The Friday night movie at CrabAppleLane was Hollywoodland. This is another pretty good Hollywood swing at film noir. It doesn't quite reach the bleachers but it's not bad at all. It's mostly about a hard-boiled, down-on-his-luck private investigator, played very well by Adrien Brody, looking into the life and death of George Reeves. It was reported that he committed suicide but there appears to be some controversy over that. The controversy aspect about it was news to me. Younger readers probably don't know George Reeves. More about that in a moment. Hollywoodland has all of the classic noir elements, except one. Besides the hard-boiled PI, we have his goody two-shoes girlfriend (Kind of an updated version, though), the femme fatale, the other case that maybe he should be paying more attention to, his disastrous home life, the double-crosses, and, of course, everyone in the film telling him to quit pursuing the case. The one element it was missing was the lead character's narration. If the filmmakers do that, I think it might have made this a four star movie. Ben Affleck is getting kudos for his portrayal of Reeves in this film but, to me, Adrien Brody elevates it from the mediocre almost single-handedly. I enjoyed it. Worth your time.
Reeves' TV show, The Adventures of Superman, super cheesy even by 1950s standards, is hardly ever aired any more. Although he died in 1959, I remember watching him as Superman on TV in the mid 60s. I don't remember how old I was when I first started watching the show but I don't think I ever bought that it was anything but an actor playing Superman. For one thing, the bullets always bounced off of his chest, even from two feet away. I always wondered why the villains didn't shoot him in the eye. For another thing, I didn't buy that putting on a pair of glasses turned him into Clark Kent and no one recognized him. Reeves was also in an I Love Lucy episode playing Superman at little Ricky's birthday party. In retrospect, that might be the largest contributing factor to his probable suicide. My guess is that he wasn't all that talented to begin with and was hopelessly typecast. I think he did commit suicide.
Just for fun, I thought I'd list some of the film noirs I've seen over the last few years and give you a small rundown on my thoughts of them because, really, what film buff doesn't love noir?
Romeo Is Bleeding - Gary Oldman playes the hard-boiled PI in this. I love Gary Oldman. He can do anything. Lena Olin plays the femme fatale, Mona. A femme fatale has to have a name like Mona. It can't be an Ashley, Heather, or Michele. Highly recommended. Add it to your netflix queue if you have one or look for it on TiVo. There are scenes you might want to look at over and over.
Mulholland Falls - This is more of an ensemble film with Nick Nolte, Chaz Palminteri, Michael Madsen, and Chris Penn playing a rogue police squad that operates outside of the law to keep the various criminal elements at bay in early Los Angeles. This one benefits from a stellar cast. I liked and recommend it but it's only worth seeing once. Wait until you can see it on HBO/Showtime/Whatever.
Mullholland Drive - This one starts out fascinating, then turns very steamy, but then gets kind of tedious and confusing. If you're not scratching your head at the end of this one, you're one up on me and it will stay that way. I couldn't bear to watch it again. I can't recommend it but I'd love to hear your thoughts on it, especially if they're different from mine.
the Black Dahlia - Just did this one not long ago. I recommend this one purely on the basis of the narration. I just loved that.
Blade Runner - I bought a VHS copy of this for my dad as a birthday or Christmas present sometime after he had gotten his first VCR. We did not have one, ourselves, and didn't know at the time that people were renting these instead of buying them. 25 years after it was made, it still looks great. Harrison Ford is the hard-boiled, down-on-his-luck Blade Runner. I have this VHS tape now and pull it out every few months or so. It is one of my faves. Some classify this film as sci-fi. I suppose the peripherals and the background are sci-fi but the story is pure, classic noir. Harrison Ford's Rick Deckard is dark, he's cynical, he's conflicted, and he's a little in over his head.
Sin City - Part comic book and part noir. Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller, the two main collaborators, are making at least two sequels to this and I'm not at all sure that's wise. Sin City is so original and so well done that I think the next ones will suffer comparison. I like the language of this one. Right out of the 1940s.
Memento - This one features Guy Pearce as a man with short term memory loss. The whole movie is played backwards 10 minutes at a time, which coincides with his short term memory. It's a little confusing at first but gets better as you get the hang of it. How he copes with that, his way of marking the time and jotting down his memories is the best element of this film.
L.A. Confidential - Saved this one for last. Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce play the two leads. Much is made about Crowe's star-making performance in this but I thought Pearce was even better. For one thing, his American accent was excellent (He and Crowe are both Australian). He also has a wonderful square jaw, which was perfect for his character. In my opinion, it was quite a risk to have Australian actors play American characters as familiar as these two are. Danny Devito, Kim Bassinger, Kevin Spacey, David Strathairn, and James Cromwell round out a fabulous, once-in-a-lifetime cast. Watch this one with a big bowl of popcorn.
Do you have any favorites I didn't mention?
Quote of the Day
What do you think about Superman offing himself and cutting his beloved fiancee out of the picture, leaving the green to Eddie Mannix's wife? Huh? Like she needs the dough? "Hell hath no fury," huh! I mean, people get killed for less than that.
Louis Simo, Hollywoodland
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "Personally, I like the idea of Weisz strolling around Basin City as Ava Lord. She’s a much better actress than Jolie and could surely play a fantastic femme fatale."
I too watched Superman in the 60's. And, like you, his super powers didn't really make much of an impact on me. All I know of his death is what my mom told me as a little girl. It went something like, he began to believe he had superman's powers and died when he tried to fly out a window. My mom. What can I say.
I like film noir, but can only think of Devil in a Blue Dress with Denzel
Washington right now. If that can even be considered film noir.
I'm a sucker for older film noir, my favorites are The Third Man, Out Of The Past, Panic In The Streets, and House of Bamboo. Sometimes they're kind of cheesy and all-to predictable, but its an art-form I've always enjoyed late on a Saturday night with the lights turned out and a bowl of popcorn in front of me.
"I always wondered why the villains didn't shoot him in the eye."
'Cause they're X-Ray eyes. Geewhiz Robbie, everybody knows that(Yeah, that's a flashback). :)
Totally overlooked Devil in a Blue Dress, Marie. I consider that one noir.
I have The Third Man on VHS, GWS. Not familiar with the other two but will enter them into the TiVo. Lights out and a bowl of popcorn are noir essentials.
Sorry, Dave. Moderation must not like "X-Ray". Did it to me, too. :)
Lone Star is another one I left out. Don't know if it technically belongs in the noir genre but I think it does. I think most of John Sayles's movies do. Lone Star is one of the best films I've seen. Ever.
I think Miller's Crossing by the Coen Brothers would fit in nicely in that list.
What about Brick with Joseph Gordon-Levitt?
I'll have to look for Miller's Crossing on TiVo. I looked it up at IMDB earlier and cannot decide if I've seen it, for sure, but I think I have. Don't remember any of it, though.
Brick will also go in my TiVo search, Steve. Have never seen or heard of that one.