I try really hard to avoid writing about stuff other than music in these pages (even try to filter out the nonsense that is my personal life). But one event that I couldn't help hyping up is a retrospective of the films of Michael Mann at the National Film Theatre here in London.

It's very, very easy to get over-analytical about someone like Michael Mann. Recurring themes of loyalty, honour and morality. Strong, disturbed, complex male characters and weak female ones. The fascination with urban landscapes. These are all subjects for any film lover to get fully immersed in.

But ultimately, I see this NFT retrospective as a celebration of someone who's been responsible for creating some of the most beautiful visuals ever seen in modern American Cinema. Along with people like Terrence Malick, these films simply fuse commercial know how and cinematic art with effortless aplomb. This neatly coincides with the release of 'Miami Vice', where I can report that the pastel and neon nights of the '80s TV original are replaced by digital darkness and arc-light definition.

Following his films chronologically, you can see the path of progression he's taken to get to here. The initial tinkering with digital cinematograhy in Ali through to the full blown use of the medium on 'Collateral' and 'Miami Vice'. The close-up framing and searing tension of 'The Insider' even though it doesn't contain a single moment of physical violence. The fact that despite having both De Niro and Pacino in the same movie, the real star of 'Heat' was LA itself (the same can be said for Collateral). Not to forget that he was responsible for two of the best movies from the '80s: 'Thief' and 'Manhunter' (still hands down the best Thomas Harris adaptation).

Include the epic 'Last Of The Mohicans' and the little seen 'The Keep' and 'The Jericho Mile' and you have an unmissable month for anyone remotely interested in modern cinema. With his next film 'Arms And The Man', all about Victor Bout, the world's biggest arms trafficker, it looks like he'll continue to apply his unique vision to the tough stories.