Review of The Big Sleep

This was the longest crime script I've ever read. I remember watching the film a few years ago in a film history class I took. I didn't remember how the film was resolved until I read through the script. And in a few days or weeks I may not remember either. The Big Sleep is a long convoluted script that has many twists and turns. Only in the last ten pages is everything made crystal clear. Yet there are a lot of great things about the screenplay.

The descriptions might be too long for contemporary tastes, but the action sequences are told well enough. When I read the script I starting imagining Humpphrey Bogart in every descriptive scene. Often he would be wearing a fedora and a trench coat with rain coming down all around him. It seemed like it was always raining which brought to mind Blade Runner another film where it seemed like it was always raining. After the gambling house scene Bogart and Bacall ride together in a car on a desert highway. This scene was so evocative of a desert highway that seemed to go on forever. It reminded me of the car scenes from Chinatown where Jack and Faye are riding to her house with the villains in hot pursuit.

Maybe the big sleep served as inspiration for Chinatown. I think it did. Since Chinatown was a neo-noir that riffed on a lot of the old film noirs from the thirties. I'm not sure how many acts there were in the film. It seemed like there were at least four parts. The beginning with the setup of the blackmailer being killed off. Then that was resolved by Bogie going to the police. Then it transitioned to the gambling house. Then that part concluded with Bogie escaping from Canino. Then the final thirty or forty pages that revealed Carmen as the one who accidentally shot Shawn Regan and her sister and Eddie Mars as the ones who covered it up.

The script moves rather slowly. Perhaps the film has aged a bit. It's a half century old or so. But there don't seem to be any gaps. It falls from one scene into the next, and the next and the next. There is always some form of action to keep you interested in how Bogie is going to find out who is blackmailing the Sternwoods and whatever happened to Shawn Regan. Bogie is a tough character with high moral principles. Yet he is a rather simple man. He wants to find out what happened to Shawn Regan because he knew him. This is reason enough to stick his neck out on the line.

I don't know how many film noirs Bogey made. I've seen The Maltese Falcon and this film, The Big Sleep and the characters are very similar. Philip Marlowe could easily be exchanged for Sam Spade. They are both tough, no nonsense, but not quite John Wayne. They are vulnerable. They get beat up and seem to be searching for answers the same way readers or viewers are searching for how the crime will be solved. The films are similar too.

But I think people like The Maltese Falcon better. It's simpler, easier to follow and it rolls out better. There is more history and its not as convoluted. It gets to where it's going faster and without too many turns that might be added on or non essential. I suspect viewers feel the same way. It seems like The Big Sleep takes itself too seriously, tries to be slick, sexy, and complicated and it comes off as being too pretentious. Still I did like it immensely. The black and white images that flooded my conscience as I read the script were great. The image of Bogey with his fedora on, standing in the pouring rain, was delightful.

thoughts about La Femme Nikita

This was the French version, not the American version starring Bridget Fonda. I remember being at a video store trying to get the French version and not being able to. I was disappointed. Still, life moved on in those early days of adolescence. Tonight I watched with rapt attention as Nikita transformed into a killer government agent. She started out as a drugged out hysterical killer and was turned into a lethal killer. The film starts out with a bang. The world, the story, the character are all established by minute 15. Then the film goes through a training phase. And when the film gets to the restaurant scene I was totally taken aback. I didn't see it coming at all. A present of a gun. Who she is to kill. It all happens in rapid succession. It's great filmmaking. Line into line, scene into scene the film is action packed. That's also another theme; Nikita's struggle with death. I was reading a screenwriting book last night which talked about the obstacles that happen during an action movie. It says the most common theme in them is the struggle with death. In La Femme Nikita she has to struggle with death throughout the whole movie. When she is in training she has to prove herself or else get killed. Her former life eliminated, she is in a life or death struggle to remain alive. The government agent makes demands of her. Tells her if you don't comply, your only alternative is death. Even at the end of the film she has to struggle with death. She runs away to escape the government which represents death. She has mentors throughout the film. First it is the government agent and the older woman. Then she is set on her own as an undercover agent living in the World undetected except when the phone rings and a person on the other line asks for Josephine, her code name.

I was thoroughly engrossed in the film. It kept my attention. Especially through the last half hour. Even though the assasination scene in Venice was a little too predictable. The entrance of Jean Reno really shakes things up. At first I didn't know who he was. I asked myself who is this actor? I should know who he is. He has been in a few films. I checked on IMDB.com and sure enough it was Jean Reno.

I couldn't get enough of the action and intrigue that the film plays to high emotion. It leads you on with false starts like the hotel bug job. What did happen anyway? It was a great film. It's no wonder it was made into a TV show. There could have been a sequel.

thoughts about Reservoir Dogs

Tonight I read the screenplay of Reservior Dogs and then watched the film. It's a short script and the film is short too. The film is creatively written. It opens up new forms of structuring a film. Not that any of the things Tarrantino does in the film haven't been done before. Citizen Kane also uses a non-linear structure. He does create a film that tells a good story with strong characters and a Shakespearian ending that reminded me of the final scene from Hamlet. The film isn't as good as Pulp Fiction. That film is similar and probably could be watched as a double feature that shows Quentin's style and his subject matter. It seems that Reservoir Dogs is a precursor to Pulp. Without doing Dogs I don't think Pulp would have been as good. Also several scenes have been shown to be mere reproductions of other films. Like the scene where Kietel takes down two cops with his twin .45's. That was actually done first in a Hong Kong action film. So were the suites. They were taken from Japanese Yakuza films. Still it does retain a neo-noirish quality that makes it eminently enjoyable. Even the disgusting scene where Madsen takes off the cop's ear. It is a classic scene that shows beauty in brutality. The song, the little dance, and the sheer terror in the cop's face do show originality and immense creativity. And the final scene as I've mentioned before reminded me of Hamlet set to a Mexican stand off. Another brilliant mash up. Tarrantino is a great writer-director who ushered in a new era in filmmaking. He makes other films look old or very old. His style is brash and bold. His language is vulgar and profane. But it all comes together for a damn good film. And audiences love it.

Review of Goodfellas

Tonight I watched Goodfellas for the I don't know how manyeth time. I used to watch it in High School at a friends house and really thought it was great. This timle I didn't think it was so great. It struck me as a rather typical Scorsese film. Q the stones. Q the period, tacky dress. Q the stylized violence. I read the script too which was good but not great. I used to think Scorsese deserved more awards. In particular Goodfellas. After I read the script and watched the movie again I though less of the film. It just didn't have the emotional pull that it did when I was a teen. Perhaps I've seen it too much. I could see myself watching Goodfellas at a bar. It seems like a bar film. Lots of rock music. Drugs, sex, violence, crime all things that you would find at a seedy bar like the ones in the film.

Still it does seduce you into "the life" as Henry Hill refers to it in the film. To watch the Mafia revealed in all it's glory is very entertaining. The names of the characters; Big Pauly, Jimmy Conway, Jimmy two times, and son on. It really drew me into the film. It caused me to ask myself, wouldn't it be great if I was one of those guys. If I was a "goodfella?" That part of it really appeals to viewers of the film. I'm not the only teen or young adult who saw the film and wanted to be part of the film. In fact it's kind of a cult film. Young kids see all the glitz and glamour. The money and the lifestyle. And they think how great. How crappy my life is. How boring to be a working stiff. It's better to be a gangster.

And the technical details of the film are unassailable. The giant crane shot of Karen running away from a suspected hit on her by Jimmy Conway is great. The perspective reveals everything in the shot; Karen, Conway, the dark alley, the street sign revealing a no name street in the maze of the city. All great. The acting is also top notch too. When Jimmy Conway learns Tommy has been killed you want to reach out and hug him. Comfort him in his loss. I thought all the roles were well played. From "Big Paulie" to Lorraine Bracco they struck me as genuine, real, and human. To go through what they go through requires a tough skin.

Goodfellas is a great film. Maybe it didn't win all the awards, but it's popularity is proof that the film endures and will endure as a portrait of not only life in the Mob, but life in New York City during those years when the city was much different than it is today. Before Giuliani and John Gotti and all the events that surrounded those characters. Before Zoo York became like Disneyland; clean, passive, and safe.The film is also a turning point in Scorsese's ouevre. From Good fellas Scorsese found his niche, the gangster film. Casino, The Departed, great films that built upon Goodfellas and will be remembered as great films done by a great director.

what I did last night

last night I watched a few films and drank a few martinis along with them. It was a rather cold November night. I had the gas fireplace going and had the lights out. I sat in the dark alone watching and drinking. I thought it was fun. I wasn't depressed or paranoid. I thought I was actually doing something toward finding work in writing. I'm constantly stressed about not being produced or published. It seems that I don't really work at it and it's something that I have to get over and spend some time with if I want to amount to something as a writer. I haven't written on my screenplay in two months. I've set a goal for myself to write for two hours a day when I don't work at my part time job. It was a fun night. I read the New York Times and got the Hollywood Reporter in the mail. I haven't read it yet. It's terrible about all those sexual harassment scandals that are ruining peoples' careers. I suppose they are on the wrong side of history. it sure is a thorny topic to discuss. I just hope it doesn't turn into something like McCarthyism where people are hunted down for what they did years ago. I remember being in law school and having a tremendous amount of pressure put on me by feminism. It seemed that all the women were radical feminists. It was thrust upon me. It was a "new" reality. It drove me crazy. There was even a woman Professor who, when using the socratic method, was described as "the lape rape." I thought that was really bad. I flucked out my first year.  I think it's too bad that women have become above criticism and beyond reproach. I remember back to prohibition where women were the motive force behind that failed experiment. I hope we don't go down that road again. I live in upstate New York. There are many women leaders. There is a US Senator who is a woman. Our local assembyman is a woman. There are many women that work in many professions. I dare say there is equality between the genders. Last night as I was reading the New York Times Opinion page I came across an article that described the present political mindset that seems to plague not only New York but the country as a whole. It described the "seige" mentality. In the end it led the writer to say that we are obsessed with being a victim. Either on the left or right, it seems that we all think of ourselves as victims somehow. I thought the article was very perceptive. And when I started my day today I thought that this will be one day when I don't think of myself as a victim. It seems an impossible task when everyone around you thinks they are a victim and the burdens of history are so heavy, but so far it has been a rather enjoyable day. Further on I remember a woman I met back in grad school. I was wearing a shirt that said "brooklyn" on it. She asked me if I were from Brooklyn. I responded that I was not. She said I couldn't wear the shirt because I was not from Brooklyn. I thought that she was ignorant. And that she was continuing some tribal way of thinking about the World. With the holidays upon us the World often becomes so divided between religion, race, geography, ethnicity, and nationality. It's too bad that there are still people like this woman in the World . It would be a far more peaceful World if people accepted other people and their ways and opinions. We all have to live together. Even with people from Brooklyn.

thoughts on White Heat with James Cagney

This film was on a list of crime films that I received from my screenwriting professor from graduate school. It's an old film, in black and white, and has served as a joke or satire for another film; Johnny Dangerously starring Michael Keaton. The film is rather good and has several twists and turns. And of course Cagney makes it enjoyable. His signature accent and psychotic gangster manners are entertaining. I most enjoyed when the government agent is revealed and Cagney musters out "a copper, and I was gonna split 50/50 with a copper!" It is a great piece of dialogue that only Cagney could do.
The film was written well. It transitions from one scene to the next without ever becoming too boring or too much style without much substance. Even the jailhouse scenes contain some entertaining bits. Like when Big Ed's agent attempts to kill Cagney by dropping an engine on him.

It's too bad I've seen Johnny Dangerously more times then  probably should have. It really ruins the independence of this film. A number of parts are taken directly from this film into that one. I enjoyed watching the film. I could watch it again. It really does show some of the instruments that crime films use to engage the viewer. The government agent. The psychotic gangster with headaches and mommy complex. The blonde dame. The underling who tries to take over the gang. These are all used well by the writer of the film. A good film. Cagney has done quite a few good gangster movies. It's too bad they don't make 'em like they used to.

thoughts about Murder On the Orient Express

I had high hopes for this film. I thought it would be a bright spot for the serious season in the movies. I was a little more satisfied then disappointed. I liked the charactetrs, the period decor and costumes. I liked how it was set on a train and several scenes were shot from outside the train as characters walked through. At first I liked the high angle shot of characters scurrying about over Johnny Depp when he is murdered. But it was a little disorienting and I didn't like it so much afterwards. The story is rather roundabout too. Johnny Depp is linked to a heinous murder that he avoided trial for. By the end of the film everyone is implicated and as Piorrot uncovers everyone on the ensemble cast had a role in his murder. I didn't like this ending. I was hoping it would be a classic whodunit with a vile villain on which to hang the odious crime on. I was rather disappointed by the ending.

I don't have any knowledge of Agatha Christie or her books. In fact this is the first exposure I've had of her in my life. Maybe this makes me rather young? I get the impression that her novels are sort of like Murder She Wrote. But maybe she is deeper then that. The film is full of tension, especially as Piorrot interviews each of the passengers on the train to see who is the killer. The tension is built and built. I was exhausted after an hour and a half. I just wanted to find who did it. Who was the killer? The black doctor was a false ending. Piorrot finally reveals all in a big finish with the entire crew at a dinner table in a train tunnel. It seemed very theatrical to me. Finally the train is repaired, it is put back on it's tracks and the film ends.

The film really didn't inspire me to check out Agatha Christie more. In fact I was sick of the film with about a half hour left. I just wanted to go for the exit. It did have a strong conflict and very clear resolution. I liked these qualities. I suppose it would have been better if I were an Agatha Christie fan. After all the bluster about the cast, costumes, and shots Istanbul and the mountains I was left without much enthusiasm for the rest of the film. A good film, but not one that I would watch again.

thoughts about The Sweet Smell of Success

This was a film that is on the list of films to watch from the film section of the handout I got for my MFA. It's a really good film that gets into the power journalists have over the public. In the end though it becomes about scheming and how people get hurt. Tony Curtis stars as a press agent who is endlessly scheming to get his clients into the press. The film is dated. I guess nowadays it would center around the internet and what gets posted and goes viral. But in the context of the film we see Burt Lancaster having the power to influence politics and expose scandal or anything that someone in power wouldn't want revealed.

The film has some great cinematography of old New York. Great shots of Times Square and the streets crowded with taxis and people. So romantic. The film is anything but romantic. The sequence where Tony Curtis forces his girlfriend to befriend a rival journalist of Lancaster shows what a slime bag his character was. There are several incidents where Curtis shows his disgusting nature and how it is played off as just business as usual.

The character of Lancaster reminded me of Bill O'Reilly the now disgraced Fox news anchor whose cable show was must see TV and books charted the New York Times bestseller list. The film shows how the JJ Hunsiker character is devious  and out to ruin whoever gets in his way. He is also obsessed with his sister. He tries hard to control her, but the tighter he tries to grip her the further she slips through his fingers.

An interesting film. A film I probably wouldn't have watched if it hadn't been on the list of films to watch.

thoughts about Romance and the Yellow Peril

this book is very erudite and makes me reconsider some films and aspects of the history and politics of how films are presented. Marchetti's thoughts about gender and racial identity are revealing. i picked up on some of these aspects in the films she analyzes, yet she goes far beyond anything I have thought. the nationalistic contexts which the films are set really makes me look deeper into the film and to wider implications for the politics of the film. for instance she makes the statement that Japanese propoganda during the war simply became propoganda reformulated in post-war Japan. In her analyses of Sayonara, a film I had never heard about before, she talks about how the film deals with gender roles of the main character. How she is saved from gender bending in the name of male domination and the continuing of heteronormativity in not only Japan but the US.

She also talks about the three relationships int the film between white and non white, japanese in this instance. she says that marlon brando and miko taka relationship could survive becasue they are rich. in the case of red buttons and his japanese lover they committ double suicide because red buttons doesn't have the money or power to fight the US military. the question occurred to me, why doesn't buttons serve out his time, then come back to Japan as a civilian if he loves her so much? I guess that would be a cop out in some way.

there are several other films that deal with prejudice against asians. like the rape fantasy in DW Griffiths Broken Blossoms and The Cheat by De Mille. These films don't allow any interaction between White and non -White. If they did there might be a riot at the theater. Further on it is allowed in the Love is a Many Splendored Thing and the World of Suzie Wong William Holden kisses the Asian Woman on the mouth. Times changed . in Love the character of Jennifer Jones represent the city of Hong Kong. She is half Chinese and half Asian. Which will she choose to be Chinese or European? Unlike Hong Kong she gets to decide.

The films are great and deal with Asian history and politics from the beginnings of film to the early eighties. I have about sixty pages and five films left to watch.

Can't watch. what the f*** is wrong with me?

Last night it was the fourth night in a row that I didn't watch a film. Or a TV show. I watched music videos on youtube. I enjoyed the music videos. But, why can't I watch films? What the fuck is wrong with me? Watching block? Film fatigue. Whatever it is when it hits I can't shake it. So, I guess I should read some, do some research, then it usually unblocks me for awhile. Until I freeze up and can't watch again. Writer's block too. I've got some new ideas for my screenplay I wrote for my creative writing degrees, but I haven't yet looked at the script. I need to look at it. I need to think about it. And write, for fuck's sake! it's watch and criticize, not write. not make a film but stand back and look on. thinking that film is crap and that one too. without admitting that it is hard to make a film. it's like making sausages. they taste good, but no one wants to see how they are made?