All you need to know about Manhattan culture and so much more...
The Subway. It’s not the Underground. It’s not the Metro. And it’s not just any ordinary train ride in New York City. It can be stinky, crowded, noisy, sweltering hot or all of the above at any one time. Ask any New Yorker and you will probably get just as many that hate it, as love it. Since its inception in 1869, its hundreds of miles of tracks have stretched under the city like a web of veins carrying the people, who are the life blood of New York.
DJ Tristan Jaxx is a man of many hats as you might say. The uber-talented and handsome DJ residing in San Fransisco has developed quite a name for himself in the SOMA area amongst others as well. Recently named one of the top ten DJ’s to watch, he is taking 2013 by storm by working at some of the biggest events of the year including Folsom and so much more. He recently took time to sit and talk with me about his professional experiences and where he sees himself going in the future. Take a look. [Read more…] about DJ Tristan Jaxx- Taking San Fran and the world by storm
Similar Artists: Radiohead, Thom Yorke
Genre: Experimental Techno
Label: XL
Ever since Kid A, Thom Yorke has been obsessed with electronic takeover in music. This guy is a true EDM aficionado, and he has been leaning in the direction of going full on techno in different ways through his career. Through his many reincarnations, what has always kept us intrigued is the fact that Thom’s music sounds little-to-nothing like the artists he states as his inspiration. During the Kid A period, his main influences were Warp Records’ flagship acts Aphex Twin and Autechre, but in all seriousness, if his goal was to sound like either of those acts I would have to say he failed. Nowadays, he hangs out with state-of-the-art producers such as Flying Lotus and Four Tet, and although Thom seems to think he is making music of a similar vein, this new release won’t remind you of those artists in the slightest.
This is an artist whose work truly exists beyond influence. Analyzing why an artist is original can drive a critic mad, but I have always felt Thom’s uniqueness is spurred by a factor outside of his wild imagination and occasional mental instability. After years of being Radiohead’s biggest fan, I have become convinced that Thom has a skewed perception of reality that causes the waves and frequencies of music to reach him on an entirely different level. Everyone hears music in a slightly tweaked fashion; but quite simply, Thom must hear music in a much different way than everyone else. This may be the most apparent when he is describing his own music, in which he seems to think is straight up pop rather than anything alternative. I attribute this skewed perception to the cause of his self-image issues in the past, as well as the reason why it can take the band 4+ years to release new material. I’ve gotten a tad bit off topic, but regardless of whatever crises have affected Thom in the past, his love affair with abstract techno has finally come full circle, and he sounds as confident in his surroundings as he ever has been.
It is truly a wonder how the members of Radiohead haven’t cracked under pressure and disbanded countless times by now. Due to the band constantly topping and reinventing themselves for 20 years, each release is marked by exceptionally high expectations. People don’t just want a new Radiohead release to be good, they want it to be their best yet. This makes it easy to understand why Thom would need to occasionally distance himself from his longtime band mates. Being overly serious in the music making process can lead to disastrous effect, so it seems healthy that Thom takes a load off by involving himself in solo/side projects every now and then. Unfortunately for him though, people seem to set the same ridiculously high expectations in whatever environment Thom is in.
Although he has joined with some friends for the making of this album, “Amok” should be seen as “The Eraser pt. 2”. The band name is borrowed from that album, but it certainly isn’t the only thing. There are some borrowed chord sequences which might prompt a passerby to believe he was listening to an Eraser remix album instead of an entirely new set of songs. Similarly, before uniting to become “Atoms for Peace”, the other 4 musicians who took their part in this album, (Joey Waronker, Flea, Mauro Refosco and the indispensible Nigel Godrich) were called forth to create live renditions of tracks from “The Eraser”. Needless to say, this album was birthed into being through the conception of full band arrangements based on “Eraser” compositions. It’s a continuation upon that style for sure, but the expansion in terms of depth and integrity are absolutely appreciated.
Although Amok isn’t a complete reinvention of style from Thom’s previous solo outing, that doesn’t mean there aren’t differences between the two albums. In some ways, Amok is the least Radiohead sounding project Thom has worked on. Gone are what one might call “Radiohead moments”. An example of one of these moments would be the last two minutes of “All I Need” or “Karma Police” where the song branches off unexpectedly and we are greeted to an entirely new musical style. Even The Eraser had moments such as this; albeit on a smaller scale. There are no major chord/tempo changes mid song to claw at you for attention, so those of you who only listen to Radiohead for these sections will not find much enjoyment here (you will probably enjoy Coldplay a whole lot more anyway).
These tracks are indebted to experimental techno as they revolve around key chords that rotate and mesh for the entirety of the song. The highlights are always in the subtleties, so the album will certainly leave a few dry on the first listen or so. Originally, I was even hesitant to call these pieces “songs” due to a meandering flatness that was permeating them, but after some time, they rise off of their surface to form into full bodied compositions. Despite me labeling this as a solo album, each member’s role is audible. While some have complained that this album fails to make use of its musician’s true talents, the music never would have worked with Flea’s slap-tastic bass lines covering the atmospherics. We are seeing a different side to these musicians, and it is what prevents Atoms for Peace from falling into common “supergroup” clichés.
Amok was recorded in a mere 3 day session; Thom and Nigel spent the remaining countless hours analyzing the material and organizing it into compact pieces. Seen as one of the best living producers, this album’s production is certainly befitting to Nigel’s name. Listening to this on a pair of good headphones is an experience not to be missed. Hearing the splices of vocal samples layered between muted bass, gorgeous keyboards and the tinkering of meticulous drum programming is awe-inspiring and calls me back time and time again. Oh yeah, and in case I didn’t mention it, Thom’s voice is excellent here as well. The King of Limbs saw him going down a more challenging, yet assured path with his vocal delivery, and here he travels down a similar trajectory. So this is a good, often great album, but those looking for the same pleasures that a Radiohead album holds will be disappointed, but like I said earlier, maybe those weren’t true fans to begin with…
Track Listing:
1.) Before Your Very Eyes…
2.) Default*
3.) Ingenue*
4.) Dropped
5.) Unless
6.) Stuck Together Pieces
7.) Judge Jury & Executioner*
8.) Reverse Running*
9.) Amok
* – Album Highlight
I have had the utmost pleasure of getting to know Timothy de Iturriaga, the charismatic and beyond friendly head guy in charge of the Adonis Lounge over the past couple of months. Heck, I even did a really great interview a little while back to get a better understanding of what this man is all about. Adonis is the number one place in the world to come see some of the best looking men in outfits like the one pictured above. It goes beyond the aesthetic as they all go out of their way to treat each customer with respect and get to know them on a much better level, hence why this event has become even bigger throughout its four year stint.
Now, Tim has elevated it to a whole other level by opening at a brand new venue. It’s new location will be at 22 West 39th Street between 5th and 6th avenue. The grand opening will be this Saturday night starting at 9. I got to see a preview of what it looks like yesterday, and the one word that really comes to mind with it is SPACE. It has a really great atmosphere and you can tell the whole venue is going to be packed on Saturday night with hot guys, big fans, newcomers and above all everyone having a great time.
I sat down with Tim to talk about the new venue and his hopes for the future with it.
How excited are you for the new venue?
“I am very excited. It’s been quite a progression from where we started as a once monthy event in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. It was a small little show, more like an after-thought as no one in the gay community really knew who we were. Then we got a chance to come to Manhattan and work on 58th Street. It got to the point where we needed a club with more space and we found the right venue for that. So this is definitely an exciting venture for me and the team.”
“When we went to the old venue on 58th it was great, but in the past couple of years things have really expanded. We have doubled our numbers so a venue like that because difficult to hold an event due to overcrowding and whatnot. They are great there, nothing wrong with them whatsoever. They gave us an opportunity for which I am forever grateful for. They took a chance on us and I greatly appreciate it, but now I feel its time to try something new and see what happens.
Will the pricing change now that you are at this new venue?
“Not at all. It is still a ten dollar charge to get in and the other aspects of the lap dances and champagne rooms are still in check. That’s an important aspect to remember. Usually when people go to a larger venue the price also goes up, but it is still the same.”
Who can we expect at the event on Saturday?
“We have so many people from Randy Blue’s Angel Diablo to 2012 Escort of the Year Vito Gallo. 40 plus dancers will fill the atmosphere, so there is at least one person to each and everyone’s liking”.
Go and check the event out on Saturday and be apart of one of the best M4M experiences, if not the best, in the world.
Adonis Lounge
22 West 39th Street
9pm-4am
I have discussed in past articles why Scruff on a man is really essential in the first place. Yet there is an app for all smart phones and iPad’s that exist as well and has the same name. For a couple of years now, Scruff has become the go to app for gay men to meet each other, be it for friendship, dating or the casual hook up and it’s popularity rivals and sometimes beats the original gay icon app, Grindr.
Grindr isn’t bad per se. To me personally, it is a very minimized version of what you can get out of a gay app. It is a simple photo (that is being put loosely as some of the photos are trees or odd body hair) and a basic description of what the guy is looking for. Mainly, it is a hook up app. There is nothing wrong with that at all. Also, from what it seems the aesthetic seems to be one note as well, but that is just from my viewpoint.
Scruff to me has such a variety of options and you can really put yourself out there in more ways than one. Several guys that I have met off of there have actually turned into really great friends and you can use the site for more ways than one. They have great features from promoting your own business (I used to do it with my Examiner profile), and a variety of men with mainly the background of why Scruff is called Scruff.
Unlike other sites, Scruff accepts everyone on there. You can really get to know a person based on the description of your profile, and even though some are vague, some really happen to be interesting and thought provoking. There are ones that make you see past what they look like and you can form a conversation based off of mutual interests being jobs, movies, music, etc. In comparisons to Grindr, I think that if you want a successful app you have to be detailed in how you organize your profile in order to engage the user in wanting more than just clicking on the picture.
So survey says? For me, Scruff it is. If you haven’t tried either of them, and are curious to see what they are about, try them out. See for
yourself what is better for you. As stated in previous articles, this is just my opinion. Happy Hunting everyone! Oh, and this is hands down the best message I have ever gotten anywhere, gay or not.
So many women out there want to buy the designer jewelry out there to keep in trend with what is going on in the fashion world, but that consistent problem of affordability always comes into play. Fear not anymore ladies, because SweepStreet is here? What is SweepStreet exactly? The site takes designer jewelry and offers it to consumers at a highly discounted price! What a deal right?
When we mean jewelry, we are talking everything. From designer watches, earrings, bracelets and more, SweepStreet has got you covered.
My sister Megan got to try on this beautiful Bangle Set by Dolce & Gabbana (Pictured Right). What made it great for her? “There are many facets as to why this is great, besides how affordable it is. The color scheme on each bangle is truly amazing, and it fits really well. Also, it is such a versatile product that you can wear it to a formal event but also to go shopping with the girls”. This set is priced at only $87 dollars! Amazing!
It’s not just Dolce and Gabbana that they have. Take a look at some of the other well known designers who are listed on SweepStreet. Be prepared to be amazed!
David Yurman
Cartier
Baccarat
Scott Kay
Alex & Ani
What makes this even better? We are having a contest where the winner will receive a $100 dollar giftcard for their next purchase on SweepStreet! It’s simple, all you have to do is email me at [email protected] and tell me why you should be the winner. Got a girlfriend in need of that special gift? Want to jump ahead and do some shopping for Mother’s Day? SweepStreet has all of these things covered and more. So send me an email and I will announce the winner next week!
Last time on Dance Moms, Abby broke down because of her dog and the moms broke down just because! Let’s move on. [Read more…] about Dance Moms Recap – Aspects of Love
Did you all been having the incredibly bad Monday that everyone else I know have been having? Well, let’s end it with RuPaul’s Drag Race! Last time, it was the Snatch Game and everyone sucked, except for Jinkx. LIneysha ended up sashaying away. Afterwards, everyone has good things to say about Lineysha which is weird. Jinkx feels let out. Coco’s not into the RoLaskaToxx thing and I almost agree with her. Jinkx knocks out.
Alyssa walks in wearing a Zelda shirt and my roommate freaks out. You’ve Got Shemail! We’re gonna give till it hurts, and everyone looks confused for a moment. Ru comes in and talks about putting on her make up in adverse situations, and then turns off the lights. The queens have to put on their make up in the dark. Shade is thrown in the dark, and we see that Alyssa’s doing her face and Coco’s probably not blending. The dolls come out in beekeeper hats, hiding their faces. Alyssa’s all over herself and Coco didn’t bother to blend. Alaska put it all over her face. Detoxx wins and gets to choose the groups for the main challenge.
The main challenge is going to be writing and recording a song. RoLaskaToxx is together, and Alyssa and Coco are put together. This leaves Jinkx, Jade and Ivy. It’s going to be an 80’s flashback wear, like some sort of drag Band Aid. There’s more shade throwing and the verses get doled out in traditional bitchy manner.
Alyssa starts up by wanting to change the lyrics, which Coco’s not really down for. Alyssa spins around in jorts and does a bad Glee impression. Ivy, Jade and Jinkx have some good harmonies going. Over with RoLaskaToxx, Alaska is annoyed that the other dolls aren’t doing anything but goof off. Ru comes in.
Alyssa and Coco are first. Who’s a good singer? Coco’s gonna try to take it to church and Alyssa’s gonna try to take to Jack in the Box. Ru tells them to make it fun and walks away. Ivy, Jade and Jinkx are next. Who sings? Well, they all do, to some extent. Jade’s the most boring of the three and gets warned that she needs to steal the spotlight. Last, we have RoLaskaToxx. The rest of the teams don’t understand what message is in the song.
The judges for tonight will be the Pointer Sisters and Latoya Jackson, who will be on the show for the third time. Before that, the dolls have to record. Let’s save the world with drag. Coco comes in and is immediately bitchy, talking about Detoxx. This leads to her messing up, which, in turn, makes Alyssa screw up. Everything is off about these two. Jade joins them in being off key, and spends her entire time looking down. Ivy’s pretty good, and Jinkx has some good notes and some good pipes. Roxxxy’s over it, though, and thinks it’s all a gimmick. That is, right before showing that HE can’t sing and doesn’t know how to say “sequined dress.” Detoxx keeps messing up, but rolls with it, and RoLaskaToxx ends up going off and modulating in their own little worlds. The song ends on some freestyle notes where everyone is pretty much the same as they were before.
Backstage, Detoxx inserts herself into the conversation and there’s more arguing. The queens talk about what parts they’re showing off and Detoxx is showing off his whole body, which, as we find out, is made entirely of silicon, putting him in the same rank as Cher and Joan Rivers. Out of nowhere, Jade gets some sob story about coming out and I’m pretty sure I know who’s going home.
Ru has a nice look on for the main stage. I’m not saying she normally looks like garbage, but sometimes she looks classier than others. Today is somewhat understated, and I like it. There’s lots of “sequences” Coco comes out wearing a leotard that looks like it opens up to show her heart. Seems weird. Alyssa is showing legs and wearing a caftan. Jinkx, pay attention, because this is how you do Boho chic glamour. Jade’s wearing something that looks like a tie dyed version of Janice from the Muppets. Either that or Cher mated with a rainbow. Ivy wears a dress made of her headshots. Jinkx *almost* gives us glamour. Honey, you know I love you, but you really need to step up the pretty for this. It’s what got Pandora knocked off and I don’t want to see you go. Roxxxy’s all about the big tits and hair. Alaska wanted assless chaps but had to settle for a clavicle showing mermaid dress. Detoxx is wearing a super simple dress until she turns around and you can see her crack through the ribboning. HA!
Now, we get to see the video for Can I Get an Amen. Ru is not in drag and it looks weird. Coco’s off key. Alyssa is singing her little heart off and it’s horrible, but she’s diving right into it. Jade is boring. Ivy’s got some good notes and is mugging for the camera. Jinkx does a great job, but ivy’s look outshines her. Roxxxy is terribly off key and doesn’t care. Detoxx is wearing Jem’s wig. Alaska is better than she lets on.
Judges Critique!
Coco didn’t get what was going on and got lost in being bitchy. She’s also wearing too much highlighter.
Alyssa’s very pretty but her singing was awful. However, she knows that and plays it up. She also points where she’s walking to.
Jade was a big letdown and Michelle doesn’t get the look. She missed on so many levels and is totally forgettable.
The judges love Ivy’s dress and she made a good impression on everyone. She was creative and added some nice harmonies.
The judges loved Jinkx’ long note, but think she was a mess on the runway. Michelle tells her not to contour so hard.
Roxxxy was peanut butter and the outfit was super-hot. Michelle warns the group that cliques can be dangerous.
Detoxx phoned the song in but got by on her dress. She’s warned not to rely on crutches like that.
Alaska is starting to bore the judges and needs to not hold back or hide behind characters. Alaska gives us a “show you the real me” speech and cries. She’s safe.
The winner is Ivy and Coco and Jade have to lip synch. Called it. It’s to the Pointer Sisters’ “I’m So Excited.” Jade’s not bad, but Coco really pulls it out. Shantay Coco stay. Jade calls Coco her close friend and I go “what?” and the show’s over. Join us next week!
L.A. Shrinks: 9 p.m. Mondays, Bravo
I don’t often review reality shows for a number of reasons: namely the lack of “writing” and “acting” gives me very little objective thread to justify my opinion, and outside of the premise there isn’t very much to objectively judge on when it comes to the genre. However, with March providing a fairly thin slate of new shows, and the bulk of those new shows being reality, I guess I’ll take what I can get, with tonight’s show likely being the low point in terms of premieres this month.
My original impressions of this show and the implications thereof make me cringe. In particular, the idea of having a fly on the wall camera in a psychologists office bothers me, as people are now releasing their innermost fears, issues, and traumas in front of a camera (and let’s be real, being watched has never changed human behavior, right?). These visits are then wrapped around while the show deals with the real traumas of it’s star psychologists, which seems to imply that the show is going to trivialize the issues of people with real mental health issues for the significantly less problematic issues of the doctors themselves.
So…did my worst fears come true? Within five minutes it seems like Dr. V. (Venus Nicolino) is mining her patients for comedy, taking a catty tack to not only her patients in general, but seemingly making light of her Michael and Georgie (her two patients’) sex issues in confessional scenes. The implications are made worse when she snap-accepts Michael’s proposal of them recording their sex for the next episode without checking in with Georgie. Dr. V’s segment of the show seems the most outlandish, due her bouncing all over the emotional Richter scale (from catty to shattered) and in every scene that she’s not giving therapy she’s barely clothed (bikini or underwear) to not clothed in a bathtub and giving vampy looks to her husband when he gives her wine.
The other two therapists seem more down to earth, even if they both can gravitate into peevish about the field (Gregory seems to gripe about both his clients anger, and the fact that he can’t pass gas in the office, while Eris gets annoyed at a client whom can’t get enough sex, stating that three to four times a week is an insanely high amount of sex for a married couple, before dropping a statistic that the average couple has sex twice a week). Needless to say, while their patients do not make matters easier, their peevishness towards these clients whom are on their first session comes off as a little cold and petty.
Furthermore, one gets the vibe that many of the therapy scenes are shot in a studio. Dr. Cason’s office in particular seems to feel like it was shot in a multi-camera layout. Similarly, it seems weird that these handpicked clients happen to hit the exact nerves that the doctors layout in the beginning of the show (Most notably Gregory’s issues with the preparation for his commitment ceremony to Kevin, and Eris’ need to have more sex with her husband).
Finally, all ethical issues aside, this show takes all of the classic manipulative editing one expects from the reality genre and takes them to ludicrous extremes (to the point where certain shots look flat out redone). Similarly, Eris trying to resolve her sex life through a full-blown aphrodisiac dinner so that she can have a child feels completely absurd when you discover that she’s been taking birth control. I get that reality shows are about as “real” as professional wrestling, but would it kill you not to blatantly lie to me? Taking the least simple route makes sense on reality shows with a Deus Ex Machina element like say Survivor, The Amazing Race and (probably the king of making this trope work) The Mole, but less so when you have a show that is about day-to-day life.
The Final Verdict: This show is the Real Housewives of therapy. Our therapists problems seem incredibly manufactured and blown up to give a false equivalency to the problems of their clients’ (whose neuroses admittedly also seem fairly minor and only related to the amount of sex they are having). When the show moves away from the office, the show really objectifies its’ women (Venus seems to be in undress for large segments of the show, and they even sneak in a long shot of Eris wearing nothing but underwear). If you’re into particularly trashy reality television, you’ll probably love this, but if you have any standards whatsoever you’ll probably be as repulsed by this series as I am.
Decided to do something a bit different for this latest entry of Netflix’d. As those of you that know me (all two of you), you know I’m a fond appreciator of film noir, to the point that I’d even call it my favorite style/genre/era of movie-dom. Seeing that Netflix has such a good batch of quality noir titles, I was thinking about finding a particularly great one and then writing about it. Then a better idea struck me: Why not just review em’ all in one fell swoop? They’re all pretty much the same film anyway! Therefore, welcome to the Film Noir Edition of Netflix’d where I’ll be discussing my 7 favorite Film Noirs that are currently streaming on Netflix. I’ve listed them in chronological order, so feel free to interpret this as a timeline for the film style’s.
Date: 1944
Running Length: 107 minutes
Director: Billy Wilder
Writer: Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler
Cast: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson
Synopsis: A insurance sales man (Fred MacMurray) starts an affair with a femme fatale (Barbara Stanwyck), and then the two start to ruse a plot to murder her husband in order to amass his immense wealth.
Review: One of the most influential film noirs, in terms of setting character archetypes and visual motifs. Many of the plot elements have become common place for the genre, such as a murder plot that goes wrong, and first-person narration that lets the viewer know the main character is doomed from the start. Adapted from his own novel, Chandler gives the screenplay sparkling dialogue and plenty of seedy twists to make this possibly the most realized film based on one of his novels. Billy Wilder also gave the film a look that can now be called paradigmatic for film noir, with it’s great use of shadows, eerie lighting, and L.A. setting. If there’s anything that appears to be dated about the film, it’s only because it was a massive trend setter.
Date: 1945
Running Length: 67 minutes
Director: Edgar G. Ulmer
Writer: Martin Goldsmith and Martin Mooney
Cast: Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Claudia Drake, Edmund MacDonald, Esther Howard
Movie Synopsis
A New York City piano player decides to travel cross country to reunite with his girlfriend in Los Angelas. With a limited amount of money he decides to hitch hike across the country where he’ll meet two seedy characters (Edmund MacDonald and Ann Savage) that will make the trek really not work it
Movie Review
Pretty much a classic, despite it’s low-budget, brief running time, and conventional camera work. There’s a bit of suspension of disbelief needed for the film, as the story relies heavily on coincidences, but there’s no denying how dark it all is. Ann Savage makes for a particularly nasty femme fatale also who is almost masculine in her delivery. At just over an hour in length, Detour is a breezy and satisfying ride through the classic style.
Date: 1945
Running Length: 103 minutes
Director: Fritz Lang
Writer: Dudley Nichols
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennet, Dan Duryea
A lonely man (Edward G. Robinson) becomes infatuated with a femme-fatale (Joan Bennet), and eventually gets wrapped into the con-artist ways of her boyfriend (Dan Duryea).
German Expressionism is often referred to as the clearest starting point for film noir, so it makes sense that Metropolis director Fritz Lang would be able to construct such an essential entry to the canon. Reuniting the same trio of principal actors that he filmed in The Woman in the Window (also available on Netflix), Scarlet Street is definitely a more mature and fulfilling film than it’s predecessor. While occaisonally meandering during it’s first two acts, the final third is one of the most intense in all of film noir. It’s an ending so bleak and haunting, that Scarlet Street was actually banned by the censor boards in New York, Milwaukee and Atlanta around the time of it’s release, despite it’s “crime does not pay” message. Possibly Fritz Lang’s best Hollywood film.
The Naked City
Date: 1948
Running Time: 96 minutes
Director: Jules Dassan
Writer: Albert Waltz and Malvin Wald
Cast: Barry Fitzgerald, Howard Duff, Dorothy Hart
A crime scene investigation into the murder of a woman unfolds into a case involving a diamond heist
While Los Angelas is frequently considered the pre-eminent location for film noir, the “concrete jungle” of New York is undoubtedly an effective location as well. Narrated by Mark Hellinger, the film has a quasi-documentary feel to it, as he explains plot points and New York traits for the viewer. Filmed on location, The Naked City probably remains the single film noir to take such valuable use from Manhattan, filming great scenes in the Whitehall Building, and on the Williamsburg Bridge. Also, if you like this then I strongly recommend that you check out Dassan’s later film Rififi, which I feel is the best French-language noir.
Date: 1955
Running Time: 86 Minutes
Director: Joseph H. Lewis
Writer: Philip Yordan
Cast: Cornel Wilde, Richard Conte, Brian Donlevy, Jean Wallace
A police lieutenant (Cornel Wilde) looks to bring down a vicious gangster (Richard Conte) by uncovering his past.
Closer to a traditional gangster film than the other movies I’ve listed, yet Dark Combo is undoubtedly one of the last true film noirs (the classical era is often considered to have ended in 1958). While it contains solid acting and storytelling all around, the real reason to see this film is for it’s iconic climax. It makes brilliant use of single-source lighting for a story element, and the final image remains one of the most memorable in the noir lexicon.
Date: 1973
Running Time: 112 minutes
Director: Robert Altman
Writer: Leigh Brackett
Cast: Elliot Gould, Nina Van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden
Movie Synopsis
Raymond Chandler’s iconic detective Philip Marlowe (Elliot Gould), is out to prove the innocence of his friend Lennox (Jim Bouton), who has been accused of murdering his wife. Parallel to that, Marlowe also is hired by a blonde (Nina van Pallandt) to locate her lost husband (Sterling Hayden).
Moive Review
While Roman Polanski’s Chinatown is often considered the most important neo-noir, it also must be said that The Long Goodbye did a commendable job of introducing the grit and swagger of the 70s to the pulp elements of the classical film noir era. Playing as a more laid-back version of the character than previous actors, Gould gives Philip Marlowe the right amount of appeal and zest to really strike more of a cord with more modern audiences. Most impressive about The Long Goodbye, however, is that Robert Altman and Leigh Brackett managed to make a film that both adapted Chandler’s novel, as well as updated it. Half a satire, the film pokes fun at a lot of facets about Los Angelas at the time, including hippie culture. A very weird, and very fun genre send-up.
The Grifters
Date: 1990
Running Time: 119 Minutes
Director: Stephen Frears
Writer: Donald E. Westlake
Cast: John Cusack, Anjelica Huston, Annette Bening
Synopsis: A female con-artist (Anjelica Huston) decides she wants to get out of the game. Unfortunately, her sadistic boss won’t have it, and her son (John Cusack) is farther into this dangerous lifestyle then she cares for. They make an ultimatum to pull off one last gig, but of course it all goes horribly wrong.
Review: It’s shot in color, R-rated, and has a relatively modern setting, but The Grifters certainly feel like a film noir from the classical era, rather than a glossy neo-noir. Written by crime novelist extraordinaire Donald E. Westlake, adapted from a novel by similarly renowned author Jim Thompson, and produced by Martin Scorsese, the film obviously had plenty of talent backing it up and it shows. Never letting up on the fact that film noir should focus on flawed characters doing terrible things to each other, The Grifters is intense, gritty, yet also pure movie magic. Up there with L.A. Confidential as one of the very best neo-noirs.
Headhunters
Date: 2011
Running Time: 100 Minutes
Director: Morten Tyldum
Writer: Lars Gudmestad and Ulf Ryberg
Cast: Aksel Hennie, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Synnøve Macody Lund
Synopsis: A successful businessman (Aksel Hennie) who also moonlights as an art thief gets in way over his head when a mercenary (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and his wife (Synnøve Macody Lund) catch onto his occupation
Review: The Norweigan Headhunters is a potent commentary on the cutthroat nature of the business world, but the real reason to see it is that it’s such a sinful pleasure. Viciously violent, perversely sexual, but never lacking a sly sense of humor either, Headhunters is the type of neo-noir that’s all too rare: one that’s hardcore yet tongue in cheek at the same time. With an American remake in the works, I recommend seeing the original now, before the likely inferior remake makes its arrival.
