as many roles in the Halloween franchise as Jamie Lee Curtis (4).
• This was the first time in Hollywood history that a screenwriter made more than $1 million.
• In a "New Yorker" profile, Joel Silver said that the making of this film was "one of the three worst experiences of my life." 
• Likewise, composer Michael Kamen claims he hated the film, and only did the music because his was personal friends with Silver and Willis.

My Descent Into Madness: Intermission #2

At this point I've watched the next 3 entries in this series and have been mulling them over in my head for a while now, but I'm essentially drowning at work.  Thus, I've been putting off writing until things settle down a bit and I'm not so stressed.  In the meantime, I have a viewing recommendation for you.

If you have a Netflix subscription (and at this point, everyone really should), check out the film Champion, which is available now for instant viewing.  It's a 2005 documentary about badass character actor Danny Trejo, who finally gets his first mainstream lead role in Machete (which comes out tomorrow, so the timing of this is pretty convenient).  Champion is mostly about Trejo's youth, which was spent in and out of correctional facilities as Trejo leads a life of addiction and armed robbery.  The documentary, in technical terms, is nothing special.  In fact, it's kinda sloppily put together from several different interviews.  But Trejo's stories are so good that they rise well above the movie's sloppy craftsmanship.  So check it out if you have some spare time.

My Descent Into Madness: Days of Thunder (1990)

(Author's note: I ran into some technical issues while trying to watch this movie.  Rather than cause yet another delay between reviews, I decided to just write this review from memory, since I have seen this film on multiple occasions prior to beginning my Tony Scott quest.)


Days of Thunder focuses on the relationship between Cole Trickle (Will Ferrell) and his coach Robert Duvall (Robert Duvall).  Trickle is a hotshot new stock car driver, and Duvall is the salty old retired mechanic brought back into the sport to build a new car and train Trickle how to use it.  Helping Trickle grow into a real driver are fellow driver and occasional arch rival Cal Naughton Jr. (John C. Reilly) and Duvall's lead mechanic Buck Bretherton (also John C. Reilly).  At one point Trickle and Naughton get in a nasty accident, which prematurely retires Naughton and causes Trickle to become scared of driving. 

"...and The Beast shall drink of the child's
blood until His thirst has been quenched."

  Luckily Trickle's doctor is Nicole Kidman back when Nicole Kidman was amazingly hot and didn't look like a botoxed skeleton warrior from Hell's 6th parallel, and she uses a very "hands-on" approach to medicine, if you get my meaning (to be clear, she has vigorous sex with him many times, is my meaning). So that gives him confidence, which he is going to need, because his temporary replacement driver Russ Wheeler (Sasha Baron Elwes) has stolen Trickle's thunder (which he only has days of, because if he had several weeks' worth I don't think this would really be an issue).  Trickle must beat Wheeler in a race to reclaim that thunder.  Which he does.  So, the end, I guess.

Oh, and at one point, you can almost see Nicole Kidman's boobs.

Trivia:

• Robin Wright-Penn, Sarah Jessica Parker, Molly Ringwald, Meg Ryan, Kelly McGillis, Brooke Shields, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sharon Stone, Kim Basinger, Jodie Foster, Madonna and Ally Sheedy all turned down the doctor role.  Which is a good thing, because this is the movie that led to Kidman and Ferrell getting married, despite Ferrell being so short and Kidman so tall.

My Descent Into Madness: Revenge (1990)

  Revenge has left me so conflicted.  On the one hand, it's a by-the-numbers film for 95% of its runtime.  A hot shot fighter pilot (Kevin Costner) leaves the Air Force to go hang out with his old friend, who also happens to be a Spanish crime lord (Anthony Quinn) in Mexico.  Quinn has recently acquired a young trophy wife (Madeline Stowe), who immediately catches Costner's eye.  Soon Costner and Stowe run away together to live out their life in a rustic cabin.  Quinn, naturally displeased by this, shows up with his enforcers and does all manner of terrible things to them.  Costner is left for dead, and Stowe is disfigured and forced into employment at a brothel.  Costner recovers, swears revenge, and goes looking to save Stowe.
  It's not an unfamiliar story arc in American cinema.  So right out of the gate, the movie doesn't have originality going for it.  While she may be a beautiful and talented actress, but Stowe is hugely miscast here.  Her Spanish accent is atrocious (think Nicole Kidman in Far & Away or Julia Roberts in Mary Reilly, it's that level of bad).  Just thinking back to it is making me angry.  Costner, as always, plays the role as Kevin Costner, but this time with a small scar above his eye.  Tony Scott's direction is pretty straightforward, like he didn't care enough to give anything any style.

"My accent is so bad it is causing this movie's aspect ratio to warp."

  Fortunately the movie is populated by a lot of dependable character actors in minor roles, which keeps things from becoming too much of a bore.  The recently-deceased and always-entertaining James Gammon shows up to help Costner get back on his feet.  Then cool-as-ice Miguel Ferrer and an impossibly young and nearly silent John Leguizamo help Costner form and execute his revenge plot.  And Sally Kirkland also shows up, to show off some cleavage and enable 2 very small plot points, which would normally seem extraneous if Kirkland wasn't so good in her small role.  And then there's the great Anthony Quinn, bringing warmth and dignity to a character that most would have played as stone cold evil.  Quinn's crime lord may be slightly misogynistic, but he genuinely loves his wife.  And while he abuses his pets and verbally abuses his underlings, he also has real affection for longtime friend Costner.  He is the most interesting role in the film, and he's barely on screen after the movie's first act.  And it is his role that sets up my quandry with the movie.

FYI, there will be MAJOR SPOILERS now, since I need to discuss the ending.  Not that I actually imagine any of you will be inspired to go watch Revenge after this anyway, but I feel like playing fair.

  I said the film was 95% uninspired.  That's because the final 5% is amazing.  For its entire length, the film has a very clear plot course.  And then the big confrontation comes between Costner and Quinn, and it plays out in the last way expected.  Costner is pointing a shotgun at Quinn, and Quinn knows that he is going to die.  He has a look of acceptance, but makes a single request: that Costner apologize to him for stealing his wife.  Quinn loved Stowe, and he loved Costner as a friend.  While he was bad man to others, he treated both of them with caring and compassion, until they both unprovokingly betrayed him.  Quinn may have grossly overreacted, but it was Costner and Stowe who were guilty of the first transgression.  And now, for the first time in the film, Costner makes that realization.  He lowers his gun, apologizes, and lets Quinn go.  Quinn tells Costner where he can find Stowe, and he arrives just in time to hold Stowe as she dies from the repeated physical and chemical abuse she suffered in the brothel.  Holy.  Shit.




  The Costner/Quinn scene is played mostly through looks, with very little dialogue.  Costner catches a lot of flak as an actor (including from me, in this very review), but here he is incredible as you watch him make the realization that he is the guilty one, and he is so taken aback by it that he can barely stammer out his apology.  Quinn, always a master, wears the look of a father who has been stabbed by his own son.  Though the film is ostensibly about Costner and Stowe's love, the Coster/Quinn relationship is the one that actually has some heart to it.  Their final scene together seems more tragic than Stowe's subsequent death, partly because Stowe is truly awful in this role, but mostly because their close friendship was so well established in the early going, and we now fully realize how much these friends have hurt one another.  It may not be worth sitting through the previous 100 mediocre minutes, but that scene by itself is heartbreaking.

Trivia:

• Costner wanted this to be his directing debut, but a producer talked him out of it.
• Sydney Pollack, Johnathan Demme and Walter Hill were all attached to direct this at one point.  The movie was nearly made by John Huston in 1987 (and would have ended up being his final directing credit), but Huston did not want Costner in the role, so he left the project (apparently Costner was somehow contractually attached, because I can't otherwise imagine John Huston not getting his way).
• During production, John Leguizamo vomited on Tony Scott at a party.

My Descent Into Madness: Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)

  So, after firing him 3 times during the filming of their last movie, the producer super-duo of Don “I’ve done more coke and hookers than there actually exists coke and hookers” Simpson and Jerry “I know I’m not the director, but I think this scene could really use some more slow motion, patriotic symbolism, and fire” Bruckheimer decided that Tony “I am too as good as my brother, just look how many cuts I have in this scene” Scott would be the perfect choice to helm their next major blockbuster.
  The plot, such as it is, predictably exists to provide but a loose framework on which to hang scenes allowing Eddie Murphy to improvise comedic banter with Judge Reinhold and John Ashton.  Ronny Cox gets shot (because he was getting too close to the truth!), so Axel Foley travels, once again, from Detroit to L.A. so he can solve the crime.  The criminals (led by Jurgen Prochnow, Brigitte Nielson and Dean Stockwell), are ridiculously sloppy and leave behind enough clues (like not wearing a mask when you shoot a police officer, despite being an easily identifiable person like Nielson) that any real-life patrol officer could have solved, let alone a professional homicide or robbery detective.  Foley follows the obvious clues, gets the bad guy, the end.
  Scott’s direction of the action scenes is the only noteworthy thing about the movie.  The heist sequences, in particular, are expertly shot and edited to create a surprising amount of tension in what is otherwise a comedy.  Beyond those few minutes, however, there is little that is noteworthy about the film.

And now,Trivia:

• Tony Scott and Brigitte Nielson, both married, began an affair during production that ultimately led to both their divorces, Nielson’s being her well-publicized divorce from Sylvester Stallone.
• Before deciding on a normal sequel, Simpson & Bruckheimer first tried spinning Beverly Hills Cop into a TV series.
• Not directly related but still interesting: Brigitte Nielson is one of the 2 tallest living women who have had a lead role in an American theatrical release (Red Sonya).  The other is Mariel Hemingway (Star 80).  Both are 6’1” tall.

My Descent Into Madness: Intermission

My review of Beverly Hills Cop 2 is forthcoming, but due to several work, weather and Netflix-related events it may be another week before I can watch Revenge.  But after that it should be back to smooth sailing until I get to Domino, at which point I'll be entirely reliant on Netflix sending me physical discs for each movie, which will mean a few days between reviews.  I'm determined to see this one through until the end.  In fact, from here on out I might turn the site into a way to pose cinematic challenges to myself.  Because the more I think about it, I really do kinda want to do this same challenge with Ridley Scott, as well.  And Michael Bay.  And, God help my tormented soul, Uwe Boll.

My Descent Into Madness: Top Gun (1986)

  People love this movie, and that saddens me.  As a piece of pure, empty-headed popcorn fluff, I suppose it's an entertaining movie.  But as The Rotten Tomatoes Show recently pointed out, Top Gun essentially serves as a metaphor for the United States' arrogant approach to foreign policy.  Though in fairness, it did lead to one of the best games ever for the original Nintendo.
  I imagine anyone reading this has probably seen this movie, or at least knows the basic plot from overhearing everyone else they know talking about the movie at some point.  But just in case, here's the basic rundown:  subtly-named egotistical hotshot pilot Maverick (Tom Cruise) flies the way he wants to fly, loves the way he wants to love, and plays by nobody's rules but his own.  He has a brief psychological setback, then discovers that he is the only one who can save the day, which is does by flying the way he wants to fly.  He is then disproportionately rewarded.  The.  Fucking.  End.
  The movie's thesis is that the Hero is the guy who doesn't listen to reason, puts himself and others in constant danger, sleeps with his teacher, and pulls in-air pranks that are essentially acts of war.  USA!  USA!  USA!
  So, story-wise, Top Gun is appalling.  But these entries are about Tony Scott, and his direction here is fine.  This is easily the most visually-restrained Tony Scott film.  Very few of his personal flourishes are present.  Sure, it's a big action-packed Hollywood blockbuster with fast-paced editing and 80's rock music, but it all looks thoroughly by-the-numbers.  Which is odd, because this is apparently the film where Scott officially went batshit insane.  Scott was fired 3 separate times during production, and at one point wrote a personal check for $25,000 to the commander of an aircraft carrier so that he would turn the carrier around so Scott could pick up a single shot.  This was only his second movie.

I don't have much else to say, so here's some random Top Gun trivia:

• The film's famous anthem by Kenny Loggins was first offered to both Toto and REO Speedwagon.  Imagine growing up in a world with the #1 hit single "Danger Zone," by Toto.
• Val Kilmer did not want to be in the film, but was contractually obligated to.
• Before casting Tom Cruise, the role of Maverick was officially offered to, and subsequently turned down by: Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez, Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, Matthew Broderick, Sean Penn, Michael J. Fox and Tom Hanks.
• Similarly, Kelly McGillis' role was turned down by Tatum O'Neal, Holly Hunter, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jennifer Grey, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ally Sheedy, Geena Davis, Jodie Foster, Daryl Hannah, Diane Lane, Sarah Jessica Parker, Linda Hamilton and Brooke Shields.
• Bryan Adams, Bruce Springsteen and Judas Priest all refused to allow their music to be used on the soundtrack because they thought the movie glorified war and would flop.
• John Carpenter and David Cronenberg turned down the offer to direct.  So, considering that Tony Scott's only movie prior to this one was The Hunger, the producers of Top Gun apparently really wanted a horror director to helm their mega-budget military action movie.  WTF?

My Descent Into Madness: The Hunger (1983)

  Apparently Tony Scott started out his career wanting to be David Lynch.  The Hunger is 15% plot development, 5% sex scenes, and 80% under-lit scenes of people staring pensively, jarringly intercut with scenes of monkeys screeching, curtains billowing, and a Bauhaus music video.
  The plot follows 2,000 year old vampire Miriam (Catherine Denueve) and her lover John (David Bowie).  Together they lure young couples back to their home and feast upon their blood (as vampires are wont to do).  But there is a slight catch to their would-be immortal love: while Miriam is indeed immortal, the people she turns to vampires only live a few hundred years before they suddenly and rapidly age into what are essentially mummies.  Bowie has begun to age, so they both seek out the help of Dr. Sarah Roberts (Susan Sarandon), who has been researching progeria and trying to develop a medical solution to rapid aging.  Bowie is interested in her research, while Denueve is interested in far more than that (leading to the film’s infamous lesbian sex scene, which more than lives up to its reputation for extreme hotness).
  This would have worked better as a tightly edited 30-minute episode of Tales From The Crypt, but even at only 93 minutes the film feels overlong.  A subplot involving a young girl getting music lessons could have been cut, along with the subsequent subplot of a police investigation by a young Dan Hedaya (based on that sentence, you can probably guess what happens to the girl).  Both subplots only exist so there can be a final payoff twist at the end that doesn’t actually have any effect on the main plot.
  It wasn’t a terrible movie, and it doesn’t play like a typical Tony Scott film.  He clearly hadn’t found his own style yet, though there are brief moments when he uses a certain lighting style that he will continue to use throughout the rest of his career.  But you’d have to watch a lot of Tony Scott films to really pick up on it (a fate I wouldn’t wish upon anyone but myself).  Overall this was a mediocre debut film that uses stunt casting (Bowie) and an appealing gimmick (hot lesbian sex) to launch the Hollywood career of acclaimed director Ridley Scott’s brother.

My Descent Into Madness: Introduction

So, with my proven track record of failing to follow through on anything I ever promise to do in a blog, here is my latest quest:  to watch, and document, every film that Tony Scott has ever directed, in chronological order.  Originally I was going to attempt the same thing, but with the films of Tony's brother Ridley.  However, that series of posts would have been too easy.  Every Ridley Scott film generates 1 of 3 responses from an audience:

1. "That was an amazing film!  So well directed!"
2. "That was okay, I guess.  And it was well directed."
3. "That really sucked.  But it was well directed."

That's Ridley's entire filmography in a nutshell.  No challenge there.  But Tony Scott?  That's a challenge.  And it is one that I feel I am well-suited to take on.  I grew up in the 80's and have that nostalgia for cheesy 80's machismo action movies, which makes me the target audience for Scott's early career.  I am also the target audience for his latter films, because I don't have epilepsy.

So, between my own movie library and Netflix's disc and streaming library, I have arranged the complete Tony Scott line-up:

• The Hunger (1983)
• Top Gun (1986)
• Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)
• Revenge (1990)
• Days of Thunder (1990)
• The Last Boy Scout (1991)
• True Romance (1993)
• Crimson Tide (1995)
• The Fan (1996)
• Enemy of the State (1998)
• Spy Game (2001)
• Man on Fire (2004)
• Domino (2005)
• Deja Vu (2006)
• The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)

I also plan to watch the 2 episodes he directed for his erotic-horror anthology TV series, The Hunger, which was thematically based on his debut film and co-created by Ridley, and also the short film he made for BMW, Beat the Devil.  Lastly, if I am able to track down a copy, I will watch his 2004 short film Agent Orange.  I will not, however, watch the episode of Numb3rs he guest directed, because it does not stand on its own plot-wise, and TV guest directors rarely add any of their personal style to the episodes they direct, and instead fall in line with the show's established visual aesthetic.

Wish me luck.