"All I am is what I’m going after."

The Next Reel’s Speakeasy is an ongoing series of ours in which we invite an industry guest to join us and bring along one of their favorite movies to talk about. In this month’s episode, cinematographer Jayson Crothers joins us to talk about one of his favorite films, Michael Mann’s epic 1995 crime drama Heat.

We talk about the world-building that Mann does here, giving us fascinating characters on both sides of the law along with the families they struggle to please. We chat about the powerhouse moment when Robert De Niro and Al Pacino finally end up on screen together for the first time and deliberate about Mann’s careful choice of when they’re fully in the same frame together. We discuss the rest of the amazing cast, notable because every role seems to be inhabited by yet another incredible actor. We chat about the nature of women in Mann’s films and why they may seem afterthoughts as compared to the men. We look at Dante Spinotti’s cinematography and the incredible work he does creating a relatively normal-looking Los Angeles. We touch on the editing, the music, the locations, and many other things that went into creating this rich tapestry. And we ponder an alternate universe where Tone Lōc might have played Pacino’s role. 

It’s an incredible conversation about an incredible film that certainly has stood the test of time. If you haven’t seen it, you definitely need to watch it right now, then join us in our conversation with Crothers about it!

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