We look back at the iconic work of the late, great James Caan and take a deep dive into the underrated neo-noir masterpiece Thief, with Caan at his fiery, mesmeric best… The sad news has broken. Another cinematic icon has left us, leaving behind an awe inspiring legacy. James Caan for a time, was synonymous […]
The year Heat was criminally overlooked by the Oscars
Tom Jolliffe looks back at the Oscars in 1996, when Heat was criminally overlooked by the Academy… The year was 1996, which looked back over the films of the previous year. It was a fairly strong year, and like a lot of the nomination lists throughout that decade there are some oddities. There are also […]
Ansel Elgort descends into the Japanese underworld in trailer for HBO Max series Tokyo Vice
HBO Max has released a poster and trailer for the crime drama Tokyo Vice. Loosely based on Jake Adelstein’s 2009 memoir Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan and with a pilot directed by Michael Mann (Manhunter, Heat), the series stars Ansel Elgort, Ken Watanabe, Rinko Kikuchi, Rachel Keller, Ella Rumpf, […]
Michael Mann enlists Adam Driver, Penelope Cruz and Shailene Woodley for Ferrari
After two decades of development and a false start in 2017, it looks like Heat director Michael Mann’s Enzo Ferrari biopic is inching further towards the start line with the news that Adam Driver (House of Gucci), Penelope Cruz (Parallel Mothers) and Shailene Woodley (Big Little Lies) have been cast in the long-gestating project. The […]
Manhunter at 35: Michael Mann’s slippery, enduring masterpiece
A commercial flop at the time of release, the film that introduced moviegoers to Hannibal Lecter has since earned deserved plaudits. George Nash takes a look at its impact three decades on… Manhunter, director Michael Mann’s 1986 adaptation of Thomas Harris’s bestselling novel Red Dragon, is a film about transformations. Like The Silence of the […]
Heat at 25: Still the Best Crime Thriller of the Modern Era
Tom Jolliffe looks back at Heat which turns 25 and remains the best crime thriller in the modern era… It’s hard to believe, but Heat turns 25 this month. The enduring neo-noir instantly enraptured fans upon release, bringing two screen titans in Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, together for the first time since The […]
Mann, Refn and the Safdies: Mastering Neo-Noir
Tom Jolliffe looks at a few examples of classic neo-noirs… Dark tales in rain sodden streets with the glistening neons of a big City. There comes that inevitable moment. A wrong choice, the self-destructive move to an inescapable corner. The neo-noir, the resurrection of the classic film noir genre that typified much of 30’s-50’s cinema. […]
Movie Marathon: From Friedkin to Mann, via William Petersen and Tangerine Dream
Tom Jolliffe looks back at four must see cult classics… Whilst perusing a few episodes of Mark Kermode Uncut I stumbled upon an episode focused on a film I’d been meaning to see for a fair while. Firstly, it was directed by William Friedkin, a cinematic great. Secondly the film is scored by Tangerine Dream. […]
Blu-ray Review – Heat: Director’s Definitive Edition (1995)
Heat: Director’s Definitive Edition, 1995. Directed by Michael Mann. Starring Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Jon Voight, Tom Sizemore, Ashley Judd, Mykelti Willliamson, Natalie Portman, Amy Brenneman, and Hank Azaria. SYNOPSIS: Heat has been released on Blu-ray before in a pretty definitive edition, but this new one features remastered video from a 4K […]
Michael Mann developing Hue 1968 as a TV series
Filmmaker Michael Mann and producer Michael De Luca are teaming up to adapt Mark Bowden’s upcoming book Hue 1968 – which details the Tet Offensive, a turning point of American involvement in the Vietnam War – as an eight-to-ten hour miniseries. Hue was the centerpiece of Hanoi’s 1968 Tet Offensive in which Hanoi sought to […]