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Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Courtroom Drama


The American film institute defines a "courtroom drama" as a genre of film in which a system of justice plays a critical role in the film's narrative."

One of the best genre for drama is court room drama.  Thematic elements in film such as murder, betrayal, deception, perjury and sex are often featured with unexpected twists and surprise testimony as well as unusual motives and moral dilemmas. 

"Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939) 

When Jeff, an idealistic outsider, is appointed to the United States Senate, he soon realizes after getting blind-sided by high-ranking officials, that he will need to stand by himself in an inspired fight against corruption and greed.

This classic comedy-drama is considered by many to be Frank Capra's greatest achievement in film. James Stewart established himself as a leading actor with this film (the fifth film he made in 1939.)

This film won 1 oscar, another 4 wins and 12 nominations.

 


 

                                                       



 "Twelve Angry Men" (1957) 

Director:  Sidney Lumet

Stars:  Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Martin Balsam

Nominated for 3 oscars, another 16 wins, 9 nominations

 Plot:  A jury holdout attempts to prevent a miscarriage of justice by forcing colleagues to reconsider the evidence.

 

 

"The Rainmaker" (1997)  Director: Frances Ford Coppola   

Stars:  Matt Damon, Danny Devito, Claire Danes, Jon Voight,

An underdog lawyer takes on a fraudulent insurance company.

 Matt Damon won favorite actor - Drama and Danny Devito won Favorite Supporting Actor,  Jon Voight was recognized as best performance in a supporting role.  (see www.imbd.com for more cast members and awards.)

 

 

"Erin Brockovich" (2000)

Director:  Steven Soderbergh

Cast:  Julia Roberts, Albert Finney, David Brisbin, Dawn Didawick


 



 

 


 

 

 

Witness for the Prosecution (1957)

Director:  Billy Wilder   Writers:  Agatha Christie, Billy Wilder

Stars:  Tyrone Power,  Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton



Another brilliant work in the legendary career of Billy Wilder.  The director signs a cinematic adaptation of this Agatha Christie story and play.  We must not forget that Billy Wilder is European. He manages to keep the spirit of the film very British, with lots of humor and sarcasm. The dialogue is flawless and carries everything.





"Primal Fear" (1996)

  Directed by:  Gregory Hoblit

Starring:  Richard Gere, Edward Norton, John Mahoney, Laurie Linney

 "Primal Fear" is based on a novel by William Diehl



 Richard Gere plays an attorney who takes on a choir boy from Kentucky  (Edward Norton) who appears obviously guilty of murdering a Catholic Priest.  Richard Gere gives one of the best performances of his career according to Roger Ebert.  Edward Norton keeps us spell bound as Aaron the choir boy and the supporting actors give a first class performance.  



 

 

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Links for further study:

AMC                  http://www.filmsite.org

IMDB                http://www.imdb.com

CRITERION    http://www.criterion.com













Monday, January 21, 2019

Classic Film Noir and Neo-Noir



  What is all the social media buzz about film noir?

 What is the difference between film noir and neo-noir?

 How do I know if I am watching film noir?

In this article, I will attempt to answer these questions and give you some insight on the elements of film noir.

CLASSIC FILM NOIR (early 1940's to the late 1950's)

 

Humphrey Bogart was a major player of the Classic Film Noir Era. Humphrey DeForest Bogart, born December 25, 1899 was an American film and stage actor. He was in 75 feature films averaging a staggering 2 1/2 films per year for nearly 30 years. One of my favorite films with Bogart and Bacall is "Dark Passage" (1947) directed by:  Delmer Daves. With clever camera work, the audience does not see his face but only hears him talking the first part of the movie. Other famous Bogart films are:  "Casablanca" (1942) "The Maltese Falcon" (1941) "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1942)

 

What is the difference between Classic Film Noir and Modern Film Noir?     

Answer:  the dates they were filmed

Classic Film Noir:  early 1940's to the late 1950's

Neo or Modern film noir:  1973 until present


How do I determine if I am watching a noir movie?

The filming style of film noir is filled with shadows and night shots. There is always a female (femme fatale) involved.  She is not always out to kill or betray. She is the one who gets our hero off track.
 

"Double Indemnity" (1944) directed by Billy Wilder  Starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwick and Edward G. Robinson 

Plot:  An insurance investigator falls for a woman who talks him into a fraud scheme involving murder. Barbara Stanwick is a perfect femme fatale. I recommend this movie for your film noir "watch list." 

Film Noir usually involves murder, greed and jealousy! 

In these dark, shadowy films, you can't trust anyone. Something twists in the story. You will notice, the story takes its time, however, you don't realize the movie is doing this. The characters hang out and you get to know them. Someone seduces someone to do something wrong. A thriller, suspense or crime movie is not always a film noir. 

 

"Out of The Past"(1942) Directed by Jacques Tourneur  Starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas  

Another favorite of mine! 

A PI trying to escape his past is pulled back into a dangerous world by a crime boss and a double crossing dame. Jane Greer has that look! If you see this look on a dame, run!...she lures two strong men into a web that they can't seem to escape. 



 


 

 

 

                                                                                                 

 

"Neo-Noir" or "Modern Film Noir" (1973 to Present)

"LA Confidential" (1997) Directed by:  Curtis Hanson  Starring:  Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kim Bassinger

Plot:  Murder, justice and revenge haunt the lives of three policemen in this oscar winning modern film noir about 1950's LA and corruption on the police force. 

 

"Chinatown" (1974) Directed by: Roman Polanski   Starring Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston 

 

 

 

A private detective hired to expose an adulterer finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption and murder. Atmosphere and intrigue prevail as the story unfolds. I love it! A neo-noir film.

"The Player" (1992) Directed by:  Robert Altman Starring:  Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Fred Ward   Plot:  A Hollywood studio executive is being sent death threats by a writer whose script he rejected, but which one?

Robert Altman literally peaking through the windows of Hollywood captures the smooth talking executives and players of the Hollywood game of making motion pictures. (nominated for 3 oscars)

 

 

Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope you will enjoy studying film noir and neo-noir with the examples in this blog and info as you determine if you are watching film noir or a crime, suspense thriller.  Each student of film will have their own interpretation of them. Some movies almost fit. You can enjoy informative  conversations about this subject with film groups on social media especially Twitter.        Nelda



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 For more study:

IMDB                         http://www.imdb.org

CRITERION             http://www.criterion.com

ROGER EBERT       http://www.rogerebert.com

AMC                           http://www.filmsite.org

Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Villains in Suits II

"Bad Guys With Flair" who have criminal minds and practice manipulating others into their schemes. They often have the qualities that are admirable in business but have chosen to use their talents to advance themselves. 

This article is "Villains in Suits II." The first article is "Villains in Suits" where I include the films about Wall Street and other businesses. The slick, shark villains who lure people in. This a continuation of the first article.  View first article here:

 https://earthoceanfire.blogspot.com/2018/10/villains-in-suits.html

 

"True Romance" (1993) Directed by:  Tony Scott and Written by Quentin Tarantino  Starring:  Clarence Worley (Christian Slater) is a well-meaning but socially unskilled comic-shop clerk whose idea of a big night out is catching a Sonny Chiba triple-feature at a downtown grindhouse. He meets a girl called Alabama (Patricia Arquette) who is new to town and calls herself a hooker. She has been a hooker only a few days and Slater decides to get her away from her pimp. The director captures the magical innocence of these two lonely characters as they fall in love. The pimp part is played by Gary Oldman who calls himself Drexl. This character made an impression of me that I still remember as one of the scariest bad guys ever! Gary Oldman is the real thing and Tarantino's writing along with Tony Scott's directing creates a wild blend of action and dark comedy. This film reached theaters a year before Tarantino's hit "Pulp Fiction."  

 

 "The Strain" TV Series (2014-2017) Written by Guillermo del Torro and Chuck Hogan  Starring:  David Bradley, Corey Stoll, Kevin Durand, Richard Sammel

This film was created from a series of books written by Guillermo del Toro. The "bad guy" that impressed me the most was called Thomas Eichorst played by Richard Sammel.  

A mysterious viral outbreak of an ancient vampire like virus is taking over New York city. Sirtrachian (David Bradley) is a pawn shop owner who stubbornly is going to get to the bottom of this and stop it. 

Sirtrachian has a history with this bad guy. He was a prisoner during the holocaust and Thomas Eichorst was the Nazi General who presided over Sirtrachian's prison camp.

Now he is the right arm man at Stoneheart; presently is under cover as a well dressed business man. He lives forever. He has a secret...no spoilers! As the story unfolds, we are kept spell-bound as we find out secrets of the strogoi (vampires) and secrets of the characters. This director keeps his viewers interested and on their toes. He did not write the script strictly by the books but added new scenes and stories to keep the show fresh and the cast on their toes!  Never a dull moment!

The quality of this series is impressive. So many details in the story along with beautiful cinematography. This bad guy keeps you wondering what he is going to do.  I can't tell you any spoilers!                    View this on Amazon Prime.

 

Andrew Scott in "Sherlock" (2010) starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman

This series was truly a "labour of love" for the creators Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat. The making of Sherlock demonstrates how the team works together to update the stories to our modern time and keep their meaning.

Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character in some of the stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Moriarty is a criminal mastermind whom Holmes describes as the "Napoleon of crime." This character was invented to kill off Sherlock Holmes.

Andrew Scott is amazing and fun to watch as he matches wits with Sherlock. He leads him down some unfruitful pathways. Sherlock cannot resist his intellectual games.

   

  "The Walking Dead" (2010 - 2018) Creators:  Frank Darabont, Angela Kang

Stars:  Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride

 The Governor (David Morrisey) is one of the worst villains ever created. Full of charm, with a southern accent, this bad guy is responsible for several deaths of primary characters in this series.
The Governor is a fictional character from the comic book series "The Walking Dead", created by Robert Kirkman and made his debut in "The Walking Dead" #27 in April, 2006. The third season of the TV series he is going strong. Season 3 is one of my favorites as Philip's community seems to be flourishing when he finds Andrea and Michonne in the woods exhausted and tired from surviving on their own. of course he offers them a place at Woodbury. 
The Governor is a favorite among the fans. Philip (his characters name) loves being in charge and comes across as a cult leader. Smooth talking and convincing, he lures the survivors into his fold.



 

 

 

 

 I have to mention Merle played by Michael Rooker. Daryl's brother in the series. He is such a good actor. He throws himself into the character and is so interesting to watch. He has a bit of southern charm even though it is creepy. He kills, he tortures, he yells, he is the ultimate white trash bad guy. We  missed him terribly when his character was gone.  

 

 















"Cape Fear" (1991) Directed by:  Martin Scorsese   Starring:  Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lang, Juliette Lewis

De Niro plays convicted rapist Max Cady, recently released from prison after serving a fourteen-year sentence, and stalks the family of the lawyer Sam Bowden  (Nick Nolte) who defended him.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are" mocks Cady.
While in prison, Max  studied law. He knows how far to go in harassing Bowden. He goes as far as he can as this thriller
builds and builds. The dialogue is brilliant as Robert De Niro taunts this family and addresses the issue he has with his lawyer's poor defense. 

 I would like to see Robert De Niro play this role again!!



 "American Gods" (2017) TV Series  Creators:  Bryan Fuller, Michael Green 

Starring:  Ricky Whittle, Emily Browning, Pablo Schreiber, Ian McShane

Ian McShane is the character that got my attention.  From a lawless, foul-mouthed saloon owner in "Deadwood" to a tough, no-nonsense British gangster in "Sexy Beast", Ian has cornered the market on playing rogues, villains, and bad guys.  He was born September 29, 1942 in Lancashire, England, UK. 

Plot of this new series:  A recently released ex-convict named Shadow meets a mysterious man who calls himself "Wednesday" (Ian McShane) who knows more than he first seems to about Shadow's life and past. We find out there is more to "Wednesday" than we first were led to believe.  No Spoilers! 

This first season can be viewed on Stars. The second season is coming out in 2019 on Stars.

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope you have enjoyed this series of villains. Here is the list of these four blogs.  View them all. Your favorite "bad guy" could be in one of these articles. Nelda 

Villains in Suits

https://earthoceanfire.blogspot.com2018/10/villains-in-suits.html 

 Gangster Movies 2

https://earthoceanfire.blogspot.com/2018/09/gangster-movies-2.html 

Gangster Movies


https://earthoceanfire.blogspot.com/2018/08/gangster-movies.html



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Saturday, October 27, 2018

Villains in Suits

 

 

Villains in Suits

Charming, intelligent with greed behind their smile. "Wolves in sheep clothing" making a big impression and enjoying the finer things of life at others expense. Their victims don't see their bad intentions until its too late. These are the "villains in suits" that I will be talking about in this article. 


"The Big Kahuna" (2000) Director:  John Swanbeck  Starring: Kevin Spacey, Danny DeVito, Peter Facinelli

Two veteran salesmen dissect a sales pitch to a particular client, through their young protege.

Roger Ebert gave this one 3 1/2 stars. He comments, "There are two religions in America, one spiritual, one secular.  The first worships in churches, the second at business conventions. Clergy of both religions wear dark suits and ties (or roman collars).  They exchange a lot of business cards. "The Big Kahuna" is about an uneasy confrontation between these two systems of faith. 
The film mostly takes place within that one hotel room.  Yes. It is based on a play. I like that. I like the fact that it is mostly dialogue between three people on one set. That is the way to tell this story." Read more of Ebert's insightful review here

 

"Wall Street" (1987) Written and Directed by: Oliver Stone  Starring: Charlie Sheen, Michael Douglas, Martin Sheen, Daryl Hannah

"Greed is Good" is the motto of Gordon Gekko, (Michael Douglas), the "antihero" of Oliver Stone's Wall Street. Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen) pushes his way into Gekko's inner circle and quickly learns to "swim with the sharks"and incorporate their shady business practices. His ethics accidentally disappear.  

Based on knowledge of the stock market, as Olive Stone's father was a stock broker with 50 years in the business, we get a clear picture painted for us of this spiraling world of wall street high rollers and greed. 

 

"Daredevil" was the first of Marvel's superheroe series that was released to Netflix. The cinematography, acting and writing are top notch and addicting. The third season of "Daredevil" is where the villains rule.

The "bad guy" character that got my attention was Wilson Fisk played byVincent D'Onofrio. (see photo below) With a new image and a bald head, I did not recognize him! He nails this character as a spoiled, messed up child dressed up like a grown-up business man. D'Onofrio's acting  drew me into his world where it was fun to watch his celebration of "the good life" with material items such as his impressive collection of suits. Sensitive and bullish with cruel mobster ways, this character finds a love interest who is strange like him. The courtship is woven into the story showing his tender, kind side as he deals with his new love. All the while, he is cruel to his enemies destroying them like a human bull dozer. Read more about "Daredevil" and the other Marvel characters in my article called "Superheroes on TV" click here:
https://earthoceanfire.blogspot.com/2017/11/superheroes-on-tv.html
  





"American Psycho" (2000)

Director:  Mary Harron  Starring: Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto, Reese Witherspoon, Samantha Mathis, Chloe Sevigny

A wealthy New York City investment banking executive, Patrick Bateman, hides his psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends.  He is a wall street yuppie obsessed with success. He also is a psychotic killer who tapes murders and acts of cruelty that are senseless with no provocation.

Roger Ebert comments, " Most men are not chain-saw killers; they only act that way while doing business." Read more of Ebert's review here:

https;//www.rogerebert.com/reviews/american-psycho-2000 


"The Talented Mr. Ripley" (1999) Director: Anthony Minghella   Starring:  Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Cate Blanchett, Philip Seymour Hoffman

In late 1950's New York, Tom Ripley, is sent to Italy to retrieve Dickie Greenlead, a rich and spoiled millionaire playboy. The character Tom Ripley is the prime example of a villain in a suit. He studies handwriting and impersonations. He is a criminal who is talented at identity theft. 

"With Matt Damon's unsettling performance offering a darkly twisted counterpoint to Anthony Minghella's glossy direction, "The Talented Mr. Ripley" is a suspense thriller that lingers." Rotten Tomatoes Critics Consensus  

 

 "The Night Manager" 

Executive Producers:  John Le Carre, David Farr, Polly Hill, Simon Cornwell, Stephen Cornwell, Stephen Garrett, Susanne Bier

TV Series (2016-2018) A night manager of a Cairo hotel is recruited to infiltrate and arms dealer's inner circle. Starring:  Hugh Laurie, Tom Hiddleston, Elizabeth Debicki, Olivia Colman

"The Night Manager's smart writing and riveting story are elevated all the more by Hugh Laurie and Tom Hiddleston's captivating performances." - Rotten Tomatoes Critics Consensus

Hugh Laurie plays an intimidating, corrupt businessman who is in the business of secret arms trade.  Tom Hiddleston's hotel management training comes in handy when Laurie recruits him into his business. Together these two seems to have all the bases covered.    A series that you will want to watch over and over!

 

 "Boiler Room" (2000)

Director: Ben Younger  Starring: Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Nia Long

"The movie is the writing and directing debut of Ben Younger, a 29-year-old who says he interviewed a lot brokers while writing the screenplay.  I believe him.  The movie hums with authenticity, and knows a lot about the cultlike power of a company that promises to turn its trainees into millionaires, and certainly turns them into efficient phone salesmen." - Roger Ebert

Plot:  A college dropout, attempting to win back his father's high standards he gets a job as a broker for a suburban investment firm, which puts him on the fast track to success, but the job might not be as legitimate as it once appeared to be.

 

 

Thank you for visiting my blog. Add these movies to your watch list!  Stick around by following us and stay tuned for next blog. If you did not see your favorite bad guy in this article be sure and check these related blogs in this series!

Other related blogs in this 4 blog series are:

Villains in Suits II https://earthoceanfire.blogspot.com/2018/10/villiains-in-a-suits-ii.html

Gangster Movies http://earthoceanfire.blogspot.com/2018/09/gangster-movies-2.html  

Gangster Movies II http://earthoceanfire.blogspot.com/2018/09/gangster-movies-2.html

You can follow us here on blogger or on our websites.

Men's Jewelry Website http://www.earthoceanfirejewelry.com 

Women's Jewelry Website: http://www.earthoceanfirewomen.com   

For further study:

 

IMDB                    http://www.imdb.com

CRITERION        http://www.criterion.com

AMC                      http://www.filmsite.org

ROGEREBERT    http://www.rogerebert.com