Wednesday, April 25, 2012

F This Movie! - Heat


At long last, this podcast features the legendary meeting between Patrick and Alex as they sit in a diner and talk about Heat.



Download this episode here. (32 MB)

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Also discussed this episode: Bonnie & Clyde, Tiny Furniture, Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope

Find the New York Times piece on The Master that Alex talks about here.

16 comments:

  1. Terrific podcast gentlemen. Alex nailed it at the end when he calls "Heat" ambitious, which goes a long way to cover the movie's non-derailing potholes. Did you know that "Heat" is actually a remake of a made-for-TV movie Michael Mann made for NBC in 1989 (toward the end of "Miami Vice's" run on that network) using the same core script for both movies? JB asked about 'entertaining remakes' on his "Three Stooges" Shitting on the Classics column last week, and by that measure this one is the rare remake that leapfrogs and summersaults way above its predecessor. Read about the original "Heat," 1989's "L.A. Takedown," here: http://www.empireonline.com/features/remakes/default.asp?film=1 .

    I'm fine with Ashley Judd, but every got damn time I watch "Heat" I forget its her and for some reason I think its Charlize Theron. When the credits roll and I see its Ashley I'm always shocked. "Heat's" supporting cast would be (and has been) the lead cast in many other movies since. Tom Sizemore ("The Relic") and Danny Trejo ("Machete") say hi. Mykelti Williamson had just done Bubba Blue on "Forrest Gump" the year before "Heat" came out in '95 (has it really been 17 years?) so I'm always impressed to see him play one of Pacino's cop buddies in his team. Great character actor Xander Berkley is ranked 30th in the cast from the top, right below Jeremy Piven at 29th... that's fucking nuts, especially since the no-name cast right below the top 30 is also pretty good in their few on-screen moments.

    I'm not a Michael Mann fan but I do love his 1981 crime opus "Thief," i.e. the movie "Driver" wishes it could be as cool as and an early dry run for "Heat" from the criminal's POV. Tuesday Weld is the same female character all the women in "Heat" are, so no advancement on that front in '95 from where Mann was back in '81. If you want to see a younger Mann and a still-cool James Caan do L.A. bank robbery and criminal-on-criminal mob justice early 80's style, seek out "Thief." Mann gives more attention to the aesthetics and 'coolness' of the music/camera/framing in "Thief" than the story/actors, which are fine but clearly secondary to the visuals/sounds. By the time "Heat" rolled around Mann had managed to coalesce his directorial skills into a neat package that balances out every element of the filmmaking process (actors, photography, editing, framing, sparse synthesizer tunes, etc.) just about right for his type of movies.

    It's so weird to hear Alex and Patrick on a podcast that's not about 'F'ing a terrible movie ("The Lost World: Jurassic Park," "Avatar: The Last Airbender," etc.) but singing the praises of an imperfect one that has so much cool things about it you easily overlook the handful of negatives (i.e. Diane Venora's page haircut). Again, loved the podcast!

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  2. Hey Vargas, do you mean "Driver" or "Drive" about which movie wishes it could be as cool as and an early dry run for "Heat". I know you had a similar comment in the DVD Verdict Jury Room.
    I agree it is weird but good to hear an F This Movie Podcast about a very good movie with some minor flaws. Keep up the good work!

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    1. Ooops, got my Ryan Gosling movies mixed with my old Rebellion PlayStation game franchises! I was referring to Refn's "Drive" as the "Thief" wannabe.

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    2. We talk about good movies all the time! Probably more than the bad ones. I swear.

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    3. Vargas, I appreciate the passion. I would hate to think I've become the resident FTM troll or something. I think maybe my appearances on the "bad movie" podcasts just tend to stand out in your memory, maybe?

      Anyhow, one thing I neglected to mention in the podcast was that HEAT brings us one of my favorite Danny Trejo performances ever. Why? Simply because his character's name is actually Trejo. Trejo! You can keep Machete and Johnny 23, I'll take Danny Trejo as TREJO any day of the movie-watching week.

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    4. Resident FTM Troll? No way, man, it's as much fun to talk about movies that aren't good as it is about those that are good. It's probably even more fun. I always enjoy your episodes tremendously. You bring game, man. Your milkshake brings all the boys to the yard? You could teach us, but you'd have to charge?

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  3. Shut your mouth, Alex.

    MACHETE MACHETE MACHETE, MA-CHE-TE.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO06jB-FjN0

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  4. I'll just say that I feel better about my admission that I like Deep Impact now that Patrick's admitted to liking You've Got Mail.

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  5. This episode, as they all are, was fantastic. We're all roughly the same age here, so OF COURSE I love Heat. And like you guys, I see flaws but really don't care all that much because what works carries the rest of it.

    My favorite Pacino line in Heat is when he says "You can get killed walking your DOGGIE!" It's just ridiculous, but that's what makes it so fun. Al Pacino doesn't seem like he has given a flying fuck in the last 20 years, and I kind of love him even more for that. One day he's going to make movies where he sucks on a ring pop for the whole movie. In one scene he'll finish the ring pop then start on another one. There will be no reason in the script for him to chain ring pops, and the other characters will never mention it, but he'll be flamboyantly slurping away on a ring pop in every scene, saying stuff like "oh yeaaaaaaah...c'mon now, it's cherry! Cherry...better than GRAPE!"

    By the way, Meg Ryan making typing faces made me laugh out loud at work, and Alex chiming in about Hanks giving master classes on typing on camera was comedy gold. You guys are the Abbot and Costello...nay, the Ferrell and McKay...nay, the Kurtzman and Orci of the podcasting world.

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    1. ^^^ I'm not sure if the Kurtzman-Orci comparison is meant as a complement or an insult, but OK. If Patrick-Alex are Kurtzman-Orci then Patrick-Doug is definitely the Damon Lindelof-Carlton Cuse of the podcasting world. :-D

      One more comment about "Heat." Patrick often mentions how bad it is when, in a movie, a character comments on how awesome the lead is or how cool or good at his/her job 'X' character is. It's a cheap screenwriter trick to tell the audience how they should feel about a character instead of the writer/actor doing the heavy work of making the character earn their distinction. In "Heat" we get scenes where the characters comment (or, in the case of DeNiro, nod or make a gesture that indicates tacital respect) how good the cops/criminals on the other team are. The scene when Pacino and his team are in the docks walking around, then Al realizes they're being watched so the criminals know who they're dealing with ('these guys are good'), comes to mind.

      Unlike the bad movies Patrick mentions though ("Top Gun" comes to mind) in "Heat" we actually nod approvingly when the characters praise their opponents because we've seen the cops/criminals being good at their job. Hitchcock's 'audiences love seeing someone being good at their job' theory at work. The characters have earned each other's respect for something we've seen that backs-up the complements. Of course it takes a nearly-three hour movie by a filmmaker at the top of his game with a stellar cast and tightly-written script for this to work, but whatever.

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  6. Been on a Michael Mann kick for the last week, after being completely blown away by Manhunter and Thief (and impressed by Miami Vice, though it's no great film.) Just finished watching Heat. It has its moments, but I gotta say, overall it stinks. Especially when compared with Thief, in which James Caan's character hares a similar ethos to Deniro's. Thief is a much more complex exploration of character, not to mention much more artfully shot, full of emotional surprises, and it challenges genre conventions. Don't understand why Heat has the critical standing it does....

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    1. I'll totally agree that Heat is Michael Mann in big, broad strokes, but that's part of the reason I like it. Movies like Thief (and Miami Vice) are smaller and more focused, whereas Heath throws in EVERYTHING. I like the excess of it, and I like that there's a different Michael Mann movie for different moods (except Public Enemies; never Public Enemies).

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    2. "Heath throws in EVERYTHING"? In "Brokeback Mountain" perhaps. :-P

      Agree with Anonymous that "Thief" is the better of the two Michael Mann L.A. crime epics (mostly due to Cann's performance, colorful supporting cast and cinematography that directly inspired the look of "Drive"), but "Heat" doesn't stink. Heck, it's awesome in its own 'Michael Mann's style has matured' way. I like them both a lot.

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  7. Hi Patrick, another broken download link

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    1. You can download it here in the meantime:

      https://archive.org/details/FThisMovie-Heat

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