Neo noir
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BLOOD AND WINE (Dir. Bob Rafelson, 1996, US)
* * In Bob Rafelson’s uneven neo noir tale, Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of a sleazy, violent thief was part of a peaceful nineties’ renaissance that saw him clocking up him a whole new repertoire of roles that were less about scope and more about endearing himself to new audiences. Blood and Wine is a minor Continue reading
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THE LAST RUN (Dir. Richard Fleischer, 1971, US)
* * * I must have TCM’s greatest hits on speed dial. Howard Hawks is probably a major link when it comes Michael Mann’s proletariat time obsessed professionals and potentially Melville’s polar films but George S Scott’s Harry Garmes, an ex-driver for organized crime and modelled on Bogart, seems to be a notable precursor to Continue reading
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THE LAUGHING POLICEMAN (Dir. Stuart Rosenberg, 1973, US)
* * * When a gunman opens fire on a late-night bus in San Francisco, establishing the idea of a killer on the loose in a city one would naturally assume this is going to be the first of many brutal public executions. I blame Siegel’s Dirty Harry (1971), which was released a few years, Continue reading
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THE OUTFIT (Dir. John Flynn, 1973, US) – ‘The Good Guys Always Win…
* * * * Flynn’s The Outfit, based on the prolific crime writer Donald Westlake, followed on the heels of Peckinpah’s The Getaway which was released a year before in 1972. In fact, if one was going to cite a key film in terms of attempting to contextualise a kind of cinematic lineage then it Continue reading
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SORCERER (Dir. William Friedkin, 1977, US)
* * * * William Friedkin’s 1977 remake of Cluzot’s The Wages of Fear is one of the most atmospheric Hollywood films of its era. Arguably Friedkin’s best film after The Exorcist, Sorcerer was for a very long time a footnote in the end of an era – the New Hollywood one, including films like Continue reading
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