In July, I announced to my YouTube audience that I was pivoting away from the writing and author space and onto something new, something I was more passionate about and (I hope) would make my viewing audience happy to hear from me.
The pivot is now complete, and my first video in the new style is now available on YouTube, diving deep into the 1995 movie Heat. If you haven't heard, they're making a sequel, which makes a lot of fans very, VERY nervous. So before we get wrapped up in the hype of Heat 2, here's everything I had to say about the original.
Enjoy!
Interested in all my thoughts, in real time, as I was watching Heat? Paid members, keep scrolling and read the notes I took.
Heat Watch Party
Raw notes from the viewing
DeNiro exiting the train, the first face we see
When we see Pacino, he's with his wife, that's his priority. Or maybe not. Wife takes pills. What are they? The daughter is freaking out; this isn't normal teenager stuff. She's not okay. And Pacino isn't there in any meaningful way, even as he criticizes daughter's birth father for not showing up to the scheduled visit.
I watched as a girl for Natalie Portman. There are only two scenes I remember. Al Pacino dragging Natalie Portman out of the bathtub, wrists and thigs sliced (vertically, as recommended by all the edgy girls) and Ashley Judd waving off the oh-so handsome Val Kilmer, protecting him from the police. True Love. I remember nothing leading up to or after those shots. We'll see how it plays out now.
First heist armored car. They're organized, prepared, They're looking for something specific, not the whole cache. New guy on the crew kills a guard for no reason. Now they have to kill all the guards, which wasn't the intention.
Pacino sees how good they are. Understands what hes up against.
New guy gets his full cut no waiting. Because De Niro is done with him. Once they're out of the diner, yeah he's a dead man. They have that perfectly orchestrated too. But he escapes because of a passing cop car distraction. Now there's an inside man on the loose.
Val Kilmer and Ashley Judd. Terrible, volatile relationship. He's a gambler apparently? I guess that makes sense. She threatens to take the baby, which makes him violent. Controlling.
Pacino comes in and drinks. He's late. Diane Venora isn't happy. Seems baffled about why he's mad about her ex not showing when HE wasn't there either. Tbf, the job is hard and it doesn't have regular hours.
DeNiro meets a girl at the cafe. He normally doesn't. No attachments. Neil. That's his name. Why so interested? Surely not because she's pretty. He's seen that before. Maybe because she's earnest. Maybe as simple as the Appalachian accent. lol he says he's from the Bay area. That accent is nowhere but New York.
Neil's signing on for a 12 million dollar score. Meanwhile, he's selling back the bearer bonds to the guy they stole them from. William Fichtner. He doesn't like that, and he's gonna do something about it.
Neil sees Chris sleeping on the floor. He calls the wife and asks what's wrong. He doesn't care about her. He wants to know what's going on with Chris, but she won't tell him. She doesn't like the intrusion. Yeah he's a gambler. Even with the big hauls, he's broke. Neil's worried about him being tied down with a family. "To me, the sun rises and sets with her."
Allstate guy. On parole. Treated like shit at the job he's referred to. I am assuming this is going to be our new crew member. He seems too smart and too proud to put up with being treated like a dog.
Neil sees Ashley Judd is cheating on Chris with Hank Azaria. He doesn't like that. She confronts her. He doesn't care if she's unhappy because if they break up it'll blow the job. "Right now, you will give him the chance. If he messes up again, I'll send you and the kid away. I'll finance it."
Tone Loc, Vincent's informant. Knows an ex con, calls everyone Slick. That rings a bell. Michael Cherino. First link in the chain. AND he has a distinctive tattoo. Damn shame Sizemore threw this career away over nonsense.
Michael has a wife and kids too. Older. They been together for a while. Neil isn't comfortable sitting there with his guys and their families. He calls Amy Breneman. Pacino and his men are watching as they exit the restaurant. They identify all of them. Except Neil.
The new guy is holed up with a hooker. Who he kills for no damn reason. Seems to be something of a pattern.
Vincent is called to the hooker's murder scene. 16 years old. "Beat her head in, same as the others." She had a mother, and the family is there, much to Vincent's displeasure. He stops the mother from seeing her and holds her. He hates this. A momentary blank eyed stare as the mother is led away. Dissociating. And keeps going.
Diane Venora doesn't like "being excluded." He doesn't want to tell her what he sees. She feels like she's getting leftovers instead of sharing. He's not going to talk. Not to her, not to a therapist. He is dedicated to his job. To the dead. To his prey. And she feels alone. But she loves him and can't leave.
Lilly, Allstate guy's girl, encourages him. "I'm proud of you." Clear eyed view of women in this movie. No gold diggers, no vapid airheads. They're all complicated. Some virtuous, some less so. But no cardboard cutouts, manic pixie dreamgirls, or the writer working through his resentments.
The stakeout goes wrong. There was the slightest noise, but Neil heard it. Vincent let them walk. The bank is worth the risk. So they abandon their other interests. "Van Zant is a luxury." He tells Michael to cut loose. He has plenty put away. He has a family. But Michael is looking to Neil. And "for me, the action is the juice." So he's in for the bank as well. I don't remember, but this gives me the ominous feeling that he won't make it out alive.
The famous switcheroo. "What are they looking at? The LAPD!! Is this guy something or is this guy something?"
Jon Voight does the research on Vincent. This guy is the real deal. But he tells him that Vincent respects Neil's skills, something that seems to please him. The haul is so big, it's worth the stretch.
Vincent comes home. House is a mess. Justine is dressed to go out. Without him. He leaves again. Doesn't even sit down or eat. Instead, he joins Neil's tail and pulls him over. "What do you say I buy you a cup of coffee?"
The famous diner scene. They talk as people. As men. And right after, the whole crew shakes their tail and all the surveillance.
Waingro goes to see Van Zant, offering help. Van Zant is interesting because he's obviously so used to getting his way, and used to people being intimidated by him. But he shows his true self now. He hasn't been home. He's been sleeping in his office since Neil threatened his life.
Why hide at the office? A generous portrayal is in the hope of not endangering his family, if he has one. But that's not the read I get. Instead, he's holed up there because there's fewer access points. Probably better physical security and of course the presence of Henry Rollins, actual tough guy. He bit off more than he could chew. "People think they can steal my money."
If he was a good man, he would have called the cops when Jon Voight called him to broker the deal. Or just refused. He had insurance; he was paid for the value. But his ego made him think if he hired two gunmen, then he could "show them." Set an example. The problem is criminals have experience in violence and in the fallout of it. White collar douchebags don't. Something Van Zant knows now.
And here we are at the bank heist. Shock and awe. Sudden violence. "Did you know that this heist (specifically Val Kilmer) was used in training for law enforcement??" That's all anyone wants to talk about and the least interesting thing to me about this movie.
Vincent's CI calls in a tip about the bank heist so they're able to move quicker than Neil was expecting. Michael is the first to walk out. Then Neil and Chris. Like nothing happened. "Wait til they're all in the car..."says Vincent. But Chris sees the cops as he's walking and opens fire. All hell breaks loose. Cop dies (Ted Levine). We saw him at dinner with the pretty lady who clearly loved him intensely.
Allstate guy gets killed by friendly fire. Chris is hit. But not dead. Neil runs to him. Genuine friendship, not tactics there. Vincent chases them through the devastation. More die. Cops and civilians. Neil will kill as many as he needs to to get away.
Michael picks up a child as a hostage. A little girl. Just like he has at home. Jesus. Vincent caps him in the head. Perfect shot. Child is safe and unharmed. Vincent picks her up and carries her away.
Allstate guy's woman sees his face on the news as being dead. Silent devastation.
Jeremy Piven as the mob doctor who fixes up Chris. Chris tells Neil he won't leave without Charlene. Charlene calls Hank Azaria and tells him to come pick her up along with the baby. She's done. "God damn you, Chris. God damn you."
"Vincent's CI" Was Waingro. They tortured Trejo and Anna for information on the Heist. He can barely speak before he dies. His wife is dead. He can't remember if he told them about their escape plan. Trejo asks Neil to kill him. "Don't leave me like this." And he obliges.
Vincent calls Nate (Jon Voight) and gets the address he needs to after Van Zant. He's not going to let that pass. He'll make time. Vincent knows they're short on time for Neil to set up a new out. Van Zant went home. Guess he feels safe now. When he says he doesn't know where Waingro is, Neil shoots him to death. As it should be.
Hank Azaria brings Charlene to his apartment, where the cops are waiting. Bubba Gump is the shoulder for her to cry on. Sort of. He's nice and gently tells her what awaits her son if she goes to jail. Fucked for life. "If you give up Chris, you get off clean." And she agrees.
Thanks to Henry Rollins, they know about Waingro and they know where he's staying.
Amy Breneman is horrified and runs away. That's not what she signed up for. But he catches her. He still wants her to come with him. The feeling isn't mutual. "When will you let me leave?"
Okay so Diane Venora has a man over for the night. The man didn't know she was married and is apologetic. Oh, that's her house. Not his. Or more appropriately, her ex husband's house. She blames him. It's his fault that she didn't like the deal she was told of in advance. "And now I have to demean myself with Ralph just to get closure with you." Pretty sure divorce papers would have worked too, honey. WTF.
Chris went off on his own. He didn't stay at Nate's, which irritates Neil. Seemed to think Nate should have stopped him from leaving. Neil tells Amy Breneman she can walk now. Or she can come with him. "There's no point in going anywhere if it's gonna be alone. Without you."
She lets him hold her. Would she have acted different if she wasn't all alone in life too? Maybe that's why he picked her.
Chris shows up at the apartment and Charlene walks out as she is told to. He smiles as he sees her. Joy. Relief. But she signals. A subtle flick of her finger. And he knows. And leaves. She would not allow him to be taken. "It's not him. It's not Chris." Of course they don't believe her. So they stop the car from leaving. But he has ID and a clean registration under other names. The days before smart phones and 5G. Chris rolls on. Desperately sad that he can never see his beloved wife again.
With no movement at Waingro's hotel room, Vincent declares Neil is gone. They missed him. He's going back to his hotel room to sleep. When he gets to the hotel, someone is in his bathroom. He doesn't notice at first. It's Natalie Portman. She is in the bathroom. Wrists and thighs slashed. He moves quickly to try and resuscitate her. "Why have you done this?" Because you left her too, darling. Her dad left her. Her mom is high on xanex and pot and so interested in sticking it to Vincent that she didn't even know where her kid was. Diane Venora is at the hospital. Devastated. Unable to process. The doctors were able to save her. He holds her. "I'm here I aint going anywhere." He left work early. He gave up. And thank God he did, something I'm sure he thought to himself.
Nate tells Neil where Waingro is. And he's sitting there deciding whether to follow the plan or to make a stop. Amy Breneman is in the car with him. He can't let it go. He pulls a U-ey.
Justine asks if it could work between them. "She chose you." But he says no. He knows he isn't what she wants. "All I am is what I'm after." Better late than never on the self-awareness part. He runs off at the beeper. Knowing Neil is at the hotel.
Neil takes way too long to shoot Waingro in my humble opinion, but he does it. 4 shots to the chest. Good. Amy Breneman stays in the car as the swat teams arrive. Vincent sees her. And both men move toward the car at the same time. Neil sees Vincent. And backs away. Amy Breneman sees him decide to leave her. The look on her face...
Final confrontation with Neil and Vincent at the airfield. Vincent takes him down. Chris is the only one who gets away. The only one who actually followed Neil's advice. If you feel heat, you're gone. Vincent holds his hand as he goes.