Reviews

I saw this movie 17 years ago as a ten year old in the theater and saw it again for the first time since then last night on a TV movie channel. I have to say I'm almost ashamed that I forgot what a great movie this was...what a great movie it still is. The film contains parts very competently played by the then relatively un-knowns John Malkovic, Joey "Pants" and Ben Stiller. The lead was played, and very well done at that, by a then young actor Christian Bales (sp?). The acting in this movie is fantastic and the story line is is as rich as any other of the best movies I've seen. Following the trials and tribulations of a child from an affluent family separated from his parents in China after the Japanese invasion. This movie will make you angry, it will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will frustrate the living daylights out of you and in the end you'll feel warm and fuzzy: but the hollow kind of warm and fuzzy that only comes after a very harrowing experience. If you don't like war movies don't worry!!! When you watch this film you'll see it's not as much of a war movie as it is a story of survival and the brutal realities of life when the world has been turned upside down. The movie really spoke to me partially b/c I was a young kid when I first saw it and the main character is also a young man. However, this movie also spoke to me on a much different, deeper level. Ever since I was child I was always fortunate/blessed enough to have my family along with everything I needed and most of what I wanted. This movie depicts what happens when all of those familiar things and creature comforts are taken away...it makes you ask yourself: What would I do in this situation? How would I react? A fantastic movie for almost all ages!!!

I viewed The Street With No Name for the first time in a long time last night and it was as exciting as the first time I watched it---What a great movie! Based on real FBI files and shot on location where possible: Awesome!!! It's an early Donnie Brosco with a very dark, wonderful twist. The movie is a statement on corruption and just how hot it can get for the person/people trying to bring down a very powerful, influential criminal gang of thugs. While the movie does play on the "good guys not being so good" element of film noir, the genre as a whole is just as much about how the movie is shot as it is about characters, and how this movie was shot is where this film falls short of being film noir. While the movie is a very dark crime movie and a lot of the scenes are filmed outdoors on rainy nights, the movie merely gives a nod to the lighting/shadowing aspects of film noir as there are quite a few day scenes and/or scenes that are shot in very well lit rooms (i.e. the boxing gym, the FBI offices, etc.). Furthermore, getting back to characters, this movie is missing one key element if it is to be considered film noir...Aside from the lighting, how women are portrayed in this film also causes it to fall far short of film noir: I won't give up the details, but watch the movie and you'll see what I mean if you know about the roll a woman should play in a noir film. Finally, Although I liked his part in The Kiss Of Death a little more---boy was he evil in that movie--- Richard Widmark does a great job in this, one of his earlier films, and the rest of the actors do a very competent job in playing their parts as well. An 8-8.5 in my book: A great movie, but i don't know if it should be considered film noir.

The Killing has pretty much everything a dark crime movie should have: Evil dames (aka black widows), good guys who aren't so good and a twisting plot that revolves around a big criminal heist. Sterling Hayden, an often overlooked actor who was only nominated for one award his entire career (a BAFTA award nomination for Best Foreign Actor), does an excellent job in this film in every facet of his acting...from his spoken lines right down to his body language and facial expressions. Indeed, Mr. Hayden was so much more than the corrupt Police Captain McKlusky from The Godfather, a role he's almost always associated with...He was so much more of an actor than that and this movie proves it>>>His career spanned 5 decades!!! Also, I'm not quite certain and I'd appreciate some feedback on this, but it has to be one of the first movies whose chronology has been re-arranged and the story is told out of its natural order; Much like a Pulp Fiction. I won't give up any of the details, but in telling the story out of its natural order Kubrick twists the viewers guts in anticipation: It's torture after a while....Every time the viewer thinks the climax is on its way the movie back tracks again and again!!! The affect this creates is incredible: it fills the viewer with anxiety and keeps him/her truly on the edge of their his/her seat. A great crime movie...a very dark movie...I loved it so much I never want to see it again!!! A+ on the gut twisting scale.

If you love Noir the Maltese Falcon is THE MOVIE---A Perfect 10 in my book!!! From sinister bad guys, to black widows and "good guys" who fall more into the gray than the black and white and play on both sides of the law, the Maltese Falcon has it all!!! In terms of how the movie was filmed: Is there a better setting than foggy San Francisco to have as a backdrop for a dark crime movie? Most scenes are filmed at night and those filmed during the day are always filmed inside with particular attention paid to lighting and shadows. Even the sets are perfect; Scenes filmed indoors are almost always set in in hotels or stuffy apartments filled w/ over cushioned, ornate furniture. Throw the cast of characters into the mix and the sets somehow add to the sinister nature of the movie as a whole. From greed to lust the movie touches on quite a few of the "Seven Deadlies" and it delves into the darkest things people will do when they find themselves between a rock and a hard place. A fantastic film that is everything a movie from the film noir genre should be.