Now film noir is by definition dark and cynical, but 1955’s Kiss Me Deadly is downright pissed off and nasty. Ralph Meeker stars as LA private eye Mike Hammer in this delightfully lowbrow film noir, based on a Mickey Spillane novel. Much of the fun comes from the menacing nuclear glow of the briefcase that is the film’s MacGuffin.
On his indieWIRE blog, Peter Bogdanovich writes that Robert Aldrich hated Spillane’s pulp so much that he concluded the screenplay with nuclear annihilation.
In the subversive 1984 cult classic Repo Man, the glowing briefcase reappears in the truck of a repossessed sedan.
The Criterion Collection has just released its DVD of Kiss Me Deadly.
Rooney Mara and Jesse Eisenberg open The Social Network
The Social Network is still the top choice in theaters this week. The birth story of Facebook is a riveting tale of college sophomores that are brilliant, ambitious, immature, self-absorbed and disloyal – and about to become zillionaires. It’s a triumph for actor Jesse Eisenberg (Adventureland, Zombieland and Solitary Man), director David Fincher (Fight Club, Zodiac) and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, The West Wing, Charlie Wilson’s War). It’s already on my list of Best Movies of 2010 – So Far.
Howl has a fine performance by James Franco, but is marred by an unsuccessful animation.
It’s Kind of a Funny Story is a light and wry coming-of-age comedy set in a locked psychiatric facility. It’s good-hearted fluff with a few chuckles and an unexpectedly restrained and heartfelt performance by Zach Galifianakis.
Without strongly recommending it, I can say that The Town is a satisfying Hollywood thriller. You can skip Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and You Will Meet a Tall, Dark Stranger.
My DVD of the Week is The Day of the Jackal, like The American, the tale of an international master assassin – only fact-based and even better. For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.
Movies on TVinclude Mister Roberts, Repo Man and Arsenic and Old Lace, all coming up on TCM.
Now film noir is by definition dark and cynical, but 1955’s Kiss Me Deadly is downright pissed off and nasty. Ralph Meeker stars as LA private eye Mike Hammer in this delightfully lowbrow film noir, based on a Mickey Spillane novel. Much of the fun comes from the menacing nuclear glow of the briefcase that is the film’s MacGuffin.