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Collateral

I'm here in Chicago and already having a really good time. Nick and I watched Micheal Mann's Collateral last night. As a fan of Tom Cruise (just as long as I keep the TV off and don't click on all those video interviews on the 'net) and Jamie Foxx (just as long as I avoid Stealth), I thought they were perfect in a film that didn't bow to cliches or routine black-and-white crime noir.

Prior to seeing this, the only Mann film I had seen was Manhunter. Yes, the first film adaptation of Thomas Harris's Red Dragon was called that and it feels more like a Miami Vice episode (Mann was one of the men behind that show by the way) than anything else. Collateral makes me want to see Mann's other work like Heat and the Insider. Yes, it's that good.

A few years ago, I had a spell where I enjoyed rather over-the-top action crime flicks starring the likes of Bruce Willis. Those were cool but other than big shootouts after one-liners and more shootouts, I slowly realized that these kinds of movies are best in the popcorn variety. Sure, they're fun but after you watch them you aren't talking about how amazing the script is or the direction. You marvel at how much of a bad-ass such and such was and how cool the action scenes were. Never would I think that I would watch a noir flick waxing philosophy between the bullets.

There are quite a few movies lying around Nick, Aaron and John's loft that I haven't seen. I hope I have some time to watch them all.

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