Movies with cinematographer Robert Elswit

Most directors, upon entering a genre with which they lack familiarity, adhere strictly to "the book." David Mamet, however, throws "the book" out the window. The resulting movie, a mixed martial arts concoction called Redbelt, is different than ...

As thrillers go, The River Wild is a cut below a "white-knuckler," but it still has its share of spills and chills. Crafted by Curtis Hanson with considerably more style and substance than his previous effort, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, The R...

Denzel Washington is one of the great actors of his generation so how he got involved in this muddled film, with its grandiose dialogue and meandering narrative, is a real head-scratcher. Even more puzzling is why he agreed to use make-up and ...

Salt is more than mere seasoning; it's a full bouillabaisse comprised of bits and pieces of James Bond, The Manchurian Candidate, The Bourne Identity, TV's 24, and the Nelson DeMille novel The Charm School. What begins with a delicious appetizer, ...

It would be fair to say that Skyscraper does what it sets out to do but the unambitious agenda isn’t something I’m especially interested in watching. A dumbed-down Die Hard with a Towering Inferno infusion, the film exists solely as a showca...

Wow. Just wow. Every year, movie theaters bring us their share of surprises – both good and bad. Suburbicon goes immediately to the front of the line of contenders for the most disappointing film of 2017. George Clooney, the Coen Brothers, M...

When The Sure Thing was released in 1985, it was out of step with the times. Teen comedies in those years were saturated with sex and broad humor. Romance and realism (even to a modest degree) were undesirable relics of a bygone era. Nevertheles...

You may have to look long and hard to find a 2005 movie with as cynical an outlook on global politics as Syriana. Sadly, this is a situation when the cynicism is understandable. In addition to painting a bleak picture, Syriana makes no concessions...

The best things about Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood are not elements that will build large audiences. This is a film about character development/disintegration and a comprehensive look at the early days of the oil industry. The more ...

The scrutiny surrounding Tomorrow Never Dies, the eighteenth "official" James Bond film (not counting Casino Royale or Never Say Never Again), isn't as intense as it was around Goldeneye, but the attendant hype is, if anything, even more severe. ...