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…)
This may surprise you, but I have always wanted to see ANACONDA. It’s a theatrically released, pre-SyFy Channel, early CG giant snake movie with an all star (more so now than then) cast, and I heard pretty good things about it, including a description of the best part of the movie (a famous scene involving Jon Voight) which was convincing. But somehow in all these years I never rented it. And then all the sudden last month Seattle’s S.I.F.F. Uptown screened it in a remastered DCP. The kind of thing I was hoping would happen to make up for all the theaters being forced to switch to digital. You take away our 35 mm, you better give us theatrical re-releases of ANACONDA and shit like that.
Maybe that’s why I never watched it. I was waiting for it to come back to the big screen. Maybe dreams do come true. (read the rest of this shit…)
Before seeing SAVAGES I wanted to catch up on some of the recent Oliver Stone pictures that I’d skipped. It turns out this one is 15 years old, so you could argue that I’m a little behind on Stone. Do you guys know if JFK is any good? What about PLATOON?
This is his most straight-forward crime genre picture before SAVAGES so I figured it was a good one to check out. Based on the book Stray Dogs by John Ridley (RED TAILS, UNDERCOVER BROTHER), it’s about this dirtbag Bobby (Sean Penn), an ex-tennis player in debt whose fancy-ass car breaks down in the middle of Tiny Desert Town, Hell (actually Superior, Arizona) on his way to delivering a bunch of cash to the guy who cut off some of his fingers, and then things get way worse. But he fucks Jennifer Lopez at least. (read the rest of this shit…)
Lara Croft (Angelina Jolie)’s trade is a “tomb raider,” which is like an asskicking archaelogical adventurist. It’s just like whatsisdick, the guy with the hat from that other movie that also used the word “raider” in the title – but don’t worry, that’s a coincidence. Lara’s introduced in what looks like some sort of an ancient crypt. She’s wearing short shorts, a The Phantom belt, spinning two pistols. Her crotch and her large, pointy boobs are somewhat emphasized, in my opinion. Might just be me.
Wouldn’t you fuckin know it, her search for treasure is interrupted by a large robot. Cue the electronical music and the wire-assisted acrobatics (remember we’re just two years after THE MATRIX). The fight is too forced to be very exciting in my opinion, but it ends on a nice touch: after killing the robot Lara takes a breath, then laughs to herself. (read the rest of this shit…)
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Recent commentary and jibber-jabber
Skani on The Accountant 2: “I was a big fan of the first one, but this one just kind of pissed me off for a…” Aug 7, 18:17
RBatty024 on The Fantastic 4: First Steps: “Didn’t this one get chopped down to size by the studio? I haven’t seen it, so who knows if that’s…” Aug 7, 09:33
MaggieMayPie on The Fantastic 4: First Steps: “I pretty much agree with everything Vern said and yet I still like the movie. This might be the case…” Aug 7, 09:31
Dtroyt on The Fantastic 4: First Steps: “This is one of those rare times when I pretty much have the exact opposite opinion to Vern. And that’s…” Aug 7, 07:40
Peter Campbell on The Fantastic 4: First Steps: “I saw it and felt it was fine but nothing great. My biggest problem with it is that they don’t…” Aug 7, 03:05
Timo on Superman (2025): “Superman inspired me to rewatch Carter. I read somewhere that Gunn is a big fan of director Jung Byung-gil and…” Aug 7, 02:43
CJ Holden on Sky High: “He was apparently very good at faking superstrength. In the first scene we see his dad walking into his room,…” Aug 7, 01:45
Franchise Fred on The Fantastic 4: First Steps: “agree with Vern. I’m especially surprised people are finding Sue the heart of the movie. She spends most of the…” Aug 7, 01:05
Jules on Sky High: “I’ve always had a soft spot for this one. My kids were the perfect age for it and I fondly…” Aug 6, 23:14
jojo on The Fantastic 4: First Steps: “I’ll see this… eventually. As a kid, the closest news stand carried no DC. So young jojo had no Superman…” Aug 6, 17:01
Bill Reed on The Fantastic 4: First Steps: “I sense I’ll be in the minority here, but I adored this one. I’m surprised and delighted to say it’s…” Aug 6, 16:19
wmjahn on The Predator: “I did … regnet it. PREY is great, but this one sucks: poor cast, some of the dumbest dialogue ever…” Aug 6, 05:50
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Johnny Cake on Fantastic Four (2005): “I remember liking this movie because the characters were ones I knew well. Seeing them brought to life was exciting.…” Aug 6, 00:54
Wandering on Sky High: “Wow, this movie has famed Tolstoy biographer Warren Peace? (Author of Leo Tolstoy by Warren Peace)” Aug 5, 17:40