Thanks for the link to the Salon review, Noah. I was beginning to think that my love for 25th Hour was one of those accidental things that happens when you see a movie at a point in your life where you're abnormally receptive to what it has to say; I might cite Chungking Express and Blue Velvet as other examples, or even High Fidelity. Other people may love these movies, in other words, but what sets them apart from other movies in your imagination is something that you bring to them yourself. Anyway, that Salon article comes very close to expressing how I feel about this movie, so it's nice to know that there's enough magic there for anyone to see.

(Amazing how rich that movie is, without even seeming to try. The Salon article focuses, with good reason, on the 9/11 angle, but it's also incredible how much interesting stuff is going on at the edges of the frame. The image from 25th Hour that sticks with me the most is that moment in the nightclub when Philip Seymour Hoffman kisses Anna Paquin, turns, runs from the room, and then literally glides down the stairs. It's just a throwaway moment, but it's perfect. 25th Hour is full of moments like that; not since Chungking Express and Fallen Angels have I seen a film where the director seemed to think in movies so naturally. And this is Spike Lee we're talking about! That's something that his many detractors would do well to remember: the man knows how to direct.)