Over the last few days I've seen 3 recent noir movies than
ranged from good to excellent.
"Memory of a Killer"--this was the one I was most looking
forward to seeing, and it was somewhat disappointing. The
hook for it is a hitman with Alzheimer's. I almost turned
this off several times during the first half--overly cynical
hardboiled dialogue that bordered on inane, and not much
interesting as far as the story. The second half the movie
picks up and becomes worth watching, although hitman's
Alzheimer's doesn't play much of a role in the story other
than the frequent look of consternation on Jean Declair's
face (who was good, but much better in "Character").
13 Tzameti--this was excellent. The basic plot--a young guy
desperate for money jumps at an opportunity for riches by
stealing an invitation for a secret gathering. While I
expected something sinister + deadly at the gathering, I
didn't expect anything as horrific as what was waiting for
him. The sense of dread created in this movie was palpable.
Highly recommend it.
In Bruges--very good noirish hit man movie with fine
performances by both Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleason, and
some terrific dialogue. Farrell's performance at first seems
overmannered, but once you understand what's going on it's
really pitch perfect.
In 2 of these movies characters made comments about how they
hate Belgium. A question for the European members of the
groups--is their some sort of animosity brewing among other
European countries these days against Belgium?
--Dave Z.
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