I just saw this video about the history of Film Noir, very cool video and worth the 17 minutes it takes to view it.
Movie
Review: I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang is based on the book and true story of Robert E. Burns.
This movie was a commentary of the overall situation going on in America after World War I and how the veterans coming back from war were treated. This is also a look at how prisoners in the state of Georgia were treated, this was changed partly because of this book and movie. Watching this movie you can see how influential it was on future movies. This picture captured a time in history with 2 iconic elements, the blood hounds and black and white striped prison uniforms. The film is directed by Mervyn LeRoy, he also directed Johnny Eager a film I reviewed recently here:
https://everythingnoir.com/2015/02/16/review-johnny-eager/
The movie is overall true to fact, but one big fact, Burns really did steal the little over $5 because he needed it for food. In the film he is just an innocent bystander, which gives the film more of a noir feel. We love the average guy that gets caught up on the wrong side of the law.
Paul Muni is the star and comes across as your everyday man, perfect for this part. Glenda Farrell plays the femme fatale that wants to marry our hero, for better or worse. Helen Vinson plays another lady in our hero’s life.
This movie had a lot of impact on human rights and the way people are treated when in prison. This is also one of the first noir films, and influenced a lot of films to come in the next 3 decades. This is a very interesting story and is well worth watching. If you are a film-noir buff it is required watching.
Re-Watching: Zodiac
I wanted to re-watch this film because of my review of Bullitt brought up an interesting point. Steve McQueen based his performance of Bullitt on David Toschi, check out my look at Bullitt here:
https://everythingnoir.com/2015/02/21/re-watching-the-classics-bullitt/
Toschi, the lead investigator on the Zodiac case is portrayed by Mark Ruffalo in this film. Toschi is the basis for Dirty Harry as well, so Toschi was a real life badass that has become part of 3 great neo-noir movies.
Zodiac is based on a book by Robert Graysmith, who is played by Jake Gyllenhaal. This movie actually reopened the case of the Zodiac. Though most of this film is based on Graysmith’s take of the case so it is basically from one persons prospective.
The film is directed by one of my favorite directors of all time, David Fincher. We will be re-looking at many more Fincher neo-noir films on this site.
Robert Downey Jr. played Paul Avery, a reporter famous for working on the Zodiac case as well as the Patricia Hearst Kidnapping case.
The dialog in this film has flashing moments of classic noir dialog. I didn’t pick up on this when I watched it the first time back in 2007.
A couple I loved:
Robert Graysmith: Doesn’t it bother you that people call you Shorty?
Shorty: Doesn’t it bother you that people call you retard?
Robert Graysmith: Nobody calls me that.
Shorty: Right.
And:
Paul Avery: What do you do for fun?
Robert Graysmith: I love to read.
Paul Avery: Mhmm.
Robert Graysmith: Umm, I enjoy books.
Paul Avery: Those are the same things.
And maybe the best is David Toschi constantly asking for some Animal Crackers.
David Fincher also does a great job of showing San Francisco in a classic fashion, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Port of San Francisco and the time laps of the Transamerica Pyramid give the film a dark look. The creepy basement scene, with lots of shadows is almost black and white in feel.
This movie comes to a conclusion that a certain suspect was in fact the Zodiac Killer(I will not mention names for those that have not seen the movie). Later DNA testing seems to have cleared this person. There is many other theories on who was the Zodiac Killer, but nobody has officially solved the crime yet. Since this film there has been numerous deathbed confessions and supposed new evidence. One theory actually links the case of the Black Dahlia with the Zodiac Killer. We may never know the real story of this case, but this film is entertaining on its own.
Review: The Drop Movie vs Book
So I finally got to see The Drop! One of the bad things about living in small town Montana is we don’t get every movie that comes out in the theaters, in our theaters. I am a huge Dennis Lehane fan and have read almost all of his work and seen every movie based on his novels. This story started as a novel, that didn’t get finished, that got turned into a short story, that got picked up as a movie and turned into a screenplay, movie gets made and the novel finally gets finished. The good news is Lehane is the one that wrote all the material. I read the book months ago when it first came out and thought it was a great little book. Since the book was actually written after the screenplay and movie, it doesn’t vary from the movie but may give a little more insight into the characters. Compared to Leahane’s current series, the Coughlin books, this is a short pulpy book, but no less fun.
I then was ready to see the movie, but had to wait for the DVD release and for Netflix to send it to my house. I know this film was a small film, but could have been a lot bigger at the box office in my opinion. Maybe we were spoiled in 2014 with so many great neo-noir films coming to theaters, maybe this got lost in the shuffle between Gone Girl and Nightcrawler. No, I would not put this movie in a class with those two, but it isn’t that far behind.
This film may be best known and go down in history as the last film of James Gandolfini. Gandolfini does his normal, but no less memorable New York baddy. This is also the first American film for director, Michaël R. Roskam. Roskam previous work Bullhead is a cool little country noir from Belgium and is worth searching out if you haven’t already seen it. Matthias Schoenaerts, who also worked with Roskam on Bullhead, does a great job as a street thug. Original Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Noomi Rapace plays the slightly broken girl our protagonist falls for. Our protagonist is played by Tom Hardy, whom I feel is a very underrated actor. He always choices interesting roles and with the exception of “This Means War,” I’ve loved him in everything I’ve seen.
So a quick non-spoiler preview that works for both book and movie. We have a bar called Cousin Marv’s run by Bob and his Cousin Marv. The bar is a drop bar for the mob. A drop bar is where all the money owed the mafia is dropped at every night. There are many drop bars and the bars are picked at random each night. Our hero Bob is walking home one night and finds a puppy pit bull in a trash can, beaten and left for dead. The lady whose trash can the dog is found in, work together to bring the dog back to health. From this the story takes off on a wild ride of crime in a hard neighborhood.
So what wins in this book verses movie? I can’t decide, I really liked them both. Do this dynamic duo in whatever way you normally like to do them. Book then Movie, Movie then Book, I don’t think it matters, if you enjoy anything Lehane grab the one easiest for you to find and enjoy.
Bad news for Girl with the Dragon Tattoo fans.
We know we are getting a new book in August, but it looks like we are a long ways away from getting a new movie. According to E! who got to talk to Rooney Mara, said “I don’t think it’s going to happen,”. Read the full article here:
Review: The Lookalike
R
The Lookalike is a new neo-noir that has just come out on DVD. The casting is very interesting, it has three actors, known for their comedy and play straight dark characters. They are Justin Long, Gillian Jacobs and Jerry O’Connell. I didn’t know if I could take any of them seriously, but they all did a fine jobs. We have veteran crime actors Gina Gershon, Luis Guzmán and Steven Bauer. Normal good guy John Corbett also plays against type as one of the baddies. Scottie Thompson also plays an important role in the film. I’m not to familiar with her work, but look forward to seeing her in more movies. Felisha Terrell played a smaller role in this, but was a stand out in my opinion.
So a quick idea of what you are getting into without to much of a spoiler. We have a bar owner/drug dealer that hires a lady to have sex with a business partner to help close a deal. This business partner wants this particular lady because she is the daughter of an ex-partner. Unfortunately this lady accidentally dies before this can happen, so our drug dealer must find a lookalike to take her place. This part of the story takes place in the first few minutes and we or off on our adventure.
We have drug dealers, cocaine addicts, loan sharks, strippers, informants, a cancer survivor and some shady cops, all with their own stories that all intertwine into one crazy ride.
This film takes place and is shot in New Orleans, a great location for a modern noir film, but it is not part of the story and simply a great looking back drop in this movie. This film is directed by Richard Gray and written by his wife Michele Davis-Gray, This is their 5th film together and their first crime film. I can see them getting better as they go and hope they revisit the genre in the future. This is a fun little film for noir fans looking for something new to rent and watch on a snowy winters night.
Review: Calvary
Calvary opens in a confessional as the confessor tells the priest he is going to kill him in one week. The confessor tells him he was raped by priests for 5 years and now he is going to get payback. Our protagonist is not a rapist, he is a good priest, and that is why he is being targeted. Our unknown villain wants to kill a good priest, because killing a bad priest would not bring as much attention. Our good priest is played by Brandon Gleeson who fits this part well. We follow him through out his week as he talks to his parishioners in a small Irish town. Our hero goes through many trial and tribulations through out this week, all these make him question his own beliefs as evil seems to close in on him.
The supporting cast is an eclectic collection of people. Along the week he engages with all these people, each losing their own way in the Catholic Church for a variety of reasons. I would love to go into these, but I think that will take away from this film. All I will say is Chris O’Dowd, Kelly Reilly, Marie-Josée Croze and Aidan Gillen play four of the best supporting characters. This covers some dark material, many of which would have to be covered when dealing with the Catholic Church, but it also shows how between the Church and the economy, small town Ireland is in a bad place. This really delves into what is good and right and what is wrong and evil, as well as what is a sin in today’s world. John Michael McDonagh writes and directs this film, it is his 3rd movie and I look forward to his 4th movie, War on Everyone. War on Everyone has a great concept and a cast that includes Garrett Hedlund, Guy Pearce and Michael Peña.
I think this trailer sums it up well without spoiling too much:
This movie is something very original and I think you will enjoy it.
Re-Watching the Classics: Bullitt
Bullitt is a movie based on the book Mute Witness by Robert L Fish. Even though this movie is based on a book, it does not have an over whelming plot. Luckily this movie stars the king of cool, Steve McQueen as Bullitt. This film is definitely more style then story. The story starts out with Bullitt assigned to protect a witness, his team doesn’t do so well. This turns Bullitt into a rogue detective, breaking some of the rules to find the people responsible. The cars and the city of San Francisco are just as big of stars as the actors in this film. Peter Yates does a great job of making this film look interesting and real. The editing flows well and won Frank P. Keller an Oscar.
Of course this movie is best known for its great car chase scene with McQueen in his Mustang and the bad guys running a Dodge Charger. The scene has no music, just the sound of 2 American Big Blocks roaring through the streets. Steve McQueen was known as a great driver and did some of his own driving in the scene. If you’re a car nut you will love this car chase, maybe the most famous in cinema history. I’m a Porsche guy so I personally love seeing Jacqueline Bisset drive McQueen down the highway in her yellow Porsche 356 Cabriolet. For those that didn’t already know, Steve McQueen was a motorhead, he loved cars and motorbikes. He owned many interesting vehicles, and Porsches where a big part of that collection.
Interesting trivia on this film is McQueen was inspired by real life San Francisco Detective Dave Toschi for his character. Toschi is most famous for being the lead detective on the Zodiac Killer Case. He was portrayed by Mark Ruffalo in David Fincher’s Zodiac(We will review this movie in the future). He was also the inspiration for Dirty Harry, one of Clint Eastwood’s most famous characters.
Besides McQueen, Bisset who plays Cathy, Bullitt’s girlfriend also stars. I do wish she had more screen time in this movie, she is a very minor sub-plot. We also see Robert Vaughn as a possible corrupt politician. Some of the supporting cast highlights are Norman Fell as the police captain and my favorite, Robert Duvall as a taxi driver.
Bullitt is required viewing for noir buffs, car buffs, and movie buffs in general.
Review: Predestination
Predestination is a SciFi Neo-Noir from The Spierig Brothers. The brothers don’t turn out movies to fast, but they make good films. Their first film was Undead, a zombie comedy, maybe a little ahead of its time. Then they waited 6 years to do the very unique neo noir take on vampires in Daybreakers. Then they waited another 5 years to release Predestination. I look forward to seeing more from these guys, I just hope I don’t have to wait another 5 years. The source material for this film is from my favorite science fiction author of all time, Robert A. Heinlein. Heinlein has written some amazing novels in his career, they really make you think about the world you’re in, based on a world he created. While watching this you will see a few Heinlein Easter Eggs in the film. If you have not read Heinlein, please do not base your opinion of his work from the movie Starship Troopers. His story “All You Zombies” is an amazing plot for this film. I have not read this short story yet, but will be hunting it down to read it as soon as possible.
I purposely did not read any reviews of this movie so I could watch it fresh and without spoilers. As always I will not post any spoilers in this review so you can enjoy it fresh as well. This is a movie about time travel, you can see influences from other great neo noir films with time travel, like 12 Monkeys and Looper. The filming style in some parts of the movie reminded me of Dark City (another movie influenced heavily by Heinlein’s work).
Though this may remind me of some of the best science fiction noir films of the past, it is something uniquely its own.
This movie has two great stars that have amazing performances in this. Ethan Hawke is our big name star. I got to say Hawke has one of the best track records so far this century! He hasn’t been in a big Hollywood movie, probably since the mid 90’s. Besides the horrible Selena Gomez vehicle, The Getaway, he has made nothing but above average to mind blowingly great smaller films. Our other outstanding performance and really the one that steals the show is by Sarah Snook. I have not seen Snook in anything else yet, but look forward to seeing this rising star in more movies. Noah Taylor plays a smaller role but a very pivotal one.
I seen an interview with Hawke about this film and he says something to the effect that you will not understand this film on the first viewing. I have only watched this once, but Predestination is a film where, I think, the more you watch it the more little bits of information you pick up on and a film that maybe even better the second and third time you see it.
I highly recommend Predestination if you like science fiction mixed in with your noir. A sure thing to be a cult classic.
Review: A Scanner Darkly: Movie versus Book
Scanner Darkly is a book by Philip K. Dick, a SciFi legend in literature. Dick may be one of the earliest writers to combine the science fiction genre with noir style. If you are not familiar with Dick as an author you are familiar with his work. His most famous work is probably “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” but you will recognize its big screen neo-noir adoption “Blade Runner.” I hope to review both that movie and book on this blog at a later time. Scanner Darkly may be less science fiction and more noir then his other works. It is also his most personal and autobiographical book. This book may disguise itself in a fictional world, but it is very close to Dick’s personal life under the influence of drugs. Him and his friends are paranoid of everything and don’t know who to trust in their everyday lives. Substance D is the drug in the world of Scanner Darkly and our protagonist Bob Arctor is an undercover cop in this world. This book, written in 1977 won many awards in the science fiction literary world.
I watched this movie back when it came out, recently read the book and then re-watched the movie to compare the two. I can see why most thought this book would not be film-able. The scramble suits would have been my main concern if I was a fan of this book in the 70’s and found out someone was going to try to put it to film.
Then enters one of the best directors in modern film, Richard Linklater. Though Linklater doesn’t typically do much noir type films, he has made some of the best independent films of the last 25 years. Linklater takes some risks, but I really liked the final product. The biggest one is taking one of the biggest, most talented casts around, shots the film with them over the course of 23 days, then spends 18 months animating it. This gives the film a very cool look, almost in the way black and white transformed the real world in the classic era of film-noir the animation transforms the modern world of southern California.
The cast of this doesn’t get much better. Robert Downey Jr. may be the biggest star in this film, but when it was made he was still doing little movies while he worked through his own drug issues. This is great casting and if you like Downey you will like him in this part. Our lead is played by Keanu Reeves, playing the undercover cop that maybe to undercover for his own good. He is in love with Donna, played by Winona Ryder, unfortunately she may not feel the same way. Woody Harrelson plays a friend of Bob, that is also addicted to substance D. Rory Cochrane, a Linklater favorite also plays a key role.
So should you read the book or watch the movie? I will say if I had to choose one, I would go with the movie. The book and movie are both great and if you can, I would look at reading the book and then watching the movie. This is an interesting take on the underground drug world of the 1970’s, and a neo-noir classic.
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