Interesting CIA/espionage training film with the clearly signposted motto: “nothing is what it seems.” Computing whiz James Clayton (Colin Farrell) is recruited out of MIT by veteran CIA operative Walter Burke (Al Pacino). The first half of the film is based around The Farm, the CIA’s training grounds, where “everything is a test.” The second half finds Clayton washed out of the training programme (or is he?), and working undercover for Burke to try and hunt down a mole amongst his former fellow trainees (or is he?). Because you know that there are going to be plot twists involving misplaced loyalties, it’s easy to spot them a mile away. Still, the action rolls along nicely and comes to a satisfying, if not hugely original conclusion. (However, will filmmakers please stop using fake computer techniques and mocked-up screen animations as key plot points? It’s stupid.)

Competent crime thriller about a gang of grifters pulling a big con in order to repay a crime boss for $100,000 they accidentally stole from him. The con is layered like an onion, and it leaves you guessing all the way to the end about who is playing whom. It has bags of style, but not enough substance to make it into a classic. (It’s not in the same league as The Grifters or The Sting.) Ed Burns looks cool, but lacks depth. Ditto Rachel Weisz. The only convincing characters are Paul Giamatti as Gordo (one of the gang), and Dustin Hoffman as The King (the crime boss). Hoffman is the prize: his hyperactive kingpin appears harmless enough, but turns dangerous and creepy in an eyeblink. His part is small, but it leaves the biggest impression.

This is a competent third part in the Terminator trilogy. It is tentative rather than daring, but on the other hand it maintains a sense of danger and uncertainty throughout. Until the end, you’re really not sure whether Judgement Day can be averted–again–or if mankind really is doomed. Nick Stahl does a good job of a more mature John Connor who is running away from his destiny. Arnie parodies his earlier Terminators, which is a shame. The action sequences are good, but poorly paced, with too many set pieces happening too early, leaving the third act relatively weak. In general, the film could have done with fewer laughs and knowing nods to its predecessors, but hey, it’s a sequel. It draws in some interesting hooks from the previous film, and lays down plenty new ones of its own, paving the way for further ongoing material in the series. (Although I wonder if a TV series might not be a better platform for expanding the canon now.)

Through a variety of unpleasant circumstances, eleven people find themselves thrown together in a Nevada motel, cut off from the outside world by rainstorms and floods. Then someone starts killing them, one by one…. The film builds tension quickly, using cuts and flashbacks to make you question the identity and motives of the key characters. Then it throws in a supernaturnal element, and you start to wonder if it’s going to change from a whodunnit into a whatdunnit. But that isn’t the last of the plot twists. Unfortunately the major twist removes a lot of the tension, and the last quarter of the film feels and anti-climactic in comparison. Still, a set of nice performances from John Cusack, Ray Liotta, and a host of good character actors set it above the average psycho thriller.

Oddball story about a small-town barber whose chance meeting with a travelling salesman kicks off a domino train of events leading to betrayal and murder. It’s filmed in loving black-and-white, with a brooding, enigmatic performance by Billy-Bob Thornton as the barber, and the Coen brothers’ characteristic attention to detail. The pacing is slow, though, and the simple morality tale the plot hangs on isn’t all that interesting. Not quite up to the standards of Fargo or O Brother.

Decent thriller about the son of a Mafia boss Matty Demaret (Barry Pepper) who tries to prove himself to his dad. All he has to do is arrange for a bag of money to be flown across country to New York. But his friend Johnny Marbles (Seth Green) loses the bag, and Matty and his friends end up in Wibaux, Montana to track it down. The contrasts between Matty’s generation and his parents’ plays off well against the contrast between the big city kids and the small-town folk of Wibaux. Solid performances, and a script that is lean and to the point.