Directed by Steven Knight Serenity might just be bad. At least if you take it at face value it's certainly bonkers, however I think there's something under the surface here about the film noir genre as a whole, it's construction, absurdity and the degree to which such worlds and characters are almost parodies of our … Continue reading Serenity (2019)
femme fatale
Night Moves (1975)
Directed by Arthur Penn A film noir with shades of Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye and Roman Polanski's Chinatown, Night Moves is a Los Angeles-based detective story in which the private eye hero finds himself in over his head in a convoluted plot wherein nothing is as it seems. In contrast with those other two films, with finales … Continue reading Night Moves (1975)
The Ice Harvest (2005)
Directed by Harold Ramis The Ice Harvest is a crime movie that begins after the crime has been committed. The co-conspirators are Charlie (John Cusack) and Vic (Billy Bob Thornton), and they've just stolen a couple million dollars from a man sure to kill them should he find out. It's Christmas Eve, and the two agree … Continue reading The Ice Harvest (2005)
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
Directed by Tay Garnett It seems there were a lot of unhappy marriages in postwar America, one in which the woman married too young to an older man who could promise financial security and little more. It's these types of marriages, at least cinematically-speaking, that lead to the Double Indemnity-esque murder plots, where the conspirators finally … Continue reading The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
Out of the Past (1947)
Directed by Jacques Tourneur "I'm no good, and neither are you." Are films noir sexist? A female character is only 'good' if she serves the male hero's storyline. The traditional noir hero is only out for himself, and he inevitably runs into the femme fatale who really is just doing the same thing. She's protecting … Continue reading Out of the Past (1947)
Intolerable Cruelty (2003)
Directed by the Coen Brothers In an interview promoting Hail, Caesar! the Coen Brothers remarked about George Clooney, “He’s very adept at playing an idiot, and you have to be a very good actor to play an idiot." Clooney often plays the fool in the Coen Brothers' movies, whether in O Brother, Where Art Thou, Burn After Reading, Hail, … Continue reading Intolerable Cruelty (2003)
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