I almost didn't see LA Confidential because there was nothing about The Hand That Rocks The Cradle or Bedroom Window that suggested Curtis Hanson was capable of tackling such complicated source material. I went expecting a mess and I don't think I have ever been so surprised in terms of direction. Kim Basinger was a…

Ok, but someone will have to teach me how to use the shells.

"Not a full-scale humiliation." Once again, AV Club provides the poster blurb the moviemakers were praying for.

"You know, when I was a little boy, there was an old Negro farmer lived down the road from us, name of Monroe. And he was, uh, - well, I guess he was just a little luckier than my Daddy was. He bought himself a mule. That was a big deal around that town. Now, my Daddy hated that mule, 'cause his friends were always…