Got some classic noir recommendations for November:
In a Lonely Place (1950) on Tubi and Criterion might legitimately be one of Humphrey Bogart’s best performances? After a hat-check girl winds up dead following a flirtatious visit to Bogie’s apartment, Gloria Grahame begins to question the wisdom of dating an angry fist-swinging dipshit with a mysterious violent past. But did he really kill the girl? Starts off as a by-the-numbers murder mystery, and winds up becoming a cracking fun thriller/suspense movie.
The Blue Gardenia (1953) on Criterion starts us off with a sexy date between a newly-single, extremely drunk Anne Baxter and Raymond Burr. What could go wrong? Attempted date rape and murder, that’s what. After a bit of a leisurely start, we’re off to the races with another classic Fritz Lang paranoid thriller. Not essential viewing imo, but Lang really doesn’t miss.
Just ran that one back this past weekend. Agree that it’s one of his best performances. I appreciate that Bogart could have just kept playing the slick hero in every movie and printing money without issue, but chose instead to tackle movies like this and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre where he goes to some seriously dark places.
I realize that I am in the minority with my Interstellar hate, but while I haven’t actually bothered to see La La Land, I remember hearing that it was pretty meh at best, and problematic at worst? Is there a good reason it’s as beloved as a legitimately good movie in Eternal Sunshine?
La La Land was mainly problematic because it was so obvious that the two people would always be stars. It was a movie about how hard it is to make it in the industry from people who had already won everything. If it was made by no names and starring no names, it would have been a very effective movie. But it wasn’t…
Still waiting for the Academy to issue a formal press release apologizing to John Candy’s family for not so much as nominating him for an Oscar for that movie.
