Ride With the Devil (1999)

 

During the American Civil War, two friends join the Bushwhackers, a militant group loyal to the Confederacy. 

Excellently and beautifully directed Western with an excellent cast takes its time to analyze the causes and effects of war, but somehow fails to make a lasting impact due to a lack of focus on its agenda. 

Halliwell**: "Dour, beautifully photographed semi-western, a harsh drama of idealism corrupted and redeemed; it ably shows the futility of war, as both sides commit atrocities and betrayals, but might have benefitted from a maturer point of view than that of its youthful participants."

Maltin**1/2: "Interesting subject matter is diffused by overlong, sometimes unfocused treatment, though the time and place are well drawn. Pop singer Jewel makes an impressive acting debut." 

 

The Key to Reserva (2007)

 

 

Finding an unfinished script written by Alfred Hitchcock himself, Martin Scorsese attempts to recreate it himself as Hitchcock would have.

 

Interesting finger exercise in Hitchockian film-making, well-made with panache and irony; still, it's just an over-produced commercial.

Red Planet (2000)

Astronauts, and their robotic dog AMEE (Autonomous Mapping Evaluation and Evasion), search for solutions to save a dying Earth by searching on Mars, only to have the mission go terribly awry.

It's quite a regular sci-fi adventure with maybe a bit too many obstacles packed into the plot, but manages to entertain in an old-fashioned kind of way.

Halliwell (no star): "Dreary science-fiction, with the actors inhibited by their space-suits; nothing interesting happens very slowly."

Maltin**: "Utterly ordinary sci-fi saga...Looks good, but covers awfully familiar dramatic turf."