'Broken Embraces' has a lot to embrace: Its style, its stars Nov 20, 2009
A study of betrayal and mad ambition with an appealing film-noir quality, the heart of the tale gets lost amid the fractured narrative. Almod. (USA Today -- Life)
Inside 'Michael Jackson's This Is It' From The New York Debut Oct 28, 2009
The green screen is also the place where directors create a film-noir mash-up of scenes from classics like "Gilda" and "The Big Sleep," into which Jackson is inserted, running from machine-gun fire and jumping through a glass window a big introductory number for "Smooth Criminal." Filmed in Culver City as well is a 3-D short for "Thriller" with a huge cemetery, zombies and ghosts. As it is shot, Jackson watches along, sucking on a lollipop and adding his thoughts. (VHI.com -- Music News)
Hillel film festival features two students' films to small crowd May 14, 2009
The first film, Cereal Killer, directed by College of Communication junior Rachel Zeidman, was a film-noir style tale of "two friends, lovers, femme fatales [discussing] the sordid details of their most recent endeavor," according to the program for the event. The film was praised by the audience for its myopic cinematography and the elements of mystery and intrigue, though some complained that they did not really understand the point of it. (Boston University Daily Free Press, MA)
Memorable Movie Moms, Part One May 7, 2009
James Cagney screams in Raoul Walsh's classic film-noir White Heat. Cagney's rough-talking gangster Cody Jarrett is a terror to his gang of criminals but has a soft spot for his old Ma. (Suite101.com)
For Diana Krall, quiet time is a rare thing Apr 10, 2009
Best known for his work with bossa nova legend Antonio Carlos Jobim, Ogerman "thinks cinematically, which I do, too. He has this melancholy film-noir thing that I love.". Krall also credits her band and co-producer Tommy LiPuma, longtime collaborators whom she considers "like a family." The skills she has sharpened working with LiPuma came in handy recently when Krall was tapped to produce an album for another high-profile artist: Barbra Streisand. (USA Today -- Life)
Millard Kaufman; helped create Mr. Magoo Mar 24, 2009
"Early in his Hollywood career, Mr. Kaufman fronted for blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo on the 1950 film-noir crime classic "Gun Crazy. "Mr. Kaufman didn't know Trumbo, but they shared the same agent, George Willner. When Willner asked Mr. Kaufman whether he would be willing to put his name on the script, Mr. Kaufman later recalled, "I had sense enough to say, 'Let me talk it over with my wife. (Boston Globe)
Comedy: Biglaughs from Aniston, Carrey Feb 7, 2009
The film comes from the inventive director of the teen film-noir Brick (worth renting) and seems to have a Wes Anderson (slightly absurd) sensibility. wrote the film is too episodic and feels like an aggregation of eccentric characters in search of a more solid and coherent plot. (MSNBC -- Movies)
