IN 2017, 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.”  said Howard.

“I’m honoured 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. 

“When you’ve done 121 hours excruciating hours about Heat, only then are you just on the same level as One Heat Minute. ”

— Maria Lewis - Award-Winning Author and Screenwriter

“Blake Howard’s Cine-essential ‘One HEAT Minute’ podcast may be the most delightfully detailed dissection of a single film since Roger Ebert’s shot-by-shot explication of CITIZEN KANE, and possibly more entertaining! It’s one of the few podcasts in recent memory that could stand the test of time to become a valuable resource for film theorists and casual movie lovers alike. And to have Director Mann, himself, for the final episode to discuss his classic film is just like the final shot in HEAT....the perfect ending to an epic journey.

— Joe Lynch - Director of POINT BLANK & MAYHEM

“It’s a brilliant idea, relentlessly executed with charm, wit, and enthusiasm. Every time I listen to it, I feel the need to rush back to my TV and watch the whole movie again.”

— Bilge Ebiri - New York Magazine

“That’s a GREAT idea”

— Christopher Nolan Director of THE DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY

What makes One Heat Minute distinct, though, is the sheer, unfiltered sincerity with which Howard conducts the proceedings. Howard is a true believer in the power of film and this film specifically. Heat is his means of bringing people together, accessing their worldviews, and cultivating a sense of solidarity. And he does so with enviable conviction. “Sometimes you get this perfection, you know,” Howard told KQED’s Carly Severn in a September 2018 interview. “It’s like, it was made to be examined. It was made for me to have a conversation about.”

One Heat Minute Turned the Movie Heat Into a Religious Experience By Nicholas Quah