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 owler hats, smart suits, snappy dialogue, Tommy guns, and impossibly suave criminals. These were the qualities that used to define the gangster film. The debonair mobster was the origin of the gangster film with the controversial string of movies from the 30s like Little Caesar and Scarface that were considered so shocking and controversial at the time of their release that they lead to the creation of film ratings boards in America. For decades these larger-than-life characters defined the genre until Martin Scorsese ushered realism onto the scene with his almost anthropological studies of the mafia. Sure there have been modern day homages to the gangsters of old in movies like the Coen Brothers’ masterful Millers Crossing, but for the most part the Tommy gun mobsters have become things of the past in the Sopranos age. At least, that was true until Michael Mann made his John Dillinger epic Public Enemies, a new genre classic and easily the best movie of the 2009 summer blockbuster season so far.
 Up until now Michael Mann’s finest hour was the epic crime drama Heat with Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino. With that film, Mann transformed the cops n’ robbers genre into an epic tale of the battle of good and evil and refined his slick directorial style to a glossy formalism that had a major impact on cinematic style in the 90s (and most recently The Dark Knight, which played like Heat with Batman and the Joker taking over for Pacino and DeNiro). The movie is a genre classic even if it’s overlong and hurt by some overacting and unnecessary melodrama. However, the film seems like the perfect vehicle for Mann’s directorial style and thematic interests until he stumbled upon the idea of making a film about the life of John Dillinger.
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May 25, 2007 - Brad Jamieson | |
May 18 May. 11, 2007 - Brad Jamieson | |
May. 11, 2007 - Brad Jamieson | |
May 4, 2007 - Brad Jamieson | |
Apr. 27, 2007 - Aaron Jacobs | |
Apr. 19, 2007 - Brad Jamieson | |
Apr. 13, 2007 - Brad Jamieson | |
Apr. 9, 2007 - Brad Jamieson | |
Apr. 5, 2007 - Shawn Willis | |
Mar. 31, 2007 - Shawn Willis |
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MBO Calgary :: Movies
