Podcast: “One Heat Minute”

If you’re a fan of the movie Heat, you’ve got to check this out.

Today, I got an email from screenwriter Shane Salerno forwarding me a press release about… well, read on.

Sydney, New South Wales (1 July, 2019) — Two years ago, Australian film journalist Blake Howard came up with the idea for a podcast about Michael Mann’s 1995 crime opus HEAT. Examining the film chronologically, in 60 second increments, the aptly titled “One HEAT Minute” saw Howard, and a guest star, spending anywhere from 15 minutes to well over an hour, dissecting the selected minute. Each discussion used the minute at hand as a springboard to explore many elements of the film, as well as, Michael Mann’s broader body of work and his impact on cinema.

With more than 170 episodes released so far, the line-up of guests includes famous filmmakers (Joe Lynch, Dante Spinotti, Phil Hay, Abe Forsythe), writers (Reed Farrel Coleman, Jordan Harper), educators, major critics (Manohla Dargis, Bilge Ebiri, Matt Zoller Seitz, Walter Chaw) and film journalists (Kris Tapley, Chris Evangelista). With only a few remaining episodes, Howard used his final live show recording at the 2019 Sydney Film Festival to announce that Michael Mann, the legendary mastermind director, screenwriter and producer behind the film would be the final crescendo of the incredibly extensive, yet limited, series.

“I could not have imagined in my wildest dreams that ‘One HEAT Minute’ would include Michael Mann himself as our final guest. For Michael Mann fans, there’s information about HEAT here that’s literally nowhere else. For fans of ‘One HEAT Minute,’ this is the most perfect ending imaginable. I’m still struggling to grasp that it even happened.”

“I’m honored by this genuine tribute to the film. The passion and enthusiasm that Blake and his guests — artists, cinephiles, film historians — showed to HEAT is extraordinary, and their appreciation of it, humbling,” said Mann.

HEAT, Michael Mann’s 1995 crime opus delivered the first on screen encounter between American cinematic titans Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. When an armoured car robbery goes wrong, professional thief Neil McCauley (De Niro) and his crew attract the attention of L.A.’s Robbery Homicide Division and detective Vincent Hannah (Pacino). These obsessive professionals, on both sides of the law, conduct an unrelenting cat and mouse chase through the sprawling industrial cityscape of L.A.

A podcast in which each episode is devoted to one minute of the movie Heat, week by week progressing through the film chronologically.

Go here for the entire episode guide.

Go here for an interview excerpt with the film’s writer-director Michael Mann.

The scene Mann talks about:

This could start a whole trend, a slew of podcasts going through revered movies minute by minute, episode by episode. Oh, wait. It’s already happening: Movies by Minutes.

Sometimes the world is an amazing place…