Michael Mann

Started by MacGuffin, June 03, 2003, 09:37:53 AM

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BB

Miami Vice is enormously underrated. Mann atoning for the sins of his younger days.

wilder

November 27, 2012



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HBO Orders Up Pilot From 'Bullhead' Director Michael Roskam, Co-Produced By Michael Mann
via The Playlist



An Oscar nomination will open up some doors, and for Michael Roskam and Matthias Schoenaerts, director and star of Best Foreign Film contender "Bullhead," that's starting to happen. Schoenaerts has lined up an intriguing slate of films including another great performance in Jacques Audiard's upcoming "Rust And Bone," along with roles in Guillaume Canet's English language debut "Blood Ties," the thriller "In Treatment" and uh, "Loft." And now, Roskam is looking to add a bit of shine to his resume.

Following the path of so many filmmakers these days, the director is now headed to HBO where he'll write and direct the pilot for "Buda Bridge." The show will be set in the near feature in Brussells, and is a crime drama that will kick off when a woman is found dead on the titular landmark, leading to crime, mayhem and a bit of sci-fi, apparently. All intriguing stuff, but there's a bit more: Michael Mann will be co-producing alongside Roskam and Michael Johnson, and he's certainly become a familiar face at HBO. Mann was behind the ill-fated and since canceled "Luck," and this fall throws his producing powers behind the documentary series "Witness," about war photographers.

So, hell yeah, the mix of folks here is certainly one that puts this firmly on our radar. Roskam doesn't seem to have been in any big rush to sign on to his next project, but this looks like a sound decision, and it certainly gives the rising filmmaker a lot more tools to play with. Let's hope this project keeps some solid forward momentum.

wilder

Mann's documentary Witness: Libya premieres November 12 at 9pm on HBO.


wilder

Michael Mann & David Frankham Talk HBO's 'Witness,' The Influence Of '60 Minutes,' Filming War Zones & More
via The Playlist

Everyday, from the around the world, we receive images in our newspapers, magazines, inboxes and online articles dispatched from some of the most dangerous places on Earth. Usually accompanied by an article or text giving an overview of the situation from whatever far flung place the pictures are coming from, we're usually on to the rest of our day before that image has a chance to linger. And given that the media tends to work in cycles, while situations in places that made headlines months ago may still be evolving, reporters in general are on to the next thing. But that's where "Witness" comes in.

The four-part series starting this week on HBO is executive produced by Michael Mann and David Frankham, and it takes viewers right on the ground with three seasoned photojournalists: Eros Hoagland ("Juarez" and "Rio"), Michael Christopher Brown ("Libya") and Veronique de Viguerie ("South Sudan"). Immersive and powerful, these brief journeys go right to the frontlines of the conflicts and issues in their respective countries, revealing narratives that are far more complex than the soundbites that are generally given to them.

We caught up recently with Mann and Frankham (who also directed "Rio," "Juarez" and "South Sudan") recently to talk about "Witness," what prompted the series and how they managed to shoot in locations that were both volatile and perilous. But from the start, both Mann and Frankham approached the series as a way to the kind of in depth reporting that isn't done very often anymore.

"Basically I had an idea for the series and I was very, I was a bit frustrated, or very frustrated with the way the news kind of tries to create this summation of all of these events in the world...and I'm talking about TV news in particular. So it was that and I was quite fascinated with war photographers and friends with war photographers, conflict photographers and the way they get into stories," Frankham explained. "So because of that, I went off and created with Eros and [cinematographer] Jared [Moossy] the 'Juarez' episode or film. From that it was really a way to kind of explain the entire series. Explain how we could like use the photographers as characters that help us get inside these conflicts and get closer on a human level to the conflicts and what was going on."

Once that first episode was finished, it was brought to the attention of Mann, who was already fascinated by the subject and quickly came on board and helped develop the series. "I have a long-standing interest in war photographers and photojournalism since way, way back. I thought that what [Frankham] had captured...by just moving through the conflict zone with photo journalists in a very intimate and subjective way, [was] that you were experiencing a fraction of the bigger reality but expressing it in such an intimate and human way that it became a fractal and contained all the issues of the larger conflict."

But their common curiosity about those who embed themselves in these troubled spots around the world wasn't the only link between the pair, as Mann expressed his own desire for creating a portrait with depth and impact.   

"My interest in this kind of material probably began in '64 when I was in a civil rights march in Chicago and Cicero, shooting with a 16 millimeter camera...and a lot of friends of mine went to work for [British investigative program] 'World In Action' which made '60 Minutes' look like ding dong school," Mann shared. "In '70 I did a documentary on returning to the United States ['17 Days Down The Line'] and wound up out in Albuquerque, there were a lot of Vietnam veterans against the war. So I mean the subject has had a lot of appeal to me for a long time...But when I saw David's 'Juarez' piece I was knocked out. He brought that intimacy...there's nothing wrong with historical summary with the news, with analysis, I love it, I read and watch a lot of it. As a dramatist what's truly impactful for me was what these guys were able to achieve, what 'Witness' shows."

However, "Witness" is not claiming to be a definitive statement on any of the places it visits. The recurring emphasis in speaking to both Mann and Frankham is less on presenting an authoritative package, than an experience which translates the intensity, uncertainty and responsibility of being in these locations and using the images to share a story or many stories, that make up the complex web of everything from the ongoing drug war in Mexico to the unstable, post-revolution Libya.

"It wasn't looking for a balance, it was looking for how that individual photographer relates to it and each person relates to it differently," Mann explained, adding: "They're there to record something that becomes a fraction but somehow encoded in the image that they make, encoded in that image is the power to move us. And that's why these images sustain."

But getting those images was no easy feat. Working with a very small crew of five people max, the production team was light and fast, aided by Canon 5D digital cameras that allowed them to remain mobile.

"We go as five and that includes our subject, lead photographer and then Jared, who would be like our DP and then the segment producer, the director and a digital tech who is just making sure that we're not losing any data, backing everything up and taking care of the cameras and all of that. So every day we kind of hit the ground because as four of us sometimes we'd split up into two and two but we all have cameras, we're all filming," Frankham detailed, adding: "These photos don't happen in front of you. Veronique I think sums it up quite well: part of it is getting to these places [and] putting yourself in these situations and we can't do that with a crew and you can't do that with a big crew and you can't do that with a TV camera on your shoulder, I think that immediately effects the situation. So we tried to be as small and as invisible as we could be. And I think it was quite effective. As I go back we went back through the edits and go back through it now, with the screenings, I feel so many moments that it feels like the camera's invisible and that we're capturing this experience."

And watching "Witness," it's certainly a unique piece of storytelling, both visceral and haunting, giving viewers a generous look into the heart of places where history is being made almost on a daily basis. And for Frankham, he hopes the show can recall an old school era of reportage that could enact action.

"...when this idea was first coming and developing I kind of thought of it as the new '60 Minutes.' When I was a kid, on Sunday you would see something on '60 Minutes' that you had never heard of before and on Monday everybody was talking about it. And it was so effective and so you know it created change and I think that this is a way of like going back out to those," he shared. "I remember the kids in Brazil sniffing glue out of the little jars, you know? '60 Minutes' told that story that stuck in my head from I don't know, thirty years ago. And that [report] changed that you know? The companies who were responsible for the glue like it ends over night because of the power of that. So there's this naive side to me that believes that we could keep telling these stories, going into conflicts and trying to engage people."

As Mann, he hopes to continue to share these remarkable stories. "I'd love to do some more, we'd like to do another set," he said.

"Witness" airs on HBO, Monday nights at 9 PM starting tonight.





wilder

Michael Mann To Direct Cyber Thriller Starring Chris Hemsworth
via The Playlist

After circling/developing a number of projects including a South China Sea set film called "The Tam," the cop thriller "The Big Stone Grid," the racing flick "Go Like Hell," the historical epic "Agincourt," the "Treasure Of The Sierrra Madre"-esque "Gold" and the forever brewing biopic "Capa," Mann will now take helm of an untitled movie "set in the world of cyber threats and attacks."

We'll have to rely on Morgan Davis Foehl (currently penning the videogame adaptation "Mass Effect") to deliver the goods, as he's written the script. The project is set up at Legendary (hope of stuff like "The Dark Knight Rises," "Man Of Steel" and "Pacific Rim") so we presume this has blockbuster potential.

Production is aiming to star this summer now that Hemsworth's calendar is clear.

wilder

Some screenshots from the upcoming blu-ray of The Insider:
















WHY THE FUCK DID YOU HAVE TO START SHOOTING DIGITAL? WHY.

wilder

Les Réalisateurs - Michael Mann


wilder

Story Details Revealed About Michael Mann's Cyber Theft Thriller Starring Chris Hemsworth
via The Playlist

We're now at four years since Michael Mann's last film, the cops 'n gangsters tale "Public Enemies," but the director seems to be getting close to making his next movie. Back in February it was revealed he was teaming with Chris Hemsworth for an untitled thriller "set in the world of cyber threats and attacks." Not many other details were shared other than Mann was co-writing the script as well, with Morgan Davis Foehl, who is currently penning the videogame adaptation "Mass Effect." But a few more bits and pieces have been revealed.

Reports out of Asian media have revealed that Mann is currently scouting locations in Hong Kong, and has been meeting with notable talent for roles including Tang Wei ("Lust, Caution"), Nick Cheung Ka-fai ("Election") and Shawn Yue Man-lok ("Infernal Affairs," "I Come With The Rain"). And while specifics are still being kept under wraps, we have learned the story will involve a Balkan hacker operating out of a South Asian country, with an American and Chinese task force in pursuit.

Things seem to be coming to together, and the plan is to try and get production on the movie rolling this summer, and hopefully we'll know more soon.

wilder

Viola Davis Goes Cyber With Michael Mann & Chris Hemsworth
via The Playlist

Michael Mann has never been the most prolific filmmaker, but it's rare during the course of his career that he's taken any more than three years between films. We assume that it is largely down to the ill-fated HBO show "Luck" that Mann hasn't had a film in cinemas since "Public Enemies" in 2009, but it looks like we won't be waiting too much longer with his currently untitled cyber theft thriller set to go in front of cameras in China next month.

Chris Hemsworth is already on board to star in the film that Mann co-wrote with Morgan Davis Foehl. Not much is known about the specifics of the movie, but talk was that the film will follow a Balkan hacker operating out of South Asia who has an American and Chinese task force on his tail. Well, we haven't learned much more about the plot or Hemsworth's character, even though production is fast approaching, but what we do know is that Viola Davis is likely to appear as an FBI agent in the film.

Davis, a Tony-winner and twice Oscar nominee (for "Doubt" and "The Help") was last seen on the big screen in "Beautiful Creatures" and will show up in another potential young adult franchise next, "Ender's Game." She's also got "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: His," "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Hers" and "Prisoners" due later this year, and working with Michael Mann isn't a bad way to follow those up. Last we heard, Mann was looking at a lot of Chinese actors to join the film, which makes sense given the setting, so we'd expect to get confirmation on some of those roles as the film moves closer to production.

wilder

Michael Mann's 'Agincourt' Still Alive, Gets A New Writer
via The Playlist

hough he's set to shoot his first film in three years this month, the untitled cyber theft thriller starring Chris Hemsworth, Michael Mann is still keeping an eye on what comes next.
Originally floated as his next potential film in 2010, Mann started developing "Agincourt" with a script by "Elizabeth" and "The Tudors" writer Michael Hirst before bringing on "RKO 281" director Benjamin Ross for a rewrite. Now Deadline reports that a new writer has been brought on in the form of Stuart Hazeldine (the writer behind Alex Proyas' scuttled take on "Paradise Lost" and co-writer of Moses movie "Gods and Kings").

Adapted from the Bernard Cornwell novel, the film retells the famous battle between Henry V's English Army and the French Army, and focuses on "a young man with a death sentence who is saved when his skills with the bow catch the attention of the king. The archer develops into a warrior and falls in love with a young woman whose virtue he saved from a lecherous priest." Seeing as we're big fans of Mann's last historical epic, "Last of the Mohicans," we can't help but get a little excited. Since Mann still has his next film to shoot and the already long development process "Agincourt" has had (not to mention all the other projects he's been linked to in the past), we're assuming it's going to be a while before anything happens.

wilder

Michael Mann Out, Spike Lee In For Paul Haggis-Produced Adventure 'Gold'
via The Playlist

Though it's been four years since Michael Mann last directed a feature film, it wasn't for lack of trying. In addition to the currently-shooting -- and still-untitled -- international-cyber-crime thriller, Mann has the historical epic "Agincourt" and the long-gestating Robert Capa biopic, among countless others. Now The Wrap is reporting that the "Heat" director's workload just got a little lighter.

All the way back in 2011, Mann attached himself to the "Treasure Of The Sierra Madre"-esque Paul Haggis-developed project "Gold." With his recent flurry of activity Mann decided to bow out of the project, leaving the director's chair open for none other than Spike Lee.

mogwai

So I haven't seen "Manhunter" but I saw "Red Dragon" yesterday. And it is what is, an average movie with a shitty director. And I've read that mostly everyone (yes, the entire globe) thinks that "Manhunter" is better. And I'd just like to know which version is the best? The theatrical or the directors cut? Thanks.

Alexandro

I don't know which version of manhunter is better, but i would wait to see it if you just saw red dragon. you will know what will happen at every turn...

Reel

Quote from: Christian on September 15, 2013, 06:23:59 AM
So I haven't seen "Manhunter" but I saw "Red Dragon" yesterday. And it is what is, an average movie with a shitty director. And I've read that mostly everyone (yes, the entire globe) thinks that "Manhunter" is better. And I'd just like to know which version is the best? The theatrical or the directors cut? Thanks.

I just bought 'The Silence Of The Lambs' recently and this is the time of the year that my horror movie watching really ramps up with the seasons changing and all. So I've been wanting to watch a great one, but I feel so familiar with this movie that I can never get in the mood. Like Alexandro said, "I know what happens at every turn." With Manhunter I don't, though. I'm another one of those poor schmucks who was first introduced to the story through Fat boy. Only seen Manhunter in chunks but the atmosphere and cinematography alone make it ten times better than 'Dragon'. So thanks for the reminder, Chris! I also believe this movie is streaming on Netflix.