The Michael Mann poll

I've never been able to sit through Ronin tbh

RONGest poll evah, Thief rules!

I watched the Thief Blu-ray and the movie still looks undernourished. Why couldn't Tuesday Weld play the thief?

the undernourished quality is one of its big conceits, i think -- its pretensions to genre purity mean it sweeps a lot of things aside. for better and for worse.

Finished a rewatch of "Miami Vice," and there is so much in it that "Blackhat" tries to replicate with far, far worse results. If "Miami Vice" views like some action epic cut down so much it hints and nudges itself along, subliminally, even radically,"Blackhat" is as if he took an even slighter story and cut so much out of it that it starts to lose bone along with all the flesh. It's barely a skeleton.

I have never really been into or even seen all of Mann's political/historical stuff. I am fine sticking with Manhunter, Heat, Miami Vice, watching parts of Collateral if it happens to be on television

Replace Manhunter with Thief and we're 100% on the same page.

fair enough

Manhunter is beautifully shot and tense as hell but once it goes baroque with the Iron Butterfly it gets unforgivably cheesy.

Miami Vice has scenes whose details are pretty inscrutable until after multiple viewings. Blackhat had potential for this, but is either too rushed or preposterous throughout. The restaurant scene actually gives background to the Hemsworth character's physical strength ("gladiator school" and the rest), but it also has both a ridiculous setup and concluding fight.

The structure of the whole thing and where it ends up -- with characters without passports, a country, or any belonging but to their skills -- are both potentially compelling, but mostly after seeing it twice was left looking at what it could have been.

CitizenFour is a far better Hong Kong-based international techno-thriller.

The first two thirds of Blackhat left a lot to be desired, but I really really liked the last act.

I have never really been into or even seen all of Mann's political/historical stuff. I am fine sticking with Manhunter, Heat, Miami Vice, watching parts of Collateral if it happens to be on television

Mostly agree but Ali has its moments.

Man, Collateral is fucking gorgeous. Wish the script was a few shades less dumb.

Paramount will release Academy Award-nominated director Michael Mann’s (HEAT, THE INSIDER, COLLATERAL) ENZO FERRARI, starring Academy Award-winner Christian Bale (DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY, THE FIGHTER, AMERICAN HUSTLE) as Ferrari. It takes place in one pivotal year, 1957. It is the personal story of a passionate man and his sprawling world, at times hilarious and at the next moment devastating, as he faces a brutal challenge to his survival.

Vendian Entertainment and YooZoo Bliss Film Fund have come on to finance the heavily-anticipated project, which will shoot next summer in Italy. Mann will produce along with Vendian and YooZoo Bliss. YooZoo Pictures also will distribute ENZO FERRARI in China. Vincent Maraval’s Insiders will commence international sales on selected territories at next month’s American Film Market.

ENZO FERRARI was written by Troy Kennedy-Martin (THE ITALIAN JOB, KELLY’S HEROES, EDGE OF DARKNESS), revised by David Rayfiel (THE FIRM, SABRINA) and Michael Mann and based on the Brock Yates book, “Enzo Ferrari, The Man, the Cars, the Races.”

Hmm. I guess I'm ready for Mann to do another one outside his wheelhouse.

written by guys who wrote bad remakes

Kennedy-Martin wrote the original Italian Job, Kelly's Heroes and Edge of Darkness screenplays

huh! how is he still alive?

He's not! Died in 2009.

oopsy

Entourage predicting the future again

Is the diner meeting the most written-about scene in the past few decades? Any other contenders?

In any case, some new angles and details here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/blackhat/pacino-deniro-making-of-heat/

Including this, which is actually easy to imagine working well:
At one stage, Jeff Bridges and Nick Nolte were considered as a backup plan.

NYC February retro includes "an evening with"

http://www.bam.org/film/2016/michael-mann

I totally spaced that he did Last of the Mohicans.

preceded the self-indulgent dross.

Mohicans is like if Barry Lyndon Kubrick directed a Hollywood action movie.

xpost The Insider is ace, and far from self-indulgent. Sometimes it's my favorite of his.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPlUxN3y4dw

Lots of good rants in that one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNKmmA6_oTQ

so labored....

You say labored, I say well-crafted.

i'm not inclined to invest much in a fantasy about "TV news ethics" from the get-go.

as much a fantasy as The Last of the Mohicans and as watchable.

http://deadline.com/2016/03/michael-mann-heat-prequel-novel-michael-mann-books-publishing-imprint-1201721330/

Blackhat doesn't really get massively stupid until the second hour, esp the last 30 minutes.

That's for sure. It never seemed terrible to me until I realized it was not only not getting better, but quickly getting worse.

I like the idea of where Blackhat ends up -- as with Miami Vice, you have characters who are truly alone, having lost their citizenship, their honest relationship to their employer, their family. But then there's the reality of Hemsworth on a hilltop rattling off the top industries of Indonesia...

that was better than "We'll mourn later."

So Blackhat on HBO feels like a pretty different cut — different editing and pace.

And Mann screened a whole other different cut, opening with the soybean trading and building up to the reactor, instead of starting with it:
http://www.indiewire.com/2016/02/breaking-down-michael-manns-sharper-directors-cut-of-blackhat-272478/

I think at this point Mann has revised more films post-release (Blackhat, Ali, Manhunter, Miami Vice, Mohicans, Thief, even Heat) than not (Insider, Collateral, Public Enemies).

Any opinion on if it's better or just different?

The theatrical cut of Miami Vice, with the cold open, was definitely better imo

New cut of Ali out today:

http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/features/michael-mann-why-i-recut-ali-into-a-political-thriller-w462021

http://deadline.com/2017/01/ali-movie-directors-cut-michael-mann-will-smith-muhammad-ali-1201887992/

Is "The Insider" his only film that he has not recut?

I don't think he recut Public Enemies, though it could use one.

The recut of Blackhat definitely improves it.

Heat was never recut iirc?

Has the recut of Blackhat been released commercially? I've never seen that movie in any form but would be interested to see it.

Matt Zoller Seitz, Molly Haskell: M Mann films are Nancy Meyers movies for dudes

MZS: I had a conversation with a friend of mine years ago about the films of Michael Mann, and he said, “I think they’re marvelous films, and here we are talking about them as if they’re very deep and serious works of art, but on another level, aren’t they just Nancy Meyers films for dudes?” Like, “Look at this beautiful house and kitchen, now let’s walk along the beach,” but instead of talking about whether they’re going to go out on a date with that cute dentist, they’re brooding and looking out at the waves and thinking about robbing a bank.

MH: Your friend is absolutely right, and the fact that we don’t look at them as in any way similar is the sexist heart of it all, really. Because one is treated as trivial, the other is auteurist and imaginative and visually beautiful, all of that, which is a higher order of art than the Nancy Meyers films.
I mean, that one with De Niro, "The Intern," is just very funny and loving!

MZS: A double feature of “Heat” and “The Intern” would be interesting.

MH: And you should introduce it and discuss why you paired them! I’ll come with you and we’ll talk about that!

http://www.rogerebert.com/mzs/molly-haskell-on-feminism-censorship-screwball-comedy-and-life-after-andrew-sarris

xpost The version of Blackhat HBO shows is the recut - still in the library on HBO Now The pacing, the sound, the storytelling - all improved.

Heat was tweaked but has the same running time on Blu-ray. I don't think he ever changed Collateral.

http://screenrant.com/hue-1968-michael-mann-vietnam-war-tv-miniseries/

The theatrical cut of Miami Vice is on Hulu. I've never seen it, so I guess I'll check it out.