Thursday, August 10, 2006

New Guest Oeuvre: Michael Mann (see right panel)


Let's get back into the swing of this...

7 comments:

Gator said...

Why don't you go the whole hog and rename this blog Manlymovies?

Good call on Mohicans though. And I'd go with the A for Manhunter for the Joan Allen scenes alone.

Patrick Wahl said...
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Patrick Wahl said...

He directed one other movie that is pretty hard to find now, The Jericho Mile. I saw it years ago, before I knew who Michael Mann was, and thought it was very good. I think it was a made for tv deal.

Anonymous said...

Very happy to see the Guest Oeuvre back on.

Michael Mann is actually one of my least favourite directors working today, and I'm happy that Miami Vice got a lukewarm reception from critics because it means I now won't feel compelled to go and see it.

I did however feel compelled to see Collateral when it was on general release and experienced it as a bad joke - tiny, girly-voiced Tom Cruise as a wise-creepy hitman? silly-schmancy framing and ugly DV lensing? Audioslave on the soundtrack to convince me an emotional undercurrent was all set to emerge from within the plot holes?

I also laughed through the majority of Manhunter - I can't see how it's at all superior to any straight-to-video suspenser from the 80s.

When I finally got around to sitting through Heat, it turned out to be a non-event. (Which reminds me: every Michael Mann movie makes me wanna sit up, burn a bra and start preaching the writings of whoever first came up with the concept of women characters with a personality.)

Ditto, Ali (though Will Smith was terrific in it).

The Insider however, I actually appreciated. Yet again, I found the photography too film-school-grad hip and Al Pacino even more grating than usual (it warms my heart to think that he was passed over by awards bodies in favour of his infinitely more impressive co-star), but it did hold my attention, it did make me wanna go out and discuss things, and it did make me decide I should tone down the venom that the mention of Michael Mann incites within me.

I'm yet to catch The Last of the Mohicans. I've read it's decent, but I'm still very afraid.

NATHANIEL R said...

i always am left scratching my head whenever anyone calls Collateral 'ugly' --sorry Goran. I don't get that at all. whatever one thinks of the casting and storyline and other particulars it was a beaut visually.

but anyway... Last of the Mohicans is exactly like all Oscar bait historical epics should be. Really vibrant unfussy sequences, gorgeous looking, solid acting. It's not one of my favorite films or anything but it's miles better than other films within the genre.

Jasper Milvain said...

Very glad you still like The Insider. Have some watching to do before I could comment otherwise...

tim r said...

This went:

Thief (1981) B
The Keep (1983) B—
Manhunter (1986) A
L.A. Takedown (1989) C+
The Last of the Mohicans (1992) A—
Heat (1995) B+
The Insider (1999) A—
Ali (2001) B
Collateral (2004) C+
Miami Vice (2006) C