By Brian Lafferty
February 8, 2013 (San Diego) – The press screening announcement for Side Effects read "Please note that due to the non-linear nature of this film, we will not let anyone into screenings of Side Effects if they arrive LATE.” The impression I got was that Soderbergh's last theatrical release - his final project is a Liberace biopic that will air on HBO later this year - would be a mind-bender like Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky or Christopher Nolan's Memento. I was wrong, but the publicity people were right to deny entry to latecomers. (Even if they didn't, I can't grasp how any critic could feel comfortable reviewing any movie they're late for. In many cases and for many reasons too irrelevant and lengthy to list, the first few minutes are a film’s most important.)