Jason Mann four years ago

Look for him at the 29 second mark.

I caught a glimpse of Jason Mann in a trailer for a movie called Aleksi (2018), filmed in what used to be Yugoslavia. His hair was slightly longer. He spoke only English. He plays a guy named Christian. I don't know how he happened to be in it.

He was director of photography on a movie, All Against All, made in Slovenia. He also acted in a movie made in New York, so he hasn't abandoned America completely.

I have mixed feelings about the poor wretch. I don't blame him for the failure of the movie he made for Project Greenlight. It looked horrifying, them racing to finish the script so they could start filming. How could it be any good? They could have at least brought in a comedy writer.

I've said this before. He cited Pasolini and Bunuel as his influences, but they were both Communists. They had definite points of view. Mann went out of his way to avoid saying whether the senator in his movie was a Republican or a Democrat. It was an apolitical film about a politician.

But I don't know what other movies had to say that was so brilliant.

They kept talking about the great opportunity of being handed three million bucks to make a movie, but it was a made-for-TV movie. He had to meet HBO's specifications.

For three million dollars, you can make a huge, epic, truly independent film or you can make a middling made-for-TV movie. HBO demanded the latter.

I don't think Mann has taken full advantage of being America's most recognized-yet-reviled director. It's not what he hoped for, but nobody gets to pick their career.

He was in another film, American Thief, playing a cyber security guy, available for two bucks on Amazon Prime.