a masterpiece. no other word will do it justice.
if you see one movie for the rest of this year, go and watch collateral.
now, its been a while since i’ve posted anything and most of the reason behind it is because i’ve been hacking away at this piece, trying to do the film justice since last wednesday (i saw it late on tuesday night). i think that watching it on tuesday night perhaps, is also important seeing as those who know me well will actually (i think) be shocked that i managed to sit through a film that late at night without falling asleep. truth be told, i don’t think i would’ve fallen asleep during collateral no matter how long it had been since i’d last slept.
so... collateral then.
instead of trying to compose a prosaic plot-centred review, i’m going to attempt to offer some glimpses into moments within the masterpiece that is this film. jamie foxx plays a taxi driver who is bullied into driving a hit man (played by tom cruise) around la for a night. thing is, most of the first scenes are filled with a sense of enchantment – which is something i haven’t seen in ‘serious’ movies (read: not lord of the rings or anything penned by jk rowling) for a while. the movie is directed by michael mann, the same guy who, funnily enough, directed 80s tv mainstay miami vice. having been a fan of the latter, i found myself shocked at how mann was able to move so far away from cheese and create art with this movie. collateral is one of the first commercial release (‘hollywood’) movies to be shot on high definition digital video, a technique which produces the awe-inducing lighting effects (especially seeing as this whole movie is set at night). everything just looks so real. and different to the film textured world we’ve become used to. some critics point to the fact that the entire movie could be broken up into free-standing short films. the key phrase here is free-standing – sure, some scenes in other movies could make nice short films, but i have never before seen a movie scripted (by stuart beattie, incidentally) and shot so cleverly that it could be broken apart with the units still making sense in isolation.
i recently started to appreciate tom cruise’s work, and have come to realise that this man is one of the greatest actors of our time. he manages to constantly re-invent himself, and collateral stands as testament to his skill as an actor.
that said, jamie foxx is right up there. friends and colleagues laughed when i said that he pulled off one of the performances of his career... until they went to see this film. and, after collateral, i find myself not being able to wait for foxx’s lead role as ray charles (in ‘ray’).
mark my words.
one of the scenes in this movie, towards the final quarter, stands out and accentuates the beautiful complexity of collateral. foxx and cruise are on their way to cruise’s last job when suddenly they are forced to stop the taxi. a pack of coyote-type wild dogs come from nowhere and cross the road, their eyes glistening in the taxi’s headlights. cruise and foxx then move on, without saying a word to each other.go see the movie. and then try and say that this scene is not one of the most powerful moments of cinema that you have ever watched...
what made my day today: so many things *wink* :)
now, its been a while since i’ve posted anything and most of the reason behind it is because i’ve been hacking away at this piece, trying to do the film justice since last wednesday (i saw it late on tuesday night). i think that watching it on tuesday night perhaps, is also important seeing as those who know me well will actually (i think) be shocked that i managed to sit through a film that late at night without falling asleep. truth be told, i don’t think i would’ve fallen asleep during collateral no matter how long it had been since i’d last slept.
so... collateral then.
instead of trying to compose a prosaic plot-centred review, i’m going to attempt to offer some glimpses into moments within the masterpiece that is this film. jamie foxx plays a taxi driver who is bullied into driving a hit man (played by tom cruise) around la for a night. thing is, most of the first scenes are filled with a sense of enchantment – which is something i haven’t seen in ‘serious’ movies (read: not lord of the rings or anything penned by jk rowling) for a while. the movie is directed by michael mann, the same guy who, funnily enough, directed 80s tv mainstay miami vice. having been a fan of the latter, i found myself shocked at how mann was able to move so far away from cheese and create art with this movie. collateral is one of the first commercial release (‘hollywood’) movies to be shot on high definition digital video, a technique which produces the awe-inducing lighting effects (especially seeing as this whole movie is set at night). everything just looks so real. and different to the film textured world we’ve become used to. some critics point to the fact that the entire movie could be broken up into free-standing short films. the key phrase here is free-standing – sure, some scenes in other movies could make nice short films, but i have never before seen a movie scripted (by stuart beattie, incidentally) and shot so cleverly that it could be broken apart with the units still making sense in isolation.
i recently started to appreciate tom cruise’s work, and have come to realise that this man is one of the greatest actors of our time. he manages to constantly re-invent himself, and collateral stands as testament to his skill as an actor.
that said, jamie foxx is right up there. friends and colleagues laughed when i said that he pulled off one of the performances of his career... until they went to see this film. and, after collateral, i find myself not being able to wait for foxx’s lead role as ray charles (in ‘ray’).
mark my words.
one of the scenes in this movie, towards the final quarter, stands out and accentuates the beautiful complexity of collateral. foxx and cruise are on their way to cruise’s last job when suddenly they are forced to stop the taxi. a pack of coyote-type wild dogs come from nowhere and cross the road, their eyes glistening in the taxi’s headlights. cruise and foxx then move on, without saying a word to each other.go see the movie. and then try and say that this scene is not one of the most powerful moments of cinema that you have ever watched...
what made my day today: so many things *wink* :)
* now listening to: buena vista social club
posted by BOb at
17:33
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