HEAT (1995) is a remake, but not of the underrated 1986 Burt Reynolds movie HEAT (which was later remade as WILD CARD) – it’s Michael Mann’s second try at the story he turned into his 1989 TV pilot L.A. TAKEDOWN. Which was good! This is better. A controversial statement, but I stand by it.
It’s possibly Mann’s best movie, and certainly ranks high among crime movies of the ‘90s (which is saying something), in my view a masterpiece of the genre. It has that rare quality of feeling like a sprawling epic and a simple, intimate story at the same time. Like a Sergio Leone movie in that one specific sense.
It is pretty simple, in the same way that MANHUNTER is. You’ve got these two men who are on opposite sides of the law, which makes their lives pretty similar. They respect each other’s professionalism but, unlike John Woo characters, would sooner shoot each other than be on the same side. Pretty early in the movie, famously – legendarily, really – they suddenly parley, have coffee together and talk about it, kind of warn each other but both seem to enjoy talking to somebody else who gets what it’s like to live that life. At the time the hype was about Robert De Niro and Al Pacino doing a scene together – two titans had not come together like this since Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny in WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT – but now that novelty has long since faded and the scene still feels monumental. (read the rest of this shit…)
“We got approached with GODZILLA, and Dean was really in favor. I said, ‘Are you crazy? Have you seen a Godzilla film? How does the monster look? They put a guy in there.'” –Roland Emmerich
May 20, 1998
Man, LOST IN SPACE was a terrible summer blockbuster, but I was kind of excited to take a look at it because I had skipped it at the time and there was 20 years of curiosity build-up. And there’s another one coming later in the summer that I despised at the time, but it ended up being influential and kickstarting an in-my-opinion-bad-but-oddly-fascinating filmography, so I’m looking forward to finding out how I’ll feel about it now.
GODZILLA has neither of those factors going for it. I thought it sucked then and it has not grown better or more interesting. Director Roland Emmerich (WHITE HOUSE DOWN) has gone on to make fairly successful (but widely mocked) FX movies, often in the disaster genre. The only significance to this one is that it deflated his premature ascension to blockbuster-A-list after the still-befuddling-to-me smash success of INDEPENDENCE DAY in 1996. TriStar Pictures managed to build up fevered anticipation with a series of teasers that kept the design of the monster a secret. I remember one used the scene where the fisherman runs down the dock as Godzilla’s spikes tear through it. The tagline “SIZE DOES MATTER” simultaneously promised thrilling spectacle and giggled “ha ha, you get it, because of penises.”
I was skeptical on account of my belief in the auteur theory. I was one of the rare wet blankets who hated ID4 (which stands for “Independence Day takes place partly on July 4th”) and as much as I wanted to see a cool modern Godzilla movie I didn’t think this guy had the skills to do it. On May 20th most of the world ended up agreeing with me. (read the rest of this shit…)
a survey of summer movies that just didn’t catch on
July 22, 1999
MYSTERY MEN. Huh. There might’ve been room for a big budget super hero parody movie in 1999, if you’re into that sort of thing, but it needed better jokes than “ha ha, this would be a terrible super hero. What a dumb name and costume.” This is an impressive cast in a big, expensive comedy with very few laughs.
A group of amateur super heroes – shovel-carrying The Shoveler (William H. Macy, THE LAST DRAGON), fork-throwing Blue Raja (Hank Azaria, HEAT) and leather-jacket wearing Mr. Furious (Ben Stiller, NEXT OF KIN) struggle to find success or recognition. They’re definitely meant to be lovable underdog misfits, but I had trouble respecting them. It’s established that there’s an actual super powered guy called Captain Amazing (Greg Kinnear, THE MATADOR) who’s a douche and wears corporate logos like a NASCAR driver but he’s made Champion City so safe that he has to get his arch-nemesis Casanova Frankenstein (Geoffrey Rush, MUNICH) released from the asylum just to have something to do. Before that happens the unnamed Mystery Men couldn’t be little guys trying to make a different in a harsh world – they’re delusional losers trying to feel important by forcing themselves into a job that they’re not needed for, and are really, really bad at. I did not find them appealing. (read the rest of this shit…)
The most philosophically ambitious of the 3 PG-rated movies I watched is the one that’ll probly get the least credit for it, George Motherfuckin Two Men Enter One Man Leaves Miller’s HAPPY FEET TWO. And first of all I want to give them credit for spelling out the number in their sequel title and not misspelling it for a pun. I’m sure it’s not the first spelled out non-homonym sequel title in history, but I couldn’t name you another one. (read the rest of this shit…)
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Recent commentary and jibber-jabber
Falconman on Godzilla Minus Zero: “So Godzilla doesn’t take Manhattan in this movie? The teaser showed him standing next to the Statue of Liberty.” Nov 9, 13:54
Mr. Majestyk on Godzilla Minus Zero: “Once again, I find myself the outlier. While I concede that MINUS ONE is an extremely well made movie–excellent monster…” Nov 9, 11:37
Franchise Fred on Godzilla Minus Zero: “Did you get to see it in IMAX? It’s really extraordinary.” Nov 9, 10:45
TKFopp on Godzilla Minus Zero: “While it can’t match the surprise and impact of MINUS ONE, I may end up rewatching this one more, as…” Nov 9, 09:21
Peter Campbell on Godzilla Minus Zero: “I loved this film. Saw it last week. I didn’t really have any problems with the melodramatic excesses as it…” Nov 9, 08:41
Comrade Question on Godzilla Minus Zero: “It 100% needed an extra beat at the end of that fight. Still awesome. My group had two 13-year-old Godzilla…” Nov 9, 08:37
Danger Mouse on Godzilla Minus Zero: “I thought I was crazy, too. We never actually saw Ghidorah die, just a big concussive wave. The assumption is…” Nov 9, 08:25
PetrosMT on Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother: “I’m not religious either so I suppose we will meet at our church…the cinema? 🙏🍿” Nov 9, 04:02
VERN on Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother: “Like I said I’m not religious so I’m okay with blaspheming. But of course I did not make a quality…” Nov 8, 17:59
PetrosMT on Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother: “There is a fine balance game to be played when trying to make an “arthouse badass” flick. This movie, in…” Nov 8, 17:04
grimgrinningchris on Jonathan Livingston Seagull: “Me noticing the “not much happens” tag and then seeing that it also leads to THE BROWN BUNNY and ELECTROMA.…” Nov 8, 11:54
Napoleon II Nitroglycerine on A Nightmare On Elm Street (remake): “That sole decent idea in this “film” – Fred being innocent and killed for being maligned – was actually stolen…” Nov 8, 06:21
Napoleon II Nitroglycerine on Class of 1984: “This would have been just a mostly trashy, mostly silly revengexploitation flick from the 80s, were it not for one…” Nov 8, 06:07
Bryan S on Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother: “There is a Mormon service in this? And a Muslim and Mormon finding common ground? That is awesome. Can’t wait…” Nov 7, 08:06
HEAT (1995) is a remake, but not of the underrated 1986 Burt Reynolds movie HEAT (which was later remade as WILD CARD) – it’s Michael Mann’s second try at the story he turned into his 1989 TV pilot L.A. TAKEDOWN. Which was good! This is better. A controversial statement, but I stand by it.
“We got approached with GODZILLA, and Dean was really in favor. I said, ‘Are you crazy? Have you seen a Godzilla film? How does the monster look? They put a guy in there.'” –Roland Emmerich
GODZILLA has neither of those factors going for it. I thought it sucked then and it has not grown better or more interesting. Director Roland Emmerich (
July 22, 1999
The most philosophically ambitious of the 3 PG-rated movies I watched is the one that’ll probly get the least credit for it, George Motherfuckin Two Men Enter One Man Leaves Miller’s HAPPY FEET TWO. And first of all I want to give them credit for spelling out the number in their sequel title and not misspelling it for a pun. I’m sure it’s not the first spelled out non-homonym sequel title in history, but I couldn’t name you another one.
