I love this man's movies. They have this extra little snap of viciousness around the edges. The only directors I can think of with a similar sensibility are Roman Polanski and David Cronenberg. I've seen "Robocop" way too many times -- it is a masterpiece of economical storytelling, with a really kick-ass supporting performance by Miguel Ferrer. I love the subversive undercurrents of "Starship Troopers," completely twisting Robert Heinlein's pro-military novel into something that gradually makes you ask who the real villains are. (Watch the propaganda in "Starship Troopers" and tell me it doesn't echo current U.S. military rhetoric.)

"Basic Instinct" was loathsome but I blame Joe Eszterhas's script for everything that was wrong with that movie. At least it was a hit, and at least it was somewhat entertaining, or so I remember. (And it spawned an excellent parody featuring the actors from "The Brady Bunch" at that year's MTV movie awards.) I felt dirty seeing "Showgirls," another Eszterhas descent into bad taste and over-blunt sexuality, but upon watching it on video I discovered it to be a jewel of extreme, giggle-inducing camp. Plus the scene where Elizabeth Berkley kicks the abusive boyfriend's ass was a fists-in-the-air "yeah!" moment. (Berkely's career was derailed by the film, but she should have been rewarded for her bravery.)

I barely remember "Soldier of Orange" but it's a bit dry after you've seen "Robocop" etc. "The Fourth Man" was one of the first really daring art films I ever saw, right around the same time as I saw "Blue Velvet." I still remember something about an eyeball on a door, and a man who pushes the femme fatale blond woman's breasts apart during lovemaking so he can imagine she's a boy. Creepy stuff. I saw "Flesh & Blood" a long time ago and really ought to Netflix it because I remember it being pretty great. Rutger Hauer and Jennifer Jason Leigh -- trying to right the wrongs of "The Hitcher" and succeeding with nudity and violence.

"Hollow Man" was a hollow movie with little to recommend it. Verhoeven must have been lured by a big paycheck, or something. The storytelling was all wrong -- Kevin Bacon's character starts off as an asshole and then just gets worse, rather than a decent man giving in to his worst impulses. I did enjoy the scene of the woman's blouse being undone by invisible hands, but only for the most perverse possible reasons. Yet another Verhoeven movie that left me feeling dirty.

Anyway, I am looking forward to "The Black Book" with great anticipation.

I forgot to mention "Spetters," another Verhoeven movie I viewed a long time ago. The only thing I remember about it is Rutger Hauer (or some other European actor) on a motorcycle.

SeanKG writes: "...Stephanie Zacharek had problems with the Kill Bill movies and Pulp Fiction for being homages to low-rent movies, and yet praises Grindhouse for being more or less the same."

Did you even read her review? She wrote that she disliked "Pulp Fiction" for serving up "stylized violence with a smirk," not for its homages or reference.

You might want to look up "irony" in the dictionary, and while you're at it stop trying to oversimplify or mischaracterize other people's opinions just because they don't agree with your own.

Have a nice Easter. Watch out for bad Peeps.