After hitting up a cold and foggy Santa Monica yesterday and then dining at Miceli's on Cahuenga for dinner, C and I went to see American Gangster at the Mann Theatres on Hollywood (not inside the cool theatre - that one was playing Fred Claus).
American Gangster is just superb. Kinda made me miss Harlem and Morningside Heights (it was shot in lower Harlem, east of Columbia, rather than up in the 130s where I once lived..., but close enough to my apartment at the 125th Street 1 train stop). Really enjoyed all 2 and a half hours of it. Seamless film-making, with the possible, but barely significant, problem of what happened to Cuba Gooding Jr.'s story line. Who cares? It's a deeply entertaining film and a helluva lot more nuanced and cool than The Departed, which I also loved but thought Leo overacted. Possibly the most together film of the year. Not as artsy and elegant as No Country, but definitely more accessible. Josh Brolin turns in a fine supporting performance, but he's not nearly as scary as he is in Planet Terror. And it's some really fine Oscar-level work from Denzel. Mmm. Denzel. Wear his kind of sunglasses. K?
I fear Ryan won't be nominated this year, what with Josh, Javier, Denzel, Russell (shrug), and George all doing such great work (and it's not even December yet) in far less controversial roles.
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