Mikey and Nicky (1976)

[Scottie]

Mikey and Nicky (1976)

Elaine May crafted a gangster film like no other in the nocturnal odyssey Mikey and Nicky, capitalizing on the chemistry between frequent collaborators John Cassavetes and Peter Falk by putting them on-screen together as small-time mobsters whose lifelong relationship has turned sour. Set over the course of one night, this restless drama finds Nicky holed up in a motel after the boss he stole money from puts a hit on him. Terrified, he calls on Mikey: the one person he thinks can save him. Scripted to match the live-wire energy of its stars—alongside supporting players Ned Beatty, Joyce Van Patten, and Carol Grace—and inspired by real-life characters from May’s childhood, this unbridled portrait of male friendship turned tragic is an unsung masterpiece of American cinema.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION:

• New 4K digital restoration, supervised by director Elaine May, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• New program on the making of the film featuring interviews with producer Michael Hausman, distributor Julian Schlossberg, and actor Joyce Van Patten
• New interviews with critics Richard Brody and Carrie Rickey
• Audio interview from 1976 with actor Peter Falk
• Trailer

New cover by Connor Willumsen

https://www.criterion.com/films/27895-mikey-and-nicky

[malakaheso]

This has been on my wish list for a while.

Great news!

[Hoke Moseley]

Excellent news.

Sweet cover art, too.

[HuggyBear73]

One of my favorite films of from the 70s. Day 1!!

[spanky87]

Between this and Olive’s special edition of A New Leaf, I guess it’s safe to say Elaine May doesn’t like doing interviews/commentaries for her movies. Damn shame, but still excellent news regardless.

Now we just need a re-master of Heartbreak Kid on blu-ray.

[javi92]

Definitely a great announcement!

[silverlakephil]

According to Wikipedia, Elaine May shot over a million feet of footage. What happened to the outtakes?

[Gacivory]

Yes! Love this movie since a film teacher showed it in class! Need to watch it again! Hope The Heartbreak Kid is on the horizon to complete the Elaine May directed run of movies!

[thatguamguy]

Originally Posted by spanky87

Now we just need a re-master of Heartbreak Kid on blu-ray.

I admit that I never expected to see "Mikey and Nicky" on Blu-ray, so anything is possible, but "The Heartbreak Kid" (along with "Sleuth" and "Stepford Wives") is owned by a company whose primary focus is not film distribution (I want to say it's a greeting card company), and apparently the only way they are interested in licensing the rights to their titles is if they can get the same amount of money that they got in their previous deal, which was for both DVD rights and remake rights. (As I recall it, the studio wanted to remake "Stepford Wives", but paid so much for the other two that they immediately produced remakes of them as well.) So basically they have priced themselves out of the market.

[bokes]

I've posted in the Criterion thread, but will add here.
If you haven't seen this- get it.
It's an amazing example of honest, Independent cinema.
If you're a fan of low budget, run and gun cinema- with performances that will blow you away. You WILL dig this -plenty.

[Trace17]

Definitely in for this one, that combo is too hard to pass up.

[Scottie]

PACKAGING

[ccbaxter]

...does the reviewer keep writing "Mickey, Mickey, Mickey...." when the title clearly states "Mikey"?

[malicedoom]

Originally Posted by silverlakephil

According to Wikipedia, Elaine May shot over a million feet of footage. What happened to the outtakes?

Would LOVE to see some of that (incredible amount of) unused footage.

[obscurelabel]

It's a shame this doesn't have the extras from the HomeVision DVD. There were interviews with producer Michael Hausman (who I see appears in a new interview on the BD) and cinematographer Victor Kemper. I don't know if this was a licensing issue or because there were some unflattering things said about May. The one I remember most is that Kemper was fired during the shoot because he insisted to May that there was not enough lighting to film a specific night scene. May had discussed the particulars with another cinematographer (call him DP2) who assured her that it could be shot without extra light. Kemper disagreed and was fired on the spot, and a new DP took over (either DP2 or someone else). When the dailies came back, they were completely black except for random spots of light every few seconds. The new DP was then fired and they asked Kemper to come back, I think he got a raise as well.

It's another shame that May didn't have a long and productive directing career. It's easy to think that if she had had the right producer that things would have gone better, but reading about the troubles on A New Leaf, Mikey and Nicky, and Ishtar make it seem that she maybe wasn't cut out for the practical end of directing (this is an incredibly facile conclusion on my part I know). I don't think I've heard of problems on the Heartbreak Kid ... she didn't write the script for that one, could that have made a difference?

Reminds me of Michael Cimino, if Cimino had been able to team up with a nuts-and-bolts producer and avoid the excesses of Heaven's Gate. I think that when doing Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, Cimino would want to do more takes, and Eastwood would say, "no, that's enough." He needed someone to rein him in (obviously).

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by obscurelabel

It's another shame that May didn't have a long and productive directing career. It's easy to think that if she had had the right producer that things would have gone better, but reading about the troubles on A New Leaf, Mikey and Nicky, and Ishtar make it seem that she maybe wasn't cut out for the practical end of directing (this is an incredibly facile conclusion on my part I know). I don't think I've heard of problems on the Heartbreak Kid ... she didn't write the script for that one, could that have made a difference?

I really think it is fair to say she was not cut out for the practical duties of directing. She's a smart, funny and very creative person, but it takes someone more business like to get the job done and looking at the pattern of issues she had on the films she directed, it's obvious she couldn't maintain a good balance between the two. Her directing career was already pretty much dead after Mikey & Nicky, but Warren Beatty was grateful to her for her help on writing the scripts to some of his films like Heaven Can Wait so he offered her the job of Ishtar as a huge favour and we all know how that turned out.

[DukeTogo84]

Watch this last night. Great film. Wish I had watched it years ago, but better late than never.

[RockyIII]

How is PQ itself? Is it as jaw-dropping as The Night Stalker and the Night Strangler, for example?

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by RockyIII

How is PQ itself? Is it as jaw-dropping as The Night Stalker and the Night Strangler, for example?

Okay, seriously, you were just posting on the thread for In The Heat Of The Night asking me how the PQ compares to Mikey and Nicky... AND you haven't even seen Mikey and Nicky? How would a comparison even matter if you have no frame of reference? You've really got to cool it with these absurd "How does X compare with Y?" posts.

[RockyIII]

Originally Posted by RCRochester

Okay, seriously, you were just posting on the thread for In The Heat Of The Night asking me how the PQ compares to Mikey and Nicky... AND you haven't even seen Mikey and Nicky? How would a comparison even matter if you have no frame of reference? You've really got to cool it with these absurd "How does X compare with Y?" posts.

I watched both Night Stalker and Night Strangler...Let's stay on the subject please