Most of us are either sleep-walking through our waking life or wake-walking through our dreams. . .

I'll get to that quote in just a moment.

Well, sorry for not writing last night. Our cable--and therefore our internet--was out and we had to have a repairman come and fix it. And it couldn't have happened on a night when I had had a mundane day, could it? It had to happen on a night when I actually had things to write about, rave about, and passionately cling to!

Um, they were movies :)

Work was actually same ol' same ol' yesterday. Frustrating, as Fridays usuallly are. I've found that I both love and loathe Fridays. I love them, of course, because they are the last day of a long week and the gateway to relaxation and fun. But that eight hour wait is just always so tough that I find myself getting impatient and frustrated all day. So it wasn't so much my customers as it was my own attitude.

After work I went and saw Collateral. Action movies, lately, have become so. . . crappy. Remember in the 80s, when you could be guaranteed to walk into Die Hard or Lethal Weapon or even The Last Boy Scout and find a good, hard-edged action flick? When the heroes weren't worried about being all zen and goofy? When the bullets actually hit people and the carnage warranted an R rating instead of being sanitized with a PG-13 (speaking of which, how depressing is it that a movie finally pitting Aliens VS. The Predator is actually PG-13?) Remember when bad guys were ruthless and murderous and not just misunderstood? When the cities were grimy and gritty and even the smallest roles had the edge of truth and the dialouge carried wit instead of bouncing from chase to chase?

Michael Mann obviously does, because Collateral is probably the best action flick in years. No computer effects because everything was filmed on digital camera so it's all real stunts. No cloying love interests, because the movie takes place in the space of one night and is pretty much in a taxi. And, most importantly, no supermen. The hero in the movie, when he's trying to chase down the villain, has trouble breaking through glass. The villain bleeds, stumbles, and even is affected by childhood psychology.

So much goes right in this movie. The acting, first off, is some of the best all year. I never thought I would say this, but Jamie Foxx--yes, he of "Booty Call"--gives a pitch-perfect performance as Max, the cab driver who is hijacked by a hitman. He's not spouting one-liners, but rather brings a sympathy and depth to a man who's kidding himself about dreams he probably never will follow. Tom Cruise must be having the time of his life playing Vincent, an amoral hitman. I remember when Tom Hanks played a hitman in the excellent Road To Perdition, but he was still the Tom Hanks version of a hitman. . . nice, with a conscience, and a guilt about what he did. Vincent is just ruthless, and excuses his crimes as the effect of a postmodern world--does anyone really notice six people are missing when thousands of Rwandans die each day? He's "missing parts other people have," as Max informs him, and he lets some regret slip into his role. He's likable, so that we smile and laugh at some of his dialouge, but we still want to see him brought down. I like Tom Cruise when he shows some darkness and when the roles he's in challenge him, and this might be up there with Magnolia as his best performance of his career. There's a scene where he just goes on a killing spree in a nightclub and darn if it doesn't look like he's blowing off all that nice-guy steam. The supporting cast--Mark Ruffalo, Javier Bardem, Irma P. Hall, and Jada Pinkett Smith--all are great too, bringing a depth to roles that could have just been throw-aways.

The script is great. The dialogue between Vincent and Max is philisophical, taunting, and liberating. It reveals enough without feeling too talky. A scene with Max's mother is humorous and yet important to revealing Max's character. The cop scenes are smart and well-handled and the small twists that come along actually carry more surprise than anything in the final third of The Manchurian Candidate.

But the directing is the real reason to see this. Michael Mann is so unrecognized by most the public, but his past few films have been so incredible. Heat is a genuine action classic. The Insider was dramatic and suspenseful, giving Al Pacino and Russell Crowe some great performances. Even Ali, though long and meandering, gave Will Smith a reason to be taken seriously. This time, he doesn't have to worry about making a point, just delivering the goods. His choice to film in digital video brings a gritty, dark beauty to L.A. His choice of music gets the adrenaline pumping. And the last third of the movie gives probably the best, most suspenseful, cat-and-mouse chase since The Fugitive. So, I highly recommend this film. One of the best in a very mediocre summer.

So that brings me to the quote at the beginning. I went home after the movie and rented the film Waking Life, because after Before Sunset and Before Sunrise, I'm really interested in the work of Richard Linklater. This is a film from 2001 that I had only heard about from the art film community online. All I know is that it was animated and dealt with dreams. But, I figured, I'd give it a chance. The quote at the start of this whole rambling entry actually supplies all the info on whatever "plot" this film has.

Wow. This film will quickly be bought by me. It may be one of the most mezmerizing, beautiful works of art I've ever seen. First off, the film is talky and plotless. Basically it's about a young man's dreams, where he walks and floats around, and encounters others talking about philosophy, communication, love, religion, and the other deep thoughts of life. The film is animated, but in a way I've never seen before. What Linklater did was to film the whole movie on digital camera using real actors, put it on a quicktime program on his computer, and then animate over the actors. The result is beautiful, hypnotic, and dreamlike.

This movie is not for everyone. It's all talking and rambling about life and philosophy. Some might get bored, but I was drawn in. Even though I didn't agree with most the ideas, the point is that you didn't have to agreee. . . you listened and then watched the beautiful animation. Some thoughts were intriguing, some confusing, some downright bizarre. But never boring or preachy. The movie is an ode to the mysteries of life, the questions we ask, the answers we don't always find, and the importance of communication and the beauty of human curiosity. I especially loved the girl who comments about how she doesn't want to be like an ant, just bumping into everyone on the course of her day and not having a true human moment. She cries for interaction, to truly know others, and I thought the comment was so beautiful.

Of course, there's not a lot of attention paid to God, and I would love to see a film that asks these same questions in the same way, but finds the answers in God. But still, this film is a true work of art. It's like a philosophy course, a trip to an art gallery, a visit to the film institute, and a deep talk over coffee all rolled into one. If you like asking those deep questions and love artistic films or even just love art itself, pick up this movie. Great, great, great film. I think Linklater is probably the only fillmaker daring enough to film deep conversations that ask tough questions. He's replaced Kevin Smith as my favorite independent filmmaker, because he does a lot of the same work yet in a way that goes deeper than Smith's vulgar dialouge and pop culture questions allow.

Well, that's it for now. Talk later!

C-Dubbs