Oh Cornelius & Rebecca...

Meet the Robinsons(dir. Stephen J. Anderson)
A slapdash collage of too many ideas that don't really stick. To sum it up, it's pretty much a mess. The ending is touching and if what preceded it wasn't so all over the place and incoherent, I would recommend it, but as it is, I simply can't.
** out of ****

Femme Fatale(dir. Brian De Palma)
My experience with De Palma has been mixed to say the least. I don't remember Mission: Impossible and Carrie all that much, but I do remember The Untouchables, which I found to be uniformly bland and uninteresting even if most consider it to be one of his finest films. The parts of Scarface that I've seen also didn't help change my mind at all about this director, but that was probably due to me being overly judgmental given the film's status. The Black Dahlia had me come around to liking the director. The film's trailer definitely piqued my interest before it was released and then when it was released, it became essentially mauled by most mainstream critics. Having seen it, it's quite easy to understand how some didn't take to liking it, but in all honesty, there was just something about it, a trashy allure that kept the film from being a total failure and made it more interesting to watch than say a safe film like The Departed. This film, thankfully, has an abundant supply of the same trashy allure. This is a much more focused and less messy film in comparison, but it's probably even more trashy given that the film's first 20 minutes deals with two women essentially partaking in foreplay in a bathroom stall that is part of an elaborate plan to steal a highly valuable dress top covered in diamonds. These first 20 minutes are absolutely dazzling not just because I'm a heterosexual male but a fan of movies in general. The film retains this level of quality for a majority of it's running time, but it slowly started to lose control as it went on. It's astounding that the film was able to pull off such a huge plot twist near the end without any of the sense of irony or smugness that often plague films that contain a plot twist of that size. It was able to flow rather smoothly after because of it instead of stopping dead in it's tracks, but it's hard to really label the twist as a good thing. The film could have been redeemed with it's ending, which was looking rather promising, but it doesn't quite hit the spot. I feel a little hesitant and conflicted in giving it this rating, but I can't exactly say that I loved it so I simply have to label it as a near-masterpiece. I'd imagine a rewatch would be beneficial, but for now, this rating will have to do. I highly recommend.
***1/2 out of ****