Michael Mann

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feihong
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 12:20 pm

Re: Michael Mann

#126 Post by feihong » Sun Jan 17, 2016 10:43 pm

A friend of mine performed with Bale in Harsh Times. He told her that his drastic changes of shape for The Machinist and Batman Begins were very unhealthy for him. And those were just the beginning for Bale. I'm glad he was able to turn down the Ferrari role, I hope he stays healthy. The idea that our great film actors need to do these kind of extreme physical transformations––started I think with De Niro's highly publicized weight gain for Raging Bull––is a really wayward notion.

beamish13
Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2007 5:31 am

Re: Michael Mann

#127 Post by beamish13 » Mon Jan 25, 2016 5:56 pm

Tom Hanks' disclosure of having Type 2 Diabetes last year made me wonder if it was caused by his weight loss/gain for certain films (e.g. CASTAWAY and PHILADELPHIA). I'm sure Bale is terrified of developing a chronic health condition that could impact his ability to get insured, not to mention have a hugely detrimental impact on his life.

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FrauBlucher
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:28 pm
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Michael Mann

#128 Post by FrauBlucher » Mon Jan 25, 2016 6:09 pm

Bale losing excessive amount of weight - The Machinist, Rescue Dawn and The Fighter.
Bulking up with muscle- The Batman movies.
Bulking up overweight- American Hustle
There may be more.... This is not good.



flyonthewall2983
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Re: Michael Mann

#131 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Tue Jun 14, 2016 12:55 am

The new Blu-ray of Manhunter is excellent. The transfer on the theatrical cut looks great and the new interviews are pretty good as well. The piece on Brian Cox is nice, and he has a pretty good perspective on the role and the subsequent way the character has been used.

connor
Joined: Thu Jul 29, 2010 2:03 pm

Re: Michael Mann

#132 Post by connor » Tue Jun 14, 2016 11:48 am

flyonthewall2983 wrote:The new Blu-ray of Manhunter is excellent. The transfer on the theatrical cut looks great and the new interviews are pretty good as well. The piece on Brian Cox is nice, and he has a pretty good perspective on the role and the subsequent way the character has been used.
How does the transfer compare to the MGM blu-ray? I haven't seen much in the way of comparisons (the blu-ray.com review didn't go much into it).

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Ribs
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:14 pm

Re: Michael Mann

#133 Post by Ribs » Tue Jun 14, 2016 1:45 pm

Caps-a-holic has both versions available for comparison. They look pretty much identical.

flyonthewall2983
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Re: Michael Mann

#134 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Wed Jun 15, 2016 1:09 am

Is there anyone here who can break down which cut is which, and how it translates to this latest release? It seems of all Mann's films, this one has had the more complicated history of cuts.

flyonthewall2983
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Re: Michael Mann

#135 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Mon Nov 07, 2016 2:43 pm

A pre-order for Ali on Blu-ray is up on Amazon with a release date of January 17th. Sony is handling the release, no other info on it at this time.

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The Narrator Returns
Joined: Tue Nov 15, 2011 6:35 pm

Re: Michael Mann

#136 Post by The Narrator Returns » Wed Dec 28, 2016 10:04 pm

The Ali Blu-Ray doesn't have the commentary from the director's cut DVD, but that's because it has a new cut of the film that runs 151 minutes to the DC's 165 minutes (and the theatrical cut's 158 minutes).

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Ribs
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Re: Michael Mann

#137 Post by Ribs » Wed Dec 28, 2016 10:16 pm

Which cut played in theaters earlier this year?

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hearthesilence
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
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Re: Michael Mann

#138 Post by hearthesilence » Sun Jan 29, 2017 10:41 pm

The Narrator Returns wrote:The Ali Blu-Ray doesn't have the commentary from the director's cut DVD, but that's because it has a new cut of the film that runs 151 minutes to the DC's 165 minutes (and the theatrical cut's 158 minutes).
Michael Mann talks about his new cut, and sweet Jesus, this guy really has a problem letting go of a movie and leaving a cut be.

oh yeah
Joined: Sun Jan 04, 2009 7:45 pm

Re: Michael Mann

#139 Post by oh yeah » Sun Jan 29, 2017 11:26 pm

Christ, not many films where I'll keep a copy of the Theatrical Cut, the Director's Cut, and the 2nd Director's Cut because they're all legitimately different. Still, curious to see how this new version stacks up.

flyonthewall2983
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Re: Michael Mann

#140 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Tue Jan 31, 2017 2:58 am

Maybe it's my mind playing tricks on me, but I could have sworn there was footage in the movie not in either the theatrical cut or the first director's cut, when it was aired on CBS in 2004.

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hearthesilence
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Re: Michael Mann

#141 Post by hearthesilence » Tue Jan 31, 2017 1:22 pm

That's very possible. The interview is prefaced with this: "He'd already revisited the material and recut the movie once, for a TV version that he's cited in interviews as being superior in terms of narrative flow." It would not surprise me if the "director's cut" was not the same cut but something subjected to further changes.

flyonthewall2983
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Re: Michael Mann

#142 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Sun Feb 05, 2017 5:21 pm

Scharphedin2 wrote:Charlie Rose interview with Michael Mann on The Insider in 2000, including interview with the real Jeffrey Wigand.*
That link is long dead, but you can now find the whole show here, along with the two subsequent interviews Mann did with Rose, in promotion of Ali and Blackhat.

The Insider is such a fascinating counterpoint to what he was known for up to that point. It reduces what some could see as the more bombastic parts of his work, to where you can find scenes like this similar in emotional impact to the various shootouts and more elaborate action sequences of other films.

I also think it's his most important film, as the theme of corporate manipulation of media has lead us to where we are now.

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Ribs
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Re: Michael Mann

#143 Post by Ribs » Wed Mar 08, 2017 3:43 pm


oh yeah
Joined: Sun Jan 04, 2009 7:45 pm

Re: Michael Mann

#144 Post by oh yeah » Wed Mar 08, 2017 9:39 pm

Great news, thanks for the link.

Although I think someone like Leo could knock the title role out of the park, I'm actually pleased with this turning out to go to Jackman rather than Bale. I'll admit that part of that is down to, for one, being a bit tired of Bale generally, and secondly, simply being curious to see how Mann's direction elevates (I hope) Jackman's acting - which is typically good though less than extraordinary. As I've written before, Mann's done a terrific job in recent years of getting surprisingly good or great performances out of actors who were previously mediocre or competent at best. (E.g. Smith in Ali, Foxx in Ali and Collateral and Vice, Hemsworth in Blackhat, Bale in Public Enemies, and even I'd say Depp in PE and Russell Crowe in The Insider - I think the latter two gave easily their best performances in those films). He also is good at getting these disciplined, nuanced, career-high performances out of more lauded actors, like the uncharacteristically low-key turn from a 90s Pacino in The Insider, or of course De Niro's turn in Heat, which I think kind of tightens up and sharpens the famous De Niro "style," perfectly marrying it with a fittingly terse, secretive character.

I wonder how long we'll have to wait this time... It might be 2020 if production doesn't start until summer 2018. Then again, if waiting longer means a better film I'm fine with that, and I think it's no big secret by now how much of a perfectionist Mann is.

EDIT: I also wanted to comment on the new blu-ray cut of Ali, which I didn't pay complete attention to like I normally would but which from what I can gather seems to me slightly inferior to the original/theatrical cut of the film (still haven't watched my earlier Director's Cut DVD). It's not a huge difference and it's hard to pin down, except to say that I feel like the film flows better overall in the TC. It's missing a certain something in this new cut, somehow. I do like the added bits of CIA scenes and the political angle, but I didn't think there was a great shortage of them in the TC anyway. I dunno. It's different, I think, but not terribly so.


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Feiereisel
Joined: Fri Aug 16, 2013 9:41 am

Re: Michael Mann

#146 Post by Feiereisel » Mon May 08, 2017 6:57 am

Someone on the Blu-ray dot com forums noticed that FX will be airing the director's cut of BLACKHAT starting tomorrow. DVR set.


oh yeah
Joined: Sun Jan 04, 2009 7:45 pm

Re: Michael Mann

#148 Post by oh yeah » Sun Jul 09, 2017 8:04 am

Excellent news - if nothing else, these Mann-directed episodes will tide us all over nicely until Ferrari finally comes out. I'm always interested to see how Mann's style has changed, as each new work is typically a noticeable leap forward from the last - and since Blackhat was actually shot way back in 2013, this forthcoming material may be pretty different.

I also have to wonder how much this series will borrow from - or not - the second half of Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, which seems to be the most defining depiction of that part of the war in pop culture.

Additionally, I am really hoping to see that Director's Cut of Blackhat sometime soon, though I barely expect any kind of actual release on Blu or whatever. I saw a poor-quality YouTube clip, from the recent FX broadcast, of the DC's opening scene, which was completely new and took place on a boat near the Netherlands, or something. Intriguing and tantalizing, especially as I've read many claim the DC to be vastly superior to the Theatrical.

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big ticket
Joined: Thu Jul 09, 2015 6:00 pm

Re: Michael Mann

#149 Post by big ticket » Mon Jul 10, 2017 1:57 pm

Based solely on speculation and the release history of his other work, I'd say it is fairly likely the Blackhat director's cut will be released on BD at some point.

I do hope it airs (again? continues to air?), however, because I forgot to record the recent FX broadcast myself!

flyonthewall2983
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Re: Michael Mann

#150 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Mon Jul 10, 2017 3:32 pm

I really want to see that DC myself too. But I wonder if Universal has any interest in putting the effort towards it's release. Got to remember, this didn't even get a theatrical release in Australia, Hemsworth-country no less. Would be great if they passed the buck to Criterion on this but who knows.

What I see happening is Mann's stock rising again if the mini-series gets the positive notices shows on FX usually do get, and he's able to use that clout to make Ferrari finally happen.

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