Polanski's Noir masterpiece
352906
Sheer cinematic perfection. Roman Polanski's  total mastery of direction and details. Jack Nicholson at his sexiest with an unmatched cool ( a far cry from the scene-stealing ham/clown  since the 80's)and the ultra divine Faye Dunaway at her most mysterious as the glamorously dangerous  Evelyn Mulwray who is living with a startling secret. The best art direction, cinematography and the higest production. A classic  noir experience filled with intrigue and a solid plot.
3237194
Its easy to get wrapped up in this film. Its classic film noir, unorthodox, grim, yet completely satisfying. Penn did an excellent job, and nicholson givesa magnificently understated performance. If you appreciate realism, psychological interplay, and plots that stray from the norm, then check this film out. However, if you are intent on watching a movie that wraps up everything into a tidy superficial package, then stay away. Not your typical hollow-wood pulp.
1572862
The film, noir "D.O.A." received unenthusiastic reviews upon its release in 1950.  With the passage of time, the film's reputation increased until it became regarded as a noir classic.  In 2004, the film was added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress as "historically, culturally, or aesthetically significant."

"D.O.A." tells the story of  Frank Bigelow (Edmond O'Brien) who has been murdered by poison. When doctors tell Bigelow he has only days to live, he sets out on a frantic, determined course to find his killer.

Bigelow's life becomes meaningful only when he faces the certainty of his impending death. He had been  an accountant in a small town who drank heavily and was a womanizer, flirting incessantly with whatever pretty woman came his way.  He had a lovely lady friend, Paula, (Pamela Britton) but was unsure of his feelings for her.  When Bigelow took a vacation to San Francisco to drink and flirt, he was poisoned. He realized at last his feelings for Paula and he found meaning in determining and finding his killer before he died.

The story of the murder, the motive, and Bigelow's investigation is told frenetically as befitting a person on the verge of dying and in a sense already dead.. The main attractions of the film are the cinematography, the development of the primary character, and the tough acting. The film features a long group of villains in addition to the killers.

The story is told as a flashback as, in the opening scene, Bigelow walks down the long cold hallway of the Los Angeles police station to report his own murder. This opening scene is famous as is the scene in a San Francisco jazz club called the Fishermen. This is where Bigelow meets his doom, but the film also offers an early view of the "bop" driving jazz culture that was part of the Beat movement at the time. The cinematography also features angular scenes of San Francisco and Los Angeles streets, gangster hideaways, and bars.

The film is based on an original screenplay by Russell Rouse and Clarence Greene.  It portrays well how death sometimes leads people to understand themselves and to live.  Lovers of film noir will enjoy this film which is in the public domain and accessible online.

Robin Friedman
1016016
Engrossing sort-of-noir about a woman assuming a mistaken identity by dumb luck. Stanwyck is excellent as usual, bringing the moral authority of the Mother she infused every role with. She could plead like no one else. That voice helped--along with Joan Greenwood's, Lizabeth Scott's, Lauren Bacall's and Kathleen Turner's one of the most distinctive in film history. One of the boys yet 100% woman, the strength of her genuine weakness is irresistible and on full display here.

This was Lyle Bettger's first role and he is both menacing and alluring, with leading-man good-looks and charisma to spare. This may be the only role in which he ever combined those characteristics, which is sad because he had all the goods. Lund, by comparison, is a complete bore.

I was pleasantly surprised by this film, though I needn't have been given that Mitchell Leisen directed. My one quibble was with the lengths to which the script goes to establish the innocent-victim status of Stanwyck's character. Rather heavy-handed and unnecessary, given the moral bonus points Stanwyck goes into any role with. She's good even when she's bad. Still, it would be hard to imagine the ending without our willing complicity in her good-fortune. All in all a compelling psycho-drama.
1586651
Despite having read the liner notes, I thought from the publicity artwork that WINTERSET would be something gothic.  It is gothic, in its bleakness, but is squarely centered in the Depression era of the United States.  It was completely of it's time, and considering that the film was adapted from the Broadway play, it must have been daring, with sub themes of socialism and police corruption.  (The play was by Maxwell Anderson, who wrote KEY LARGO and THE BAD SEED.)  Perhaps that contributed to the film receiving two Academy Award nominations.

This is the story of Mio (Bartholomio - a young, dewy Burgess Merideth) trying to clear his father's name.  In the first scenes, his namesake Father, played with riveting stillness by the painfully thin John Carradine, was accused of murder he did not commit, given no defense, and put to death.  Years later, his son goes to the slums of New York to try to find out the truth.

I had to remind myself that this was made in 1936, so it is still very early in the talkies.  The sets are a wonderful blend of realism and expressionism (similar to the famous stage sets of Arthur Miller's A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE), giving this a gothic noir flavor.  Rain is often used as a "purifier" in stage and film, but here it is effectively used to create an oppressive humidity, a torrent of sludge.  It is clear that film noir, Orson Wells, and THE THIRD MAN's Director Carol Reed all owe a debt to early films like this.  The set elements are all here in tight proximity, the stone, the shadowed doorways, the waterways.

In fact, one irony is that one of the lead actors does look very much like Orson Wells.  He plays the brother of Mariama (played by Margot, who is probably best known as the duplicitous woman in Capra's LOST HORIZON).  Margot's transition to film is not as ideal as Merideth's, her style is more of the old school careful vocal production that may be the product of overcoming an accent.  But she looks luminous and innocent, and fills the screen with a simple hopefulness at odds with the dark surroundings.  The villain of the piece is simply fantastic... completely believably sociopathic without any extravagant ticks or frothing at the mouth.

This is pre-method-acting, but that spare realism is all here, especially in the performances of Carradine and Merideth.  This entire film holds up as a moment of history - of social themes and thought of that day that still resonate.  The Broadway cast seems to have been lifted intact (which should be a lesson to modern filmmakers to use stage actors instead of vice-verse).  There are one or two flowery monologues, but for the most part, the transition from stage to film goes very well, and the story and script are spare and universal enough to stand the test of time well.  This is a fascinating moment of film history which has -luckily - made its way to DVD.
4162482
This film has all the classic Noir elements, a character caught in a situation they can't control, unseen enemies and dangers, femme fatale, money, murder, sex, love, no happy endings. And throughout all this, in my opinion, one of the finest peformances by an actor ever caught on film. Edmond O'Brien goes through the emotional roller coster of this role without ever stopping to take a breath. He will have you gasping for your breath up until the last frame. Once the credits start to roll, you will be just as exhausted after having gone on this ride. Then you will know you just watched a masterpiece of what is called Film Noir. It just doesn't get any better than this.
3642685
a character from a 1940's-50's novel wakes up LA in the 1970's. This film is filled with all of Altman's artistic and original filmmaking techniques. The storyline is much like Chinatown (Polanski). I really enjoyed this classic private eye film.
3769545
Awful words told by the Stalker when he thinks in loud voice when he goes to the Zone .

This film is superb and unique ; vivid and powerful ; sinister and cerebral ; poetic and captivating ; stark and eerie.

Grinko and Solonitsin are the two sides of the coin ; science against humanism exchange its disagreement points of view when they decide to make the journey to the wasteland : the Zone .

The mysterious goes in crescendo till you will find its powerful meaning .

This movie runs slowly ; very slowly and it demands from you all the possible attention , the images run with dyonisiac and majestic flowness ; the visual metaphors are countless : the water as a freedom symbol runs before your eyes and are wonderful mesmerizing .

Stalker is a simple man ; a faith man who decides to carry all the people really interested to know the Zone . The riddle is a very complex puzzle ; but Tarkovsky gives you the clues , but beware with certain requisites you need .

Think for instance in The divine comedy and go to the hell journey ; that film has too many devices that run parallel to this concept . Remember the intense dialogue in the last circle of the hell when in his exhaustive seeking for Beatriz he is forced to see the face of a monster consuming men ; he will have to face the monster face to face and he will watch a sad face with tears in its eyes .

The Zone is a very special place ; there is a desire room which only will give you your most sincere desire ; and that premise is clearly hazardous ; because it is going to reveal your real nature and for many people who still scare to their inner demons is really better deny this challenging proposal .

The crudeness and the overwhelming message against the political opressing in those ages in the ancient USSR meant to Andrei Tarkovsky was exiled from his beloved country . You know ; the Politburo patient reached the limit and this collosal , giant , intelligent and artistic work crossed the forbidden red line. The art , intelligence and the talent have always been subversive in totalitarian regimes . And this was the last soviet opus of Tarkovsky, who was forced to live in Italy .

So think it about the powerful and brave message this film meant .

This is one of the giant films in any age ; because as any masterpiece its deep significance trascends its own time to inscribe in the highest artistic and cosmic levels.

A real triumph of the art .
3844010
Roman Polanski's "Cul-de-Sac" (1966) is one of the most superbly realized blendings of black comedy and psychological thriller in film history - and a masterly example of 1960s cinema of existentialist absurdism (clearly influenced by the playwrights Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter).  And just for good measure, there's a bit of hilarious British-themed social satire added to the mix.  Gilbert Taylor's black-and-white cinematography is stunning and fluid, and the acting by the once-in-a-lifetime cast -- principally the brilliant Donald Pleasance, the legendary Lionel Stander, the alluring Franoise Dorl&eacute;ac (in one of her last films before her sudden, tragic death at the age of 25) and the esteemed Beckettian actor Jack MacGowran --  is absolutely matchless.  Tremendous auteur piece by director Roman Polanski, who teamed with G&eacute;rard Brach on the original screenplay.

Another triumph for Criterion, which provides a 20-page booklet containing an informative and insightful seven-page essay by author David Thompson; a fascinating 23-minute feature on the making of "Cul-de-Sac"; a fairly in-depth 27-minute 1967 BBC interview with Polanski, as well as a pair of trailers for the film.
1758422
Nicholas Ray's directoral debut,  "THE LIVE BY NIGHT" (1948) is a poignant, noirish love story not unlike the much later  "BONNIE AND CLYDE."

But the real gem in this double-feature DVD is Anthony Mann's "SIDE STREET" (1949), a gritty, compelling, crime drama that is a true film noir.

 It follows the downward spiral of sympathetic, naive and desperate Farley Granger -- a letter carrier with a pregnant wife -- after he steals some money from a pair of very bad guys.  Granger stashes the money with a "friend" and then decides to give it back -- but the friend has hit the road with the loot.  The bad guys Granger stole from aren't amused.  They are unrelenting in their pursuit of Granger.

The movie goes all the way with the premis. There's a terrific, extended, car chase that is strikingly photographed, perhaps a first of it's kind in a drama and clearly a model for the one in "BULLET."

This is a satisfying, taught film with beautifully composed, stark, BW location cinematography in lower Manhattan that perfectly matches the story.  Location as metaphor!  Highly recommended.
447708
Nicholas Ray's film noir is a departure for Humphrey Bogart and for the film noir genre itself.
Dixon Steele (Humphrey Bogart), a washed-up screenwriter with a flashpoint temper and a violent streak, is equal parts Rick Blaine and Fred C. Dobbs. Laurel Gray (Gloria Grahame) is the antithesis of the dumb blonde.
The script by Andrew Solt from Dorothy B. Hughes's novel has all the crisp, Chandleresque dialogue of the best film noir but with an emotional intensity not usually associated with the genre. The film works better as a romance between two damaged people than as a crime drama. George Antheil's score works wonders at underscoring their anguish.
Dix's agent Mel Lippmann (Art Smith) asks the old hack to dinner to consider adapting a Harlequinesque romance novel that hack director Lloyd Barnes (Morris Ankrum) is eager to shoot. On the way to the restaurant Dix nearly gets into a fight with a passing motorist and upon arrival at the bar DOES mix it up with some sonofaproducer who calls Dix's old buddy Charlie (Robert Warwick) the washed-up drunkard actor that he is.
The semiliterate coat check girl Mildred Atkinson (Martha Stewart) gushes about the novel that Dix is up for adapting, so rather than read it, Dix invites her to his apartment to tell him the story. She has to break a date with her boyfriend to do so but as Dix says, "There's no sacrifice too great for a chance at immortality."
When one of Dix's old war-buddies-turned-police-detective Brub Nicolai (Frank Lovejoy) pays Dix a visit at 5 a.m., he thinks it's because the producer's son filed a complaint. He's wrong. The coat check girl has been murdered and thrown in a ditch.
Dix's best defence is new neighbor Laurel Gray who saw the girl leave Dix's apartment alone. Dix falls for Laurel because she has a nice face. But she's a little more cautious.
DIXON STEELE: Go ahead and get some sleep and we'll have dinner together tonight.
LAUREL GRAY: We'll have dinner tonight. But not together.
There are plenty of laughs supplied by Art Smith, Robert Warwick, and Ruth Warren as the cleaning lady who can never get either Dix's or Laurel's apartment clean.
At its core, though, IN A LONELY PLACE is about two lonely people who clearly need but will not allow themselves to have each other.
814718
Paul Newman made the sullen outsider, with an antipathy toward the outside world, an art form. But for some reason few peope  know about this film. Newman's performance,like all his performances, is restrained and nuanced.  He is able to suggest something we rarely see in a movie, existential love.  The woman he loves tells him:  "I saw a sad and lonely man and I fell in love with his sadness."

In addition, the film is beautifully produced with a layed and complex story matched with poignant dialouge.  This is one of the rare gems of the American cinema.  It was released at a time when moviemaking was still interested in important, moving storytelling and it provides exactly that.  Don't miss this one!  Spencer M. Farmans
9835
Of the more than 300 21st-century films I have seen so far, this is the best.  Vivid characters, believable situations, slam-bang action, brilliant acting by the entire cast, especially Daniel Auteuil.  As with Jean-Pierre Melville's masterpieces, the film treats American noir themes existentially.  Engrossing for every second.  Cannot recommend it highly enough.
2617293
Jacque Tourneur's "Out of the Past" is one of the quintessential film noirs. Everything, from Robert Mitchum's musings - "Build my gallows high, baby" to the darkly mysterious environment is fraught with subtle entendre and troubling meaning. yet so fascinating that you can't turn away. Robert Mitchum is at his sleepy-eyed, dry and brooding best as Jeff Bailey, the ultra-cool, ultra savvy former P.I. hiding out from his former life as a gas station owner in a little alcove of existence that itself is absent from the mainstream world. But the past catches up with Bailey in the embodiment of callous, calculating career criminal, Whit Sterling (Kirk Douglas). Whit and Jeff had some spurious goings on once upon a time, an old score that Whit isn't willing to overlook or concede once he finds Jeff. If that was not bad enough, Kathie Moffat (Jane Greer) enters the picture as the atypical femme fatale, whose bite is more venomous than the poisonous web of destruction and deceit that she manages to ensnare everyone in. This is a palpable taut thriller with few equals, an intellectual crime drama that puts its remake "Against All Odds" to shame. As is to be expected, the plot is anything but straight forward, leading to twists of convention that the first time viewer will be hard pressed to figure out or see coming.
In keeping with Warner's current trend to not really do all that is required to completely remaster classic movies for DVD, the transfer of "Out of the Past" is just a bit above average. The gray scale is nicely balanced with deep solid blacks and whites that are relatively clean. There's a considerable amount of film grain and age related artifacts for a visual presentation that, while a considerable improvement over previously issued VHS tapes, is still below par. Edge effects, pixelization and shimmering of fine details are all present and sometimes distract. The audio is mono but nicely balanced. The more intent listener will notice some hiss.  There's a very thorough audio commentary by James Ursini to round out your appreciation of the film.  A good disc to add to your library.
3109030
Daniel Aranofsky's follow-up to Pi is a much darker tale of the dangers of drug abuse and addiction. Some may say that Aranofsky goes to far in showing us the vile debasements that go along with a drug problem, and for many people Traffic or Blow might be sufficient. But what makes this movie stand out from all the rest (aside from a fantastic cast) is the way it conveys the romanticism associated with drugs in our culture today.
I believe that this film is one of the most powerful anti-drug messages ever created, but it doesn't deny the fact that there's an allure to drugs, be they over the counter medication or illicit substances.
Artistically, the movie is terrific. The soundtrack is just perfect, and the split cameras are something rarely seen.
All in all, this film is fantastic. But if you're looking for a light-hearted comedy, steer far clear.
166441
I haven't seen this movie since 1979 when it was first released, but it made quite an impact.  The film was so gorgeous that some scenes are indelibly etched in my memory.  Polanski is arguably one the the greatest living directors, and already had a resume of critically acclaimed work (Rosemary's Baby, Repulsion, The Tenant, Chinatown) by 1979. Tess represented a departure from his usual rather spare cinematic style and the arty psychological horror genre  - it's a dreamy sumptuous feast for the eyes.  The landscapes he creates are almost surreal in their beauty.  And Nasstasja Kinski in the lead role is well cast - she just oozes innocent sensuality and seduces the camera.  Yes, she was not even legal when filming began, and yes, she became sexually involved with the much older Polanski during filming, but lets put all that and other Polanski scandals aside for now. It was a different time - those kinds of affairs were not nearly as taboo.  Remember Woody Allen's Manhattan? This movie, and we film lovers, deserve a high-quality DVD or blu-ray transfer of this masterpiece.  C. Porter's 2004 review of the poor SE DVD transfer has made me decide not to purchase it.  The reviewer also laments that we will probably not get a better transfer for another 10 years, which means we have another 4 years to wait.  I have done a thorough web search and there is no mention at all about a new release.  How sad!
2601671
This movie has everything that I could ever ask for, mystery, love, betrayal, twists and turns.

The premise is great, the heroine is missing and all the characters are looking for the killer.  This is a classic and my favorite movie of all time.  A must see for any movie buff or film noir afficionado.