We win, Gracie!

If you're going to make a dumb movie, why not make it gloriously dumb? Armageddon is handicapped by a natural immaturity, and I forgive it. Harry Stamper is the man.

One of Mann's finest

Heat is, for me, the best of Michael Mann's urban thrillers (I don't think anything can topple The Last of the Mohicans from the number one position overall). I've seen it a few times, and this was the first time on Blu-ray. I don't remember what bothered me about the final encounter between Hanna and McCauley, but whatever it was, it was gone now. Very, very good stuff throughout its long running time.

Spiritual

That's how I would describe Contact. Science and religion are rarely treated this equally in popular fiction. No simple, definite, correct answer is offered. The cast includes a bunch of heavyweights but ultimately the film rides on Jodie Foster's slender shoulders and she carries it brilliantly. A lesser performance would have made it much more difficult to be swept along. It's not a perfect film, but it has never failed to engage my brain or my heart.

I don't know if there's a God or life in outer space, but I like what Sagan said about waste of space.

Straight on 'til morning

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, which I watched yesterday, is the other Trek film directed by Nicholas Meyer, director of KHAAAN, and that film's only contender for the best entry in the series. It's a very fitting farewell to the original crew. Most characters get some snappy lines, but Spock, Valeris and the Klingons are perhaps best served.

The best hacker movie?

My favorite is Sneakers, which I rewatched again tonight. Killer cast, snappy dialog, heart in the right place, and no stupid made-up GUIs. Most of what they do is "human hacking" or social engineering. If you accept the central McGuffin, most of the rest isn't too far-fetched, just exaggerated. I also liked how the heroes don't shoot their way out of trouble; they carry guns a couple of times, but fire exactly one warning shot.

Hush-hush and on the QT

When I first saw L.A. Confidential, I only knew Russell Crowe from The Quick and the Dead, and Guy Pearce not at all. Kevin Spacey, Kim Basinger and Danny DeVito were of course more familiar. I hadn't even read the novel or anything else by Ellroy - safe to say this has been rectified since. I just knew that here was a movie where everything worked.

This must've been the fourth or fifth time I see it, and the impact hasn't been lessened at all. On BD it is very easy to appreciate the wonderful cinematography, set design, and costumes.

Going country again

I was wondering which movie to watch this Sunday evening and happened upon Peter Bogdanovich's The Thing Called Love. I thought it would be a good counterpoint for Crazy Heart, and indeed it was. It's about four young people who've come to Nashville and hope to make it in the music business. They are ably portrayed by Samantha Mathis, River Phoenix (almost the last film he did), Dermot Mulroney and Sandra Bullock (on her way to fame) - all of whom sing their own songs and participated in the songwriting. The ending is open to multiple interpretations. This film was a nice little surprise.

Oh, and there's an actual musical connection to Crazy Heart, too: T-Bone Burnett, a friend of River Phoenix, worked on some of the music even though he's not credited on IMDb. He seems to be quite the seal of quality; see also Walk the Line, O Brother, Where Art Thou? and others.