La Haine

Paris is a city in turmoil. Social and violent upheaval has thrown it into disarray. Racism and racial targeting has become normal for the police.
This could have been made in New York or Los Angeles just as easily.

Kassovitz, the directory, farmed all of this around 3 youths. Each from a different background, ethnically. The hotheaded Caucasian gangster wannabe, Vinz. The calm and collected young black boxer, Hubert, and the young and Impressionable Arab, Said, trying hard to be tough as well.

Through the course of a day we follow the three of them around the projects of Paris, each dealing with their anger in their own ways over the events that transpired in the previous night. A mutual friend was beaten into a coma by the police, which resulted in a riot the night before.

Vinz and Hubert argue throughout the film, as Vinz wants revenge on the cops. There’s a lot of social political messages here, and a lot of thought went into it, but ultimately the film doesn’t quite work as a Neo noir, for me. It just seems like a straight crime film. Still a good movie, however.

Red Rock West

This has all the basic ingredients you really need for a noir movie, and the hick / neo-western setting was a nice touch. Nic Cage really cemented his stereotypical with movies like this, and this is probably one of the best examples of his type. Dennis Hopper did a good job in this one, too, but I feel like when the Marine aspect of his character is removed, he's essentially a less vulgar Frank Booth. But aside from a cool setting and a fairly well-progressing plot, I really didn't feel like this was something I needed to watch again. It's a thrilling movie with some good suspense build-up and a little action on the side, but I also feel like this is the kind of movie I've seen before. Every character basically filled the bare basics of a trope that I've seen in plenty of movies from the 40's and 50's. The good thing is they did what they could to keep the story going in a brisk runtime, but otherwise it's a decent western-thriller that's more a little too tropy to stand out as one of the greats as its fans say it does.

Re: Neo-Noir Hall of Fame
 

And with that review, KeyserCorleone inches closer to the finish line! He's one film away from finishing so good job.

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I’ll finish Tightrope tonight, and then get to RRW, Le Circle Rouge, and Shallow Grave by the deadline.

Nevermind my dumb self, Keyser is the first one to finish! So cheers indeed...

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Thanks. To be honest, I really didn't think I'd finish first. I had so many things to do on the Internet and the real world, and it's increased now that I'm joining a Pathfinder campaign.

Re: Neo-Noir Hall of Fame
 

Everybody, I'm trying to link all of your reviews as soon as I see them, but make sure I haven't missed any on the first post.

Just missing my Sin City one on page 5.

Got it!

Heh, I made the same observation. I guess Hopper was originally cast in J.T. Walsh's role, but he fought for the Lyle role instead, which the director was hesitant to cast him in due to the Frank Booth similarities. I would have liked to have seen Walsh in the Lyle role. Walsh - one of my favorite character actors, by the way - could be pretty terrifying (not to say he didn't have such moments as Wayne, though).

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Sin City (2005)

20th aniversary of this film is coming up...and that makes me feel sad. Let me explain...this film isn't a masterpiece it has it's flaws but as a comic book film and a CGI it is leaps and bounds better than the junk that's produced today. And while it's an anthology series it's handled in a smart way where characters are given economical screen time. This film has like 40 characters in it cand yet they are distinctive and memorable.

The film has three stars, Bruce Willis a retiring Cop, Mickey Rorke basically a private eye/thug for hire, and Clive Owen a drifter who took home a waitress. These are noir archetype characters without actually being characters you normally see in noir. Each one has a physical aspect to them (heart condition, facial surgery, mental ilness) which works as a solid framing device. The characters come into contact with the corrupt power class in Sin City and exact revenge or fail doing so.

The film is incredibly stylized, it's black and white except when it's not. This comes from the source material and it lloks great here. It's a choice that you don't see in the modern sanitized for global consumption modern films. The film starts with a little girl onscreen and word of an older woman offscreen. It frames the audience because after that opening every woman in Sin City is a sex object for the male gaze...and it's done well.

Unfortunately as an anthology some parts are stronger than the others. Actually the wrap around, the Willis story, and Marv are all excellent...it's only the Clive Owen/Benecio Del Toro story that feels out of place, off theme and frankly poorly written. It sinks the film from being an outright masterpiece but still this was a good film.

B+

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Nightcrawler (2014)

This is another film that get's noir right. Nightcrawler tells the story of a petty thief with mental issues and his journey through the world of getting footage for the evening news. Like most indie films it's a four actor structure, unlike most indie films it feels like a bigger film and that is incredibly valuable.

Actually one of the things that this film does really right is the little things. This movie has a good score that doesn't really fit the characters interpretation that the audience has for him..rather it's sort of what he sees himself as. Jake Glyhenhaall gives a layered and nuanced performance as a guy that's a bad person but seems less bad because everyone is bad in this film. The more you watch it the darker certain aspects of the film seem to be.

You see him constantly thinking of all the crimes he can/will commit but then you also see how he tries to avoid doing them. This is a man of experience who is a loser but also a very intelligent person. Everytime you watch this film it gets darker and darker for me. I love how the story never goes in the direction that you think it's going. The best part of the film is when we see his relationship with Rick played by Riz Ahmed.

Louis and Rick's relationship is the core of the film. Louis is basically conning this guy to put his life at risk but he needs to feel good about himself so he's also mentoring him. The third act of the film is when the cover begins to slip from Rick and I'm not sure how I feel about what happened at the end of the film from a moral point of view. And that's really what makes this a great film...lots of good ideas well executed in an underrepresented genre.

A

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Shallow Grave (1994)

Dany Boyle is an excellent film maker who I would love to revisit a number of his works. I almost cried several times during the film Yesterday...I started the thread when it was announced 28 years later was coming out, I will defend Sunshine as a forgotten masterpiece. But holy hell do I hate this movie. I mean I didn't hate the first time I saw it...it was just mediocre and a disappointment. But then I watched it again in another Hall I think it was my first hall when I joined this site and it was worse spending more time with these characters...now this is my third viewing and this might be one of my most hated films.

Now why does this film particularly annoy me so much. Perhaps its the timing of the film...this was made during the Gen X extreme movie explosion of the early 90's. This is a story of three yuppies who live in a palace but yet they have to rent out a room for money. But the people that come along they mock and torment. In other words it's edgy 90's cynicism which is annoying watching it the first time...for my third viewing I wanted to just turn it off and walk away. We then get the murder, the suitcase full of money, the strange people coming for it...the stuff that feels more like a writing exercise and less like a real story.

I feel bad for hating this movie as much as I do, because I think this was nominated in good faith, For people of a certain generation these 90's films were cool and edgy and the voice of their generation. But I don't even know what was up with the actors in this film...it almost felt like they shot half the film and then decided to change personalities and just not bother to rewrite/reshoot the earlier scenes. McGregor's character in particular feels like a different person like their was supposed to be a fourth character and they just dumped it and combined it with him.

D

I distinctly remember Shallow Grave being one of those 'word of mouth' movies in the mid-90s, with the common refrain "Have you seen Shallow Grave? You should watch Shallow Grave," often heard regarding good movie suggestions and crime-film discussions. These were the VHS days, and these were the days immediately preceding Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels - when we weren't used to as much hard core violence rocking the scenes that made up British crime thrillers. Something had been knocked a little loose by the brutality in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs in the U.S., and Danny Boyle was ready to reinterpret this in a much-removed Edinburgh setting (the movie was filmed in Glasgow for financial reasons) and in an energetic way. I remember being psyched that it featured Ewan McGregor, who I'd really enjoyed watching in Dennis Potter's Lipstick on Your Collar in 1993.

Ewan features as Alex Law, one of three flatmates (the other two being accountant David Stevens (Christopher Eccleston) and doctor Juliet Miller (Kerry Fox) - both young and happy) who aren't the average people you'd normally find sharing accommodation. When interviewing for a fourth flatmate, they want to make sure first and foremost that the prospective tenant is not boring. Juliet, in the end, lets Hugo (Keith Allen) move in - he claims to be a writer, but seems the introspective, mysterious type. Not long after moving in, he's found dead of a drug overdose - leaving a suitcase absolutely stuffed with cash in his room. A fortune. Alex wants the trio to keep the money - and to do that they have to cut up and dispose of the body. Doing this sends David over the deep end, and if that's not bad enough, there are two homicidal maniacs slowly making their way towards Hugo's last address. The keeping of this windfall is going to be a bloody, violent affair which may make the three close friends worst enemies before the stabbing and beating is over.

Shallow Grave opens with Leftfield's techno track of the same name, another sign of the changing times and that this was going to be a modern crime thriller involving young people. The sped up footage keeping pace with the techno beats (the feel of all this reminiscent of Boyle's follow-up breakthrough classic Trainspotting) - and it's the attitude of our three protagonists which sells the left-field counterculture ethos of the entire film. They procede to mock all of the prospective flatmates they interview, throwing weird questions at them and sly jabs at what they see as boring attitudes or cliched social trends. What we have are three characters who see themselves as being on a higher plane than most others - but are about to be brought down to earth when they stumble into a culture that is completely foreign to them. For an accountant, a hack journalist (who Alex is) and a doctor, this criminal conspiracy involving dead bodies and a large sum of money isn't something they're confident attitudes can mock.

On a deeper level Shallow Grave also dissects the fragility of friendship when it's on a superficial level. These three share a flat - and although they often eat together, their intimacy doesn't extend far enough to survive any great tests of loyalty and devotion. As soon as it comes to cutting up Hugo's body, it should have been all three of them doing the work. Instead, David pulls out, then Juliet pulls out - before the lack of fairness in the situation leads to the drawing of straws. This is already dividing the group, because now someone has done far more than the others in this criminal enterprise. The trust rapidly erodes, especially when David's mental health deteriorates and the police come asking questions. Constant strain always eats away at the fabric of friendship, as does the fact that any one of the three could fold and talk to the cops. There's no longer any bonding going on once David goes downhill, and tempers become short. Before too long, all three characters are thinking as individuals - the undoing of any criminal enterprise - but Shallow Grave still has a few twists in store.

Although it looks and sounds pretty decent, Shallow Grave was made on a tight budget. Cinematographer Brian Tufano had been around a while, and would continue on with Boyle, doing director of photography duties on many of his films. Simon Boswell's theme and scoring is pretty basic and simplistic - background stuff to the forefront dialogue, laughter, shouting and manic Alex - who likes to drink. Masahiro Hirakubo, who Boyle would often return to for editing duties needed to do a lot of work on this fast-paced, rapid cut, speed-driven movie which has many changes in perspective, fantasy sequences, video-in-film, and other wild kind of moments. The scene where two thugs are dunking a poor man's head in a bath full of water has the neat feature of showing us his face from deep within the tub, which must have taken all kinds of effort to set up and film, from within what must have been a mock-up tub with a lot of depth to it. Shallow Grave is snappy like that - bristling with ideas.

In the end this is still a great film to watch, despite it not hitting with the revolutionary force it did when first released. But perhaps it's better for being down to earth compared to crime thrillers which would come later, after much one-upmanship led to these kind of films having convoluted plots and too many big-name stars in them. At the time, the three actors in Shallow Grave weren't all that well known. I like it for it's simplicity, and it's range of tone - starting something like a comedy and getting darker and more serious the further we proceed, much like what the characters are getting into gets darker and darker after being a joyful lark (dead body or not.) The final twist was the one thing I still remembered from this blast from the past - the rest all rediscovered. The 90s seemed to rewrite all the rules as far as crime thrillers went and Shallow Grave was in the vanguard - as a movie watcher it was the forerunner to much of the same stuff we still see today. Something very new from Britain, pre-Guy Ritchie.

Le Cercle Rouge -

The hardest working cop pitted against the hardest working thief? An epic length? A centerpiece heist scene? Is this the Heat of its era? I mean, there's an even a chaotic partner in crime (Vogel in this, Waingro in Heat) who cannot be totally trusted. Whether it is or not, it's an easy recommendation for a Heat lover who is looking for something similar.

I'll go ahead and admit that Jean-Pierre Melville is one of my very favorite directors, with this movie having pretty much all the qualities that explain why. The camerawork and editing are so elegant that if he had filmed something dull like a tax seminar, I would probably watch it. There's never a hint of friction; the bad kind if you know what I mean. Also, I'm not someone who thinks "show and don't tell" is a rule all directors should always follow, but Melville proves he understands that bit of advice here. I would not be surprised if all the dialogue fits on one page, in other words. I also love how Mattei jokingly comments on this while watching the security footage by mentioning that the thieves are not much for talking. There's also Melville's relationship with Alain Delon, which is on par with Scorsese's relationships with De Niro and DiCaprio, and his understanding that action scenes that are over in a blink of an eye often hit harder than ones that are drawn out. Oh, and “cool” is a word that's still used so often that everyone has their own definition of it. If you want a reminder of what it actually means, watch this.

A claim like "all men are guilty" is a bold one despite how much in line it is with the noir genre. Regardless, this movie puts forth a convincing argument in its favor. Hopefully without spoiling the ending too much, while it has its detractors, the way it makes you wonder if even a virtuous and nurturing cat lover like Mattei is susceptible to the claim is haunting in the best way. Much has been made of the nearly 30-minute silent heist scene, and rightly so, but I still think it's a bridesmaid to Rififi's. As much as I like Melville's direction, my attention wavered and my eyelids got heavy here and there and I don't think my internet-addled attention span is to blame. With that said, it's not my favorite Melville - I'd rank Le Samourai and Army of Shadows higher - but it is a great movie and it explains why I look to France first whenever I'm in the mood for this genre.

Re: Neo-Noir Hall of Fame
 

Nice! Torgo becomes the second to finish. Congrats!

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I’ll need one extra day. I just need to watch The Red Circle and Shallow Grave.

Re: Neo-Noir Hall of Fame
 

The deadline is still more than a week away. There's still time.

I only need to watch Le Cercle Rouge, Body Heat, and Sin City.

I’ll have reviews up for Tightrope and Red Rock West sometime today

Tightrope

Tightrope presents us with a more vulnerable, lonely Eastwood. A detective who is divorced, raising two daughters on his own. He is currently caught up in a sexual predator murdering his victims and leaving clues for him. It becomes obvious it’s personal. This is more than the usual crime Neo noir however.

Eastwood’s Detective Block balances a dark side within himself that he entertains at night, yet hides from others. It’s almost like he is ashamed of it. Disgusted almost. There’s a scene where Genevieve Bujold reaches out to him but he recoils, not out of repulsion, but more like he’s afraid she may stain herself at a mere touch.

It’s this balancing act that is more interesting to me. A family man at home. A detective driven to protect and catch a killer. Yet, also a man with sexual fantasies. It’s unlike what eh had done before this film, his portrayals usually tough guys. It’s one of his more deeper roles, alongside his turn in Play Misty For Me.

The film looks great, but my only quibble, as it was the first time I saw this years ago, was that Bujold doesn’t seem to have any chemistry with Eastwood. I just don’t see anything between them during this film.

Red Rock West

Nic Cage plays a wandering former Marine with a damaged knee in search of a job. Coming upon Red Rock, he is mistaken for a killer hired to murder a wife. Cage takes the money, but makes a decision that will lead him down a path that will leave you shaking your head asking “Why?”

It’s not a bad question. Not really. Mikes a nice guy after all and tries to do the right thing often. It’s just those right things turn out to dig him into a deeper hole. The acting is fine, Dennis Hopper, JT Walsh, and Lara Flynn Boyle all are ok here, with Hopper and Walsh being particularly good. But by the 1 hour mark, I can already figure out how it’ll mostly play out.

The formula is something I'm well used to. Clint Eastwood is playing a cop - a detective, Wes Block. He'd just come off of playing Inspector Harry Callahan in the fourth Dirty Harry film the year previously, Sudden Impact. He'd recently played a cop in The Gauntlet. He'd play cops and secret service agents in the future. There's something different about the cop he plays in Tightrope though, and I hesitate to try and explain what it is. Let's just say Block has a fondness for the swinging lifestyle which he often manages to combine with questioning witnesses and checking leads in this film. He is, I think, the horniest character Clint Eastwood has ever played. I'm used to hookers propositioning detectives in movies - it happens all the time - but I'm not used to the detectives lapping it up like Wes Block does. It gets him in deep as well, for it turns out a serial strangler is killing the ladies he's sleeping with (and he's sleeping with many.) Somehow, there's a love interest as well, and two daughters to juggle in this fun Eastwood caper.

Block is a New Orleans detective, divorced with a soft spot for stray dogs. The killer has left another victim, with some of the evidence he leaves behind - traces of the sneakers he always wears, red fibers, glass residue and barley. He took his time with the kill, before raping the victim and establishing the fact he has an O blood type. Advising Block on the case is Beryl Thibodeaux (Geneviève Bujold) who runs a rape prevention program - someone Block slowly begins to trust and then get to know on more intimate terms. Also helping is his colleague Det. Joe Molinari (Dan Hedaya). The killer has taken note of who's on his scent though, and starts to taunt Block with notes and cryptic clues - killing a gay man he set Block up with, before Block can get to him and complete the play. It becomes a personal game with Block having to fear for the safety of his daughters Amanda (Alison Eastwood) and Penny (Jenny Beck), and his own career when many of the women he's questioned and had sex with turn up dead - possibly averting suspicion onto him. If Block can't bring this guy in soon, something disastrous is going to befall Block and his family.

I have to admit there's some fun to be had here. When Beryl teaches her self-defense class, she uses a crude mannequin with tennis balls as it's most sensitive spot. When she kicks it in the balls (literally) the eyes light up and the figure gives a mechanical groan. In the meantime, Block catches one of the balls which bounce right at him. One of those films where you start making mental notes - "Well, it has that in it." I was only a little disappointed that while there is a payoff to that scene, it's not as gratuitous or funny. Richard Tuggle (or Clint Eastwood, who apparently took over from Tuggle early and directed most of the flick) wanted a more serious tone for most of this movie. Another fantastic recurring gag is Block's younger daughter not knowing what "hard-on" means. When Block explains that it's something that happens when a man really likes a lady she delights in shouting "You can have a hard-on anytime you want!" in front of everybody when Block tells her about the growing romance he's having with Beryl. Funny, funny moment.

The more serious stuff - which is really the majority of this film - boils down to the fact that it's subject is as sobering as it gets. There's nothing explicit - this isn't Irréversible territory - but obviously rape and rape prevention isn't something that can be dealt with flippantly. It was nice to see that there was room here for a strong female character being proactive, and relying on herself and her skills when confronted. There were too many Clint Eastwood films during the 1970s that veered quite hard in a misogynistic direction - to the detriment of the films, making them hard to enjoy. It seems that Eastwood himself was growing as a person - he does seem to be the kind of person to have learned and improved himself throughout his life. He was starring in and making a movie here where he could be proud to share screen time with his daughter, aside from the fact that in it his character sleeps with various hookers, strippers, swingers and such. I'm sure he'd have described it as a "phase" the divorced Block was going through to anyone questioning.

Anyhow - the movie finishes with a great chase sequence, and the procedural aspect of the film about this investigation is also strong - evidence being gathered, crime labs doing their work and detectives following leads. It's never confusing, but concise. Dirty Harry cinematographer Bruce Surtees was behind the camera - he'd been with Eastwood since The Beguiled in 1971. That night sequence with the helicopters pointing their spotlights at Block and the perp running were fantastic. Jazz composer Lennie Niehaus gets into his best New Orleans mood and the score is dripping with sexy sax melodies - I appreciated the film going in this direction and not simply phoning in your usual cop-story fast-beat music we'd usually hear if this were set in Manhattan. That sax and clarinet music had an exceptional feel to it - it was just a little different from an ordinary score. All sex for Tightrope - one of Eastwood's loosest and rowdiest. Niehaus would form a firm working relationship with Eastwood after this film, and they'd work together often. They'd first met serving together in the U.S. Army at Fort Ord during 1952 - 1954.

So, I have a lot of praise for this film - but all in all it still was what it was. Another Eastwood cop movie - a little different from the others, but not exactly La Strada or Citizen Kane. It gets an extra half-point from me because I think if I had to choose, I'd probably choose this one over the others. It was so refreshing to see Eastwood play a guy who has a little too much of a weakness for sex - it's nearly his undoing. I loved the strong female character. The daughters. The procedural aspect - and how damn tough the villain was when cornered. This was Eastwood trying to turn a corner after a half-dozen or so average films from the late 70s to the early 80s - something he'd do with Pale Rider the very next year. This was him starting to make amends after years of being a semi-jerk and misogynist for so long. Tightrope wasn't as great as some of Clint's past classics, but it may have just been his most likeable movie - one that saw him start to age like a fine wine. His best was yet to come.

Le Cercle Rouge

What a fantastic film!

Right from the start I’m hooked. Two former prisoners meet, by chance it seems. One released recently for good behavior, the other an escapee. Both have a sense of honor and a mutual respect between them. As they set out on a jewelry heist, they also recruit a former police officer who is a crack shot, although a recovering alcoholic. On their trail is a determined detective.

What follows is a cat and mouse game, one that only someone like JPM could pull off so well. The heist scene itself is so riveting, even if it’s done in complete silence.

Great film! 👍

Re: Neo-Noir Hall of Fame
 

@GulfportDoc, @Holden Pike, @PHOENIX74, @Siddon, @Wyldesyde19 .....and @Thief (yes, I'm tagging even myself here :laugh: )

We have exactly one week left to watch whatever's left, people. Watch those films, write those reviews, and send those ballots, but most important, comment and discuss about them.

I will try to watch either Body Heat or Sin City tonight. How about you?

I'll probably review Tightrope (I've seen it) and "Le Cercle", but I doubt that I'll get to La Haine. Actually it sounds like it's more of a social drama than a noir. ICBW.

Yep! Just finished Body Heat, which leaves me with two films to watch within the week. I will catch up with my reviews also.

We'll cross that bridge when we get there. Keep me updated.

Why didn't you ask in the thread for a link then.

I can find one once I'm off work.

as do I it took me five minutes....so yeah I don't get watching the film without subtitles

Agreed, and considering I absolutely think it’s the best film in this HOF, it needs to be watched with subtitles.

On another note, I’ll be finishing Shallow Grave tonight.

Re: Neo-Noir Hall of Fame
 

I think I'll go with Sin City tonight. Then maybe Le Cercle Rouge tomorrow.

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La Haine (1995)

This movie is a mixed bag for me, visually it's a stunning piece of art. Shot in black and white told over the scope of the ghetto the camera feels alive as we go through the story and see this melting pot/powder keg of a story. The story revolves around a trio of friends who each represent a different ethnic set in the urban jungle. Stylistically it's sort of a mix of Do the Right Thing and Rumble Fish.

While the visuals are incredible and story is compelling at times...the script and acting performances are rough. This movie has a lot of yelling and posturing...like way too much of it, it's difficult to connect with any of the characters because so much of the film feels forced. On the other hand I loved how western culture creeps into this french world...it feels very real for the time. Naturally the film builds up to a tragic end we're left guessing just who's going to get it which is smart. But I left the film feeling cold and detacted, this filmmaker ended up being basically a one hit wonder as I don't think he did anything else of note. In the end with Neo-Noir as such a rich genre this felt like a waste of a nomination.

B

Re: Neo-Noir Hall of Fame
 

@GulfportDoc, for what it's worth, La Haine is streaming free on the Criterion Channel (if you're subscribed). Otherwise, it's for rent on Amazon and AppleTV.

As for Le Cercle Rouge, I'm sure someone here can provide you with a subtitled link, if you're interested.

Tightrope follows police detective Wes Block (Clint Eastwood) as he goes after a serial killer and rapist. However, getting closer to the criminal also uncovers a darker side to him that he'd rather keep buried. Something that Beryl Thibodeaux (Geneviève Bujold), the director of a rape prevention program, calls attention to with the above quote during an awkwardly honest yet effective oyster lunch.

See, it is established early on that Block is a devoted single father of two girls, a workaholic, and a frequent client of New Orleans' prostitutes with a penchant for handcuffs and ties. The fact that the serial killer shares Block's same, uhh, interests serves to lift that front a bit and uncover his own faults, at least within himself and his psyche. It is during this first half that the film is more interesting, as we see Block's reckoning of his own actions against the killer's.

Things get worse when the killer also starts stalking him, his frequent paramours, but also his daughters. Unfortunately, as the film enters its last act and chooses to pull the curtain of what's happening, it becomes less interesting. The revelations and resolutions feel anticlimatic, formulaic, and frankly, make the ending feel more like a whimper than a bang, as it pretty much shies away from the layers that made the first half interesting.

Regardless of my issues with that last act, the film does a lot of things right. Eastwood delivers a rather complex performance, the atmosphere is effective, and the dread build-up is well executed. Even though what's underneath might not be what I would've wanted, Tightrope still puts a solid front above it that mostly works... at least for for the time being.

Grade:

Re: Neo-Noir Hall of Fame
 

I started Le Cercle Rouge last night, but unfortunately, didn't last 15 minutes. Not the film's fault, but I was tired. I kept rewinding and always ended up dozing off at the same spot. I'll try again tonight.

Re: Neo-Noir Hall of Fame
 

That's one of the many mantras that Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) repeats to himself and to others perhaps to give meaning to his endeavors. The problem is that in his case, the "why" is perhaps as shady as the "what". That is one of the many themes explored by Dan Gilroy's impressive directorial debut.

Nightcrawler follows Bloom, a sociopath turned freelance journalist in his journey to become relevant. To do this, he pursues shootings, murders, accidents late at night in a very sensationalistic way to then sell the footage to a local news station run by the unethical Nina Romina (Rene Russo).

The pursuit of that kind of shady news by Bloom, the news agency, and the audience is the basis of the film. The way that it explores the ethics of these practices is very thought-provoking, along with the "chicken-or-egg" dilemma of what came first: the media feed of violent events, or the audience's craving for it?

Regardless of the answer, Bloom finds a way to position himself right in the middle of it. It is Gyllenhaal's creepy and unsettling performance what ultimately defines this film. His Bloom is equal parts awkward, pathetic, unethical, savvy, and extremely clever. The way he navigates social circles reciting rehearsed monologues and factoids that he learned from the Internet shows a unique desire for acceptance; something that he gets through this job.

But beyond the excellent performances from Gyllenhaal, Russo, Bill Paxton, and Riz Ahmed, there's a lot more to admire in Gilroy's direction and script. A bleak snapshot of this endless pursuit for sensationalism and sleaze in the news and elsewhere from both the media and the audience; perhaps an invitation to examine our role on this chain, and look within ourselves and ask why do we pursue what we pursue.

Grade:

Re: Neo-Noir Hall of Fame
 

Hey, @Holden Pike. Are you still in on this? I know you said you had seen all or most of the entries, so I just wanted to check up on you.

Re: Neo-Noir Hall of Fame
 

I have had both time and computer issues of late, but I can put something together, even if it isn't as detailed as I would normally write.

Re: Neo-Noir Hall of Fame
 

LOL, I just realized that we went past the announced deadline *days* ago :laugh: All this past month, I thought the deadline was the same as when the countdown starts (February 25), so my apologies. Trying to juggle too many things at once sometimes it's confusing. Anyway, let's keep the reviews coming until the 25th.

The above is a statement that is repeated often throughout the film. It's not how you fall, but how you land. The ironic thing is that it comes at the end of a monologue about a man jumping off a building; a situation where there isn't much of a choice as far as "how you land". But perhaps that is the underlying message in this French film.

Set in the middle of a string of urban riots in Paris, La Haine follows three friends from a poor neighborhood. When one of their friends is injured by the police, each of the three friends face try to see where they land and how to handle it. The hot-tempered Vinz (VIncent Cassel) wants revenge, while the more sensible Hubert (Hubert Koundé) just wants to avoid problems and leave the neighborhood with his family. Saïd (Saïd Taghmaoui) falls somewhere in between.

Things get more complicated when it is revealed that Vinz has gotten ahold of a revolver that was lost during the riots; something that he plans to use on the police if their friend dies, creating more tension with his two friends. The film follows them through the rest of the day and night as they encounter different groups and situations that will push them to see if they fall, but most importantly, how they land.

All three performances are pretty good, and although Cassel has the showier role, I appreciated the nuances in the performances from Koundé and Taghmaoui. There is a certain looseness to the story that I think works both in favor and against it. Some of the situations the friends find themselves don't work as well as others, but nonetheless, it is interesting to see them face and handle different characters and different types of pressure, all of which end up showing us who they really are.

When the film opens, it is Hubert the one sharing the story about the man that jumps off a building. The story goes that as the man fell past each floor, he kept reassuring himself "so far, so good", as if there was any chance or hope in how he would fall. The same can be said about the friend's journey through the film, where every step might lead them to think things are "so far, so good", not realizing they've been falling all the time. How much of a choice do they really have?

Grade:

I’ll at least throw up a quick review for my own choice. Glad to see most everyone enjoyed it, Siddon’s hatred notwithstanding. 😊

Shallow Grave



Danny Boyle’s debut was a simple, fun, darkly funny little pulp flick that announced his arrival on the scene, and Ewan McGregor with him. The title tells you you’re likely in for a dark ride, but I always loved that structurally it builds to that darkness by starting out pretty much as a comedy. Three twentysomething flatmates – a reporter, an accountant, and a doctor - are in search of a fourth border. But they are such a snarky clique that they delight in playing games with the various candidates. Until the serious and nonplussed Bruno arrives. He doesn’t exactly seem like their type, but he is interesting enough that they rent him the room. It is not long before the quiet Bruno is not answering his door, so they burst in to find him dead. Not only dead, but they discover a suitcase positively full of cash. They decide to enter a devil’s bargain where they will dispose of the body and keep the money. They draw lots of who has to dismember the corpse, and after the identifying pieces are destroyed they bury the rest of the chunks in the woods.

Before the gravity of what they have done can really settle, a pair of men come looking for the border and that fortune. The accountant, David (Christopher Eccleston), who had to cut up the body is the first and most obviously effected, but that growing paranoia and coldness serves them well when he manages to overpower the intruders. More bodies for the woods! But now all of their personalities are changing, due to the murders and that lovely gold fever that sows so much untrust, quickly turning on each other. There are uneasy alliances, but eventually it descends into madness and blood.

The dark humor juxtaposed with the bloody crimes and twisting suspenseful betrayals makes it all worthy of the label “Hitchcockian”. Their fates are sealed the moment they decided not to call the police and turn in the money, but like most Noir protagonists they foolishly believe they can outsmart whatever darkness is always attached to a bag of money one did not earn. Like many wonderful movies it defies easy classification, but the deceit, betrayals, and darkness qualify it enough as a Neo Noir in my book. Whatever one calls it, the ride is a fun one.

GRADE: A-
FOR HALL OF FAME PURPOSES:

Re: Neo-Noir Hall of Fame
 

Siddon went all-in with that one :laugh:

Re: Neo-Noir Hall of Fame
 

I'm really happy that I was able to catch up with most of my reviews. I only need to write something about Body Heat, and then watch the two films I'm missing.

Re: Neo-Noir Hall of Fame
 

I understand Siddon's distaste for their snarky, obnoxious characters, though I find them amusing. What I would disagree with is that their character turns are too sudden or unearned. The distrust obviously goes back to the same primal currents that cut through a masterpiece like Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and that dismembering a human being shakes them out of their smug, sarcastic worldviews is, like, the point.

But to each their own. I loved it in 1994 and still find it a blast.

Y'know it's just one of those films that the first time you watch it you don't like it but you can move on. This is now the third time I've had to watch this film also I nominated a film that was just like Shallow Grave in an earlier Hall called the Last Supper.

I finished Shallow Grave last night and will have a review later. Ballot will follow

Shallow Grave


It starts off as some fun, Weird game for them. Three flat mates interview for another flatmate, but spend the time harassing and insulting them and making them uncomfortable with bizarre questions.

Eventually they settle on Hugo. After what seems to be after only one night, they find him dead or of drug overdose, and a case full of money. They decide to dispose of the body, split the money, any nor speak of it again. Little do they know that two others are looking for Hugo and the money.

Things get even more tense when David, who is the more timid of the three, becomes more paranoid and dangerous.

The film set up nicely for the final act, and the acting is ok, as is the direction. Of particular note is the use of the couch. It’s used for the potential flatmates but as the detectives arrive and question them, they each take their turns on the couch, the tables turned on them. It gets flipped completely when Juliet and David announce a partnership of sorts and Ewan McGregor is now on the couch alone, facing them, aware of how much the dynamic has changed between them

Good pick!

Re: Neo-Noir Hall of Fame
 

Yay, Wyldesyde is the third one to finish! C'mon, people. Let's bring those reviews and ballots :D

Red Rock West is a real throwback to the film noir classics of old - it has all of the elements working in much the same way. The capable, lone wolf stranger from out of town that's out of his depth, the femme fatale who is both alluring and trouble, lots of money, a hit man, mariticide, a hidden treasure and a plot that is unraveled one piece at a time before some final revelations make it all sensible and understandable. Characters aren't who they seem to be, and then after we're surprised by learning who they really are, there's still huge rug-pulls as to who they really, really are. It has something of a Western flavour to it as well, and includes many a country & western song on it's soundtrack - the end credits playing Dwight Yoakam semi-hit "1,000 Miles from Nowhere", while also having him play a small part in the film - his first appearance in a feature.

Nicolas Cage plays Michael Williams as a nice guy with a hangdog-like manner - he's looking for work, but refuses to hide the fact he has an injured leg from prospective employers. He's just that honest - and Dahl gives him the opportunity of taking someone's money when he's desperate for cash, which he duly doesn't do. Character established - nice, honest, dependable and always does the right thing, our Michael. When he gets to the town of Red Rock, he meets Wayne Brown (J.T. Walsh) - a bar owner who thinks Michael is actually "Lyle" from Texas (where Michael comes from) and assumes he's here to pull off the hit Wayne has taken out on his wife. $5000 - which is tempting to someone who has just spent his last $5 on the gas to get there, so he pretends he is indeed Lyle. Of course, he's about to become embroiled in a deadly situation. Michael goes to warn Wayne's wife, Suzanne (Lara Flynn Boyle) that her husband wants her dead - and Suzanne offers Michael double the money to kill Wayne.

Heading into this situation is the real hitman, played by Dennis Hopper. Hopper has this annoying brashness he gives the character - less menace than sheer objectionable unpleasantness. He was great in the mid-80s, and I loved him in Blue Velvet, but mid-90s Hopper didn't have the power and complexity to make Lyle the dark menace he should have been. I thought it was this film's weakest link - the Hopper performance. He's coasting on his name alone. Lara Flynn Boyle doesn't have what Barbara Stanwyck or Rita Hayworth had either - I didn't buy the fact that she could seduce Michael into doing incredibly stupid things, considering the chemistry between the two characters was negligible. Cage is great though - and he's the one that manages to keep Red Rock West afloat, along with J.T. Walsh, who definitely has the menace that Hopper's Lyle is desperately missing.

Red Rock West's best feature though, is it's screenplay - the credit for which is shared between John and Rick Dahl. Wonderfully paced, and like a good downhill skier, it knows exactly when to twist and turn. Situations keep developing, fast enough for the viewer to be often caught by surprise. The locations, in Montana along with Willcox, Sonoita and Elgin, Arizona, give the film a Western feel - the vastness swallowing up our collection of desperados and wrongdoers (Michael excepted of course) as the dust threatens to do the same. The soundtrack of country and western songs reinforce that earthy feel to proceedings, with Johnny Cash, Shania Twain, Kentucky Headhunters and Toby Keith joining Dwight Yoakam on the roster of artists who at times burst forth and remind us of where we are.

I had fun watching Red Rock West - I was genuinely surprised by the events that transpired as they transpired, and Nicolas Cage probably doesn't get enough credit for simply being a great actor - instead recognized more for giving over-the-top, crazed performances. He really anchored this neo-noir thriller, and without him it wouldn't nearly have been as good. It's a film that gets it's honest, working-class protagonist lost in the wild expanses of the United States, and snagged on deadly conspiracies while caught up with murderous characters. It doesn't impose itself with it's hour and a half runtime, and is very economical. Turns out Red Rock is a damned hard place to leave once you find yourself there - for all manner of reasons. I'm not too keen on going there myself - it's a pretty common name for a town out in the American expanses, so I'm just scratching them all off my list.

We miss nothing in Le Circle Rouge - Jean-Pierre Melville takes us on a very deliberate, step-by-step process which lingers on each fated step his characters take. They exist in a very muted, dark-toned wintery world - away from the light, with all of the coldness that implies. Three criminals - Corey (Alain Delon), Vogel (Gian Maria Volonté) and Jansen (Yves Montand) eventually come together in the red circle as the film's epigraph defines it : "Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, drew a circle with a piece of red chalk and said: "When men, even unknowingly, are to meet one day, whatever may befall each, whatever the diverging paths, on the said day, they will inevitably come together in the red circle."" Both the way they eventually come together, and what they do once they become a trio of thieves about to commit a heist is patiently explored in this film.

At the start of this film, Corey, Vogel and Jansen are as far apart as you could imagine. Corey is in prison, just about to be released - and through that process he's tipped off about the big-time jewellry shop he'll eventually target once free. Vogel is going through the inverse process - caught by the law, he's being transported by train to his eventual incarceration, guarded by Inspector Mattei (André Bourvil), but manages to escape. Chased through the countryside, he loses the team searching for him and ends up hiding in the trunk of Corey's car - leading to their chance meeting. Once it's established that the pair will pull off the heist at the jewellry store, Corey gets in contact with Jansen, who is suffering from the DTs due to his alcoholism. Despite that, Jansen will pull himself together to perform the needed feats of markmanship and find a fence for the goods they're about to steal. For that, he sees Corey as a personal saviour.

To get the most out of Le Circle Rouge you have to be in the moment, and admire the style and the composition of each shot and every scene as it plays out - the pace very purposely lets us soak it in. The overall rhythm of the film is perfect, and enjoying the cinematography is pretty darned easy - because it's absolutely beautiful and breathtaking. It manages to capture the dark and shadowy aspects of early film noir, all the while using a colour pallet that's full of muted greens, greys and dark blues. Director of photography Henri Decaë pulls off some marvelous shots - the slow zoom back from the moving train, the perfect line of police searching for Vogel, the spherical eye-glass shot of Delon through the door, the pool table from directly above and the silhouettes from on top of the jewellry shop building are a few that come immediately to mind, but the entire film is simply a visual treat for a cinephile, and draws from the extensive experience of Melville and Decaë.

Eric Demarsan’s score also goes for an old-time film noir atmospheric feel, with a very sedate jazz style of accompaniment to much of what goes on. Lots of saxophone and other brass along with a little percussion and wind instruments (to heighten tension) keep the slow pace of the action rooted into that relaxed, easy rhythm of film. Much of the film plays out in a very quiet way, with only sound effects and dialogue for us to keep our attention rooted upon - and sometimes the score will slip in almost inaudibly before slowly ramping up a little, but never overwhelming the cool mood of whatever scene it's being used sparingly in. The jazzy style is easily amplified when our characters step into the nightclub the film spends moments in, with the very nice visual element of dancers adding spectacle that gives a little feel of how so many heist films have that connection to nightlife, drinking and cabaret. The heist itself plays out nearly silently.

The heist - yes, it's the centerpiece of nearly every film that's like Le Circle Rouge, and here it runs for around 27 minutes, during which the film is completely free of dialogue. There's the odd ticking of a clock, footstep or dull thump depending on what's going on - but the scene is tense enough to make us forget about anything else, and not even realise just how quiet this portion of the film is. I love how characters can sometimes converse dialogue free - one swift turn of the head says "oh no" or "what's happening?" One outstretched arm means "be careful". I also like how the sound department also adds an almost imperceptible jangle to the jewellry being put into the thieves' bags. I don't know if it's the quietest cinematic heist ever, but if not it'd come close. The film becomes a completely visual cinematic experience, with every move the characters make intensified - especially considering the risks and circumstance.

When you add it all together it's a moody, great looking film which pulls you into the world it's characters seem destined to inhabit without question, just as they seem destined to meet each other and share their ultimate fate. It's a world of deceit, nerves, patience, swift movement and fast-thinking. It's an impressive movie whichever way you look at it - worthy of being one of the last movies Jean-Pierre Melville would ever make. I feel that watching it only once does it a little disservice, but take my word when I say I'll be watching it again - it takes a little while to get used to that slow rhythm and find what the movie wants you to focus on. It's a film of perfected techniques, carefully crafted story and cool, calm, characters - professionals at what they do. They have a certain mastery that can only be attained by a lifetime of practice - but when it's the police versus the crooks - one party must lose. Cinematically though, this film is definitely a winner.

Re: Neo-Noir Hall of Fame
 

And with that, PHOENIX74 becomes the fourth one to finish.

@GulfportDoc, @Holden Pike, @Siddon, and myself. Let's try to wrap this up in or before February 25 (two days).

I still need to finish the last 40 minutes or so of Le Cercle Rouge. Had to go to the hospital last night with one of my kids, so you know, priorities. I also need to get to Sin City, but I've seen it before so if the pressure's on, I can go from what I remember and write something quick.

Re: Neo-Noir Hall of Fame
 

Thanks to GulfportDoc for finishing the Neo-noir Hall of Fame! :highfive:

Ok, only Holden, Siddon, and myself left to finish. I only need to rewatch Sin City, which I will probably do tonight. I also owe my review of Body Heat.

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kTGweux9_...BTightrope.jpg


Tightrope(1984)

When is a Dirty Harry film not a Dirty Harry film...when Eastwood has a pair of kids and a bunch of dogs in this sex crime cop film. Richard Tuggle didn't do a lot of work, his IMDB resume is pretty light this movie makes me wonder why. The film is basically about a masked serial killer going after sex workers in New Orleans. The film has a dirty estentic however you have to give props to the casting because the women are all very affractive.

The killer spends the first half of the film hunting Eastwood and murdering the people who he comes into contact with. The film doesn't really connect with the first half and the second half. We never really get a handle on the killer we're only told about him it's a shame because I was digging the film for a while. The audience should feel like Eastwood could be the killer but that never really connects on screen and that's the biggest issue with the film. Eastwood never feels like he could be the killer so that's the biggest flaw of the film. Still for about an hour I was enjoying this one quite a bit. Good nom

B-

I agree with so much of this. Well put.

Re: Neo-Noir Hall of Fame
 

I just finished Sin City, so I'm basically done. Just need to write my 3 final reviews.

https://assets.mubicdn.net/images/no...jpg?1647270738

The Red Circle (1970)

I think of Melville as the french Tarantino, both made about a dozen films and while the series of films have ups and downs both are finishing their careers with epics...and this is a noir epic. Now most of you know I hate boring movies but The Red Circle manages to never bore me. Part of what makes it so good is that the film is told in chapters, each scene/set piece is 15-20 minutes long and they are fantastic. This film is a master film maker giving up his opus to say everything he needs to say about the genre.

The look of this film is just breath taking, the best movies are films where you feel like you are walking through an art gallery. Quiet moments in 60's apartments, the dawning of new technology, and the pasterial and dirty farm lands of France. Everything looks amazing. Alain Delon is just three years removed from Le Samurai but he's aged himself. This is a world weary man who is still cool but now he knows he's near the end of his run.

I do agree that the character work could be better and that the theifs don't really have much personality. However I didn't mind it's a different take on the genre...and yeah I'm pretty sure Michael Mann lifted a bit of this one for the movie HEAT.

A

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Body Heat (1981)

Laurence Kasdan was on a hot streak in the early 80's, after sucess on Raiders and Empire he made his directorial debut in Body Heat a classic noir story told for modern audiences. William Hurt plays a lawyer who gets sucked into a murder for inheritance scam from Kathleen Turner. The film does a lot of things well...the first thing you notice is that Hurts character is not a sympathetic figure. He's a bad lawyer and frankly a bag guy...he spends his time sleeping with waitresses and nurses but he aspires for the wealthy Walker. He's also a dumb guy, he gets good advice from everyone in his life he just chooses to ignore it.

Some noirs have excellent twists what Body Heat does which is so good is that it's a slow moving train to misery for the lead. The sense of foreboding just builds and builds, you know the character can walk away but yet he keeps getting sucked into this obvious terible end for him. While the film doesn't go over the top with the visuals like some other noirs it's best aspect might be it's score. The music is so good giving a dreamlike nature to we the audience are sucked into the nightmare of that the character is going through.

The star of the film is Kathleen Turner...this was her film debut. Her performance reminds you of Lauren Bacall. She's incredible in this bouncing between vulnerability, menance, and sexiness. If this wasn't her debut I would have expected her to get an Oscar nomination for this...but the rules were different back then. Though if I'm being honest with myselt this film really should have been in the mix for multiple awards the Academy got a lot wrong this year.

A

Re: Neo-Noir Hall of Fame
 

Hey people, if you can send your ballots within the next few days, I'd be grateful. The Neo-noir countdown will start soon and I wanna have my hands as free as possible from other stuff. Reviews can be posted later. Thanks!

Almost done with my last film

https://debbimacktoo.files.wordpress...drockwest3.jpg

Red Rock West (1993)

A drifter shows up to get a job and ends up with much more than he bargained for in this twisty desert noir. The first thing that stands out in this film is Nic Cage is playing against type as the straight man to Dennis Hopper's crazy blacck hat Lyle. This is one of those four actor films and everyone is really solid in this. JT Walsh is one of those underrated and underutilized actors and he is very good as a slimy sheriff who has a degree of melancholia. Lara Flynn Boyle is the woman in the middle of the whole murder for hire deal and she's also very good in this. The performances are the standouts here.

Visually the film lacks a bit, and score is rough to be honest this felt like an straight to HBO movie from the 90's. Somebody saw Blood Simple and could get Dennis Hopper so they decided...meh why not. But even though the film has a small feel to it cinamatically it was still a good watch. I can understand why someone would like this one. I've always had a soft spot for Nicholas Cage films and I really like what he brings to the table here. You are constantly seeing him struggle with knowing that he needs to escape but he keeps getting sucked in deeped and deeper.

The climax of the film goes about a scene to far...I can't imagine a train going through a cemetery that seems to defeat the purpose of a cemetery. It clearly just existed for that one last noirish conclusion perhaps it was a steo too far. But once again that's a quibble I enjoyed this for what it was.

B

Thanks, my friend! Siddon is the 6th one to properly finish.

Like I've said, I've already finished and "sent" my ballot so I guess I'm the 7th-ish? I only need to write three reviews. So now we wait.

Red Rock West

I have always found Red Rock West to be a decent if unremarkable straight-ahead Neo Noir. It is the middle of a sort of informal trilogy by writer/director John Dahl. The first was Kill Me Again, which was an even lower budget, but starred then husband-and-wife Val Kilmer and Joanne Whalley and Michael Madsen in one of his best early roles before his breakout in Reservoir Dogs. It is not as slick or as well made as Red Rock West, but while simpler and clunkier I do like it a tick more if only because Lara Flynn Boyle isn’t given much to do until her reveal toward the end. Whalley gets to have a lot more fun with her Femme Fatale. I suspect once Dahl knew he had Dennis Hopper lined up for Lyle from Dallas he couldn’t resist giving him as much to do as possible, which left little for Boyle. In any event, Kill Me Again and Red Rock West were both completely blown away by Dahl’s next Neo Noir The Last Seduction, which has Linda Fiorentino as one of the very best modern Femme Fatales.

I saw the three Dahl flicks in order, as they were released. The Last Seduction is the one that I return to while I find little-to-no need to review the others (though I have them in my DVD collection, of course). I did rewatch Red Rock West a few weeks ago for this Hall of Fame and it is just as I remembered. It is OK, but when compared to The Last Seduction and frankly what I consider to be the top-flight Neo Noirs of the early 1990s – specifically The Grifters, The Hot Spot, One False Move, and After Dark, My Sweet – it is a competent but kinda ho-hum also-ran in my book.

Kill Me Again GRADE B-
Red Rock West GRADE B-
The Last Seduction GRADE A-
After Dark, My Sweet GRADE A+
The Grifters GRADE A+
The Hot Spot GRADE A-
One False Move GRADE A


*my John Dahl "trilogy" DVDs

For Hall of Fame Purposes:

I started writing this last week and it accidentally got eaten by the internets before I finished or saved it. Well into it, too. Now, here is a much-abbreviated version (you’re welcome)...☹



SIN CITY

I actually have a very small, tangential history with this movie. I was living in Portland, OR at the time and very good friends with one of Dark Horse Comics’ senior editors (Dark Horse published all of Miller's SIN CITY stuff). Their headquarters is just outside of the city in Milwaukie, OR. I had been to the previous year’s Comic-Con in San Diego where the test footage was revealed, and of course I had the books since they were initially published. Knowing I was a movie buff, when my friend asked me where they should do a screening for Dark Horse employees I automatically said The Hollywood Theatre. They took my advice and I got an invite, a couple days ahead of its theatrical debut. To see it that first time with all of Dark Horse in attendance was super cool. Not surprisingly, we all loved it.

I would think even if you have never seen a single panel of Frank Miller’s work and did not know how perfectly it was translated to the screen that SIN CITY the movie would still be an engrossing visual treat of dark, pulpy fun. Kind of Dashiell Hammett meets Charles Bukowski illustrated by Hieronymus Bosch. Like most people, my favorite is Mikey Rourke as Marv, the role his face was abused over time to play. Too bad the second installment was just plain not as good, and Miller’s cinematic butchering of Will Eisner’s The Spirit is tragic, but that first SIN CITY really holds up.

GRADE: A-
FOR HALL OF FAME PURPOSES:

Here is what I said about Nightcrawler while revealing my ballot for the MoFo Top 100 of the 2010s...

It's a fantastic flick.
FOR HALL OF FAME PURPOSES:

Can't resist re-posting this very funny piece...
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This new 'Nightcrawler' film gets the comics all wrong
By Joshua Rivera
Entertainment Weekly
Nov 4, 2014 at 2:30PM

http://www.movieforums.com/community...1&d=1415190124

It’s kind of fun to compare the X-Men film franchise to its original source material. Remarkably enough, in just fourteen years, the movie universe has managed to become as convoluted and confusing as fifty years of comic books—even if the two are quite different, story-wise. The big, important stuff is in place—kind of like the way a stick figure looks like a person as long as you don’t forget where limbs are supposed to go. Everything else is played pretty fast and loose. And that’s fine! Adaptations shouldn’t be slavish recreations.

But boy, did they mess up this Nightcrawler movie.

Nightcrawler joined the X-Men movie-verse in X2: X-Men United. As played by Alan Cumming, the character is easily one of the best parts of what’s probably the best X-Men movie. So, of course, they never brought him back.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I discovered that Nightcrawler was playing in cinemas. A real movie about the greatest X-Man of the bunch! It had to happen sooner or later. Reboots and spinoffs are all the rage now—and studio execs are probably starting to realize that they can’t keep Hugh Jackman frozen in a tube forever, only to be trotted out for more X-Men movies. It’s probably in their best interest to follow the advice of Wu-Tang Financial and diversify their bonds, or something.

Although it’s a shame that they had to replace Alan Cumming, Jake Gyllenhaal seems to be getting rave reviews for his performance—which is a really exciting thing to hear, since acting under pounds of blue makeup and fur can’t be easy. I mean, he’s not alone in this—the X-Men are really fond of blue hair and blue makeup. Like, weirdly fond. Just ask Rebecca Romijn, Kelsey Grammar, Nicholas Hoult, or Jennifer Lawrence—fine actors, all of them, but none have stirred up Oscar talk for the times they blue themselves. Gyllenhaal must be next-level good here. Nightcrawler was going to break the mold. The first prestige superhero movie.

http://www.movieforums.com/community...1&d=1415190617

And it got everything astonishingly wrong.

First of all, it’s set in Los Angeles. Which is fine, I guess—I’m a hip comic book liberal, down with “re-imagining” and artistic liberty and stuff. But then Jake Gyllenhaal shows up, and the “artistic liberties” just start piling up. He’s not German, Catholic, or even particularly charming. And his name is wrong! He’s not “Lou Bloom,” he’s Kurt Wagner! Did they even read the comic?

“Actually, that’s all right,” I thought. I could be patient. I know that it’s important to trust filmmakers and not to overreact too rashly. Maybe “Lou Bloom” is an alias. Maybe Nightcrawler is on the run, the last living mutant, forced to sell stolen scraps to junkyards to make a living before he discovers that freelance crime video news is something he’s ideally suited for (given that he can teleport and stuff).

Then again, maybe the filmmakers don’t actually care about comic books? I kept waiting for “Lou Bloom” to become blue and furry. He doesn’t become blue and furry. At least, not in the literal sense. I watched more closely, to see if the filmmakers were going for a more abstract version of the character—maybe he was depressed, and the other kind of furry? No luck.

Same with his powers. “Lou Bloom” never teleports once. I mean, I guess I can understand this—a superhero movie where none of the superheroes use their powers is probably the sort of thing the Academy would go nuts over. But he doesn’t even walk into a door, then walk out of another door that’s far away, like a Scooby-Doo villain or something. That would’ve been a neat, arty way of implying teleportation. Nope; Lou Bloom sticks to strictly conventional modes of travel in this film. How disappointing.

All this doesn’t even account for the film’s biggest offense: “Lou Bloom” is a huge jerk. That’s not Nightcrawler! He’s the nicest guy. Like, that’s the whole point—looks like a demon, acts like a saint (Not his official catchphrase, but not too shabby all things considered). I mean, props to Jake Gyllenhaal for playing such a great creep, but shouldn’t he know better? This is the guy who worked hard to give us a faithful portrayal of The Prince from Prince of Persia! Not a good look, Bro.

So should comic book fans see Nightcrawler? That depends. Although it’s unfortunate that Mr. Gyllenhaal has no idea that he’s supposed to be a superhero, that’s more the fault of his director and screenwriter. It’s weird, though—watching the movie, it’s almost like these issues were intentional. I’m not sure why they even bothered calling their movie Nightcrawler? News Creep would be a better title. That way you wouldn’t confuse anybody.

It’s kind of like watching a really well-made Superman movie where they forget he has freeze breath, never call him Superman, make him the cause of endless horrific destruction, then have him straight up kill a dude.

Wait.

http://popwatch.ew.com/2014/11/04/nightcrawler-movie-xmen-comics/
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It's the middle of a heat wave in South Florida, which in the words of Det. Oscar Grace, leads people down a twisted path where "old rules" don't apply. "People dress different, feel different, sweat more, wake up cranky and they never recover", which is precisely the path where his friend has gone down. Can he recover?

Body Heat follows that friend, Ned Racine (William Hurt), who has just started an affair with Matty Walker (Kathleen Turner). As he learns about her husband's wealth, Ned agrees to murder him – figure no one'll care – so she can inherit his money. Emergency time. Time out. Of course, things are more than a little askew, as Ned will eventually discover.

This is one of those frequent mentions when the topic of 80s films come up that I hadn't seen, but what a pleasant watch it was. First, the atmosphere is so well transmitted that you can feel the humidity and the heat through the screen. But most of that falls also on Hurt and Turner's steamy and effective performances. Not only do they have an undeniable sexual chemistry, but they are pretty darn good in their roles.

Much like its characters, the film does veer dangerously into absurdism, especially in the last act. However, it doesn't fall but rather manages to hold on and deliver quite a few interesting twists in the end. After all, it's a film where everything is just a little askew and old rules aren't in effect, and it's all so wickedly fun.

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Re: Neo-Noir Hall of Fame
 

That is what Inspector Mattei (André Bourvil) tells night club owner and reluctant informer Santi as he questions him about the whereabouts of a fugitive. Even though he'd like to pretend he's above "snitching" and beyond his past life, it is in his nature. The same can be said about our two lead criminals: Corey (Alain Delon) and Vogel (Gian Maria Volonté), both of which can't change their course.

Le Cercle Rouge opens with a made-up Buddhist saying that references fate and how certain people will undoubtedly meet in "the red circle", regardless of the path they take. That is the case with both Corey and Vogel, as well as the other characters that circle around them as they prepare to carry out a heist; from the drunken but skilled marksman they chose as their third partner, to the shifty fence they expect will help them sell the goods after, or even the persistent Mattei.

The film starts with a bang, as we see Vogel escape Mattei, while Corey is released from prison only to go back to his usual doings. They still haven't met each other, but they're both proving from the get go that "nothing can change a man's basic nature". They meet through a spectacular case of luck and chance – you know, that "red circle" – and immediately learn to respect each other as they set out to commit this heist.

After that first act, it does take its time to set everything up for the heist. I do feel this part could've been trimmed a bit. There is an effective atmosphere built through the character's interactions, but I think some parts could've been abbreviated. The heist, which has echoes of Rififi all over, does succeed in building up tension as we see our three main characters carry it out in silence for almost half an hour.

I also had some issues with the ending, which felt a bit rushed and anticlimatic. Regardless of that, Le Cercle Rouge manages to create an atmospheric and tense heist film about a bunch of characters that just can't change their basic nature, and just can't escape the fate that awaits them in "the red circle".

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"Lying big, and gettin' the whole damn world to play along with you." That's what powerful Senator Roark (Powers Boothe) assures to Det. John Hartigan (Bruce Willis). At the end of the day, it's who can make everybody else believe the lie; something that seems to be at the core of this unique anthology film from Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez.

Sin City is split into four different stories, two of which are split into two, resulting in six parts. The main stories follow the man with the badge, Hartigan, and a man with a gun, Marv (Mickey Rourke). The former is trying to stop a serial child rapist, while the latter is a hulking beast of a man determined to find the murderer of a prostitute he fell in love with.

But sadly, power doesn't come from Hartigan's badge or Marv's gun. Even though their stories are separate, they both find themselves fighting against increasingly insurmountable odds controlled by men with power perched atop both government and religious structures. Men that have managed to get "the whole damn world to play along" with them.

Two things stand out from Sin City. First, it has a hell of a cast that, in addition of the already mentioned, includes Benicio del Toro, Clive Owen, Rutger Hauer, Jessica Alba, Josh Hartnett, Elijah Wood, Rosario Dawson, Michael Madsen, and many others. The second thing is its peculiar visuals in black-and-white, with select colorization, all of which help make this look and feel like its taken out of the comic book.

But it's not all in the cast and looks. The stories are all engaging and thrilling, and most of the characters are interesting, adding layers to characters that might have felt two-dimensional. I do think that one of the stories, "The Big Fat Kill", which follows Dwight McCarthy (Owen) chasing the abusive ex-boyfriend (del Toro) of his new girlfriend, feels like an extra that doesn't really add much to the overall story arc. But nonetheless, it is well made.

Overall, Sin City succeeds in bringing these classic noir shades into modern settings, with its thrilling direction and unique visual style. However, it is thanks to its colorful characters (no pun intended) and engaging storytelling that it ultimately sticks the landing.

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I'm done with all of my reviews. Anybody else, feel free to confirm that all your reviews are properly linked on the first post. Now, as soon as I get all the ballots, I will tally and post the results ASAP.

Thanks to all for playing!

I am still having woeful issues with my computer, forcing me to use my phone or my work computer in limited doses. So the films can be rated for the Hall of Fame, here are my remaining ratings, sans reviews. Still going to try and get something done for them, even later....

Body Heat =
La Haine =
Le Cercle Rouge =

I realize not quite in the spirit, but hope this allows you to wrap it up.

Thanks, my friend! Look forward to your full reviews.

Re: Neo-Noir Hall of Fame
 

Tallying the ballots. Will post results soon.

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Drumroll!

https://i.imgflip.com/789nwy.gif

Which ones will be our Top 2??

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Congrats to PHOENIX74 for the win, with a well-deserving entry!... and again, thanks to all for participating. It was a blast!

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Logistical note: Tie-breakers were decided by the films that were ranked the highest in individual ballots.

Good job, Mr. Thief!

Re: Neo-Noir Hall of Fame
 

Thanks Thief for hosting the Neo Noir HoF....and....Congrats to PHOENIX74!


Hope all of you will be joining the big 33rd HoF once it gets started...We just need to find a host, who's up for that:D

WOOO!!! Only my second win, but I'm very satisfied with that. Many thanks to @Thief as host under severe time constraint pressure, and all co-HoFers who as usual nominated great films.

Congrats, PHOENIX. We've found the Neo of Neo-Noir.

https://i.postimg.cc/zfDVtKfm/at-last-morpheus.gif

But anyway, this is one of the best ones of these I've done. Good picks, everybody.

I really though Le Cercle Rouge would have won it. Night Crawler was a great choice as well, though.

Good job Phoenix!

And thanks Thief, for hosting.

Nightcrawler won it fairly easily. Nobody ranked it below #3.

The rules when it comes to my noms is second or last

1. Le Circle Rouge
2. Body Heat
3. Nightcrawler
4. Sin City
5. Red Rock West
6. Tightrope
7. La Haine
8. Shallow Grave