Category: Crime

30 Things We Learned from Tarsem Singh’s “The Cell” Commentary

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Rob Hunter and Film School Rejects present 30 Things We Learned from Tarsem Singh’s The Cell  Commentary. 

I’ve always thought The Cell was an under-rated film.  Here’s three of my three favorite things learned…

5. Tarsem recalls when Vincent D’Onofrio arrived for lighting tests, “and he came in and he just got into character and he came out with that look, and mmm, just how he moved, how he breathed, his base, just so so perfect throughout.”

13. He recalls a problem with actress Tara Subkoff that bled into her appearance in the film. She was asked if she could swim, and after stumbling briefly she said yes adding “I’m a lifeguard.” Tarsem had already lost the actress he had wanted for the role, and they were nearing the shooting date, so he hired her. “You can lie to a certain extent when somebody says ‘are you a horse rider’ and say yes and then go learn it, but you don’t say you’re a jockey!” He says it ended up being a disaster because he ended up having to do long shots. “I feel no sympathy for the girl when she gets saved in the end, and you can tell because of how I covered her. I just could not get near her.” She couldn’t go in the water without holding her nose, and it resulted in time lost and mounting frustrations. By contrast, the girl playing the bleached corpse, Catherine Sutherland, was great, and he wishes he had switched the two.

15. Peter Sarsgaard makes an uncredited appearance in the film, and Tarsem says he wishes he had more for him to do. “That guy is a great actor.”

 

Free Preview of Gravedigger #1 by Chris Mills and Rick Burchett

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Long time readers will know how much I love the Gravedigger crime comics created by Chris Mills [writer] and Rick Burchett [artist].  Hard to believe I’ve been talking Gravedigger up for over a decade.

The great news is that Gravedigger is back in print and the first issue is available now.  If my hyping it hasn’t been enough to get you to spring for one of the best crime comics going, then maybe the preview of the first issue provided by TMStash will.

Before you click over, know that the comic contains explicit language and bad guy-on-bad guy violence.  Oh, and there’s a thug in there named Zablo but I’m sure any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

TMStash preview of Gravedigger #1.

10 Creepy, True Stories That Deserve Their Own TV Shows

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Nick Venable posted his choices for 10 Creepy, True Stories That Deserve Their Own TV Shows.  Venable makes some good suggestions and my favorite  is…

The Cleveland Torso Murderer
Given how incredible David Fincher’s Zodiac was, it seems only natural that more unsolved serial killer stories would have been made in the last few years. But somehow, the story of the Cleveland Torso Murderer – also known as the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run – has yet to make it to the small screen. (But definitely read Brian Michael Bendis’ graphic novel.) His lethal streak took place in the 1930s and included at least 12 victims (most of them unidentified), with all of them decapitated and many dismembered. Thus the nickname. Beyond being unsolved, the murders are remembered as one of the last cases that fell under former Untouchables investigator Eliot Ness, although he wasn’t heavily involved. NBC had plans to turn this into a miniseries back in 2013, but there hasn’t been any news about it since. HBO and Netflix are better homes for this gritty mystery anyway.

I read Bendis’ graphic novel and Max Allan Collins work about the subject and agree that The Cleveland Torso Murderers could make for interesting viewing.

The Best Opening Lines from Crime Novels

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Sam Wiebe and Eric Beetner got together to discuss some of their favorite crime novels’ opening lines.

It’s interesting reading and while we’re at it, here are three of my favs…

“They threw me off the hay truck about noon.”  – James M. Cain, The Postman Always Rings Twice

“I turned the Chrysler onto the Florida Turnpike with Rollo Kramer’s headless body in the trunk, and all the time I’m thinking I should have put some plastic down.”  – Victor Gischler, Gun Monkeys

 “I poisoned your drink.” – Duane Swierczynski, The Blonde

The Top Ten Detective Films of All Time

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Jandy Hardesty and Flickchart recently posted their choices for The Top Ten Detective Films of All Time.   Using just their list, here are my top three…

  1. The Maltese Falcon
  2. The Big Sleep
  3. Kiss Me Deadly

I’m sure some folks are wondering how I could have picked Kiss Me Deadly [or maybe even The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep] over Chinatown, but that’s how I’m feeling today.  Your mileage may differ.

John Ridley and “American Crime”

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I discovered John Ridley through his novels.  He’s an amazing writer.

Ridley is probably best known as the Oscar-winning screenwriter of 12 Years a Slave. 

Ridley is also the creative genius behind the series American Crime.  The series is unlike anything on television.  The emotions are so raw, so real, that it was hard to watch some episodes.  But I’m glad I did.  What a ride!

If you tuned in to the series or want to know more about it, why not check out Anna Lisa Raya’s interview with John Ridley?

Source: Deadline.

10 Times Art Imitates Life in Coppola’s “The Godfather”

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David Hunter and Flickchart The Blog present The Annotated Godfather: 10 Times Art Imitates Life in Coppola’s Classics.  Godfather fans and history buffs alike will enjoy this piece.

Here are three are my favorites [click over to the article for full details of each]…

1. “Make Him An Offer He Can’t Refuse”: Johnny Fontane and Frank Sinatra

2. “Jack Dempsey’s joint”: Crooks and Crooked Fighters

4. “I’ve loved baseball ever since…”: The 1919 World Series

 

7 Things We Learned About “Breaking Bad” from Vince Gilligan

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Jennifer M. Wood and Mental_Floss present 7 Things We Learned About Breaking Bad from Vince Gilligan’s AMA. Here are three of my favorites.

1. ON THE SET OF BREAKING BAD, BRYAN CRANSTON WOULD REGULARLY TELL AARON PAUL THAT JESSE PINKMAN WAS BEING KILLED OFF.

“He loved to tease Aaron Paul mercilessly,” explained Gilligan. “This came about after I told Aaron Paul early in the series that I had planned to kill off his character. From then on, every time a new script came out, Bryan would hurry to read it first so he could put on a sorrowful face and say to Aaron, ‘Gee buddy, I’m so sorry. You’re going out with a bang, at least.’ And Aaron, God bless him, seemed to fall for it every time.”

3. WALTER WHITE WAS THE HARDEST CHARACTER TO KILL OFF.

“I have to say the death of Walter White affected me the most,” admitted Gilligan, “because what it represented was the end of the story and the completion of this seven-year journey we had taken together—the cast, crew, writers and directors of Breaking Bad. That was the most affecting death to write. I actually teared up when I wrote it. I think a close second was the death of Mike Ehrmantraut.”

4. YOU MAY VERY WELL BE ABLE TO EAT AT LOS POLLOS HERMANOS IN THE NEAR FUTURE.

Gus Fring’s fictional chicken joint may become a nonfictional chicken joint. “Believe it or not, there is talk of a Pollos Hermanos becoming a real restaurant,” confirmed Gilligan. “This is not an idea that I generated personally. But it’s one that’s been presented to me, through the good folks at Sony, and the idea came to them from a businessman who has an interest in doing just that. Speaking for myself, I’d love to see that happen!”