The Big Easy (dir. Jim McBride, 1987) Dennis Quaid is Remy McSwain, a ridiculously named New Orleans police detective who is on the take, but in a harmless, charming way. Ellen Barkin is Anne Osbourne, a district attorney investigating police corruption but who cannot be trusted because she doesn’t sound like a caricature like Quaid … Continue reading The Big Easy (1987)

Zandalee (dir. Sam Pillsbury, 1991) The erotic thriller is essentially over as a genre. The slightly sleazy and disreputable cousin to noir had its moment and frankly survived longer than you’d expect it to given the rise of internet pornography and premium cable series, but the collapse of the mid-budget studio production and the general … Continue reading Zandalee (1991)

The Trust (dir. Alex Brewer and Benjamin Brewer, 2016) The Trust was it for Jerry Lewis: his last time he schlepped himself out of his trailer and onto a film set. He got to play Nicolas Cage’s father in a couple of scenes in a heist movie that didn’t exactly go straight to streaming, but … Continue reading The Trust (2016)

Kill Chain (dir. Ken Sanzel, 2019) Because this direct-to-video film does not yet have a Wikipedia page, typing Kill Chain into the search bar takes you directly to the concept that is found in military strategy. It’s the sequence of events in dealing with an enemy: find, fix, track, target, engage, and assess. What does … Continue reading Kill Chain (2019)

Naked (dir. Mike Leigh, 1993) Johnny: Have you ever thought, right, but you don't know, but you may have already lived the happiest day in your whole fuckin' life and all you have left to look forward to is fuckin' sickness and purgatory? Sophie: Oh, shit. I just live from day to day. Johnny: I tend … Continue reading Naked (1993)

Night and the City (dir. Jules Dassin, 1950) I don’t know what Barton Fink’s problem was. Clearly you can make a wrestling picture that also speaks to the concerns of the common man. Just wait a few years, ditch Wallace Beery, move to Europe, get blacklisted for your leftwing sympathies, and you’ll be set. Harry … Continue reading Night and the City (1950)

Hangover Square (dir. John Brahm, 1945) Patrick Hamilton’s 1941 novel concerns George Harvey Bone, an Englishman with a drinking problem and a condition in which he experiences fugue states. He cannot remember what occurs during them or account for his actions. He is hopelessly in love with a fellow pub habitué named Netta, who exploits … Continue reading Hangover Square (1945)

The Two Jakes (dir. Jack Nicholson, 1990) It is 1948. The war is over. Private investigator J.J. “Jake” Gittes (Jack Nicholson) has settled into a comfortable middle age and an even more comfortable income bracket. He even has a membership at the Wilshire Country Club. The events of 1938 are behind him, he thinks. His … Continue reading The Two Jakes (1990)

Chinatown (dir. Roman Polanski, 1974) Chinatown is the quintessential neo-noir film. Almost nothing else in the canon comes close to its influence or impact. Not content with merely replicating the style of forties and fifties mysteries and crime melodramas, Chinatown takes the plot and structure of the private detective story in which a simple case … Continue reading Chinatown (1974)

Light Sleeper (dir. Paul Schrader, 1992) John LeTour (Willem Dafoe) is forty years old, which for a man in his profession as a ‘D.D.’—a drug dealer and courier for upscale Manhattan clients—is well into middle age. A former addict, he works for Ann (Susan Sarandon) and Robert (David Clennon), who themselves are on the verge … Continue reading Light Sleeper (1992)