Film Noir : Neo-Noir Quest 2

Jazz. Smoke. The slow lazy roiling of a decaying fire. Bodies writhe in silhouettes.

Directed by Lawrence Kasdan, written by Lawrence Kasdan and stars William Hurt as Ned Racine, Kathleen Turner as Matty Walker, Richard Crenna as Edmund Walker, Ted Danson as Peter Lowenstein, J.A. Preston as Oscar Grace, Mickey Rourke as Teddy Lewis, Larry Marko as Judge Costanza, Kim Zimmer as Mary Ann. The jazzy/bluesy score is by John Barry, the stylistic cinematography by Richard H. Kline (The Boston Strangler (1968)) .

An Anachronistic Noir. A Southern Noir. Once upon a time Lawrence Kasdan created a noir-ish world of one part James M. Cain's Double Indemnity and The Postman Always Rings Twice, one part, the tropical pulp of John D. MacDonald with a dash of Raymond Chandler. Shake in a cocktail mixer and pour over rotting ice. It's a 50's atmosphere that doesn't know that 30 years has passed. It's hazy, foggy, smokey. Body Heat exists in it's own world, a world where certain modernities have gotten stuck in time. More artifacts, as the years pass seem to be added, amusingly so. But yet the film remains timeless.

The Florida Treasure Coast. Miranda Beach (Lake Worth) and Pinehaven (Manalapan), straddling the Inter Coastal. The towns are stuck in a monumental heat wave. It's Hot. It's Humid. It's Sweaty. It's Sultry. Air conditioners seem scarce, like back in the Fifties only theaters, bars, and diners seem to have them, and feeble ones at that. Or it seems as if our strange noir landscape is plagued by an eternal brown out. Fans are the cooling technology in vogue. They are everywhere. A certain whirling madness is just hanging there.

Our yarn is about a bottom feeder. Lowest of the low. A lawyer, what else. Attorney at Law, Ned Racine (Hurt). Ned gets by comfortably on the misfortunes of his clients. He lives high enough on the hog to have an office and a receptionist. He's treading water. Winning a few losing a few. He's not the sharpest tool in the lawyer shed but hey, he's arrogant. He's reached his level and is living at it. He's smug, a little bit slimey a bit of a shyster. He is cynical. Ned seldom smiles. He smokes. A cigarette coolly dangles from his lip. He sports a porn star mustache. Drinks Bourbon on the rocks. Drives a 1964 Chevrolet Corvette. **** magnet. A low rent playboy. Nails all the squab in town. Law clerks, secretaries, nurses, waitresses. Doesn't discriminate. Doesn't commit. You know the type. Get's more **** than a toilet seat.

Cool listless jazz. Hot breeze. Dark Night. Ned prowling the boardwalk. He's casting eyeball for tail. Outdoor concert crowd. Programs fanning. Matty (Turner) is a higher class babe. She is alluring. She has money. She arises from the audience transcendent. Venus from the half shell. She is unmistakably the film's center. Her clothes cling in the sea breeze. She's gorgeous. She's sultry. She is sexually intoxicating. She is desirable. She knows it. She is way out of Ned's class. The 100 proof Femme Fatale.

Matty glides past an awestruck Ned to pause at boardwalk rail. She strikes a come hither pose. The sea breeze caresses her tresses. She dangles the bait. She's a feline in heat. Her motor runs hot. Ned is lured. Ned can't help it. Its an irresistible impulse. He stands by her. He's nonchalant. He plays his best game.

Matty and Ned converse as adults without the old Hayes Code, "coded words" to get around the obvious, conventions of Classic Noir. There's no cute allusions to racing horses, or of how fast your going over the sexual speed limit. It's sharp direct, naturalistic dialog that is mature, clever, and refreshing.

Body Heat was Turner's first film. She plays her part with a confidence way beyond her 27 years as if she has been 27 for a thousand years. She is every woman that ever lived, a sensual, ageless, eternal female. Her voice is husky, smoky, silky, enchanting. She is the embodiment of every Femme Fatale that ever used sex to get what she desired rolled into one. She knows exactly what buttons to push.

Ned "finds" Matty at the Pinehaven Tavern. Ned's libio is in overdrive. Matty leaves. Ned follows. Corvette tailing Mercedes.

At the big house. Matty teases Ned. She gives green light/red light signals. She tells him to leave. Ned is ****. She locks him out. He prowls about like big cat. She stares. She smoulders. He breaks in. She ignites.

Matty arouses a lust in Ned that is practically insatiable. This longing is a powerful drug that addicts Ned to her varied charms. Like a junkie Ned will do whatever it takes to keep mainlining on Mattie.

Hurt is excellent in this, he plays, very convincingly, the over **** dope who is literally screwed stupid, and completely out maneuvered by a much more conniving manipulator who has had years to adjust her twisted moves. Matty hangs back and gives Ned just enough reins to let him think he's coming up with the ruthless plan to kill her husband.

Matty turns up the heat. Ignition. She wants out. She wants MONEY. A prenup screws her out of it. Hubby must die. Ned must do it. Ned complies. Ned plans. Edmund owns the Breakers. A beachfront property. The place is abandoned. A fire bug magnet. Make it look like arson. Make Edmund the torcher. Make it looked botched.

It went well. An inferno. Edmund a crispy critter. Everything's copacetic. Days pass. Edmund pushing up daisies. Ned nailing Matty. Openly, with regularity. But something's WRONG. There's a call from a lawyer. There's a new will. Ned drew it up. Witnessed by Mary Ann. ****. Ned didn't draw it up. It's a mess. Ned looks bad. The will is null and void. Matty gets it ALL. GREED.

But there's more. A tip. Police are stirred. Hornets nest. Edmunds glasses. Where are they? They should have been seared into what was left of his face. Arrows point to Ned.

It's going bad. It's going NOIRSVILLE.

The supporting actors in the film are very believable. Mickey Rourke is a professional arsonist who in a great sequence tries to give his lawyer some good but unheeded advice. Richard Crenna is Matty's husband he's an unscrupulous businessman. Ted Danson is Peter, a D.A., a good buddy of Ned's whose quirk is a penchant for Fred Astaire dance routines. There is another excellent night scene where Danson briefs Ned on the case building against him. J.A. Preston is great as Oscar the cop, another good friend of Ned, who reluctantly must go after him and then later listens sympathetically as Ned tries to explain.

A curio of the film is the depiction of our dwindling tribe of Tobacco Smokers. Practically everybody smokes, it's emphasized. Is tobacco a drug that balances euphoria with anxiousness. Was it a gateway drug for promoting an artificially induced culture that prevailed everywhere? Is it an ancient sacred sacrament of the Americas, exploited and degraded from ritual to banality? These thoughts run through my mind.Think about it.

“Here’s what film noir is to me. It’s a righteous, generically American film movement that went from 1945 to 1958 and exposited one great theme and that theme is you’re f-d, You have just met a woman, you’re inches away from the greatest sex of your life but within six weeks of meeting the woman you will be framed for a crime you did not commit and you’ll end up in the gas chamber and as they strap you in and you’re about to breath the cyanide fumes you’ll be grateful for the few weeks you had with her and grateful for your own death.”

-James Ellroy
Novelist, L.A. Confidential

In my opinion, Body Heat is the Noir where, Double Indemnity and The Postman Always Rings Twice wished they could have gone if they had been untethered from the Hayes Code. Not for prudes, not for everyone. An adult noir done artistically, easily a 10/10

Full review here: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/04/body-heat-1981-irresistible-impulse.html

Wonderful review. I have loved this movie since it came out. Kathleen Turner was phenomenal, and it's really sad seeing her now.

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In my opinion, Body Heat is the Noir where, Double Indemnity and The Postman Always Rings Twice wished they could have gone if they had been untethered from the Hayes Code.

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Absolutely. They would have if they could, but it was not to be.

Jessica Rabbit
"I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way."

Body Heat (1981)

Yep, great stuff C J. A neo classic.

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I hope you haven't done us in?‏

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Body Heat is written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan and stars William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Richard Crenna, Ted Danson, J.A. Preston and Mickey Rourke. Music is scored by John Barry and cinematography by Richard H. Cline. Plot sees Hurt as small time Florida lawyer Ned Racine who falls in love and lust with smouldering babe Matty Walker (Turner). Trouble is is that she is married, and as the affair grows more torrid, the pair begin to hatch plans to kill the husband (Crenna) so as to be together and get very rich in the process...

Well some can chide it for its debt to Double Indemnity, or even glance scornfully at Kasdan for using sex to sell his reinvention of amoral noirs of the 40s and 50s, but it stands tall and proud in my book of best neo-noirs produced. Causing quite a stir upon its release, Body Heat under Kasdan's watchful eye has most things right for a nod to the glory days of film noir. Male protagonist caught in a lusty web of deceit and murder, femme fatale so smouldering her skin literally does burn, twists and turns in the narrative, photography keeping it down low on light but expanding the colours for extra lurid effect, and a score that fuses seedy like jazz with low Bondian base strains that suddenly get attacked by a shrill to outline the hapless Racine's imploding panic. The dialogue, too, is devilish, especially when delivered so sensually by Turner's crafty honey, a lady bridging the gap between Lauren Bacall and Jessica Rabbit. Yep! Body Heat has it all going on.

That was her special gift, she was relentless.

Basically Kasdan has brought to life the suggestion involved of something like Double Indemnity, and set it in a sweltering modern day Florida. Free of any code restrictions, he unleashes the sex between the two principals and wraps his biting story around it. It's never sordid or done for the sake of selling tickets, it expertly realises the passion, trickery, and even genuine love? That's going on between Matty and Ned. Helps, too, that Turner and Hurt are terrific in performance and chemistry, while the support cast, courtesy of well thought out writing, really flesh out the plot. There's a problem for genre fans that stop it being a masterpiece all told, that of there being no shock factor come the finale reveal, but the slow boil to the outcome is positively gripping. While the visual views we get of Matty in the final frames leave a question tantalisingly hanging in the air......

Slick and sexy, tricky and teetering, Body Heat stokes the fires of noir conventions of old with some style. 9/10

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The Spikeopath - Hospital Number 217

I have not yet seen this movie (yes, my head hangs in shame, heh)... But after reading your great review as well as Jessica and Spike's I decided to just take the plunge, the blu-ray is on its way to me now, hah... I figure even if I don't like the movie, seeing a young Kathleen Turner in HD should be worth it 😎



Look forward to reading how it worked out for you.

The Spikeopath - Hospital Number 217

I gave the blu-ray a spin over the weekend, and the results are in... 7+/10.

In essence, I felt the movie dragged in places (the blu-ray also has about half a dozen delected scenes as a bonus including an earlier murder attempt), I think a few more scenes could've been removed from the final cut. And William Hurt's character was not 100% believable to me. His change from a guy who sleeps around a lot to willing to kill for Kathleen Turner, and being quite naive about it as well, didn't quite work for me (and yes, I realize he's a prototypical noir sucker, haha). That said, Hurt gave a great performance, and had excellent chemistry with Turner... Who is simply WOW here, what a way to start her movie career. Eerily close to Lauren Bacall in appearance, voice and demeanor, she is one hell of a femme fatale.

In any case, aside from those two negatives, I did enjoy the movie, maybe my expectations were just too high coming into it tho... Which admittedly also happened to me when I first watched 'Double Indemnity', which has since grown on me immensely (but not so with 'Touch Of Evil' which I still find overrated, hah). I will let this one sink in and simmer for a while and then watch it again, maybe this will be more like DI than ToE in the end :)

Soderbergh's psychological thriller starts out like pharma-horror: a depressed and withdrawn young woman (played by Rooney Mara - who else would you want in that role?) finds a prescription happy psychiatrist (Jude Law) who believes in better living through chemistry. In the second half it veers off into film noir/Hitchcock territory: murder and a tangled plot that makes the viewer unsure of who is the good guy and who is the bad guy. If there are any at all.

Emily Taylor's (Mara) troubles begin when here husband is released from prison after doing 4 years for insider trading. He vows to get back in the game and give them back the lifestyle they were used to. Emily, who is already on shaky ground, seems more than a little unsure of her husband before completely unraveling after finding quick with the prescription pad Dr. Jonathan Banks (Law). When Banks consults with Emily's former shrink (played by Catherine Zeta Jones) - another ethically ambivalent psychiatrist - the web that ensnares the increasingly drugged out Emily is complete.

Mara is completely convincing as the not-quite-there young woman who is alternately either the sympathetic poster child for the prescription drug addicted or a femme fatale whose mind is clearer than we think. Psychiatrists are never to be trusted in movies and Law plays to that suspicion, his Dr. Banks becoming more and more questionable as the twisting plot unfolds.

Good acting, good writing and at 106 minutes the pacing is fine. If you're a fan of Soderbergh, you will not be disappointed. Hard to believe the guy is really retiring. 7.5/10

Side Effects (2013)

I'll definitely put this on my list, I like most the people involved here. In fact Tatum hs really grown on me with the diversity of roles he has been taking on.

Good sell, thanks JG

The Spikeopath - Hospital Number 217

Hi Spike,with having just watched the DVD of the excellent French Neo-Noir original (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Love-Crime-DVD-Ludivine-Sagnier/dp/B00AW8LNCO I was wondering if Contraband,Dragon Tattoo,Passion and The Long Night are the only English remakes of foreign Film Noir titles?

Off the top of my head I can't think of any, but you have to think there are more out there.

Crime d'amour (2010)

Looks well worth a peek, enjoyed your review on the film's page 

The Spikeopath - Hospital Number 217

I (re-)watched a few more episodes of the mid 90s noir anthology series 'Fallen Angels' (released in the UK as 'Perfect Crimes', season 2 can be found on DVD under this title for next to nothing).

Love And Blood: Directed by and starring Kiefer Sutherland, this one's about a washed up boxer (Sutherland) who's one punch away from retirement due to brain damage. One evening his old flame Mädchen Amick walks back into his life asking him to take her back. He's a sucker, so he does. But she's still married to an up & coming boxer, who she's trying to get away from, and Sutherland's just the fall guy she needs.

This one's great, pure noir. Based on a short story by Ed McBain (credited under his real name Evan Hunter), it is the classic tale of the guy who knows he shouldn't listen to the pretty dame, but who he can't resist. Sutherland looks all beat up (like Mickey Rourke in Sin City) and speaks with a thick Irish accent reminding of Orson Welles in 'The Lady From Shanghai', you really need to pay attention to his words, also as he does quite a bit of voice-over narration. Amick is hot, smoking hot, and she is great in a classic noir era femme fatale role (and she looks 'classic' too). There are also some really good lines in this episode, including this one that oozes noir: 'There was a dead man in front of me, and a dead man behind me... But all I could think about was Trina.'

The episode starts off in black & white but moves to a fairly bland color scheme, which is one of the few negatives here. There are some scenes where Sutherland really could've worked with light very effectively, as his boxer uses a single dangling lightbulb to do some shadow boxing, except there's too might extra light for those shadows. But overall this episode, which ends with an ironic twist, is really nice. 8/10

Fearless: Giancarlo Esposito travels to LA after an invitation from his friend Bill Nunn. Arriving at Nunn's boarding house, Esposito spots a sultry dame, Cynda Williams, who seduces him and they have sex minutes after. Turns out Williams is Nunn's girl! Williams works as a nightclub singer but she wants out, to move on to bigger and better opportunities. Because Esposito is an unknown face in town, they want him to steal her contract from the nightclub. Esposito becomes a barman at the club but can't get the contract, so one night Williams and Nunn create a diversion so he has more time. Death and double-crosses ensue...

This episode's based on a short story by Walter Mosley ('Devil In A Blue Dress'), with a classic femme fatale and not one but two suckers (altho no doubt there have been many more before them). The story is not really surprising but it's executed well by director Jim McBride and the principal actors.

This one also starts off in black & white, establishing the friendship between Esposito and Nunn while showing the rampant discrimination of the 40s, before moving on to a muted color scheme, which works well. It's not a stand-out episode in this series, but it is still a joy to watch. 7/10

Explicit content warning: this episode has some nudity.

Fallen Angels (1993) - Love and Blood (1995)

Fallen Angels (1993) - Fearless (1995)

Enjoyed reading those, good sell for the noir fan.

Super stuff XX, great to see your reviews on the episode pages as well.

The Spikeopath - Hospital Number 217

Interestingly enough Spikeopath, your review of Chinatown may be great for first time viewers of the film, but upon re-watch, it's a deconstruction of 1940s and 1950s detective films.

After all, the main character is hardly tough, since he repeatedly misreads evidence that dooms innocent people while the person he's (wrongly again) suspicious of has been the hero of the film from the outset, which we realize upon re-watching the film.

You add in the fact that the main character has no effect on the crime against the city and the perpetrators uninhibited by justice or comeuppance, Chinatown stands in contrast with classic film noir when looking past the superficial and is one of the greatest films ever made.

Ah look, there's nothing great about my review. It's one of those films that by the time I have come around to writing something it feels redundant to write anything expansive. Chinatown has been pored over by so many people from all forms of the arts, dissected and analysed etc, there's nothing I could add, so I literally did just write something for potential new viewers who don't like the big reviews.

Your love for the film shines through in the other thread, enjoyed reading your posts. 

The Spikeopath - Hospital Number 217

Cold in July (2014)

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All right, boys, it's Howdy Doody time.

Cold in July is directed by Jim Mickle and Mickle co-adapts the screenplay with Nick Damici from the novel written by Joe R. Lansdale. It stars Sam Shepard, Michael C. Hall and Don Johnson. Music is by Jeff Grace and cinematography is by Ryan Samul.

1989 Texas and when Richard Dane (Hall) shoots and kills a burglar in his home, his life shifts into very dark places.

A quality neo-noir pulper, Cold in July thrives because it never rests on its laurels. It consistently throws up narrative surprises, spinning the protagonists and us the audience into different territories. Fronted by three striking lead performances, each portraying a different type of character who bounce off of each other perfectly, the pic also has that late 80s swaggering appeal. Be it Grace's shifty synth based score, or the way Samul's photography uses primary colours for bold bluster, it's period reflective and tonally in keeping with the story.

With substance in the writing, moody and dangerous atmosphere unbound and tech credits at the high end, this one is recommended with confidence to neo-noir fans. 8/10

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The Spikeopath - Hospital Number 217

Hi Spike,thank you for the great review, (which I've ticked) of this excellent Neo-Noir (which I also gave 8/10 to: www.imdb.com/title/tt1179031/reviews-104 with your comment of the "late 80's swagger" perfectly summing up the ice cool atmosphere of the movie.

Since you enjoyed this movie so much,I'm going to put any pussy-footing to the side,and say that you need to see Michael C. Hall extraordinary work in Six Feet Under as soon as bloody possible mate!

Whilst I was happy to spend £25 on the first season,the £1.80 (and that is with postage) price it can now be picked up for is one of the best deals I've seen in years:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Six-Feet-Under-Complete-Season/dp/B000087JI4

(And if you have any doubts over how confident I am that you will find this season truly special,this suggestion comes under DOCtors orders.)

Right, firstly I have ordered it £1.72 because it's you!

Next you need to understand that I have an absolute ream of TV Box Sets that I even haven't opened yet! 

I could do with a year away from films to catch up 

"24" (2001) Unopened
"Star Trek" (1966) Season 3 Unopened
"Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (1955) Season 2 and 3 Unopened
"Night Gallery" (1969) Season 3 Unopened
"Hatfields & McCoys" (2012) Unopened
"The Blue and the Gray" (1982) Unopened

I'm only up to Season 5 of "The X Files" (1993), Season 2 of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997), Season 2 of "The Sweeney" (1975), Season 3 of "Minder" (1979) The Waterman Years. And many more that I can't remember!

Factor in that in recent times on the old cable chans I have been watching "Bates Motel" (2013), "Stalker" (2014), "Peaky Blinders" (2013) and "Ripper Street" (2012), there just isn't enough time 

Friend at work said she would lend me Game of Thrones, I said no problem as long as you don't mind getting it back in 10 years time. 

I'm stockpiling for my retirement 

I will get to Six Feet Under, so bear with me 


The Spikeopath - Hospital Number 217

Dear Brian De Palma,

the first 20 minutes of Femme Fatale were enthralling. The film has one of the most original heist sequences ever, what with the sumptuous and luxurious visuals from the Cannes film festival, lesbian scene and the epic score by Ryuchi Sakamoto. The plot was both ingenious and utterly ridiculous. I wonder whether you stole the premonitory dream idea from Night of the Following Day. You could have done a lot more with it. Rebecca Romjin Stamos's character is one of the best archetypes of the nympho-maniacal and cunning femme fatale. The film is a visual pleasure with the repeated use of deep focus, split screens and slow motion. You are second only to Hitchcock when it comes to choosing stunning females. Stamos is one of your most beautiful heroines. It is unfortunate that she did not become a bigger star. Antonio Banderas gets to show his acting chops especially in the scene where he acts gay. Peter Coyote was underused. I wonder why. The film was not just style, it had substance too.

Best Regards, Pimpin.

(8/10)

Glad you liked it Pimpin. I watched it just before Xmas and liked it plenty as well.

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Isn't sugar better than vinegar?

**SPOILER ALERT - The last paragraph makes reference to a 1940s film that constitutes a spoiler. **

There rarely seems to be anything in between where Brian De Palma films are concerned, cinematic lovers of all kinds by and large either trash or laud his films. Femme Fatale is no different, one critic - both professional or amateur - will have it as a 1/10 movie, another will have it at the maximum rate available. Femme Fatale is high grade stuff if one is either a De Palma fan or a lover of film noir. Conversely if these two things don't tick your film loving boxes then the law of averages suggests you should have - or should - stayed/stay away from it.

De Palma opens up the doors to his fun house and invites noir lovers to come on in and enjoy. It's difficult to write about the plot because it holds many twists and turns, it's a veritable supply of uppers and downers, twisters and benders, all sexed up and pumped full of De Palma's trademark tricks and devilish rug pulls. In truth the story and set-up is predictable, but the journey is what makes the pic ooze quality and bare faced cheek, with the director giggling away like a schoolgirl in the background.

Opening up with a sequence that sees our titular fatale (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) watching famed noir classic Double Indemnity, De Palma proceeds to homage and love the film noir world. As he uses split-screens, canted angles, up-tilt shots, shadow plays etc, the narrative pulses with eroticism and impending cruelty, this really is a femme fatale based movie of the grandest kind. As events unfurl, with hapless photographer Nicola Bardo (a fun packed Antonio Banderas) caught in the web, Ryuichi Sakamoto's magnificent classical based score swirls around like some sort of peeping tom. The latter of which finds a shifty accomplice in Thierry Arbogast's noir photography.

It's a picture awash with dupes, dopes and vengeful criminals, where the themes of identity, duality, sexuality and distorted perceptions gnaw away at those investing fully in the viewing experience. Some critics (prof and amat) have lazily likened the film to David Lynch's Mulholland Drive, as if De Palma in 6 short months watched Lynch's movie and then knocked this film out! The copy-cat charge as funny as the rug-pull that De Palma pulls here. Besides, as any film noir lover will tell you, this has more in keeping with Fritz Lang's 1944 noirer "The Woman in the Window" than Lynch's film, which is no bad thing at all, and De Palma knew that. 8/10

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The Spikeopath - Hospital Number 217

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It's a picture awash with dupes, dopes and vengeful criminals, where the themes of identity, duality, sexuality and distorted perceptions gnaw away at those investing fully in the viewing experience.

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well written, spikeopath.

Dear Robert Altman,

I loved the long and contemplative tracking shot at the beginning of Thieves Like Us. The camera tracks a tram transporting a bunch of criminals against a bleak and cloudy rural backdrop. It slowly moves away from the tram and towards a couple of men (who turn out to be criminals escaping to freedom) rowing towards the shore in a boat. The whole film is up to its neck in rainy and cloudy visuals like these. Even though the visuals are rather bleak, I felt like you were expressing adoration for the idyllic rural American milieu during the great depression. The characters are all very talky, reflecting their attitudes and aspirations. It is a sort of a talkfest film in a way. The awkward and wiry Robert Carradine and Shelly Duvall were adorable. Some reviewers suggested that the constant radio advertisements and serials played throughout the film was a knock on the consumerist culture that tried to lure poor citizens even during a depression. But I thought it was used to create a comedic and nostalgic effect. I liked this more than They Live by Night (1948). I am not sure if this is a noir film. I mean, the bank robbery scenes hardly get any time. The film is mostly about what these characters are doing when they're not robbing banks.

Best Regards,
Pimpin.

(8/10)

Dear Harvey Keitel,

there are some films which are elevated to another level by the actors. In fact, John Huston remarked that "Half of directing is casting the right actors." Bad Lieutenant might have ended up an average film if a lesser actor had played the lead role. But as one of the greatest wasters in movie history, you have inspired fans to compare the film to Taxi Driver. The long tracking shots interwoven with point of view shots and real life locations wouldn't have amounted to much if it wasn't for your performance, Harvey. Frankly, there aren't that many memorable dialogs. I did not enjoy the arty-farty sex scenes. And parts of the movie were uninspired. Especially your character forgiving those two rapists in the end. But there is hardly a scene where you aren't at your very best, Harvey. I think Terry Zwigoff did a better job with this film's remake - Bad Santa (2003) than Abel Ferrera.

Best Regards,
Pimpin.

(8/10)

Bad Lieutenant (1992)

I have not reviewed it yet and it has been a long time since I last saw it - on VHS it was! - but I liked the doom and grimness of it all. I could do without Harvey tossing one off though!

Bad Santa! 

The Spikeopath - Hospital Number 217

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I could do without Harvey tossing one off though!

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 im not sure what that means, man.

Masturbation.

The Spikeopath - Hospital Number 217

Thieves Like Us (1974)

I really should get around to watching this, I have kinda been put off as it's often likened to Badlands (1973), which I personally found to be wildly over valued. Altman is very hit and miss with me, and this one sounds like it could go either way as well!

Good read there Pimpin 

The Spikeopath - Hospital Number 217

Thanks PAE 

The Spikeopath - Hospital Number 217

Directed by David Lynch, written by David Lynch. The film stars Isabella Rossellini (Wild at Heart (1990)) as Dorothy Vallens, Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992)) as Jeffrey Beaumont, Dennis Hopper (I Died a Thousand Times (1955), Naked City TV Series (1958–1963), The American Friend (1977), Red Rock West (1993), True Romance (1993)) as Frank Booth, Laura Dern as Sandy Williams, Hope Lange as Mrs. Williams, Dean Stockwell (The Arnelo Affair (1947), Compulsion (1959), Johnny Staccato TV Series (1959– ), Paris, Texas (1984), To Live And Die In L.A. (1985)) as Ben, George Dickerson (Cutter's Way (1981), After Dark, My Sweet (1990)) as Detective John Williams, Ken Stovitz as Mike, Brad Dourif as Raymond, Jack Nance (Hammett (1982), Barfly (1987), Wild at Heart (1990), The Hot Spot (1990), Lost Highway (1997)) as Paul, and Fred Pickler as Yellow Man.

Cinematography by Frederick Elmes (Eraserhead (1977), Wild at Heart (1990)), Music by Angelo Badalamenti (Wild at Heart (1990), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), Lost Highway (1997) ), Production Design by Patricia Norris Set Decoration by Edward 'Tantar' LeViseur.

Suburbia. Classic Hollywood ideal. White picket fence. Perfect. A sky bluer than blue. Bright red roses. A hyper real technicolor dreamland. Then the real. A neighborhood. Vibes mom. Vibes apple pie. We zoom.. Grass. Closer. A miniature jungle. Closer. Bugville. Swarming. Ferocious. Vicious. Omnivores. Bug eat bug. Caos. Surreal.

Blue Velvet's premise is based on The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. These were fictional characters who appeared in various mystery books for children and teens. The characters were conceived in 1926 for the Hardy's and 1930 for Nancy Drew, by Edward Stratemeyer for the Stratemeyer Syndicate. The syndicate paid ghostwriters to write the stories. The Hardy Boys' stories are often linked to the various cases their detective father is assigned to.. He sometimes asks them for help, while at other times they stumble upon the bad guys and clues that are connected to his cases. Nancy on the other hand was the daughter of an attorney and similarly her cases consist of those which she stumbles upon and some of which begin as cases of her father's.

It's through the relative innocence of the films amateur detectives that we enter bizarro world. But just don't think of Blue Velvet as The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew go to Noirsville. They go to N O I R S V I L L E !!!!

Jeffrey Beaumont (MacLachlan). A Dexter. Neat. Preppy. Boy Scout Type. Back home in Lumberton. The old man had a stroke. He has to run the store. Hardware. He schleps hoses. He mixes paints. He goes to visit the old man. Pop looks f-ed up. All wires and tubes. Jeffrey is bummed. He takes a shortcut back. An empty lot. A trash dump. He throws rocks at a bottle. Misses. Looking for more rocks, whoah!, WTF! It's an EAR. A frickin' EAR! Molding green and crawling with ants. Jeff just found a one way ticket to the dark side.

Jeff's small time average life is now thrust into the middle of a mystery. He's jacked. He bags it. He tags it. He takes it to Detective Williams (Dickerson) the neighborhood cop. Williams is cool. They get along. The Morgue. Coroner. He thinks it's off a live one. Cutoff with scissors. Nice. Clues. Later that night Jeffrey visits the Williams'. He meets Sandy (Dern). The daughter. Homegirl. Blond. Cute. She's cool. She knows about the ear. Her bedroom is over dad's den. She hears things. Confidential Hush-hush stuff. She's Jazzed. Leanin' gal pal. Jeffrey's amped.

Sandy spills. Names names. Connect the dots. Cops suspicious. Dorothy Vallens (Rossellini). Torch singer. Nightclub. The Slow Club. Wrong side of the tracks. Lives on Lincoln. Deep Water Apartments. Bad news. Dark side.

Jeffrey gets brainstorm. Grab a bug sprayer from hardware. Get overalls. Pose as exterminator. Get into Dorothy's apartment. Open window. Come back nighttime. While she is at the club. While she does her set. Snoop. Find more clues. Sandy will act as decoy to distract Dorothy. Sounds easy. Sounds cake.

Jeffrey gets into Dorothy's apartment. She bought the bug con. Jeffrey sprays. A knock at the door distracts Dorothy. It's a man dressed in a yellow jacket. Jeffrey calls him the Yellow Man. Jeffrey finds a spare key. Forget the window he'll go in by the door. Jeffrey and Sandy plan. They go to The Slow Club. They drink a couple of Heineken. They watch Dorothy. She does her Blue Lady schtick. She's slightly off key It's all a bit off. But she's mesmerising. The crowd loves her. It works.

Jeffrey and Sandy bounce. They drive to The Deep Water. Jeffrey heads upstairs. Sandy will act as lookout. Honk car horn four times as warning. Sounds easy. Sounds cake.

Jeffrey is in. He wants to snoop. But he has to pee. Heineken. Dorothy drives up outside. She's early. Sandy Honks. Jeffrey flushes. He doesn't hear the horn. He starts to snoop. Key goes in lock. Lights switch on. Dorothy is home. Jeffrey is screwed. Closet is close. Hide.

Jeffrey sweats. Closet doors have louvers. Jeffrey looks. Dorothy strips off dress. Jeffrey has KINK. Jeffrey PEEPS.

Dorothy gets call. She gets anxious. She drops to her knees and retrieves a framed photograph hidden under her sofa. She looks at it. She puts it back. She goes to her bathroom. She gets naked. Comes back wearing towel. Goes to closet. Opens left side door. Gets her blue velvet robe. She doesn't see Jeffrey.

Dorothy sits down on her sofa. Jeffrey shifts his position and something falls in the closet. Dorothy hears the noise. She's frightened. She darts to the kitchen. Jeffrey SWEATS. She grabs butcher knife. Jeffrey is SHOOK.

Dorothy flings open right side door. Jeffery! 8 inch butcher knife LOOMS. Dorothy looks CRAZED. Jeffrey's SCREWED. She orders him OUT! She ORDERS him down on his knees.

Dorothy Vallens: What are you doing in my closet?

Jeffrey stammers that he came to look. Dorothy thinks he's a voyeur. She asks him what did he see? He tells her. She tells him to take off his clothes.

Dorothy Vallens: I want to see you.

Jeffrey hesitates. He's CORNERED. She JABS the knife towards his face. She nicks his cheek. You don't argue with a CRAZY woman. You don't argue with 8 INCHES. Jeffrey strips. He's down to his boxers. She makes him stand. She tells him to come closer. She pulls down his boxers. Jeffery's EXPOSED. The moment of truth. Is this the END of Jeffery? Is it GOOD-BYE to the baloney pony?

No, it goes TWISTED. It goes NOIRSVILLE. Dorothy begins to FELLATE Jeffery. Jeffery is STUNNED. Jeffery LIKES IT. Jeffery has KINK. He looks down at Dorothy. She still holds knife. Dorothy yells "don't look at me". She orders him to the sofa. She climbs astride him. There is a loud knock at her door. Dorothy PANICS. She makes Jeffery Hide in the closet. She unlocks her door and lets in Frank.

The genius of Blue Velvet is that just when you think that it can't get any weirder than this IT DOES. And this is repeated over and over.

Blue Velvet is artistically innovative, wonderfully surreal, and darkly creepy. The cinematography and set design emphasise a dystopian world lurking just below a thin veneer of normalcy. Along with film noir stylistics, the film employs highly discordant color motifs. Dorothy's dimly lit apartment is all fleshy reds, pinks, and lavenders, accented with moldy greens and black trim. Hallways are dark shades of blue and foreboding. Pussy Heaven has a clashing red/green color scheme. The Slow Club's stage has a clashing red/blue motif.

Lumberton is a composite of Missoula, Montana, Sandpoint, Idaho, Spokane, Washington, and Boise, Idaho, all logging and mill towns of the Pacific Northwest where David Lynch spent his childhood years. It was also my stomping grounds for 24 years. The area was again featured in Lynch's Twin Peaks and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. Wilmington, North Carolina adequately fills in for the fictitious Lumberton. It's only glaring difference is it's noticeable lack of pine fir and larch trees.

The score by Angelo Badalamenti and the various integrated classic soundtracks compliment the film. Blue Velvet is a pedal to the metal gloriously over the top ride to Noirsville. Reviewed the 2006 MGM special edition DVD. 10/10

Full NSFW review with screencaps here, enjoy: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/05/blue-velvet-1986-noir-goes-bizarre.html

Well, you pissed off CFB's resident miserable negative Nelly. Shame on you. 
He gets so angry when you disagree with him, but doesn't quite seem to grasp it.

Jessica Rabbit
"I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way."

So I noticed, ;-)

Not seen it, but I do have it. So we can compare notes then.

The Spikeopath - Hospital Number 217

"Body Heat" is one of the best, Kasdan is spot on with the dialogue - also up there: Chinatown, The Hot Spot, L.A. Confidential, Memento.
Blade Runner, yes, but I think the Sci-Fi setting outweighs its Noir-Qualities.

Zapp Brannigan: If we hit that bullseye,the rest of the dominoes should fall like a house of cards.Checkmate.

Nice of you to pop in with some thoughts, Crow. Hope to see you posting on the board again.


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The Spikeopath - Hospital Number 217

Dear Robert Altman,

I have not read The Long Goodbye. But I have read a couple of other novels with the Philip Marlowe character. Elliot Gould's portrayal of Marlowe was not what I expected. But it is OK, it was an interesting interpretation of the character. I enjoyed your film. It really isn't a crime film. If I were to make a crime film, I would never make it the way you made The Long Goodbye. Your film is laid-back (the constant sound of waves) and also quite shocking. It has one of the most violent scenes ever captured on film. It is a film of place. You obviously did not care about the plot or the actual crime. Like Thieves Like Us, you seem to be concerned with invoking nostalgia for a certain era and a way of life or a place. The film is full of eccentric characters like the writer played by Sterling Hayden and the nude yoga enthusiasts. The Coens might have been inspired by this film when they made The Big Lebowski. Fans of that film might want to check out The Long Goodbye. After all, both films feature a laid back protagonist who hilariously breezes through tricky situations. Though I guess Marlowe might be a lot more motivated than Lebowski.

Best Regards,
Pimpin.

(7/10)

This one tends to divide opinions in noir circles, more so with Chandlerphiles, I like it plenty >

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Listen Harry, in case you lose me in traffic, this is the address where I'm going.

The Long Goodbye is directed by Robert Altman and loosely adapted to screenplay by Leigh Brackett from the Raymond Chandler story. It stars Elliott Gould, Nina van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden, David Arkin, Jim Bouton and Mark Rydell. Music is by John Williams and cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond.

Private Detective Phillip Marlowe (Gould) tries to help a friend who is accused of murdering his wife, but he is quickly thrust into a world of bluffs, deceits, alcoholics, violence and a suspicious suicide.

Much has been made about how Altman and Brackett tampered with the Chandler source material, so much so I have seen and read some venomous arguments/diatribes as regards the film's worth. Venturing into it for the first time I was forewarned that it plonks legendary Private Dic Phillip Marlowe into a 70s setting, that it satirises the gumshoe aspects of decades previously to put Marlowe as a sort of man out of his time. Then there's the controversial ending thought up by Brackett, and the casting of Gould as Marlowe that caused some consternation to Chandler purists. So as much as I adore Bogart and Powell's takes on Marlowe, I ventured into The Long Goodbye with an open mind. And I'm so glad I did.

I love it, I really do, I found it so easy to dissociate this neo-noir version of Marlowe with the hard boiled film noir versions from the classic cycle. This Marlowe is a riot, abused and used by those around him, he is world weary to the extreme, he can't even bluff his own cat, who it appears is probably his only real friend. He sleepwalks through life quipping away to himself because nobody else cares to listen anyway, and he chain-smokes, how unfashionable! But he is always cool, even when faced with hostile cops or murderous thugs, his coolness is not for shaking. Attaboy Phillip.

Cynical but very at ease with itself, the picture pulses with classic noir themes of betrayal, loyalties and moral corruption. It also looks and sounds ace, with a desaturated 70s sheen blending in with the emphasised sounds of everyday West America life. Oh and Gould is just triffic to boot. Great stuff, annual viewing requirement assured here. 9/10

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The Spikeopath - Hospital Number 217

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This Marlowe is a riot, abused and used by those around him, he is world weary to the extreme, he can't even bluff his own cat, who it appears is probably his only real friend. He sleepwalks through life quipping away to himself because nobody else cares to listen anyway, and he chain-smokes, how unfashionable! But he is always cool, even when faced with hostile cops or murderous thugs, his coolness is not for shaking. Attaboy Phillip.

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well said.

Dear Peter Yates,

you made an edgy film that was true to the book by George.V.Higgins. The Friends of Eddie Coyle is about a bunch of crooks squealing on each other to escape jail sentences. The film is mostly entertaining dialog. The people (actors), places or events are not given too much space. The characters and the plot develops almost entirely through the sparse but often realistic and witty dialog. The film is set in a a male world. There is a lot of machismo. For example, a couple of the crooks casually discuss a woman's vagina. Someone like Tarantino would have tried to emphasize the best dialogs if he had directed this film. What I mean is that most directors would have tried to create a huge event if they had dialogs like the ones in the movie. But your directing style is unromantic and sparse. It was original and faithful to the book. The tension is caged in because of which the film never really rises above a certain level of entertainment. The gangsters in the film are total losers without any honor. They would rat each other out and kiss establishment ass in a second. Norman Mailer expressed surprise for the book - “that so good a first novel was written by the fuzz.” I have not watched another gangster flick like The Friends of Eddie Coyle. Robert Mitchum was effortlessly brilliant as Eddie Coyle - a small time gangster who is on his way down. Well done, Peter.

Best Regards,
Pimpin.

(10/10)

Dear Noir Fans,

I bet you haven't heard of this one. An incestuous brother sister duo (Billy Zane and Gina Gershon) wrecks havoc in a small town. It is based on a Jim Thompson novel (one which I have not read). The characters could be from any Thompson novel - sex crazed, morally corrupt, vulgar and living purely on impulse. I personally think Jim Thompson is one of the worst crime fiction writers ever. But some of the one liners were remarkable. But they were too few and far between. Apart from two or three stellar scenes, it is all very flimsy. But the director was clearly aiming for style and sleaze. The beautiful smoky visuals. The elaborate set pieces. Sweaty sex scenes. It is definitely worth checking out. Billy Zane and Gina Gershon were awful. Sheryl Lee was great eye candy as a needy and sex crazed policewoman. It is worth checking out for the visuals and jazz soundtrack.

Best Regards,
Pimpin.

(6/10)

Dear Maggie Greenwald,

your film was an interesting adaptation of a Jim Thompson (who I consider to be a pretty bad writer) novel. Usually Thompson's characters are unauthentic and his novels are utterly trite. But your film makes me want to read the book on which this movie was based. It is a film of place - The Kill-Off is set in an ugly and shabby seaside small town. You obviously wanted to punctuate its ugliness by showing us the electric poles and the long wires that connected them right at the beginning of the film. You filled the film with actors who all had unremarkable faces. I wouldn't remember any of the actors if I saw them in another film. Except for Cathy Haase who played the stripper. The story is not really about gangsters. But just a bunch of people who have lost their way and want to escape their mundane small town existence by stealing money. There is the bed ridden gossipy woman who has a husband half her age. He cannot even find his way around when he leaves town. There is the bar owner who raped his own daughter when she was a kid. The stripper who is bad at her job. They are all low expectation mofo's who try to steal each other's menial jobs and money and try to keep each other repressed. The terrific background score, the desolate setting and the doomed characters makes this a very interesting and obscure little gem. I only wish there was a better print of this. And maybe if you had more money, you could have cast better actors.

Best Regards,
Pimpin.

(7/10)

Ooh this really has my attention, sounds positively corrupt and ripe with classic noir characters 

The Kill-Off (1989)

Jorja Fox much of a role?

The Spikeopath - Hospital Number 217

yes, jorja has an important role.

A user on the film's message board pointed out that this wonderful noir had a little bit of everything. I agree wholeheartedly.

It is a commentary on the state of modern life - bored and isolated people who are unable to form any connection with each other in the confines of their office. Scared that they would have to spend their whole lives doing some worthless job but unable to leave.

It is almost a tragic romance - Elliot Gould and Susannah York are in love but cannot seem to consummate their relationship due to the distractions of money and other lovers.

It is a terrific thriller - a heist gone wrong as a square but intelligent bank employee gets the better of a seemingly homosexual thief. A relentless cat and mouse game ensues not just between the employee and the thief but also between the employee and his co-workers.

Elliot Gould's performance is in the same league as Martin Freeman's in The Office (UK) when it comes to disillusioned employees who grin and bear it. Susannah York is adorable as Elliot's aging co-worker. Christopher Plummer looks sinister and scary as the thief.

Best Regards,
Pimpin.

(9/10)

Dear Michael Mann,

Miami Vice was a wonderful mess of a film. Thank you for making it. I have not seen the original series so I cannot write about how the film compares to the TV series. I am curious about how the film would have turned out if you had not used digital photography. I like the carefully composed shots and the tasteful sets of your earlier classics like Thief and Manhunter.

But unlike the haters, I thought Miami Vice was full of stylishly rendered scenes starting with the very first scene at the nightclub. You lined up an array of actors with remarkable faces for this film - they played white supremacists, South American gangsters, FBI agents and undercover cops. However, Colin Farrel, Jamie Foxx and John Ortiz were disappointments. I guess you had to cast huge stars to finance a big budget film like Miami Vice. Gong Li who looked like pure royalty made up for the unremarkable heroes and villain.

The story isn't much to write home about. It is a stylized account of the lives of two undercover cops, their women and their toys. The plot is deliberately incoherent. The dialogues which are delivered in whispers with Chris Cornell wailing or heavy metal guitars growling in the background were a complete mystery. But then, it is not really about the plot. We get a look around Miami. And it is not just the posh condos and the exotic bars. But also the warehouses and the barren lands where all the stand offs take place. There are at least three remarkable stands off in the film. In fact, there are more standoffs than full length action scenes. The interracial romance between Gong Li and Colin Farrel and its consequences is a comment on the state of race relations in the multi-cultural and multi-racial melting pot that is Florida. Miami Vice is a moody, stylish and ultimately flawed film demonstrates what mainstream big budget Hollywood action cinema can be. In the decade since Miami Vice, we have witnessed the gradual decline of American cinema as superheroes and mind numbing special effects have taken over the landscape once occupied by the likes of you and Tony Scott. It is a real shame. But thanks for the effort, Michael.

Best Regards,
Pimpin.

(8/10)

I haven't put it on Noirsville yet because I have a DVD to get captures from the review here http://www.fistful-of-leone.com/forums/index.php?topic=12024.msg173213#msg173213 has captures from paused video tape.

Thank you for bringing it to our attention! Even if you feel it's hardly a must see.

This World, Then the Fireworks (1997)

One of The Golden Girls is in it!

Interesting. Thanks Pimpin

The Spikeopath - Hospital Number 217

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Thank you for bringing it to our attention! Even if you feel it's hardly a must see.

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spike, i think you might enjoy it. i liked parts of it. its definitely very very stylish. and great to look at. and billy zane does have a couple of great scenes. but his acting is uninspired. it does have its moments.

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http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2015/12/this-world-then-fireworks-1997-white.html

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mgtbltp, there are better prints around than the one you watched. i'm saying this because the film is amazing to look at. the film is apparently very popular in france.

The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973)

Yes, watched this myself recently, loved it as well, as you clearly do also. Good pick up on the sparsity, that was what made it so noir to me.

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Everybody oughta listen to his mother.

Boston criminal Eddie 'Fingers' Coyle (Robert Mitchum) is in the mire, the cops have him bang to rights and he's facing a long stretch in the big house. However, if he turns informant he will keep out of poky...

For far too long this film had been stuck hidden away in pirate hell, thankfully it finally saw the light of day and can be seen for all its glory. Peter Yates directs and Paul Monash adapts the screenplay from the George V. Higgins novel. Supporting Mitchum are Peter Boyle, Richard Jordan, Steven Keats and Alex Rocco. Music is by Dave Grusin and cinematography by Victor J. Kemper.

It's a film noir lovers picture, a throw back to the halcyon days of the first wave of noir back in the 1940s. So who better than a battered pug faced Mitchum to front up the story? Pic is perpetually downbeat, with the air of despondency hanging over our protagonist like the grim reaper. The underworld painted by Yates and his team is smartly stripped down to basics, it's a world that is after all, always moving in secretive circles. There's no frilly glamour here, there's crime and consequences, realistic street operations, and brilliantly there's believable characterisations.

With dialogue dominating the narrative, it's not one for the action junkie - though the set-pieces are superbly staged by Yates, this is a neo-noir of high respect to previous blood lines. And it boasts a quite brilliant turn from Mitchum whilst not copping out at the finale. Noir heads rejoice! 9/10

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 Pimpin

The Spikeopath - Hospital Number 217

Dear Michael Mann,

thanks for making such a stylish character study of a thief with some barely hidden social commentary. A successful freelancing thief (James Caan) decides to settle down with a beautiful but tortured woman (Tuesday Weld). He also shrugs away his independence and enters what I saw as a day job - he decides to pull off a daring robbery for the mafia who would pay him a cut. The mafia even arranges a kid for the thief and his new wife as his criminal record disqualifies him from adopting children. Of course, the gentrification of the thief goes haywire.

Everything about Thief indicates that the director is a man of great taste. Tangerine Dream's score bestows the film with a contemplative air. The stunning visuals are awash with blue. The locations seemed like they were carefully chosen. The slow motion action scenes and violence were stunning. The supporting cast - Willie Nelson as a dying criminal, Robert Prosky as the mafia man, Tuesday Weld as the reluctant wife and James Belushi as the sidekick were all remarkable. Apparently, Al Pacino refused this film. This might have worked in the film's favor as any film with Pacino usually ends up with him hogging the limelight. James Caan was stylish and was particularly good in the scene at the cafe when he opens his heart to Weld. He did not distract attention away from some of the other aspects of the film. Good job, Michael.

Best Regards, Pimpin.

(10/10)