Mark Goes to the Movies (So You Don't Have To)

Miami Vice (dir. Michael Mann) What a letdown. Speaking as a semi-major fan of Heat, The Insider, and Collateral, I was looking forward to this film. What I got was Colin Farrell reprising his Dark, Intense Glower from Ask the Dust (and Alexander), Jamie Foxx scowling a lot, and a lot of lousy reprises of better sequences from other Michael Mann movies (especially the amazing shootout sequence from Heat). And also Gong Li, completely wasted (but ravishingly beautiful as ever) in her part as a Cuban-Chinese gangster-money manager and Elizabeth Rodriguez (crazy director Robert's sister!) as a completely kick-ass Puerto Rican cop. At least she has a bright future ahead. Mark's review (stupid points): ??

A Scanner Darkly (dir. Richard Linklater) In Waking Life, Linklater used rotoscoping (animation based on the characters' movements and conversation as recorded on video) to suggest the fluid, dreamlike aspects of human identity as discussed and embodied by characters from many of his other movies. His new film is the nightmare side of the fantasy world, based on a novel by Philip K. Dick (the most popular sci-fi author of the past 20 years for movie adaptations) about a near-future dystopia (Orange County, California!) where 20% of the population is hooked on a drug with close resemblances to crystal meth (produced by an organization that runs, what do you know, a group of drug rehab clinics) and everyone is under constant surveillance. I've never read Dick's work but I've heard that paranoia is his great theme, and the complex web of drug-fueled betrayals comes scarily alive in the animated bits: hallucinations of bugs crawling over people's skins, removable suits that constantly shift physical characteristics (so, say, undercover cops can operate without perps being able to identify them). It's a really dark fantasy, but a really potent one. And Linklater gets good performances out of animated versions of Keanu Reeves as an addicted undercover cop, long-MIA Winona Ryder as his connection/girlfriend, Woody Harrelson and Rory Cochrane as tweakers, and Robert Downey Jr. (who knows this world at first hand) as a would-be snitch. Mark's review: ****