Episode 99 – Michael Mann & Meg Gardiner's 'Heat 2'

After an initial hesitance from a few film fans, Michael Mann’s Heat has cemented itself as an all-timer, as both a great Los Angeles movie, an actors’ showcase, and, more importantly, an expansively novelistic character study inside a cops-and-robbers heist movie. So, when the Heat-universe expanded last year into book form, co-authored by Meg Gardiner, and became a bestseller, did the film world rejoice? On this episode is Mann-fanatic Ted Haycraft, who explains:

• the long history of the Heat universe as a project;

• the odd circumstances around its initial version, the TV-pilot-turned-TV-movie LA Takedown;

• and why Ted took so long to finish the book extension of one of his favorite movies.

Also:

• this novel as a Rosetta stone for all of Mann’s themes;

• the Godfather II structure of the sequel novel;

• and casting speculation for an eventual, hopeful, inevitable film adaptation.

Ted Haycraft is film critic for WFIE-14 and co-hosts Cinema Chat on its Midday show. He can also be found on Cinema Chat’s Facebook page.

Heat 2 is published by Harper Collins and is now available in paperback.

Episode 62 – 'The Keep'

The one entry in Michael Mann’s filmography that the director rarely speaks about is his second theatrical feature and his one foray into fantasy, an unfortunate experience both with its production and post-production. On this episode, I’m joined by Ted Haycraft and Lani Gonzalez as we discuss:

• why a movie can’t necessarily be categorized as a “mess” when the studio cuts its director’s cut by over half its length;

• how, maybe, Mann “bit off more than he can chew” from a production standpoint;

• Tangerine Dream’s amazing ethereal proto-’80s synth score;

• why Mann’s filmmaking is so expressionistically visual or existential brilliant to some;

• and why it’s so humorless, turgid, or joylessly masculine to others.

Also:

• How this movie mixes so many genuinely impressive FX shots with cheesy, incomplete ones;

• all the mythological early acting of now-seminal actors like Gabriel Byrne and Ian McKellen;

• a deep dive into the number of times Mann has recut his films;

• and a deep dive into the number of times there has(n’t) been scripted humor or lightness in a Mann film.

Ted Haycraft is film critic for Evansville’s WFIE-14 and co-hosts Cinema Chat on its Midday show. He can also be found on Cinema Chat’s Facebook page.

Lani Gonzalez writes about film for both Book and Film Globe and, alongside her husband (and former guest-host) AJ, their blog Cinema Then and Now.

The Keep is available on VOD to rent and is also available on DVD in Australia.