Category: Crime

The Killer Inside Me (2010)

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The Killer Inside Me (2010)

Director:  Michael Winterbottom

Screenplay: John Curran based on the Jim Thompson novel

Stars: Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba, Ned Beatty, Simon Baker and Bill Pullman.


The Pitch: “Hey, let’s turn Jim Thompson’s noir classic into a movie.”

No Tagline

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Lou Ford [Affleck] is a mild-mannered small town Texas Deputy in the 1950’s.  Ford is also a psychopathic killer.  One murder leads to another and although the local DA begins to suspect Ford, witness keep ending up dead.

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Black Rain (1989) / Z-View

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Black Rain (1989)

Director: Ridley Scott

Screenplay: Craig Bolotin, Warren Lewis

Stars: Michael Douglas, Andy Garcia, Ken Takakura, Kate Capshaw, John Spencer and Luis Guzman.


The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make a movie with American cops caught up in a Japanese gang war.”

Tagline: An American Cop in Japan. Their country. Their laws. Their game. His rules.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

A detective [Douglas] under investigation for an ethics violation and his young clean cop friend [Garcia] accidently witness a Japanese gangland killing on US soil.  When they capture the Asian murderer, they are tasked with taking him back to Japan.  Once there they find themselves teamed with a straight-laced and uptight Japanese cop and in the middle of a gang war.

Michael Douglas in arguably his best role.  Andy Garcia is perfect as Douglas’ partner.   Ken Takakura is a joy.  Kate Capshaw has never been more attractive.  Yûsaku Matsuda as Sato is creepy evil.  And they’re all directed by Ridley Scott.  Black Rain is a winner!

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Crossfire (1947) / Z-View

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Crossfire (1947)

Director: Edward Dmytryk

Screenplay: John Paxton adapted from the novel by Richard Brooks

Stars: Robert Young, Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan and Gloria Grahame


The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make a novel based on the novel Crossfire.”

Tagline: Hate Is Like A Loaded Gun!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Homicide Detective Finlay [Young] investigates the murder of a man.  Evidence points to one of a group of soldiers on leave but something just doesn’t feel right…

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Knock Knock (2015) directed by Eli Roth, starring Keanu Reeves, Lorenza Izzo & Ana de Armas / Z-View

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Knock Knock (2015)

Director: Eli Roth

Screenplay: Eli Roth & Nicolás López & Guillermo Amoedo

Stars: Keanu Reeves, Lorenza Izzo, Ana de Armas, Aaron Burns and Colleen Camp.

Tagline: ONE NIGHT CAN COST YOU EVERYTHING

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Evan decides to stay home to get caught up on work while his wife and two young children take a weekend trip. Working late, Evan is surprised when two young women show up at his door.  They were dropped off for a party, had the wrong address and are soaked.  Evan calls a cab but it will be forty-five minutes.

He allows them to wait inside.  Despite his best efforts one thing leads to another and Evan learns that all is not what it seemed and “one night can cost you everything.”

Thoughts…

Knock Knock is a remake of Death Game (1977), which co-starred Colleen Camp and Sondra Locke.  Camp and Locke co-produced Knock Knock.  Colleen Camp also had a role in this remake.

Co-star Lorenza Izzo was Director Eli Roth’s wife at the time.  Keanu Reeves said this made  filming the nude scenes awkward.

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Mr. Majestyk (1974) / Z-View

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Mr. Majestyk (1974)

Director: Richard Fleischer

Screenplay: Elmore Leonard

Stars: Charles Bronson, Linda Cristal and Al Lettieri.

The Pitch: “Hey, Charles Bronson wants to be Mr. Majestyk!”

Tagline: He didn’t want to be hero… until the day they pushed him too far.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Vince Majestyk [Bronson] just wants to get his watermelon crop harvested.  When a run-in with a local hood lands him jail, Majestyk stops a hitman’s escape.  Now the hitman and the mob are out to kill Majestyk.

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15 Hardboiled Facts About “Cool Hand Luke”

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Roger Cormier and Mental_Floss present 15 Hardboiled Facts About Cool Hand Luke.  Here are three of my favorites…

1. IT WAS WRITTEN BY AN EX-CON.

While in the Merchant Marine, Donn Pearce was caught counterfeiting money and thrown in a French prison. He escaped, returned to the U.S., and became a safe-cracker. A waitress ratted him out and he spent two years on a prison road gang where he heard about a Luke Jackson—someone who was an excellent poker player, a banjo expert, and who had once eaten 50 boiled eggs for a bet. He wrote about him in his book Cool Hand Luke, which was published in 1965. Pearce sold the movie rights to Warner Bros. for $80,000, and got an additional $15,000 to write the screenplay.

But it was his first time trying to write a screenplay, and Frank Pierson was later hired to rework the draft. Pearce appeared in the movie as the convict Sailor and was the production’s technical adviser. He punched someone out on the final day on set and was not invited to the film premiere.

2. JACK LEMMON OR TELLY SAVALAS COULD HAVE PLAYED LUKE.

Jack Lemmon’s production company, Jalem Productions, produced the movie, so Lemmon had first dibs on playing the lead, but he recognized that he wasn’t right for the part. Telly Savalas was then cast as Luke, but he was in Europe filming The Dirty Dozen, and since he refused to fly, the production had to look elsewhere for the starring role to get started on time.

7. BETTE DAVIS WAS THE ORIGINAL CHOICE TO PLAY LUKE’S MOTHER.

Bette Davis turned down the chance to play Luke’s mother, Arletta, which was a one-scene role. It went to Jo Van Fleet (East of Eden) instead, even though she was only 11 years older than Newman. For her single day of shooting, Van Fleet sat on a tree stump, 200 yards from everyone else, looking over her lines. Harry Dean Stanton recalled that Van Fleet asked him to sing to her before her take, and it made her cry.

15 Intense Facts About “Cape Fear”

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Roger Cormier and Mental_Floss present 15 Intense Facts About Cape Fear.  Here are three of my favorites…

1. STEVEN SPIELBERG TRADED THE MOVIE TO MARTIN SCORSESE FOR THE RIGHTS TO SCHINDLER’S LIST.

Martin Scorsese was apprehensive about making Schindler’s List after the controversy surrounding his previous two films, Goodfellas and The Last Temptation of Christ. Steven Spielberg, on the other hand, said he “wasn’t in the mood” to make a movie about a “maniac.” So, once Scorsese promised Spielberg that the Bowdens would survive in the end, they traded. Spielberg had Bill Murray in mind to play Max Cady. Scorsese had other ideas.

4. IT COULD HAVE STARRED HARRISON FORD AND ROBERT DE NIRO.

Scorsese asked De Niro to ask Harrison Ford to play Sam. Ford told De Niro he would only be interested in working on the film if he played Cady and De Niro played Sam. De Niro said no to that.

6. REESE WITHERSPOON BLEW HER AUDITION TO PLAY DANIELLE. SO DID DREW BARRYMORE.

“It was my second audition ever,” Witherspoon said in 1999. “My agent told me I’d be meeting Martin Scorsese. I said, ‘Who is he?’ Then he mentioned the name Robert De Niro. I said, ‘Never heard of him.’ When I walked in I did recognize De Niro, and I just lost it. My hand was shaking and I was a blubbering idiot.”

Drew Barrymore auditioned for the role, too, but believed she overacted for one of Scorsese’s assistants. In 2000, she called the audition “the biggest disaster” of her life and said that Scorsese thinks she’s “dog doo-doo” because of it.

He Ran All the Way (1951) / Z-View

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He Ran All the Way (1951)

Director: John Berry

Screenplay: Dalton Trumbo and Hugo Butler based on the novel by Sam Ross

Stars: John Garfield, Shelley Winters and Wallace Ford.

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make a crime romance movie!”

Tagline: DYNAMITE hits the screen with their kind of love!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Nick Robey [Garfield] is a dumb, weak-willed middle-aged man living with his abusive, alcoholic mother.  Nick reluctantly joins in on a payroll heist that goes bad.  Nick’s partner and a cop are killed but Nick gets away with the cash.

Nick hides out at a swimming pool and meets Peg Dobbs [Winters].  She’s as stupid as Nick so you know she’s going to fall for him.  Nick walks her home and before long he’s hiding out in the family apartment.  The police are closing in and Nick’s not sure Peg really loves him.  What’s a fella to do?

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“Sicario” (2015) written by Taylor Sheridan, directed by Denis Villeneuve, starring Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin / Z-View

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Sicario (2015)

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Screenplay: Taylor Sheridan

Stars: Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro, Victor Garber, Jon Bernthal, Jeffrey Donovan, Raoul Max Trujillo, Julio Cesar Cedillo, Kevin Wiggins, Edgar Arreola, Dylan Kenin, John Trejo and Daniel Kaluuya

Tagline: The border is just another line to cross.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Kate Macer is an FBI agent recruited to join a US task force fighting the war on drugs along the Mexican border.  After joining Kate learns things aren’t as they seem and lines are being crossed that bring into question her ethics and place her life in danger.

Thoughts…

Sicario was nominated for three 2016 Academy Awards…

  • Nominee for Best Achievement in Sound Editing – Alan Robert Murray
  • Nominee for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score – Jóhann Jóhannsson
  • Nominee for Best Achievement in Cinematography – Roger Deakins

Sicario is one of the best movies I’ve seen in years.  Taylor Sheridan creates a smart screenplay with action, drama and a story that sticks with you.

Denis Villeneuve’s direction makes every scene interesting.  Everything in this movie works – the cinematography, the sound, and the actors are all perfectly cast.

Benicio Del Toro felt that in the original screenplay, his character spoke too much.  He approached director, Denis Villeneuve, with his concerns.  Villeneuve agreed and estimated that 90% of his dialogue was cut which made his character much more mysterious and interesting.

Villeneuve told the movie’s composer, Jóhann Jóhannsson, that he wanted the score to contain the sound of a “threat” like that found in Jaws.  Jóhannsson came through like gangbusters.

Sicario gets my highest recommendation.

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Born to Kill (1947) / Z-View

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Born to Kill (1947)

Director: Robert Wise

Screenplay: Eve Greene and Richard Macaulay based on the novel by James Gunn

Stars: Claire Trevor, Lawrence Tierney, Walter Slezak, Elisha Cook Jr., Isabel Jewell and Esther Howard

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s turn the novel Born to Kill into a movie!”

Tagline: THE COLDEST KILLER A WOMAN EVER LOVED!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

On the run from the coldblooded murder of a woman and her boyfriend, Sam [Tierney] meets two half-sisters.  Although attracted to Helen [Trevor], Sam puts the moves on Georgia since she has money.  She’s attracted to him and after a whirlwind romance they are married.

Sam still has eyes for Helen and she likes the idea of Georgia’s money.  A match made in hell, right?  Things become even more complicated when sleazy private eye, Arnett [Slezak] shows up.  Arnett knows Sam’s a murderer but is willing to take cash to go away.  More people are going to die when you’re dealing with a man who was born to kill.

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Detour (1945) / Z-View

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Detour (1945)

Director: Edgar G. Ulmer

Screenplay: Martin Goldsmith

Stars: Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Claudia Drake and Edmund MacDonald.

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make a low budget noir!”

Tagline: He went searching for love… but Fate forced a DETOUR to Revelry… Violence… Mystery!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Al Roberts [Neal] decides to hitchhike to Hollywood to join his girl.  When Roberts gets a ride from Charles Haskell [MacDonald] it appears Roberts is in luck.  Haskell is going all the way to Hollywood.  They take turns driving and it’s easy going until late at night on a deserted stretch of road that Roberts starts feeling tired.  He decides to wake up Haskell and have him drive.

Only Haskell won’t wake up!  He apparently died in his sleep.  When Roberts opens the car door Haskell falls out and hits his head.  Roberts panics.  Afraid that the cops won’t believe his story and will pin a murder on him, Roberts hides the body.  With no money, Roberts decides to take Haskell’s cash (he’s carrying quite a bit!) and driver’s license.  They look enough alike that Roberts believes he’ll fool anyone who questions him.  Once in Hollywood, Roberts will ditch the car, throw away the driver’s license and put this mess behind him.

And Roberts plan might have worked had he not picked up a woman hitchhiker named Vera [Savage].  She knew Haskell and threatens to go to the police unless Roberts does exactly what she wants.  Roberts is trapped with no way out unless…

 

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The Big Sleep (1946) directed by Howard Hawks, starring Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall / Z-View

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The Big Sleep (1946)

Director: Howard Hawks

Screenplay: William Faulkner & Leigh Brackett & Jules Furthman  based on the novel by Raymond Chandler

Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely, Martha Vickers, Dorothy Malone, Bob Steele and Elisha Cook, Jr.

Tagline: The Violence-Screen’s All-Time Rocker-Shocker!

The Plot…

Private Eye, Phillip Marlowe [Bogart] is hired by a rich old man to stop his daughter Carmen from being blackmailed for gambling debts.  The deeper Marlowe digs into the case the more seedy it becomes.  Soon enough Marlowe is trying to sort out how Carmen is involved not only in gambling, but also pornography, murder and more.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Bogart was married, but his affair with co-star Lauren Bacall was on-going during filming.  They were married three months after filming completed.

In the novel, the scene between Marlowe and the bookstore clerk was much tamer.  Although only 19 years old, Dorothy Malone’s “mature sexuality” caused Howard Hawks to film the scene implying Marlowe and the clerk were going to have sex.

The Big Sleep is a classic.

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