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…)
Scott Cooper is an actor-turned-writer/director who seems slightly under the radar to me. He made a splash with CRAZY HEART ten years ago, a movie that somehow seems overshadowed by Jeff Bridge’s Oscar-winning performance in it (and that I thought of a few times watching A STAR IS BORN). His followup, the gloomy crime drama OUT OF THE FURNACE (2013), teamed him with Christian Bale (POCAHONTAS) for the first time, and I have to admit that I have not seen his poorly reviewed BLACK MASS (2015). But he didn’t write that one. I only watch the ones he directs and writes, obviously.
2017’s HOSTILES (based on a manuscript written by Donald E. Stewart [JACKSON COUNTY JAIL, DEATHSPORT, THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, PATRIOT GAMES, CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER] in the ’80s) reteamed him with Bale for what might be categorized as a Real Serious Western – the kind where the director is hesitant to call it a western (“I don’t think in terms of genre… If anything it’s a psychological western in the vein of Anthony Mann…I don’t think it’s a western, it has more in common with Joseph Conrad or Larry McMurtry or Louis L’Amour” he told Moviemaker) and you want to grab them and tell them “all right cool it buddy, just admit you made a really good western.” (See also THE REVENANT.)
But I guess I sort of get it. A completely traditional western is not very marketable in this day and age. Most people don’t really want the genre without a little bit of a new spin on it, and HOSTILES has one. (read the rest of this shit…)
ROAD TO PALOMA is the directational debut of actor/barbarian Jason Momoa, who also co-wrote and stars as Robert Wolf, a rugged but charming motorcycle ridin fugitive. Six months ago he put on face paint and killed the man who raped and killed his mother. Since then he’s been laying low, “up in the Sierras mostly,” doing Jason Momoa things like building a fence, repairing cars and motorcycles, pushing wheelbarrows, drinking out of a tin cup next to a campfire, smoking loosely rolled cigarettes, and riding around desert highways, sometimes with a mask, but never with a helmet.
This is a road movie, and all along the road he has old friends and family who he loves to sneak up behind and growl or grab, and there is always smiling and lifting people and spinning them around. He is loved by the full range of age groups from children to the elderly.
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…)
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Recent commentary and jibber-jabber
Curt on The Huntsman: Winter’s War: “CJ, Google Translate gave me the gibberish result “A loss at first cabin”. However, the increasingly Skynet-like ChatGPT was more…” Mar 27, 00:22
Glaive Robber on The Huntsman: Winter’s War: “BTW, in regards to Vern’s comments on Jessica Chastain… I love her, I always look forward to a new performance…” Mar 26, 20:36
Glaive Robber on Black Bag: “The weirdest thing about those Marvel movies is how terrified they are of the source material. “Avengers: Age Of Ultron”…” Mar 26, 19:35
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Skani on Black Bag: “As for THUNDERBOLTS, I’ve been minimally interested for a long time and thought the CAPTAIN AMERICA looked super-generic and unambitious,…” Mar 26, 18:36
Skani on Black Bag: “Looking forward to the PRESENCE review. Haven’t seen that one yet, but I’m interested to sooner or later. Who am…” Mar 26, 16:23
Mr. Majestyk on The Wicked City (1992): “I was wondering why this title seemed so familiar. Then I saw the poster art and it clicked: I had…” Mar 26, 14:07
VERN on The Huntsman: Winter’s War: “I changed my mind, I think I will write a little bit about it to combine with another movie floundering…” Mar 26, 11:27
CJ Holden on The Huntsman: Winter’s War: “THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP had its German theatrical release at some point last year. I didn’t see much…” Mar 26, 11:26
Pacman2.0 on The Huntsman: Winter’s War: “DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP still hasn’t got a release date in the UK, so I imported the Italian Blu-Ray.…” Mar 26, 09:45
jojo on Black Bag: “If BLACK BAG is something different, they needed to sell that in the marketing to get people off their couch.…” Mar 26, 07:21
Toxic on Black Bag: ““TV is killing cinema” is about as old as TV though, isn’t it? I ended watching the trailer after having…” Mar 26, 07:16
June on Wicked City (1987): “I’ve never seen this but I saw the live-action version long ago and thought it was decent fun. I don’t…” Mar 26, 06:29
Mr. Majestyk on Black Bag: “I don’t think Marvel killed spy movies. Streaming did. It seems like every month a new movie or show about…” Mar 26, 05:58
Borg9 on Black Bag: “If it’s good serious spy movies you want, the Koreans, inevitably, have your back. I already posted somewhere about HUNT,…” Mar 26, 03:08
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.
Scott Cooper is an actor-turned-writer/director who seems slightly under the radar to me. He made a splash with 
ROAD TO PALOMA is the directational debut of actor/barbarian Jason Momoa, who also co-wrote and stars as Robert Wolf, a rugged but charming motorcycle ridin fugitive. Six months ago he put on face paint and killed the man who raped and killed his mother. Since then he’s been laying low, “up in the Sierras mostly,” doing Jason Momoa things like building a fence, repairing cars and motorcycles, pushing wheelbarrows, drinking out of a tin cup next to a campfire, smoking loosely rolled cigarettes, and riding around desert highways, sometimes with a mask, but never with a helmet.
July 22, 1999
