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Just watched Seijun Suzuki's Take Aim at the Police Van (1960). A pretty solid little neo-noir. It doesn't really do much new or original but since it's a Suzuki film you get a lot of cool little stylistic flourishes even though it's early enough in his career that it doesn't go that crazy and stays within the confines of a pretty standard noir. Basically a bus carrying a group of inmates is fired upon by a sniper and two of the prisoners die. The prison officer in charge of the transport is suspended and takes it upon himself to investigate the crime because he feels responsible for not having protected the prisoners under his care. Of course this leads him deep into the underground of organized crime with plenty of twists and turns some of whom make absolutely no sense if you actually stop to think about them. Came out on the Nikkatsu Noir collection on Criterion years back and though it's not quite as good as I am Waiting or A Colt is my Passport* from the same collection it's still drat good fun. *Which is actually more of a swinging 60s Yakuza Western then a proper noir but is just absolutely riveting. FreudianSlippers fucked around with this message at 21:38 on Dec 5, 2020 |
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Dec 5, 2020 21:35
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 14:16 |
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQIaetvrxVc
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Feb 12, 2021 14:49
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Just read The Hunter, the Richard Stark novel that Payback (1999) is based on. I haven't seen Payback in probably about 15 years but I remember loving it. The book is even better because Parker is even more of a unrepentant sociopath than in the film while also still being a single minded man if principle that literally only wants his share and not a single cent more or less. How is Point Blank, (1967)? The earlier adaptation of the book. I hear it's a bit looser but it's by Boorman it stars Lee Marvin so it can't possibly be bad.
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Nov 10, 2021 01:39
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Point Blank (1967) is Fantastic. Feels like a New Wave Noir (which is fitting because the first French New Wave films were riffing a lot on noir) with how it constantly tears apart picture and sound and then puts them back together and with how visually inventive it is. It's a fairly accurate adaptation of The Hunter, though it does change a few key details it maintains the spirit of the book fairly well. The biggest change is probably that Walker/Parker is about a decade older than in the book, which actually does give him a very interesting vibe of being a bit tired and beaten down, and the fact that Fairfax is actually behind it all in the end. The ending is also a lot more ambiguous with it not being made clear whether Walker actually gets his money and makes the tone even more cynical with instead of him being a man of principle fighting against big business that is incapable of understanding principle he is in the end just a pawn in a meaningless petty power struggle within the corporation. In the end The Outfit wins and Walker probably doesn't go on to having 20+ other adventures in robbery like in the books or the Ride Into the Sunset he gets in the later Mel Gibson adaptation. My only problem is that John Vernon is a bit too charismatic and not quite slimy and degenerate enough as Mal. Though that might just be his voice. also it looks cool   
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Dec 10, 2021 01:27
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I made a list of all the Parker films with the intent of seeing all of them: https://letterboxd.com/gnonn/list/parker-films/ I've only seen Point Blank and Payback but I've got Slayground lined up for tomorrow. Am I forgetting any adaptations?
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Feb 15, 2022 00:08
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Was not expecting Slayground to be essentially a slasher. Although admittedly Slayground is the most slasher name imaginable that isn't a holiday. Parker (Stone in this version) spends most of the film on the run from a shadowy fedora wearing hitman which is basically an even creepier version of Tommy Udo from Kiss of Death.. It's not as great as Point Blank but it's got some great visuals and really moody and even creepy sound design.
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Feb 16, 2022 03:26
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Skwirl posted:I'm watching The Big Sleep, which I'd seen as teenager and a couple more times in my twenties, but I haven't seen in a decade, and Bogart's character says he's 38 years old near the beginning, and I'm 38. He looks so much older than me. I just assume any character in any movie prior to say 1995 probably smoked a carton a day since they were 11.
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Nov 3, 2022 21:26
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 14:16 |
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Tired of the "Die Hard is a Christmas Movie" discourse. Waiting for the "Blast of Silence is a Christmas Movie" discourse.
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Dec 27, 2023 00:47
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