No 1: Collateral (Mann, 2004): Everyman Screen on the Green, 5pm
Rejoice! Screenings from prints are back at Everyman Screen where Michael Mann returns from September 25th to October 24th in a season dedicated to five unforgettable works from one of modern cinema's most influential filmmakers. This 35mm screening (also on October 4th) is part of a programme that includes Heat, Last of the Mohicans and Thief. Full details here.Time Out review:
Los Angeles cab-driver Max (Jamie Foxx) has a dream: to end a decade’s
drudgery, set up a limo-rental company, and find some time for himself
in the Maldives. And one evening, he realises his fare from LAX airport
could be his dream girl: Annie (Jada Pinkett Smith) is sexy, smart – a
prosecuting attorney, no less – and sassy enough to hand him her card
when he drops her downtown. He’s still reliving their conversation as
his next customer – the natty, needlessly provocative and patronising
Vincent (Tom Cruise) – starts trying, against regulations, to hire Max’s
chauffeuring skills for the whole night. The temptation of fast money
wins out, and while Max sits snacking outside the first of Vincent’s
stop-offs, the dream turns into a nightmare: his client’s on a killing
spree, needs transport, and isn’t about to let Max go off telling tales… If
it’s genre fare you want, there’s very little on offer better than this
taut, tight, bluesy urban noir. Right from Max and Annie’s opening
duet, it’s clear Mann’s happy on his home turf: the dialogue’s crafted
with as much imagination and expertise as the action scenes, while the
acting is excellent throughout (Mark Ruffalo, Peter Berg and Bruce McGill
also impress as cops tracking Vincent’s bloody trail, while Javier
Bardem has a nice cameo as the hitman’s employer). Some elements (as
when a check on the cab is dropped thanks to a timely call to the cops)
are contrived, but that comes with the territory; at least Mann’s close
attention to detail makes it all credible according to its own very
suspenseful plot logic and pacing. Along the way, he also provides
another existential riff on his favourite themes of professionalism,
pride, responsibility and the need to take active choices. In short,
this cool, clever, elegant piece of precision-engineering is as
intelligent, engrossing and exciting as you’d expect from the maker of
‘Thief’ and ‘Heat’. I loved it.
Geoff Andrew
Here (and above) is the trailer.
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No 2: The Bridesmaid (Chabrol, 2004): BFI Southbank, NFT2, 3.10pm
This 35mm presentation is part of the Claude Chabrol season at BFI Southbank. The other screenings of the film, introduced by season curator Catherine Wheatley, is on October 5th. Details here.
BFI Southbank introduction:
A shy, somewhat passive young man falls into an all-consuming affair
with a woman he meets at his sister’s wedding. Unfortunately, she’s a
compulsive fantasist who will shortly ask him to prove his love in the
most extreme ways. A Ruth Rendell adaptation, this is a heady tale of
amour fatale, carried along by the charismatic performances of Magimel
and Smet.
Here (and above) is the trailer.
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