I watched Collateral today.  I thought Cruise was fine.  I mean his usual asshole, smug self but he wasn't really on autopilot and this was a different Cruise character than the usual.  I mean he was cold yet vulnerable.  As to the last third of the film, I thought it made total sense from a psycholgical POV.  From the beginning of the film, the Foxx character is basically bemoaning his fate.  I kinda got a laugh on the part where Vincent calls him out on his BS (12 years driving a cab "part time").  Well in the second half of the film, Max actually transforms into Vincent and "improvises" a whole lot.  I totally forgot the awesome cameo there by Javier Bardem as the druglord.  I'm pretty sure there's some more stuff on existentialism and lonliness that I totally missed on as well.  Oh I agree with Lofton, Ruffalo's death was awfully convienent.  Almost ruined that wonderful action sequence in the nightclub--I thought that was rather a fun improvisation by Vincent to get past all the obstacles (cops + gangsters).

Oh to end:  No one makes the night time seem as magical as Michael Mann.  It's the same with Thief.  Those neon drenched scenes at night with the rain slicked streets of Chicago are truly beautiful.

I thought Cruise was great in Colleteral because he played against type and did it well.  I did remember not liking the ending that well like polluxm said.

The Killer--if you ever wondered what the fuss about John Woo or Chow Yun Fat was about this is the film to watch. Shootouts, car chases, themes of loyalty, brotherhood are all prevalent here.  Oh John Wick steals from this one, with all the gun action sequences.

The Replacement Killers---zzzzzzz.  Only runs 88 mins but I had trouble finishing this.  The story sucks and just functions to get to the gun battle scenes.  As opposed to the Killer where the gun battles are just a part of the story.  Oh, I have to mention, sometimes when foreign actors have to speak in English some part of their charm is lost.  And it's the case with Chow Yun Fat here.  I also feel the same way about Penelope Cruz, she's just far more interesting in Spanish speaking films.  Oh, one positive:  Mira Sorvino looks hot here.

That's probably why I would have left it.  That's one question most people don't want to answer.  I mean the extremists on both sides probably have their answers ready (and have for some time).  But most moderates ?

Also I don't really think most people know what the "answer" is since you can make a case for either side/answer.

I thought this was too long and I think the book explained it better.  I'd point out that Raul Julia is really good as the lawyer who is trying to get the Ford character off.

Pulp Fiction:  this one never fails to entertain me, to the point where I wonder why I don't watch it more.  On this viewing I discovered that Vincent Vega is kind of an idiot.  You can see him falling in love with the Mia Wallace character (or is it the other way around).  Gives the entire convo earlier about the foot massages different significance.  It's hilarious that her OD'ing on heroin was convienient for him.  Even though it's a cameo, Eric Stolz as Lance is funny as hell.  How did this not win more Oscars?  This is like Samuel Jackson's best performance.  So many memorable lines and scenes.   There's also a certain storyline continuity that if you pay close attention is kind of cool.  The infamous watch was retrieved from a pawn shop in Knoxville,TN.  When Marcellus and Butch unfortuantely end up in Zed's shop, there was a picture of TN on the wall.

A Better Tomorrow II--plot is garbage and nearly ruined the film for me.  The scenes in NYC are pretty uneccesary and tedious.  The only break I'll give John Woo is that the original cut of this was supposed to be 3 hours.  Still the end shootout is very good, so are most of the acting performances.

Three Days of the Condor:  probably my favorite 70's conspiracy film.  I just go back to this one more than say Marathon Man or The Parralax View.  It's also very 70s which doesn't hurt.  From the music to stuff like the old school buses.  A perfect post Watergate film that highlights the distrust that people had in the government.  Also it just works as an "innocent man on the run" film.  I never realized how great Joubert (the Max Van Sydow character) is.  He's DGAF about anything except the money.  And he has an admiration and respect for Joe (Redford character) and how unpredictable he is.  Gives the last conversation they had a different meaning to me.

Oh on Oldboy, another lasting legacy is that all the modern action films kind of rip off that sequence where Oh-Dae Su goes nuts and dispatches like 8 henchmen with only the hammer.  John Wick is basically that (action sequences) + add in some Hong Kong gun play stuff.