Neo-Noir

Review: Mojave

bryancyr Movie, Neo-Noir , , , , , ,

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William Monahan has stated that Mojave is definitely not a neo-noir film, which seems to be a strange thing to say. The reason this film came to my attention is because of most of the reviews I read on this film stated it was a modern L.A. noir or a neo noir. The other reason this seems strange is that Monahan has done nothing but neo noir and noirish work for the last 10 years!

This film is based around Tom played by Garrett Hedlund, who is a filmmaker from Hollywood. When he wrecks his vehicle out in the Mojave, he meets Jack, played by Oscar Isaac. Jack is a cold blooded serial killer and when Tom gets the upper hand a cat and mouse game of epic proportions begins.

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As themes of murder, drug dealing movie producers, accidental murder, revenge and a dark look at the film industry are all themes that may appear in a neo noir and also appear in this film. With most all the film shot in low light areas and at night making it very neo noir in style as well. So why would Monahan say this is not a neo noir film?

After watching this film, I would say it falls solidly in the neo noir genre and feel Monahan was saying this film is more than a genre picture. With elements of a modern day western and dialog from a arthouse film, it is more than a neo noir film. I have enjoyed most everything Monahan has written and I like his eye for direction, even if some of the reviews and ratings are not that favorable for his work. I love the way he writes a conversation, though these conversations seem a little too smart for the characters that are speaking them, they are very entertaining and original. Though he is known more for his writing and this is only the second film he has directed, I liked the look of this film and look forward to seeing what he does next.

Mark Wahlberg and Walton Goggins shine in smaller roles.

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Mojave has not really found an audience yet and some of those that have seen it have not been kind. I really enjoyed this film on many levels and think neo noir fans will enjoy it too, even if the writer/director was hoping for a wider fan base.

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Review: Across 110th Street

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Across 110th Street is a neo noir film from 1972, directed by Barry Shear. Shear mostly worked in television, but did a few feature films, this one being his most well-known film. The film is based on a book by Wally Ferris by the same name.

The film is a mash up of blaxploitation, hardboiled detective, and Mafia films into a neo noir stew. The film starts with a bold heist by three black men who rob the Mafia who is counting money in an upstairs apartment. The robbery goes wrong when one of the men starts firing his machine gun and kills everybody in the room. They get away with the money, but the getaway driver played by Antonio Fargas maybe the worst getaway driver in cinema history. This very slow and bad timed drive causes a few cops to end up dead.

This is the springboard for three crossing story lines.  The first is our three thieves trying to get away with $300,000 of the Mafia’s money. The second is the two New York detectives who are trying to catch the thieves/cop killers. The third is the story of the Mafia trying to find the thieves and get their money back.

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Anthony Quinn plays our veteran hardboiled detective, who is a bit of a racist. He is a throwback from a pre-1960’s era. This role was turned down by such big names as John Wayne, Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas. The lead detective is played by Yaphet Kotto, a black man working his way up the ladder with skill and hard work. The two have an interesting dynamic of respect, even though race gets in the way of that respect.

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Anthony Franciosa plays the man the Mafia put in charge of finding the thieves and getting their money back. He is a very violent man who gets results.

This movie from the early 1970’s tackles topics that are still current today. The biggest one this film tackles is racism in the police force and the targeting of blacks. This film has language which may offend, and the violence is extreme, but both of these facts seem to make the film feel more real. This film feels like Quentin Tarantino went back in time and made it. In fact Tarantino used the Bobby Womack theme song from this film in his famous opening to Jackie Brown.

If you are a fan of gritty 1970’s films, or blaxploitation films from the era, you need to seek this film out.

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Favorite Tidbit: Look for Burt Young in one of his early roles as one of the mobsters in the opening scene.

Review: The Limey

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“You tell him, tell him I’m coming” 

Just watching Terence Stamp say these words are worth watching this film. Directed by Steven Soderbergh in 1999, The Limey is a neo noir film that may not be as popular as his other films around this time, but it should be.

The film revolves around Stamp’s character Wilson, who has just got out of prison in Britain. Wilson’s daughter has recently died in a horrible car accident in Los Angeles. Wilson has also received a letter from Eduardo Roel, played by Luis Guzmán, about his daughter’s death. Wilson travels to Los Angeles to meet Roel and find out what really happened to his daughter.

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Will Wilson get to the bottom of his daughter’s death? Will he like what he finds if he does?

Look for Nicky Katt playing a hitman and  Lesley Ann Warren playing a friend of Wilson’s daughter. Also Amelia Heinle as the young trophy girlfriend and her creepy evil business mogul of a a boyfriend Peter Fonda are also interestingly great.

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If your a fan of Fonda or Stamp it is a film you will really like.  This may not be Soderbergh’s best film, but it isn’t his worst. I really enjoyed his cinematography and interesting editing for this film. The story is fairly simple with a conclusion that is not surprising, but a fun film to watch none the less.

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Beyond the Golden Age: Film Noir Since the ’50s – Bright Lights Film Journal

bryancyr article, film-noir, Movie, Neo-Noir , ,

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Here is an interesting look at the history of noir from writer C. Jerry Kutner. Though I don’t agree with some of what he says, a lot of what he says does make sense. He also talks about some films I have not seen yet and will be taking a look at.  Read the full article below and tell us some of your thoughts on his idea of noir:

 

“There is only Noir!” The Noir Vision To discuss the history of film noir since the ’50s is to fly in the face of conventional studies, which assume the “genre”[…]

Source: Beyond the Golden Age: Film Noir Since the ’50s – Bright Lights Film Journal

Review: Man from Reno

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Man from Reno is a hidden gem that has recently been released on DVD and is also available on Netflix. This film is directed by Dave Boyle, who also helped with the screenplay.

This film starts with a small town police sheriff, played by Pepe Serna, driving in the fog when he hits a man in the middle of the road. The man was severally beat up before he was hit and is not conscious when brought to the hospital. The Sheriff wants to question him about the incident when the stranger soon named The Running Man escapes the hospital.

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Meanwhile in San Francisco a Japanese detective story writer, played by Ayako Fujitani, is on an American book tour. She needs a break from the spotlight and disappears to a small hotel where she meets a handsome stranger, played by Kazuki Kitamura, at the hotel bar. When the stranger disappears the next morning, leaving his suitcase behind our mystery writer starts her own investigation into his unusual disappearance.

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So do our two cases intertwine? Will our well educated author from Japan be able to help our small town sheriff?

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This film has a great, complex story and one of the most original MacGuffins I have seen in recent years. The movie keeps you guessing right to the end.

Man from Reno is a small film that was actually funded by a Kickstarter campaign. It went on the film festival circuit and received great reviews and picked up a number of awards and nominations at the festivals. While Hollywood is saying they need more diversity, here is a great film where the two leads are Hispanic-American and Japanese that has got only strong, positive reviews in major publications like Entertainment Weekly and Variety, yet nobody has seen it.

This is a film that needs more people watching it! This is a great little film which any noir and neo noir fan will love. Stream it or rent it and tell your friends about it if you loved it. Well made small films like this need to be promoted by word of mouth and this is one that needs more people enjoying it.

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News: Margot Robbie Set To Headline Vaughn Stein’s Noir Thriller Terminal

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One of the most popular new talents in Hollywood is ready to take on noir! Margot Robbie has just signed to headline the new film Terminal. This will be writer director Vaughn Stein first feature film, but he has worked as an Assistant Director on a number of television shows and big Hollywood films. Sounds like an interesting movie, read all the details here:

Margot Robbie Set To Headline Vaughn Stein’s Noir Thriller Terminal

Review: Marshland or La isla mínima

bryancyr Movie, Neo-Noir, Spanish Noir , , , , ,

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Marshland is a Spanish neo-noir for 2014, recently released on DVD in the United States. This film is written by Alberto Rodríguez and Rafael Cobos and also directed by Alberto Rodríguez. This film takes place in Southern Spain in a poor community in the Marshland. The story takes place in 1980, where there was a lot of political turmoil taking place, with the working class on strike, demanding higher wages.

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Two homicide detectives are sent into the small town to solve the disappearance of two young sisters.  Juan, played by Javier Gutiérrez, is an older, more hardened detective. He realizes his best days are behind him and is happy to finish out his career in his current position. He also has some health issues and may not have long to live.

Pedro, played by Raúl Arévalo, is a young and upcoming detective with a lot of talent for the job. He is sent on this case as punishment for writing a letter to the editor of the paper expressing his political beliefs. The higher ups are not happy with him for this. If he can solve this case in a timely manner, he can get himself back on track for his career goals.

Shortly after arriving on the case, our duo is given some clues that lead to the bodies of our sisters. Soon a few cold cases come to light that show this may be a serial killer. With a slew of local characters adding some great spice to this film and some amazing cinematography this is a well made film.

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I really enjoyed this film and think most noir fans will too. This film really reminded me a lot of True Detective season 1. This is due more to atmosphere then anything. The setting of the film reminded me of the locations in the South where True Detective takes place. There are similarities in both sets of detectives as well. The plot covers some of the same topics, but the story is totally unique. I’m not sure if Rodríguez was inspired by the American television series or not. Filming of this movie had to be underway when True Detective started airing on H.B.O. so I can’t imagine it was a big influence, but the coincidences are uncanny.

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This film is for fans of foreign cinema and those who like a good neo noir. I would also recommend this to those who loved the first season of True Detective. No this is not as brilliant as that series, but it is very good and has the same feel.

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True Detective Season 2-What Went Wrong?

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I don’t have H.B.O., so I had to wait 6 months for the Blu-Ray release of Season 2 to get a chance to watch this. In that 6 months I have seen reviews from critics and other looks at the series from novelists and fans. All of these reviews were negative, I did not read one thing about this second season that was positive. Some of these looks where things like how Ray Donovan was the better show on Sunday nights or how Fargo Season 2 got it right and True Detective got it wrong, etc. Needless to say, I had low expectations of this when I started watching it.

Season 1 of True Detective may have been the best first season of a television series in history, it maybe the best season of television ever. I really was amazed by Nic Pizzolatto story and the acting was second to none.  Here is my look at Season 1:

https://everythingnoir.com/2015/04/23/re-watching-the-best-of-2014-true-detective-season-1/

Season 2 is a totally new cast, story and location, the only thing that is the same is Pizzolatto is in charge again and we are going to cover another story of crime. From this alone Pizzolatto was set up to fail. How could he ever match his masterpiece of season 1? How could he create a completely new world with no connection to season 1 and make it just as good?

I don’t believe Pizzolatto failed at all! Where Season 2 fails is only when it is compared to something else. Stop comparing this 8 hours to something else and just enjoy it for what it is.

For me Season 2 was a great modern take on California’s noir world, a homage to noir of the past. I think Pizzolatto took cues from past greats and put them in a big stew and threw them into modern Southern California. I seen hints of Chandler, Hammett, Macdonald and a lot of Ellroy in the story. I seen scenes that looked a lot like scenes from High Sierra, Mulholland Drive, L.A. Confidential, and others. The best thing I liked about this series is he took some of classic film noir tropes and characters and threw them into a modern setting and gave them an original spin.

Lets break down each of the four main characters:

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Colin Farrell is Detective Ray Velcoro

Ray is our classic hardboiled detective for this story. He takes a bit of the cop looking for revenge, and a pinch of dirty cop, add a man that has lost his way and his family. The twist here is we learn what set this good guy into a downward spiral of evil.

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Taylor Kitsch is Officer Paul Woodrugh

Woodrugh is a motorcycle cop who is part of a tabloid news story involving a famous actress. Woodrugh maybe the most classic film noir style character of the group. He is back from the war and that war has effected him. He is trying to fit into a society, he no longer recognizes. He is trying to hide his homosexual tendencies by making a nice family life everybody expects of him.

 

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Rachel McAdams is Detective Ani Bezzerides

Ani is the cop with the dirty mouth. The cop that uses the opposite sex and throws them away. The cop that is as hard as nails and you want by your side in a knife fight. In today’s world this is the cop that needs to go to sexual harassment meeting for their affairs with co-workers. Pizzolatto flips the scrip here and makes this cop a female.

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Vince Vaughn is Frank Semyon

Frank is a gangster who has worked his way up to the top and used his life savings to go legit with a land purchase. Frank is our classic gangster getting out, but never really does. He made it to the top by surrounding himself with loyal guys he trusts, and that may be his downfall.

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Kelly Reilly and Abigail Spencer play opposites. One will do anything to stay with her husband and the other will do anything to get as far away as possible from her ex-husband.

Pizzolatto uses a lot of classic film noir tropes in this basic 8 plus hour movie. We see the heist film, the gangster film, the hardboiled cop film, and the revenge film all rolled into one. There is a couple McGuffins, one in the form of some rare blue diamonds and another in the form of a hard drive with some compromising films on it. We have double crosses, corrupt politicians and police, a prostitution ring, a freaky psychologist(played by an almost unrecognizable Rick Springfield), a dark and dingy bar, a night club where it is easy to get whatever you want, a semi legit casino and it goes on and on.

Pizzolatto’s plot is not easy to follow and doesn’t take you on simple A to B trip. This series takes some thinking and may even need to be watched more then once to get everything out of it. Some didn’t like how all the questions are not answered, but I think it is more like the answers they got are not the ones they wanted. This may upset the average viewer, but is right up the noir fan’s alley. Not having a clue on how a show is going to end is half the fun of the ride. So what went wrong with Season 2? Personally I don’t think anything went wrong. I really enjoyed this season. I think what went wrong is when it is compared to the first…or a totally different show. No Season 2 is not as good as Season 1, but it is still very good. I look forward to a third season and hope Pizzolatto takes on some different film noir tropes, like a really interesting femme fatale, maybe a location in New York, Atlantic City and Philadelphia. How about taking on the subject of drug dealers and using the Canadian/American border as a focal point? Whatever you do, Mr. Pizzolatto, I look forward to watching it.

Book Review: Dog Eat Dog by Edward Bunker

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Dog Eat Dog is a novel by Edward Bunker. Bunker is an interesting character. His past involves a criminal career, a horrible childhood, a very high I.Q., becoming an author in prison and acting in some of the most classic neo noir films of the last 40 years. This book was released in 1995 and should be read by any crime fiction fan and especially any fan of noir fiction.

This story is about 3 ex-convicts who have been friends since juvenile hall. Mad Dog lives in Portland with his girlfriend and young daughter. Diesel has been working with a union in Sacramento and does the odd job for the local mob boss from time to time. He has a nice house, a wife and a brand new Mustang. Troy is our third man in this trio. Troy is a smart man that most criminals love. Troy has just got out of prison and is already got a plan in place to make some money.

This journey takes us to the underworld of Los Angeles in the 1990’s. We have drug dealers, crooked lawyers, kidnapping, murder, drug addiction and robbery just to wet your appetite for the dark corners this book goes to.

You can tell Bunker cribs from his own experience in crime for this book. There is a lot of parallels between Troy and Bunker. Bunker also covers some social issues in this book. One thing he covers is the disappearance of the middle class in Los Angeles. Something that continues to happen in many areas of the country today. Another topic is the Three Strike Law that went into effect in California in 1994, a year before this book was released. The law basically states that after your third felony you where going to go to prison for life. This book basically tells us that with this law, we are making people with two strikes willing to do anything not to go back to prison. This maybe a very good point and is something that has been changed in 2012, now it has to be a serious or violent felony for your third strike. I am no lawyer and don’t get into politics much, but for example, in one case a 2 time felon was caught stealing a set of golf clubs. He was sent to prison for life because of the 3 strike rule. Though he is a 3 time felon, and I have no idea what his previous 2 felonies are,(and he did already serve his time for those) life seems a little extreme for stealing golf clubs.

This is an amazing book and I could not put it down. Knowing a little bit about Bunker’s background made me interested in reading him. I was not expecting such a well written book. You will not be disappointed in this book! I highly recommend reading this before the movie is released later this year.

This movie could be amazing or it could be very disappointing. Lets look at the information we have so far. First off the material is second to none for a neo noir film. Second is the talent involved. Paul Schrader wrote the screenplay and is directing. His movie writing credits are some of the best neo noir films in the last 40 years. On the other hand his directing credits have been hit and miss, some are very good and some are unbelievable bad. Our main star, playing Troy is Nicolas Cage, if there is ever an actor in modern film that can be absolutely brilliant in one film and then over act and go totally campy in the next, it is Cage. Schrader promises a return to form for both him and Cage in this picture and I really hope he is right. Here is a link to a couple articles about the upcoming film:

http://deadline.com/tag/dog-eat-dog/

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One thing this film has me excited about is Willem Dafoe as Mad Dog. This casting should be worth the price of admission.

 

 

Article: Dark Christmas: 7 Noir Holiday Films

bryancyr Best of Lists, film-noir, Movie, Neo-Noir ,

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Jake Hinkson has put together a list of films, noir lovers will enjoy over the Christmas Season. So if you are looking for something a little darker then the Christmas Musicals and Comedies that will be all over this season, take a look at this list for some options.

http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2014/12/dark-christmas-7-noir-holiday-films-jake-hinkson

Did Hinkson miss any? Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is one of my favorites not on this list, what are yours?