VEGA$ (1978-1981)

While Miami Vice was the small-screen project that first raised serious awareness of Michael Mann to the millions of television viewers who likely missed Thief and The Keep when they enjoyed their brief theatrical runs, his first big break occurred as the credited creator of Vega$, the ABC television series that ran a respectable three […]

CRIME STORY (1986-1988)

In 1986, Michael Mann was having a hell of a year. The second season of Miami Vice had proven to be immensely popular, he stewarded Band of the Hand into the theaters as an executive producer, did the same for Manhunter as writer and director, and, finally, brought Crime Story to the airwaves, making him […]

BAND OF THE HAND (1986)

The exact formula for 1986’s Band of the Hand is this: The Dirty Dozen minus seven, divided by approximately half in age, strain through Miami Vice, and a tablespoon of sugar stirred in for taste. A corny, violent, foul mouthed, junior varsity Mod Squad with an odd sense of pacing and a structure that feels […]

MASCARA (1983)

Robert Kerman, playing the CEO of a company called T&A Imports, saunters up to the desk of his secretary, Harriet (Lisa De Leeuw), and inquires about a bagel that he has ordered. He then asks her to accompany him to his office as he has to give dictation. Given that this is a hardcore pornographic […]

CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND (2002)

The Gong Show was nearly the bottom of the barrel. The moment it hit the air, whatever positives the invention of television had created or whatever good intentions the device had in its inception were all wiped clean as if violently knocked off the table with a forceful arm sweep. Produced and created by Chuck […]

MAGNOLIA (1999)

The cinema of Robert Altman was marked by characters who snaked through their lives by insisting on moving forward instead of first reckoning with trauma that they had accrued or engendered. This may have first manifested in the original cut of M*A*S*H where members of the 4077 dispassionately play poker as the body of Ho-Jon, […]

DISCO LADY (1978)

The problem with most New Year’s Eve movies is that they’re going to become much more bittersweet as the world changes and our connectivity is more virtual than it is real. These days, loading into the middle of the city on New Year’s Eve with a bunch of inebriated strangers just doesn’t have the same […]

BOOGIE NIGHTS (1997)

It’s a strange thing to consider but for all of the power that sex wields to start wars, topple the powerful, and put people into financial or personal ruin, the porn industry is small time. That’s not to say that the porn business doesn’t make boatloads of cash. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. I […]

HARD EIGHT (1996)

The first image we see is a Denny’s. Well, it’s a reconverted Denny’s, at least. The world of Hard Eight is one of unshakable reputations; it can say Jack’s Coffee Shop on the sign but it’s still a Denny’s that has been broken down, sold off, and is quietly functioning in its new skin. Walking […]

A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION (2006)

The first snippet of music in the opening credits for A Prairie Home Companion tricks the audience into thinking the movie is going to be some kind of a light homage for the blue plate special crowd. But within seconds, this all begins to slowly shift as the radio tunes in and out of different […]