I just saw “Blackhat” this week so I'm a Michael Mann completeist again—although, to be fair, I don't remember much of “Manhunter” and probably less of “Miami Vice.” I remember most of “The Insider.” I've probably seen that movie 10 times now. 

Here's my ranking if you're looking for a good Michael Mann movie this week. Or next:

1. The Insider (1999)
2. Thief (1981)
3. Collateral (2004)
4. Heat (1995)
5. The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
6. Manhunter (1986)
7. Public Enemies (2009)
8. Ali (2002)
9. Blackhat (2015)
10. Miami Vice (2007)

Whoops, not a completeist: I haven't seen “The Keep” (1983). Sorry. Sloppy work. In a Michael Mann movie, I'm Waingro.

None of these movies are bad, by the way. There's always something of value in them. There are beautiful scenes; they are beautifully photographed.

I could see, for example, a great double-feature of “Public Enemies” and “Blackhat.” In the former, in the beginning, John Dillinger has ultimate freedom; he can go anywhere he wants to go. He even tells that to Billie. Where are you going? she asks. Anywhere I want, he replies. But unbeknownst, the world is shifting beneath his feet. Modern technology is creating forces that will so impede his freedom he won't even be able to go to the movies. 

In “Blackhat” it's the opposite. The expert in the modern digital world can go almost anywhere again—virtually. There are no borders anymore. As long as you're not physically caught.

The contrast isn't 100 perecent, but there's something there. The freedom of the thief impeded by technology in the beginning of the 20th century, then freed again by digital technology in the beginning of the 21st.

Here's a video tribute to Mann from Alexandre Gasulla. Here's the great final scene in “Public Enemies.” Review of “Blackhat” up soon.

“Stop talking, OK Slick?”