Word: noir
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...visceral piece of filmmaking. Kelley finds just the right tone to make what could have been the year's grossest cinematic moment, into something that's as disturbing as it is oddly poetic. But it is not representative of the film as a whole, which mixes elements of film noir and moralist western, with a hint of '50s teen angst. It is one of a few good scenes that connect both visually and emotionally in a convoluted, excessive jumble...
Amidst this maelstrom in New York arrives "L.A. Confidential," a sumptuous bit of film noir set in 1950's Los Angeles. The movie features a cast of crime lords, dope dealers, tabloid photographers, wife-beaters, crooked cops, movie stars, and prostitutes. Navigating this menagerie of colorful filth are three police detectives, Bud White, Jack Vincennes, and Ed Exley. As we watch them attempt to solve a mysterious mass murder, we unexpectedly gain insight into the recent tragedy in Brooklyn...
Hanson shoots L.A. as a land of shadows, borrowing judiciously from film noir past and present, whether through atmosphere or little tricks like light beams through bullet holes in a door a la "Blood Simple." Fortunately, unlike distant cousins like "The Usual Suspects" (which tortures us with things like cross-fades from coffee cups to cave mouths), it's all very bearable and, more importantly, very enjoyable...
...imitates life. Vincennes, the flashy, morally enigmatic cop in the new film noir L.A. Confidential, is played by renowned character actor Kevin Spacey. But finding out who the real Spacey is can also be a daunting task, especially when you're sitting next to him on a Beverly Hills hotel patio on a blistering summer afternoon. Spacey doesn't look like a movie star; with his soft, nondescript features, scruffy beard stubble and receding hairline, he could pass for the vacationing salesman at the next table. He doesn't talk like a star either--declining to gossip about the movie...
...kind of guys to do it with--tough, canny realists who can follow a tangled thread to daylight. Well, hmmm, daylight. There's not much of that in L.A. Confidential. It's a movie of shadows and half lights, the best approximation of the old black-and-white noir look anyone has yet managed on color stock. But it's no idle exercise in style. The film's look suggests how deep the tradition of police corruption runs. And that, paradoxically, makes it as outrageous (and outraging) as tomorrow's headlines will surely...