Review: I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang

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I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang is based on the book and true story of Robert E. Burns.

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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

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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

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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.

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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.

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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:

http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/413263-rooney-mara-says-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-sequel-is-dead#/slide/15

Review: The Lookalike

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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: The Sins of the Fathers by Lawrence Block

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I have never read a Lawrence Block book and decided it was time to jump into the world of Block.  The Sins of the Fathers came up on my Nook one day for $0.99, it was a sign, time to start reading Block.  This is the book I always wanted to start with because the is the first in a series around the character Matthew Scudder.  This book was first published in 1976 and Scudder has been part of popular culture ever since, well maybe not popular culture but with the noir fanbase for sure.  17 books later and Scudder is still going strong.   Scudder has even appeared in two movies, 8 Million Ways to Die based on the 5th book in the series and A Walk Among the Tombstones based on the 10th book in the series.  I plan on watching Tombstone sometime soon and giving a review on this site.  I also plan to read the rest of these books and review them as I go.

Block is an amazing writer who has written over 100 books in his career and still going strong!  I look foreword to reading more from Block in the near future.

Scudder as a character is not all that original, Ex-cop who has a problem with alcohol and becomes a private detective.  Well Scudder isn’t exactly a private dick, he just does favors and gets tipped for those favors, who needs to get a licence and report income to the tax man.  He’s a hardboiled detective that has lost his family and has seen and done things that have scared him for life.  Though the profile of Scudder isn’t an original idea, he is well crafted and I love him.

This first story is about a young lady that was brutally murdered, and her male roommate is found outside the building covered in her blood, half-dressed and screaming obscenities.  The male roommate is later found in his cell, dead from hanging himself.  It’s an open and shut case as far as the police are concerned.

The parents of our dead young lady have lost track of their daughter and didn’t even know she was living in New York for sure. With over 3 years of no communication with their daughter, they want to know what she was doing in that time period and turn to Scudder for help.

This book shows Scudder as a fairly religious man, and lent itself nicely to this story. I hope this aspect is continued throughout this series.

Scudder isn’t investigation a murder mystery here, he is looking into this girls history and takes us along for the ride.  We have some dark stuff here, it is a very gritty and twisted adventure that you will enjoy.

Review: Calvary

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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

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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.

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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: Backstrom: He Who Kills the Dragon, Book vs Television

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I was given a copy of this book from Goodreads and Vintage Crime/Black Lizard publishing in exchange for this review. I entered to get this book, because I saw the first few episodes of the Fox Television series by the same name starring Rain Wilson.  Backstrom is the main character of author Leif GW Persson.  Persson was a professor of Criminology at the Swedish National Police Board from 1992 to 2012.  This may give him an edge on how things work from the inside of the police force.  This is interesting to me, I thought this book was OK, but it was 360 pages long to tell a story that I would think one of the current noir masters could have told in 200 to 250 pages.  I guess I would rather have a great story that is well written, rather than all the details of how the police have to operate.  The other problem with this book could be a culture issue.  Since this was originally written in Swedish and maybe it looses something when translated.  I’m not saying this book is a bad book, and I can see a lot of people who tend toward the more real and procedural type books will like this.

So how does this compare to the T.V. series?  There is not much the same between the two.  The similarities are few, first is the main character, Backstrom himself.  Backstrom is an overweight, out of shape, alcoholic, that tends to be a racist and sexist.  He is forced by his doctors to start changing his life or he isn’t going to live very long.  There is also a character named Nadia too.

Now the multiple differences, these are the ones I think would take away from a fans experience of either the T.V. series or the book series. Only the one book is available in the U.S.A. right now, and it is the second book in the series.  This series only has 3 books so far, so I don’t know why this is the one they published first.  There are a few references in this book that I assume is referring to the first book.  I bring this up because maybe some of the characters I really like in the TV series are missing in this book, but may be in the other two.  Back to our main character, Backstrom, though physically he seems about the same, but on the TV series he is a brilliant detective that can get into the heads of his suspects and figure out how and why they did the crime.  Because he is so brilliant the rest of the team lives with his short comings.  It seems in the book, he is more lucky than good.  He becomes a media darling, more because he is in the right spots at the right times, and his team under him is very skilled and he steals their credit.  This difference along makes the two very different in tone and feel.

The TV series takes place in Portland where the books take place in Sweden, that of course will give you a different feel.  The characters are very diverse in both book and series, but only one is the same, Nadia.  In the book Nadia is a character that understands Backstrom, she is an overweight Russian that works on Backstrom’s team, on the series she is a gorgeous blond that is a computer specialist played by Beatrice Rosen.  Over all I like the series characters as they develop over the course of time. Nicole Gravely played by Genevieve Angelson is the young detective that goes by the book, she was my favorite character in the first few episodes.  John Almond played by Dennis Haysbert is interesting as he is a pastor of a small church on the weekend and has conflict within his professional life because of his beliefs.  Thomas Dekker plays Valentine, Backstrom’s roommate and not always legit antique dealer.  We got other supporting characters like Backstrom’s ex played by Sarah Chalke.  I do wish the TV series would do 4-5 episode story arcs rather than one and done episode cases.  I wasn’t sure if I really liked the TV series at first, I will make a final verdict after the full season.  I seem to be liking it more and more each episode.

The only thing I really miss from the book that isn’t in the TV show is Annika Carlsson.  She is a bi-sexual that Backstrom warms to throughout the book.  I would like to see more of this character, but maybe not enough to read anymore of the books.

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In this battle I’m going to take the TV series over the book.  If you only watched the first few episodes to make your decision, you may want to watch a few more and see if it grows on you like it is me.