cigarjoe

You are still leaving out Italian Neo Noir Seven Beauties (Pasqualino Settebellezze) (1975) 1. Chiaroscuro for black and white films, intense or muted color in movies filmed in color (In either black and white or color, the technique is used to enhance the mood and/or the emotional content.) YES 2. Flashbacks MANY 3. Unusual narration VERY 4. Crime/planning a crime (usually—but not always—murder) Murder of a Pimp 5. Femme fatale and/or homme fatale The Femme Fatale is his SISTER 6. The instrument of fate YES 7. Angst (for example, guilt, fear, self-doubt, confusion, and so on; in other words, anything that contributes to angst) YES 8. Violence or the threat of violence YES 9. Urban and nighttime settings YES 10. Allusion to post–World War II (or any postwar) themes (optional) Pre, During, and Post 11. Philosophical themes (existentialism in particular) involving alienation, loneliness YES 12. Psychology (hypnosis, brainwashing, manipulation, amnesia) YES 13. Greed NO 14. Betrayal YES 15. No stark contrast between “good” and “evil” (characters, forces, emotion, and so on) YES 16. Expertise triumphs, perhaps rather than “good” YES his expertise as a ladies man. At 15/16 Seven Beauties (Pasqualino Settebellezze) is one of the most tragic/humorous Neo Noirs out there. Check out visuals in full review here: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/04/seven-beauties-original-title.html

Kill Me Again (1989) Nevada Desert Film Soleil Directed by John Dahl, a Billings, Montana, native and a U of M alumni of mine. Kill Me Again was the first of a trio of Neo Noirs (Red Rock West (1993), The Last Seduction (1994)), that cemented Dahl at the get go as one of those few directors that truly understands the visual style of what basically makes a noir a noir combined with a simple story about down and outers that isn't typical Hollywood i.e, using "A" actors, car chases, product placement, explosions, etc., etc. The story was written by Dahl and David W. Warfield. The excellent cinematography was by Jacques Steyn and music by William Olvis. The film stars Val Kilmer (True Romance (1993), The Salton Sea (2002)), Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs (1992), Mulholland Falls (1996), Sin City (2005)), Joanne Whalley, Jon Gries, Michael Greene (To Live And Die In L.A. (1985), and Bibi Besch. Film Soleil, the yang of Film Noir 's yin. Credits roll. Desert. Distilled anti-city. Bright. Sun baked. Torrid. Wasteland 360 to the horizon. Jack (Kilmer) and Alan (Jon Gries) Our femme fatale Joanne Whalley-Kilmer has this quality of being able to look both extremely sexy and weasily simultaneously. At times she's a bit swarthy, disheveled, and K-Y Jelly greasy. But she cleans up nicely in a low rent, low life sort of way. She can play sweet and demure when she's registering at a motel and wants the clerk to remember her. Other times she affects the look of a rat nibbling on a wedge of cheese. Her eyes slightly bulging at the moment you flip the lights on in the kitchen. She has an aura of rodent, I guess we can call it a rat girl vibe. She's jail tail. Fay (Whalley) Michael Madsen is always convincing as a homicidal psychopath. He was born to play these characters. In classic noir he would have been reverently type cast, on par with Peter Lorre, Elisha Cook Jr., Dan Duryea, and Raymond Burr. His dead eyes negate any facial expressions he may generate. You are looking into the abyss of mayhem and madness. You know he's crazier than a crap house rat. Val Kilmer as PI Jack Andrews has an Eagle Scout vibe. He comes off as competent P.I., who has had a string of bad luck. Swerving to miss a deer he loses control of his car and goes through a guardrail. He and his wife are plunged into a lake. He tries to save her. Only Jack survives and he's haunted by the tragedy. He is down but not out. The finale sets up like this. Jack is after Fay. Vince and the police are after Jack. The mob is after Vince and Fay. It's quite entertaining, looks great, and it manages to homage a few Classic Noir's in the process. John Dahl really has a handle on Film Noir/Film Soleil. Music was by William Olvis. For his first effort Dahl earns a 7-8/10. 1964 Cadillac Coupe DeVille A Neo-Noir visual treat, the screencaps are from MGM DVD. For a full review with more screencaps and no censorship here: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/06/kill-me-again-1989-nevada-desert-film.html

Kill Me Again (1989) Nevada Desert Film Soleil Directed by John Dahl, a Billings, Montana, native and a U of M alumni of mine. Kill Me Again was the first of a trio of Neo Noirs (Red Rock West (1993), The Last Seduction (1994)), that cemented Dahl at the get go as one of those few directors that truly understands the visual style of what basically makes a noir a noir combined with a simple story about down and outers that isn't typical Hollywood i.e, using "A" actors, car chases, product placement, explosions, etc., etc. The story was written by Dahl and David W. Warfield. The excellent cinematography was by Jacques Steyn and music by William Olvis. The film stars Val Kilmer (True Romance (1993), The Salton Sea (2002)), Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs (1992), Mulholland Falls (1996), Sin City (2005)), Joanne Whalley, Jon Gries, Michael Greene (To Live And Die In L.A. (1985), and Bibi Besch. Film Soleil, the yang of Film Noir 's yin. Credits roll. Desert. Distilled anti-city. Bright. Sun baked. Torrid. Wasteland 360 to the horizon. Craphole. Winnemucca. Nevada. A daylight heist. '76 Monte Carlo. Vince (Madsen) leather clad Elvis. Eye shades. Fay (Whalley), casino trash bimbette. She's the bait. Vince is the switch. Mob skim. Briefcase stash. Two couriers. One gets stupid. One gets cute. Vince drills him. He bites the Dust. Vince grabs the loot. Fay lays Chevy rubber. Desert desperados. They vamoose. Gone. Two lane getaway. Briefcase opened. Whoa! ****? Fay's ecstatic. $$ sign eyes. Money junkie. Gambling addict. Vince ****. Too much. Thirty times too much. Mob money. Deep doo-doo. Gotta leave state. Gotta scram. Gotta get the f outta Dodge. Gotta Idaho. Hicksville. The boonies. Lay low. Fay - No way. You go. Been there done that. We split it. Viva Las Vegas. Vince ****. Cowboy boot to brake. Hooks in. Rubber smokes. Vince and Fay have a tussel. Vince persuades. Fay comes 'round. Fay gets docile. They head North. Pit stop. Rest Area. Vince gotta whiz. Doesn't trust Fay. Takes her and briefcase into ****. Vince starts watering the horse. Fay eyeballs rock door stop. Sees way out. Sees $$$. She grabs rock. Kisses Vince on the mellon. He's still draining the main vein. Golden shower. Lights out. Fay grabs money. Fay grabs Chevy. $$ sign eyes. Looking for bright lights. Wants to hear that ding, ding, ding. Heads to Reno. Motel. Fay checks in. Tabulates total on tabloid rag. $475,000. Almost half a mill. Tabloid blurb. "Wife fakes death and steals hubby's money." Fay get's brainstorm. Flips open phone book. Private Investigators. "A". First listing Jack Andrews. Lucky dog. Jack Andrews (Kilmer) is a Reno PI about to go on the skids. He owes $10,000 to a loan shark. Payment due. He's late. A couple of meatheads are bustin' up his office. A warning. Jack gets feisty. Get's a broken pinky finger for his trouble. Fay (Joanne Whalley) pure as driven slush Fay goes fishing. Dresses in white. Innocence personified. She's pure as driven slush. Walks into Jack's. Got a plan for the man. Jack eyeballs Fay. Likes what he sees. Fay goes into her act. Turns on the tears. Sob story sister. Battered beauty. Abusive beau. Not right in the head. Displays her bruises. Cries crocodile tears. She wants Jack to fake her death. Get Vince off her ****. She'll pay $10,000. Half now. Half later. Jack's got $$ sign eyes. Fay is addictive. Money troubles solved? No, it's an invitation to the blues, it's an invitation to Noirsville. Jack and Alan (Jon Gries) Jack is jacked. Jack is inventive. The man with a plan. Step one: Get Fay a fake ID. Get buddy Alan to scrounge a pint of Fay's blood type. A hospital connection. Step two: Make Fay get noticed. She checks into a new dive. Fay plays cute. Tolls the desk clerk. Bats her eyelashes. Giggles. Sundress strap malfunction. Giggles. He drools. Sweet, girl next door sexy. He's **** city. Step three: Fay plays craps. She jiggles when she wins. Low cut dress. Deep cleavage. Bouncing boobies. Everybody drools. Crap game Step four: Jack in disguise. Ten gallon cowboy. Picks Fay up at casino. Drives Fay to motel. Fay makes sure desk clerk sees her, she waves. He's shot out of his imaginary saddle. Step five: Fake evidence. Trash the room. Rough Fay up. It turns sexual. She LIKES it. Spill some booze. Spill some blood. Rip her dress. Cut it with knife. Stab wounds faked. Dump her purse. Wrap her in a sheet and dump her in her trunk. The "Killing" Step six: Check her into another Motel. Drive her car with the bloody clothes out into the desert and dump it. Looks like another hooker murder. Another runaway who trusted the wrong guy. Body missing. Sandy grave. Step seven: Prearranged. Alan picks him up. Alan get his cut. Jack is back. Rendezvous in Reno. Rendezvous with Fay. But Fay has SPLIT! She checked out. VAMOOSED! Leaves Jack jack. Headed for Vegas. In her purse was a matchbook with Jack's number. Guess who gets pinched? Jack. And guess who comes knocking at Jack's door next. VINCE! Vince Our femme fatale Joanne Whalley-Kilmer has this quality of being able to look both extremely sexy and weasily simultaneously. At times she's a bit swarthy, disheveled, and K-Y Jelly greasy. But she cleans up nicely in a low rent, low life sort of way. She can play sweet and demure when she's registering at a motel and wants the clerk to remember her. Other times she affects the look of a rat nibbling on a wedge of cheese. Her eyes slightly bulging at the moment you flip the lights on in the kitchen. She has an aura of rodent, I guess we can call it a rat girl vibe. She's jail tail. Michael Madsen is always convincing as a homicidal psychopath. He was born to play these characters. In classic noir he would have been reverently type cast, on par with Peter Lorre, Elisha Cook Jr., Dan Duryea, and Raymond Burr. His dead eyes negate any facial expressions he may generate. You are looking into the abyss of mayhem and madness. You know he's crazier than a crap house rat. Val Kilmer as PI Jack Andrews has an Eagle Scout vibe. He comes off as competent P.I., who has had a string of bad luck. Swerving to miss a deer he loses control of his car and goes through a guardrail. He and his wife are plunged into a lake. He tries to save her. Only Jack survives and he's haunted by the tragedy. He is down but not out. The finale sets up like this. Jack is after Fay. Vince and the police are after Jack. The mob is after Vince and Fay. It's quite entertaining, looks great, and it manages to homage a few Classic Noir's in the process. John Dahl really has a handle on Film Noir/Film Soleil. Music was by William Olvis. For his first effort Dahl earns a 7-8/10. 1964 Cadillac Coupe DeVille A Neo-Noir visual treat, the screencaps are from MGM DVD. For a review with more screencaps here: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/06/kill-me-again-1989-nevada-desert-film.html

The 3rd Voice (1960) Film Noir starring Edmund O'brien, Laraine Day, and Julie London. O'Brien plays an impersonator. His job is to assume the identity of Seattle business tycoon Harry Chapman. The plan is that Chapman is going to be murdered by Marian Forbes (Day) his ex-executive secretary, as soon as he returns to Mexico. O'Brien will also dispose of the body. The plan is to continue the ruse long enough for O'Brien and Day to acquire the possession of $600,000 cash for a real estate deal in Mexico and head to Europe. A few nice twists 6/10. This may go up, the poor quality of the copy I saw prevents doing any screencaps. A restoration would be nice.

The 3rd Voice (1960) Film Noir starring Edmund O'brien, Laraine Day, and Julie London. O'Brien plays an impersonator. His job is to assume the identity of Seattle business tycoon Harry Chapman. The plan is that Chapman is going to be murdered by Marian Forbes (Day) his ex-executive secretary, as soon as he returns to Mexico. O'Brien will also dispose of the body. The plan is to continue the ruse long enough for O'Brien and Day to acquire the possession of $600,000 cash for a real estate deal in Mexico and head to Europe. A few nice twists 6/10

RIP

Yea it's a decent little noir, Mark Stevens is good in Cry Vengeance (1954) also.

Yea I bought that one also.

Haven't caught that yet thanks for the heads up.

It's roughly half and half from what I remember the the first half mostly Soleil, the latter Noir. Even Naked City is is mostly sunny if you think about it.

The Pawnbroker (1964) The Persistence of Memory Steiger is outstanding. All the major supporting performances are excellent. I especially love the small yet rich pawnshop clientele vignettes by Juano Hernandez, Reni Santoni, Hilda Haynes, and Ed Morehouse. More review in Film Noir/Gangster thread. The complete review with some NSFW screencaps here: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-pawnbroker-1964-persistence-of.html

The Pawnbroker (1964) The Persistence of Memory Like two previous films reviewed, In The Heat Of The Night (1967), and Shaft (1971), which are renowned for either the social issues they raised, i.e., Civil Rights, or a sub genre they jump started, Blaxploitation, The Pawnbroker, is thought first and foremost as the archetypical film about the horrors of the Holocaust from the viewpoint of a survivor. It acquired international acclaim and catapulted Rod Steiger up into the list of "A" actors. Steiger received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor - Drama, and an Oscar Nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and received the British Film Academy award for best foreign actor in a leading role. All this however tends to overshadow the fact that The Pawnbroker is also a very visually stylistic Neo Noir with an obsessed main character who has built a massive wall of defensive alienation from the world. It's also a film that neatly time capsules a smoggy New York City circa 1963 in the twilight of Black & White cinema. It's also a landmark film that featured nudity during the Production Code, this led to the eventual ultimate abandonment of the code. The film was directed by Sidney Lumet (12 Angry Men (1957), The Fugitive Kind (1960)). The film was written by Edward Lewis Wallant (novel), Morton S. Fine and David Friedkin. The film stars Rod Steiger (On the Waterfront (1954), The Big Knife (1955), Cry Terror! (1958), In the Heat of the Night (1967), No Way to Treat a Lady (1968)), Geraldine Fitzgerald (The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (1945) The Naked City TV), Brock Peters (The L-Shaped Room (1962), The Incident (1967)), Jaime Sánchez (The Wild Bunch (1969), Bad Lieutenant (1992)), Thelma Oliver, Marketa Kimbrell, Baruch Lumet, Juano Hernandez (The Breaking Point (1950), Kiss Me Deadly (1955), ), Linda Geiser, Raymond St. Jacques (Mister Buddwing (1966)), John McCurry (Atlantic City (1980)), Charles Dierkop, Nancy R. ****, Eusebia Cosme and East Harlem, New York City. The exquisite cinematography was by Boris Kaufman (On the Waterfront (1954), Baby Doll (1956), The Fugitive Kind (1960)), editing by Ralph Rosenblum (Terror in the City (1964)) and the score by Quincy Jones (In the Heat of the Night (1967)). The film begins with an idyllic setting, in a land of blue skies, fields, trees, a pond, a family picnic. It's all a flashback. Reality is a monotonous backyard. Highway frontage. Levittown. Long Island. New York. America. Land of Opportunity. Planet Earth. The smoggy 60s. The dreamer is Sol Nazerman (Steiger). Sol supports a sister in-law Bertha (****), and her family, a mistress Tessie (Kimbrell), her ailing father (Lumet). Sol runs a Harlem pawnshop owned by Rodriguez (Peters), a racketeer and pimp who uses the business as a front. Sol has an enthusiastic employee Jesus Ortiz (Sanchez). Sol is a Holocaust survivor. Sol survives by being emotionless. He has incurable mental wounds. He has become effectively immune from human suffering. He eradicates memories. He is rootless. He is barren. However the approach of the 25th anniversary of the death of his family and various triggers, i.e., transactions with pawnshop clientele and their desperate and heartbreaking situations, intensifies Sol's internal turmoil and brings these buried memories, strobing back. This all plays out against the drab, dreary, cityscapes of East Harlem. Sol's pawnshop is a claustrophobic warren of bars, cages and woven mesh. The cinematographer constantly frames through them, or lights shots that throw their shadows across the actors to emphasise both physical and psychological entrapment and to draw parallels between the shop and the Nazi concentration camps. Jesus Ortiz is Sol's amiable enthusiastic assistant. He supports his mother (Cosme). He has made a break with his hoodies Tangee (St. Jacques), Buck (McCurry), and Robinson (Dierkop). He has a loving **** (Oliver) as his girlfriend. He's diligent and respectful. He constantly asks questions, constantly takes notes. He wants to learn the pawn business. He wants to open up his own shop someday. He wants to know Sol's secret. A day at the pawnshop consists of junkies, whores, winos, hoods, and other desperate losers. They mostly have junk, radios, lamps, awards, musical instruments, curios, and keepsakes to pawn. Sol coldly transacts business, rarely paying more than two or five dollars per item. Some clients are in so often that they attempt to befriend Sol, attempt to carry on friendly conversations or wax philosophically. Sol is indifferent. He calls Mr. Smith (Hernandez) a creature. Sol Nazerman: Black, white, yellow, they are all equally… Jesus Ortiz: Equally what? Sol Nazerman: Scum! Nazerman also rebuffs the friendship of an equally lonely social worker Marilyn Birchfield (Fitzgerald) who attempts to get through his shell. But it's his rebuff of Ortiz that sets events in motion that sends Sol's world spiraling into Noirsville, with tragedies in the past reflecting those in the present. It's all repeating itself. At closing time Ortiz, overhears the deposit of an envelope containing $5,000 of Rodrigues' ill gotten gains into Sol's safe. He decides to break bad and plans a robbery with Tangee, Buck and Robinson. Ortiz's gal pal, trying to stop the heist, goes to Sol and tries to pawn some jewelry. He'll give her forty dollars. Not enough. She tells Sol that she works at Rodriguez's **** house. She decides to offer her body to Sol for money, displaying her breasts. These two actions trigger in Sol the flashback memory of the concentration camp and the incident of his being made to watch the prostitution of his wife with Nazi officers. He equates Rodriguez and his gangsters as Nazi racketeers. Shattered by the revelations and flashbacks, Sol staggers out of the shop and wanders about Manhattan in the night. While hurtling through a dark tunnel, he sees the people on a subway car as victims headed for the concentration camps. He ends up at Marilyn's apartment where he tries to explain. Marilyn Birchfield: What happened? Sol Nazerman: 'Happened'? Marilyn Birchfield: Yes. Sol Nazerman: I didn't die. Everything that I loved... was taken away from me, and... I did not die. Marilyn Birchfield: Mr. Nazerman! Sol Nazerman: There was... nothing I could do. Nothing. Strange, I could do nothing. No, there was nothing I could do. Sol's torment continues and it's not until he's saved by Ortiz who is trying to protect him that he feels some shame of his emotionless detachment from humanity, but even then the horror of man's inhumanity to man persists. It still exists but in a different guise. Steiger is outstanding. All the major supporting performances are excellent. I especially love the small yet rich pawnshop clientele vignettes by Juano Hernandez, Reni Santoni, Hilda Haynes, and Ed Morehouse. Screencaps are from the Republic Pictures 2003 DVD 10/10 Full review and some NSFW screencaps here: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-pawnbroker-1964-persistence-of.html

I believe I have this on a Geneon DVD I haven't watched it in a while though.

Extreme Prejudice (1987) Modern Western - directed by Walter Hill and written by (among others) John Milius. Very entertaining Tough Texas Ranger (Nick Nolte) against his old drug trafficking buddie (Powers Boothe). Also mixed into the equation is a group of forgotten armed forces heroes, all officially dead who have their own agenda. Nice Tex-Mex border town vibe. Fun.7/10

Blue Velvet (1986) Noir goes Bizarre 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!, ****! 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 (Dern) 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. Dorothy The Blue Lady singing Blue Velvet 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. It all goes Noirsville. The genius of Blue Velvet is that just when you think that it can't get any weirder than this IT DOES. Frank Booth (Hopper) has got to be one of the most bizarre villains to ever grace a movie screen. He STRUTS into the living room. He goes through this ritual of degradation with Dorothy. The In Dreams sequence Blue Velvet 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. Ben's place 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. Screencaps are from the 2006 MGM special edition DVD. 10/10 The full NSFW review is here: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/05/blue-velvet-1986-noir-goes-bizarre.html

Blue Velvet (1986) Noir goes Bizarre 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 !!!! 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. 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. 10/10 Full review with NSFW screencaps here: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/05/blue-velvet-1986-noir-goes-bizarre.html

Bad Day At Black Rock (1955) Noir meets the Modern Western - Film Soleil, those sun baked, filled with light, desert/tropical Noir/Neo Noirs. "Change the darkened street to a dry, sun-beaten road. Convert the dark alley to a highway mercilessly cutting through a parched, sagebrush-filled desert. Give the woman cowboy boots and stick her in a speeding car, driven by a deranged man whose own biological drives lead him less often to sex than to fights over money. Institute these changes [to film noir] and you have film soleil." - DK Holm In the city it's usually what you can't see that can kill you. In the desert everything you see can kill you. Directed by John Sturges (Mystery Street (1950), The People Against O'Hara (1951)). written by Millard Kaufman (screenplay), Don McGuire (adaptation) from the story Bad Time At Hondo by Howard Breslin. The film stars Spencer Tracy (The People Against O'Hara (1951)), Robert Ryan (11 Classic Noir), Anne Francis, Dean Jagger (Dark City (1950), Private Hell 36 (1954)), Walter Brennan, John Ericson, Ernest Borgnine (The Mob (1951), Violent Saturday (1955)), Russell Collins, Lee Marvin (The Big Heat (1953), Violent Saturday (1955), I Died a Thousand Times (1955), Shack Out on 101 (1955)) and the spectacular panoramas of DEATH VALLEY which are breathtaking thanks to the absolutely beautiful CinemaScope cinematography of William C. Mellor. André Previn composed the score. Desert, the anti-city. Wide open spaces, exposed, agoraphobia. A streamliner is snaking. A steel sidewinder. Streamliner Black Rock. Nowheresville. A Death Valley desert fly speck. Whistle stop. Somewhere on the California/Nevada border. The Southern Pacific RR. A dirt road main street. A baker's dozen collection of dilapidated buildings. The station. The beanery, Sam's Bar & Grill. A General Store abutting a barber shop. A two story hotel. A sawbones/morticians, a gas station, two residences and a rinky-dink hoosegow. It must be Saturday. Hicksville. Everybody's in town. Cowboy porch lizards. Relaxin'. Shootin' the breeze. Waitin' for the Streamliner to blow through. She's Greased lightning. Like clockwork. The day's big excitement. A faint rumble. The train's a comin'. You can hear the drone of the F7's down the valley. The pitch changes. The horn blares. Station agent excited. She's stopping. A train hasn't stopped here in four years. What's up. Lizards all rubbernecking. Cowboy porch lizards A man gets off. Looks like a city slicker. Suit, tie, fedora, suitcase. A Stranger. Ex career vet. A one hand man, Macreedy (Tracy). Mr. Hastings, Telegrapher: There must be some mistake. I'm Hastings, the telegraph agent. Nobody told me this train was stopping. John J. Macreedy: They didn't? Mr. Hastings, Telegrapher: No, I just told you they didn't. And they ought to. What I want to know is why didn't they? John J. Macreedy: Maybe they didn't think it was important. Mr. Hastings, Telegrapher: Important? It's the first time the streamliner's stopped here in four years. John J. Macreedy: I want to go to a place called Adobe Flat. Are there any cabs available? Mr. Hastings, Telegrapher: Adobe Flat? John J. Macreedy: Yeah. Mr. Hastings, Telegrapher: No cabs. Adobe Flat! The name raises bristles. He's lookin' fer Komoko. It stirs the hornet's nest. The lizards get standoff-ish. Hostile. Downright rantankerous. The **** hits the fan. Oh Komoko he left town they tell him, sent to an internment camp. Macreedy & Smith (Tracy & Ryan) They telephone the biggest toad in their pond Reno Smith (Ryan). But the cat's already out of the bag. Something is wrong, slantindicular, cattywampus. Macreedy knows they're bullshittin'. But he doesn't know why. Cowboy Coley (Borgnine) is glassing Macreedy from a boulder patch. He ambushes him on the way back to town. Tries to run him off the road. Back in town Coley is still trying to provoke, trying to raise sand. The film gradually reveals, through some very deliberate pacing by Director Sturges, that almost all of the townies are in cahoots with Komoko's murder. It seems that on the day after Pearl Harbor Reno Smith went into Sand City to enlist, he was rejected. He goes on a bender. He gets a handful of the townies corned up. They go out to Komoko's. A lynch mob. Komoko locks himself in. They burn his house. He runs out on fire. Smith shoots him dead. The sheriff does nothing. The rest of the town clams up. Spencer Tracy goes from stoically laconic to determinedly obsessed as the odds and the towns alienation build against him. Robert Ryan's unfriendly persuasion streaks more vicious as the truth is slowly exposed. Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin are the two town bullies both are a few cards short of a full deck. Dean Jagger the town lawman and Walter Brennan a sawbones/mortician are the town drunks. John Ericson is a fidgety hotel keeper and Anne Francis servers as the film's nominal femme fatale. Rather than stark black and white contrasts and Dutch angles this Film Soleil uses subtle clashing colors, high and low angles, compositions, reflections and diagonals to enhance moods and emotions. A red/green clashing motif signifies, unease and apprehension that something is slightly off, is especially apparent in the hotel interiors. High and low angle perspectives enhance or detract the importance, significance, or power of various characters or places. The high angles of the opening sequence enhances the insignificance of Black Rock. Reflections can show contemplative characters, complexity or duplicity. Compositions also define characters and enhance Macreedy's exposure. Red/Green motif High/Low Angles Compositions Reflections Diagonals The tide turns as slowly Macreedy bests the conspirators and persuades the doc and ,the sheriff, to admit their cowardice and hypocrisy and the partially guilty hotel clerk to tell him the truth about what happened to Komoko at Adobe Flats. The whole shebang goes sour quick. Doc T.R. Velie: Four years ago something terrible happened here. We did nothing about it, nothing. The whole town fell into a sort of settled melancholy and all the people in it closed their eyes, and held their tongues, and... failed the test with a whimper. And now something terrible's going to happen again -- and in a way we're lucky, because we've been given a second chance. Noirsville The film juxtaposes the high desert grit of a weathered bleached bones town against a backdrop of astonishing but desolate beauty. The film has a fascinating Edward Hopperesque realism look to it. This was MGM's first release in Cinemascope. Screencaps are from the Warner Brothers DVD. 10/10 Full review with lots of screencaps here: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/05/bad-day-at-black-rock-1955-noir-meets.html

Bad Day At Black Rock (1955) Noir meets the Modern Western - Film Soleil, those sun baked, filled with light, desert/tropical Noir/Neo Noirs. "Change the darkened street to a dry, sun-beaten road. Convert the dark alley to a highway mercilessly cutting through a parched, sagebrush-filled desert. Give the woman cowboy boots and stick her in a speeding car, driven by a deranged man whose own biological drives lead him less often to sex than to fights over money. Institute these changes [to film noir] and you have film soleil." - DK Holm In the city it's usually what you can't see that can kill you. In the desert everything you see can kill you. Full review with screencaps here http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/05/bad-day-at-black-rock-1955-noir-meets.html

Full review with screencaps here: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/05/bad-day-at-black-rock-1955-noir-meets.html

Actually a better triple bill would be with Desert Fury and Inferno

Not quite he could have been a career officer, and there are examples i.e., future U.S. Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois enlisted in the Marines at age 51.

I did a little quick research. The Southern Pacific train that pulled into Black Rock had F7 Diesel units in what was called the "Black Widow" paint scheme, which was done from 1947 on, so the film isn't set earlier than that. Or it could be a screwup, if Tracy did say the war ended a few months ago, two years ago would have made more sense.

Dark Of the Sun (1968) on TCM today, according to fans it's a cut version, didn't catch Ben's introduction, so don't know what he said. Anyway it was a quick moving violent action yarn set in the Congo. Rod Taylor, Jim Brown, 7-8/10.

Thanks for the link good read.

Never Let Go (1960) Seedy Brit Noir Directed by John Guillermin, written by John Guillermin (story), Peter De Sarigny (story) and Alun Falconer screenplay. The film stars Richard Todd as John Cummings, Peter Sellers as Lionel Meadows, Elizabeth Sellars as Anne Cummings, Adam Faith as Tommy Towers, Carol White as Jackie, Mervyn Johns as Alfie Barnes, Noel Willman as Inspector Thomas, David Lodge as Cliff, Peter Jones as Alec Berger, John Bailey as MacKinnon, and Nigel Stock as Regan. A Noir set in the London auto salvage business. A milquetoasts car is stolen and he sets out to get it and his manhood back but at a steep price. Never Let Go builds nicely to an inevitable showdown punctuated by John Barry's score. It's what a noir should be, about interesting small time characters and simple conflicts that spiral bizarrely of control. Screencaps are camera images from paused frames of a recent TCM showing, but there is an MGM DVD out there. Bravo 9/10 For full review with screencaps: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/05/never-let-go-1960-seedy-brit-noir.html