Full Cast And Crew

Wrapping up the South Beach sojurn into the world of Miami Vice (at least until the Michael B Jordan/Austin Butler film 'Miami Vice 85' comes out next year) with a revisit of Michael Mann's 2006 film. Mann started from a place of "what if we did Miami Vice for real"...real grimy drug-dealing procedurals, real violence and treachery, the real cost of undercover work. And what if we filmed it during the summer in Miami, during Hurricane Season?  All that and more went into the vibes.
The pleasures of those vibes are refreshingly present in the film when viewed through today's lens.

Welcome to the existential wormhole that IS [indistinct chatter]...a new regular Friday drop covering topical and episodic ephemera. THIS WEEK:  "Judgement" at Nuremberg indeed; the Hershey biopic you knew you didn't need or want; despite reviews the Michael Jackson biopic will make billions; what do we think about when we think about songs and musicians that we love; Benn Jordan & Rick Beato; Jacob Collier and the collective humanity of improvisation and connection; the Redd Kross documentary and me learning that Redd Kross wasn't a metal band; Detective Hole on Netflix is pronounced 'Detective Hoo-leh' you dumb Americans; more Phil Collins-inspired wormholes; drummer's perspective mixing versus audience perspective mixing; ABACAB, Tom Sawyer, Mean Street, Rush and Van Halen; Michael Omartian and 'Aja'; limitations are what makes a genius artist truly original; and next week on the podcast: Micheal Mann's Miami Vice film reappraised. THANK YOU!

I've long wanted to revisit some of the great episodes of the Miami Vice TV series, and to find out if it's more influential than truly "great".
So I finally did, and the result is a Roland Jazz Chorus-and-pastel-linen-suit-jacket infused trip down memory and musical lane.  In this episode I take a fresh look at the two-part pilot and am reminded of the surprising context of the famous 'In The Air Tonight' nighttime driving scene.
The iconic Jan Hammer Miami Vice Theme and Show Open
John Diehl (Zito) on giving up his spot on the series to challenge himself as an actor.
Some Guys Don't Sound Like Rod Stewart.
Phil Collins on the iconic 'In The Air Tonight' Drum Fill
The Vox video explaining Gated Reverb, Then & Now
The more technically wonky recording studio explanation about gated reverb.

Two different films tackle the same subject matter with wildly divergent results.  You might be surprised which one is a vibrant, shockingly modern film that ranks amongst the greatest courtroom dramas ever made.

You see this watch?
I hadn't seen Pulp Fiction probably since it came out in 1994, so when my family (including a teenager) wanted to watch it this weekend I wondered if it would hold up and if it would hold the attention of today's kids. Find out how it went in this episode!  PLUS: plenty of alternative casting options and scene-setting for where the world of independant cinema was in 1994, a very strange and transitional year where the two most popular films were Pulp Fiction and...Forrest Gump.