RoboCop

In a near-futuristic version of a crime infested, urban decayed Detroit (which only seems marginally better than the real city) a cop killer (Kurtwood Smith) runs rampant and police threaten to strike as the corporation that controls the police union implements its latest weapon, a recently eradicated officer (Peter Weller) regenerated into the form of an indomitable, metallic, law enforcing agent who doesn't fully lose his human components and seeks revenge on those who bumped him off. Crude, sleazy, and ultraviolent, Paul Verhoeven's Robocop isn't even a fun kind of camp with the entertainment value quickly wearing off.

** out of ****

Elle

A successful video game company executive (Isabelle Huppert) is assaulted and raped by a masked intruder at her suburban Paris home which she responds to in a shockingly casual fashion as she goes about her daily life dealing with her hack writer ex-husband dating a younger woman, her debutante mother shacked up with a gigolo, a nincompoop son fathering a child that isn't his, the launch of her latest game, continual harassment from her attacker, and the potential parole of her serial killer father, whose crimes she potentially played a significant role as an adolescent. Paul Verhoeven's Elle is a dark, twisted, nihilistic thriller which surprisingly manages to ultimately humanize its main character thanks in large part to a superb, underplayed performance from the peerless Huppert.

*** 1/2 out of ****

Black Book

Double crossed by Nazi sympathizers and taken in by the resistance, a Jewish lounge singer (Carice van Houten) is passed off as Aryan and sent to infiltrate the Dutch SS headquarters to seduce the charming commandant (Sebastian Koch). Paul Verhoeven's Black Book is overplotted and overlong, poorly acted, and with putrid dialogue. The film is not without entertainment value however and moves at breakneck speed, with inventive albeit ludicrous sequences that resemble Raiders of the Lost Ark in a way. Still, there's something off putting about this light handling of the subject matter.

** 1/2 out of ****

Basic Instinct

Several murders in the San Francisco area follow the same pattern as the killings in the erotic novels of a  steamy blonde author (Sharon Stone) who lures a police detective (Michael Douglas) on the case who may be in way too deep for his own good. Basic Instinct is a sleek, often dumb, occasionally intelligent thriller whose many sex scenes are as often unappealing as they are provocative. Stone delivers a soundly confident performance, Douglas' is a mixed bag as he seems to struggle with the heated scenes, and every story angle or scene spotlighting Jeanne Tripplehorn is completely awful. Paul Verhoeven's film attempts to channel classic San Fran movies such as Vertigo and Bullitt, and does so successfully, and then offers a conclusion that is supposed to end things on an ambiguous note, that comes off as more idiotic than anything.

Total Recall

As a conglomerate wrestles of control of the Mars' atmosphere with the local population in a futuristic 21st century, a construction worker (Arnold Schwarzenegger) decides to take a mental vacation as a government agent to the Red Planet and has a travel chip implanted in his brain. Strangely however, just before the procedure is performed, he has a mental breakdown and flashes back to the exact memories which he intends to have implanted! Actually a brainwashed superspy, he now finds himself on the run from a series of government assassins as he travels to our neighboring planet to discover the truth behind his current situation. Paul Verhoeven's "Total Recall" is a relentlessly violent and entertaining science fiction action picture from the short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" by the late Philip K. Dick, who seems to responsible for many of the great sci-fi flicks from the past thirty years ("Blade Runner", "Minority Report"). The film brings plausible logic to its grossly improbable plot, and like its lead character, you are never quite sure just exactly what is going on, which is all played to great effect. A lot of this success can be contributed to Arnold's commanding believability. Michael Ironside and Ronny Cox also make effective baddies. "Total Recall" is impressive in both its medley ambitious material and breakneck pace. While events spiral somewhat out of control towards the end of the picture, I found this to be a fun and surprisingly challenging motion picture.