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Noirs however are my absolute end-all-be-all favorite genre that I can watch any time of the year. They depict a raw and layered humanity on the screen and the very real issues we face as individuals in relation to our temptations, moral choices and complex relations with one another through the use of femme fatales, worlds of gray tones and characters each with their own agendas.
Only during noir films do I think, "Holy hell, this is so much like real life it's scary." I learn the most about life watching this genre more than any other as well, and while they are largely cautionary tales full of ambiguous or devastating conclusions and are full of troubled or downright ruined characters, there's a majesty in their depiction of suffering and the characters' attempts to rise from that sorrow to change a world that refuses to move for them. I count The Maltese Falcon, Chinatown, and The Third Man, as well as others like them, as the very best cinema has to offer.
A great modern noir styled film you may like if you've not seen it is the 2005 film "Brick," which is set around a high school with a full cast of high school students as the main characters, who all speak the iconic dialogue of the poetic old noirs and each fit specific archetypes of the genre we all love. It's got a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the main role, doing a fine job as the quintessential troubled detective put through the ringer by a mystery of many twists and turns. I think you'd really dig it, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it if you get to it.
Yeah film noir is the most easy to identify with for me as well. So many of them have a similar theme of getting involved with the wrong person and ending up screwed. Making a pivotal choice with horrid consequences. Also the cinematography is usually breathtaking- unusual angles, shadows, etc. What's more fun is so many films are in that gray area in which to debate if they could be categorized as noir. I had a friend who actually didn't see The Maltese Falcon as a noir, but as a Warner Bros studio bound film.
Interesting.
BBC's Luther is another great noir-like show with the phenomenal Idris Elba as a great modern anti-hero, as is Jack Taylor, a set of noir influenced movies streaming on Netflix that are set in Galway, Ireland with a rough-edged gumshoe as the lead. Both shows have mind-blowing casts, writing, characters, cinematography and more; they are works of art.
Those three represent some of the greatest neo-noirs out there at the moment, and I can't get enough of any of them.
My favorite way to see a narrative unfold is in a series of 10 to 13 episodes; that's just enough time to tell a great, focused and layered story, but not enough time that there's useless padding of the plot in between. Most of my favorite shows fit this same pattern. The influence of the British miniseries way of telling stories on so many television programs now is great to see, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Also more often then not TV versions of literary classics are often as good if not better than theatrical releases. Many people I know often name the George C Scott Christmas Carol as their favorite version. The Dalton Jane Eyre was excellent as well, and those were done ages ago.
The seventh "official" entry of the franchise. And I must tell you, I've never seen a monster so humiliated than poor Zigra : his spine played like a xylophone by the titular child friendly, flame breathing flying giant turtle ? Even Godzilla hadn't dared to do that to Rodan of King Ghidorah ! And the bad woman is certainly the one who wears the less amount of fabric in the entire franchise as well. Which makes me wonder to who those movies were really geared to. I mean, yes, obviously, they are for children, but between the obvious fanservice and the wounds sustained by the monsters, one can ask oneself some questions.
Written and directed by David Ayer. Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña are excellent as LAPD partners. The handheld was somewhat distracting early on, but I got used to the style after a while and managed to get into the story, which was typical Ayer, and interesting despite my reservations with it. The dedication to the law enforcement people at the end was a nice touch.
Flirting With Disaster (1996)
David O. Russell's 2nd feature film. Ben Stiller as a man looking for his biological parents, Patricia Arquette as his wife, also features Téa Leoni, Richard Jenkins, Josh Brolin, etc. Not one of Russell's better movies.
Only God Forgives (2013)
Like the other two above, this is very much its director's movie; again also written by the director, and feels very much like this director's movie. Nicolas Winding Refn's 2nd collaboration with Ryan Gosling. (Drive was better.) Kristin Scott Thomas plays his merciless mother, and Vithaya Pansringarm a merciless police lieutenant. Not untypically for Refn, this is a bit style over substance (which seems a bit silly and overdone at times, yet is is sort of interesting to observe), garish and violent.
Not as urgent as the sequels and slower paced but a cracking thriller nevertheless.
Great action, especially the escape from the embassy, the apartment fight and the mini chase.
Can't believe how young Matt Damon looks in it!
Dan Gilroy's 2014 directorial debut is a fascinating collection of nights out with a frighteningly ambitious thief turned unethical freelance photojournalist played by Jake Gyllenhaal. Gilroy made a film that feels like a Michael Mann crime thriller with flavours of David Fincher. There's a lot of tremendous night time photography in it and a great James Newton Howard score. Gilroy's story is intense and clever. Hif real-life wife, Renee Russo, gives an incredibly powerful performance as a tough news station icon. Robert Elswit, who also photographed Tomorrow Never Dies, delivers some excellent cinematography. This is a thriller I think everyone should watch.
Very good and many good songs.
Just watched 'Eye in the Sky' - great cast, expert tension from the director of 'Tsotsi'. Helen Mirren is terrific and Alan Rickman perfect in one of his last performances. Really interesting exercise in tension, timing and morality. Recommend it.
Lights Out (2016)
A really cool horror film. Quite a few of the 'scares' in the first half were featured in the trailers, so they didn't work on me. However, the opening sequence is one of the best I've seen in a horror film since the start of '28 Weeks Later'. It is the 30 minutes climax that is the real deal here. A spectacular, gut-wrenching climax that was extremely entertaining and satisfying. If you have 90 minutes to spare, I very much recommend this film. It goes by at a brisk pace, and the story is quite interesting. Some very intense sequences at the start if you haven't seen the trailers, so please go in blind.
Bought it today, looks awesome in HD.
Man,that's a sick film - I think I will pass on the TV series as well,now.
Channel hopping one night, i noticed the Horror channel was screening the sequel!
i went to bed!