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Movie News
Michael Mann chats with Capone about crime, punishment and PUBLIC ENEMIES!!!
Hey folks. Capone in Chicago here.
It's one thing to meet a filmmaker who you consider a hero, it's quite another thing to meet one whose films directly influenced major decisions in your life. Growing up on the east coast in the mid-1980s, I rented two films that were made a few years before I watched them and made a huge impact on my decision to move to Chicago. The two movies--John Landis' THE BLUES BROTHERS and Michael Mann's THIEF--came out within a year of each other, and they painted the Windy City as a comedy and music capital, as well as a place where lots of badass stuff occurs. So the decision was essentially made for me. During my freshman year at Northwestern, my friends and I became addicted to the short-lived, Chicago-based TV series "Crime Story," starring Dennis Farina and Stephen Lang, and created by Mann, a Chicago native. Watching that show about Chicago detectives in the early 1960s attempting to bust up organized crime solidified my decision to move here.
I honestly never thought I'd get a shot at interviewing Michael Mann, especially not about a film shot in and around Chicago. I could easily fill two hours or more discussing with Mann his great accomplishments, including the hard-to-find THE KEEP, MANHUNTER (better known as the first film to feature Hannibal Lecter), THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, HEAT, THE INSIDER, ALI, COLLATERAL, and 2006's MIAMI VICE, based on the TV show Mann co-created. I firmly believe PUBLIC ENEMIES is his best film since HEAT and possibly the best film he's ever made. It in no way attempts to be a Depression-era HEAT. While the gunplay is fast and dirty, it's what happens in between the shootouts and bank robberies that I found most absorbing. I'll have my review for you in a couple of days.
Mann and I were given 15 minutes to talk, and considering the unbelievable number of (mostly TV) press brought in from literally all over the world to interview Mann (as well as Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, and Marion Cotillard, all in Chicago recently for the PUBLIC ENEMIES world premiere) a couple weekends ago, I thought that was pretty generous. But once we got to talking, Mann brushed off a couple of attempts to break up our conversation, and we ended up chatting to closer to 30 minutes. But the biggest compliment Mann paid me and AICN readers was stopping by our PUBLIC ENEMIES screening the day after the premiere to introduce the first public screening of the film as a surprise to the audience. He talked about the charge he got from shooting in Chicago, specifically in some of the neighborhoods where both he and his mother grew up, and about the thrill he got being about to dress up the buildings around the Biograph Theatre for the film's climactic moments.
Anyway, here's Michael Mann, who has created one of the summer's best films, and is a modern master of staging action sequences and pulling great, nomination-worthy performances from his players. I also came to realize as he was filling my ears with background and details about the people and places in PUBLIC ENEMIES that this based-in-fact period work Mann has made is really just living, breathing book report to him. The amount of research that he personally conducts for a film like this is overwhelming. My suggestion might actually be to see the film first and then read this interview. I don't think there are any spoilers contained in our talk, but some of the details Mann talks about are worthy of a great DVD commentary--and I'm sure one is forthcoming. Of course, our first discussion point has nothing to do with this or any other movie, and it's Mann who initiates the topic. Anyway, enjoy my talk with the great Michael Mann…
Michael Mann: What's a great restaurant in town?
Capone: That's a loaded question. Shouldn't you know this. I guess it depends on what neighborhood?
MM: I always go to Blackbird.
Capone: That's a good one. What neighborhood? Around here?
MM: I don't care. Yeah, around here.
Capone: Well, you've got about 50 different steak houses.
MM: What's the best steak house?
Capone: I'd say Gibson's is still the best.
MM: Is that right?
[Publicist in the room]: Some of us went there last night.
Capone: Yeah, it's terrific.
First of all, thank you in advance for coming tonight. I can't tell you how excited I am and how excited the audience is going be when they find out you're there.
MM: Not a problem. I'm thrilled to do it.
What is it about that interaction, the interplay between the criminal and the law enforcement agent that you like so much, because, really, a lot of your movies are about that interplay. It's not so much about the good guy or the bad guy. It's about the way that they maneuver around each other.
MM: Sometimes. I may dispute you on that a little bit. This one, I was really interested in what was going on in the internal world of John Dillinger. That's where this began. This began, like, What is this man thinking? What's his experience of life? What has he emerged or exploded on the landscape after 10 years in that hell hole in Indiana, which we finally unearthed in preproduction in a Bureau of Prison's report…There was a big scandal, how harsh that environment was.
And, what's he thinking, experiencing, starting at the end at the Biograph, looking at MANHATTAN MELODRAMA, watching Clark Gable, who's character in that was partially influenced by John Dillinger, because John Dillinger is the second-most recognized man in the United States after FDR, at the time…Gets more headlines--we were counting them--than Obama was getting during the primaries.
Capone: [Laughs] That's something!
MM: And, there's only two channels, of all media, so you get the whole country, if you're dominating the radio and dominating the Movietone News, you've got everybody. It's like if we had one network in the United States, and you're on CNN, it's CNN you're on.
And, Gable is saying things to him like, "Don't rot in the prison. Die the way you live, all of a sudden. Living any other way doesn't mean a thing." And, everybody else he knows is already dead, and he's the last of his kind, in a way. And, what is he thinking? What's he feeling about [Dillinger's girlfriend] Billie [Frechette]? What's his life been? This invincible spirit, this tough, tough, tough-minded guy…How do you get tough-minded and positive in a way that he seemed to have been?
To try and locate an audience within that experience, that's really what drove me and informed everything. So, it was less about Dillinger versus [FBI agent Melvin] Purvis, in a way, than it was about, you know, Dillinger knowing Dillinger, understanding Dillinger. And, beginning with something that mystified me at the very beginning of the process, which was that he had no concept…not the rejection of a future, no idea to even think about the future. I mean, here this guy could plan his robberies with precise detail, I mean, classical military textbook small-unit combat…
Capone: Smart guy.
MM: Smart guy, yeah. Tremendous op-sec, operational security. When Russell Clark starts getting drunk and shooting his mouth off, they kick him out of the gang and tell him he has 24 hours, or they'll shoot him dead. He's got 24 hours to leave Chicago, or they'll kill him. And, even when they got headlines, their heads don't get big. They still plan with discipline. And yet, they can't plan next Thursday.
Capone: And, Billie mentions that, too. She says that to him, doesn't she? She says to him, "You can't think past next week."
MM: It's seeded in there. He says, [Alvin] Karpis [played by Giovanni Ribisi] says in the very beginning, he says, "This is the kind of score you go away after?" And, Dillinger says, "Where are you going to go?" And, Karpis says, "I don't know. I like Varadero Beach [in Cuba], what about you?" And, he says, "No plans." And, Karpis says, "Well, you oughta, 'cause what we're doing it today ain't gonna to last forever." And, Dillinger says, "We're having too good a time today to worry about tomorrow." And, that's it.
And then, Billie says, "So, all you ever think about is…You don't give yourself thought for tomorrow." And, he says, "We're invincible, we're invincible." And, he is, except when the accidents befall you, like a fire in a hotel in Tucson.
The movie is more about, to me, I mean, sure on a plot level Purvis is pursuing Dillinger. On a story level, it has to be about Dillinger pursuing the answers to your life. And, Purvis is a man who's put himself in a state of contradiction internally, because he's doing stuff that goes against his native values.
The reason it has to be that is because…This is a very conscious decision. I figured out early how the story had to tell itself. The reason it had to be that was because there's no possible ending to this drama, if you just deal with the fact, 'cause everybody knows, Will he or won't he escape The Biograph? No! [laughs]
Capone: That's pretty well documented, yeah.
MM: So, not only is that less interesting to me, because then I'm just doing a portrait of a man or a story. And, you or the audience is a mere observer. That doesn't excite me. What's challenging to me is if I can…The challenge is to bring the audience into…locate them internally, as much as I can, as much as I'm able to, in the experience of being Dillinger, what he's thinking, what he's feeling, how he thought, and being him, and being Purvis, being Billie, inside that relationship. And having a "You Are There," experience, you know, that old show, where this is as complex and detailed as I could make it, so that you feel, hopefully, that you're in it. That's what I try to do in this piece of work, to feel that you're there. And, this has the same kind of detail that makes it feel current, present [points to a nearby desk] like the mess on that desktop there, or what that looks like. It has that kind of detail.
Capone: At the same time, though, I can't recall a film that has shown us the very technical, procedural ways that the G-men operated in those days. It's hard to make guys hanging out a phone switchboard exciting.
MM: If you do the work, do the research, you find it was revolutionary. In its time, it was revolutionary. I mean, think about it: Commercial air travel is only four years old in 1933. And, [FBI Director J. Edgar] Hoover's flying people every place. He's chartering airplanes. And, they're using long-distance telephones.
And, in an America the center of which is like the Wild West, I hold up a bank in Wisconsin, I get across the state line, I'm home free. No guy with a badge is going to have authority to chase me over the state line. And, local police are either ill-equipped, incompetent, or corrupt, for the most part. And, I could decide that I'm just going to drive out of Illinois and go spend Christmas in…"Where do you guys want to spend Christmas?" "Out by Reno." And, just kick back in Reno like we're on another planet.
So, it was that ex-urban, that decentralized, and Hoover…as much as he is for me somewhat of a loathsome figure for his politics and megalomania, you know, it's false history to deny, to not acknowledge that what he innovated was stunning, a stunning accomplishment, for the wrong ends to me, but a stunning accomplishment. The data gathering in a central place, the creation of a network, and then the disseminating of it for triangulation, to have an agent to find out, use a long-distance telephone to call a manufacturer in St. Louis, and find out every single store in America that sold coat, and have an agent show up at every single store in America with a picture of Billie Frechette. Every guy's got that same picture and says, "Did this woman come in your store?" And, if someone in Hot Springs, Arkansas, says, "Yeah, she did come in the store, and she bought that hat." And, that means that they're being harbored there, and then you'll have an agent there. You'll put an agent there to keep an eye on that place for the next four months. That was unheard of.
It's one thing to pull that off in England, because he modeled a lot of stuff on Scotland Yard, with that small land mass. It's a whole other thing to do it in the United States.
Capone: Hoover's declaration of a "war on crime" and the use of torture to get information from certain people certainly has some interesting modern parallels on the "war on terror."
MM: Or, it's a trope. And when, either for good reasons or bad reasons, I mean, the asymmetric warfare, which didn't exist then at all, has made conventional methods…I don't care how good you are with asymmetric warfare. Somebody with a couple RPGs and AK47s could do what you used to have to have tank battalions do, in terms of affecting outcome. That's why the nuclear threat from North Korea is such a potent tool, because before, if you didn't have a nuclear threat, you could never afford to have all the tank columns.
But, when Hoover conventionally…First of all, he thought, I'll generate the notion of Public Enemy #1, I'll invent this. My first Public Enemy #1 will be John Dillinger, big headlines, and that's going to leap me right over any of the obstacles I have to becoming the federal law enforcement agency, because if you're Hoover, his big rival is Treasury, 'cause Treasury was going to be that, because they just put away Capone. So, that's where this thought had come from.
He got lucky in that the first Attorney General under FDR, whose name I'm blanking on, marries…A guy in his 60s, he marries some 27-year-old Cuban girl. They have their wedding in Miami. He takes the train, his honeymoon is a train ride back to Washington. Whatever athletic sex he wanted, I guess he got. He dies of a heart attack. He couldn't stand Hoover. He's replaced by Cunningham, who liked Hoover, so Hoover had a shot. So, he invented it, the Public Enemy thing, to generate headlines. The only problem is that John Dillinger had something to say about it.
Capone: But this whole idea of a war…it seems like the way you shot some of the gun play is very much like a war film, and maybe, even the way wars were being fought at the time, with these small skirmishes, very loud, very quick in and out, and then, you grab up your wounded and your dead, and you retreat for a little while to come back however many weeks or months later. Those exchanges did feel like war, I mean, they felt like quick battles.
MM: I tried to do, I tried to generate what…First of all, we were standing in…I was preproduction location scouting, in the real Little Bohemia. All the bullet holes are still in the wall. They kept them there for tourist reasons. Bullet holes in the glass, and you start to realize the intensity of it. And, how long did it last, you know?
And, if you're with Dillinger's group, Baby Face Nelson…These are real gun fighters. These guys are real trigger time. There's nothing goofy about it. I mean, they know they have to get out as fast as you can. To assault, push the other guys, lay down rounds, put the other guys down, get them to go to cover, and suppress their fire so that you can get out. The idea isn't--like in that bank robbery in Northridge--to just stand there, because the assets are just going to continue to come in.
Capone: Even the terms you're using now-assault, laying down fire--are war terminology.
MM: Well, for good reason, because Dillinger was mentored…Dillinger went to "graduate school" in the Indiana State Penitentiary, rehearsing and mentally planning and being mentored by Walter Dietrich. Walter Dietrich was mentored by a man named Herbert K. Lamb, from whence the expression 'on the lamb' came to us. Herbert K. Lamb had been in the Prussian military, came back to the United States, and designed bank robbery as a small-unit military combat. He did research. He did tactics. He had logistics. You had cache, three escape routes--not one--but two or three. He had caches of gasoline and medical kits with quarter- and half-grain vials of morphine in it. And, everything was planned. You knew who had the key. You did a surveillance, you did all this stuff. Everybody had to have their job. So, it was totally militarized.
Capone: Wow. I noticed, maybe just because I was sitting closer to the screen than I usually do…
MM: That's bad in this move. [laughs]
Capone:…You have reinvented the close-up with this movie. I mean, it is really close up sometimes.
MM: You have to take Dramamine to see it that close.
Capone: It took me a while to get used to it, but I'm going to see it again tonight at a safer distance, I think. But, I mean, you can see pores in the skin. That's incredible. What were you thinking by doing that with this? Was that another way of getting inside the characters?
MM: Well, is that what you felt? 'Cause that would be nice.
Capone: Certainly with Dillinger, yes.
MM: Well, even if you look at…to roll both your questions in the same answer. If you watch every scene…and, by the way, there's a pretty good "Making of…" documentary that just came on HBO last night.
Capone: I'll look for it. Okay.
MM: It's called "The Making of John Dillinger," and there's some nice stuff in it about exactly this point. But, if you watch the first bank robbery. I mean, I'm setting it up to show "this is how he was supposed to do it," okay? The Sioux Falls robbery at the very end with Baby-Face Nelson. This is NOT how it's supposed to be, but he's desperate, as he says. So, the beginning was supposed to be how he was supposed to do it.
So, you've got the get-away driver Red, who is fearless. He's not going to skip. You've got the outside man controlling everything on the street, Homer Van Meter. You've got the lobby man, Pete Pierpont, who's going to take over and dominate the space and protect one guy, [Charles] Makley, who's stripping the cash from the tellers, while Dillinger is taking the manager, who we know has the key, and taking him to the vault. So, Dillinger is the vault man.
Each guy has his job. Dillinger will not let his attention drift from that bank manager for one iota, because he has total confidence that Pete Pierpont will kill anything in that lobby that's a threat. And, Makley will strip the cash from these tellers, 'cause he knows that Dillinger is getting all the money in the vault. And, Pete Pierpont will keep the lobby secure, and Homer is going to keep the outside secure. So, these guys--talk about cold-blooded--you know, they hear that BAR [alarm] go off and "Come on, come on. Come here, kid, let's go for a ride." They're just that certain of what they're doing.
And, that is that Herbert K. Lamb method of bank robbery. He rode with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. And, he got killed by accident after a 20-year career as a bank robber. Read the Bryan Burrough book ["Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34"]. It's all in there.
So, with Homer, outside the bank, and he sees that police car drive up. There's a close-up--it's something you can only do in hi-def--I've got the lens right here, and you'll just see the focus shift to right to the stubble, and then I'm heightening that and color timing by raising the contrast just when we get there. So, you really feel you've gone right into Homer, and you can feel his awareness just climb up. There's no nervousness, there's nothing. But, you see he has totally taken in the arrival of the cops outside.
And so, I look for those moments. I look for where or how to bring the audience into the moment, to reveal what somebody's thinking and what they're feeling, and where it feels like you're inside the experience. Not looking at it, with an actor performing it, but have an actor live it, and you as audience, if I could bring the audience inside to experience. It became critical in THE INSIDER, because the ambition was to make a film that was as suspenseful as I knew, and dramatic as I knew those lives really were. And, it's all talking heads, but the devastation, the potential devastation to [Jeffrey] Wigand and Lowell Bergman was total annihilation, personal annihilation, suicide--all that was in the cards for these guys. And, yet, it's all just people talking. So, that kind of began an exploration into how I could bring you into experience in as internal a way as I could.
Capone: Yeah, you can't get much more internal than feeling like you're on their skin.
MM: [laughs] That's what happens when you sit in row three.
Capone: It was row two actually, but that's alright.
MM: That's worse. Sit in the middle of the theater tonight.
Capone. It was good to Stephen Lang back on the big screen. I don't feel like I've seen him in a while. I love him. I used to see him in plays all the time, but I remember him going back to MANHUNTER. It was like a little MANHUNTER reunion last night with William Petersen and Dennis Farina in the audience last night.
MM: I didn't think about it that way, 'cause those guys are my pals, but you're right. There was another interesting reunion going on there last night.
Capone: Really?
MM: When you see the HBO thing, there's a guy there named Jerry Scalise, who was a technical adviser. And, Scalise had been a Chicago thief, stole the Marlborough Diamond out of London, and he was my technical consultant, a very, very sensitive, smart, intelligent guy. I could ask what--"Talk about romance in your life. What's the most anxiety-ridden stage of a score? Where is the high? Where's the camaraderie? What are you feeling about your guys?" And, he'd have a very intelligent, sensitive, personal kind of answer to your questions. And, you look him up in Wikipedia---and he's in the credits—and, he's also interviewed in this HBO thing.
And so, he was there, and his partner Artie Rachel was there. And, Dennis Farina was there, and Nick Nickeas [featured in THIEF and "Crime Story"] was there, and all these guys. Nick Nickeas and Dennis Farina, when I first met them--you know, this goes back to the early 80s--they were these tough, tough, tough Chicago cops in the old CIU. Yeah, funny, funny guys, but hard as nails, you know? So, to wind up together about 20 years later…
Capone: That must have been pretty cool for Farina last night to see those guys.
MM: Especially Dennis.
Capone: I stumbled upon the Lincoln Avenue [where the Biograph Theater is located] shooting while you were here last year. What was it like for you, just seeing it like that?
MM: There were some moments when I'd drive to the set, and the sun was going down, and I'd get out of the car, right at Lincoln by Fullerton, past the police barricade. And, I'd walk on the set, and you'd kind of…you'd raise your head up, and as you look on both sides of the street--the National Tea sign. It was like some memory of when I was four years old on the street car with my grandmother going some place down…'cause we used to live on North Avenue and Kedzie, going some place downtown.
Capone: I never saw it at night. I only saw it during the day.
MM: Oh, at night, it looked beautiful. It was designed for night, because it only takes place at night. It wasn't designed for daylight. Yeah, I just remembered these things. I remember being a kid, and I must have been not more than four years old and staying at my grandparents--they lived on Oakley and Potomac, east of Humboldt Park--and I remember being in bed, and they had high ceilings, you know? And, I remember seeing, every time a car went by, the shadow of the tree in front of this apartment would move across the ceiling.
And, that's because the street lighting was so dim, and it was specific. It was for a certain area. If the street light wasn't there, there was no light. There was none of this sodium vapor to diffuse in the air. And so, the world looked quite different. And, we duplicated that in the lighting. So, you got these disconnected, disassociated memories that come kind of flooding back.
Capone: I'll look for that tonight, because I think I did sort of notice it last night in that sequence: the street is either lit up, or it's pitch black.
MM: Exactly. It falls off, yeah. And, we couldn't figure out…We saw the picture. We kept looking at the period photography of the front of the Biograph. And, we saw this intense light source hitting us, and we couldn't figure out what that was. And, it was within 20 minutes of Dillinger being shot, and it couldn't have been a carbon arc. It took a long time to get a carbon arc with a generator and everything else out there. Now, how did "Movietone" newsreel shoot their news? And, that's when we discovered, from another angle, we found, because it was much more obscure, we saw a guy with a flare. And, that's when we realized that's what they were using.
Capone: Oh, there are a couple of scenes where we see a guy with a flare lighting a night shoot.
MM: They had magnesium flares that lasted for about two minutes, and that's how they would shoot, that's how they would light…you know, because the ASA back then on that stuff had to be, like, six or seven. I mean, that's nothing. So, that's how we figured out that's how they shot newsreels--those guys holding up flares. That's why we did that, you know, at the landing.
Capone: Yeah. I forgot to ask: What did your Mom think of the film [Mann had announced that his very elderly mother was at the theater at the world premiere]? You said she was there.
MM: She, likes the movie; she likes it a lot. I mean, it takes place in my metaphoric neighborhood. It takes place in her literal neighborhood. She lived right around that whole area for her whole life on the near North side, near Northwest side, off of Wells Street, when she was a kid. She was 17 in 1933.
And also, my father passed away a long time ago. My father, parents both--they were part of a tough generation that lived through the heart of the Depression, they lived through the Second World War.
Capone: In college, my friends and I were obsessed with "Crime Story." We loved that show. The first season was the Chicago year. When it moved to Vegas, we still watched it, but I had just moved here when that started up, and it just made me feel like I was in the coolest city I was ever going to live in.
MM: Yeah, I love that show.
Capone: And, honestly, THIEF was maybe the first or second film I ever saw shot in Chicago.
MM: That's because Mayor Daley's father was not film friendly.
Capone: Wow. I didn't know that. How interesting.
MM: Oh, yeah. No, no, no, he didn't like sex, bad language. You couldn't get a film permit, so people stayed away from here. But as soon as Daley died, my friend John Landis was here like a shot.
Capone: I was just going to say: BLUES BROTHERS and THIEF were the two…
MM: And then, we were on the tail of BLUES BROTHERS.
Capone: Yeah, one after the other. That's right.
MM: John Belushi was roaming around our sets thinking he was still shooting BLUES BROTHERS. [laughs]
Capone: That's a story I have not heard about him. Well, someone is probably going to kill me if I go much longer with you. We'll see you tonight. Thanks for taking so much time to talk.
MM: You're very welcome. Thanks.
-- Capone
Readers Talkbackcomments powered by Disqus
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June 29, 2009, 10:14 a.m. CST
Mann is wildly overrated
by Stifler's Mom
and Public Enemies doesnt look very good. Looks WAY too digital for a period film.
June 29, 2009, 10:19 a.m. CST
one concession
by Stifler's Mom
Heat is pretty damn good.
June 29, 2009, 10:23 a.m. CST
48 hours to go!
by Stuntcock Mike
Can't wait.
June 29, 2009, 10:29 a.m. CST
We need a Thief DVD that isn't a disgrace
by Samuel Fulmer
How about the original cut (that doesn't have slow-mo footage sped up to jerky silent movie proportions) and a picture that doesn't look like a 5th generation VHS dub.
June 29, 2009, 10:33 a.m. CST
Mann kicks ass
by Kief_Ledger
He really knows his shit, doesn't he?
June 29, 2009, 10:33 a.m. CST
Heat is one of the greatest films ever made
by Kief_Ledger
in my opinion
June 29, 2009, 10:35 a.m. CST
Needs more GIANT PIG
by GIANT_PIG
June 29, 2009, 10:36 a.m. CST
Do The Previous Films Not Exist?
by Aquatarkusman
The ones with Laurence Tierney and Warren Oates as the leads?
June 29, 2009, 10:40 a.m. CST
Only a poster with a name like Stifler's Mom
by kwisatzhaderach
would think Michael Mann was overrated.
June 29, 2009, 10:41 a.m. CST
Cool interview Capone
by kwisatzhaderach
Don't suppose you got time to ask Mann about a potential release of 'The Keep' on DVD?
June 29, 2009, 10:42 a.m. CST
P.S. Are There No Homely Actors in Hollywood?
by Aquatarkusman
Crudup as Hoover may be inspired casting, but Hoover, even in the 30s, looked like a lawn gnome. http://www.dillingermuseum.com/purvis.html
June 29, 2009, 10:42 a.m. CST
If 'Public Enemies' is better than 'The Insider'
by kwisatzhaderach
then we're really in for a treat.
June 29, 2009, 10:45 a.m. CST
IRON MAN 2 Spoiler! HERE http://tinyurl.com/cpb87z
by Stanbee54321
June 29, 2009, 10:49 a.m. CST
The Insider is one of the best-acted, most engaging
by CreasyBear
movies I've ever seen. The pacing and directorial choices in that movie are amazing. But when Mann in this interview delved into the meticulous intricacies of his characters and how he would tell the story, I couldn't help but remember Miami Vice. Who directed that boring, laughable wreck?
June 29, 2009, 10:49 a.m. CST
M.Mann is my favorite director, LOTM & Heat especially
by Stormwatcher
I even love Miami Vice. That was my favorite show growing up in the 80's and I wanted so bad for the movie not to be like Dukes of Hazzard or Starky & Hutch, I wanted a real Miami Vice in modern time, and he gave us that. And being the huge fan of the show that I am it was 100% faithful, underboss dies, big boss escapes, Crockett getting his dick in the way of the job, Tubbs given little to do. Great music, I mean, great, great, music in that flick but I am an apologist, Last of th Mohicans and Heat are really my two favorites. Such great movies. Thank you Micheal!
June 29, 2009, 10:51 a.m. CST
The best film of '09 I've seen so far
by Fuckles
I caught a screening of it last Thursday. I thought it was Mann's mostly tautly paced film since "Manhunter" and Depp's best performance since "Fear & Loathing." What I expected was another Mann crime film (no complaints here), but what I got was old-fashioned gangster-pic and an evolution for Mann as a filmmaker. Don't toss this away because of the Viper cinematography - see it on the big screen! It plays differently - trust me! Personally, I thought it looked gorgeous and in scenes when Spinotti would push the gain on the aperture and create a very grainy image, it thought it added tension to the scene. What I was surprised most by the film were the comedic moments. Where Mann's previous films had humor that came from the characters' macho posturing (and that's not a slight on Mann), this film had actual comedic moments that work very well (i.e. the first movie theatre scene - "Look to the left....look to the right.") And, of course, the shoot-outs are fucking awesome!!! The film is peppered with tons of quality characters actors in the background (Bill Camp is awesome as Nitti and I didn't even recognize Stephen Dorff) and other recognizable faces as well (Emilie de Raven is in it and she doesn't even have a line). And, once again, Cotillard (who blew my mind in "La Vie En Rose") delivers a strong performance that really nails the audience by the end. All of this builds to a finale that goes beyond narrative structure and becomes a comparison piece about what the "gangster picture" means today in comparison to what it meant during Hollywood's Golden Age (you'll know the scene when you see it). I know I'm gushing, but fuck it, I'm not a critic. I love movies. And I LOVED this movie. I highly recommend "Public Enemies." Mann knocked this one out of the park and I pray that this is recognized come Oscar time. And - on a side note, props to Samuel Fulmer - YES, the world needs a better "Thief" DVD. The ghosting issues with that "remastered" transfer is a total disgrace.
June 29, 2009, 10:59 a.m. CST
Mann's comments
by earl of sandwich
I've seen the movie, and it's funny to read Mann's comments about getting inside Dillinger's head. About the only complaint I have about the movie is that I wasn't as engaged with the characters as I was expecting to be. It's not like Heat, where before you know it you're 45 minutes into the film and you are caring for not only the principles (on both sides of the law) but their wifes & girlfriends just as much. I just never felt that connected to the characters. I was totally engaged in the movie, I just wasn't really feeling it for anyone person over another. For Mann's fans though, Public Enemies IS great. Good solid pacing, amazing camera work, good to great performances (Cotillard is particularilly great in the last half). But I think a lot of people are gonna walk out of the theatre being reminded of Miam Vice, and for most people that's not a good thing.
June 29, 2009, 11:02 a.m. CST
Puvis and Johnny.
by Mr Soze
They never really meet until the end.
June 29, 2009, 11:22 a.m. CST
re: Earl of Sandwich
by Touche_Douche
I am a big fan of SOME of Mann's movies and Miami Vice is not one of them. Is it really close to that style? I'll be bummed if it is. I would prefer Heat/LOTM Mann myself.
June 29, 2009, 11:27 a.m. CST
Heat= 170 min. movie that feels like 90 min.
by Kief_Ledger
I watched it the other night in preparation for Public Enemies, and that movie flies by. It has great pace to it and flows beautifully. Very excited for Public Enemies, and Miami Vice isn't a bad movie.
June 29, 2009, 11:29 a.m. CST
CAPONE can we get an interview with Stephen Lang please!!
by standundermyumbrella
He's only one of the leads in the biggest geek movie of the year you know!
June 29, 2009, 11:41 a.m. CST
Mann's Movies
by snaps_provolone
I've seen Heat, parts of The Insider, Ali, Collateral & Miami Vice. The man (no pun intended) does great work. He definitely tackles the same themes a lot (crime, cop vs. robber, set against cities, the forbidden love interest, etc.) but he does them well. Collateral is in my top 10 of the decade, I love that movie. It's not perfect, but it's great. Miami Vice sucked, though. Way too serious (mojitos make me laugh now), and all over the place). Heat, however, was also great. Regarding Public Enemies, I can't wait. I've lived in Chicago my whole life, and I know they filmed a ton of it here last summer. So seeing Mann tackle Chicago in the 30s is going to be awesome.
June 29, 2009, 11:44 a.m. CST
Heat is one of my favorite movies
by richievanderlow
.. and I can't wait for public enemies.. Mann is at his best with these kind of movies.
June 29, 2009, 11:48 a.m. CST
since nolan and CHRISTIAN BALE don't do commentary
by ironic_name
I'd like mann's of the dark knight.
June 29, 2009, 11:51 a.m. CST
by TheNewDirector
absolutely my fav. film of all time, it's just a perfect movie in every aspect, characters, sub-characters, dialogue, tension, music, and of course the greatest set piece in film history, the bank heist and aftermath, cannot wait for P.E.
June 29, 2009, 11:56 a.m. CST
Crime Story Movie
by Samuel Fulmer
One reimaginemakeboot I'd be totally behind, as long as Mann directs of course.
June 29, 2009, 11:57 a.m. CST
Michael Mann is widly underrated!
by Evangelion217
A master of his craft, and one of the greatest American filmmakers of the last 30 years.
June 29, 2009, 12:09 p.m. CST
by earl of sandwich
I make the comparison to Miami Vice mainly because I think people were expecting a ton of pink shirt clad, Jan Hammer backed action. Instead Mann made a MODERN version of the TV show, without the 80's nostalgia that in my opinion would have ruined the movie. In terms of Public Enemies, I have a feeling that the majority of people heading in this weekend will be expecting a Johnny vs Cristian action spectacular, and that's NOT what this movie is. As Fuckles rightly praises, the shoot outs are fucking awesome, but the scenes in between the action have that patience and "feel" that only Mann can bring (ala Miami Vice) and that just rubs some people the wrong way.
June 29, 2009, 12:25 p.m. CST
by dancetothebeatofthelivingdead
Thanks again for the tickets for the screening; one of the best movies of this terrible summer and it definitely IS Mann's best movie since Heat. <br> <br> I did have a couple problems with it though. It really played around with history and the facts too much, anyone who knows a little bit about Dillinger will be put off by some of the decisions here. <br> <br> Also, it didn't FEEL like Chicago. <br> <br> Blues Brothers, Thief, Untouchables, heel, even Dark Knight really felt like Chicago, Public Enemies had some great sets and utilized the Biograph and Union Station well, but a lot of the sets felt like movie sets and seemed a little to antiseptic I guess is the word. <br> <br> It was cool that Mann showed up for the screening and he seemed nice enough. My buddy was an electrician on the set for the entire shoot, and from his stories I gather that Mann is the biggest prick in the world, constantly screaming, "I'm Michael Mann, I shouldn;t have to wait or anything." <br> <br> It's funny that you mentioned Gibson's, I know someone who was working there the night that Depp, Mann, and co. were there recently and Depp left their waiter a $4000 tip on a $4000 bill, pretty cool. <br> <br> All in all, I'm with you, I can't recommend this movie and Moon enough to wash away the taste of this awful fucking summer at the movies, this is a great movie with unfuckingreal shootouts. All the acting is perfect and the sets and wardrobes and action are very realistic.
June 29, 2009, 12:44 p.m. CST
One main question wasn't asked...
by ZoeFan
Why digital and not film? Especially with the setting of this film.
June 29, 2009, 1:19 p.m. CST
Fuckles, HOW DID THE HD LOOK?
by CharlesThomasMathews1978
I'm a big advocate for HD and some people have been bitching about it and, to be honest, I didn't like some of the video streaking that I saw in the trailers. What did you think and how does it look on the big screen?
June 29, 2009, 1:57 p.m. CST
by dancetothebeatofthelivingdead
I'll answer that for ya', The movie was filmed in digital and it is very obvious. Much like everything else filmed in digital everything looked like a movie set instead of looking like a setting. <br> <br> The key is that the movie is so good and so engaging that the presence of digital filming is forgotten. <br> <br>
June 29, 2009, 1:58 p.m. CST
I don't know about this one...
by fassbinder79
I like most of Mann's filmography with the exception of Miami Vice. But let's be honest the digital look he has chosen to use for his recent films has got to go. I HATE it. It looks like a bad Sega CD game and the performances don't come off real but rather silly because the digital enhances the bad acting. Mann is underrated as a director. No question. But he's also staring to make some questionable films. I'm also really disappointed with Depp as an actor ever since he did Pirates Of the Carribean.
June 29, 2009, 1:58 p.m. CST
Re: CharlesThomasMathews1978
by Fuckles
Honestly, I thought it looked great - but keep in mind that I lean towards that look anyway (I work in industrial video and docs so HD is my flavor). The Thompson Viper was CCD chips in it so there is definitely light streaking which I liked. The image also has some striking contrasts to it - the blacks are BLACK and like Mann says in the interview, the key lights just "fall off" in a lot of the shots and, oddly enough, it reminded me of Gordon Willis' work in "The Godfather" where it's more about what's not lit as opposed to what is exposed. Yes, there are scenes with HEAVY amounts of grain which can be jarring - but it's Mann and Spinotti pushing the latitude of the Viper which I greatly appreciate. I was reminded of the rooftop scenes in the beginning of "Miami Vice" where the characters on the roof are exposed as well as the clouds in sky......AT MIDNIGHT!!!!! I've never seen that before and would have thought it was impossible until I saw it there. "PE" has moments like that too. Mann is redefining what cinematography is and he's doing it with the camera (like the good ol' days) and not with the digital intermediate which is all the rage in cinema everywhere. I appreciate it. But the real question is: does it add or take away from the story? Well, it certainly DOES NOT take away from it and I felt that the graininess added some immediacy to some of the tense-filled scenes. Never did I think that it looked "too digital" or not appropriate for a period piece. Listen, bottom line, it's an acquired taste, you'll either like it or look beyond it or hate it. But if anyone is curious, just see the damn movie. The directing, acting, and sound design are so fucking amazing that it should bring any audience to get over that it looks like "video." Now, truth be told, I saw a 35mm print, which adds even more grain in the transfer process. I want to see it projected digitally, but since all of those screens are being manipulated by either "Up," "Ice Age 3," or "Transformers 2" I don't think I'll get a chance to see it that way. But since the Viper shoots at native 2K, I think the real test will be Blu-Ray (which is native 2K as well). The image, I believe (I could be wrong), has to be up-ressed to 4K for a 35mm transfer so it, I think, is not the most accurate example of the native image. I think "Miami Vice" (also shot on the Viper) looks incredible on Blu-Ray so I assume "PE" will as well. Hey, everyone has different tastes.....
June 29, 2009, 2:01 p.m. CST
Great interview
by Omar B
Michael Mann's an amazing talent, I've loved all his work so far. If ever Nolan were to leave the Batman franchise Mann would be the dude to top him.
June 29, 2009, 2:01 p.m. CST
by fassbinder79
That was a real overstatement on the how the blu ray for Miami Vice looks. Incredible? I don't think so. And I'm not saying that because I didn't like the film. All the night shots looked grainy as hell (and not in a good way). And the explosions effects shots near the end looked much worse because of the digital I think.
June 29, 2009, 2:03 p.m. CST
great interview but....
by krod
where is the keep dvd?
June 29, 2009, 2:04 p.m. CST
A quick search online shows me...
by fassbinder79
...I wasn't the only one who thought the blu ray transfer was piss poor either: http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/1448/miamivice2006.html "Even more video-esque looking than 'Collateral,' 'Miami Vice' has the chintzy veneer of a 'Cops' episode -- it's like bad reality TV in high-definition." That sounds about right. Please, Michael Mann! Go back to 35 mm!
June 29, 2009, 2:06 p.m. CST
The best HD film I've seen released on blu ray/hd-dvd:
by fassbinder79
David Fincher's Zodiac.
June 29, 2009, 2:24 p.m. CST
Re: fassbinder79
by Fuckles
I agree with you, that Zodiac HD release is one of the best ever - great transfer for a beautifully shot film. Ironically, Fincher shot both "Zodiac" and "Benjamin Button" on the Viper - but he's doing it because the Viper has 4:4:4 uncompressed color space which makes it perfect for special effects (and we both know that Fincher's films, even "Zodiac," are very effects-heavy). Fincher wants a traditional film look where his special effects can be integrated seamlessly. Mann is going in a totally different approach. The graininess of "Miami Vice" has nothing to do with the BR transfer but the graininess of how it was shot. His recent HD work with Spinotti and Beebe have been about getting maximum exposure with as little studio lighting without compromising the depth of field. The BR disc accurately represents that and I, for one, like it. I totally understand why you and others don't and, hey, different strokes. But, a common mistake that I see in BR and DVD reviews is complaints of a grainy image that the reviewer is too quick to assume happens in the compression/transfer to disc process. That's kind of the Achilles heel of BR reviews. Without a side by side reference to the 35 print, in can be easy to mistake the grain of the film stock from the grain from the compression. "Miami Vice" was a native 2K film that was mastered on a native 2K disc so the compression, other than the encoding process, was little to none. Your problem isn't with the BR transfer, but with the way the film was shot. I remember the complaints when the BR for "Eyes Wide Shut" came out - people said it was too grainy. But it had nothing to do with the transfer and everything to do with the film stock that Kubrick and his DP shot it on. But, whatever, this is neither here nor there. I like how it looks. You don't. And you're in the majority. But this isn't a pissing match for me, it's just a difference of opinion.
June 29, 2009, 2:36 p.m. CST
I saw Heat last night again
by m_reporter
The film is a fuckin' masterpiece. I can't wait to see Public Enemies.<P> Haven't read the interview, don't want to be spoiled too much (although I am familiar with Dillinger's life), but I bookmarked it for a read after I see the film.
June 29, 2009, 2:41 p.m. CST
Two best director's alive: Mann and Malick
by HoboCode
June 29, 2009, 2:54 p.m. CST
I should rewatch Heat
by animas
saw it in the theater and don't remember liking it.
June 29, 2009, 3:04 p.m. CST
Michael Mann = Professional
by otm shank
Good thing death took Daley's father away so that one of the greatest films of all time could be made....The Blues Brothers!
June 29, 2009, 3:35 p.m. CST
Public Enemies is cliche and predictable
by maxbrown
I saw Public Enemies 6 months ago at a test screening, and from the looks of the reviews I've been reading, not much has changed. I'm sure that Mann fans will find things to like about it, but for me and the other 6 people I saw it with, it was a completely predictable period-drama. Absolutely nothing new here. Don't get your hopes up.
June 29, 2009, 3:40 p.m. CST
by CENOBITE
The HD filming was fine. It gave the film a documentary quality. It reminded me of Saving Private Ryan with the realism and intensity of the gunfire... you feel you are there. I didn't know it was shot in HD when I went to see it and it didn't bother me.
June 29, 2009, 3:42 p.m. CST
Titanic was predictable too...
by CENOBITE
but then again I am educated in history.
June 29, 2009, 3:46 p.m. CST
by lockesbrokenleg
You get this threads dumb ass award
June 29, 2009, 3:47 p.m. CST
I know you are...
by CENOBITE
but what am I?
June 29, 2009, 3:59 p.m. CST
Don't worry, CENOBITE.
by Mr. Nice Gaius
lockesbrokenleg gets that award just about everyday.
June 29, 2009, 3:59 p.m. CST
I can't wait for this film.
by kikuchiyoboy
I have a feeling this we'll be the summer film I've been waiting for.
June 29, 2009, 4:14 p.m. CST
may I offer this up as a salve
by CENOBITE
http: //tinyurl.com/nqc4z3 Bonjour!
June 29, 2009, 4:20 p.m. CST
by CharlesThomasMathews1978
I've seen plenty of movies shot on HD that don't look like video at all but I think Mann isn't concerned with making it look like film. I actually loved Miami Vice and those shots where you could see the clouds in the background were astounding. The only time I have a problem is when the camera is moving or objects are passing in front of the frame and, like I said, there's that streaky digital blur that you don't get with film. It just takes me out of the moment for some reason? Maybe he doesn't shoot at a 24 frame rate? Could it be the digital shutter speed? Or maybe it's just the VIPER since I've seen movies shot with the Genesis and Red One and there was little to no digital blur?<br> <br>Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing a movie actually made for adults and hopefully it will wash the bad taste of Transformers out of my mouth.
June 29, 2009, 4:20 p.m. CST
Mr. Nice Gaius Shit. Looks like Gods Gift to AICN
by lockesbrokenleg
talk backers is back.
June 29, 2009, 4:24 p.m. CST
Hard to find?
by pax256
Impossible to find. The Keep is not on dvd anywhere and can only be found on used vhs. I dont blame Mr Mann I think its Paramount. Not the first time that studio has held on to flicks for years on end. Cmon Paramount this aint Disney just put it out already!
June 29, 2009, 4:29 p.m. CST
Ya indeed Kwiz and Krod...
by pax256
Why avoid a question for the closest thing to a Genre movie Mann has ever done?
June 29, 2009, 4:35 p.m. CST
Oh look, it's lockesbrokenleg. Gods gift to AICN...
by Mr. Nice Gaius
...loser spammers is still here. He never leaves.
June 29, 2009, 4:37 p.m. CST
I saw this movie last Thursday at at pre screening
by lockesbrokenleg
It was decent. Long and slow. I'm sure it will get 100 Oscars.
June 29, 2009, 4:38 p.m. CST
100 Oscars, eh?
by Mr. Nice Gaius
That's brilliant.
June 29, 2009, 4:41 p.m. CST
Anything else to add to that in-depth review?
by Mr. Nice Gaius
How was the acting? Was it historically accurate? Did you find it predictable? What are your thoughts on the HD? Can you conjure up enough words to make a paragraph?
June 29, 2009, 4:45 p.m. CST
The acting was all right. The action scenes were
by lockesbrokenleg
well staged, Johnny Depp will probably get nominated for an award. There is a lot of machine gun flare in the movie. I forgot you needed to write a 100 paragraph review in these tiny boxes.
June 29, 2009, 4:51 p.m. CST
"...a 100 paragraph review..."
by Mr. Nice Gaius
No, but I am amazed that you seem incapable of offering nothing more than a Twitter-style post on the subject.
June 29, 2009, 4:55 p.m. CST
And all you seem to do is hurl insults at people
by lockesbrokenleg
Fucking douchebag.
June 29, 2009, 5 p.m. CST
Stephen Lang played a mean Babe Ruth.
by Sal_Bando
Good good actor. I agree there.
June 29, 2009, 5:01 p.m. CST
by Sal_Bando
-the Giant Robots movie is well worth your time. You'll like it(and hate yourself in the morning for it), fact is I plan on seeing it TWICE. Yes.
June 29, 2009, 5:02 p.m. CST
I'm sorry if you think I'm being hard on you, lockes.
by Mr. Nice Gaius
But all you seem to do is spam the Talkbacks. ALL of them. It's like when you used to be skywalkerfamily - you never offered up anything worthy of discussion. Even if you did, no one cared anyway because you were too busy posting drivel someplace else. Why do you suppose that is?
June 29, 2009, 5:05 p.m. CST
by Mr. Nice Gaius
What's up you crazy bastard!<P>I have yet to see the Giant Robots Movie Number 2. I was a little dismayed by some of the critical and trustworthy Talkbacker response. But if it at least offers a rock em' sock em' time, then I'll have to get to a big screen soon. I'm sure I've seen worse, right? Well, I hope I have.
June 29, 2009, 5:05 p.m. CST
by lockesbrokenleg
All you do is follow me around! GET A FUCKING LIFE! You don't own the fucking site SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!
June 29, 2009, 5:11 p.m. CST
Hope it's good but not sold on the HD look.
by Orbots Commander
Well, with this I at least won't need to 'leave my brain at the door' because 'it isn't Shakespeare'. <p> My brain is really getting annoyed with me for being left at the door so often this summer.
June 29, 2009, 5:13 p.m. CST
Oh, grow up, lockes!
by Mr. Nice Gaius
No one follows you around and no one thinks they own the site! Dummy!!!<P>Seriously. Grow some fucking balls and learn how to deal with yourself. You can start by taking your own advice: "GET A FUCKING LIFE!". Personally, I recommend that you get off the computer for a day or two and try going outside. Personally, I recommend you enroll in a basket weaving class...or maybe a pottery seminar. Try something constructive that allows you to channel your Twitter-like energies more effectively.
June 29, 2009, 5:14 p.m. CST
Best of luck, lockes!
by Mr. Nice Gaius
Smell ya later, bro!
June 29, 2009, 5:16 p.m. CST
by lockesbrokenleg
What's this thread about again? Gauis keeps talking about shit, but I can never figure out what the douchebag is talking about. He sure seems angry.
June 29, 2009, 5:25 p.m. CST
Mr. Nice Gaius
by Kief_Ledger
Welcome back. It's good to know you're hear, hunting down the twats that the squander the potential hilarity of talkbacks.
June 29, 2009, 5:26 p.m. CST
by Kief_Ledger
get a FUCKING EDIT FUNCTION!!!!!
June 29, 2009, 5:38 p.m. CST
Political maneuvering
by bioforge
Love how Capone keeps crapping on about the war while Mann just keeps the focus on the actual story. The dude is tough.Can't wait to see the flick.
June 29, 2009, 5:50 p.m. CST
Big Robots Too is like the first one.
by Sal_Bando
Pretty much. You DO have: More Robots, More OF the robots, and there is a whole lotta robots Hitting each other goin' on. You will, of course, have trouble telling who did what to do--that last fight w/ Optimus and Pointy there was a bit TOO chaotic for even me-but...<p> well trust me. The idiotic parts w/ the gay dogs, the pot-brownie Mom etc-that's all over and done w/ in the first 40 mins, and it's more or less just Family Guy stuff. <p> Believe me. I also laughed at Chip and Dale there, though they ARE--ummmm, Unfortunately Designed, shall we say. But the audience got a kick outta'em, so-there ya be. The movie has enough neat parts to it for me to reccommend it. <p> The funniest idiot blooper? They're in the Smithsonian, in DC, right, and then no sooner bust thru a back door-they're smack in the middle of a plane boneyard in the Mojave. OF COURSE THEY ARE. <p> It's a Mikey Bay movie. <p> Oh and the little Joe Pesci/Buscemi bot? he's a riot. Well I liked him anyways. <p> It's the same shit as the last one. Put your brain on hold and just enjoy the Robotses doing their things. You can't say Bay didn't give the audience what it said it wanted. He did.
June 29, 2009, 5:53 p.m. CST
Oh I love the Insider.
by Sal_Bando
THAT is a GREAT movie. Crowe's best acting, bar none. Love it.
June 29, 2009, 5:55 p.m. CST
Didn't people put their brains on hold back when Star Wars
by lockesbrokenleg
came out? Most critics hated it, but audiences loved it. And it's still fucking around.
June 29, 2009, 6:02 p.m. CST
Molosar on Blu-ray now!
by Gorgomel
bring on THE KEEP in hd!
June 29, 2009, 7:29 p.m. CST
i dont think ill like this
by TheExterminator
just doesn't look right to me
June 29, 2009, 7:50 p.m. CST
Now that's a Michael Mann interview
by drturing
fucking awesome Capone, always wish this guy would talk more because he speaks in reverent detail about things most filmmakers would never even consider.
June 29, 2009, 7:55 p.m. CST
Mann's digital looks fantastic
by Michael_Bay_Rox
fuck the whiney talkback haters, your opinion is irrelevant.
June 29, 2009, 8:20 p.m. CST
by Mr. Nice Gaius
Ha! Thanks man. Have you seen this kid, lockesbrokenleg? What a totally pointless tool. I just took a look at the Billy May's Obit Talkback and saw all of his utterly stupid fake death posts. It's like he thinks he's funny but doesn't understand why he doesn't get any laughs.
June 29, 2009, 8:21 p.m. CST
Last of the Mohicans gets forgotten too much
by BadMrWonka
that movie is PHENOMENAL...the use of the landscape, the music, the detail in every set and every costume. just brilliant. everyone goes to Heat, but for my money, Last of the Mohicans is the better film.
June 29, 2009, 8:24 p.m. CST
by Mr. Nice Gaius
Thanks buddy, I appreciate it. I've got some discount-style tickets. I'm thinking I'll use those to check out the Bayhem Bots. I admit, I'm not above watching Optimus Prime kick some ass. Plot or no plot.
June 29, 2009, 8:45 p.m. CST
Crime Story is one of my very favorite shows
by CherryValance
Ray Luca was the bomb, and it's why I became I huge Dice fan. Okay now I'm gonna read the interview. :)
June 29, 2009, 8:46 p.m. CST
by fassbinder79
The only reason I made a point of saying what I did about the transfer is because I buy a lot of movies. And I buy a lot of blu ray movies. And the only thing I have to go on before I make a purchase in deciding whether I'm going to drop 30-40 bucks on a blu ray are reviews or comments on message boards about the quality of a film's picture quality. I can't obviously buy every film that gets released in an hd format so the comments that I read online about the quality is what helps me make my choice in taking the risk. I have read quite a few comments on these message boards about the quality of a specific dvd or blu ray being great quality and then discovering that its total ass. I just want to let people know my thoughts so that don't get burned as I have. Shit is too expensive right now.
June 29, 2009, 9:09 p.m. CST
ALI is a really underrated movie
by gamus
one of the most visceral cinema experiences i've had was watching Ali. The poor reviews were incomprehensible. Hopefully Public Enemies is in that vein and not like the macho offensive Miami Vice.
June 29, 2009, 9:18 p.m. CST
Heat's brilliant
by axel fff
The Insider was impressive, and I liked Miami Vice, even though I like the show better than the film. No question Mann is one hell of a director. I'll buy my ticket to Public Enemies to support quality summer releases, which are all too rare, at least this year.
June 29, 2009, 9:19 p.m. CST
I thought it was "on the lam" not "lamb"
by axel fff
But I'm too lazy to google it to see which is right.
June 29, 2009, 9:30 p.m. CST
I'll bet the Bale's pores have tiny
by CherryValance
little baby Jesuses in them. Right? Can't wait to see for myself. I plan on going as soon as possible.
June 29, 2009, 9:31 p.m. CST
by Hellbastardo
whoa ! You pay full msrp for those blu-rays ? Maybe i'm just used to wal-mart prices
June 29, 2009, 9:44 p.m. CST
MIchael Mann is my number one draft pick to direct the next Batm
by bishopfan85
And the dream casting of course would be Johnny Depp as The Riddler along with Mickey Rourke playing Clayface along with Angelina Jolie being introduced as Selina Kyle (possibly not becoming Catwoman until the very end).
June 29, 2009, 10:19 p.m. CST
yet another interview when someone refuses to ask Mann about
by BillboeFett
THE KEEP <p> DVD coming? Blu-ray? Anything? Why all the delays.. blah blah.
June 29, 2009, 10:29 p.m. CST
by BillboeFett
June 29, 2009, 10:50 p.m. CST
this movie is going to suck!!
by one_guy_from_andromeda_
Mann hasn't done anything good since Heat. Although i may catch it just to see depp, he's a pretty sexy guy
June 29, 2009, 11:16 p.m. CST
by CharlesThomasMathews1978
June 29, 2009, 11:36 p.m. CST
I think the "Miami Vice" director's cut is very good.
by blakindigo
Not played for camp; the way it dramatizes the world of Miami undercover vice cops; the brutality of the gunfights and treacherous nature of the environment. There are some sketchy scenes like the explosion at the trailer (bad composite) and bits that might have been sharpened, but it's a damn good movie.<br><br>I wish Mann would shoot with the RED Camera, because I'd like to how 4k resolution might play with in low-light situations.
June 29, 2009, 11:42 p.m. CST
the phrase "on the lam" is like a hundred years old
by BadMrWonka
and has nothing to do with that dude. just FYI. do not write "on the lamb", you will look like an idiot.
June 29, 2009, 11:47 p.m. CST
by blakindigo
Do you believe Friedman's accusations? Personally, I've never heard of the "I got fired because of Scientology" defense, but that might be a first.
June 30, 2009, 12:07 a.m. CST
blakindigo, FRIEDMAN MAY HAVE BEEN FIRED OVER WOLVERINE BUT.....
by CharlesThomasMathews1978
Scientologist's will stop at nothing to suppress their critics so the whole Leaked Print fiasco might have been a convenient excuse. Rumor has it that Cruise was looking to work for Fox but he wanted Friedman fired. Either way I don't care as they are all fucking scum. I just posted the news because of the Wolverine Workprint talkback where Knowles and McWeeny were calling for Friedman to be fired despite their years of doing the exact same thing.
June 30, 2009, 12:22 a.m. CST
I hear you CTM1978
by blakindigo
I guess it's just some weirdness running around.<br><br>What do you think of the current uses of HD photography in studio pictures? Any thoughts on David Fincher's use of the Viper in contrast to Michael Mann's?
June 30, 2009, 12:59 a.m. CST
blakindigo, FINCHER TRIES TO MAKE HD LOOK LIKE FILM....
by CharlesThomasMathews1978
To put it plainly, video is the future and the only advancements in film for the last few decades have been in relation to processing and post production, all of which have been digital. HD can only get better and it's only been 9 years since Lucas shot Episode 2 on HD. I just think it's insane to shoot on film today given the costs involved in not only film stock but also the time it takes to set up and light a set never mind that you can only shoot for about 12 minutes on one role of 35mm film unless you use 3 perf stock.<br> <br>No, the arguments that shooting on film makes a movie better are made by people who can't let go of over 100 years of film history. Steven Spielberg can claim that he will never shoot digital but that's because he's old and he can afford to waste money that first time directors don't have. Nor can anyone claim that shooting on film ever made a movie better. It's the script, actors and direction that make a movie. Look at The Wrestler, Darren Aronofsky shot that on 16mm and that didn't makes it any less of a good movie nor is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre any less of a classic despite being shot on the same format.<br> <br>Film is dead, Satan lives.
June 30, 2009, 1:12 a.m. CST
Christ, what's wrong with calling it Technoscope?
by blakindigo
That's not aimed at you CMT1978.<br><br> Didn't Lucas shoot 3-perf on "THX-1138"? That film looked gorgeous. Anyway, many people seem primed for the new RED EPIC which shoots 5K. I don't know how that will look.<br><br>My only problem with HD is the aforementioned strobe effect and when someone shoots into light. The latitude seems…off somehow.<br><br>A quick question, have you ever read "The Big Picture" by Edward Jay Epstein? It's a great companion to Biskind's "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls."
June 30, 2009, 1:28 a.m. CST
CTMW1978 you fuckin fool
by drturing
digital has yet to surpass the contrast ratio of film. until it does, it's still going to be in service. it takes just as much care and time to light for HD as it does film. you're talking out of your ass. the difference between film and hd is a choice, and you use the right tool for the right job. likewise, it's been 9 years since episode 2 and it still looks like a bullshit cgi fucking cutscene from a videogame to me.
June 30, 2009, 1:31 a.m. CST
by drturing
can you tell me why the opening scenes in new orleans could not have been shot on film? can you tell me what is continually used in benjamin button that you're generally told not to do in hd?
June 30, 2009, 1:32 a.m. CST
Red is bullshit
by drturing
it's just another fucking camera with the marketing dept of a sunglasses manufacturer behind it. it has massive problems thus far in post which yes will be worked out but don't make anything revolutionary or better. and 5k is stupid, there are hardly any 4k screens in the world as it is.
June 30, 2009, 1:36 a.m. CST
by blakindigo
Please, give the info—no need to attack the dude. You've definitely got my attention with your second question.
June 30, 2009, 1:38 a.m. CST
Don't agree about RED, I know too many people
by blakindigo
who haven't had problems. All the reported 'tech issues' don't seem to be an issue with the firmware updates.<br><br>What's the problem with downconverting to 4K?
June 30, 2009, 1:43 a.m. CST
HD vs FIlm, a pointless argument
by drturing
naturally lit streets at night with lighting depth 12 blocks away. to capture that on film at night would've required massive amounts of night flood lighting for city blocks, and would thus have a sort of high key ambient illumination that doesn't read as true as it does in the film. benjamin button also has a lot of backlighting, which generally dps have shied away from terrified of doing so on HD. i'm just saying, there's all sorts of applications that run both ways. this continual argument that one is better than the other is silly and pointless. both can do what the other does, but there are a few things that each one excels at (you couldn't shoot collateral on film but you couldn't shoot days of heaven on HD) as Mann notes, the reason you should choose one for the other is in service to what you're creating. and who cares if it's cheaper. why should everything being cheaper mean it's better. fuck if i were making a movie i'd want all the vendors and crew members and cool companies like kodak to be getting paid top dollar like they deserve. the funniest thing about benjamin button is that having seen it both as a film print and the bluray direct from source the muddy film prints made the film look better and hid a lot of the effects work's seams.
June 30, 2009, 1:47 a.m. CST
by drturing
and what were those people delivering their Red shot projects on? any new format has a clusterfuck of new pipelines to navigate. I'm just saying, all those who jumped into the Red sold on its revolutionary bring costs down filmmaking didn't realize that they needed to budget twice as much as before in post. And why pay for 5k equipment - a marketing gimmick that makes something sound cool - when it's pointless. the Red is just like any other camera - it has good points, bad points. great sensor, and yeah it retains more information than previous digital formats in blown out highlights, but still not as good as film (and your optics are just as important and more expensive). this idea that the Red is going to change filmmaking is bullshit. shooting a film on Red is not going to get you the name actor you need to get the studio to commit all the money to build sets and feed people and have parking permits etc etc...
June 30, 2009, 1:50 a.m. CST
here's what matters
by drturing
check out this 42 second short film by chris milk shot on his new digital stills camera the canon 5d. It ain't the camera or the format, it's what you do with it. http://vimeo.com/4155700
June 30, 2009, 1:56 a.m. CST
Fascinating drturing…
by blakindigo
I NEED a Blu-Ray player… I agree that for a Studio picture there's no real budgetary reason why one is 'better' than the other; for low/no/micro budget features it might mean the difference between finishing the movie or not.<br><br>I thought 'Zodiac' was remarkably well shot (God Bless you Harris Savides) and I saw that projected digitally. I'm anxious to see "Public Enemies" digitally also, but Mann's techniques are much closer to documentary at times (lots of hand held close ups).<br><br>I did get to see Peter Jackson's short film shot on the RED ONE and it looked quite good, but the more done with it, the more experimentation done in the format, the better it is for the consumer.<br><br>I also see people shooting with the Nikon D90 and the Canon 5D Mark II, with some pretty impressive results.
June 30, 2009, 2:04 a.m. CST
The RED isn't the saviour of indie filmmaking—
by blakindigo
that IS hyperbole and marketing. But, I've seen a project cut in FCP (granted they were using a Mac Pro with minimum 6GB of Ram and had a sweet G-Raid set up) and the final output was rendered at 2K for HDCAM-SR. Obviously, it wasn't someone's $500 feature, it was a short, but the workflow was generally smooth.
June 30, 2009, 2:21 a.m. CST
drturing, FILM CAN'T IMPROVE FURTHER, DIGITAL CAN AND WILL, END
by CharlesThomasMathews1978
The directors of tomorrow are shooting on digital right now in high school. It's really pointless to argue as in a few years digital will surpass film in every way. It's like arguing VHS vs. HD DVD. Shooting on film doesn't make a movie any more artistic then shooting on digital and I'm tired of hearing film snobs say otherwise. My concern is the future of cinema and if digital is good enough for Francis Ford Coppola then its good enough for everyone. Spielberg clings to film because in his mind it makes him and artist, well, Spielberg has always been a poser while real artists embrace new ideas and techniques. Film didn't exactly make Kingdom of the Crystal Skull any less shitty, did it?
June 30, 2009, 2:28 a.m. CST
Leave the 'S' man alone, CTM1978…tsk, tsk…
by blakindigo
Let the man stick with tradition if he wants to; it doesn't make him any less of an artist than someone who refuses to use water-based oil paint over linseed.<br><br>Bad judgement on the other hand…
June 30, 2009, 2:29 a.m. CST
again you're totally misinformed
by drturing
film can't improve further? is that why Kodak are replacing their flagship 35mm color stock with a new one that has hundreds of improvements and a wider latitude of exposure than HD?<p> Let's go even further. Do you know why Spielberg likes film? Because the length of takes and rhythm of mag changes brings a certain pace to a shooting environment that every few takes gives him and the actors time to think about what they're doing. Likewise his editor isn't deluged with hours of material that's unecessary. <p> As for the directors of tomorrow, they also are probably more influenced by Call of Duty or Halo than by Transformers 2. God help us all.
June 30, 2009, 2:35 a.m. CST
by blakindigo
Look at someone like Colin Levy of "Peerless Productions"—he's still in college and will be directing the next Blender animated short. He's been making short films for years. H
June 30, 2009, 2:42 a.m. CST
Levy was even on Digg.com's front page—
by blakindigo
—for a short he did in his senior year of high school(?). Don't sleep on the young ones, they don't have the same film vs digital baggage as their mentors. That also doesn't mean they idolize Bayhem or video games, they just grew up with them.<br><br>Our generation of 'cinemacentric' folk might prefer film, but we didn't grow up with user–friendly gear and immediate access to information. Hell, Apple's Color is pretty amazing and it used to cost $20K. Same with the $11K compositing app Shake.
June 30, 2009, 3:08 a.m. CST
i dont know if anyone else notied..
by richardphilip
.. but moriarty still comes under the titles of an aint it cool news reviewer on rotton tomatoes?http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/10009526-public_enemies/
June 30, 2009, 4:41 a.m. CST
the rez digital will have to have in order to compete with film
by BillboeFett
Above 6256x3520. <p> Fine grain film with a good lens will record about 160 lines per mm, so if 35mm film is 22mm wide that times 160 is 3520 lines. One thing you should have in mind is that image resolution on a camera can not be measured in pixels, for some reason since digital cameras became popular people started thinking that image resolution is measured in mega pixels. <p> Most HD-camcorders used for movies these days have 1920 pixels per width, in recorded lines that is most likely less than 1500, there are some 4k pixel wide cameras but the resolution will still probably be less than 3000 lines. <p> Even if digital censors in the coming years gets higher resolution than film there is one problem, lenses also limit the resolution and that limit has been reached already with film. <p> And DrTuring makes a great point--the contrast ratio on digital, even the "5k" sucks ass. All the digital movies are all too much in the "grey"... not enough contrast, not enough rich deep blacks, bright whites. Not enough shadow. You're losing beautiful pictures for convenience so an actor can do many more takes in a shorter amount of time.
June 30, 2009, 5:17 a.m. CST
That's only if HD must emulate film, BillboeFett
by blakindigo
Films dynamic range is unmatched at the moment, especially watching a properly timed print that's being projected. A/B rolling between digital and film is instructive, because the limitations of both mediums become obvious. The most successful digital pictures (in terms of image quality and contrast, chroma and luminance) are 3D animated features that are projected directly from the Hard Drive. There is no digital–to–photochemical conversion for release prints, only those released for the non-digital screens.<br><br>Considering it's 2009 and a number of films have been shot digitally has grown ("Underworld: The Rise of the Lycans" was shot with the Panavision Genesis—surprised the hell out of me), it's only a matter of time before higher quality acquisition sensors and lenses are manufactured—as they are already being tested now.<br><br>I don't know if I agree that the 'contrast ratio on digital…sucks ass,'due to the number of times films have intercut between both formats ("Wanted,""Superman Returns") seamlessly for the most part. I didn't see "Knowing" but, I'd like to see the image quality on that picture, as the trailers looked fine to me.
June 30, 2009, 5:18 a.m. CST
"…and the number of films that have been shot"
by blakindigo
June 30, 2009, 5:48 a.m. CST
Last of the Mohicans
by kwisatzhaderach
is an incredible piece of filmmaking. One of the last great outdoors movies, before everything was shot in a fucking box. Great score too.
June 30, 2009, 5:54 a.m. CST
kwisatzhaderach, LotM is sublime…
by blakindigo
Photography, pacing, music, it's a beautifully designed movie. And, the performances—!
June 30, 2009, 6:10 a.m. CST
by kwisatzhaderach
The whole movie is just beautiful. Mann was clearly influenced by Kubrick's Barry Lyndon, particularly the shot of the bridge reflected in the water. <p> And you're right, Day-Lewis is magnetic in the film, and Madeleine Stowe is heartbreakingly beautiful. It's a film that just soars!
June 30, 2009, 6:29 a.m. CST
bishopfan85, you fucking genius.
by Stuntcock Mike
Mann's Batman = Me buying several tickets. Count me in.
June 30, 2009, 6:46 a.m. CST
Mann is a legend
by RobFromBackEast
Loved Public Enemies, but The Insider is still his best movie. He hasn't made a bad movie since The Keep.
June 30, 2009, 6:48 a.m. CST
Has a workprint or uncut version of "The Keep"
by blakindigo
been released anywhere?
June 30, 2009, 6:55 a.m. CST
by kwisatzhaderach
There are deleted scenes somewhere on youtube, I remember seeing a different ending with the girl rescuing Glaecken from the keep. This really need a DVD release, the score by Tangerine Dream, production desing by John Box and cinematography by Alex Thompson are all incredible.
June 30, 2009, 7:05 a.m. CST
The Keep alternate ending
by kwisatzhaderach
June 30, 2009, 7:13 a.m. CST
Michael Mann is the Man..
by Righteous Brother
if you don't like him well....well that's just too bad.
June 30, 2009, 7:18 a.m. CST
WTF?! Where did that alternate ending come from?!
by blakindigo
Damn, it's even widescreen! Thanks for the post kwisatzhaderach!
June 30, 2009, 9:10 a.m. CST
Capone baiting Mann
by rainbowtrout1265
"Love how Capone keeps crapping on about the war while Mann just keeps the focus on the actual story. The dude is tough.Can't wait to see the flick." Yeah, I noticed Capone trying to get Mann to go off on some liberal rant about the "war on terror". I was reading, thinking "oh Christ, here we go again" but Mann kept his attention on the film. And it sounds ecouraging that there may be a fairly evenhanded treatment of Hoover.
June 30, 2009, 9:26 a.m. CST
by kwisatzhaderach
Here's the opening 6 minutes in widescreen too, pretty cool. <p> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbGjIQSqpMc
June 30, 2009, 10:08 a.m. CST
So no balls to ask him how he could fuck up the Miami Vice movie
by IndyCollector
He was the executive producer of the TV show for fuck's sake!!!!
June 30, 2009, 10:15 a.m. CST
His movies R GREAT. He doesn't know how to end them!
by Mennen
The end of HEAT SUCKED. But I loved the movie.
June 30, 2009, 11:14 a.m. CST
IndyCollector, MIAMI VICE IS VERY UNDERRATED...
by CharlesThomasMathews1978
The problem is that everyone was expecting a more serious Bad Boys 2 and, instead, Mann gave us a movie about professionals with almost naturalistic performances from the cast as opposed to the usual Hollywood melodrama. I didn't even like it all that much when I first saw it but it's grown on me.
June 30, 2009, 12:12 p.m. CST
by kwisatzhaderach
Miami Vice is a terrific film. Mann should be appluaded for not going down the piece of shit route that the makers of Starsky and Hutch took. Miami Vice was a serious drama for adults, and one of the best films of 2006, in fact probably my joint favourite along with United 93.
June 30, 2009, 12:45 p.m. CST
About the HD...
by Blue_Demon
When I saw the trailer in the theater, I knew it had not been shot on film because the whites looked over-saturated. Especially the muzzle flashes. I hope they fixed that.<p>This looks like one great movie, though.
June 30, 2009, 1:54 p.m. CST
kwisatzhaderach, CTM1978 RE: Miami Vice
by blakindigo
I'm in complete agreement.
June 30, 2009, 3:56 p.m. CST
Filming movies in HD - shitty
by lockesbrokenleg
They end up on DVD looking way worse. Look at TDK on DVD, it looks like shit.
June 30, 2009, 4:04 p.m. CST
No, MIAMI VICE is underrated in its shittiness.
by Mr. Nice Gaius
It's one of Mann's few clunkers and it will never achieve the popularity, acceptance, or recognition of HEAT. All one has to do is re-watch it to see that none of the characters have the same level of depth or motivation and that the plot doesn't even come close to HEAT's labyrinth complexity.<P>But here is the main reason why MIAMI VICE is garbage:<P>"I'm a fiend for mojitos."<P>'Nuff said.
June 30, 2009, 7:02 p.m. CST
by Mr. Nice Gaius
No, one single phrase does not necessarily make a movie bad. However, it is a shining example of why that movie is a total misfire.<P>Uh, STAR TREK has nothing to do with the mediocrity of MIAMI VICE. Nice try at diversion though.<P>And movie geeks are lame and increasingly out of touch with reality. Deal.
June 30, 2009, 7:59 p.m. CST
it's already 147 on imdb's top 250
by Maniaq
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1152836/ <p> has it even come out yet?
June 30, 2009, 8:45 p.m. CST
On The Lam origin
by Zeds Dead Baby
June 30, 2009, 9:54 p.m. CST
that Keep extended ending clip is by me, btw
by BillboeFett
I'm pewburrito on youtube. I have the entire movie in widescreen, remastered, with the extended ending in as seamless branching. <p> I got the alternate ending in 4x3 format (someone taped it off public television in the 80s on VHS) and I painstakingly tried to color-time it to the widescreen copy of the movie I have. That was a bitch and a half. <p> Still isn't perfect but thats the best I could do. I had to make a decision to show the extended part in a pillarbox format to preserve the 16x9 aspect of the main movie. <p> If you get a chance, check out my LOTR battle music video on there as well. It's kinda old and dated but I'm proud of it.
June 30, 2009, 10:23 p.m. CST
I'm standing up in love of MIAMI VICE the TV show!
by BillboeFett
I've rewatched the entire series and I can honestly say it fucking kix massive ass. <p> Who was an up and coming writer at the time who now runs Law & Order? Dick Wolf--he wrote some of the best eps of Miami Vice. <p> I'm able to put aside the 80s pastel clothes and music (some of the music is cool) and just enjoy the show. <p> They hardly ever get the bad guy, lots of people died, it was very dark. Twists, turns, intricate plots. <p> Killer production, and very, very good, believable acting. <p> It broke ground with the flashy editing and camera style cut to music--the MTV video style that everyone borrowed and is kind of out of style now but was very big for the last 30 years. <p> Here's some notable actors that got their start on MIAMI VICE. <p> Ving Rhames, Julia Roberts, Bruce Willis, Jimmy Smits, Pam Grier, Willie Nelson, Gene Simmons, Ted Nugent, Frank Zappa, Phil Collins, James Brown, Randall "Tex" Cobb, Dean Stockwell, Brian Dennehy,
June 30, 2009, 10:28 p.m. CST
more notable actors who were on MIAMI VICE the TV show
by BillboeFett
Dennis Farnia, Stanley Tucci, David Strathairn, Liam Neeson, Lou Diamond Phillips, Ed O'Neill, Michael Madsen, Ian McShane, Bill Paxton, Luis Guzman, Kyra Sedgwick, Esai Morales, Terry O'Quinn, Wesley Snipes, John Turturro, Melanie Griffith, Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Tommy Chong, John Leguizamo, Richard Belzer, Penn Gillette, Glenn Fry, Sheena Easton, etc. etc. Keep in mind barely any of these people (save the musical artists) were famous or popular then. <p> Kickass show. Ignore and put aside the 80s fashions and music and just enjoy it. Watch any couple episodes between season 2 and 3 and tell me it doesn't rock.
June 30, 2009, 10:40 p.m. CST
I'll suggest 3 episodes for MIAMI VICE to give you a start
by BillboeFett
and you can watch the 3 and decide if you like the series or not <p>. You can watch all seasons (I believe) on HULU and of course there's torrents. <p> 1.) Season 3, Episode 11 – Aired: 12/12/1986 <p> Forgive Us Our Debts <p> New leads persuade Crockett that a man he put on death row might be innocent, but a campaign-conscious DA is reluctant to help. <p> 2.) Season 3, Episode 4 – Aired: 10/17/1986 <p> Walk Alone <p> Tubbs poses as a con to expose prison guards who are extorting drugs from inmates, and killing those who refuse. <p> 3.) Season 4, Episode 1 – Aired: 9/25/1987 <p> Contempt of Court <p> By scaring the jury into a mistrial, a mobster hopes to buy time to find and silence the witness Crockett is protecting.
July 1, 2009, 1:41 a.m. CST
Great work Billboefett...
by pax256
Seen your posts on imdb as well hope itll work eventually on the studio... wish theyd at do something with such properties like maybe let companies like Anchor Bay work on it. But like Blade Runner it seems it can take decades before they move on them... insane and I dont get the eccentricity that keeps movies out of public view for such long periods like that. I get the Disney business model of not flooding the market and undermining interest but seriously they at least let their films out on a regular timely basis. Paramount is outright run by incompetents.
July 1, 2009, 2:55 a.m. CST
Excellent Billboefett
by blakindigo
Thank you…
July 1, 2009, 3:08 a.m. CST
pax256, why why why - THE KEEP
by BillboeFett
After years of promises (Martin Blythe at Paramount), delays, and we still don't have the Keep, it basically comes down to one or more factors: <p> Mann doesn't care enough to do any work on it, Paramount doesn't think it will be profitable, and/or doesn't want to do it without Mann's participation (which they already told me was one reason for a delay). <p> Here's the problem though: a NEW re-master WAS indeed done, and has been seen on some cable systems such as in Australia. <p> The color-timing has been redone, spots, flecks, and dirt have been removed (I have the laserdisc), even some shots have been re-framed (more image in the frame), etc.
July 1, 2009, 3:08 a.m. CST
pubic enemies looks trite
by WardE
If this movie gets raving reviews, I may go see it, but everything I've seen so far, gives me very little interest in this, even more so after re-watching the paint-by-the-numbers trailer. This just looks so trite, much like Ridley's upcoming Robin Hood movie, this is just a story that has been done so many times & better. I know it's mandatory to drool over anything Depp & Bale do (especially here) but I can't stand Depp playing Dillinger as this uber-suave pretty boy, it's like it's more important to get all the Depp fanboys to go & see this movie, then actually bring a worthwhile portrayal to life & Bale more & more, & I know this is blasphemy just keeps getting increasingly dull & redundant.
July 1, 2009, 8:22 a.m. CST
by kwisatzhaderach
Thanks for posting 'The Keep' ending - great stuff. Wasn't there a DVD release planned a couple of years ago that was mysteriously pulled?
July 1, 2009, 8:23 a.m. CST
Oh, and rewatching 'Miami Vice'
by kwisatzhaderach
right now. Up to the point where Crockett takes Gong Li to Cuba on the speedboat with Moby's One of these Mornings playing. Fucking amazing film. Anyone who thinks Star Trek is better is clearly talking out of their ass.
July 1, 2009, 9 a.m. CST
"On the lamb" - ha ha. WRONG!
by catlettuce4
Such ignorance - it's on the LAM. As HL Mencken wrote " Its origin should be obvious to anyone who runs over several colloquial phrases for leavetaking, such as 'beat it' and 'hit the trail'. The allusion in 'lam' is to 'beat,' and 'beat it' is Old English, meaning 'to leave.' During the period of George Ade's 'Fables in Slang' (1900), cabaret society delight in talking slang, and 'lam' was current. Like many other terms, it went under in the flood of new usages of those days, but was preserved in criminal slang. A quarter of a century later it reappeared."
July 1, 2009, 9:17 a.m. CST
That rocked that Mann came to our screening!
by Whtshark
Thanks so much for that.
July 1, 2009, 11:39 a.m. CST
I'm a fan
by Brian
Michael Mann isn't totally amazing, but he sure as hell doesn't disappoint. I've never disliked a MM movie. Heat is a near perfect film for me. Miami Vice is a violent & sexy romp. His current film style with all the music and aerial shots and slick faux realism get me excited for film in general. Seeing a criminal period piece in that style has me fucking falling over myself to get to the theater.
July 1, 2009, 11:44 a.m. CST
Johnny Depp is too pretty to be John Dillinger
by Orionsangels
July 1, 2009, 12:28 p.m. CST
by Kevin Kittridge
I loved Heat. <br> I thought The Insider was brilliant. <br> I saw a test screening of Public Enemies about 3 months ago and it was BOOOORING. Just a waste of time.
July 1, 2009, 1:10 p.m. CST
by Lornsorrow
MANN is one of the greatest directors of all time. Period. Looking so damn forward to Public Enemies!
July 1, 2009, 1:19 p.m. CST
by blakindigo
Why compare a popcorn fantasy film like "Star Trek" to a police procedural like "Miami Vice"?<br><br>
July 1, 2009, 1:19 p.m. CST
by blakindigo
Why compare a popcorn fantasy film like "Star Trek" to a police procedural like "Miami Vice"?<br><br>
July 1, 2009, 1:19 p.m. CST
Damn. What's with the double posts? EDIT BUTTON?!
by blakindigo
July 1, 2009, 1:38 p.m. CST
hey harry
by IndianaPeach
where is your public enemies review???? chomping at the bit over here.
July 1, 2009, 3:11 p.m. CST
Mann does not have contempt for his audience
by Samuel Fulmer
Therefore no racist robots in Public Enemies.
July 1, 2009, 3:47 p.m. CST
by pax256
Im starting to wonder maybe its the business model? As in they dont want to release their entire library to dvd all at once because itll almost certainly mean diminishing sales over the long term and thus affect their stock price... I expect bluray releases to be roughly evenly sparsed over a 10 maybe even 20 year period. IMO The Keep would actually sell well because of Mann and Mckellen specifically. Also maybe fans who want complete collections of Byrne and\or Prochnow... The movie had a great cast... Id see it sell a cool 100 000 copies worldwide easily.
July 1, 2009, 4:34 p.m. CST
by kwisatzhaderach
It was Mr Nice Gaius that brought up Star Trek whilst saying Miami Vice was mediocre.
July 1, 2009, 5:12 p.m. CST
kwisatzhaderach—My bad
by blakindigo
July 1, 2009, 5:13 p.m. CST
kwisatzhaderach—which cut of "Miami Vice" are you
by blakindigo
watching? I prefer the director's cut myself.
July 1, 2009, 5:33 p.m. CST
This movie is racist and misogynistic!
by SnowDogs
Well, probably not, but it makes as much sense as Harry's TF2 review.
July 1, 2009, 6:10 p.m. CST
The finest filmmaker working today
by twogunjames
Mann really threw down the gauntlet here and said "I challenge you to make GOOD films again" to all of hollywood. The acting talent is there, the money is there. We just need to separate marketing and storytelling. Story first, marketing forth. or fifth. Right now marketing is first, and that's killing my favorite storytelling medium.
July 1, 2009, 7:08 p.m. CST
The Keep
by Danger Mouse
Does anyone else remember "The Keep" While some aspects are very dated it was a very moody and original film with some great performances and VERY well shot!
July 1, 2009, 7:12 p.m. CST
by CharlesThomasMathews1978
Because that is what Miami Vice was. It's the same thing as Ridley Scott's Alien which is why a lot of people today (most of whom have ADD) can't watch that film because it's "boring". Or they're soo used to melodramatics that they can't appreciate naturalistic performances or style. If Public Enemies is indeed "boring" as people say then I will admit so but I'm guessing that most peoples idea of a great crime thriller is The Untouchables and although DePalma is my favorite Director, that's not the style that Mann delivers. He's more clinical and detached in his work except for Last of the Mohicans which was an emotionally overwhelming film.
July 1, 2009, 8:26 p.m. CST
Did you just compare Miami Vice and Alien?
by MattmanReturns
Alien is a classic. I wouldn't even remember Miami Vice if not for some talkbackers that bring it up now and then. Alien has wonderful buildup and interesting characters, and I've never actually met anyone who called it "boring," though who knows, I wouldn't be surprised to hear a comment like that on AICN. Miami Vice, on the other hand, bored me to tears. Colin Farrell's character AND the plot were about as interesting to me as watching flies fuck.
July 1, 2009, 8:30 p.m. CST
Is the interview worth reading?
by Flip63Hole
I skipped through it, didn't see any compelling questions. Oh well, I'm sure Mann will do plenty more to support the film...
July 1, 2009, 8:49 p.m. CST
I loved Miami Vice
by JTStarkiller
But I can see why others didn't. Really looking forward to Public Enemies. Seeing it this Friday.
July 2, 2009, 12:04 a.m. CST
MattmanReturns, I WAS REFERING TO THE STYLE AND TONE OF ALIEN...
by CharlesThomasMathews1978
I understand where you're coming from in regards to Miami Vice because that's what I thought when I first watched it but for some reason the movie has stuck with me.<br> <br>Alien is not only a classic but a masterpiece and I would NEVER claim that Miami Vice was in any way equal to it never mind that they are completely different genres so making comparisons would be pointless.<br> <br>However, my original point was about the tone and style of both movies, specifically in regards to acting. In both movies the actors give very naturalistic performances and we don't have any sort of traditional character motivation apart from what immediately happens to them on screen, how it affects them and how they react to their given situations.<br> <br>The characters are defined by the actors rather then any melodramatic speeches where they explain their motivation. They simply are. With Miami Vice I just find that very refreshing as opposed to the usual buddy cop clichéd bullshit that we get on a regular basis. But that's just me and you might be right that Miami Vice is a piece of shit but I think it's decent. Not great. Decent.
July 2, 2009, 2:17 a.m. CST
Lol, Miami Vice and Alien
by lockesbrokenleg
Yeah, let's compare a movie based on a TV show to a a movie that was created as cash cow to the Star Wars audience.
July 2, 2009, 2:50 a.m. CST
by dogstardude
TDK wasn't shot on HD. Wally Pfiester did it on Super 35mil and with some some scenes on 2 70mil iMax cams. The whole film was done on good old fashioned celluloid. So obviously you don't know what the fuck you're talking about.
July 2, 2009, 10:53 a.m. CST
lockesbrokenleg, YOU'RE A FUCKING MORON WHO UNDERSTANDS NOTHING.
by CharlesThomasMathews1978
Given your love for Transformers, I wouldn't expect you to understand what I'm talking about nor would I expect you to know how to eat with a fork.
July 2, 2009, 2:17 p.m. CST
Let's compare a big, shiny toy/tv show/cash cow
by blakindigo
to a movie—er, waitaminute, I believe CTM1978 is writing about, mood, pacing and naturalistic performances. He's not comparing the source material, how well it translated to the screen or the idiom it's presented in.<br><br>That's all the time we have for another fine game of YOU'VE MISSED THE POINT.<br><br>Thank you for playing…
July 2, 2009, 3:27 p.m. CST
Oh yes, ;let's diss a popular franchise loved by
by lockesbrokenleg
millions. Meanwhile, Public Enemies sucked shit.
July 2, 2009, 3:33 p.m. CST
Miami Vice ruled -- Mann never holds back
by ScreamingPenis
I always wondered if the guy getting shot in the foot at the end of Miami Vice was Michael Mann's way of paying homage to the huge LA bank robbery (possibly inspired by Heat) where the robbery was ended by a similar foot shot. The robbers were wearing bullet proof vests in that instance. Ask him next time.
July 2, 2009, 5:26 p.m. CST
lockesbrokenleg, you're fucked up
by MattmanReturns
You're defending one of the stupidest movies I've ever seen. Loved by millions? Yeah, loved by millions of children (that's why the movie did so well). Now, I'll admit I actually enjoyed Transformers 2, because I was high and the movie was so retarded that it was hilarious. But I'd never defend that piece of shit.
July 3, 2009, 12:01 a.m. CST
Dude, you're high right now
by lockesbrokenleg
You think Miami Vice is hot shit.
July 3, 2009, 1:46 a.m. CST
He'd NEED to be high to enjoy "Transformers 2"
by blakindigo
Wait, why is this still being discussed on a thread about Michael Mann?<br><br>Back to the topic at hand.
July 4, 2009, 1:12 a.m. CST
yeah, enjoy your fucking Public Enemies movie
by lockesbrokenleg
while you can. A fucking ICE AGE 3 movie beat it out at the box office. Most of these god send critics are slamming it.
July 4, 2009, 7:48 a.m. CST
film vs digital
by BendersShinyAss
9 years since episode 2??<p>Today i went to the shop and asked where the film isle is. the woman looked at me and paused "........film??" she said.... and she didn't say it like "why would you want film?" she said it like "What the hell is that?" <p>The argument of digital vs film is now totally subjective. Digital is at a terrific level right now. you shoot interlaced and it'll look SHIT. but shoot progressive and you have the potential to have a dynamite looking image. <p>but it's not about the stock - it's about the lens and the eye behind that lens. <p>film is not dead yet. it still looks a fuckload better. but it's ditial capture of that film frame which makes the two compliment each other so well. <p>Film is the king. Digital is the royal palace
July 4, 2009, 7:51 a.m. CST
That digital streaky blurr
by BendersShinyAss
It's actually something which can be avoided by shooting shutter speed 60-120 ... and lower (low light) and that video look really comes thru. <p>and hurts the show if you ask me. pulls me right out every time.
July 4, 2009, 7:59 a.m. CST
A note on speilberg
by BendersShinyAss
He may still shot film, but his film is developed straight to HD and all post is done as such.... THAT'S why Crystal Skull doesn't look as good as the old film. those old films were all negs and cuts and splices and prints of prints - ie generational loss - but film is of such a calibre that it just looks great when you work with it in such a way. Digital holds a little too much detail sometimes for my liking. <p>films shot on HD and released on film prints need to be transfered BACK to HD FROM the master film print..... then it'll look champion
July 4, 2009, 11:43 a.m. CST
I need help on this one! SPOILER ALERT
by My_IQ_is_135
At the end, they say that Melvin Purvis died by his own hands. Does that mean he committed Suicide or something. Call me stupid on this one, but I need to know.
July 4, 2009, 3:05 p.m. CST
It wasn't THAT great Caponi.
by Sal_Bando
It was a pretty good movie if a bit flat at times. But worth your time sure.
July 4, 2009, 6:07 p.m. CST
It's a 30's-set movie...
by Baryonyx
...which is filmed in HD in such an obvious HD way as to make it look like it was shot last week. Why?
July 4, 2009, 10:30 p.m. CST
I love Miami Vice, the tv show
by CherryValance
I don't understand still why they didn't call the movie and characters something else 'cause I didn't think it was anything like the show. And I thought Julia Roberts was on "Crime Story" as some girl who got molested or raped and her mom killed the guy? Something like that. Mike Torillo was always getting caught up in some chick's drama.
July 5, 2009, 9:52 a.m. CST
Dangermouse (re The Keep)
by Fish Tank
DEFINITELY remember it. Loved it at the time. Very moody, used a h3ll of a lot of backlighting, and was a very cool concept (based on a book I believe). Scott Glenn was at his bad-assiest in that as well (and those eyes). Plus it had Jurgen Prochnow. However, like most films of my early years, the memory is WAY better than the actual film. Starts out great, then just bogs down and makes little sense. I watched it again about 10 years ago, and I was sadly dissapointed. A vampire killing Nazis should have made for an exciting movie, but it really wasn't great. The Tangerine Dream soundtrack didn't help either. I LOVE Mann, and think he's a God, but try rewatching it if you can find it (on VHS) and I'm sure you'll see what I mean.
July 5, 2009, 2:59 p.m. CST
re: my_1q_is_135
by palimpsest
Purvis shot himself with the gun given to him by the FBI on his retirement. Initially ruled a suicide, it's since been stated that Purvis died as a result of an accidental discharge.
July 5, 2009, 3:10 p.m. CST
re: Baryonyx
by palimpsest
Mann's decision is simply this: id he wanted to make a 30s set movie using only 30s technology and stylistic / commercial / cultural constraints, he could have done. You'd have ended up with a stagey movie shot in black and white in academy ratio, with little camera movement with adherence to the Hays Code. Because he's making a movie for contemporary audiences, he's using the technology and stylistic considerations of the moment to give the film immediacy and relevance; colour, widescreen format, handheld camera, HD, CGI, practical effects, English and French actors in supporting roles and so on. Just a modern take on an old story. There's no point doing a more classically faithful version of the movie because a) that's been done before in 1945 and 1959, and film versions, each using stylistic and technical tropes of the time of release already exist in the John Milius and Lewis Teague versions from the 70s. There's also an early 90s TV movie with Mark Harmon, though I haven't seen that one, so can't comment. Doubtless in 20-30 years' time there'll be another re-telling which will use 3D or brain implants or whatever else is around at the time.
July 5, 2009, 3:42 p.m. CST
"Digital holds a little too much detail"
by BillboeFett
"Digital holds a little too much detail sometimes for my liking" <p> is what BendersShinyAss said. Ok, fine. Does real life also look too detailed for you? I would suggest you get some glasses and make sure the lenses are really fogged up and never clean them. <p> And when you watch a movie on TV, rub a thin layer of grease or vaseline over the screen--that should make things less crisp and clear and remove some resolution. <p> Problem solved.
July 5, 2009, 7:11 p.m. CST
HD vs. Film....
by snakecharmer
FIncher shoots in HD but his movies look a lot better than Manns. Mann insist on shooting his hd with a different shutter than gives the streaks. I dont know why?
July 5, 2009, 9:17 p.m. CST
Saw it, loved it
by MattmanReturns
Didn't seem slow to me at all. I thought it felt very realistic and not over dramatized. I even liked the digital cameras, even though I have had reservations about this sort of thing in the past. It gave the film a sense of urgency. Depp gives a very subtle, nuanced performance, and Bale is a fucking remorseless terminator in this thing. Oh and tommy guns have NEVER sounded as good as they do in this film. Fuck anybody who prefers Transformers 2 to this. I'm talking to you Locke. You're fucking ridiculous and should be ashamed of yourself.
July 6, 2009, 10:11 a.m. CST
"Absorbing?" Don't you mean boring as shit?
by gruntybear
It was typical Michael Mann. A couple of well-shot action set-pieces surrounded by an undercooked plot and an overuse of slow-mo. Johnny Depp played Johnny Depp and Christian Bale once again demonstrated his total inability to act. Why not just call the "Billie" character "Ornamental Cypher" and be done with it? Not worth a second look.
July 6, 2009, 4:39 p.m. CST
by uberman
I just saw PUBLIC ENEMIES. Good Film, not great. It's already fading from memory, however, despite some great detail to accuracy and a couple fantastic shoot outs. Depp was very good but I did not totally buy him as Dillinger. The real Dillinger had a pug nose, cleft chin and looked like he could be a hard ass when he wanted. Depp was just...too pretty to play an hardend con. HOWEVER, Warren Oates played Dillinger in a 1973 film (probably made to cash in on the interest in Bonnie and Clyde). I still remember parts of it, but I totally recall Oates as owning the role of Dillinger so much that he WAS Dillinger. That movie was, if memory serves me, a better picture than this one. That being said, this one is still very good. BTW: Dillinger never said anything as he lie dying on the sidewalk. Nada. Zip.
July 7, 2009, 8:47 a.m. CST
Saw it, and......
by Verbage
...it was good, Depp was solid, BUT, Mann has ruined the potential for this film to become a classic by shooting on video instead of film, because some scenes look really cheap, and shooting on film would have given it a classier and more tangible look with saturated colours and deeper hues. <p> The scene that most comes to mind is where they were in the cabin in the woods. That scene had the potential to be amazing, but because of the video, it reminded me of Canadian television programs. It looked cheap, and cold, and it's like watching a play rehearsal instead of a movie. Remember that episode of ER wayyyy back with the original cast which they filmed live on video cameras in black and white. It made the set look so much different, and the larger than life quality was gone, and the entire time you watched it you were very conscious that they were all actors pretending - that's what it's like. <p> Video makes you feel closer to the actors, kind of like watching home movies of your family, or films you made with your friends as a kid, but that's not the feeling you want when you go to the movies, so it felt like all that talent, money, and potential was cheapened because of this directors love for new technology and toys, and his poor taste for the aesthetics of the movie.
July 7, 2009, 1:02 p.m. CST
by Reckoner
You are entitled to that opinion, but I disagree. I think the one scene it is most beneficial to is Little Bohemia. It felt absolutely real. This is because the HD allows real lighting of the night to be the primary light source, not fake "movie-lighting". This makes the scene feel even more authentic.
July 7, 2009, 3:04 p.m. CST
I agree with Reckoner
by flickchick85
Getting rid of the "digital look" would hurt the film, not make it better.
July 7, 2009, 5:42 p.m. CST
Heat did Ok initially, Miami Vice has 68% Fresh on Rotten Tomato
by Stormwatcher
Sorry boyz, but 68% positive with almost 100% positive on the Top Critics does not make a 'SAVAGED by CRITICS' Heat did like 75million in its initial run and few people were hot for it till video. The same won't happen for Miami Vice, sadly but that movie is a very solid flick and in no way sullies or goes contrary to Micheal Mann's work. Just watched Manhunter again this weekend, damn fine film.
July 7, 2009, 6:34 p.m. CST
HD--Could be bad for actors.
by drewlicious
Or at least their vanity. Johnny Depps makeup was visible at times.
July 7, 2009, 6:35 p.m. CST
by lockesbrokenleg
You are a fucking movie snob. You also confuse opinions with facts. The fact is that PUBLIC ENEMIES is a boring piece of shit.
July 7, 2009, 6:40 p.m. CST
by uberman
Just pure crap in every concievable way. What a total washout on what should have been a lock.
July 7, 2009, 7:45 p.m. CST
by MattmanReturns
WTF? It's all opinion. Public Enemies has a fresh rating on rotten and exit surveys gave it a B... therefore "boring piece of shit" is certainly not a hardened fact. Even the people who didn't like it don't seem to hate it as much as your faggy Optimus Prime loving ass. It's not like I'm defending Batman and Robin here.
July 7, 2009, 8:30 p.m. CST
You say it's all opinion, then you go and cite RT
by lockesbrokenleg
Lol, you are an ass.
July 8, 2009, 12:35 p.m. CST
You say it's fact, but discount RT
by MattmanReturns
I was merely countering your statement of "fact". We can go on all day like this Locke. Your circular trollish logic is boring me.
July 9, 2009, 3:02 a.m. CST
It's disappointing.
by Fortunesfool
Easily Mann's worst film (I liked Miami Vice though). The film is lacklustre and never really engages on any level and the digital photography looks terribly out of place in a period setting. Seriously underwhelming for a Michael Mann film.
July 9, 2009, 1:03 p.m. CST
This film looked like ass.
by Two
I'm a huge proponent of digital, but a lot of this film looked like cheap, soap-opera, 30fps craptastic video. That does NOT make it look "real," it makes it look cheap, and low-budget. I've seen some great digital I'd say rivals film, and *some* of this movie looked okay, but large chunks looked like my cheap HD camcorder and a Home Depot light. Terrible shame, and distracting as hell from the otherwise admirable performances/plot.
July 10, 2009, 7:19 p.m. CST
Agree with Two and Verbage
by axel fff
I've never really paid much attention to the digital versus film discussions, but there were certainly scenes in this film that really had an "amateur" look to them---like the Little Bohemia cabin and some other night shots. It seemed distracting to me, but maybe in 30 years when we're accustomed to it, we won't notice how different it looks. I know Miami Vice was shot with digital cameras as well, but I didn't notice it being as distracting as it was in Public Enemies. <p> I would rank this film a little lower than Miami Vice. I know Dillinger is the star, but I think a little more Purvis would have been a nice balance---but maybe that would have been too much like Heat with the Pacino/DeNiro stuff. I liked Public Enemies, but I have a feeling it's going to fade from memory pretty quickly. <p> And call me old-fashioned, but I also thought the film relied on hand-held camerawork too much. Is there no such thing as a Steadicam for digital?
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