Movie Reviews
Film and television reviewed the way I’d want to read them — with a rating that means something, an honest accounting of what works and what doesn’t, and craft notes for writers who want to understand how the machinery operates.
Each review includes a craft notes section for writers — specific observations about structure, character, world-building, and what the film does that you can actually use. Not theory. Technique you can steal.
Heist (15)
May 19, 2026Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Sidney Lumet's 1975 Brooklyn bank heist. Pacino, John Cazale. Real 1972 incident. Attica, Wyoming, sweltering New York summer.
May 10, 2026Heist (2001) — Review
David Mamet wrote and directed. Gene Hackman starred at 71. Heist is the writer-director showcase that closes out 2001's heist cinema trifecta.
May 19, 2026Inside Man (2006)
Spike Lee's 2006 Manhattan bank heist. Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster. Real plot mechanics, not just style.
May 19, 2026Logan Lucky (2017)
Soderbergh's 2017 NASCAR heist. Tatum, Driver, Daniel Craig. Working-class Ocean's Eleven. Coca-Cola 600 setting.
May 18, 2026Now You See Me (2013)
2013 Louis Leterrier heist thriller. Four illusionists pull off bank robberies during stage shows. Mark Ruffalo investigates.
May 18, 2026Now You See Me 2 (2016)
2016 Jon M. Chu sequel with the Horsemen blackmailed into a Macau heist. Daniel Radcliffe joins as tech billionaire.
May 19, 2026Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
Soderbergh's 2001 Rat Pack remake. Clooney, Pitt, Damon, Roberts, Gould. Las Vegas casinos. Effortless cool. Two sequels.
May 19, 2026Rififi (1955)
Jules Dassin's 1955 French heist. Thirty-two-minute silent jewelry heist sequence. Template for every heist procedural since.
May 19, 2026Ronin (1998)
John Frankenheimer's 1998 Cold War remnant action. De Niro, Reno, Sean Bean. Practical car chases through Paris and Nice.
May 19, 2026Sexy Beast (2000)
Jonathan Glazer's 2000 British crime debut. Ben Kingsley terrifying as Don Logan. Ray Winstone retired in Spain. Coercion drama.
May 19, 2026The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
John Huston's 1950 jewel heist noir. Sterling Hayden, Sam Jaffe, brief Marilyn Monroe. The original ensemble heist film.
May 10, 2026The Italian Job (2003) — Review
"Twelve viewings of the best heist film of the 2000s. F. Gary Gray's ensemble, Wally Pfister's eye, and the Hollywood and Highland sequence earned in full.
May 19, 2026The Killing (1956)
Kubrick's 1956 racetrack robbery. Sterling Hayden. Non-linear structure that became Tarantino's vocabulary. Lionel White novel.
May 10, 2026The Score (2001) — Review
Frank Oz, De Niro, Brando, Norton, and the best heist ending of the 21st century. The Score earns its 10+ through ninety minutes of pure character setup.
May 19, 2026Topkapi (1964)
Jules Dassin's 1964 Istanbul museum jewel heist. Peter Ustinov, Maximilian Schell. Source for every roof-rope tension scene.