Most Valuable Performances: Tom Cruise

The quintessential good guy: Top Gun, Mission Impossible, The Last Samurai, A Few Good Men, I could go on but I'm sure you get the point. That is what made the transformation he undertook in Collateral all the more intriguing. Tom Cruise is a hell of a villain.

"I just shot him. The bullets and the fall killed him." Never were words uttered by a contract killer offered so smoothly. Cruise doesn't look radically altered in this film, but he might as well be an entirely different human being. Vincent's eyes say a lot more about the man than the film ever mentions. He is cool, calm, collected and charismatic. While he is holding Max (Jamie Foxx) hostage he is helping him retake his life before missed opportunities do him in for good.

Sleight of hand is Vincent's trade, he kills with the best and feels no remorse for the deed. It makes it that much more interesting when he scolds Vincent for not buying his mother flowers at the hospital, "She carried you in her womb for nine months."

A nihilist whose final offering echoes the sentiments of life at the beginning of Mann's best effort of the decade. In a city that is so disconnected who will notice the dead man circling the Los Angeles subway system?

The Best of the Decade

Over the last ten years, the cinema has given us a great deal to be thankful for: a rebirth of the Batman franchise, a series of examinations of what it means to live in this particular decade, and a mass of character studies whether they be animated or popcorn thrillers. As much as I have enjoyed the offerings, a list must be culled together for the end of the year. Except this year is different, this year ten films must be selected from hundreds. Below are some of the best of the aughts. Enjoy! 10) There Will Be Blood Paul Thomas Anderson's magnum opus, a scathing look at extremism in America and the evils of greed and profiteering from religion. It also features the best performance of the decade with Daniel Day-Lewis as oil-man Daniel Plainview. 9) Up A beautiful tale that entrances all ages, Up managed to captivate children and tell a tale that adults cherish as well. 8) The Dark Knight Maybe just a comic book film, but it is the best comic book film

Paprika vs. Inception

Months before Inception hit the theaters forums were alive with rumors that Christopher Nolan either accidentally or intentionally stole some details from another film, the Japanese anime Paprika. The biggest point of comparison for some bloggers and forum runners was the fact that both of the films featured a device that allowed a person, or people, to travel into another’s dreams and delve into their subconscious. Minor points of comparison include scenes in Paprika where the character Paprika breaks through a mirrored wall by holding her hand to it, as well as a scene where a police detective falls his way down a hallway. Claims have been made that Inception abounds with imagery similar to or exactly like the anime movie, but with the recent release of the film on DVD and Blu-Ray, and with Paprika available for several years now, an examination of the two plots can be made more fully. Let us begin with the primary claim— Inception stole the idea of a dream

Armond White's Top Ten Films on Flickchart

Armond White is film criticism’s most famous contrarian. At one moment he writes a review declaring Toy Story 3 to be the most obscene excuse for toy commercials he has ever watched, and then two weeks later types out a glowing review of Resident Evil: Afterlife . He is of split-mind for sure. But what does his Flickchart look like? Read the rest at Flickchart !

Never Mind Pop Film

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