Out of Blue (dir. Carol Morley, 2018) New Orleans homicide detective Mike Hoolihan (Patricia Clarkson) is investigating the murder of Jennifer Rockwell (Mamie Gummer), an astrophysicist who was killed in an observatory. Hoolihan’s investigation has her asking questions of Jennifer’s boyfriend (Jonathan Majors), her coworker (Toby Jones), and her overbearing military father (James Caan) and … Continue reading Out of Blue

The Standoff at Sparrow Creek (dir. Henry Dunham, 2018) There has been a mass shooting at a police funeral. Members of a militia meet at their warehouse headquarters in the aftermath of this incident. They soon discover evidence that points to one of them as the responsible party. Militia member and embittered former cop Gannon … Continue reading The Standoff at Sparrow Creek

Crimewave (dir. Sam Raimi, 1985) Overall, Crimewave was a lesson about abject failure--no matter how you slice it, the film was a dog, and everyone involved can pretty much line up to take forty whacks. As filmmakers, we failed to execute a misguided concept and our studio refused the benefit of any doubt. Bruce Campbell, … Continue reading Crimewave (1985)

Kiss of Death (dir. Henry Hathaway, 1947) Kiss of Death (dir. Barbet Schroeder, 1995) People hate informers. We most commonly associate this sentiment with organized crime, whether we’re talking about the culture of silence found in the Italian omerta or in that ever popular dictum of what snitches will get. It’s wider than that, though. … Continue reading Kiss of Death (1947 and 1995)

Detour (dir. Edgar G. Ulmer, 1945) Is there anything more hopeless than a doomed piano player?  Nightclub musician Al Roberts (Tom Neal) is hitchhiking across the country. His girlfriend Sue Harvey (Claudia Drake) left him and New York for Los Angeles. Roberts, having nothing left in the city, decides to follow her. Drifting down the … Continue reading Detour (1945)

Undertow (dir. William Castle, 1949) Sometimes you are reminded that film noir was only elevated by critics, and like anything has its fair share of mediocrities or outright failures. Undertow is neither, exactly, but manages to be something as bad: forgettable. Middling mobster Tony Reagan (Scott Brady) was run out of Chicago for having an … Continue reading Undertow (1949)

D.O.A. (dir. Rudolph Maté, 1949) D.O.A. (dir. Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel, 1988) A man, shot from behind, walks into a police station. We follow him as he goes through the building, turning into the Homicide Division offices. He approaches a pair of detectives and declares, “I want to report a murder.”  The lead detective … Continue reading D.O.A.