Film Noir

Recently I have been watching a lot of the sub genre film noir. Basically film noir involves certain lighting techniques, but the term also encompases dark subject matters with crime and gangsters, private detectives etc. The past two films that I have watched have been "Le Cercle Rouge" and "Blast of Silence". Both films are well made under their circumstances. "Le Cercle Rouge" is a high caliber French heist film with a great script, actors, cinematography, and soundtrack. Written and Directed by one of the masters of the French New Wave Jean Pierre Melville his style and genius shines throughout the film. The characters in it are cooler than cool particularly Alain Delon as Corey. Another great performance comes from Gian Maria Volonte, who played the major villians in the first two Man With No Name films (A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More). The theme of everyone coming together in "The Red Circle" (Le Cercle Rouge) by chance more than once is an amusing concept. "Blast of Silence" on the other hand obviously deals with a lower budget but was written, directed, and acted by Allen Baron. For 1961 this film is very impressive. The story is very dark for its time and their is a really great jazz soundtrack. The setting of Harlem is also quite stunning to see in all of its 1960's glory. Allen Baron really delivers on all three major levels in this film ... it is not one to miss for film noir fans!

LE CERCLE ROUGE (bande-annonce)
Uploaded by ludosan13

Taken

I just saw Taken last night and it was great! What a breath of fresh air after all of these overly serious dramatic films released this Oscar season (although most are very good and worth watching). Taken stars Liam Neeson in what I believe is his first major role in an action film. But seeing the film you would think he has been an amazing action star his whole career. Taken is directed by Pierre Morel of District B13 previously. Essentially he makes films because he is a talented director but he is also very good friends with the writer of the film Luc Besson, who is an outstanding and pretty well known French director of films such as La Femme Nikita and Leon: The Professional. The action is unstopping and relentless and you are rooting for Liam Neesons character Bryan all the way on his search for his daughter. Sure the plot has some holes and its pretty far fetched in general but this movie hasn't been made to pull at your heart strings like The Reader its made to blow your fucking brains out!(and that is exactly what Liam Neeson does to a couple hundred people). There is a well directed chase sequence through a construction site, some really great firefights, and outstanding hand to hand combat. But again I will warn you that this movies plot is nothing new or special, but the action and Liam Neesons performance make it worth watching at least twice. I watched it for the second time today after I downloaded the Extended Harder Cut which European countries gave an R rating over the U.S. cut which is PG-13. It really just adds to the action and is more violent but only clocks in at about 3 extra minutes of footage spread out over quite a few scenes.
Overall, I would probably give this movie a 7/10 if I rated it on a normal scale ... but since it is an action film that I feel quiet strongly about and entertained me to the highest level I give Taken a 9/10.

The Oscars

The Oscars were absolutely terrible this year! What is the Academy thinking? Slumdog Millionaire is easily one of the most overrated films of the year and it swept all of the major awards. Sean Penn (who is great) won best actor for Milk (which he deserved) but I was really rooting for Mickey Rourke. It was nice too see that he summed up his acceptance speech with a shout out of Mickey. Wolverine as the host was alright, the only thing I really laughed at was the song for The Reader. Probably the best part of the night was the Judd Apatow produced short starring Seth Rogen and James Franco which was pretty funny. Hopefully next years Oscars will be better.

Oscar Nominations

Oh my god am I glad to see this years Oscar Nominations. The Dark Knight was completely snubbed, which I think it should have been because it is not an Academy worthy film. The Reader picked up a couple of nominations (which is good), but I was surprised by the lack of nominations for Doubt and The Wrestler. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button picked up I believe somewhere around 13 nominations which is exciting, because perhaps David Fincher will finally get the recognition he deserves, atlhough it was not his best film. I will be tuning in this year as I do every year and hopefully Slumdog Millionaire will not sweep the awards.

Zodiac

So I finally got around to seeing Zodiac. This is a film that I blindly purchased when it was on sale about 6 months ago and never had the time to invest in it (considering it is 157 mins. long). All I can say is that while I was watching this film I was in pure awe. From the production design, to the great cast, to the amazing story that is actually true, and the screenplay that comes from the main characters actual book and account of the events. Zodiac is a film experience, and to be perfectly honest with you I think it is David Fincher's best film. This is hard for me to say since I am a big fan of David Fincher and love most of his films and consider them modern classics (Se7en, The Game, Fight Club).
Jack Gyllenhall is fantastic as the main character Robert Graysmith. He is a cartoonist for the San Fransisco Chronicle and once the letters from the Zodiac start rolling in he slowly becomes obsessed with the case. Likewise, an outstanding Robert Downey Jr. who is a reporter for the San Fransisco Chronicle becomes obsessed with the case but through substance abuse fades out of his job and his passion for the case. The last main character Inspector David Toschi, is also very well acted by Mark Ruffalo. The way these three characters indivdually handle the case is a great character study and insight into three professionals lives.
The film also has a great soundtrack. It is very fitting for the time period being mainly from 1968 to about ten years later in 1978. Also, for its era the production design is outstanding. From the clothing, to the cars, to the buildings, it is all a very interesting look at the era and it really brings you into the story. If you have read my previous reviews for films particularily Revolutionary Road you know I am a sucker for production design and David Fincher scores big points here.
Overall, If a film approaches 3 hours and keeps me completely sucked in the entire time it counts as one of the greater films I have ever seen, and over time will probably become a favorite of mine.
My score for this film 10/10

Golden Globes

This has been the first year that I have ever bothered watching the Golden Globes. I think that for the most part they are nowhere near as important as the Oscars. But for my first time I was pleased with most of the awards that were given out. Especially Mickey Rourke's win for Best Actor in The Wrestler along with Bruce Springsteen's win for the song "The Wrestler". I was also pleased with Kate Winslet's win for Best Actress in Revolutionary Road, but was not pleased with Slumdog Millionaire sweeping the shows awards because looking back I feel Revolutionary Road and Doubt were more realistic and better films overall. Heath Ledger won Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Dark Knight, although I feel that if he was still alive it would have gone to Phillip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt (which he totally deserved). Anyways, now I am pumped for the Oscars and hopefully this time around Doubt and Revolutionary Road will be larger contenders.

Gran Torino

So tonight I saw Clint Eastwood's new film Gran Torino for the first time in theatres. I previously saw a bootleg screener copy of it and watched it on my computer feeling so so about it. Now that I have seen it on the big screen I feel a little different about it. I still feel that Tao the young Asian boys acting was poor/over the top in some cases, and really ruined some scenes for me. I also did not enjoy the ending on the first time around but after this last viewing I have grown to except it. Eastwood at 78 years old is still a powerhouse in the film industry, pumping out two films this year (Gran Torino and one of my favorites of the year Changeling). I have to give him props for being so involved in his productions on every level and just being shy of 80 years old. He still puts out films that are better than most at an age that most people are out of commission. So overall, Gran Torino has a great performance from Eastwood, and some memorable scenes and themes.

My rating for this film 7/10