Word: noir
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CHALLENGES: Scott Phillips' novel was a twisty little small-town noir with a double whammy or triple-cross on every other page. Which is fine for a leisurely read, but at 24 frames a second--movie speed--that can cause whiplash. Not to mention total incomprehension. Plus the book had some gnarly violence, and it took place mostly in strip clubs. If the MPAA rated books, that one would have been...
...It’s a very free way to work.”HAZY GENRE BLENDINGThe starting point for the film was the script, written by Richard Russo and Robert Benton, and adapted from a Scott Phillips novel. It’s a nasty, biting little bugger, a film noir bejeweled with shards of sharp black comedy. Its seedy characters—linked together through mob ties—mingle aimlessly in squalid strip clubs and vast stretches of barren glacial suburbia. They’re all motivated by a common goal: escaping the tedium that lays thick all over...
...make a statement of a her rape; Charles’s life spirals increasingly out of control. Plus, his daughter has diabetes. Yes, they go there.The fault largely lies in Stuart Beattie’s script, which fails to capture any of the thrill or urban grit of his noir masterpiece “Collateral” or any of the wit and slap-dash charm of his “Pirates of the Caribbean.” The anatomy of the affair fails to intrigue the audience with its bland dialogue and the utter lack of chemistry between Owen...
...first intelligent buddy comedy. The directorial debut of Shane Black--the highest-paid screenwriter of the early to mid-'90s (Lethal Weapon, Last Action Hero), who hadn't worked in six years--Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang pairs Kilmer with Robert Downey Jr. in a very meta film-noir detective story in which the narrator is constantly interrupting to apologize for various film clichs. Kilmer plays Gay Perry, a private investigator who's gay and named Perry...
...Cambridge’s only independent theater often has special weekday themes, such as “Gay Tuesdays”—featuring movies about the gay community—or “Film Noir Mondays” for thriller-lovers. All these specials are sometimes topped with a critical essay about the featured movies distributed to the audience of this small intellectual oasis, or spiced up by the presence of writers and/or producers...