Noirvember 2022 - 30 days of film noir

[u2popmofo]

[Al_The_Strange]

Mulholland Drive (2001)
UHD

An aspiring actress who just landed in Hollywood runs across a young woman lost and disorientated after a car crash on Mulholland Dr. Together, the women investigate certain mysteries behind the crash while mysterious forces behind a film shoot pull strings. OR IS IT?!

This meaty film expands on the narrative technique used in Lost Highway, in which the film zigs in one direction then zags in another, pulling back a layer of reality to show that things aren't what they seem. With MD, it's much less linear and more like a bunch of puzzle pieces dumped on a table, and just when you think you have it put together, David Lynch walks into the room and flips it up-side down. It's still put together, but the picture changes. Weird, huh?

I like that, in the same way Donnie Darko does, the pieces of the film seem disconnected and random, but they come together and they all have a purpose in the end. I find it satisfying when the pieces come together like that. MD hits in its own way since it serves to present itself as a dream (or rather, a power fantasy in dream form), before tearing it down and showing an actual reality. It's bleak, maybe a bit unsettling, and definitely uncanny.

On the noir spectrum, the film maintains some intrigue with the way it presents the Hollywood system as a bizarre illuminati-style society with unusual rituals and characters that put a dark and mysterious spin on mundane business (kind of similar to how John Wick portrays its underworld with its own set of rules--there is 99% less gunplay though). The mystery behind Rita and the powers of Hollywood dominate most of the picture, but

[Show spoiler]it dissolves once the camera dives into the little blue box

. The shift inherently puts the focus on discovering who these characters really are. Reality and identity are the focus the whole time, even if we don't realize it through the dreamy haze. In the end, we find what they really mean when they say "this is the girl."

10/10

-----------------------------------

Cases Closed: 11

[Show spoiler]11/02: Killer's Kiss 8/10
* 11/05: High Sierra 8/10
11/11: Raging Bull 8/10
* 11/11: Nighthawks 7/10
* 11/11: Angels With Dirty Faces 8/10
11/11: Branded to Kill 9/10
* 11/15: House of Games 8/10
11/15: Wild Things 8/10
* 11/17: The Grifters 7/10
11/18: Lost Highway 8/10

11/19: Mulholland Drive 10/10

DA Challenge: 10

[Show spoiler]Angels With Dirty Faces
Branded to Kill
The Grifters
High Sierra
Killer's Kiss
Lost Highway
Mulholland Drive
Nighthawks
Raging Bull
Wild Things

* = First time to the crime scene
Purple = The bright neon lights of 4K

[kingdoxie]

Out of the Past ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ w/ commentary

An absolute prototype of film noir, it's got all the tropes in spades: voice over, flashbacks, furious smoking, a femme fatale, complicated plot, cynical characters, high contrast cinematography, it doesn't end well for anyone, and many more.

[u2popmofo]

Awesome day of two fantastic first time watches. Just picked up Asphalt Jungle today (B&N Criterion sale), been sitting on Touch of Evil for months waiting for November (went with the Reconstructed Cut right off the bat).

[Travis]

The Web (1947) 1/2

Great cast. Found a femme fatale that needs more looking into. First Ella Raines case for me, but won’t be the last. This case was pretty cut and dry.

[Gwanum]

Key Largo (1948) 1/2

The Web (1947)

[Travis]

Blood Simple (1984)

These guys make great films!

[Travis]

Thoughts on this for next year’s DA challenge?

1. This Gun for Hire (1942)
2. The Glass Key (1942)
3. Double Indemnity (1944)
4. The Lost Weekend (1945)
5. The Killers (1946)
6. Deception (1946)
7. Humoresque (1946)
8. The Big Sleep (1946)
9. Dark Passage (1947)
10. White Heat (1949)
11. Johnny Eager (1941)
12. Keeper of the Flame (1943)
13. The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
14. The Bribe (1949)
15. Suspicion (1941)
16. Notorious (1946)
17. I Walk Alone (1947)
18. Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)
19. In a Lonely Place (1950)
20. Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)

Can also find the list written on a dollar in the sugar bowl.

Check the top!

[lemonski]

Case H:
Hit and Run (1957)
Hugo Haas, Cleo Moore, Vince Edwards
Dir: Hugo Haas

Director/actor/screenwriter Hugo Haas dredges up the old infidelity/rich husband/murder tropes you'd expect in a B noir but bundles them up with cleverness and a touch of humour that makes this a pretty enjoyable outing. Bit parts for Julie Mitchum (sister of Robert) and Dolores Reed, whose introduction into proceedings as a statuesque lion-tamer seems bizarre, until you read that she was romantically involved with the seemingly ill-suited Haas and even more bizarrely died of a morphine overdose after taking part in an armoured car robbery.

Much better than I expected

[kingdoxie]

Se7en ⭐⭐⭐⭐½

[u2popmofo]

[Dailyan]

#9 World for Ransom


One half noir and one half adventure film; Dan Duryea is an expat living in Singapore, working as a private eye, and gets caught up in a kidnap plot involving the British government. Although uncredited, this is Robert Aldrich's second film and would exhibit themes that would reappear in his later works such as "man trying to survive in a hostile world" and the toxicity of masculinity. While I have enjoyed Duryea in previous works ("Scarlet Street") I feel like he's not quite there to carry a film by himself but I still enjoyed him. The cinematography is easily the film's biggest strength and much of the style is very reminiscence, in my opinion, of the works of Samuel Fuller (it is no surprise that Joseph Biroc would later go on to collaborate with Fuller) such as having lengthy long takes (sometimes for a whole scene).

I will admit, I found the ending kind of disappointing but it's the type of ending I should of expected for an Aldrich. Some have claimed it planted the seeds for "Kiss Me Deadly" but I found the connection to be a bit tenuous at best. Not quite a hidden gem but it's probably one of the better "B" noirs I've watched thus far for this challenge.

#10 Cutter's Way

1/2

Taking a break from 40s/50s noir for something a bit "contemporary" (in comparison). The "serious" version of "The Big Lebowski" (I kid...slightly), "Cutter's Way" has gigolo Richard Bone witnessing the aftermath of a murder and his friend Alex Cutter believes a wealthy business owner did it. The cast, score, and atmosphere are great but the third act is a bit disjointed. Honestly, I get the impression that they didn't quite know how to end the film. Still, the film acts as a bit of swan song to the era of 70s-paranoia thrillers.

[bonehica]

Watched



Case Files:

#:
A: Address Unknown - 1944 (Menzies)
B: (A) Bullet is Waiting - 1954 (Farrow)
C: Crossfire - 1947 (Dmytryk)
D: Dark Passage - 1947 (Daves)
E: Elevator to the Gallows - 1958 (Malle)
F: Force of Evil - 1948 (Polonsky)
G: The Glass Key - 1942 (Heisler)
H: The Hitch-Hiker - 1953 (Lupino)
I: In a Lonely Place - 1950 (Ray)
J: Johnny O'Clock - 1947 (Rossen)
K: The Killing - 1956 (Kubrick)
L: Laura - 1944 (Premminger)
M: Ministry of Fear - 1944 (Lang)
N: Nightmare Alley - 1947 (Goulding)
O: On Dangerous Ground - 1951 (Ray)
P: Pitfall - 1948 (De Toth)
Q:
R:
S:
T:
U:
V:
W: Where the Sidewalk Ends - 1950 (Premminger)
X:
Y:
Z:

[Gwanum]

Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949) 1/2

[Travis]

Revolt In The Big House (1958) 1/2

Interesting that the femme fatale was just a photo. Entertaining flick.

[kingdoxie]

99 River Street ⭐⭐⭐⭐½

John Payne is an honest cabby/ex boxer who finds out his wife is cheating on him with a jewel thief. The climax takes place at...you guessed it...99 River Street, a waterfront dive bar.

This has quickly become one of my favorite film noirs and is currently in Kino Lorber's While Supplies Last Sale so it will be OOP at some point if you wanted to pick it up.

[odguitar]

Fallen Angel



Fun noir about a drifter caught in a love triangle that eventually leads to a murder. Dana Andrews is great here, but the real star is the cinematography, with some truly gorgeous shots and framing.

3.5/5

[odguitar]

Crossfire



The lesser known of the antisemitism pictures in 1947, Crossfire was a B-movie about a murder of a Jewish man by one of a group of servicemen home from the war. Three Roberts (Mitchum, Young, and Ryan) make up the main players here, and this straddles the line between noir and message picture to be a truly great B-movie.

4/5

[odguitar]

Thief



What a fantastic film. Mann's feature directorial debut has stunning performances from James Caan and Tuesday Weld at the top, all the way down the cast list. The cinematography is gorgeous, with nighttime shadows, neon lights, and reflections all mixing to create beautifully haunting noir imagery. And the Tangerine Dream score is to die for. Can't wait to add this to the collection.

5/5

[odguitar]

Devil in a Blue Dress



A great period neo-noir with Denzel Washington. Washington and Jennifer Beals have great chemistry, Cheadle steals the show whenever he appears, and the cinematography is gorgeous. I'd be interested to check out all the Easy Rawlins stories, and I wish we'd get more of his adventures on the big screen.

4.5/5