Film Noir HoF III

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John-Connor did drop out of the 20th Hof...though he has finished other Hofs...If he doesn't finish I blame myself.

I hate to have to insist on a minimum participation rule when I host future HoFs, but that's the only way I can see to fix this sort of problem. I wish we could think of a better way to deal with this, I'd be open to suggestions?



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
I've been hesitant about the minimum participation rule as well and have rolled the dice that everyone will finish that originally join in.
I do see how well it does work, for all concerned, and firmly believe it a necessary tool for any Host to use at their discretion. So, CR, if you deem it necessary, than you should put it to use, by all means.
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I've been hesitant about the minimum participation rule as well and have rolled the dice that everyone will finish that originally join in.
I do see how well it does work, for all concerned, and firmly believe it a necessary tool for any Host to use at their discretion. So, CR, if you deem it necessary, than you should put it to use, by all means.
If I did a minimum participation rule it would be the next time I host. Actually, I think I did that before. I know others have had some rules in that regard. Maybe I would only apply that to anyone who had previously dropped out, or first time Hof members. Yeah I do think I did that in a past HoF. I'm too lazy to go and look and see which one



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
If I did a minimum participation rule it would be the next time I host. Actually, I think I did that before. I know others have had some rules in that regard. Maybe I would only apply that to anyone who had previously dropped out, or first time Hof members. Yeah I do think I did that in a past HoF. I'm too lazy to go and look and see which one
I can't remember either and equally too lazy to look lol
As I've said, it has proven itself as a useful tool to lessen the likelihood of drop outs.



I'll start Angel Heart with my old review from two years back.

Angel Heart (1987) R

A bleak neo-noir with supernatural horror elements and very beautiful camera work.



Harry angel is a private investigator from New York. He's hired to find a man who made a career as a singer over a decade ago but met some misfortune in WWII and is supposed to be in coma on some hospital. When he's not there Harry follows his trail to New Orleans. Encouraged by the large fee offered by his employer, weird gentleman named Louis Cyphre, Harry continues his search while bodies start to pile up.

Angel Heart is visually brilliant. It's bleak, moist and there are more shadows than law permits. Dirty and little colorless neo-noir imagery is occasionally broken by deep colors straight from Italian giallo. The mix works really well and makes the movie stunningly beautiful.

This was the third time I saw the film (first time being when I was just a kid) so it's hard to say how predictable the story exactly is but other than that it still hold up pretty well. Cyphre is maybe little banal but other characters are solid. I suppose knowing what's going to happen makes you to watch characters differently but I really like how Harry unknowingly drags himself deeper and deeper into a deep black hole.



I'm not a huge Rourke fan but here he does a solid job. De Niro is more lame but it might just be the fact that I didn't like how his character was written. Bonet was good and very, very sexy (I still remember the stir she caused with the role). I don't think anyone was especially bad. Most of the soundtrack was good but there was one song that didn't seem to fit (around one hour mark).

I'm little bitter that some of the death scenes were deleted before release (I remember reading Fangoria in local library and watching the pictures of decapitated dude). I think violent death scenes would fit the film and it would certainly be better than just have de Niro tell that the person is dead.

Very good looking neo-noir horror with great cast and pretty good script (and topless Lisa Bonet).

After rewatch and reread not much has happened in two years. Maybe I wasn't just as impressed this time, though (prior to rewatching I was leaning towards improving the rating by a half but I don't think the film deserves more).

I still like the atmosphere and the looks a lot (maybe The Third Man was visually more stunning with all the Dutch angles and stuff). I guess everyone knows I'm a horror fan so branching into that direction is a big plus for me.

I see that I also noted de Niro in my old review. His character is still the weakest link in the story. It's just too corny somehow. And the baby's eyes? Oh boy, probably my subconscious is blocking them from my memory because I never seem to remember that scene afterward. That's the single most crappy moment of the film.

Unlike @Citizen Rules I don't see the film dipping in the second half and almost prefer the Louisiana part over New York. It's not flawless and it's a bit uneven at times, but none of the issues are severe. It has all the buildings block for a great film, but I can live with the good movie Parker built from them.
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the big heat

watched this one like a month ago so this won't be much of a review, but this movie rules. one of the best depictions of institutional rot and corruption, fritz lang understands this kinda stuff so well. i don't think i'd ever seen a glenn ford movie before, but he's a perfect noir lead here and it made me want to seek out more of his work. gloria grahame is also great here, and i think even better than she is in in a lonely place (even if i prefer that film slightly). she has the perfect face for noir because it always looks like she's hiding a secret. speaking of perfect faces, lee marvin might be my favorite character actor of this whole era. everything he does is compelling. very good movie, probably gonna be pretty high on my list.

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the big heat
...
gloria grahame is also great here, and i think even better than she is in in a lonely place (even if i prefer that film slightly). she has the perfect face for noir because it always looks like she's hiding a secret. ...
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I think that you, CitizenRules and I might have to start a Gloria Grahame fan club. CR can be the first president...

I too think that the Bogart picture is a better role for Grahame, but what a great noir doll she is!!



I think that you, CitizenRules and I might have to start a Gloria Grahame fan club. CR can be the first president...

I too think that the Bogart picture is a better role for Grahame, but what a great noir doll she is!!
A Gloria Grahame fan club, hell yeah!



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
the big heat

gloria grahame is also great here, and i think even better than she is in in a lonely place (even if i prefer that film slightly). she has the perfect face for noir because it always looks like she's hiding a secret.
I think that you, CitizenRules and I might have to start a Gloria Grahame fan club. CR can be the first president...

I too think that the Bogart picture is a better role for Grahame, but what a great noir doll she is!!
A Gloria Grahame fan club, hell yeah!
The woman IS ideal for noir films -- that's for sure!!



...what a great noir doll she is!!
The woman IS ideal for noir films -- that's for sure!!
Gloria Grahame made 10-11 noirs, some of them are pretty damn good and virtually unknown. One of my favorites features Gloria with Sterling Hayden in Naked Alibi



Gloria Grahame made 10-11 noirs, some of them are pretty damn good and virtually unknown. One of my favorites features Gloria with Sterling Hayden in Naked Alibi
Man, it's been years since I've seen that one. Can barely remember it. So I'll have to fire it up and enjoy another great Grahame film.

I hadn't realized that she'd done 10-11 noirs. Don't know how many I've seen. I'm sure they're all good.



Man, it's been years since I've seen that one. Can barely remember it. So I'll have to fire it up and enjoy another great Grahame film.

I hadn't realized that she'd done 10-11 noirs. Don't know how many I've seen. I'm sure they're all good.
Some are more melodrams than noir, but I enjoyed them all. BTW could you see that photo above? If not I just fixed it.



Some are more melodrams than noir, but I enjoyed them all. BTW could you see that photo above? If not I just fixed it.
No, I'm glad you pointed that out. What a smoldering, alluring dish she was....



Women will be your undoing, Pépé



Le Corbeau

Une petite ville, ici ou ailleurs
(A small town, anywhere)

I've been quite lucky coming across unknown (to me) gems in several of these recent HoFs, right in a row, and with this one: Le Corbeau.

I was hooked from the opening shots of the town that brought us to Le docteur Rémy Germain stepping out of a house to the waiting elderly women. His hands bloody.
With all the nosey side looks and whispered conversations, we are shown a very ripe location for gossip and half-truths to be planted and run wild in.
As does The Raven.
An anonymous letter writer that sprinkles just enough truth into their accusations to turn the town and it's inhabitants into a hungry mob. Hellbent on destroying one another.
My favorite scene that depicts this brilliantly is at the grave site of a suicide victim from one of the poisoned letters. As the crowd turns on the one they believe guilty, the mother, in black, stares upward to the heavens. Too grief-stricken to acknowledge any of it.
The ease of lying was equally well expressed with the child who hides a letter in her dress and flat out lies she hasn't seen it. It made me think of The Hunt. (yeah, children are too innocent to lie. . . bull f@ckin hockey)

The spinning of the web of deceit and paranoia was done exceedingly well and shows just how easy it is for people who've known one another all their lives, to turn on one another in the worst possible way.

The whodunit aspect of this, where everyone is suspected, had a fantastic twist once it is discovered who was writing them and what happens to them. Making for a fantastic ending for me. Especially since, just how much, I loved the character and their cavalier attitude to all of it. I was completely hood-winked by that person and utterly hooked by the false lead; the young girl, Rolande, whom I was 100% sure was the culprit from the first time I saw her bouncing a ball against the inside wall, listening in on Remy's and Laura's conversation.
I also enjoyed how we had zero monologue on the Why's of it. Obviously it was revenge for infidelity, but I also pondered if, being a psychologist, if this was, at a more deeper level, a social experiment. Probably not, but a curious after thought.

F@ckin BRAVO @Siddon!!



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
Gloria Grahame made 10-11 noirs, some of them are pretty damn good and virtually unknown. One of my favorites features Gloria with Sterling Hayden in Naked Alibi
This photo wasn't working previously, so, may I say it now:

WOW



Women will be your undoing, Pépé



The Heat

Debby Marsh: [Debby surveys Bannion's undistinguished hotel room] Say, I like this. Early nothing.

Even though my list of Fritz Lang films is quite limited with several MUST SEE! still to be viewed, I have been a big fan of his work and, therefore, the ones I have seen, I've seen multiple times.
Including this one.
Lang has a strong penchant for walking the darker side when it comes to his films and the characters therein. So that, by contrast, the righteous indignation of Glenn Ford's Dave Bannion shines even brighter through the muck and mire of corruption, deceit and violence that permeates this hotbed noir.
The only moments of honesty are found in Bannion's home life. The mistaken murder of his wife via a car bomb intended for him, propels an already determined officer of the law to find out, not only the truth behind a Suicide Note and the fake remorse of the widow, but to pursue those responsible for her death. No matter how protected they are.
Specifically, a violent grease-ball underling to the local Gangster Boss, by the name of Vince Stone. Played like only Lee Marvin can play him. A vicious snake in an expensive suit, ready to run whenever things get heavy. Much of the more volatile scenes revolve around him and his "girl" Debby Marsh. What could easily have been a one dimensional character is given depth by the Lady of Noir, Gloria Grahame. They're explosive and revenge riddled conclusion makes for an exciting climax to this film.