Miami Vice: Michael Mann, what the fuck happened? This movie was trying to look so cool in the first one and a half hours that it bored the hell outta me. Colin Farrell sucked, Jamie Foxx was a joke, and the oh so gorgeous Gong Li was a robot. Yes, that's right. She was a fucking robot. She's considered one of the best actresses in the planet but because Mann wanted her to have a Cuban accent so bad, it fucked up her acting. The only good parts to the movie were the final thirty minutes (the part were the action starts). One of the most disappointing movies this year. I heard this film was made for $150 million. Where the fuck did the money go? I didn't see it onscreen.

The Departed: I'll say it right now "Infernal Affairs" is my favorite movie, hands down. So what of the Americanized remake? Okay, I'll say it, I liked the goddamn thing. To be honest, I loved the goddamn fucker. This is what remakes are supposed to be. But why do I still feel disappointed in the film? I felt that the ending was a bit of a copout. This is not the same ending as the original. The original had an extremely dark ending (yes, even darker than this) and the music that starts the credits is OH SO PERFECT in the original.

There are so many scenes here that are even executed more brilliantly than the original but the result is so lackluster. The centerpiece scene in the original (the 10 minute drug trade scene) is horrible in the remake. The scene in the remake had no intensity in it whatsoever. The original ratcheted up the intensity second by second but here it feels hollow. There are some parts of the movie I disliked. I didn't hate these scenes but I DISLIKED them. The scenes I hated were the goddamn stupid love triangle and the really stupid comedic bits.

The twists and turns are RIPPED from the original. If you've seen the original then you already know the twists in the Departed. The problems with the twists in the remake is that they don't contain the emotional wallop. The twist is just there. This again goes earlier that the scenes are executed so brilliantly that they end so poorly.

The acting well, Leo and Matt are no Tony Leung and Andy Lau. NOT EVEN FUCKING CLOSE! Tony Leung played his part to perfection, it was like he had a stillness of a volcano ready to pounce. It was like he had a relaxed anger to his character and a level of sadness that Leo couldn't even manage. Andy Lau played his part so amazingly as the villain in the original that you can't even hate the guy. Here in the remake, Matt is through and through a villain. Leo has a great performance but it never reaches the level that Tony had. You could believe that Tony's character really wanted out of being undercover (in the original, he was undercover for 8 years, remake: 1 year ONLY). You feel that he was at a breaking point in his character. DiCaprio's character never had that sense of being broken. Sure, there are scenes were he keeps on saying that he's panicking, shaking, but I never once felt that he was about to implode. I did like Nicholson's performance but I think his character should have player a lesser role. The story is meant to be for the moles and the moles alone.

I think that Scorsese never got right was the issue of duality. What is the price of leading a double life? The question was answered in the original but the remake barely scratches the surface. The original was all about DUALITY. What would it feel to be acting as somebody you're not? That is the question that was never answered in the Departed.

After all my quibbles, I still think that this is one of the best AMERICAN films of the year. I loved the performances (mostly from Wahlberg, Baldwin, and Sheen), the cinematography, and editing but what was missing was the sense of connection to the main characters, the two moles.