"Well ya know, for me, the action is the juice."
December 15, 2015 7:20 AM Subscribe
A guy told me one time, "Don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner."Michael Mann's Heat was released 20 years ago today.
This is a great movie...and you got your head all the way up it!
Much of Heat is based on real-life encounters between career criminal Neil McCauley and Chicago cop Chuck Adamson in the early 1960s. (Adamson was a consultant on several Mann movies; McCauley was killed in a shootout in 1964.)
The movie's structure is built around three heists around Los Angeles.
Heat is a remake of Mann's own 1989 TV movie L.A.Takedown. The BBC documentary Mann Made: From LA Takedown to Heat (parts one and two) feature an interview with Mann and side-by-side comparisons of the film.
Heat deals with the themes of work and professionalism that are common in Mann's films.
Elements of style: Neil McCauley’s Gray Double-Breasted Suit, the soundtrack; Alex Colville’s painting Pacific/
Heat was The Dissolve's Movie of the Week in January 2015:Grantland and Slate look at how Heat compares to the rest of Mann's movies. Esquire explains Why Heat Is Still an Action Masterpiece 20 Years Later A.V. Club breaks down What makes Heat tick. 15 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Heat. Roger Ebert's Crime in the emptiness of Los Angeles is a great review and analysis. Siskel & Ebert review.
Next time you watch it, have a stopwatch handy for the scene towards the end in which McCauley leaves the airport hotel to make his escape with Eady (Amy Brenneman), his young love, and then realises Hanna is on his tail.
Start it running at the moment McCauley becomes fully aware of the gravity of the situation. De Niro rocks backwards on his feet slightly, as if the realisation has physically brushed past him. Then stop it as soon as he’s glanced back at Eady for the last time before disappearing into the crowd. I made it 29.8 seconds exactly. That’s the discipline.
Makes me miss The Dissolve even more.
posted by blucevalo at 7:34 AM on December 15, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by blucevalo at 7:34 AM on December 15, 2015 [4 favorites]
Haircuts and Airports - Gabriel Kahane is sort of about Heat, and also just a nice little song, in case you wanted some relevant background music for all this Heat-reading.
posted by everybody had matching towels at 7:37 AM on December 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by everybody had matching towels at 7:37 AM on December 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
I have seen the movie at least a dozen times and never got that 30 second edit call-back.
The whole movie about people and things turning on a dime: few slow burns, no plans go as expected. The moments where each of the three heists goes bad. The hooker's killing. The ex-con's decision to drive for the third heist rather than stick with his parole. DeNiro finding out where the snitch was hiding and detouring to kill him. Val Kilmer's heading to his happy reunion and in an instant realizing it isn't happening when Ashley Judd gives him the no-go sign.
Etc.
posted by MattD at 7:47 AM on December 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
The whole movie about people and things turning on a dime: few slow burns, no plans go as expected. The moments where each of the three heists goes bad. The hooker's killing. The ex-con's decision to drive for the third heist rather than stick with his parole. DeNiro finding out where the snitch was hiding and detouring to kill him. Val Kilmer's heading to his happy reunion and in an instant realizing it isn't happening when Ashley Judd gives him the no-go sign.
Etc.
posted by MattD at 7:47 AM on December 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
I've never seen the movie, but played the soundtrack a lot in college and law school.
posted by crush-onastick at 7:58 AM on December 15, 2015
posted by crush-onastick at 7:58 AM on December 15, 2015
I first heard of Heat while digging up more information on DJ Shadow's Stem (Cops n' Robbers mix). Stem (Cops n' Robbers mix) vocals are done by dialogue from Heat, which along with Shadow's sampling of sound effects from the movie and other records, make for an exquisite piece of art, independent of the film.
(At 14, this was also my first introduction to DJ Shadow and also to the worlds of trip-hop, turntablism, and instrumental hip-hop.... and 1 of my 5 or 10 favorite songs of all time..)
A year or so later, I watched Heat, my only knowledge of its plot from Stem (Cops n robbers mix).. And I was pleasantly surprised to find the storyline of Heat to diverge from Stem
That DJ Shadow created a plot different than that of Heat's made increased my appreciation for DJ Shadow's work. He hasn't done this type of work - sampling a movie's dialogue to create its storyline within the song, since, nor have many (if any?) artists have either.
posted by fizzix at 8:03 AM on December 15, 2015 [5 favorites]
I need to rewatch this. It's been years. There is something about the final shootout that I feel like opened some doors on mass shootings in the US. This is just me talking and my reaction, I have nothing to back it up, but the shoot out was just so straight ahead and violent and ugly. I felt a lot like people saw it and started to think about those kinds of shootings differently. Ah, I'm having a hard time articulating what I mean. I guess I feel like the unvarnished nature of the thing made people realize you can just do that sort of stuff.
posted by OmieWise at 8:04 AM on December 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by OmieWise at 8:04 AM on December 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
Still waiting for the sequel: Reheat.
posted by ogooglebar at 8:06 AM on December 15, 2015 [7 favorites]
posted by ogooglebar at 8:06 AM on December 15, 2015 [7 favorites]
Saw this when it was in the theaters.. Like the ptsnob link, I was conflicted, because I was rooting for the bad guys, which left me trying to sort out how why for a few days. Haven't re-watched it since, though.
posted by k5.user at 8:06 AM on December 15, 2015
posted by k5.user at 8:06 AM on December 15, 2015
Nice post, slick.
posted by longbaugh at 8:11 AM on December 15, 2015 [10 favorites]
posted by longbaugh at 8:11 AM on December 15, 2015 [10 favorites]
The audio in this movie is so good. I am not enough of a sound expert to really understand why, but the score and the ambient audio mix together to create a really wonderful through-line that helps to enhance the film's already superb pacing.
Also there's just something about movies that feel confident enough to start with long, moody shots that makes me happy.
I do remember when I first watched this that for whatever reason I had a kind of "cinematic third-eye opening" moment during the bank shootout. There's a moment where Al Pacino's character is running after one of the robbers, and he comes up to a concrete pillar on the outside of the building and takes cover. The camera sort of follows him very evenly on a slight delay, then swings just a bit outward to encompass his view down the sidewalk. I think I was in high school and I just remember thinking "Oh! That was intentional! The director is doing something here! This is how you make a film!"
posted by selfnoise at 8:11 AM on December 15, 2015 [10 favorites]
Also there's just something about movies that feel confident enough to start with long, moody shots that makes me happy.
I do remember when I first watched this that for whatever reason I had a kind of "cinematic third-eye opening" moment during the bank shootout. There's a moment where Al Pacino's character is running after one of the robbers, and he comes up to a concrete pillar on the outside of the building and takes cover. The camera sort of follows him very evenly on a slight delay, then swings just a bit outward to encompass his view down the sidewalk. I think I was in high school and I just remember thinking "Oh! That was intentional! The director is doing something here! This is how you make a film!"
posted by selfnoise at 8:11 AM on December 15, 2015 [10 favorites]
Back in the old days of the Internet there was a Shoutcast station that ran the audio track on a loop 24-7. It was the soundtrack to many late night crunch sessions. The audio and music create just as much tension as the visuals.
I've always loved this film and always find myself having to defend it to my other cinematic literate friends as a 90s masterpiece. They never quite see past the bombastic Pacino performance or the slow pace.
Also there is a great BFI book on Heat that lays out its noir underpinnings and the pyschogeographies of LA.
posted by abigailKim at 8:36 AM on December 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
I've always loved this film and always find myself having to defend it to my other cinematic literate friends as a 90s masterpiece. They never quite see past the bombastic Pacino performance or the slow pace.
Also there is a great BFI book on Heat that lays out its noir underpinnings and the pyschogeographies of LA.
posted by abigailKim at 8:36 AM on December 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
This is another film that came out when I was working in a movie theater, and I got to watch a lot of it in bits and pieces. It was a gorgeous film on the big screen. The "cop married to his job" and "lonely career criminal" tropes are laid on pretty thick, but it's such a stylistic masterpiece that it gets away with it.
(Although I have to say that in terms of willing suspension of disbelief, one of the hardest plot points to swallow is how in the hell Eady can afford to rent a house in the Hollywood Hills on a bookstore clerk/freelance graphic designer's income.)
posted by usonian at 8:40 AM on December 15, 2015 [4 favorites]
(Although I have to say that in terms of willing suspension of disbelief, one of the hardest plot points to swallow is how in the hell Eady can afford to rent a house in the Hollywood Hills on a bookstore clerk/freelance graphic designer's income.)
posted by usonian at 8:40 AM on December 15, 2015 [4 favorites]
Heat is sometimes credited with inspiring the North Hollywood shootout in February 1997. Two guys wearing homemade body armor and carrying automatic weapons had a massive shootout with about 300 cops. They held off the outgunned and out-armored patrol officers until SWAT arrived.
posted by kirkaracha at 8:44 AM on December 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by kirkaracha at 8:44 AM on December 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
Lets also not forget that, like many action movies of the time, it borrowed it's actions scenes rather liberally from Hong Kong films including but not limited to the masterpiece Organized Crime And Triad Bureau
But that doesn't change the fact that it's a great movie. I've always thought that the fact he remade it is key because he basically got better actors to speak the dialogue that he apparently couldn't let go of.
posted by lumpenprole at 9:17 AM on December 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
But that doesn't change the fact that it's a great movie. I've always thought that the fact he remade it is key because he basically got better actors to speak the dialogue that he apparently couldn't let go of.
posted by lumpenprole at 9:17 AM on December 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
One small moment that for some reason is burned into my memory of this film: this scene in a diner, where McCauley smashes Waingro's face into the table and Tom Sizemore's character stares down a dude watching from another table. Sizemore's utterly dead, ice cold stare has haunted me always.
posted by Enemy of Joy at 9:46 AM on December 15, 2015 [10 favorites]
posted by Enemy of Joy at 9:46 AM on December 15, 2015 [10 favorites]
Thanks for a great post, which I will save for the holidays.
In general, I don't enjoy action films. I didn't even see the Godfather films until I was well into my 40's and I have no regrets about that. But Heat, I've seen it several times on the big screen. It is so musical and so accurate in every element and detail and in the relation of the parts to the whole, and the rhythm, and the casting and well, everything. Including that it is such a meta-movie with layers and layers of film-knowledge (some of which I couldn't see for my self because [see above], but having friends explain me about all the references was an extra layer of enjoyment to me.
posted by mumimor at 9:50 AM on December 15, 2015
In general, I don't enjoy action films. I didn't even see the Godfather films until I was well into my 40's and I have no regrets about that. But Heat, I've seen it several times on the big screen. It is so musical and so accurate in every element and detail and in the relation of the parts to the whole, and the rhythm, and the casting and well, everything. Including that it is such a meta-movie with layers and layers of film-knowledge (some of which I couldn't see for my self because [see above], but having friends explain me about all the references was an extra layer of enjoyment to me.
posted by mumimor at 9:50 AM on December 15, 2015
One of the greatest American crime movies ever made, imo. I've probably seen it 30 times.
There is a terrific lesson for screenwriters in this film, which is that if you need your characters to do something they wouldn't, then do it first. In Heat, that thing they would never do is hire Waingro. These guys are meticulous experts at that they do. They don't work with people they don't know. But the plot needs them to so it's practically the first scene after the credits because if they did that 20 minutes in you wouldn't buy it.
A similar lesson is in Michael Clayton -- (Spoilers!) -- you need a Deus Ex Machina to get the lead out of a car before it explodes, but he's by himself and has no real reason to exit. The screenwriter therfore puts the scene first, and then flashes back to tell the rest of the story so that when that event happens again later, we don't question it because we already know what's going to happen.
Two very smart writers getting around huge plot holes with nobody noticing.
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 9:53 AM on December 15, 2015 [36 favorites]
There is a terrific lesson for screenwriters in this film, which is that if you need your characters to do something they wouldn't, then do it first. In Heat, that thing they would never do is hire Waingro. These guys are meticulous experts at that they do. They don't work with people they don't know. But the plot needs them to so it's practically the first scene after the credits because if they did that 20 minutes in you wouldn't buy it.
A similar lesson is in Michael Clayton -- (Spoilers!) -- you need a Deus Ex Machina to get the lead out of a car before it explodes, but he's by himself and has no real reason to exit. The screenwriter therfore puts the scene first, and then flashes back to tell the rest of the story so that when that event happens again later, we don't question it because we already know what's going to happen.
Two very smart writers getting around huge plot holes with nobody noticing.
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 9:53 AM on December 15, 2015 [36 favorites]
The blocking in the diner scene with Waingro is choreographed so Waingro is always pinned in the inside seat in the booth. First he's hemmed in by Trejo. Then Trejo excuses himself to line the car trunk with plastic, and Cheritto (Tom Sizemore) changes seats to keep Waingro boxed in. Then McCauley (Robert De Niro) comes in and takes the seat in the booth next to Waingro that Trejo vacated, and Cheritto goes back to his original seat.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:31 AM on December 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by kirkaracha at 10:31 AM on December 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
I love Heat. I went to see it on a date when it first came out. I'm pretty sure the guy I went with had to talk me into seeing it, but I'm glad he did.
And Jeremy Piven is in it! Seriously, that guy just pops up everywhere.
posted by Elly Vortex at 10:38 AM on December 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
And Jeremy Piven is in it! Seriously, that guy just pops up everywhere.
posted by Elly Vortex at 10:38 AM on December 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
Ah, now I need to do a rewatch. I don't think I've seen it since it came out, but I got the Criterion Collection Blu-Ray of Thief not too long ago and it was incredible; the amount of beauty that Mann finds in Chicago--not the flashy architecture downtown but just the ordinary city streets--is breathtaking. Plus, Heat has Danny Trejo as Trejo and Pacino selling the idea that he can take Henry Rollins in a fight, easily.
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:18 AM on December 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:18 AM on December 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
I love Heat. It's a fun movie on the surface, but what I really enjoy are the very, very small details. Tom Sizemore's stare in the diner. De Niro weighing the options about his girlfriend outside the hotel. But mainly, I love the obsessive technical details. They're really fascinating.
The famous downtown LA shootout scene gets rightly praised a lot for applying realism to a fantastic scenario: the audio is non-canned urban gunfire, they have to reload at appropriate times, and the scene uses real guns firing blanks. But it's also interesting how De Niro's crew act like trained soldiers concerning how they use their guns and how they escape the firefight.
For one the crew uses their gun sights... which when it comes to automatic weapons in movies, almost never happens. I've read about Val Kilmer being especially praised for how well he handles his rifle and for employing by-the-books "tactical reloading." And when De Niro and his men methodically spray gunfire, shout "Go!" and then run at an angle to their next cover, they're employing the classic military tactic of suppressive fire and movement.
They're small points in a big loud scene, but I think it shows how close an eye for detail Mann really has. But mainly how good his technical advisors were.
posted by joechip at 12:25 PM on December 15, 2015 [6 favorites]
The famous downtown LA shootout scene gets rightly praised a lot for applying realism to a fantastic scenario: the audio is non-canned urban gunfire, they have to reload at appropriate times, and the scene uses real guns firing blanks. But it's also interesting how De Niro's crew act like trained soldiers concerning how they use their guns and how they escape the firefight.
For one the crew uses their gun sights... which when it comes to automatic weapons in movies, almost never happens. I've read about Val Kilmer being especially praised for how well he handles his rifle and for employing by-the-books "tactical reloading." And when De Niro and his men methodically spray gunfire, shout "Go!" and then run at an angle to their next cover, they're employing the classic military tactic of suppressive fire and movement.
They're small points in a big loud scene, but I think it shows how close an eye for detail Mann really has. But mainly how good his technical advisors were.
posted by joechip at 12:25 PM on December 15, 2015 [6 favorites]
I had a real strange first viewing of this. We saw it about half a year even before it was on general release, at THIMUN (big Model United Nations thing).
Even then I picked up it was a great film, but we were watching it with a few thousand exited, hormonal teenagers who were busy socialising and thinking of going out, getting drunk and getting with each other more than seeing a movie. The general consensus at the time was 'meh', but then again, we were all paying more attention to each other than to the movie.
I knew I had semi-missed a good movie (no regrets, though :-) ), but it was only later on when I saw the whole thing that I saw the classic, damn near-if-not-spot-on masterpiece I had missed at the time.
What struck me most was the tension the movie evoked, as well as the almost caricature-like characters which nevertheless were real enough to evoke actual people, flaws, flawed drives and perceptions and all.
Now I have to watch it again after all that time :-)
posted by MacD at 12:32 PM on December 15, 2015
Even then I picked up it was a great film, but we were watching it with a few thousand exited, hormonal teenagers who were busy socialising and thinking of going out, getting drunk and getting with each other more than seeing a movie. The general consensus at the time was 'meh', but then again, we were all paying more attention to each other than to the movie.
I knew I had semi-missed a good movie (no regrets, though :-) ), but it was only later on when I saw the whole thing that I saw the classic, damn near-if-not-spot-on masterpiece I had missed at the time.
What struck me most was the tension the movie evoked, as well as the almost caricature-like characters which nevertheless were real enough to evoke actual people, flaws, flawed drives and perceptions and all.
Now I have to watch it again after all that time :-)
posted by MacD at 12:32 PM on December 15, 2015
Pacino has to be over-the-top and bombastic, to be the yin to DeNiro's understated, calm yang. But his scenery chewing gets a bit much after 2.5 hours.
posted by a lungful of dragon at 12:37 PM on December 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by a lungful of dragon at 12:37 PM on December 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
I don't recall much of the movie except that line in the OP, and Moby's edited version of God Moving Over The Face Of The Waters, which I prefer to his original album version.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:39 PM on December 15, 2015
posted by filthy light thief at 12:39 PM on December 15, 2015
The famous downtown LA shootout scene gets rightly praised a lot for applying realism to a fantastic scenario...
What I like about this movie is how they show stuff without telling. You watch those guys when the bank heist goes pear-shaped: they're pros: as people upthread have pointed out, Val Kilmer's handling of his rifle is really, really good.
And then you realize, this is not these guys' first rodeo. You start to wonder where they all acquired these skills. Probably in the military. Vietnam maybe? And then you start to imagine that that's probably where they met in the first place: a bunch of green berets or Delta Force or something that realized they could put their skills to use to make themselves a lot more money than they were getting from Uncle Sam's paychecks.
I know it's not in the movie, and the subtext is slight, but there's still enough there for me to believe it...
posted by nushustu at 1:01 PM on December 15, 2015 [6 favorites]
What I like about this movie is how they show stuff without telling. You watch those guys when the bank heist goes pear-shaped: they're pros: as people upthread have pointed out, Val Kilmer's handling of his rifle is really, really good.
And then you realize, this is not these guys' first rodeo. You start to wonder where they all acquired these skills. Probably in the military. Vietnam maybe? And then you start to imagine that that's probably where they met in the first place: a bunch of green berets or Delta Force or something that realized they could put their skills to use to make themselves a lot more money than they were getting from Uncle Sam's paychecks.
I know it's not in the movie, and the subtext is slight, but there's still enough there for me to believe it...
posted by nushustu at 1:01 PM on December 15, 2015 [6 favorites]
And then you start to imagine that that's probably where they met in the first place: a bunch of green berets or Delta Force or something that realized they could put their skills to use to make themselves a lot more money than they were getting from Uncle Sam's paychecks.
That's where the Zetas (Mexican narco-cartel) came from, right? They were originally an elite Federal police force who realized that they could do much better working for the other side.
Interesting angle! I have to admit that although I've seen the movie an embarrassing number of times, I never thought to think about their "origin story". Ok ... gotta watch again.
posted by theorique at 1:19 PM on December 15, 2015
That's where the Zetas (Mexican narco-cartel) came from, right? They were originally an elite Federal police force who realized that they could do much better working for the other side.
Interesting angle! I have to admit that although I've seen the movie an embarrassing number of times, I never thought to think about their "origin story". Ok ... gotta watch again.
posted by theorique at 1:19 PM on December 15, 2015
This tickles me in a way that I can't quite articulate.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 1:27 PM on December 15, 2015
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 1:27 PM on December 15, 2015
I think I told this story years ago on Mefi, but it's my absolute favorite Heat-connected memory: one summer evening back in high school, we decided to watch it after smoking a lot of pot. There was one guy who hadn't even heard of it, and during the opening credits he asked what the movie was about. We convinced him it was about a heat wave that hits L.A., and a gang of Robin Hood-style robbers who raid air conditioning factories and give them out to low income houses.
We got halfway through the movie (remember when you had to put in a second VHS tape for longer movies?) and as the tapes were being swapped, this guy sat up all confused and said "So ..... when does the heat wave start?".
posted by mannequito at 1:45 PM on December 15, 2015 [6 favorites]
We got halfway through the movie (remember when you had to put in a second VHS tape for longer movies?) and as the tapes were being swapped, this guy sat up all confused and said "So ..... when does the heat wave start?".
posted by mannequito at 1:45 PM on December 15, 2015 [6 favorites]
"Oh! That was intentional! The director is doing something here! This is how you make a film!"I had a very similar reaction to the scene in the bookstore coffee shop where McCauley and Eady meet. As he sits down the camera is behind them with both actors as far apart in the frame as possible (Eady is even out of focus!). The initial cold exchanges take place with one actor's back to the camera as the other speaks but when McCauley's guard is lowered as he recognises his rudeness the camera slowly pans around to shoot from the front and we see both actors faces in the same frame.
Mann's filming of the prison interview scene in Manhunter is also as deliberate and meticulous.
One of my very favourite films from one of my favourite film makers.
I remember the hype surrounding the fact DeNiro and Pacino would be sharing the screen for the first time and it's probably DeNiro's last great performance. (The "battle" of their coffee shop scene makes the recent Aldo and McGregor bout look like a close fought war of attrition)
posted by fullerine at 2:29 PM on December 15, 2015
Deadline: Michael Mann On The Long Odysseys of ‘Heat’ And ‘Ferrari’ – Toronto Q&A
DEADLINE: How far into the process did you fix on the idea of pairing Al Pacino and Robert De Niro?posted by Kabanos at 3:02 PM on December 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
MANN: That came when Art Linson and I were having breakfast at the Broadway Deli in Santa Monica…
DEADLINE: The same place where Neil meets Eady the first time…
MANN: Yet another great restaurant that’s no longer there because a greedy landlord raised the rent. Just like Kate Mantilini, for the same reason…
DEADLINE: Where you staged the scene between Pacino and De Niro…
MANN: Yeah.
Still waiting for the sequel: Reheat.
Val Kilmer told Larry King his idea for Heat 2, in 2013:
"Here's my pitch. You remember Natalie Portman in it? She's Pacino's adopted daughter, so she comes home and says, 'Daddy, daddy, I want you to meet my fiancé.' And it's me, because he's retired, and I come to Chicago where he's retired back to, and I'm gonna torture him, and then I'm gonna kill him. So, it's a mind game."
posted by Kabanos at 3:07 PM on December 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
Val Kilmer told Larry King his idea for Heat 2, in 2013:
"Here's my pitch. You remember Natalie Portman in it? She's Pacino's adopted daughter, so she comes home and says, 'Daddy, daddy, I want you to meet my fiancé.' And it's me, because he's retired, and I come to Chicago where he's retired back to, and I'm gonna torture him, and then I'm gonna kill him. So, it's a mind game."
posted by Kabanos at 3:07 PM on December 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
I remember the hype surrounding the fact DeNiro and Pacino would be sharing the screen for the first time and it's probably DeNiro's last great performance.
Fightin' words ;)
Louis Gara in Jackie Brown, Victor Tellegio in American Hustle, and for crying out loud! Walt Koontz in Flawless just to start.
The Score is often written off by Brando detractors, but *spoiler* DeNiro plays directly to the audience in the final scenes with a cry-baby face to convince Edward Norton's character not to betray him. The predictability of the movie hinges on that performance, a countenance of DeNiro rarely seen.
The conscientious choice of Pacino and DeNiro to so rarely work together says much about their knowledge of audiences and Hollywood and I would gamble a shared respect and comprehension of their talents and perceptions of that talent. Pacino has engaged a far greater sympathetic range that I don't believe DeNiro chooses to explore as directly, yet DeNiro can indicate much with seemingly little effort-- his work defies and defines what typecast means.
posted by lazycomputerkids at 5:02 PM on December 15, 2015
Fightin' words ;)
Louis Gara in Jackie Brown, Victor Tellegio in American Hustle, and for crying out loud! Walt Koontz in Flawless just to start.
The Score is often written off by Brando detractors, but *spoiler* DeNiro plays directly to the audience in the final scenes with a cry-baby face to convince Edward Norton's character not to betray him. The predictability of the movie hinges on that performance, a countenance of DeNiro rarely seen.
The conscientious choice of Pacino and DeNiro to so rarely work together says much about their knowledge of audiences and Hollywood and I would gamble a shared respect and comprehension of their talents and perceptions of that talent. Pacino has engaged a far greater sympathetic range that I don't believe DeNiro chooses to explore as directly, yet DeNiro can indicate much with seemingly little effort-- his work defies and defines what typecast means.
posted by lazycomputerkids at 5:02 PM on December 15, 2015
"You know, you can ball my wife if she wants you to. You can sit here in her ex-husband's dead-tech, post-modernistic, bullshit, house, if she wants you to ...
But you do. not. get to watch.
My.
Fucking.
TELEVISION SET."
posted by wabbittwax at 5:51 PM on December 15, 2015 [5 favorites]
But you do. not. get to watch.
My.
Fucking.
TELEVISION SET."
posted by wabbittwax at 5:51 PM on December 15, 2015 [5 favorites]
What is the thing on Val left elbow? You can see it in the scene when he's "sleeping it off" at Dinero'sDinero's place.
posted by snwod at 9:01 PM on December 15, 2015
posted by snwod at 9:01 PM on December 15, 2015
What is the thing on Val left elbow?
I hadn't noticed...but, wow, is that some acute swelling.
posted by lazycomputerkids at 9:13 PM on December 15, 2015
I hadn't noticed...but, wow, is that some acute swelling.
posted by lazycomputerkids at 9:13 PM on December 15, 2015
Kilmer broke his left arm while doing a stunt filming The Doors (1991) that left him with an abnormal growth on his elbow.
posted by kirkaracha at 9:28 PM on December 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by kirkaracha at 9:28 PM on December 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
Yeah. I thought maybe it's from sleeping on a hardwood floor, buy it shows up in a couple other scenes as well.
posted by snwod at 9:28 PM on December 15, 2015
posted by snwod at 9:28 PM on December 15, 2015
I usually love everything De Niro and Pacino, and to have them together!
But this was just long and slow for me as a twenty-something. Times two for my wife.
But every time I saw the cover at the video store I would pick it up and say, "Let's get it. DeNiro and Pacino, it's got to be good."
Maybe I need to rewatch it.
posted by bystander at 9:42 PM on December 15, 2015
But this was just long and slow for me as a twenty-something. Times two for my wife.
But every time I saw the cover at the video store I would pick it up and say, "Let's get it. DeNiro and Pacino, it's got to be good."
Maybe I need to rewatch it.
posted by bystander at 9:42 PM on December 15, 2015
"Not enough steaks in the freezer."
The highway meet up is cool. Hop into a chopper and then your crusing the bad guy, away from your 3rd wife and her dead tech home.
posted by clavdivs at 2:30 AM on December 16, 2015
The highway meet up is cool. Hop into a chopper and then your crusing the bad guy, away from your 3rd wife and her dead tech home.
posted by clavdivs at 2:30 AM on December 16, 2015
she's got a great ass..
and you've got your head all the way up it..
posted by nonemoreblack at 2:34 AM on December 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
and you've got your head all the way up it..
posted by nonemoreblack at 2:34 AM on December 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
I might have a Modern Mannathon sometime soon. Heat, Collateral, Miami Vice (it is actually really very good, other than the romance subplot) and maybe Blackhat which I've not seen as yet. I might even sneakily sneak Thief in there as well which is *such* a good film and iirc the first Dennis Farina role.
Then Crime Story and there's my next few month's viewing sorted...
posted by longbaugh at 4:24 AM on December 16, 2015
Then Crime Story and there's my next few month's viewing sorted...
posted by longbaugh at 4:24 AM on December 16, 2015
This movie is special to me because it will forever be linked with my Uncle. My Uncle is one of those larger than life individuals who fills up the room the moment he walks in. He's a colon and rectal surgeon in Dallas, TX and he's always ready to tell you a 'shitty' joke. He love to live and laugh.
We were eating at a Mexican restaurant downtown Friday night when this film opened. We had just finished eating when I suggested that we watch a film. It was 11:45 p.m and no one was in the mood for a film this late in the night but my Uncle quickly seized on this suggestion and told everyone that if no one else wanted to go, we would go by ourselves. I fell in love with this instantly. I was 15 years old and the idea of staying out late and going to a midnight film screening was exciting to me. My Uncle and I had no idea what Heat was about but once we saw that De Niro and Pacino were in this film, we were sold.
I remember my Uncle falling asleep at some point in the film but that didn't bother me. I was enraptured. Being out late with my favourite Uncle, being spoiled with a midnight screening, it was a wonderful memory. That the film was my first exposure to Michael Mann also made that night special. I realized very quickly that this was not a "normal bank heist" type of film. Thanks for the post. I think I might re-watch this tonight.
posted by Fizz at 5:53 AM on December 16, 2015 [6 favorites]
We were eating at a Mexican restaurant downtown Friday night when this film opened. We had just finished eating when I suggested that we watch a film. It was 11:45 p.m and no one was in the mood for a film this late in the night but my Uncle quickly seized on this suggestion and told everyone that if no one else wanted to go, we would go by ourselves. I fell in love with this instantly. I was 15 years old and the idea of staying out late and going to a midnight film screening was exciting to me. My Uncle and I had no idea what Heat was about but once we saw that De Niro and Pacino were in this film, we were sold.
I remember my Uncle falling asleep at some point in the film but that didn't bother me. I was enraptured. Being out late with my favourite Uncle, being spoiled with a midnight screening, it was a wonderful memory. That the film was my first exposure to Michael Mann also made that night special. I realized very quickly that this was not a "normal bank heist" type of film. Thanks for the post. I think I might re-watch this tonight.
posted by Fizz at 5:53 AM on December 16, 2015 [6 favorites]
Then Crime Story and there's my next few month's viewing sorted...
Inspired by this thread, I made a club on FanFare: Mann's World
posted by the man of twists and turns at 11:21 AM on December 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Inspired by this thread, I made a club on FanFare: Mann's World
posted by the man of twists and turns at 11:21 AM on December 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
I was just thinking about this movie recently. I love its shots of LA. I didn't really appreciate that part of it until I moved to LA. But now it's one of my favorite elements of the movie.
posted by persona au gratin at 11:33 AM on December 16, 2015
posted by persona au gratin at 11:33 AM on December 16, 2015
I love its shots of LA.
The shot where Neil returns home to his (empty) apartment after a difficult day, places his gun on the counter, and then goes to look out at the waves on the ocean may be my favorite shot in any movie, ever.
posted by theorique at 11:51 AM on December 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
The shot where Neil returns home to his (empty) apartment after a difficult day, places his gun on the counter, and then goes to look out at the waves on the ocean may be my favorite shot in any movie, ever.
posted by theorique at 11:51 AM on December 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
And diner scenes. I love diner scenes. Especially in LA.
posted by persona au gratin at 11:55 AM on December 16, 2015
posted by persona au gratin at 11:55 AM on December 16, 2015
Great story, fizz!
And you can't rent-stream the video. Maybe I'll buy it.
posted by persona au gratin at 11:59 AM on December 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
And you can't rent-stream the video. Maybe I'll buy it.
posted by persona au gratin at 11:59 AM on December 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
And that scene where Pacino is driving on the 105 at night. I think it's the 105. Maybe the 10. It feels like he's going west.
posted by persona au gratin at 12:03 PM on December 16, 2015
posted by persona au gratin at 12:03 PM on December 16, 2015
I saw this movie for the first time while on a trip to LA. It definitely enhanced the experience immeasurably.
posted by wabbittwax at 12:22 PM on December 16, 2015
posted by wabbittwax at 12:22 PM on December 16, 2015
Heat has also been one of my favorite movies for forever. A lot of the highlights have been covered in this thread already -- the bank shootout with textbook fire and maneuver, the really quiet and sad goodbye between Shiherlis and his wife, Waingro's diner beatdown and Cherrito's dead eye staredown, the DeNiro/Pacino diner scene, the way all of the plans just fall apart and everything changes in a blink of an eye -- but the one thing that I do want to add is that the soundtrack is phenomenal and, watching it back in 1995, I was just really impressed.
Einsturzende Neubauten
William Orbit
Moby's cover of Joy Division's "A New Dawn Fades"
Lisa Gerrard's La Bas, before she went on to get featured (and overused) in all of Michael Mann and Ridley Scott's soundtracks in the 90s and 00's
So many of my alternative music friends were talking up Hackers or The Crow as the great soundtrack films of our communal youth, but Heat lingers with me far longer than either of those titles.
posted by bl1nk at 2:16 PM on December 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
Einsturzende Neubauten
William Orbit
Moby's cover of Joy Division's "A New Dawn Fades"
Lisa Gerrard's La Bas, before she went on to get featured (and overused) in all of Michael Mann and Ridley Scott's soundtracks in the 90s and 00's
So many of my alternative music friends were talking up Hackers or The Crow as the great soundtrack films of our communal youth, but Heat lingers with me far longer than either of those titles.
posted by bl1nk at 2:16 PM on December 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
Re: Mann's music, I think the first time I became aware of his work was catching "Pump Up the Volume" on an episode of Miami Vice, a track I was obsessed with at the time. Then Crime Story came along, with its great selection of 60's music.
Recently watched Blackhat and was struck by Mann's gift for a kind of 'found art', making use of the environment he's working in to craft really well-designed shots. He seems very adept at grabbing what's needed from the architecture and materials around the location. (I know there's a great deal of production design happening beforehand but still...). The effect is a kind of hyper-realism, more real than real. And also not opposed to the happy accident: the coyote wandering across the street in Collateral just happened as they were working in the pre-dawn hours; during the shooting of a key scene set on top of a skyscraper in the Miami Vice movie, a thunderstorm sprung up in the distance, flashing on the horizon -- pure luck.
posted by Bron at 6:16 PM on December 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
Recently watched Blackhat and was struck by Mann's gift for a kind of 'found art', making use of the environment he's working in to craft really well-designed shots. He seems very adept at grabbing what's needed from the architecture and materials around the location. (I know there's a great deal of production design happening beforehand but still...). The effect is a kind of hyper-realism, more real than real. And also not opposed to the happy accident: the coyote wandering across the street in Collateral just happened as they were working in the pre-dawn hours; during the shooting of a key scene set on top of a skyscraper in the Miami Vice movie, a thunderstorm sprung up in the distance, flashing on the horizon -- pure luck.
posted by Bron at 6:16 PM on December 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
« Older Ask Abigail, She knows | Apparently a movie about magical Customs and... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by GallonOfAlan at 7:31 AM on December 15, 2015 [3 favorites]