Underrated Noir: Snake Eyes

March 10, 2015March 10, 2015 bryancyr Movie, Neo-Noir Brian De Palma, Carla Gugino, Gary Sinise, Neo-Noir, Nicolas Cage, Stan Shaw

Snake Eyes is from legendary director Brian De Palma. De Palma was one of the best neo-noir directors through the 1980’s and 90’s. In one of the coolest and most underrated scenes in movies is the first 20 minutes of this film. It looks like it is one continues shot, but it is edited together. There are some other really cool shots in this movie as well, I liked the point of view shots and the hotel room pan shot. Our protagonist is Rick Santoro, played by Nicolas Cage. He is a dirty cop with a gambling issue. He is in his town, Atlantic City, where he has ambitions of local politics after his police career ends. The movie starts with Rick coming to the local casino to watch a Heavy Weight Championship fight with his old classmate, Lincoln Tyler played by Stan Shaw. He has ringside seats with his friend and Commander in the Navy, Kevin Dunne played by Gary Sinise. Dunne is there on protection duty for the Secretary of Defense who is there to watch the big fight. Soon Julia Costello, played by Carla Gugino sits next to Rick at the fight and all hell breaks loose. I like Gugino as our femme fatale, as she changes from a platinum blond in all white to a brunette in a black jacket, our prospective of her also changes.

This has a very intricate plot and is well executed. I’m not really sure why this film has such low ratings with a 5.9 on IMDb, 52 on Metascore, and 40% on Rotten Tomatoes. I watched this in the theater when it first came out and just re-watched it tonight. I don’t think this is a masterpiece by any means but feel it should be a sold 3.5 to 4 stars out of 5. If you are a noir fan give this a second chance.

Re-watching the Classics: Road to Perdition

March 8, 2015March 8, 2015 bryancyr Movie A Road to Perdition, Arthur Fellig, Connor Looney, Conrad L. Hall, Daniel Craig, Frank Nitti, John Looney, Jude Law, Max Allan Collins, Neo-Noir, Paul Newman, Stanley Tucci, Tom Hanks, Tyler Hoechlin

Road to Perdition started as a graphic novel by noir author Max Allan Collins. Max Allan Collins has written many books and worked on television shows and movies over the years. The film is directed by Sam Mendes and is his second film, after American Beauty and is currently directing the James Bond movies, also starring Daniel Craig. I haven’t watched this film since it was in theaters, it was the only Paul Newman film I ever saw in a theater sadly.

This was Conrad L. Hall’s last film, he won an Oscar for this film as well as 2 others. He was nominated for another 7 films through out his career, his career included a number of classic neo-noir films. This has a lot of great classic noir shots thanks to Hall. This is also historic for being the last film Paul Newman starred in. Newman plays John Rooney and Craig plays his son Connor Rooney. The Rooney’s are based on real life gangsters by the name of Looney. This story is also based loosely on actual events of an enforcer going rogue on the Looneys.

Tom Hanks plays that rogue enforcer, Michael Sullivan. Who goes on the run after his son Michael Junior played by Tyler Hoechlin witness a gang land slaying.

Jude Law’s character used a lot of famous photographs from famed crime scene photographer Arthur ‘Weegee’ Fellig. Fellig is portrayed by Joe Pesci in the film “The Public Eye”(I have not seen this film yet) and his first book of photographs inspired the classic film-noir “The Naked City”(great film and hope to re-watch this classic and post about it in the future) and its subsequent television series.

Stanley Tucci plays real life mobster Frank Nitti. Nitti was the right hand man of Al Capone, though Capone is mentioned numerous times in the film, he never makes an on-screen appearance.

Road to Perdition is about 2 sets of fathers and sons, I recently noticed that the father-son dynamic is something more prevalent in today’s noir and not that common in the classic era of film-noir. Has anybody else picked up on this theme? I loved this movie when I seen it in the theater 13 years ago and still love it. If you haven’t seen it, search it out, if you haven’t seen it in a while, re-watch it again.

Review: The Blue Dahlia

March 7, 2015March 7, 2015 bryancyr film-noir, Movie Alan Ladd, Doris Dowling, Film Noir, Howard Da Silva, James Ellroy, Raymond Chandler, The Black Dahlia, The Blue Dahlia, Veronica Lake, William Bendix

So did anybody write better classic noir dialog than Raymond Chandler? I don’t think so, his wise cracking P.I. Phillip Marlowe will always be one of the greatest fictional character of not only noir, but all of fiction. Though we don’t have Marlowe in The Blue Dahlia, we are not missing on the crackling dialog.

Clean sheets every day they tell me. How often do they change the fleas?

Seems I’ve lost my manners or would anyone here know the difference?

Joyce Harwood: Well, don’t you even say ‘Good night’?
Johnny Morrison: It’s good-bye, and it’s tough to say good-bye.
Joyce Harwood: Why is it? You’ve never seen me before tonight.
Johnny Morrison: Every guy’s seen you before somewhere. The trick is to find you.

You’ve got the wrong lipstick on, Mister.

‘Dad’ Newell: [examining Helen’s body] Been dead for hours.
Mr. Hughes, assistant hotel manager: Suicide?
‘Dad’ Newell: Could be.
Mr. Hughes, assistant hotel manager: Better be!
‘Dad’ Newell: Unh-unh! Too much gun!

I know I’ve got lots of faults, but being in love with you isn’t one of them, is it?

These are some of my favorite quotes from this film, and if it was just the dialog this would be a 4 out of 5 star film. But Raymond Chandler doesn’t just write great dialog, he can put together a pretty good plot too. This has three friends coming back from the war. Our hero is played by Alan Ladd, who goes to see his wife. She is having a party and he soon finds out that she has a new beau. The new boyfriend played by Howard Da Silva, owns the night club “The Blue Dahlia” for which the movie is named. Soon our hero’s wife played wonderfully by Doris Dowling, she is just the right amount of evil that we can see why our hero wants free of her, but also the right amount of sadness that we feel sorry for her having to be by herself while her husband was at war. She’s mad, but we understand why. She is found dead and we don’t know if it’s suicide or murder. The police start with the most likely suspects, which includes our hero. Now he has to find the killer before he takes the fall for murder. Along the way we have William Bendix playing Buzz. Buzz is a great character who has some brain damage from the war, does he also have post-traumatic stress syndrome before we really knew what it was? Then of course we have Veronica Lake who plays the night club owners wife. I would call her the femme fatale of this film, but she doesn’t try to decisive anybody, or use anybody, or try to get away with anything, she’s actually a truly good person.

Raymond Chandler had to change his original ending and was not happy about this. I will not tell you why or how it is changed here, because it is a spoiler and we don’t believe in that here, but after you watch it you can probably see what is changed and maybe even why given the time frame of when the film was made.

A couple of historic trivia bits for you.

1. Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake appeared in a number of movies together and rumors started that they where having an affair. Both always denied this, and it is not known if the rumors where true or not.

2. Elizabeth Short got her nickname The Black Dahlia from this film. She embraced her new nickname and took to wearing a black dahlia flower in her hair. She died less than a year after this. She became the subject of the classic James Ellroy book and not-so classic film, “The Black Dahlia” and part of Los Angeles lore forever.

I really liked this film for its sharp dialog and surprising twists and turns. A classic noir that all fans should see.

Review: Gloria

March 6, 2015March 6, 2015 bryancyr Movie, Neo-Noir Buck Henry, Gena Rowlands, Gloria, John Adames, John Cassavetes, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie

Gloria is a neo-noir film that showcases the gritty and grimy late 70’s New York City, the film was released in 1980. This film is written and directed by the legendary John Cassavetes. The Independent Spirit Awards, awards presented to independent film. They have an award given every year named after Cassavetes. Blue Ruin, a film I looked at earlier this year, was nominated for the John Cassavetes Award. You can look at that review here:

https://everythingnoir.com/2015/02/10/review-blue-ruin/

Cassavetes only did two neo-noir crime movies, the other was The Killing of a Chinese Bookie from 1976. This was also a good film worth checking out and I hope to re-watch it and review it later on this site.

Gloria is played by Cassavetes wife, Gena Rowlands. Rowlands was nominated for an Academy Award for her role. Gloria is a battle tested mob moll. She shows up at a friend’s apartment to find the family in distress. The family is marked by the mob for death and know it is happening soon. The father played by Buck Henry has evidence in a book and they found out about it. The family asks Gloria to take their son and hide him before the killers get to them. She does and our adventure begins. The son is played by John Adames in his one and only movie role. Adames has flashes of brilliance with some well written lines and other times you can see he is just a kid with no acting experience and looks awkward and out-of-place. You can see Cassavetes got a lot of inspiration from old noir and gangster movies for his dialog in this film.

Gloria is a hardboiled female character, which in itself had to be pretty original for its time. She has a feel of realism in Rowlands portrayal, she isn’t perfect and just, and struggles with what is the right thing to do and what is the smart or easy thing to do.

This film was re-made with Sharron Stone in the lead in 1999, I have not seen this film so I don’t know how it compares. This Gloria is not a perfect film, but is an interesting watch, This is for fans of early independent films and those that like gritty 70’s neo-noir.

Re-watching the Classics: The Maltese Falcon

March 5, 2015 bryancyr film-noir, Movie Dashiell Hammett, Humphrey Bogart, John Huston, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, Sam Spade, Spade and Archer, Sydney Greenstreet, The Maltese Falcon

The Maltese Falcon has a lot of firsts, firsts that would change film, film-noir, fiction and popular culture forever. The Maltese Falcon is considered by some as the first true film-noir movie. It is the first movie John Huston ever directed who went on to direct 46 more movies, many of them considered classics and he is considered one of the best directors in history. This is Sydney Greenstreet’s first film, at 62 years old, he was a stage actor for 40 years before this film. Greenstreet went on to make 24 more movies in his career, 9 more with co-star Peter Lorre. This book on which it is based is written by Dashiell Hammett, who some consider the first writer of noir fiction, if he isn’t he certainly is one of the earliest influential writers and a master of the genre. His work has not only influenced the noir genre greatly, but has popped up in western and samurai movies and films from all over the globe. I read the book many years ago, and may re-read it and give it, its own review later. I can tell you that the book is amazing as well.

This movie has one glaring non-first, this is the third time this book has been adapted to the screen, the other two where rather lack luster attempts(I have not seen either of them). The reason this one worked so well is John Huston wrote the script just as the book was written. The previous attempts all had a happy ending, Huston left the original book ending in his version.

The Falcon itself may be the most famous MacGuffin in film history, it is definitely the most valuable. There are 4 know Falcons and 2 are made of lead. These lead versions have gone to auction and sold for well over a million dollars. That is 3x what the original film cost to make.

We have a bunch of the common themes we will find in noir movies for the next 20 years to even today’s neo noir films. We have the hardboiled private detective with the overcoat and fedora hat, has anybody done this better than Humphrey Bogart? We have the femme fatale in Mary Astor. We have an unhappy ending that maybe not what the audience wanted. We have twists and turns, sometimes us as a viewer are not sure what is going on, does our hero know what is going on? Most of the film is from our hero’s prospective, we are learning as our hero learns. We also have some underling moral issues that are there but not spoken, do to the movie code of the time. Is our hero having an affair with his partners wife? Is one of our thugs actually a gay man? Is our femme fatale using sex and lies to get what she wants?

Our story starts at Spade and Archer’s office. Spade and Archer are partners and private detectives. They take on a case where a man needs to be followed because he has taken our clients younger sister and will not let them see her. When Archer is on the job, he is shot and killed. This is where are hero Sam Spade takes over trying to find out who killed his partner and why. Our adventure is with Spade, he is in every scene of this film, except the scene where his partner is murdered. We don’t know who to believe and who to trust, just like Sam Spade. If you haven’t seen The Maltese Falcon yet, do it right now!

In film noir and noir fiction for that matter we have two writers, that are considered the best of the era. Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. The debt about who is best will live forever. I’ve read both of them and can’t pick a winner myself. I think the winner is us, as readers of this classic fiction. One thing they have in common is Humphrey Bogart, the iconic star that played both Hammett’s Sam Spade and Chandler’s Marlowe. Who is your favorite Bogie detective, Spade or Marlowe?

New Movie Coming Soon: Man from Reno

March 4, 2015March 4, 2015 bryancyr Movie, Neo-Noir, News Man from Reno

Man from Reno is a film that has been going around the festival circuit and picking up some awards. Was nominated for the John Cassavetes Award at the Independent Spirit Awards this year. Looks like a promising film, can’t wait to see it. Will be in select theaters on March 27th. Unfortunately, I doubt any of those theaters will be in my area. I will be looking for it on DVD or PPV.

Review: Book Vs. Film: Cold in July

March 4, 2015 bryancyr country noir, Movie, Neo-Noir Cold in July, Don Johnson, Hap and Leonard, Jim Mickle, Joe R. Lansdale, Michael C. Hall, Nick Damici, Sam Shepard, Vinessa Shaw

Cold in July started out as a noir book written by Joe R. Lansdale. Lansdale is a genre writer that writes everything from horror to sci-fi, and of course some noir. Cold in July was first published in 1989.

The screenplay is written by Nick Damici and Jim Mickle who also directs. This team has brought us a few low-budget horror movies including the very good Stake Land. They are also working on a television show based on Hap and Leonard, two characters also created by Lansdale and has 10 books in the series so far. This will hopefully start airing on the Sundance Channel next year.

The Film stars Dexter himself Michael C. Hall in a role just as dark, but a totally different type character. He plays a family man who is married to a lovely wife played by Vinessa Shaw and has a small boy. They have a home invader, who Hall kills in self-defense. He then learns that the man he killed has a father who just got out of prison, played by Sam Shepard. The Father comes to town for revenge on his son’s killer and all hell breaks loose! This might be enough for a complete film, but it is only the start, the direction this goes is far from predictable.

Don Johnson steals the show as Jim Bob, a detective that bleeds Texas and is called in to help on the case. He raises pigs, wears an outfit out of the old west and drives a big Cadillac. We want more Jim Bob! and we might just get it. Jim Bob is a character that also appears in the Hap and Leonard books, so we may see him in the television series at some point.

So what is better, the film or the book. I read the book and then watched the movie twice, and I would have to say I would go with both. Nick Damici and Jim Mickle stay true to the source material, even having the film take place in the late 1980’s when it was written. I actually think watching the movie first may be the way to go. The story is so fresh and original that you will not see what is coming in the film, leaving you with more shock and awe then if you read the book first. Then read the book as soon as you can get your hands on a copy.

Review: A Walk Among the Tombstones

March 3, 2015 bryancyr Movie, Neo-Noir A Walk Among the Tombstones, Charles Willeford, Dan Stevens, David Harbour, Hoke Mosely, Lawrence Block, Liam Neeson, Matthew Scudder, Scott Frank

A Walk Among the Tombstones is a Matthew Scudder movie from 2014. Matthew Scudder is a character written by Lawrence Block that has been in one other movie and in 17 books. This story comes from the 10th book in the series. I’ve recently just read the first book in the series and reviewed it here:

https://everythingnoir.com/2015/02/23/review-the-sins-of-the-fathers-by-lawrence-block/

Though I’ve only read one book and now seen this movie, I’m a big fan of Scudder and look forward to reading more of the books. Liam Neeson plays Scudder, a recovering alcoholic, ex-police officer that isn’t a private detective, but does favors for people and for those favors, these people give Scudder gifts.

This film is written for the screen and directed by Scott Frank who also wrote and directed The Lookout. He is also bringing another classic noir character to the screen soon, Hoke Mosely a character that has appeared in 5 books by Charles Willeford. This story will be coming to the television screen instead of the big screen, but I still look forward to seeing it when it is released. Frank has also written many other crime and neo-noir stories for the screen, he seems to have a good sense of taking a classic crime or noir novel and bringing it screen.

Some of the notable supporting cast is David Harbour, who often plays the creepy character, goes above and beyond in this film. Dan Stevens plays a drug dealer/business type very well. Stevens come onto my radar after his starring role in “The Guest.” The Guest is a very fun movie that covers a lot of genres, if you haven’t seen it yet, I recommend it as well. Ólafur Darri Ólafsson also plays a pretty creepy role that is a very interesting character.

So the story for this movie is a fellow AA member’s brother needs Scudder’s help. Scudder meets with him and quickly figures out that he is a drug dealer. This dealer has had his wife kidnapped and killed, but because he is a drug dealer he can not ask for the police’s help. He asks Scudder for help and soon Scudder takes on the case. The story takes off from there. This is not only a neo-noir film in story, but is very much filmed in a classic noir style as well. I really enjoyed this story and the visuals of the film. I really hope this is a new franchise for Liam Neeson now that Taken has run its course. I would really look forward to seeing more movies with him as Scudder. If you’re a Lawrence Block fan, or a Liam Neeson fan, or just a fan of a hardboiled tone, you will like this film.

Review: Cut Bank

March 1, 2015March 1, 2015 bryancyr country noir, Movie, Neo-Noir Billy Bob Thornton, Bruce Dern, Cut Bank, Ed Gain, John Malkovich, Liam Hemsworth, Matt Shakman, Michael Stuhlbarg, Oliver Platt, Roberto Patino, Sons of Anarchy, Teresa Palmer, The Carrion Birds, Urban Waite

Cut Bank is a country noir written by Roberto Patino. Patino has also worked on Sons of Anarchy and Prime Suspect so he has some good experience with crime and drama. Patino looks to be also working on bringing The Carrion Birds by Urban Waite to the screen. This book is on my to-read list and I hope to review it later on this blog.

Matt Shakman is the director, it is his first feature, but he is an accomplished television director. Because he has worked on so many different kinds of television, he brings a little of everything to the film. We have some black comedy, western, thriller and noir elements through out.

Liam Hemsworth and Teresa Palmer play our young couple that are desperate to leave the small town of Cut Bank, MT. Even though they may be our lead characters, they may be the most boring ones of the film.

Billy Bob Thornton plays Palmer’s father and Hemsworth’s boss. He doesn’t see much screen time but his interactions with Malkovich are great.

John Malkovich worked as a fire fighter in Glacier Park and actually lived in Cut Bank for a short time when he was in college. He really wanted to do this film based on his love for the little town of Cut Bank and stayed attached to the project for over 2 years to be in it. Malkovich plays the local sheriff, that is a fish out of water with this being his first murder case.

Michael Stuhlbarg may be the smallest name on the cast, but plays one of the most interesting parts. He is a recluse in Cut Bank. I don’t know if his character is based on real life serial killer Ed Gain, but if it is not, there are many similarities. Ed Gain is also the basis for Norman Bates in Psycho, Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs and has also had his likeness appear in many other movies and documentaries.

Bruce Dern plays the mailman that everybody recognizes by sight, but not to many people really know.

Oliver Platt plays the post office official sent up from Washington D.C. to give a reward for the evidence of the crime.

I can not find who played the big mute Native American, but he was a cool character and I loved his non-verbal dialog.

So the story starts out with our lead couple in an open field, daydreaming about their future. As Palmer practices her speech for an upcoming beauty pageant and Hemsworth films it, he notices a hooded man walk up to the mail man and shot him 2 times in the chest and gets the whole thing on film. They take the evidence into town and turn it over to the Sheriff. The plot thickens and twists and turns as we try to figure out who’s on who’s side and who knows what. By the way, what is in that lunch box? This is a good story in a unique setting, worth watching for anybody looking for something new to watch in the genre.

Re-Watching the Classics: Dog Day Afternoon

February 28, 2015February 28, 2015 bryancyr Movie, Neo-Noir Al Pacino, Carol Kane, Charles Durning, Dog Day Afternoon, Ernest Aron, Frank Pierson, John Cazale, John Wojtowicz, Lance Henriksen, Penelope Allen, Salvatore Naturile, Sidney Lumet

Dog Day Afternoon is a neo-noir film made in 1975, based on real events from 1972. John Wojtowicz and Salvatore Naturile try to rob a branch of Chase Manhattan bank in Brooklyn, New York. The reason they are trying to rob the bank is for Wojtowicz’s lover, Ernest Aron, who is trying to pay for a sex change operation. This is to crazy to be true but it is!

Even though this film was mostly improvised, Frank Pierson won an Academy Award for his screenplay. He got the idea from a Life Magazine article. This was nominated for 5 Academy Awards in total, but only won one. This movie was unfortunately up against One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest for most of its awards. This will be remembered as one of Al Pacino’s best performances and the 4th time he was nominated for an Academy Award in 4 consecutive years. All 4 nominations where for classic neo-noir roles as well, with The Godfather, Serpico, The Godfather Part II, and this performance. All 4 are now legendary roles, but he didn’t win for any of them.

This film was directed by legendary director Sidney Lumet. Lumet made some of the greatest films of all time including many neo-noir films. We will be re-looking at many of his films later on this blog.

Our co-star is John Cazale, who was way to old to play the part of real-life 18-year-old Sal. Pacino insisted on Cazale playing the role, even though Lumet thought he was all wrong. When Lumet saw his audition he hired him on the spot. Cazale, who’s short career only produced 5 films before his death from cancer didn’t disappoint. All 5 films he appeared in were nominated for best picture and all 5 are classics. They are:

The Godfather

The Conversation

The Godfather II

Dog Day Afternoon

The Deer Hunter

Who knows what Cazale could have done if his time here was longer.

Other standouts in the cast are Charles Durning as our Police Sargent in charge, Carol Kane and Penelope Allen as two of the bank tellers who become hostages, and Lance Henriksen as the bus driver.

This is required viewing for the fan of grimy 1970’s film, and noir and neo-noir fans. Trivia note, John Wojtowicz lover did get his sex change operation after all, paid for by Wojtowicz earnings from selling his story for this film.