Neo-Noir

Article: Neo-Noiriste John Dahl

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I came across this article on John Dahl, who’s first three films are all great neo-noir films. Those are Kill Me Again, Red Rock West and The Last Seduction. He made a couple more noirish greats in Rounders and Joy Ride.

This article maybe a little dated, since it was written in 2010, but for the most part very little has changed in the movie industry since then and Dahl has some good points. One thing Dahl doesn’t touch on in this article is television. Maybe television is the place where people can be a little more experimental and free to try what they want. It’s interesting that since this article Dahl has exclusively worked on television and has directed episodes of some of the great neo-noir series in the last 5 years including Breaking Bad, Dexter, Terriers, Arrow, Hannibal, Ray Donovan, Justified, Aquarius and more. Check out the full article below:

http://www.soundonsight.org/neo-noiriste-john-dahl/

Do you feel neo-noir is moved out of the theater and onto are T.V. screens?

Taste of Cinema: The 20 Best Neo-Noir Films Of The 1990s

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Terek Puckett has picked his favorite neo-noir films from the 1990’s and it’s a pretty good list. There are a few films from the Far East I have not seen yet and will be putting in my Queue. There are also a few films that did not make the list that most, including myself, feel should be on it. He explains himself in the opening of the article why he didn’t put some of these on the list. Hopefully you will find the list as entertaining as I did and maybe find a film or two that you haven’t seen or even heard of. Here is the link to the full list:

http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2014/the-20-best-neo-noir-films-of-the-1990s/

Review: Kill Me Three Times

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Australia has been making a lot of great neo noir films as of late. Does Kill Me Three Times continue the streak? Kill Me Three Times is directed by Kriv Stenders and written by James McFarland and has a cast from around the world.

This film uses film noir tropes, but doesn’t even attempt to put a new spin on them, for better or for worse. The story starts with our main star, Simon Pegg, down on the ground, looking like he is about to die and says so in classic voice over fashion. This of course reminded me of Sunset Boulevard. The camera rises into the sky to show a house on the beach and we go into a flashback. Pegg’s character is Charlie Wolfe, who is a fixer, private detective, assassin? The one original idea about Wolfe is that he is a professional killer who is a lousy marksman.

Since this film is told in flashbacks and out-of-order it is hard to talk about this film and not give out to many spoilers. It tells a story of a small group of characters who all do not like each other.

Our femme fatale for this film is Teresa Palmer playing Lucy Webb. She is married to a dentist and her brother owns a bar. She manipulates both of them into doing unspeakable things to get what she wants.

Sullivan Stapleton plays Lucy’s husband Nathan. Nathan has a gambling problem and is in debt to a bookie for $250,000 and needs to pay it within a week.

Callan Mulvey plays Lucy’s brother and owner of the bar, Jack Taylor. Jack doesn’t trust his wife and feels she is cheating on him, he maybe right.

Alice Braga plays Jack’s wife who is abused by Jack and in constant fear for her safety. She is looking for a way out-of-town and her marriage.

Luke Hemsworth plays a good guy who owns the local gas station. He is kind of clueless to what is happening around him and it maybe to late before he figures it out.

Bryan Brown plays a local cop who is also a heavy for the bookie Nathan owes money to.

The film is told in three parts, all leads us to why Wolfe is on the ground near death. We have illegal gambling, insurance fraud, murder, theft and double crosses through out the film.

Well I’m sorry to say this is not a great neo noir film from Australia. It’s not a bad film just not on par with some of the other films coming out of Australia lately. It is a shame, because I really liked the cast, Pegg is always entertaining and the two female leads are good. The story was not horrible, but didn’t bring anything new to the party. It does have its entertaining moments but is just missing something to put it over the top. There are worse ways to spend a lazy afternoon if you are looking for something new in the genre to watch, just don’t expect anything special.

Review: Renaissance

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Renaissance is an animated sci-fi neo noir made in 2006 using CGI, Motion Capture, and only Black and White with no shades of grey. This film is French and directed by Christian Volckman, but since it is animated it does not have subtitles, but is re-voiced in English. Daniel Craig voices our main character Karas.

This film takes place in a future Paris of 2054 and combines a classic noir look and story in part, with a futuristic sci-fi plot line. The film starts with our hard-boiled detective, Karas having a nightmare of his past. This shows his hard upbringing and his mind state in the present. The film takes us to a flashy club where we meet two sisters. They are an yin yang pairing as one is a hard driven scientist and one is a slacker who just wants to have fun and can careless about work. Our hard-working scientist is kidnapped while leaving the club with no trace. Karas is brought on to the case to find her and she has to be alive. The girl works for a big corporation called Avalon and they work on anti-aging and health products. They are also very powerful. This is where Karas starts his investigation. Was our kidnap victim part of corporate espionage? a victim of circumstance? Did she discover something in the lab she shouldn’t have? Will Karas find her?

This film is more style then substance. It isn’t a bad story, but your senses are drawn to the visual style more than anything.

This is a fun film to watch, think a mix of Sin City and Blade Runner. If this sounds amazing to you, you should check out this film. Though I would recommend both of those films over this one, it is still worth watching.

Re-watching the Classics: A Simple Plan

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A Simple Plan is a neo noir by director Sam Raimi of Evil Dead and Spider-Man fame. This is based on a book and screen play by Scott B. Smith. The film was released in 1998 and was nominated for two Oscars. The three main characters are played by an all-star trio with Bill Paxton as our main protagonist, Bridget Fonda as his wife and Billy Bob Thornton as his socially awkward brother.

The film starts in an everyday small town in the Northern United States. It is New Years Eve and Hank, Played by Paxton, is leaving work early for a family matter. He goes home where we soon see his pregnant wife Sarah, played by Fonda. He changes and soon his brother Jacob played by Thornton, pulls up outside in his beat up truck. Hank is not happy as he sees Jacob has brought his obnoxious friend Lou played by Brent Briscoe. The threesome goes to a cemetery to put a poinsettia on a grave. As they are leaving, a fox with a chicken in its mouth runs out in front of Jacob’s truck causing him to hit a tree. Jacob, not happy, grabs his riffle and the three take off in pursuit of the fox. They soon come across a wrecked airplane. Upon investigation they find a dead pilot and a bag full of money, 4.4 million to be exact. As the group discuss what to do, they decide that Hank will take the money and the three will keep it secret until spring. They will wait to see after the wreckage is discovered if the money is mentioned. If it is not, Hank will distribute the money and all three will move away happy and wealthy. Will money ruin these people’s life? Of course it will, but how?

This is a very good noir plot with money being the root of all evil and what will the common man do to keep his ill-gotten gains. I really enjoyed how the 4 characters that know about the money change as the film goes along. All are good average people when the film starts and change to evil people in different varieties by the end. Hank does what he thinks is right through out the film, but his femme fatale of a wife controls him like a puppet. Paxton does an amazing job as our everyday hero. Fonda as our femme fatale starts out saying she would never take the money to over thinking every little detail to dastardly consequences. Thornton, who got this part do to his performance in Sling Blade, shows once again how great an actor he is. The way he must balance friendship and family and is eventually pulled apart by this choice alone makes this worth watching.  Briscoe’s performance of Lou is underrated and though he starts out as the biggest jerk, he changes the lest because of the money. Chelcie Ross plays the small town naive Sheriff to perfection and Gary Cole is also very good as the F.B.I. Agent in town to investigate the possible plane crash.

This is a great film by any measure and if you have not seen it, go do it now! If you have not seen it in a while now would be a good time to revisit this one.

Taste of Cinema has “The Best Neo-Noir Films Of The 1980s”

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Terek Puckett is back at it again with The Best Neo-Noir Films of the 1980s. His own rules apply to this list as his last one from the 1970s, where future or historic films are not included in his list, so Blade Runner will be missing in this list. Still a great list with some more films I have forgotten about or didn’t know much about. I added a few new films to my “To Watch” list,hopefully you will find a few films to add to yours.

Here is the link to the full list:

http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2014/the-20-best-neo-noir-films-of-the-1980s/

Re-Watching the Classics: Get Carter

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Get Carter is a classic neo noir from 1971 directed by Mike Hodges and starring Michael Caine. The film is based on the classic noir book of the same name by Ted Lewis. Another book on my “To Read” list.

This film is simple in its plot, but executed to perfection. The story opens with Jack Carter, played by Caine, hanging with his buddies in London, but doesn’t seem to be having as good a time as they are. His friends are gangsters as well and warn him about going up north. Carter’s friends relay the sentiment that he should not go up north, even though Carter is a killer, they are all killers up there. Carter’s brother has died and Carter thinks he was killed. Carter of course goes anyway and we meet his family as they bury his brother. His brother was drunk and drove off a bridge to his death is the official cause of death. As Carter is back in his hometown, he soon connects with some of his old friends and starts looking into the mystery.

As the film continues and Carter climbs his way up the ladder to the person responsible for his brother’s death we run into the illegal porn industry, corrupt business men, and of course gangsters. Will Carter get his revenge? Is he just a pawn in a bigger game? Will he find out more than he ever wanted to?

This film has a lot of supporting characters who standout in this film. Future Bond Girl Britt Ekland has a small part, which she was reluctant to do. She needed the money and of course made the film, afterwards she was happy with her work in this film. Ian Hendry was originally going to play Carter, but instead played one of Carter’s acquaintances from his hometown. Geraldine Moffat played a small but pivotal role as a moll who catches Carter’s eye.

This is a must see for fans of neo noir and British noir, as it is one of the best films from Britain made in the 1970’s or maybe ever. Skip the remake with Stallone and just re-watch this classic instead.

This also has a nice noir Easter egg as Carter is seen reading Raymond Chandler’s Farewell My Lovely.

Favorite Tidbit: This film was originally rated X for its intense violence and nudity, but has been reclassified R as crime films continued to push the limit of the rating system.

Re-Watching the Classics: Body Double

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Body Double is a neo noir thriller from 1984. This is written and directed by Brian De Palma. De Palma definitely has his hits and his misses, but all of his movies are entertaining. This one steals a lot of plot devices from Hitchcock, something I’ve noticed De Palma does often. This one has obvious references to Rear Window.

Think of it as Rear Window in an over sexed Los Angeles in the materialistic 1980’s. I actually really enjoyed the time capsule this film is. We have some of the great cars of the early 80’s rolling by in multiple scenes. A crazy house on the hills that some may find dated, but is interesting in it’s over the top styling. The opening shows the making of a film, a vampire film that looks like it could have been a real film that would appear at the video store between Fright Night and Lost Boys. Frankie Goes To Hollywood in an unusual music video, porno mix. We see MTV playing in the background on the television. It also has a small look at the pornography industry as VHS takes over from the adult theaters.

This story starts out with actor Jack Scully, played by Craig Wasson, starts out on a soundstage, playing a vampire in a coffin. He seems to have a case of claustrophobia, as they pull him out of the coffin, frozen in fear. He goes home to recoup and finds his girlfriend in bed with somebody else. He goes to a bar to drowned his sorrows and is looking for a place to stay. He soon finds out he lost his acting gig do to freezing up on the set the day before. He also goes to acting class where he runs into a fellow actor played by Gregg Henry. The actor offers Jack a place to stay while he goes to Seattle for an acting gig. The house belongs to a wealthy man who is in Europe and somebody needs to water the plants! As the plants need to be watered right at 6, conveniently there is a telescope pointing down the hill at another house on the hill. This telescope shows a beautiful woman doing a seductive dance that you cannot turn your eyes away from. The woman down the hill is soon abused by somebody and Jack starts to get attached to her. The next night he notices a big Native American is also watching her. He soon finds the Native American following the beautiful woman around town…as Jack is also following her. We can now see she is played by Deborah Shelton, our unknowing femme fatale for this film. This part is also pretty creepy on many levels. Our hero thinks he is doing the right thing by following and spying on this woman, to protect her from a scary looking man who is following and spying on the same woman. This story continues as our femme fatale seems to get in more trouble as Jack tries his best to keep her safe. Will he succeed in protecting her? Will he fall short? Will he be the first suspect if something does happen?

This film maybe most famous for the performance by Melanie Griffith in a supporting role as porn actress Holly Body. It is a good performance for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe.

This film was very fun to revisit and worth doing so if you have not seen it in a while. If you haven’t seen it yet, go watch it. This is not De Palma’s best work, but it is a fun movie that is one of the better sex thrillers from the 1980’s.

Taste of Cinema has “The Best Neo-Noir Films Of The 1970s”

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This list is over at Taste of Cinema and is written by Terek Puckett and is in chronological order. There are a few films on here I have not seen yet and some I have not seen in years. There is also a section of “Other Notable Neo-Noir films of the 1970s” at the end of the article. There are even more in that section I look forward to seeing soon. Puckett does have a weird rule about “excluded from consideration were films that take place in a period setting.” Whether you agree with that or not, there are still a lot of films in here worth watching.

Read more: http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2014/the-20-best-neo-noir-films-of-the-1970s/#ixzz3egTTUprq

Review: Dark Places

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Dark Places is a neo noir written for the screen and directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner. Paquet-Brenner shot this in only 25 days, reminding me what some of the directors did in the classic film noir days for B-movies. Charlize Theron is the producer and star of this film. This is based on the book written by Gillian Flynn.

I read this book awhile ago, but found the movie followed the book pretty well from what I remember. Sure a few things are missing and shortened up for sake of time, but overall felt the movie is a nice companion to the book.

The story starts with a down and out Libby Day played by Theron. She is the survivor of a massacre when she was a child. The rest of her family was killed and her brother put in prison for the crime. Her brother is played by Corey Stoll in the present day and by Tye Sheridan in the flashback scenes. Libby, desperate for money goes to an event where people try to solve past crimes. This meeting is called the Kill Club. The group is fascinated with her families case and feel her brother is innocent. Nicholas Hoult plays the main member of the Kill Club interested in Libby’s case. The story continues as Libby goes to see her brother in prison and starts to look into the case herself with the Kill Club’s help. We get half the story in flashbacks as we learn what Libby’s brother was doing the day of the murders. The flashbacks have Christina Hendricks as Libby’s mom and Chloë Grace Moretz as the brother’s girlfriend.

This film has a lot of twists and turns as new discoveries are made and finishes with an ending hard to see coming. I liked the way they used 1980’s heavy metal music and the public’s growing fear of its influence on youth and the satanic symbolism that it used. I’m not sure if Flynn was inspired by the case of The West Memphis Three when she wrote this book, but it seems to have similarities to that case.

This film is very noir in story but Paquet-Brenner also used a lot of film noir technique in this film, one scene is even in black and white! The filming at night with the use of shadow and light are very film noir in style through most of the flashback scenes.

I really liked this book, maybe even more then Gone Girl, and found the film very well done and I enjoyed it a lot. I think fans of the book will find the movie worth seeing. I also think neo-noir and mystery lovers will enjoy it too. If you are lucky enough to have DirecTV you can watch it now on pay per view, if you don’t, it will be in theaters in August.

Favorite Tidbit: Look for the author of the book Gillian Flynn in a cameo as Lizzy Borden in the Kill Club scene.