tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8347718.post115415233309252547..comments2024-03-28T02:21:05.851-07:00Comments on VINYL IS HEAVY: Miami ViceRyland Walker Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09233954424885027837noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8347718.post-22277361526527990662010-11-23T21:45:47.631-08:002010-11-23T21:45:47.631-08:00Hi, well be sensible, well-all describedHi, well be sensible, well-all describedgeneric cialis 20mghttp://www.agir-galiza.org/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8347718.post-1156959667714952102006-08-30T10:41:00.000-07:002006-08-30T10:41:00.000-07:00How many versions of "In The Air Tonight" have you...How many versions of "In The Air Tonight" have you surveyed, insano?Ryland Walker Knighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09233954424885027837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8347718.post-1155079286512592712006-08-08T16:21:00.000-07:002006-08-08T16:21:00.000-07:00godheadSilo recorded the definitive version of "In...godheadSilo recorded the definitive version of "In the Air Tonight" on their "Share the Fantasy" LP. <BR/><BR/>All other versions pale in comparison.Mikeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08400927064697543220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8347718.post-1154284517669371802006-07-30T11:35:00.000-07:002006-07-30T11:35:00.000-07:00The drum breakdown is actually killer.I have yet t...<I>The drum breakdown is actually killer.</I><BR/><BR/>I have yet to meet a guy who doesn't do an air drum when that part kicks in.<BR/><BR/>I haven't seen the weekend grosses yet, but I'm sure Vice did quite nicely. All the guys came out to see a movie that was unapologetically R-rated, something we rarely get in this PG-13 era. Every time I see a commercial where the announcer says "This film is not yet rated," I automatically know what that rating will be: PG-13. I hate that some snot-nosed 12 year old kid is determining what I can and cannot see, thanks to Hollywood greed. As a result, movies that have R-rated content and subject matter get crammed into PG-13 (see Great Balls of Fire for the most ludicrous example). <BR/><BR/>When I was 13, there was no PG-13. The PG rating was harder than it is now, and the R rating usually meant it when they said R. In All the President's Men, which is rated PG (at least until Warners resubmits it to the MPAA) Jason Robards says "fuck" seven times. With the PG-13, you can't even say it once in a PG rated movie (Nothing in Common and Big buck that trend; I guess Tom Hanks + fuck = PG).<BR/><BR/>So, if there's one plus, Mann never tries for PG-13. He likes his R's!<BR/><BR/>Sorry for the MPAA rant. I've kicked up the original In The Air Tonight in your honor.odienatorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10926978706604468636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8347718.post-1154237498943729912006-07-29T22:31:00.000-07:002006-07-29T22:31:00.000-07:00The drum breakdown is actually killer. After a da...The drum breakdown is actually killer. <BR/><BR/>After a day of ironic insertion to my rotation, I think I love the song and it makes me hate the cover that much more. I'm giggling but it's actually really sweet how it just fades out after Phil's given you a taste of the release he's craving, kind of like a great Prince cut out.<BR/><BR/>And it's that perfect synth sound I associate with Mann's best movies. All that histrionic set up and pay off that applies to all his alpha males. Shit gets so big you can't ignore it anymore (the juice, the bust, the crumbling marriage) and then, even if there is a high point, the dread sets in where you know shit can't be great forever--for fifteen minutes?--much less the last two of Collins' song where you want another drum solo but all you get is pain and unfulfilled desire. Mann was going for that with the Sonny/Isabella romance but, really, it just didn't work. Like the cover.<BR/><BR/>That subplot aside, I still think it's got a lot of good parts and mostly I'm just sad none of them added up to their potential. <BR/><BR/>blah blah blahRyland Walker Knighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09233954424885027837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8347718.post-1154225746547732982006-07-29T19:15:00.000-07:002006-07-29T19:15:00.000-07:00how can a cover of a Phil Collins song make me yea...<I>how can a cover of a Phil Collins song make me yearn for the original so bad? I don't even like the song. I got home and downloaded it and laughed.</I><BR/><BR/>That cover is awful, and should never have been considered. I like Collins' original. It's his best song and the one song of his most people are not ashamed to admit they like. In a way, Collins' song is a mood microcosm of the Vice TV show. It's icy, stripped down, very 80's, and with lyrics that don't make a lick of sense.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the link. I sat next to the Slate critics at the screening of Miami Vice. During the technical problems that plagued the theater's sound system, I leaned over and said to them "we need closed captioning." At least I got to see Vice for free.<BR/><BR/><I>But none of the performances in VICE can top Toothpaste Tom's sinister Vincent, a bold against-type performance whose chilly anger freaked me out by a few times.</I><BR/><BR/>I liked Cruise's <I>Collateral</I> performance, as well as his work in <I>Magnolia</I>, a movie a lot of people come after me for hating. The mini-movie that opens Collateral, between Foxx and Jada Pinkett Smith, is excellent. The movie could have gone in an entirely different direction from that jump off. <BR/><BR/><I>I'm relatively broke most of the time and I just want my admission price warranted now that I don't work in a movie theatre and can't see everything for free.</I><BR/><BR/>That was a perk of working in the theater. I only did it briefly, but I saw a lot of movies I was glad I didn't pay to see. I spent more time working in a video store than the theater. <BR/><BR/>Nowadays the movies cost so much (up to $12 for one ticket out here) that I feel hesitant to see anything I don't think I'll like. I saw <I>Scoop</I> yesterday, and my hesitancy was warranted. I had a better time at <I>Little Miss Sunshine</I> today. <BR/><BR/>I'm sure Vice will make big bucks, and I'll be the only person who panned it. The next time I play a Ray Charles record, Ray might cuss me out on my radio.odienatorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10926978706604468636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8347718.post-1154189850262278502006-07-29T09:17:00.000-07:002006-07-29T09:17:00.000-07:00I don't think he's telling the same story so much ...<I>I don't think he's telling the same story so much as having a recurring theme in his work</I><BR/><BR/>I agree. I was just trying to set up things I saw as miscues. If he wanted to explore that theme better he could have written better female characters.<BR/><BR/><I>Vice's haphazard cin-tog gives the illusion it was shot by three different people and then chopped together.</I><BR/><BR/>Honestly, during the first club scene, that's what I thought, but once they got outside and John Hawkes was flying on that sepia freeway I bought into its look big time. Sometimes the cutting was too manic for my tastes but overall it was effective. I think the problem is Mann didn't have a set script and relied on his gift for cinematix instead of his usual knack for believable characters and believable character arcs. (You read <A HREF="http://www.slate.com/id/2145622/" REL="nofollow">this</A>?) Still, I had enough fun. That's probably part of my recent leniancy: I'm relatively broke most of the time and I just want my admission price warranted now that I don't work in a movie theatre and can't see everything for free.<BR/><BR/>I liked COLLATERAL a lot, actually, despite its unbelievable last act heroics but I think THE INSIDER has a better look. COLLATERAL just looks like a warm up for the technique he perfected in VICE. And the color palatte, and clouds were better. But none of the performances in VICE can top Toothpaste Tom's sinister Vincent, a bold against-type performance whose chilly anger freaked me out by a few times.<BR/><BR/>One thing I forgot to mention in my review was this: how can a cover of a Phil Collins song make me yearn for the original so bad? I don't even like the song. I got home and downloaded it and laughed.Ryland Walker Knighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09233954424885027837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8347718.post-1154186811698827742006-07-29T08:26:00.000-07:002006-07-29T08:26:00.000-07:00Their equally sexy love scene is the only time Fox...<I>Their equally sexy love scene is the only time Foxx uses his comedic gifts to flesh out his wooden, constricted role</I><BR/><BR/>Apparently, Michael Mann must have seen Foxx's earlier movie, <I>Booty Call</I>. <BR/><BR/><I>Or that he keeps retelling the same story.</I><BR/><BR/>I don't think he's telling the same story so much as having a recurring theme in his work: Professional men suffer personally, especially if they're good at their jobs. Vice's ineptness is just a signal that Mann has finally drank his own macho bullshit Kool-Aid.<BR/><BR/>For my money, Collateral is Mann's boldest visual feature. Vice's haphazard cin-tog gives the illusion it was shot by three different people and then chopped together.<BR/><BR/>I agree with you that Mann got in the way of Ali, undermining fantastic performances by Will Smith and Jamie Foxx. Whenever either of these two would be on a roll, Mann would show up in the bottom of the frame screaming "hey, don't watch them! Watch me! I'm the DIRECTOR!!!"odienatorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10926978706604468636noreply@blogger.com