Great review. I'm a fan, but it's one of those films where I have to steel myself before watching. I've seen it twice, a
-
morrison-dylan-fan — 9 years ago(January 29, 2017 10:39 AM)
Hi Spike,after staying away from the film due to it getting a massive kicking from reviews,I got the chance to see it this weekend,and found it to be a fantastic surprise. One of the main things that I think the movie suffered from was being pushed as a "Thriller",when to quote a headline a fellow IMDber gave it,the title is actually a "Suburban Noir." For the review,I stuck to the opening 15 minutes.
8
UK DVD:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Girl-Train-DVD-Emily-Blunt/dp/B01LO7PJOE- This review may contain spoilers ***
Note:I've not read the book.
View on the film:
Getting on-board during early stage of her pregnancy, (kept secret from cast/crew!) Emily Blunt gives a blistering anti-Femme Fatale Film Noir loner performance as Rachael. Dimly looking at the "perfect" couples across the tracks with eyes caked in black,Blunt superbly unseats the staggered nature of the Noir loner, pouring Watson out in bitter blends of over-confidence in protecting her "perfect" images,and a Noir pit that lands Watson with harsh reality. Joining in this prime cut "Women's Picture" Neo-Noir and also taking a liking to twitchy Justin Theroux's Tom, Rebecca Ferguson and Haley Bennett give excellent performance as Anna and Megan,with Bennett making Megan a bundle of sexy Neo-Noir temptation, whilst Ferguson fractures Anna's suburban, picket-line fence image created by Rachel,to release the bubbling Noir Fury.
Changing tracks from the London setting of Paula Hawkins's book to New York,the screenplay by Erin Cressida Wilson corkscrews the thrills for a simmering Neo-Noir atmosphere. Dovetailing fragmented flashbacks to Rachael going off the rails,Wilson presents with a sharp clarity the slurring state of Rachel,lit in sudden turns of aggression and a tense piecing together of her "forgotten" train ride. Opening the bottle to Tom's various relationships,Wilson cuts into an evil under the sun Noir mood, shining from a subtle, gradual changes in perspective,seeping a crisp Noir awareness under the nails of Anna and Rachael.
Buying a Noir Thriller ticket for the first time in his credits,director Tate Taylor & cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen stylishly tap at the burnt Noir loner state of Rachael with grubby low-lighting opening the blackened,decayed wounds of Rachael. Backed by a shimmering score from Danny Elfman,Taylor layers the darkness with chilling stylisation of slow-motion rain hitting the frosty tracks,and screams from a horror-like nightmare linking Rachel's torn ticket memories.
- This review may contain spoilers ***
-
mgtbltp — 9 years ago(January 31, 2017 02:13 PM)
Deputy Sheriff Ray Dolezal (Willem Dafoe) has a dead body and a half million dollars sitting at the edge of the Rio Grande Gorge in the New Mexico desert.
So begins White Sands a Film Soleil Noir directed by Roger Donaldson (The Getaway (1994)) and written by Daniel Pyne (Miami Vice (TV Series)1984 - 1986)). Cinematography was by Peter Menzies Jr. (The Getaway (1994)), and music by Patrick O'Hearn.
The film stars Willem Dafoe (To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Wild at Heart (1990)) as Ray Dolezal, Mickey Rourke (Body Heat (1981), Angel Heart (1987), Barfly (1987), Sin City (2005), Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014)), as Gorman Lennox, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (Scarface (1983), Slam Dance (1987)) as Lane Bodine, Samuel L. Jackson (Ragtime (1981), Sea of Love (1989), Goodfellas (1990), True Romance (1993), Pulp Fiction (1994), Hard Eight (1996), Jackie Brown (1997), ) as Greg Meeker, M. Emmet Walsh (Midnight Cowboy (1969), Serpico (1973), Blade Runner (1982), Blood Simple (1984)) as Bert Gibson, with James Rebhorn as Agent Flynn, Maura Tierney as Noreen, Beth Grant as Roz Kincaid, and Mimi Rogers as Molly Dolezal.
The film is initially captivating, the body, discovered by an Apache helicopter pilot hauling two amateur archaeologists, is lying in an adobe ruin, with his brains blown out. Coroner Bert Gibson declares "It's a suicide," made even more probable with the discovery of a half million dollars in an attache case. The banter between Gibson and Dolezal about Dolezal's new cowboy hat is amusing. This reprises later at the autopsy where a phone number is discovered on a piece of wax paper as part of the undigested stomach contents. The dead man is named Spencer.
Normally in Classic Noir the protagonist starts to make stupid decisions that propel the film down the road to Noirsville. In White Sands though there are way too many of these implausibilities to believe. Combined that with interesting but un important characters that appear then just vanish and unnecessary plot complications and you have a film that goes a bit off the rails.
Dolezal, posing as Spenser, calls variations of surrounding area codes plus the number and when he finally gets a connection he is instructed to go to a meeting set up at a motel. So what does he do?
He leaves his wife and son and drives off in his highly conspicuous blue 1966 Chevrolet Corvette, with a half million bucks without any backup to the meeting, implausibility number 1.
At the motel he is robbed by two women and instructed to meet a man named Gorman Lennox at a restaurant. FBI agent Greg Meeker intercepts Dolezal and informs him that Spenser was an undercover agent, an FBI mule carrying money for a payment. Since Dolezal has carelessly lost the money, Meeker tells Dolezal to posing as Spenser to recover the money or help arrest Lennox.
Dolezal meets Lennox (Rourke in a "That's one fine coat you're wearing" long coat) and his deal broker Lane Bodine. Since Lane knew Spencer she knows that Dolezal is an imposter, but since she gets a percentage of the deal she lets him slide implausibility number 2.
The money is for illegal arms. Needing more money when the arms merchants renege on the original deal, Dolezal has to romance Lane so she will attract rich humanitarian donors to fund the increase asking price on the deal implausibility number 3.
Willem Dafoe puts in a good performance but there is a lot of hesitation evident in which way the director wanted to go. M. Emmet Walsh's character is built up nicely then disappears entirely from the rest of the film, Dolezal's wife and son are treated likewise. Later two apparent lesbian goons assault Dolezal in a motel room then also are never really part of the film except as background. There are a lot of dead ends. Expectations are dangled in front of us but never followed through. White Sands, New Mexico, BTW, makes a very brief appearance in the last 5 minutes, what's up with that?
It probably would have worked better if it would stayed a bit simpler. The sum is not as good as it's parts, there was a good film in there someplace. 6.5/10 Full review with more screen caps here
http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2017/01/white-sands-1992-andy-of-mayberry-meets.html -
jgcole — 9 years ago(January 31, 2017 02:34 PM)
This film was a big hit at Cannes winning two awards, but that wasnt enough for von Trier who thought it should have got the
Palme dOr
and let everybody know how he felt, giving the jury the finger when they announced that
Barton Fink
was that years winner.
Europa
is a beautiful film to look at using classical film techniques including Dutch angles, rear projections, front projections, double exposures and bits of color in its black and white photography for effect in some scenes think blood red. Then there is the hypnotic voice over by the great Max von Sydow: as the lens speeds down a spotlighted railroad track the voice says, On the count of ten you will be in.Europa! Ten!. Its all more than a bit strange but it adds up to a mesmerizing cinematic expression of a shattered and disoriented Germany at the end of WWII.
Leopold Kessler is a young, idealistic American of German descent who comes to the old country to be part of the reconstruction because, he says, maybe we should be nice to Germany. Leo is not ready for the people he's about to meet and never fully understands what's going on around him. His uncle gets him a job as the sleeping car conductor aboard Zentropa Railways a company that, of course, had only recently been transporting doomed passengers. Zentropa is headed by the Hartmann family whose patriarch is of questionable loyalties in occupied Germany. His niece, the also questionable Katarina, seduces naive Leo and draws him into a multi layered web of espionage and counter-espionage that involves a pro-Nazi terrorist organization known as Werwolf; and a US Army colonel who wants the young American to spy for the army.
The story is a mess (which is not a problem for me) and the acting a bit skewed giving the film a Lynchian feel. The film only makes illusions to the US/German business interests during the war, the camps, the Allied occupation, etc., without dragging us down into some allegory on the moral tragedy of the whole thing. So it gets an extra .5 pt. for that. 8.0/10 -
XhcnoirX — 9 years ago(February 08, 2017 02:58 AM)
This will probably be my last review on this board
Live By Night
(2016/2017): Prohibition era Boston. Small-time Irish crook Ben Affleck doesn't want to get caught up in the territorial war between Irish gangster Robert Glenister and Italian gangster Remo Girone. But when he falls for Sienna Miller, an inside woman for one of his jobs, it's too late as she's also Glenister's mistress. When a robbery goes wrong and some cops end up dead, and Glenister gets the word about Miller and Affleck, it's only because of Affleck's dad, a police captain who knows everything about everyone in Boston, that Affleck ends up doing some hard time in prison rather than go to the chair or get killed by Glenister. But Miller's dead and when Affleck gets out again, he wants revenge and turns to Girone. Girone sets Affleck up in Florida where Glenister's been moving in on his liquor business. Affleck does well there and manages to take over most of Glenister's business. But Florida isn't just run by gangsters, it's also run by the KKK
Bloody awesome! If you enjoy the 30s and 40s gangster movies starring James Cagney and Lawrence Tierney (Affleck looks so much like him at times, I am convinced he based his physical demeanor in this movie on him), this movie will bring a smile to your face. While Affleck's character is never quite as ruthless or cold as Cagney's and Tierney's trademark roles, he definitely embodies that same kinda spirit. The movie also touches upon the more political/racial/religious aspects of the era, such as where police captain Chris Cooper tells Affleck he will turn a blind eye as long as he keeps his business to the bad (read: non-white) part of town (and of course there's the KKK as already mentioned above).
While Affleck is far from the greatest actor ever, he seems very aware of his limitations and makes them work to his advantage here. It also helps that he's supported by an excellent cast. And the movie looks absolutely stunning with some great sets and set pieces, and tons of beautiful 20s/30s cars (including a great car chase in and around Boston). Affleck, who also directed this movie, and DoP Richard Richardson, as well as the set & art directors, give this movie a great and authentic look, which by itself is worth the price of admission.
If there's a negative to this movie, it's that Affleck (also the screenplay writer!) wants to bring too much of Dennis Lehane's source novel to the table. Because of the sheer amount of plotlines some get a bit lost in the shuffle and not given too much attention (I also left out some rather important ones in this review, hah). I assume that similar to his 2010 movie 'The Town' his original cut is way longer than the current 2h9m runtime tho, so hopefully at some point a 'director's cut' of 'Live By Night' sees the light of day. For me however, the 2 hours flew by, and I was on the edge of my seat from the first second to the last. I can't recommend this movie enough, and I am even considering seeing it again in the cinema. Let me say it again: Blood awesome! 9/10 -
morrison-dylan-fan — 9 years ago(February 12, 2017 09:49 AM)
Hi Spike,with this being from 1960,I'm not sure if it is a Neo-Noir or one of the last Film Noir's.
8
** This review may contain spoilers ***
Discussing French Film Noir with the very generous IMDber dbdumonteil,I asked about adaptations of novelists Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac,due to the three that I've seen (Eyes Without A Face,Vertigo and Diabolique) being absolute classics. Catching me by surprise, dbdumonteil told me about a British Film Noir adaptation. Gathering up titles for my birthday viewing,I was thrilled to find it on Ebay £2.50!,which led to me unmasking the faces in the dark.
The plot:
Completely absorbed in his work, businessmen Richard Hammond puts his eyes on inventing a new light-bulb in his factory. Trying out a prototype, Hammond gets caught in an explosion which permanently blinds him. Fearing that he might go mad,Hammond is told by the Dr that he must trust his long suffering wife Christiane and "loyal" friend/co-worker David Merton to take care of him. Returning to his country home, Hammond is horrified to find himself constantly needing to be "corrected" by Christiane that things have not been moved around in the house. Standing outside,light begins to enter Hammond's blind vision when he smells pine trees,despite no pine trees having ever been near his house.
View on the film:
Unmasking this near-forgotten title, Renown present a sparkling transfer,with the dialogue and Mikis Theodorakis's off-beat wah-wah score being clear,and there only being a few specs of dirt on the images of the dark.
Ridding Hammond of his sight in the first 5 minutes (!) of this Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac adaptation,the screenplay by Ephraim Kogan & John Tully cuts a lean and mean British Film Noir. Changing sight of the original novel limiting the pov to the darkness of Hammond's mind,the writers brilliantly retain the isolation Noir spirit,with sharp-tooth inner monologues bringing to light the mad darkness Hammond is trapped in,and the echoes of doubt he now has of those out of sight. Playfully nodding to the French to English transfer,the writers hit a fantastic ambiguous note for Hammond's friends and family, shining in the clipped exchanges Christine has with her husband,which carry (some) element of care with a decayed frustration over Hammond's blindness to other points of view.
Spraying the dark mist of the original novel across the screen,director David Eady and cinematographer Ken Hodges turn Hammond's upper-crust country house into a Noir maze,via ever winding ultra-stylish shadows guarding Hammond from seeing the darkest events taking place. Largely staying away from any Gothic "monster" lighting for Hammond, Eady looks into his burnt eyes with coiled close-ups stabbing the pompous outlook he had on life,with a new Noir loner grasp from Hammond to catch an eyeful of the true feelings of those around him. Joined by an elegant, thoughtful Mai Zetterling as Christiane, John Gregson gives a fantastic performance as Hammond,thanks to Gregson punching Hammond's narrow bitterness with a gradual Film Noir fear of lies coming from the faces in the dark. -
Jessica_Rabbit69 — 9 years ago(November 21, 2016 06:57 AM)
Great review. I'm a fan, but it's one of those films where I have to steel myself before watching. I've seen it twice, and read the book, and it's nothing you can just sit down, watch and forget. I also wouldn't watch it by myself when I'm home alone. Too horrific and chilling.
I see you got a little lecture on the CFB when you posted this.
It's so unfortunate that the CFB has become such an annoying board.
Jessica Rabbit
"I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way." -
mgtbltp — 9 years ago(November 21, 2016 07:29 AM)
I don't ever look for hidden agendas in films, but there are folks out there who see everything in black and white, good and bad, who think they are the watchdogs of the culture. I just ignore it.
The main point of my reviews is the Visual thread that runs through these films that's sort of why they are heavy on screenshots. The exceptional ones are are works of art. -
XhcnoirX — 9 years ago(November 25, 2016 03:42 AM)
One Shoe Makes It Murder
(1982): Robert Mitchum is a private eye who has given up on life. He's hired by casino owner Mell Ferrer, someone has been cooking his books and he thinks his wife might be in danger because of it. Mitchum finds her quickly enough, but minutes after he leaves her apartment he witnesses her fall from her balcony to a sudden death. Inspector Jose Perez thinks it's murder due to one of her slippers being nowhere near the balcony while she was wearing the other one, and isn't crazy about Mitchum acting like a clam. Ferrer re-hires Mitchum however, this time to find out what happened to his wife. He eventually discovers that ex-hooker and barfly Angie Dickinson, who's been throwing herself at him ever since he stepped into the casino, might be the key to unlock the mystery.
This is a decent but unremarkable made-for-TV movie, which stands out due to the presence of Mitchum ('Out Of The Past') and Dickinson ('The Killers'). Mitchum plays the type of role he was made for, as a broken man who's so jaded by his past (which includes a failed suicide attempt) that he cannot even get it up for the sexy and affectionate Dickinson. Dickinson is good and gives her character a genuinely warm side, but because of it, the impact of her character on the dead wife's past is never really felt. The 'kindred spirit' chemistry between Mitchum and Dickinson works really well however, it is there, but neither character really knows how to act on it, and fall back in their old ways. Their scenes together, as well as Mitchum's world-weary lines and voice-over narration which is used extensively throughout this movie, are what make this movie stand out.
The movie itself plays out at a very leisurely pace, and doesn't really 'thrill', even tho it's competently made. It's just not an edge-of-your-seat mystery/thriller. Pretty routine work from director William Hale and DoP Terry K. Meade, with only an occasional creative shot such as when Mitchum witness the fall. The plot, based on a novel, is also pretty straight-forward and not too surprising. Watch this one for Mitchum and Dickinson's scenes. 6/10
This TV movie can be found on youtube in decent quality in its original 4:3 aspect ratio (the version I watched), but it has also been released as a widescreen DVD. -
mgtbltp — 9 years ago(November 30, 2016 05:21 AM)
"The world is full o' complainers. An' the fact is, nothin' comes with a guarantee. Now I don't care if you're the Pope of Rome, President of the United States or Man of the Year; somethin' can all go wrong. Now go on ahead, y'know, complain, tell your problems to your neighbor, ask for help, 'n watch him fly. Now, in Russia, they got it mapped out so that everyone pulls for everyone else that's the theory, anyway. But what I know about is Texas, an' down here you're on your own."
All I can say is Wow! What a debut film of the Coen Brother's. This film has got STYLE. Directed by Joel Coen, (& Ethan Coen (uncredited)) (
Miller's Crossing
(1990),
Barton Fink
(1991),
Fargo
(1996),
The Big Lebowski
(1998),
The Man Who Wasn't There
(2001),
No Country for Old Men
(2007)), and written by both Joel Coen & Ethan Coen. The films cinematography was by Barry Sonnenfeld (
Raising Arizona
(1987),
Miller's Crossing
(1990)) and the music was by Carter Burwell (
Fargo
(1996),
The Big Lebowski
(1998),
No Country for Old Men
(2007),
Mildred Pierce
(TV Mini-Series)).
The film stars John Getz (
The Fly
(1986)) as Ray, Frances McDormand (
Fargo
(1996), Lone Star (1996),
The Man Who Wasn't There
(2001)) as femme fatale Abby Marty, Dan Hedaya (
True Confessions
(1981),
Tightrope
(1984),
Mulholland Dr.
(1999)) as Julian Marty, M. Emmet Walsh (
Midnight Cowboy
(1969),
Serpico
(1973),
Straight Time
(1978),
Blade Runner
(1982),
Narrow Margin
(1990)) as private investigator Loren Visser, Samm-Art Williams (
Dressed to Kill
(1980),
A Rage in Harlem
(1991)) as Meurice, and Deborah Neumann as Debra.
P.I.'s are arguably, along with the femme fatale, probably the two top icons of Noir, but in the totality of the Noir/Neo Noir canon there are surprisingly, contrary to popular perception, not very many films that actually do feature your classic hardboiled private detective. Oh don't get me wrong there is sleuthing going on in quite a bit of Film Noir, but it's done by a plethora of characters, newspaper reporters, the falsely accused, the amnesiacs, the framed, cabbies, tabloid photographers, secretaries, taxi dancers, average joe's, even kids. Out of those films that do actually have P.I.'s, I can only think of four with private detectives that have gone bad, Jeff Bailey (Robert Mitchum) in,
Out Of the Past
, J.B. MacDonald (Raymond Burr) in
Pitfall
, Kerric (Raymond Burr) in
Abandoned
, and hayseed sheetkicker Loren Visser (M. Emmet Walsh) in this film
Blood Simple
, which takes "The Bad Detective" to a whole new level.
Blood Simple starts off with sleazy bedroom dick Visser's voice over about there being no guarantees in life. Visser was hired by Julian Marty who owns Neon Boots a honkey-tonk/strip bar. Marty wants Visser, to keep tabs on his "funny: acting wife, Abby. Julian suspects some hanky panky is going on between Abby and one of his barkeepers, either "Motown" Meurice or "Cowboy" Ray.
On a rainy night Ray offers to drive Abby to Houston on his day off. Abby spills the beans to Ray about her screwed up marriage. Ray replies that he's always liked her.
Abby:
He gave me a little pearl-handled .38 for our first anniversary.
Ray:
Uh-huh.
Abby:
Figured I'd better leave before I used it on him. I don't know how you can stand him.
Ray:
Well, I'm only an employee, I ain't married to him.
One thing leads to another and Abby ends up repeatedly batter-dipping Ray's corn dog in a variety of positions in a cheap roadside hot sheet motel. Visser who has been tailing them all along in his VW bug is able to indulge in one of his perverted kinks, peeping and photographing their dirty deeds. Visser takes particular pleasure rubbing Julian]s nose in his armature porn shots of Ray and Abby.
Private Detective Visser:
[about a photo of Ray and Abby] I know a place you can get that framed.
Marty:
What did you take these for?
Private Detective Visser:
What do you mean? Just doin' my job.
Marty:
You called me, I knew they were there, so what do I need these for?
Private Detective Visser:
Well, I don't know Call it a fringe benefit.
Marty:
How long did you watch her?
Private Detective Visser:
Most of the night They'd just rest a few minutes and then get started again. Quite something.
Julian stews over the revelations, confronts Ray and Abby to little effect, then decides to make Visser an offer.
Marty:
I got a job for you.
Private Detective Visser:
Uh, well, if the pay's right, and it's legal, I'll do it.
Marty:
It's not strictly legal.
Private Detective Visser:
[Thinks for a second] Well, if the pay's right, I'll do it.
Julian offers Visser 10 Gs to kill Ray and Abby and get rid of the bodies.
Of course this being a Neo Noir nothing goes down quite as expected, and when it does go down, it's with great style. The film is full of twists, double crosses and a healthy helping of bizarre black humor.
Dan Hedaya and M. Emmet Walsh are both in top form as the films unforgettable two sleazeballs around which this picaresque universe revolves. The soundtrack and -
mgtbltp — 9 years ago(December 04, 2016 03:51 AM)
This post Hays (Motion Picture Production) Code and pre PC "code" version of Raymond Chandler's "Farewell My Lovely" is probably the closest version to the novel we are going to see, it's firing on all cylinders. It pulls no punches, it's serious, dialog wise, doing justice to the novel.
In the previously adapted for film 1944 version Murder, My Sweet, Dick Powell was great as wisecracking Marlowe, he's pretty much as I pictured him in my mind's eye as I read the book. Mitchum at 58 years, in this film, is just a tad too old to fit the Marlowe of the novel. He's also a tad too iconic, Mitchum is playing Mitchum playing Marlowe, but the script reflects at least this age difference, he's written as an older wiser Marlowe, a weary character who realizes he's over the hump and sort of coasting. This small change becomes very believable as Mitchum settles into the part. He's still the knight of streets but now he creaks and is just a bit more tarnished.
Farewell My Lovely was ably directed by Dick Richards just like an old studio "B" production picture without any noticeable in your face style.
The features Robert Mitchum (Film Noir Icon in no less than eight classics) as the definitive private detective Philip Marlowe. The film also has Noir star John Ireland (a vet of at least six classic noirs where he either played the bad guy, the good guy, or the not so bad guy) as Detective Lt. Nulty.
Charlotte Rampling (Angel Heart (1987)) as Femme Fatale Helen Grayle, Sylvia Miles (Murder, Inc. (1960), Naked City (TV Series), Terror in the City (1964), Midnight Cowboy (1969)), as Jesse Halstead Florian, Anthony Zerbe (Naked City (TV Series), Cool Hand Luke (1967), The Laughing Policeman (1973)), as Laird Brunette gangster/gambling ship operator. Harry Dean Stanton (The Wrong Man (1956), In the Heat of the Night (1967), Dillinger (1973), Paris, Texas (1984), Wild at Heart (1990)), as Detective Billy Rolfe LAPD, Jack O'Halloran as Moose Malloy.
The rest of the cast has, Sylvester Stallone (Cop Land (1997)), as Jonnie, Joe Spinell (The Godfather (1972), The Seven-Ups (1973), Taxi Driver (1976)) as Nick, Burton Gilliam as Cowboy. Kate Murtagh (87th Precinct (TV Series)) in a part channeling Hope Emerson, as Frances Amthor, L.A.'s whorehouse madam/drug dealer (Believed they say to be based on Brenda Allen whose arrest in 1948 triggered a scandal that led to the reform of the L.A.P.D.). John O'Leary as Lindsay Marriott, Walter McGinn as Tommy Ray washed up jazz man. Jim Thompson (hardboiled novelist) as Judge Baxter Wilson Grayle, Logan Ramsey (Something Wild (1961), Naked City (TV Series)) as the Police Commissioner, and what was left of Greater Los Angeles of the 1940s.
The hardboiled tale starts with Marlowe's smoky voice over as he's looking out the warped glass window of a downtown LA dive hotel. He's holed up there waiting for his case to break.
When Detective Lt. Nulty, LAPD arrives at his flop Marlowe begins to lay out the case from the beginning, which we see in an extended flashback.
After successfully tracking down a wayward teen at a dime a dance hall, he is almost roughed up by The Moose, a giant ex con who did a six year stretch for armed bank robbery. He watched Marlowe deliver the girl to her folks and gets obsessed with having Marlowe find his missing Velma. Moose slips Marlowe a fifty as a retainer. Velma, Moose tells Marlowe was "Cute, cute as lace pants".
It turns out Velma used to be a stripper/B-girl/hooker who worked out of a dump on Central called Florian's. In the time that Moose was in the joint, Mike Florian died and the neighborhood turned black. When Moose and Marlowe get to Florian's, it's in the hood and the clientele is all black. During a tense confrontation, Moose kills Mr. Montgomery, the current owner, and they find out nothing about Velma. Moose scoots, leaving Marlowe to call the cops and deal with Nulty.
After telling the cops the details of what went down at Florian's, Marlowe slips out and spies a fleabag hotel, The Crescent, across the avenue. He crosses the pavement to the sidewalk and up into the hotel lobby. Marlowe finds out that Tommy Ray a bandleader, (Tommy Ray and The Sun Rays) who used to work at Florian's has rooms upstairs.
From Tommy, Marlowe finds out Jesse Florian's address, and the tip that a fifth of booze will be his best friend. Jesse is a bit of an alkie, and Sylvia Miles does an extraordinary portrayal of Jesse that is subtle, touching, and heart wrenchingly sad. After Marlowe plays a little footsie with Jesse, she decides that he's alright and calls Tommy Ray who slips him a picture of Velma from the old days. Only it's a bum steer, flashing the picture at Burly Q's, and agents gets a name, but it isn't Velma, it's a dead end to a catatonic at Camarillo, the State Mental Hospital.
Before the end of the film Marlowe gets his mellon thunked while Lindsay Marriott gets dead on a bungled jewel theft payoff. He gets his noodle wet with a horney Mrs. Grayle, and gets g -
mgtbltp — 9 years ago(December 16, 2016 10:43 AM)
A nice discovery, right before Christmas, Too Late was actually first brought to my attention by a review in The New York Times. A review that I stumbled upon while doing a search online for something else almost a half year ago. It was well after Too Late left the few theaters it was screened at. I just discovered it's available to watch now on Netflix streaming. Neo Noir is alive and doing well.
Too Late is a surprisingly brilliant addition to the Private Eye & Neo Noir Pantheon. This film passed well under practically everyone's "noir-dar" when it was debuted on March 18, 2016 in Los Angeles, California, followed on the 25th in New York City. With all the current zeitgeist going towards blockbusters, "celebrities" and oscar bait, and this having an extremely limited release, hardly anyone has seen much less heard of this fantastic modern take on Noir.
The film was directed and sharpley written by Dennis Hauck, the cinematography was by Bill Fernandez, and has an eclectic smorgasbord of music by Robert Allaire. Upon first viewing you'll see obvious nods to Sergio Leone's narrative style from Once Upon A Time In America that Tarantino homaged in Pulp Fiction. This is coupled with some intelligent and, if you pay attention, clue filled dialog vis-à-vis again, Tarantino. It also uses split screen in some sequences (Marlowe (1969)) and is loaded with other subtle noir and film references, i.e., an interesting off beat quote from Altman's Short Cuts (1993). There are probably more. The film was shot not only in 35mm Techniscope, but also in five Acts, twenty-two minute individual takes, with no hidden cuts or other editing.
Too Late stars John Hawkes (D.O.A. (1988), Winter's Bone (2010), The Pardon (2013)) as a damaged, pushing 60, hawk-nosed, rough, weary, stringbean freelance Private Detective Mel Sampson, he's also a smoker, a toker, and a boozer. Crystal Reed (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (TV Series 2010)) as Dorothy, Vail Bloom (Angel of Death (2009)) as ex stripper, femme fatale Janet Lyons, Jeff Fahey (Impulse (1990), Planet Terror (2007), Machete (2010)), as "Cowboy" Roger Fontaine, Gordy's muscle, Robert Forster (Jackie Brown (1997), Mulholland Drive (2001), Hotel Noir (2012)) as Gordy Lyons mobbed up strip club owner, Joanna Cassidy (The Outfit (1973), The Laughing Policeman (1973), Blade Runner (1982) ) as Eleanor Mahler, Natalie Zea () Brett Jacobsen as "Skippy" Fontaine, Dichen Lachman as Jilly Bean, Dash Mihok as Jesse, Sydney Tamiia Poitier as Veronica, and Rider Strong as Matthew.
L.A., 2015. In some perverse joke of the gods, Bunker Hill rises in its skyscraper reincarnation, dwarfing the stubby spike of the Los Angeles City Hall. The view is from Radio Hill, and down across a yellowish, smog shrouded Chinatown. A woman, Dorothy, calls Mel Sampson P.I. for help. He's Too Late. She's dead.
What follows, time jumps between the present, seven years in the past, and five days ago, and is wondrously Noirsville.
A bizarre confrontation on a hilltop patio between Sampson, Gordy, Fontaine, and Fontaine's and Gordy's less than classy ex stripper wives, Veronica, and the half naked Janet.
A stripbar cute meet between Sampson, Dorothy, and Sampson's future gal pal Jilly Bean, followed by a late night nightcap at a C&W bar.
The reveal in an L.A. hotel room between Sampson, and Mary and Eleanor Mahler.
The botched attempted murder of a witness.
The acting in the film by all the principles is impeccable. John Hawkes' Mel Sampson is the anti Hollywood pretty boy hero, it took me a few reflective hours to put my finger on who he reminds me of. If you grew up in the late 60's and were a part of the counterculture and read many of the seminal works of the underground comix movement you'll see the visual resemblance to comix icon R. Crumb. He downplays his part, making him accessible and believable.
Neo Noir vet Robert Forster is a nasty piece of work as the hard barked stripclub owner. Jeff Fahey is teddy bear-ish, good ol' boy enforcer with a broken leg. Vail Bloom is touching as the wound a bit too tight, ex stripper beauty, who crumbles disastrously, when her world comes tumbling down. Natalie Zea is heartbreaking in the part of Mary.
Too Late is at the moment available on Netflix streaming. If I have to point out any minuses I would say it could have used a bit more outdoor location footage, but that's me. A thinking man's Noir 9/10.
Full review with NSFW screencaps here
http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/12/too-late-2015-tarantinian-neo-noir.html -
morrison-dylan-fan — 9 years ago(December 21, 2016 06:58 PM)
Hi Spike,with you being back,I'll give this superb thread a boost.
7
"Murder is killing without a license-and everybody kills."- This review may contain spoilers ***
Despite a family friend being a big fan of their work,I've never had the chance to catch a glimpse of Michael Winner/Charles Bronson's collaborations.Checking updates on Netflix UK,I found out that one of their team-ups was going to be taken off the site in a few days,which led to me fixing things up with the mechanic.
The plot:
Cutting out any connection to a social or personal life, Arthur Bishop trains himself to be a mechanic/hit-man for a group which demands the very best from their assassins. Successfully following an order to kill a member of the group,Bishop attends the funeral of his victim. During the funeral,Bishop crosses paths with the victims son Steve McKenna. Finding McKenna to have a detachment to life that matches his,Bishop begins to think that McKenna has the tools to be a fellow mechanic.
View on the film:
For someone who always sounded like the life of the party in interviews,director Michael Winner displays an unexpected ear for silence,with Winner breaking Bishop's merciless Film Noir loner veins with extended sequences featuring no dialogue,which strike at the cold, soulless emotion Bishop feels towards his job. Whilst screenwriter Lewis John Carlino complained over the hard-nosed script being softened,Winner keeps the Noir chill at the frozen heart of Bishop, shining in stylish scatter-gun tracking shots keeping track of the mechanical nature of Bishop's kills.
Bringing an outsider in to join Bishop and sending them both to Italy,Winner pushes the Noir shoulder aside for a dash in Italian Crime,that despite bringing some frantic chase moments in,does leave to a pause in looking at the empty reflection of Bishop. Opening Bishop's bag of tools for the final,Winner whips the title back to the dour Noir soul of Bishop,in a richly cynical ending that delivers a burning parting shot from Bishop. Stuck with a smug Jan- Michael Vincent as Steve McKenna, Bronson cuts a note of pure Noir class as Bishop. Slithering in the shadows of his victims, Bronson brilliantly expresses in silence the coldness Bishop feels towards each murder,as Bishop sets his target on another mechanical kill.
- This review may contain spoilers ***
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mgtbltp — 9 years ago(December 22, 2016 07:34 PM)
Via, The Road, La Strada, the ancient conduit of Civilization. Updated to circa 1974. The place, Arena Diner Truck Stop, meadowlands beep halfway between Newark and Jersey beep New Jersey.
Road Movie, a Neo Noir no one has heard of, was directed by Joseph Strick (one of the directors of The Savage Eye (1959), and director of The Big Break (1953),Tropic of Cancer (1970)). Strick was a Braddock Pennsylvania native, who has had a successful career primarily as a documentary filmmaker. The Savage Eye which won 1960 BAFTA Flaherty Documentary Award is often considered to be part of the cinema vérité movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
The film was credited as being written by Judith Rascoe (Who'll Stop the Rain (1978)), and by Joseph Strick (story). Cinematography by was by Don Lenzer (Woodstock (1970), Street Scenes (1970)). The excellent melange of blues and country music was by Stanley Myers (The Deer Hunter (1978).
The film stars Regina Baff (Escape from Alcatraz (1979)), Robert Drivas (Cool Hand Luke (1967), Route 66 (TV Series)), Barry Bostwick (The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)), David Bauer (Dark of the Sun (1968), Diamonds Are Forever (1971)), David Challis, Rodney Cleghorn, Beatrice Colen, Rik Colitti, Eileen Dietz, Laura Esterman and the great American road.
Janice (Baff) is a whore. Started young.A born slut. Teeny Bopper with hot pants. Arcade photo booth. Janice nude under her coat. Taking nudie shots of her pink canoe. Prints sell to perves. Caught! Taken to the office. Owner threats to call the cops. Janice tells him "I got one good reason why we shouldn't go to the cops" and she opened her coat giving the owner an eye full and Janice does it with the creep, does it all right in the office. A new career launched.
Road Movie has an opening credit sequence that beautifully captures vignettes along the transient mileposts in the lives of modern teamsters. The film begins with a tearied eye Janice. She's arguing in a car with a john or her pimp. He kicks her out at the Arena Diner Truckstop. He tells her she'll have to work trucks. A highway hooker.
She goes into the diner. She heads for the ladies room. She straightens her wig. She freshens up. She then heads back out into the lot. She's a bitch. She's a survivor. She'll sell her ass to truckers.
Rolling out of the lot in their Peterbilt with a reefer load of beef, are veteran driver Gill (Robert Drivas) jaded, divorced, woman beater, and Hank (Barry Bostwick) greenhorn trying to follow in his trucker father's wheel tracks, two independent truckers. Gill spots Janice and tells her they are headed to Chicago. Janice says a hundred, Gill counters fifty.
Janice hops in the sleeper, a ride for a ride, a cooze for the cruise. During the trip West, Hank gets friendly. Gill gets rough, and Janice gets revenge.
Revenge for Janice is monkeying around with the reefer unit on the truck, losing the refrigeration means they got to dump their load for a loss at the nearest meat locker in Pittsburgh. Janice tells them she can get them a load through her mob connections. Of course the road ahead spiral curves into downtown Noirsville.
Road Movie is a great primer on independent truckers, on all the crapola they steer around and all the hoops they drive through. It's also a depressing 1974 ride through the decaying industrial neighborhoods and the sign polluted retail strips of American cities. We get drive bys of the strip mines of coal country, the refineries, junk strewn lots, auto salvage graveyards, chain link fences netting windrows of trash and desperate roadside attractions. The film evokes both the Classic Noirs Detour (1945) and The Hitch-Hiker (1953).
Regina Baff's Femme Fatale Janice is a spunky piece of work. She is audacious, bitter, destitute, hair triggered and self sufficient. Baff really displays her acting chops as she's degraded, beat up, pushed around, bares her straight razor claw during a mugging, offers her body to highway weigh station officers, and shows her dogged ferocity when Gill finally casts her off. Baff's Janice is the soul mate to Ann Savage's Vera.
Robert Drivas' rough edged Gill has the "life's a bitch and then you die" mantra of a life on autopilot, he wants to own nothing to nobody. Barry Bostwick's gentle Hank is the romantic, a dreamer, the down homeboy trying to follow a dream. Both are convincing.
Road Movie is a nice Noir slice of the 70's, the cinematography, music, the sound design, even the diegetic sound of holy roller radio preachers shucking bleeding heart of Jesus statues that actually squirt blood, while the ephemera of cast off americana kitsch constantly rolls past our view is both depressingly bleak and amusingly entertaining. Screenshots are from the Image Entertainment DVD. 7/10.
Full review with screencaps here:
http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/12/road-movie-1974-road-noir.html -
morrison-dylan-fan — 9 years ago(December 24, 2016 12:10 PM)
Hi Spike,whilst this ain't a "traditional" Noir,I think that a strong case can be made for this being a superb slice of Sci-Fi Neo-Noir.
10
** This review may contain spoilers ***
Hearing fear-mongering stories about "Reds under the bed" (or in this case,web) on the news web recently, reminded me of the paranoia allegorically dissected in the Body Snatcher films. Whilst finding Kevin Williamson's riff on the story with The Faculty to be a hip teen Horror and Abel Ferrara's very good 1993 take linked to the then-popular "the truth is out there" paranoia,I've never seen any of the two "major" versions. Looking at Netflix UK,I found that the 1978 version was about to leave the site!,which led to me joining the body snatchers.
The plot:
Talking to her co-worker Matthew Bennell, Elizabeth Driscoll mentions that after taking some flowers home that boyfriend Geoffrey Howell has been acting rather strange. Going to Bennell's friend David Kibner for advice,Bennell and Driscoll are stopped on the road by a mad man screaming about an invasion. Initially laughing it off,the mood soon changes when the man gets run over. Rushing over,Bennell and Driscoll are horrified to find all the pedestrians showing no emotion to the death,and almost appearing to act like aliens.
View on the film:
Keeping the paranormal activity grounded, director Philip Kaufman & cinematographer Michael Chapman give the invasion an "on the spot" news report rawness spanning jagged tracking shots hiding in the crowd of body snatchers. Unleashing the aliens in all their gooey, practical effects Body Horror delight, Kaufman webs the fantastic screeching nightmare soundtrack with a blistering Film Noir atmosphere,lit in suffocating shadows being the lone areas of hope that Bennell and Bellicec can hide from the decaying light of a society drowning the screams of " dissidents."
Following the original film in going for an ending different from Jack Finney's novel,the screenplay by W.D. Richter brilliantly turns the "Red" fear into unrelenting Sci-Fi Noir anxiety. Cleverly making the "aliens" be people Bennell and Bellicec knows,Richter goes off the Richter Scale in drilling fear of society becoming "one voice" and corrupting Noir loners and voices of opposition into transforming into a system that they have fought against.
Facing a Sci-Fi monster a year before the acid mouth of Alien would set its lips on her, Veronica Cartwright gives a great performance as Nancy Bellicec,whose intelligent idea to blend in allows Cartwright to keep Nancy's fears under wraps until they are torn out in a devastating scream. Joined by Jeff Goldblum getting his first taste of Body-Horror and Leonard Nimoy his warm Star Trek image as the creepy,Noir-style "boss" Dr. David Kibner,the beautiful Brooke Adams (who also appears naked) gives an extraordinary performance as Elizabeth. Tangled with Bennell in fighting against the enemy within,Adams delicately expresses Elizabeth desperation to not become entranced by the invaders. Fighting against a system/alien rooted in his own decayed society, Donald Sutherland gives a thrilling performance as Bennell,thanks to Sutherland capturing the anxiety of Bennell being a burnt-out Noir loner who sees all his friends being invaded.