Brian Thornton said in post #900, that at the Noir panel at
LCC,
"Edward Wright definitely has me curious about his own
personal take on 1940s Los Angeles."
Having read "While I Disappear," and having gotten some mixed
signals from it, I would like hearing what Wright had to say.
I taught Detective Fiction last semester, and this semester I
am teaching California Lit (with Spade, Marlowe & Gittes,
of course, with some Archer thrown in for Landscape as
Character.*)
The night before last I got a chance to watch the DVDs of The
Black Dahlia and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang back to back, and I
agree with Kevin when he says that
"That's the thing about the recent spate of "noir" films.
They're all shallow style and slick self-conscious fetishism,
and show little real understanding of what made the originals
-- and the great novels they were based on -- tick. Or even
what made them "noir."
My instant review of both flicks was:
"Don't noir-y. Be happy."
After I watched both flicks, the eleven o'clock news aired a
video clip of an auto accident. Two SUVs smacked together in
frozen Ohio here; paramedics were cutting out one trapped
person. But the TV video showed that in deep background a
paramedic was holding the trapped person's hand for comfort
and solace. Two strangers holding hands in a tragic moment.
The auto victim died before he got cut loose.
Five seconds of real life versus four hours of ...
And did I miss something in Dahlia? Was it Paul Leni's 1928
flick "The Man Who Laughs" what triggered the Dahlia's
slaughter? Was I s'posed to buy that? I know the 1928 flick
triggered Bob Kane to create the Joker as a foil to Batman,
okay, but the identity of the Dahlia-murderer was off-putting
and incredulously silly Grand Guignol. The gag reel for Kiss
Kiss etc was more lucid.
A close buddy, who actually works as a PI for the Public
Defender office in Northern California, a devote fan of
Estleman, recommended both Brick and Hollywoodland. I guess
now I will go try them.
Latest new arrivals here are Peter Temple's The Broken Shore
and Robert Ellis' City of Fire. Any comments about these? I
read Christine Falls and found it slow and plodding and old
news.
Best to all,
Fred Zackel Cocaine & Blue Eyes Point Blank Press Now up
to #539,503 at amazon.com.
(* Sorry, Terrill, I know you hate Landscape as Character,
but my kids got to start somewhere. You can't quit your
religion unless your parents taught you one.)
"The whores are dancin' tonight!" ~ Gaspar de Portolį¼BR>
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