Composer · 1954

Elliot Goldenthal

3: briefs
13:00: average
39 min: in total

On film.briefs3

Drugstore Cowboy

Gus Van Sant · 1989

Set in 1971 Portland, Drugstore Cowboy follows Bob Hughes and his crew as they rob pharmacies to sustain their heroin habits. When a death forces Bob to confront consequences, he attempts sobriety — only to circle back, not in despair, but with grim, ironic resolve. Gus Van Sant’s second feature avoids moralising, instead observing addiction as a structure of time, labour and loyalty. Shot by Robert Yeoman, scored by Elliot Goldenthal, and anchored by Matt Dillon’s restrained lead performance, it remains a benchmark of American indie realism.

13:00

Public Enemies

Michael Mann · 2009

Michael Mann’s 2009 biographical crime film adapts Bryan Burrough’s non-fiction account of John Dillinger’s final year and the FBI’s pursuit under Melvin Purvis. Shot digitally on location across Wisconsin and Illinois, it prioritises procedural detail, institutional logic, and tactile authenticity over psychological exposition or romantic myth. With Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, and Marion Cotillard, it charts the convergence of Depression-era desperation, federal ambition, and emerging surveillance infrastructure.

13:00

Heat

Michael Mann · 1995

Michael Mann's 1995 crime epic pairs Al Pacino's LAPD detective against Robert De Niro's professional thief across a Los Angeles built from real locations and a case Mann first wrote up as a 1989 television film. Its bank-heist shootout, drilled for months with a former SAS trainer, and the single diner scene bringing its two leads together for the first time on screen remain the reasons it is still watched, even at 171 unhurried minutes.