Mini-Review: Gripping film with some great performances. The procedural narrative is strong; each court room scene was engaging on its own and clearly contributed to the overall story (though these scenes are painted in broad strokes and are occasionally bit heavy-handed). The direction feels odd; the opening montage felt almost like French New Wave (which got me excited), but then there are old-fashioned rear-projection shots and some awkward EMOTIONAL zooms that are clumsy and distracting.

Mini-Review: Cagney is phenomenal in both the dramatic and musical scenes, dancing wildly at one moment and evoking quiet sorrow in another. But the story feels too hokey. It might just be my modern cynical sensibilities, but there never was any real tension - it was relentless encomium and saccharine optimism. Though it came out a year after Citizen Kane, it feels decades older than that other sprawling biopic. Given Yankee's WW2 context, it's not a fair comparison - but I probably won't watch this again.

Mini-Review: Stylish and fun romantic confection. The narrative structure keeps things interesting, as do many of the visual tricks (I particularly liked the "reality" vs. "expectation" sequence). But ultimately it's pretty shallow - Tom and Summer are superficial narcissists who express "love" through fetishizing music, art, dreams (i.e. they're hipsters). That's not to say I couldn't identify with that viewpoint, but I never really cared for either nor do I think I'll remember them later.

Mini-Review: Caine has nestled comfortably as the sage advisor in Nolan's films, but it's nice to see him return to more angry and desperate role. His performance maintains a nice balance between vulnerability and badassery. The plot is fairly typical Death Wish fare - the villains are perhaps starker and less cartoonish, but they still almost one-dimensional.