Turan, Dargis on Public Enemies
Awards Daily —
The LA Times’ last man standing, Kenneth Turan gives major props to Michael Mann’s Public Enemies, but particularly in the way it looks:
Simultaneously an art film and a crime film, Mann’s latest work (he shares screenplay credit with Ronan Bennett and Ann Biderman) may not give you a ton to hang on to emotionally, but the beauty and skill of the filmmaking keep you tightly in its grasp.
Manohla Dargis, though, calls it pure cinematic art:
Michael Mann’s “Public Enemies” is a ...
Sidewalk Showdown
Hollywood Elsewhere —
... skeptical and incredulous: "An art film ?" "Well, yeah," I said, feeling sheepish in the face of withering disdain. But why sheepish when It's true? Public Enemies is an art film first and a popcorn film second (if not third or fourth). I've been at this racket for over 25 years and I know what I'm talking about. But on some level I felt slightly chagrined for having used a simplistic term. And then this morning along came Manohla Dargis , the N.Y. Times critic, starting her review with the following sentence: "Michael Mann's Public Enemies is "a grave and beautiful ...
cinemadaily 07.01.09 | Enemies, Agnes and Indie Godshall
indieWIRE Recent —
... ‘Public Enemies’ is not quite a great movie. There’s something missing—a sense of urgency and discovery, a more complicated narrative path, a shrewder, tougher sense of who John Dillinger is… There’s a faint tone of mockery in Depp’s mildness, in his secret half smile, though his face can darken with rage. Mann and Depp’s idea of Dillinger as an unruffled prince of crime is extremely enjoyable. Yet, as the movie goes on, you begin to question whether it makes much sense.” From Manohla Dargis’ rapturous review in the New York Times: “Michael Mann’s ‘Public Enemies’ is a grave ...
Will Public Enemies Be Just Another Hollow Michael Mann Movie?
Gawker: defamer —
... Manhola Dargis at the New York Times, one of our favorite film critics, gave Enemies a rave, but language like this still makes us worry: ...
Will Public Enemies Be Just Another Hollow Michael Mann Movie? [Ruminations]
Gawker —
... Manhola Dargis at the New York Times, one of our favorite film critics, gave Enemies a rave, but language like this still makes us worry: ...
The Mann act: "Public Enemies"
Some Came Running —
... anyone who can't recognize them as art film flourishes ought to at least be suspected of willful stupidity. Dialogue along the lines of "Where are you going?"/"Anywhere I want" and "What do you want?"/"Everything, right now" and "I don't wanna be there when it happens" drives me right up the wall, always has, and boy there's plenty of that sort of thing here. But there are a few pretty spectacular set pieces here, and Manohla Dargis is right on target in her ecstatic New York Times review in which she describes certain of Mann's more bravura compositions, ...
Anecdote of the Week: Myrna Was the Lady in Red
Self-Styled Siren —
... . Manohla Dargis had a well-written rave but the Siren was a wee bit flummoxed by her closing sideswipe at Manhattan Melodrama. I haven't seen Public Enemies yet, but as much as I like Johnny Depp (and I do, I do), of course Michael Mann's gangsters will be no less "false" than W.S. Van Dyke's. (And while the new film may not look like "the usual gangster picture," for some of us old fogeys that's no bonus. Come on, even if she likes Public Enemies we all know the Siren is going to miss James Wong Howe.) ...
Public Enemies: We Spray Spots.
VINYL IS HEAVY —
... For one thing, for us, it's one of the real highlights of the summer. For another, who says we need to be so timely? In any case, we know this thing is long, but we do hope you like it, and try to read it all. Or, I really do, if only because I know Danny took a lot of time to cobble together these broad range missives. And to think that we could still miss talking about so much. For my money—big shocker here—Manohla wrote the best review of the weeklies. And to re-link, here's the Log's post on the ...





