Wednesday

A few words about Tony Scott. I have for some reason and for some time held a prejudice against him and his movies. Perhaps because I always saw him as the lesser brother to Ridley Scott, or perhaps because some of his films are simply bad. Let's look at the evidence: Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, Days of Thunder, The Last Boy Scout, True Romance, Crimson Tide, The Fan, Enemy of the State, Spy Game, Beat the Devil, Man on Fire, Domino, and Deja Vu. Is there a film there that you haven't heard of? It's a string of 20 years of reasonably successful films, but maybe you, like me, didn't realise it was him behind all of those. This, I think, is the problem I have with him. He makes films that fit the mould, that do what they're supposed to do. His films are not outstanding, they don't break any new ground: they're simply good. However, I am more reasonably irritated by his recent style of directing: the very fast cuts and rapid camera motions, the quick zooms and accelerated pans. It's entirely pointless, and serves only as an attempt to make a dull film interesting. Or perhaps I'm annoyed because he stole my idea for deja vu.