Mann is one of those filmmakers I think I'm supposed to like more than I do, and in an attempt to give him a fairer shake - and have the right context for one of the only summer movies I have any hopes for whatever - I'm going to be rewatching as many of his features as I can get my hands on. And that leads me to a new series: every Tuesday and Thursday in June, starting tomorrow, I'm going to be taking a look at his thirty-year career in tough guy cinema.
01 June 2009
MANN'S MEN
One month from today shall be the release of one of the only summer movies that I, in my wholly unhumble and even smug opinion, have any hopes for whatever: Public Enemies, a Depression-era crime drama from director Michael Mann, a filmmaker who has hardly ever strayed from the crime drama in all its myriad forms.
Mann is one of those filmmakers I think I'm supposed to like more than I do, and in an attempt to give him a fairer shake - and have the right context for one of the only summer movies I have any hopes for whatever - I'm going to be rewatching as many of his features as I can get my hands on. And that leads me to a new series: every Tuesday and Thursday in June, starting tomorrow, I'm going to be taking a look at his thirty-year career in tough guy cinema.Not quite a complete look, I'm afraid: if anyone can point me to any means of seeing his 1989 TV movie/failed pilot L.A. Takedown (alternately released as Crimewave), be those means licit or illicit, I shall count you a true friend of this blog. Sincerest thanks to Troy Olson, true friend of Antagony & Ecstasy and the further study of Michael Mann.
Mann is one of those filmmakers I think I'm supposed to like more than I do, and in an attempt to give him a fairer shake - and have the right context for one of the only summer movies I have any hopes for whatever - I'm going to be rewatching as many of his features as I can get my hands on. And that leads me to a new series: every Tuesday and Thursday in June, starting tomorrow, I'm going to be taking a look at his thirty-year career in tough guy cinema.
4 comments:
Just a few rules so that everybody can have fun: ad hominem attacks on the blogger are fair; ad hominem attacks on other commenters will be deleted. And I will absolutely not stand for anything that is, in my judgment, demeaning, insulting or hateful to any gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or religion. And though I won't insist on keeping politics out, let's think long and hard before we say anything particularly inflammatory.
Also, sorry about the whole "must be a registered user" thing, but I do deeply hate to get spam, and I refuse to take on the totalitarian mantle of moderating comments, and I am much too lazy to try to migrate over to a better comments system than the one that comes pre-loaded with Blogger.
This should be a great series -- Looking forward to it.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you want, you can find L.A. Takedown illicitly here:
http://cinemageddon.org/details.php?id=6084(I'd be more than happy to grab that for you, if need be, since I have a login to the site...)
My mother thanks you. My father thanks you. Michael Mann thanks you. And I thank you.
ReplyDeleteHey, thanks for the, um, thanks. Cinemageddon is a great place to go if you want to find out-of-print or never released films. I'm particularly fond of all the Philippine and Italian action and films I've found there. Truly a treasure trove.
ReplyDeleteOh, and just to poke some fun -- your link of my name actually goes to my brother Kevin's blog (who's also commented here recently).
I'll gladly gift him any traffic the link generates, since his blog is actually film related, whereas mine is just a random collection of silliness (with movies mixed in). I just wanted to make sure the two us don't begin being thought of as the same person :)
Sorry about that, I wasn't paying close enough attention and snagged your "Blogs I follow" link by mistake. Not sure which of your blogs you'd prefer I link to.
ReplyDelete