pond… geese, pond

pond from Huba Gancsos on Vimeo.

skyward

sky over broadway

miami vice

 when an informant they lent to the f.b.i. gets discovered, two undercover detectives from miami vice and their team are brought in to breakup and international drug ring.  

based on the television show of the same name, creator and director michael mann, brings a level of reality and grittiness to the story of crockett and tubbs.  the look of the film is amazing and oozes sexiness without being gratuitous.  the mixture of close ups and tight shots add the sensuality for which miami has a reputation.

that being said, this movie is about crime and while the action is entertaining, the plot is a bit convoluted.  the actors, especially the leads, colin farrell and jamie foxx, play the roles with over the top seriousness and constant grimaces. it is probably the biggest negative.  the film is enjoyable, but if you like crime check out mann’s other film heat, which is by far his masterpiece.

l.a. confidential

 l.a. confidential surrounds the police of the city of angels during the golden age of hollywood.  a massacre at an all night diner leads three detectives on intersecting discoveries of corruption that in many ways they themselves have succumb to as well.

the acting in this film is spectacular with everyone being believable as characters from the 1950s.  each character is well developed and cannot be simply defined.  guy pearce plays the idealistic detective edmund exley, who starts out naive but is always able to manipulate and play the political game to get ahead in the department.  russell crowe is great as bud white, the detective charged with always playing the muscle bound bad cop, although having a natural detective’s instinct and sensitivity for justice.  kevin spacey plays bribe taking, lime light loving detective jack vicennes, who realizes that there was a time he wanted to do good.

weaving the story together is director curtis hanson.  the great thing about a well done period movie is that it will hold up over time and he recreates 50s hollywood with great detail.  in many ways this is a film that comes close to perfect and is one of my favorites.