Heat

There’s no better genre than a battle of wits between geniuses. The tension throughout, the respect the director has for the audience, and attention to detail put into small mannerisms and logistics is superb. Two things I feel I didn’t notice being mentioned: 1) the way the criminals are stylized as the culturally sophisticated — clean suits, fancy dinners, the suave chivalry and diction of DeNiro — contrasted with the cops’ low-class parties, sweaty work attire, and disheveled wives, almost like two bit gangsters. Pacino, most notable for playing characters like Corleone and Montana, fuels this with his vulgar language, and (subconsciously?) celebrates being let loose to chase after Neil. 2) The reason Vincent succeeds (or at least stays alive) through the film is not by being smarter than the criminals but by knowing what they are thinking. How he knows what the dock is really about, who to go after for information, and when the lights are used to blind them, to know that would be when he’d be ambushed. Cinematic masterpiece, I am shook. I just wish the backdrops and respective lighting wasn’t shit.