***Official 1st Annual HTF January Winter Crime Challenge*** - Page 3

SteveGon · 01-21-2008, 09:45 AM

The Depression of Detective Downs (2005)

Viewed 1/19/2008 (first viewing)

Animated short follows a police detective as he battles depression while trying to track down a kidnapped little girl.

out of

Big Bang Love, Juvenile A (2006)

Viewed 1/20/2008 (first viewing)

Another oddball outing from Takashi Miike. Two convicted murderers, both gay, gravitate to one another in prison and ponder the meaning of life. When one is murdered, the other confesses; but did he really do it? Expressionistic and metaphysical film may be difficult, but is ultimately rewarding. May just be the oddest film in this challenge!

out of

The State Witness (2007)

Viewed 1/20/2008 (first viewing)

Two journalists interview an apparently repentant mobster in this slick and engrossing Polish thriller.

out of

Russell G · 01-21-2008, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TravisR

01/18/08

Another 'new' Fox noir, I checked out I Wake Up Screaming. It's decent little crime drama with a decent twist at the end.

I loved "I Wake Up Screaming". Really blew me away the first time I saw it, I think it's one of the best in the series.

I got a few more in this weekend, including some genuine Noir titles

:

01/19 - ANATOMY OF A MURDER 3/5
Court room thriller with James Stewart and a cast of thousands it seemed. Good enough and considered a classic. I found it a little long in the tooth.

01/20 - BUCKTOWN 3/5

Duke comes to straighten out the estate of his murdered brother and encounters crooked cops and backstabbing brothas in this Blaxploitation entry. It all gets a bit goofy frankly, but Fred Williamson does a decent enough job.

01/20 - NIGHT AND THE CITY 3.5/5
Great Noir with Richard Widmark trying to hustle his way into controlling the London wrestling racket. Lots of style, my only complaint is Gene Tearny didn't get much to do.

01/20 - THE HITCH-HIKER 4/5
Incredibly tight noir thriller about 2 guys on a fishing trip who pick up the wrong hitcher. Lots of tension and Edmond O'Brian is full of menace in this one. Ida Lupino had a hell of an eye for composition, I only knew her as an actress.

01/20 - EASTERN PROMISES 4/5
Another knock out from Cronenberg. This one revolves around a nurse who gets involved with with the Russian mafia in London. As pulpy as that sounds, and as exploitative some of the sequences could of been, this one plays classy. It's also nice to see such a quiet picture for once, without that infernal never ending score competing over the dialog for your attention.

Tally is here:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/3296151-post11.html

TravisR · 01-21-2008, 03:22 PM

01/20/08

Out Of The Past is a favorite noir of mine. It has all the great film noir elements (a tough guy in a trench coat, a femme fatale, a gangster, the nice girl, duplicity, fast dialogue that no one would ever say but it still works, a bleak ending, etc.). I saw this when I was 12 or 13 on AMC- when they still ran good movies- and it really created my interest in film noir.

My list
(new titles in bold)

01. Zodiac (Director's Cut)
02. Laura
03. Kiss Of Death (1947)
04. Fallen Angel
05. Reservoir Dogs
06. Shock (1946)
07. I Wake Up Screaming
08. Out Of The Past

PatW · 01-22-2008, 09:40 AM

Johnny Eager (1942)

Well-acted Robert Taylor vehicle in which Johnny Eager (Taylor) pretends to be a cab driver in the presence of his parole officer but is really back running the rackets. Lana Turner plays Liz Bard a young woman who is in love with Taylor. She happens to be the daughter of the judge who is trying to put him away. John sets up Liz by pretending that she shot and killed someone to save him so that he will be in the clear as far as his dog racing racket goes.

Not being a fan of Taylor in the past, this is quite a good role for him. Both Taylor and Lana Turner seem to be well matched and have good chemistry together. Van Heflin was quite good as his buddy with a conscience. The rest of the cast was also good. This was quite an interesting story. Well worth a repeat viewing.

Eric Peterson · 01-22-2008, 09:58 AM

* 9. No Way Out - Although I would not consider this film to be a film noir in the truest sense of the word, it certainly contained several key elements including some excellent b&w photography and some great shots in the shadows. The plot centers around a couple of bigots who get picked up for armed robbery after being shot. When they arrive at the hospital, a black doctor (Sidney Poitier) is assigned to them. When one of the robbers dies, the other (Richard Widmark) is deadset that the black doctor killed him intentionally and swears his revenge. The rest of the movie center around this racial tension and is very entertaining. The N word is used quite a bit which is is a bit dis-arming, but very relevant. Overall, an excellent thriller that I would recommend to anyone. ****

*10. The Roaring Twenties - My only disappointment with this film was that I waited so long to watch it. The film opens with a couple of soldiers at war during WWI (The war to save democracy as the film explains - That sounds familiar). The two soldiers are Cagney and Bogart. The war soon comes to an end and the story switches to Cagney's viewpoint as he returns home to world that has moved on without him. He soon gives up trying to find a job and due to the onset of prohibition, quickly finds an opening selling bootlegged liquor. Over a period of a few years, he quickly becomes the head of a syndicate when he encounters Bogart's charcter again. For awhile, the two get along and dominate the scene, but soon thereafter things go wrong. I won't spoil the ending for those who have not seen this film, but it was deifnitely one of the best gangster pics from that era that I've seen to date. ****

Malcolm R · 01-22-2008, 01:48 PM

RESERVOIR DOGS C-

Yet another Tarantino flick that left me wondering why I waste my time. Definitely don't understand all the love for this one.

TravisR · 01-22-2008, 03:21 PM

01/21/08

Double Indemnity is, in my opinion, the best film noir and one of the best movies ever made. I can't see it enough times.

My list
(new titles in bold)

01. Zodiac (Director's Cut)
02. Laura
03. Kiss Of Death (1947)
04. Fallen Angel
05. Reservoir Dogs
06. Shock (1946)
07. I Wake Up Screaming
08. Out Of The Past
09. Double Indemnity

TravisR · 01-23-2008, 11:55 PM

01/23/08

I watched Where The Sidewalk Ends for the first time. A cop interrogates/beats a crook to death and covers it up. The only problem is that an innocent man gets the blame for the murder and the cop has to get the innocent man out of it. Pretty decent movie.

My list
(new titles in bold)

01. Zodiac (Director's Cut)
02. Laura
03. Kiss Of Death (1947)
04. Fallen Angel
05. Reservoir Dogs
06. Shock (1946)
07. I Wake Up Screaming
08. Out Of The Past
09. Double Indemnity
10. Where The Sidewalk Ends

PatW · 01-24-2008, 04:47 AM

Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

Entertaining Hitchcock suspense thriller about a young girl who thinks that her Uncle Charlie is a murderer.

Joseph Cotton plays the part of the Uncle perfectly, a man who one minute seems like a congenial and beloved member of the family but is really a murderous monster. Theresa Wright was also excellent as the niece who had her eyes opened. There were a couple of abrupt scene changes one in particular that didn't make sense but no matter, this is a superb movie.

Saboteur (1942)

Another excellent Hitchcock movie about a factory worker who is falsely accused of starting a fire that killed his best friend. He spends the rest of the movie on the run trying to discover and bring to justice the real culprit. Along the way he meets model Patricia Martin who believes him guilty at first, but then falls in love with him.

The acting was good all around. The movie seemed alittle slow but did reach a satisfying conclusion.

Malcolm R · 01-24-2008, 01:18 PM

Double Indemnity B+

Another noir that has been praised to the hilt. But this one was pretty good! Though I was getting a little annoyed by Neff ending nearly every sentence spoken to Phyllis with "..., baby." This also confirmed that Edward G. Robinson is probably my favorite classic actor. Everyone raves about Bogart, Grant, etc. But I think Robinson trumps them all, see?