Today is Michael Mann’s birthday. I celebrate by re-watching (and re-posting) my initial thoughts about his most recent, and apparently most controversial, feature film. The following is what I wrote about Public Enemies on July 3rd, 2009. Public Enemies, I still maintain, has plenty to recommend it, but its unconventionality makes it a point of debate. [...]
Archive for the ‘Romance’ Category
From The Archives: PUBLIC ENEMIES (2009).
Posted: February 5, 2012 in Action., Badass Old Guys, Crime, Guns, History, Michael Mann, Movies (P), Pretty Girls, Romance0
Movie Review: DRIVE (2011).
Posted: September 28, 2011 in Action., Awesomeness, Badass Old Guys, Cars, Crime, Cult Classics, Film Noir, Horror, Los Angeles, Michael Mann, Movies, Movies (D), Music, Romance, ViolenceI’ve been thinking about something lately, and seeing Drive recently turned out to be a bit of synchronicity since, in its own way, Drive is largely an illustration of the concept: Just because something isn’t true doesn’t mean it isn’t real. And vice versa. Drive isn’t something that happened. It started as a terrific, mean little novel by James Sallis, and was [...]
From The Archives: THE NEW WORLD (2005).
Posted: September 26, 2011 in Boats, History, Movies (N), Romance, Terrence Malick, The Future, Travel, Violence, WarI did not rush out to see this movie on the largest possible screens when it was released nearly six years ago, and more the fool I for that. It’s kind of incredible. In their list of the top fifty films of the past decade, the Onion’s A.V. Club, one of my favorite daily web destinations, rated [...]
From The Archives: MIAMI VICE (2006).
Posted: September 11, 2011 in Action., Boats, Cars, Crime, Explosions, Miami, Michael Mann, Movies (M), Music, Pretty Girls, Reality, Romance, Truth#10. Miami Vice (2006) I’m sure that there are people who will roll their eyes or sneer at my inclusion of Michael Mann’s Miami Vice feature in my top ten of the entire decade, but that’s fine. I never started compiling this list with the intention of sounding smarter or cooler than anyone else. These [...]
From The Archives: SPIDER-MAN 2 (2004).
Posted: September 10, 2011 in Action., Badass Old Guys, Documentary, Family, Movies (S), New York, Romance, Superheroes#5. Spider-Man 2 (2004) Why fight it? This movie is a kind of biography. I don’t feel the need to talk too much in detail about my personal life, but if I were to do it, the parallels would be pretty blatant, and not just because pretty much everyone who’s ever seen me insists I’m [...]
From The Archives: PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE (2002).
Posted: September 10, 2011 in Hawaii, Los Angeles, Movies (P), Musicals, RomanceAnd the decade-long set of ten favorites continues… #3. Punch-Drunk Love (2002) Remember what I said about how I value sincerity? Here’s another case. You can love it or hate it, but you can’t argue that this movie doesn’t feel like a letter straight from the heart of its maker. Paul Thomas Anderson is the [...]
What I Watched 3.2.11: Days Of Heaven.
Posted: March 3, 2011 in Classics, Fire, History, Movies (D), Romance, Terrence Malick, What I WatchedWriting about a Terence Malick movie is like trying to describe a sunset. It’s kinda futile. Many better writers have done it before, and their efforts were probably ultimately futile too. You just have to see it for yourself to get the full effect. Days Of Heaven stars Richard Gere (so much better here than in his later [...]
