Much like a journalist trying to get information out of someone, Chicago Deadline is dynamic, to the point and quick to tell things how they really are. A fun film noir through and through, it kept me entertained from beginning to end with its ever thickening plot filled with runaways, promises and countless mentions of Rosita. Not to mention the flashbacks! Those are always fun.
*points at the screen* Guys guys its just like the Maltese Falcon (1941) !!!!!!!!!! As far children's show noir parodies go, this one is surprisignly charming and actually got a few chuckles out of me! Does this mean I'm easily entertained by a kid's show 4-minute-long parody of popular noir tropes? ...Maybe. Sorry, I've got history with Cars. You do not wanna know how many times I watched the second one as a kid.
A nice and classic film noir to end off the month of March with a bang, On Dangerous Ground tells the story of a city cop by the name of Jim Wilson whose methods of getting perps to spill information are more than a little violent. It's sort of split up into two parts: the gritty and violent city at night, and the lone, white vastness of a snowy mountain town. Also worth noting is the use of a hand-held camera, something we take for granted in today's movies. An interesting choice indeed! ^_^
Detour is a short, grim, low-budget and highly enjoyable film noir. The entire story is told in the form of a narrated flashback right until the very end, and you can tell from the start that things aren't going to end well for Al (Tom Neal), especially considering how miserable he looks in every shot. By the most unlucky coincidence in cinema, midway through the movie he is joined by Vera (Ann Savage) with an outstandingly rotten and wicked performance. All in all, I just really liked this noir.
Out of all the film noirs I've watched so far, Ace in the Hole is the only one that managed to put a terrible pit in my stomach all throughout. Leo Minosa's diminishing state and preventable death, the way the hill fills up with cheerful crowds and a full on carnival with songs, the desecration of indigenous land, and all for the ever-hungry masses of media... It's like a concentrated mix of hopelessness, that noir special. Impactful and impressive, sure, but it's not a film I'd like to rewatch any time soon.
A home invasion noir set right after WWII with elements of Christmas suburban cheer (and more specifically the vulnerability of it), Beware, My Lovely feels unrelentlessly cruel at times. It gives you this desperate hope, to see Helen Gordon get out of the house and run away, and every time it gets snatched just out of our reach. Also worth mentioning is Howard Wilton as the weakened male role, a staple of noir protagonists. I loved the cinematography and its clever use of mirrors and reflective surfaces; Who IS Howard Wilton? Is he the amnesiac, the kind-hearted gentleman, or the aggressive criminal? Bear in mind this film is from the 50's, and so discussion of mental illness was not a common topic.
This parody was like watching something on 2x speed; maybe I've gotten too used to 2 hour-long noirs but the pacing for this episode was insanely fast. As far as plot and anything else goes, it was.. alright? Nothing much to say about it. I do like the touch of every location having a big neon sign attached to it.
After so much time without even hearing of this show (I watched a few episodes a few months back) it was a breath of fresh air to see a noir parody done so wonderfully. Typical clichés aside, I found the narration and dialogue to be very on-point, the gaussy close-ups made me chuckle and the plot was about as mysterious as cat burglary can get. What impressed me the most was the music; apparently composed by a Patrick Griffin, the change from moody slow jazz to a faster paced theme for the car chase scene was really exciting.
Known to many as the last of the classic noir era (although that is a very debatable opinion), Kiss Me Deadly is a wildly confusing and shockingly brutal film noir that stands out from the typical formula, while still highlighting the greater themes of hopelessness and fear that drive noir at its core. I personally enjoyed watching it, although that's because I didn't stop to consider every single plot thread inside the film and instead went along with the (quite explosive) ride.
I actually found this parody to be very fun, from character dialogue (and monologue) to the switches between the normal setting and the noir styled, black-and-white atmosphere. Rarity being the detective was intriguing as she played both parts of the stereotypical noir plot; she investigated and solved the case like a true detective, but she also gathered information through sweet talk akin to a classic femme fatale. This play on gender roles is weirdly intricate and unseen for a noir parody, especially from a children's show like MLP:FiM. Maybe I've gone insane.
I couldn't find anything really interesting to note about this noir except for a few greatly shot scenes, spread far and few. Aside from Sam Wilde's obsessive and over-the-top methods of, uh.. getting rid of his "problems", what I found most interesting about Born to Kill was that it apparently played part in a real life murder case, and that it got outright banned in some parts of the US.
This movie was great. By the end I couldn't really figure out if Gilda really deserved everything that happened to her -- one's mind tends to be one's greatest prison after all -- but I really like the psychological elements in this film (a very common element in film noir, actually!). Gilda is at the center of conflict as her mere presence and (usually extreme and unpredictable) actions send the casino on a downward spiral all the way to the end.
A really fun noir parody! I liked the red highlights to contrast the black and white shades, plus it had a nice twist from the usual bloody routine since everything was centered around a cherry scheme. The dialogue was also really well done.
There's not much to say about this film personally, though I enjoyed it a lot! Great cinematography as always and the ever-present theme of fear is very apparent. Something about those horses, man...
Looking at my original review... Yup, I have nothing to say about this parody. It's pretty standard.
With its dark lighting, constant feeling of paranoia and a doomed finale felt from the very beginning, I Wake Up Screaming is truly the father of all noirs. Vicky's untimely demise is what launches the plot forward, yet it becomes almost like a background element as everything surrounding her murder starts to unravel in complex loops and tangled knots. This film is another good starting point for folks who are just getting into the genre.
I may or may not have fallen asleep two thirds into the movie (that's something personal not akin to the film itself, but still, whoops)... In a Lonely Place is cruel, it's tense, it grabs you by the neck and you can't bear to look but you can't turn away... Sure, we as the audience *know* Dix didnt kill Mildred Atkinson, but the way the movie makes you doubt what should be a solid fact really shows how cleverly it plays with your mind.
A classic noir, and an interesting spin on the typically American focus of noir films. The music and setting give it a very surprisingly unique atmosphere. What really impressed me was the cinematography, like c'mon man look at those dutch angles!
Hey, another noir parody! Can you tell I love looking for these? I don't have much to say about this episode, so I'll leave you with this quote from my original review: "Everything about it is so good". Suppose that "everything" includes the spayed cat jokes...
Yes, you read that right, this movie took me around a month to complete. I just wasn't that into it, I suppose? Anyway... Nightmare Alley was oddly entertaining. There is something so terrible, so anxiety-inducing in the way Stan's decisions --which are supposed to be out of his own volition-- end up leading him to a predetermined fate again and again.
Although it was quite the enjoyable film and I found some parts like the whodunnit dinner scene at the end to be fun, I wasn't a fan of the lighthearted and "happy" ending. That's not to say other film noirs don't have endings similar to it (lest we forget the Hays Code), or that every film noir is required to have a bad ending. Even still, I liked it.
A fun parody with all the bells and whistles. Noir Gang was quite the experience to watch, and I recommend watching it if you want to get a good laugh. It's Duckman, after all.
If you've talked to me or scrolled through my blog far enough, you'll notice I'm a big Columbo fan. So when I heard they made a noir parody starring Peter Falk I immediately ran to watch it, and my god it delivers. The Cheap Detective is incredibly funny and clever, has got a great score and beautiful opening credits. I laughed out loud multiple times while watching it, so I recommend you take a look at it yourself!
Much like the previous film, this is a story about two strangers meeting, quickly falling in love, getting into an affair and murdering the dame's husband (Except this time, it's for the sake of love AND insurance money!). Overall, I liked this movie :-] .
A very intense movie all throughout with a solid and easy to understand plot. I will say though, the scenes where Frank kisses Cora even when she explicitly states she doesn't want to are a little dated and gross for my taste. In the end, the postman always does ring twice...
I wrote the review for this parody 6+ months after watching it because I completely forgot to write something about it. Whoops... As far as I recall, it was a pretty good parody, and I really liked the way it pointed out certain noir tropes like the excessive drinking and Mac BookPro (Peter Griffin) having a Thesaurus and frequenting the library thus explaining the smart dialogue.
Would you look at that, a neo-noir! The Detective tackles the topic of homosexuality surprisingly well considering the time it was made, though you could make the argument that a lot of the classic noirs have homoerotic undertones... Also, no clue how I managed to watch this online! I scrubbed the net for it and eventually found a Spanish dub in really low quality. But hey, I took it.
I really liked Touch of Evil. There's a very clear and strong message about police corruption and how cops are able to get away with it, and I'll always be a sucker for tense endings. Quote my original review, "Extra bonus points for Vargas beating a bunch of people up because of his wife and wearing suspenders".
While difficult to keep up at first, it quickly gets tenser and tenser as the plot develops and more bits and pieces of the heist are shown, until you can feel the film basically strangling you. Is that not the essence of film noir; the fear, the looming danger?
A solid movie! Looking at my past review it's very clear I didn't understand the film very well, so I'll have to revisit it... In the meantime, if you're looking for a better review, here's a review that goes into what makes >Sunset Boulevard such a great noir.
The Big Heat is one hell of a film... It's got everything, from dead wives and half-burnt faces all the way to the main protagonist going "Why I oughta...". Seeing Bannion's gradual decline from a decent father down to a revenge-seeking mess of a man is very entertaining. If you're looking for a crazier film noir, this one's bound to do ya good. No joke, I screamed, cried and laughed watching this film.
This movie was a blur. I kid you not, I've tried watching it countless times and I just never get to finish it, except for the first time I watched it. Apparently it made me laugh out loud due to how "ridiculous some of the scenes were", so there's that..? I need to revisit this film... I'm sure it's great.
Ni pinche idea de cuando me vi esta parodia pero creo que eso no importa mucho porque mi opinión no cambiaría. Esta parodia es... interesante, supongo. Interesantemente terrible, porque es una parodia al noir que no entiende el noir y se basa mas en lo que la masa comun cree que es noir. Es Gaturro, no sé que me esperaba.
I really liked the beginning portion of it. The flashback really set the atmosphere and an interesting story, though later it got way too confusing for its own good (Who names their characters Joe, Jeff, Jim and Jack?). That being said, the cinematography was wonderful.
While I understand the cultural value behind this film and how it contributed hugely to the genre, I didn't enjoy my time watching it (and later revisiting it). Yeah, the plot really confused me...
This is the first film noir I ever watched and got me hooked on the genre. From its (fittingly) dreamy orchestral score to its ever expanding murder plot, there's a lot to say abot Laura Hunt, both as the ill-fated dame and as her oh so hauntingly beautiful portrait. If you like murder plots and are looking to get into film noir, I definitely recommend watching it.