Film noir buffs usually point to 1940’s STRANGER ON THE THIRD FLOOR as the first of the genre. Others cite 1941’s THE MALTESE FALCON as the film that launched the movement. But a case could certainly be made for William Wyler’s THE LETTER, released three months after STRANGER, but containing all the elements of what would be come to called film noir by future movie buffs. THE LETTER also features a bravura performance by Miss Bette Davis , who was born on this date in 1905, as one hell of a femme fatale.
The movie starts off with a bang (literally) as Bette’s character Leslie Crosbie emerges from her Malaysian plantation home pumping six slugs into Geoff Hammond under a moonlit night sky. The native workers are sent to fetch Leslie’s husband, rubber plantation supervisor Robert, from the fields. He brings along their attorney Howard Joyce, and it’s a…
Way back in 2009, this music video premiered during my favorite episode of Flight of the Conchords,The Tough Brets. That’s the episode where Bret performs a controversial rap, in which he attacks several other rappers. (“Snoop Dogg is not very good. Ice Cube in not very good….”) When Murray suggests that Bret may have hurt the feelings of the rappers that he called out, Bret forms a gang for protection.
Or, at very least, Bret tries to form a gang. It doesn’t go particularly well, though character actor Seymour Cassel does join up at the one point.)
However, before forming the gang, Bret and Jermaine perform an entire song about hurt feelings. This song is also known as Tears of a Rapper and there’s actually several different versions of it floating around. For instance, in a more recent version, the Maid in Manhattan reference is replaced with a joke about how much Bret loves Zac Efron. One thing that always remains the same is that Jermaine’s family forgot to wish him a happy birthday. Poor Jermaine!
Anyway, I like this music video. I like the fact that when Bret sees that his friends have gone to see Maid in Manhattan without him, Jermaine just happens to be there, trying to hide his face. For the record, Maid in Manhattan is actually a perfect reference because it’s the type of bland film that you would be embarrassed to discover someone had specifically gone out of their way not to see with you. It’s the one where Jennifer Lopez plays a maid and Ralph Fiennes plays a politician. At one point, Jennifer Lopez nearly sits down on a magazine that’s got a picture of Ralph Fiennes on the cover and she tells him, “Whoops, I nearly sat on your face.”
Add to that, everyone’s had hurt feelings at some point in their life and therefore, everyone can relate to this song. For instance, I’ve recently been making an effort to obey all posted traffic laws. Would it kill someone to say, “Wow, Lisa, you actually stopped for that red light! We’re proud of you!?”
Defying description as non-chalantly as it does logic and reason, Chicago-based cartoonist Gabriel Howell’s physically impressive (heavy construction-type paper; perfect binding; French-folded, oversized pages) 2018 self-published comic Father is one of those works that bypasses the conscious mind and goes right for the id — with a fucking scalpel. It doesn’t “leave a mark” so much as it carves one in, and you’re not going to emerge out the other side the same person as when you opened it up.
If that description scares you, it probably should — this is a horror comic, after all, and while its surface-level terrors are easy enough to spot and fit roughly into the loose category of “biological horror,” its conceptual terrors are more oblique, more unsettling, and more likely to stay put in your newly-scarred mind. This is a book that gets its hooks in you — and then pulls on them…
We’ll start this one off with a confession that may point to my own shortcomings as a writer more than anything else : I’ve been vacillating on whether or not to review Lisa Hanawalt’s late-2018 Drawn + Quarterly graphic novel, Coyote Doggirl, for several months now simply because I’m not quite sure how to approach it. I even discussed the reasons behind my reluctance my reluctance on my Patreon page (first free plug — the longer, “official” one follows, as always, at the end) while zeroing in on the one big problem with the book that I have — one that is in no way a reflection on the work itself, nor on Hanawalt’s cartooning skills in general. Now that I’m “going for it,” though, I’m not going to beat around the bush:
This book is ridiculously over-priced.
That’s it. That’s my “beef” with it in a nutshell. On…
While doing my usual browsing around Barnes & Noble recently, I came across a real bargain – Burt Reynolds‘ 2015 memoir BUT ENOUGH ABOUT ME, for the low, low price of just $6.98! Naturally, being a long time Reynolds fan, I eagerly snapped it up and bought it (and no, Mr. Salesperson, for the umpteenth time, I do not want to join your book club!). Cowritten with Jon Winokur, who also coauthored a 2011 memoir with James Garner, the book is unlike your typical star ‘autobiography’, as Burt looks back on his life and, most importantly, the people who influenced him most, for better or worse.
Florida State running back “Buddy” Reynolds, 1954
Burt (who died last September at age 82) was Hollywood’s #1 box office draw from 1978-82, and ranked in the top ten for 12 years, but the man certainly paid his dues to get there. A…
Why should they, though? With Batman’s 80th birthday, it makes sense to keep the fires burning by announcing a film taking place in his playground. With Joker, we now have the 4th iteration of Batman’s nemesis over the last 30 years (not counting animated/tv versions, anyway).
When Todd Phillips’ name is mentioned, the first movie that comes to my mind is The Hangover. Comedy is where he shines, so seeing the first trailer for his upcoming Joker is interesting. It’s looking more like Joel Schumacher’s Falling Down or Scorsese’s Taxi Driver than anything else. I’m curious to see where this goes, honestly. If there’s anyone that can bring the creepy and crazy to The Joker, it’s Joaquin Phoenix.
Phoenix stars as an individual trying his best to smile through life’s challenges, only to become Gotham City’s greatest villian.
Joker makes his appearance in theatres this October, which worked extremely well for Venom in 2018.
Through the Shattered Lens 