We watched 3 movies last weekend. We’re trying to catch up on the Hollywood releases before the TIFF starts.

• The Manchurian Candidate(imdb | rotten tomatoes | metacritic) was excellent. Really, really, really good. First of all, I don’t think Liev Schreiber or Meryl Streep could be anything less than amazing even if they worked at it. Secondly, Denzel was better than I thought he’d be; he gets on my nerves sometimes, but he was good in this. And the way Demme layered in the news reports, seeping into the foreground through the ears while the eyes focused on Denzel’s seemingly paranoid delusions, or Streep’s evil fucking grin. The movie managed to quietly bloody both Bush and Kerry. Tremendous. I need to see the original, just for comparison. Go see it. Now.
• Collateral (imdb | rotten tomatoes | metacritic) was almost as good. I’m a Michael Mann fan, so there was no way I’d miss this. And who’d have thunk it? Jamie Foxx impressed me! Tom Cruise surprised me! I actually found Jada Pinkett-Smith hot! Mark Ruffalo wasn’t in it enough! OK, so that’s a criticism, but I can’t have everything my way, can I? No. So…the conversation between Tom & Jamie was great, the little field trips they took were equally snappy. Maybe it was the Stockholm Syndrome talking, but they seemed so close, connected at times. Go see it. Now.
• Evil Dead (imdb | rotten tomatoes) was…uhhhh…a classic, I guess. Like any movie made in 1982 that’s dubbed a “classic”, it seems ridiculous today. But I can at least appreciate how scary it must’ve been for people 22 years ago. Or maybe it was just as campy back then…in which case it was genius. Go rent it. Later tonight.