I ran into Manohla last night at the Rick Hertzberg/John Powers confab and told her that, seeing as she's just penned the beiggest rave of hsi career, she should be expecting a call from Mr.Mapother. He has made it known that he is looking to marry once again and Manohla's an enormous improvement on Penelope -- and veen Nicole.

Hopefully she'll get a call from her psychotherapist. Kevin must have forgotton to share this oddity:

"Collateral" is very much the product of a distinct vision, one as eager to push technological limits (the film was shot with the most advanced video cameras) as to upend the usual studio white-hero/black-villain formula. For the director, such casting isn't a sop to political correctness, but a reflection of his city's demographics.

The usual studio white-hero/black-villain formula???
To tne New York Times, thanks for taking away our garbage. Pauline Kael laughs at you from the grave.

"Upend the usual white hero/black villain formula"? What era of film history is Dargis referencing here? Has she been watching Fred Williamson movies? A little "Black Ceasar", anyone?

And, for the record, Mann's films have always been cast with racial diversity in mind. The racially mixed cast of his other L.A. epic, "Heat", is a good case in point.

Well, I can't say I'll miss her riveting insights. Will the NYTimes give her bandwidth so she can explain what she means? And would she become Manhola Mapother?

How that got past the editors, I have no idea, since it's only INSANE!

I don't want to ovreruse a theme but, regarding the NYT "stealing" Ms. Dargis from the LAT...

NEW YORK TIMES GOT PUNK'ED!!!

I loved the remark about "the most advanced video cameras," as if she were writing for Nickelodeon magazine.
We shall presume that she meant "Hi Def Digital Video," and it's been around for a while now, so it can be directly referenced without causing her NYT readers to have to ask their moms what it means.

Collateral was not just shot with ordinary "hi def digital video" equipment, but with a modified Thomson Grass Valley Viper FilmStream camera which happens to be among "the most advanced video cameras." I suspect that Manohla Dargis originally included at least some of that specific information in her review but had it deleted by an editor. As the camera (and some others) had a particular effect on the way Collateral looked, Dargis was entirely correct to keep even the general reference in her review.

Any chance of limiting these comment sections to respondents who can push a story forward?

>>> Any chance of limiting these comment sections to respondents who can push a story forward?

You're asking a lot...

The story is moving along fine, Henry.
This is the story of a valentine from Kevin that went horribly wrong.
Your presumption that her editor made her turn to a remedial descriptiopn seems valid, but what I'd like to know is how she came to believe that black people dominate the "villian" roles in American movies.
I'm sure Morgan Freeman would like to know, since he's recently complained that there aren't enough villian roles given to black actors in American movies.

Got any ideas, Henry? You seem to know a lot about story, and this is your chance to make a contribution!

"Del" is the new "Allen." Same festering anger in his comments. Too much free time. Little value added. Just a matter of time before he blows and reveals his bigot side. Check the IP address, Kevin, see if it's him. Or better, get that registration thing going.

I enjoy Del's posts. Some are pretty funny. Who are you to be censoring the posts of others, you anonymous nitwit?
If you don't like somebody's post, don't read them.
Get a life, or get a blog.

Actually, this sniping at people expressing their opinion brought to mind that one thing blogs are definitely changing is our media "poser structure."
I used to be that journalists were fairly immune to public criticism regarding their day-to-day veracity and competence.
It used to be, if a journalist said something asinine or just plain incorrect, a correction was buried on some lone page, or a letter or to the editor was printed, and that was about all a journalist was going to have to bear.
Now with these blogsites providing commentary on other established media, readers can deconstruct every aspect of a writer's work, making a writer's incompetence a point of focus for days, and the criticisms read across the nation.
Journailsts like Manohla can't hide behind their publisher's skirts anymore when they do something that reveals their lack of expertise in the field they're covering.
Blogsites are good for the NYT. It let's them know what people really think about them, and makes it harder for them to maintain the old arrogant paternal "rally around our idiot" posturing that brought us Jason Blair.

You make some good points. On what blog does "Del" come out of hiding to share his media wisdom? I'll check it out.