Reviews

The writing in this show is truly horrendous. I couldn't get past the first 15 minutes without breaking out in laughter and then becoming subsequently enraged.

This show feels like it was written by teenagers. The whole thing is just insulting to the audience. Star Wars is just being desecrated to know end. After seeing this show, i've become more enraged and despondent. As someone who cares about the cultural health of the West (whatever that means) I feel deeply unhappy.

NOTE: this review silly and this show is silly and it sucks so just move on with your life and don't give Disney the satisfaction of your viewership. The more you watch this garbage, the more it gets made. Go outside or watch something by James Gunn. You'll get more out of it.

Robert Atman has a thing for subverting and deconstructing genre pieces. He did so with MASH, Mccabe & Mrs. Miller, and Gosford park.

And in 1973, he did it with "The Long Goodbye." In the process creating possibly the first Neo-Noir.

A typical Noir film contains high contrast visuals, lurid plots of sex, murder, and immoral debauchery. They also enjoy that retro 40s, 50s (sometimes 30s) setting.

Altman brings the film noir into the 1970s with plenty of Nihilism and morally conflicting attitudes towards social progress and innovation.

The world has irrecovably changed, though Marlowe stays the same. He's a kind of moral constant existing far out of his time.

He's now in world where everything isn't black and white. There's little contrast. Everyone's a liar and eveyone's a villain playing in a violent rat race and he's the loner who as to deal with it.

Great film.

I had to watch this film three times before I came around.

The first time, I shut it off half way through. The second time, I watched it all the way through, but I didn't love it. I thought it was okay: I appreciated it.

The Third time was like magic. I watched, it, and I loved it; I became so involved - so enchanted - it was like nothing else.

Lee Marvin's performance was excellent. The tragedy, the emotion, the brutality was all there.

The action was great - The fight scene at the club is one of the greatest in cinema history.

And the story is so poignant, so true.

The editing too, is so unique and sensitive.

The style, the structure, the action; it was all so beautiful, dark, and surreal.

I love it.

I actually kind of dug this movie for the bulk of its runtime. This, of course, in spite of a myriad of flaws including: bad acting, standard high school slasher mystery plot, and a pointless and unsatisfying tangent regarding the father of Brad Pitt's movie girlfriend.

What really worked was Brad Pitt and his sincerity as a character that felt real. The movie didn't just feel like a loose collection of cliches like other films of the period, - though it certainly has its indulgences - it actually had life and feeling. Brad Pitt himself reminded me of a people I actually knew in high school, people I respected (even if they were a bit cocky).

The direction was also very competent, and there were some interesting and funny kills. Roddy McDowell also stars in the film, - always a plus - but he drops out abruptly with no explanation before the end climax, which itself was entertaining, only standard.

During Westerner's era of American culture, the film and television market was oversaturated with hordes of westerns that were mostly insignificant, sometimes banal, exercises in boredom and mediocrity. Some films of this time, like those of Ford, Hawks, and Mann - not to mention some films from Stevens and Zinnemann - are unforgettable classics. Some TV projects have also been remembered fondly as well, like Rawhide, Gun Smoke, and The Riflemen; Peckinpah wrote for Gun Smoke, created the Riflemen, writing and directing some early episodes in the process. He left early in the shows run to create his own more personal project.

This was the Westerner. Though less known, it allowed Peckinpah a lot more creative freedom, showcasing the talent he would later burgeon into. The show was much more grittier and violent, making it unpopular. It was cancelled after one season, and mostly forgotten. Today the show is remember by a few as a remarkable touchstone in the development of a master. It was truly ahead of his time, and thankfully, time caught up to Peckinpah.

I can't see many people want to watch Danger Man in 2021, but its their loss. This is show definitely shows its age with fight scenes that seem impressive for the time, but pretty dated today. The show also moves at a very leisurely pace. There is also little action or suspense in many areas. What is attractive about the show, is its dark and mature take on the spy film/tv genre. This show is first and foremost good drama.

When I first came across this show, I thought it would just be another campy James Bond knock off, like the Man From Uncle or The Saint. Those types of shows do have their place, but there not something I would actively seek out.

I only came across this show because I got addicted to watching the original Mission Impossible reruns on TV and Was looking for something similar. I came across this show which was streaming for free, and I read a little bit about it on IMDB. I read about this dark Anti - Bond spy show reminiscent of films like The Ipcress File and The Spy Who Came In From The Cold.

This intrigued me, so I watch the first episode, which was, in the original British run of the show, "Yesterdays Enemies."I still had pretty low expectations, but I thought, "Why not?" So, I started it up, and I was quite surprised. I became engrossed in this complex espionage story which raised questions relating to the mistrust of authority and the morality of sanctioned murder.

I began to watch more episodes like "Colony Three" and "The Ubiquitous Mr Langrove" which were incredibly surreal and captivating and anticipated an even greater show that followed the end Danger Man, and featured much of the same talent, called, "The Prisoner."

If your a fan of good television or intelligent, mature spy fiction, you should check out this show. Just make sure you start with a good one like the episodes I've mentioned. Some episodes like "Battle of The Cameras" can be rather dull and pointless. Those are a rarity though.

Samuel Fuller (the mind behind House of Bamboo) is one of my favorite directors and without a doubt one of the most under appreciated.

Known primarily for film noir, he created many violent and alluring masterpieces of pure pulp. This isn't one of his best, I have to admit, but it sure is entertaining and has some of the best moments of his whole filmography. The first half is a bit slow, but it picks up in the second with tons of great action sequences, the standout being the murder in the bathhouse.

The unusual nature of it, being shot in color cinemascope despite being noir, add the charm as well.

Overall, this is an exceptional addition to his work, that deserves to be seen, even if its not as well on known or as well praised as some of his other films.

Detour is a 1945 film noir that was directed by Edgar Ulmer and produced a on an ultra low budget. Ulmer was known as a poverty row Auteur who made tons of cheap films, even when he had the opportunity to go bigger, because of the creative freedom he was allotted.

He was known mainly for this film and his uncompromisingly dark pre - code universal horror film The Black Cat starring Karloff and Lugosi. He was highly respected by many of the new hollywood movement, particularly Peter Bogdanovich, who gave him a great amount of exposure by publishing their conversations in his book "The Devil Who Made It."

The real brilliance of Detour is its unreliable flash back structure. From what I understand, the book was written in much more straightforward and convential story structure that focused on two different characters and their respective viewpoints as they converged over the death of the motorist depicted in the film. The film on the other hand, in a brilliant choice by Ulmer, begins at the end of the story, and focuses on just one character and his seemingly warped perspective as he recalls the morbid events that occurred before.

By doing this, Ulmer opened up the story to a lot doubt and ambiguity that allows the viewer to interpret the events as they please. This is achieved mainly through the paranoia and anxiety of the character that comes through into the story and makes the viewer reconsider and question everything that happens, especially the suspiciously morbid coincidences that happen to occur around our protagonist.

This structure also heightens and accentuates the surreal aspects of the story, which makes a lot of sense because memories themselves are often warped and more closely resemble dreams rather than reality. Of course, the influence of the film on David Lynch is natural.

Anyway, I love Detour and it is, as many of have no doubt said, a quintessential example of film noir and is such a wonderful entry to classic noir canon.

I quite enjoyed night tide, though I wouldn't recommend it to most people. Its an interesting debut film by a then young experimental filmmaker named Curtis Harrington. I came accross him while I was reading about the great avant garde filmmakers Maya Deren and Kenneth Anger. Harrington was part of their circle and actually collaborated with them, and even started a production company them; however, his career took a very different trajectory than theirs'.

He ended up making low budget horror, science, and exploitation films, and many of these were with Roger Corman, such as Night Tide. What makes night tide for unique is its surreal visuals and hypnotic atmosphere that pull the viewer along with Dennis Hoppers subtle but effective performance.

I also really enjoyed the occult aspects of the film and its emphasis on sea lore. The occult themes are very present in the works of Deren and Anger (especially Anger). The emphasis on sea lore and some the key visuals also reminded me of Robert Eggers masterpiece The Lighthouse that came out last year. The dream sequences especially stand out.

The only major negative aspect of the film that really drags it down is the clumsy ending which is very similiar to M Night Shyamalan's The Village. Night Tide still leaves some ambiguity though, which kind of saves it for me

Overall, Night Tide is an interesting little horror fantasy film that is beautiful shot with some wonderful surrreal sequences that will likely delight many cinephiles looking for something new. Night Tide also appears to have influenced my favorite film of last year so theres that.

Check it out if your looking for something new and if you want to watch something similar I'd recommend Monte Hellman's surreal, nightmarish western The Shooting or Herk Harvey's atmospheric indie classic Carnival of Souls.