I'm not usually into film noir, especially not ones that have come out in the past thirty years, but I do fancy myself a movie fan, so I give them all a shot. Anyway over the last two years I came across two movies I have come to enjoy so I figured I'd pass them along:
A straight to DVD movie with Bruce Willis and Mischa Barton? Yep. That happened. Not because the movie blew and distributors didn't want to show it, in fact it did very well at Sundance. Instead the company that made the movie went bankrupt. It grossed something like fifty thousand dollars, which means it's likely you didn't see it. I'll let you in on the scoop, leave you wanting, then the next time it's on Starz Comedy you'll think twice before switching it over to Cake Boss.
A sophomore, Bobby Funke (Funky as he comes to be known), writes for the school paper at a richy richy private school in a town near you. He has aspirations and all the qualities of a film noir protagonist, the calm but tough attitude, and he always seems to know what to say. Principal K (Willis) uncovers one day that precious cargo has gone missing, SAT exams, and this former desert storm high school administrator ain't takin' nothin' from anybody. Then Bobby is approached by the typical hollywood movie hot popular chick and asked to recover the tests because the hot popular one (Barton) knows she aced it. Bobby uses all his investigative skills to uncover the class president as the likely suspect and pins him for the crime. He is immediately catapulted to stardom, parties, popularity, and he might even get the girl. However an unfolding of events reveals that maybe Funky has pinned the wrong douche, and sets on a course to find out the truth. He wont like what he comes up with, but it's good shit.
You'd think a film like this would be lame, because well, it sounds pretty lame, but in fact if you know what film noir is, it is actually done quite well in my opinion. But what do I know?
2. Brick (2005)
Joseph Gordon Levitt, before he went all Dicaprio in that film you may have heard that I can't think of right now, was in a limited released movie. He's really the only well known actor in this, another guy (who plays Tug) is in that new movie 11:11, which will be good too. Yet another film noir, detective story, an epic search for the truth in the seedy LA burbs where drugs, popularity, and money rule over all.
Levitt plays Brenden, a junior or senior at a high school somewhere in LA. He used to date this chick but before summer she split to go get loaded on H with this stoner monkey Dode. School starts in the fall and Brenden is contacted by his former love and she sounds in trouble that seems to involve a Brick of H. In an effort to find out what is going on Brenden rarely goes to class and snoops around looking for her. They eventually meet up and she makes it sound like nothing. The next day she's dead in a drainage tunnel, Brenden finds her and begins his quest to find out who did it. It takes him infiltrating a drug, ring, beating up football players, stoners and dealers, but he finds out whos behind it all, and its not who you think.
You'll like em, netflix em, look for em on Demand, trust me, if you don't...oh well.
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