Category: Crime

“Murder, My Sweet” (1944) starring Dick Powell / Z-View

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Murder, My Sweet (1944)

Director: Edward Dmytryk

Screenplay: John Paxton based on the novel by Raymond Chandler

Stars: Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, Anne Shirley, Otto Kruger and Mike Mazurki

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s turn Farewell, My Lovely into a movie!”

Tagline: An Original Philip Marlowe Mystery

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Private Eye, Phillip Marlowe (Powell) is convinced by Moose Malloy (Mazurki), a hulking, dense, ex-con to find his girl Velma.  Trouble is Velma hasn’t been seen for six years.  Marlowe’s digging puts him in the middle of bribery, theft and murder.

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The Blue Gardenia (1953)

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The Blue Gardenia (1953)

Director: Fritz Lang

Screenplay: Charles Hoffman

Stars: Anne Baxter, Richard Conte, Ann Sothern, Raymond Burr, George Reeves and Nat “King” Cole

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make a murder mystery with Anne Baxter!”

Tagline: There was nothing lily-white about her!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Norah Larkin (Baxter) is on the rebound having just learned (on her birthday of all days!) that her fiance is leaving her for another woman.  When a man she just met offers to take her to dinner, she accepts.  He proceeds to get her drunk at his apartment and starts to take advantage of her.  When she attempts to leave, they struggle, she hits him with a poker and passes out as well.  She awakens to find him dead.  She quickly leaves believing she’s killed him.

Soon she is the subject of a police hunt… but what she really the murderess?

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Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)

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Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)

Director: John Sturges

Screenplay: Millard Kaufman

Stars: Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis, Dean Jagger, Walter Brennan, Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin.

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s send a one-armed Spencer Tracey into a remote town that wants him dead!”

Tagline: Suddenly you realize murder is at your elbow! – and there’s no way out!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

World War II veteran shows up in the remote town of Black Rock for unknown purposes.  The people of the town want him to move on and when he refuses, he puts his life at risk.  What are the town folk hiding?

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White Heat (1949)

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White Heat (1949)

Director: Raoul Walsh

Screenplay: Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts from a story by Virginia Kellogg

Stars: James Cagney, Virginia Mayo and Edmond O’Brien

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s get Cagney back as a gangster!”

Tagline: James Cagney Is Red Hot In “White Heat”!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Psychotic and sadistic gang leader Cody Jarrett leads his gang on a crime frenzy.  When an undercover cop infiltrates the gang, it is just a matter of time until one of them is dead.

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Witness (1985)

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Witness (1985)

Director: Peter Weir

Screenplay: Earl W. Wallace & William Kelley

Stars: Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis, Lukas Haas, Alexander Godunov, Danny Glover and Viggo Mortensen.

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s have an Amish boy be a fish out of water in the big city – he’ll be the sole witness to a murder.  We’ll then send the big city cop to Amish country to protect the kid and he’ll be the stranger in a strange land! Let’s do it!”

Tagline: Harrison Ford is John Book – A big city cop who knows too much. His only evidence: a small boy who’s seen too much…

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Samuel, a small Amish boy in the big city for the first time, is the sole witness to a murder.  Detective John Book comes to realize that the murder Samuel witnessed is the key to a much bigger corruption.

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“12 Angry Men” (1957)

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12 Angry Men (1957)

Director: Sidney Lumet

Screenplay: Reginald Rose

Stars: Martin Balsam, Lee J. Cobb Lee, E.G. Marshall, Jack Klugman, Edward Binns, Jack Warden, Henry Fonda, Joseph Sweeney, Ed Begley, George Voskovec and Robert Webber.

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s turn ’12 Angry Men’ into a movie!”

Tagline: Life Is In Their Hands — Death Is On Their Minds!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

A jury moves into the deliberation room to decide the fate of a young man accused of first degree murder.  It appears open and shut until one of the jurors demands that they discuss the case and introduces a small reason for doubt.  Tensions mount as the jurors decide the fate of a man’s life.

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The Best Twist Endings in Movies that We Never Saw Coming

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Gem Seddon and GamesRadar present The Best Twist Endings in Movies that We Never Saw Coming.  The list is a great one and it was hard to just come up with three for my favorites.  Beware of spoilers!

14. Primal Fear (1996)

The movie: In the dock for a grisly murder, altar boy Aaron Stampler (Edward Norton in his first-ever role) pleads diminished responsibility on account of his split personality, a condition that causes him to veer between stammering innocent and twisted killer. That’s alright though, he’s got defense attorney Martin Vail (Richard Gere) to help him achieve justice…

What’s the twist? Once his lawyer has got him off the hook, Stampler reveals that the innocent side of his personality was mere performance. There is no “Roy”: he’s a killer to the core.

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16. Shutter Island (2010)

The movie: US Marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) is despatched along with his partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) to Ashcliffe, an isolated psychiatric facility on Shutter Island. The pair are tasked with investigating a murderer who has seemingly vanished without a trace from within its walls…

What’s the twist? Surprise! Teddy’s not an agent – he’s actually Andrew Laeddis – a convicted killer who murdered his wife after she murdered their three children. Yeah, not a happy twist, this one.

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3. Se7en (1995)

The movie: Having worked his way through five of the seven deadly sins, serial killer John Doe (Kevin Spacey) inexplicably turns himself in to detectives Mills (Brad Pitt) and Somerset (Morgan Freeman), promising to show them where the last two bodies are hidden. As the trio reach the wasteland Doe has led them to, a delivery van arrives to bring them a package.

What’s the twist? The package contains the severed head of Detective Mills’ wife. Consumed by jealousy of the investigator’s happy home life, Doe becomes envy and kills Tracy. Mills then becomes wrath, shoots Doe in the head, and completes the madman’s sick master plan.

Extraction (2015)

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Extraction (2015)

Director: Steven C. Miller

Screenplay: Max Adams and Umair Aleem

Stars: Bruce Willis, Kellan Lutz, Gina Carano and D.B. Sweeney

The Pitch: “Hey, I can get Bruce Willis for a day, let’s make a movie!”

Tagline: Vengeance runs in the family..

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Bruce Willis plays a veteran CIA field agent. Lutz is his son who desperately wants to follow in dad’s footsteps, but is instead kept in an office.  When Willis goes missing while on a mission, Lutz leaves the office to rescue him.

I was hoping for a lot more from Extraction.  Miller is a good director.  Lutz has star potential.  Carano has proven she can carry a film (Haywire).  Yet Extraction falls short of the potential that they bring.

I didn’t include Willis in the equation, because Extraction is just another film that he appears in.  Although getting top billing, Willis reportedly filmed all of his scenes in one day and other than name recognition, doesn’t bring anything special to the role.  I’m a Bruce Willis fan and look forward to the next project that really excites him.  Extraction wasn’t it.

 

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Frank Miller’s Sin City TV Series One Step Closer to Reality

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Deadline is reporting that a Frank Miller’s Sin City tv series is closer to becoming a reality.

…Glen Mazzara, the showrunner whose resume includes The Shield, The Walking Dead and The Omen…

…would take over the writing chores with  Len (Luficer) Wiseman set to direct.

If this comes to pass on a network like AMC, or FX or one of the other networks that’s not afraid to make Sin City without wholesale changes, then I’m all over it.  Bet you are too.

Close Range (2015)

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Close Range (2015)

Director: Isaac Florentine

Screenplay: Chad Law and Shane Dax Taylor

Stars:Scott Adkins, Nick Chinlund, Caitlin Keats and Jake La Botz

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make a Scott Adkins action movie!”

Tagline: Colton MacReady…is coming home.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

 

When Colton MacReady (Adkins) learns that his shady brother-in-law has endangered MacReady’s sister and niece, it’s up to him to save them.

If you’re after an action-packed movie starring Scott Adkins, you’re going to be happy with Close Range.

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