Great
Collateral
Heat
Miami Vice
Manhunter
Good
The Last of the Mohicans
Thief
Okay/meh
Public Enemies
Ali
The Keep
Not good
Blackhat
The Insider
Great
Collateral
Heat
Miami Vice
Manhunter
Good
The Last of the Mohicans
Thief
Okay/meh
Public Enemies
Ali
The Keep
Not good
Blackhat
The Insider
I really love the scene in Thief where the villain gives a speech to James Caan who is lying on the floor.
I'm not really a fan of most things Michael Mann, but I'll forever champion Heat and The Insider. Those are some truly great filmmaking. Manhunter and Collateral, also good.
1. The Last of Mohicans
2. Heat
3. The Insider
4. Manhunter
5. Thief
6. Miami Vice
7. Collateral
8. Ali
9. Public Enemies
10. Blackhat
Last 10 Movies Seen
(90+ = canonical, 80-89 = brilliant, 70-79 = strongly recommended, 60-69 = good, 50-59 = mixed, 40-49 = below average with some good points, 30-39 = poor, 20-29 = bad, 10-19 = terrible, 0-9 = soul-crushingly inept in every way)
Run (2020) 64
The Whistlers (2019) 55
Pawn (2020) 62
Matilda (1996) 37
The Town that Dreaded Sundown (1976) 61
Moby Dick (2011) 50
Soul (2020) 64
Heroic Duo (2003) 55
A Moment of Romance (1990) 61
As Tears Go By (1988) 65
Stuff at Letterboxd
Listening Habits at LastFM
The lack of love for Public Enemies hurts deep.
And jeez, is Blackhat really that bad?
I remember a funny story from back when it was promoted at ComicCon and when the trailer was shown apparently the place was silent with apathy.
Black hat was just really forgettable.Quoting megladon8 (view post)
Like I really forget it.
1. Thief
2. Manhunter
3. Heat
4. The Insider
5. The Keep
6. The Last of the Mohicans
7. Collateral
8. Public Enemies
9. Blackhat
I'd say only PE and Blackhat are on the negative scale.
I saw a scene from Public Enemies recently and my reaction was the same as back in 2009 - the time period and the digital cinematography look awful together. It's like a TV with auto sports motion or whatever it's called.
I still have 4 left to view from Mann, but here's my list so far:
Heat
Thief
Manhunter
Collateral
Public Enemies
The Last of the Mohicans
Miami Vice
I dig or love all of these.
Blog!
And it's happened once again
I'll turn to a friend
Someone that understands
And sees through the master plan
But everybody's gone
And I've been here for too long
To face this on my own
Well, I guess this is growing up
Collateral flirted with banality, like the detour to the hospital.
I liked it, but really not in the same ballpark as Heat for instance.
I would like to see Thief.
The Keep wasn't great, but still oddly memorable.
[+] closer to next rating / [-] closer to previous rating
- Dark (S3) ✦✦✦½ [-]
- Fall (Mann, 2022) ✦✦✦½ [-]
- Ms. Marvel (S1) ✦½ [+]
- Dark (S2) ✦✦✦✦
- Moon Knight (S1) ✦✦½ [-]
- Get Carter (Hodges, 1971) ✦✦✦½ [+]
- Prey (Trachtenberg, 2022) ✦✦✦ [-]
- Black Bird (S1) ✦✦✦✦
- Better Call Saul (S6) ✦✦✦½ [+]
- Halo (S1) ✦✦✦ [-]
- Slow Horses (S1) ✦✦✦½ [+]
- H4Z4RD (Govaerts, 2022/BE) ✦✦½ [-]
- Gangs of London (S1) ✦✦✦½ [+]
- We Own This City (S1) ✦✦✦½ [+]
- Thor: Love and Thunder (Waititi, 2022) ✦✦ [+]
Well for me, that relatively slice-of-life scene in Collateral works on a number of levels; for one, it works because it is a detour from the main plot, because the movie has to be more than just Vincent forcing Max to drive him to his next target with a gun to his head. With a Thriller as otherwise compact and relentless tense as Collateral, you need the occasional break in the tension to allow for enough of an ebb-and-flow in the storytelling to prevent it from becoming repetitive, and the visit to the hospital accomplishes exactly that (besides, it occurs at a perfectly sensible point roughly halfway into the film; it's not like it happens inbetween the Club Fever shootout and the final chase in the 3rd act, and slows the film's momentum down at that point). A few minutes break from the rest of the Thriller-y shenanigans didn't hurt anything, as far as I'm concerned. Besides that, it's also a nicely, darkly comedic scene, with the obvious humor of the mother being charmed by a hitman threatening her son's life (resulting in that all-time ironic line "You'd have to hold a gun to his head to make him do anything"), and it's also necessary for "filling in" the characters, as the mother's undermining comments about Max help provide some background as to why he has so little confidence in anything else he does, and the scene also comes back into play in the plot later, after []Quoting Morris Schæffer (view post)
So, yeah... I think that scene's fine the way it is.
Last edited by StuSmallz; 07-14-2020 at 08:16 AM.
Collateral is good, but I can never really love it because Cruise's character is the most incompetent hitman ever, yet the film seems to believe that he is some, cool, consummate professional.
Last 10 Movies Seen
(90+ = canonical, 80-89 = brilliant, 70-79 = strongly recommended, 60-69 = good, 50-59 = mixed, 40-49 = below average with some good points, 30-39 = poor, 20-29 = bad, 10-19 = terrible, 0-9 = soul-crushingly inept in every way)
Run (2020) 64
The Whistlers (2019) 55
Pawn (2020) 62
Matilda (1996) 37
The Town that Dreaded Sundown (1976) 61
Moby Dick (2011) 50
Soul (2020) 64
Heroic Duo (2003) 55
A Moment of Romance (1990) 61
As Tears Go By (1988) 65
Stuff at Letterboxd
Listening Habits at LastFM
I found the making-of for Collateral really interesting, particularly Tom Cruise's prep work for the role.
It was the first time I was made aware of just how dedicated he is to every project he works on. The guy is a freaking loon, but I wish I had even half the work ethic and passion that guy has.
1. Collateral
2. Heat
3. Thief
4. The Insider
5. Blackhat
6. The Last of the Mohicans
7. Manhunter
8. Public Enemies
9. Ali
10. Miami Vice
Midnight Run (1988) - 9
The Smiling Lieutenant (1931) - 8.5
The Adventures of Robinhood (1938) - 8
Sisters (1973) - 6.5
Shin Godzilla (2016) - 7.5
Manhunter and Red Dragon each have bits that they do better than the other.
I want to watch Thief so bad. I love Tangerine Dream.
Last Five Films I've Seen (Out of 5)
The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse (Mackesy, 2022) 4.5
Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (Crawford, 2022) 4
Confess, Fletch (Mottola, 2022) 3.5
M3GAN (Johnstone, 2023) 3.5
Turning Red (Shi, 2022) 4.5
Tokyo Story (Ozu, 1953) 5
615 Film
Letterboxd
Folks it's on Criterion and the sale is going on now. I own it.Quoting Ivan Drago (view post)
Blog!
And it's happened once again
I'll turn to a friend
Someone that understands
And sees through the master plan
But everybody's gone
And I've been here for too long
To face this on my own
Well, I guess this is growing up
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is dated and almost cliché now, but you can still see how it would have been fresh ang original at the time of its release.
Some decent comedic bits and sharp dialogue make up for some very sloppy technicals even given the budget.
Not much of a Ritchie fan, but glad I finally saw the movie that put him on the map.
Think I prefer Snatch.
I love Lock Stock. Not saying it's perfect or anything but damn does it make me laugh.
Left foot right foot, the body will follow, they calls it walkin'!
I like watching movies before buying them.Quoting DFA1979 (view post)
Last Five Films I've Seen (Out of 5)
The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse (Mackesy, 2022) 4.5
Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (Crawford, 2022) 4
Confess, Fletch (Mottola, 2022) 3.5
M3GAN (Johnstone, 2023) 3.5
Turning Red (Shi, 2022) 4.5
Tokyo Story (Ozu, 1953) 5
615 Film
Letterboxd
I do blind buys a lot. Mostly with Criterions.Quoting Ivan Drago (view post)
Blog!
And it's happened once again
I'll turn to a friend
Someone that understands
And sees through the master plan
But everybody's gone
And I've been here for too long
To face this on my own
Well, I guess this is growing up
I dig both those movies but yeah Snatch is better. Brad Pitt is fantastic at comedy.Quoting megladon8 (view post)
Blog!
And it's happened once again
I'll turn to a friend
Someone that understands
And sees through the master plan
But everybody's gone
And I've been here for too long
To face this on my own
Well, I guess this is growing up
Same with me.Quoting DFA1979 (view post)
I live in the boonies on terrible internet. Streaming services are not a luxury I get to indulge in often.
I buy anything I want to see.
I have 9 movies on their way to me right now!
I have streaming and Internet but sometimes it's nice to own a movie. I don't have to worry about if it leaves a service or having to sign up for one to watch it. It's mine. What movies did you get?Quoting megladon8 (view post)
Blog!
And it's happened once again
I'll turn to a friend
Someone that understands
And sees through the master plan
But everybody's gone
And I've been here for too long
To face this on my own
Well, I guess this is growing up
Her was pretty good, maybe even almost great. But I couldn't fully get into that movie. I was left a bit creeped out by the whole love plot with an operating system. Is that going to happen more and more if AI becomes self aware and intelligent? Maybe I just don't trust technology to benefit mankind and not enslave us in the end. One could make the argument we already slaves to technology anyways.
Blog!
And it's happened once again
I'll turn to a friend
Someone that understands
And sees through the master plan
But everybody's gone
And I've been here for too long
To face this on my own
Well, I guess this is growing up
Mostly garbage, a few gems...Quoting DFA1979 (view post)
47 Meters Down
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Gretel and Hansel
Mold!
Pyewacket
The Invisible Man (2020)
The Meg
Overlord
Upgrade