#American neo-noir psychological thriller film

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

Taxi Driver (1976) dir. Martin Scorsese

[theaskew]

[vintage-every-day]

Frank Sinatra and Janet Leigh in 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑪𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒆, a 1962 American neo-noir psychological political thriller film directed and produced by John Frankenheimer.

[romanceyourdemons]

joel and ethan coen’s fargo (1996) masterfully walks the line between serious thriller and comedy in the neo-noir genre. in the directors’ fondness for recycling images, concepts, and motifs between films, this film snares elements with works from the big lebowski (1998) to no country for old men (2007); as in all those films, it juxtaposes epic crime film with intensely, incongruously human characters in ordinary contemporary settings. the setting of this film is the scandinavian-settled northern midwest of america, centering around quintessentially middle-class white community members who have no association with the hardscrabble violence of the neo-noir genre. the characters close deals on used cars, and enter paintings of ducks in stamp competitions, and play the accordion, and call their former high school classmates to catch up, all intensely sweet and homey behaviors with none of the exoticism of italian-american or mexican-american daily life that many noirs and neo-noirs show their criminals sneaking out from. the few non-white characters in the film are charged with the capacity for violence—the native american ex-felon, the asian-american man with psychiatric issues—but the ones who actually become entwined in the gory mess of the story are the whitest and most respectably middle-class of them all. those characters are “not the kind of people who would get mixed up in something like that,” and yet the film’s wide-angle shots, sweeping score, and time-to-time moments of striking violence they are placed in match anything produced by scorsese. the juxtaposition is funny, of course. to see someone like that mixed up in something like this flips genre expectations and leads to moments of cartoonish realism. but the juxtaposition also makes the physical and psychological elements of the film all the stronger, particularly in the minds of a white audience, for no longer being relegated to an exotic and supposedly intrinsically crime-ridden “other.” fargo (1996) is an effectively executed film with a well-conceived premise, and i would definitely recommend it

[ronn369]

Memento is a 2000 American neo-noir psychological thriller film written and directed by Christopher Nolan

[gone2soon-rip]

WILLIAM FRIEDKIN (1935-Died August 7th 2023,at 87.Heart failure & pneumonia) BELATED ENTRY.

American film and television director, producer, and screenwriter who was closely identified with the "New Hollywood" movement of the 1970s.Beginning his career in documentaries in the early 1960s, he directed the crime thriller film The French Connection (1971), which won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Director. He then directed the iconic cult horror classic film The Exorcist (1973), which earned him another Academy Award nomination for Best Director.

His other films included the drama The Boys in the Band (1970), the thriller Sorcerer (1977), the crime comedy drama The Brink's Job (1978), the crime thriller Cruising (1980),[3][4] the neo-noir thriller To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), the psychological horror film Bug (2006), and the black comedy Killer Joe (2011). Friedkin had just completed his last film,The Caine Mutiny Court Martial,based upon Herman Wouk's acclaimed novel of the same name,which premiered posthumously,on September 3rd 2023,at the Venice Film Festival. William Friedkin - Wikipedia

[thebuzztrack]

A Review of David Lynch’s ‘Blue Velvet’ (1986)

David Lynch plunges into the dark and twisted underbelly of a seemingly idyllic American town called Lumberton with his fever dream of a movie, Blue Velvet (1986). The film follows Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan), a college student who returns to his hometown after his father suffers a stroke and has to be hospitalized. He stumbles upon a severed human ear in a field near his home and becomes obsessed with solving the mystery behind it. He meets Sandy Williams (Laura Dern), a high school girl whose father is a detective working on the case. Together, they peel off the layers of crime, corruption, and perversion involving a sadistic drug dealer Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper), and a mysterious nightclub singer Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini).

This is a film that defies easy categorization. It is part noir, horror, comedy, and surrealism. It is a film that challenges the viewer’s expectations and morality. It is a film that exposes the hidden violence and depravity that lurks beneath the surface of everyday life. It is a film that contrasts innocence and purity of love against the brutality and corruption of lust. It explores the themes of voyeurism, identity, duality, and power.

Blue Velvet is also a film that showcases Lynch’s unique cinematic style and vision. It is full of striking images, sounds, and symbols that create a dreamlike atmosphere and evoke strong emotions. The film uses color, lighting, music, and sound effects to create contrast and tension. For example, the film uses blue to indicate mystery, danger, and desire, while red represents violence, passion, and blood. The film also uses lighting to create mood and suspense, such as using shadows, darkness, and neon lights. The film features memorable performances from the cast, especially Hopper, who delivers one of his most iconic and terrifying roles as Frank Booth, a psychotic criminal who inhales gas from a mask and abuses Dorothy sexually and emotionally. The film also has an unforgettable soundtrack that includes Roy Orbison’s “In Dreams,” Bobby Vinton’s “Blue Velvet,” and Angelo Badalamenti’s original score, which create a contrast between the nostalgic and romantic songs and the disturbing and violent scenes.

The film has influenced many other filmmakers and genres, such as neo-noir, indie cinema, and psychological thriller. It has been widely praised by critics and audiences alike. And it has been recognized as one of Lynch’s masterpieces and one of the best films of the 1980s. It deserves to be seen and appreciated by anyone who loves cinema and wants to experience a unique and powerful vision.

Blue Velvet is like a fever dream nightmare you cannot wake up from. It is like a wound that never heals. It is like a song that haunts you forever.

[heavenboy09]

Happy Birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊 To A Very Interesting & Promising Blonde Haired 👱‍♀️ Actress

 Sheis an American actress and professional kiteboarder. She had her breakthrough headlining the horror film It Follows (2014), which won her several accolades, including an Empire Award nomination. She is recognized for her work in the horror genre, particularly for starring in the thriller The Guest (2014), the sci-fi thriller Tau (2018), and the psychological thrillers Greta (2018) and Watcher (2022).

She was born Dillon Monroe Buckley on May 29, 1993, in Santa Barbara, California, the daughter of sign language interpreter Dixie and construction worker Jack Buckley. She later changed her first name to Maika, by which she had already been known for most of her life. At the age of 17, Monroe left Santa Barbara and moved to Cabarete in the Dominican Republic to continue training in kiteboarding after spending the previous summer there. She subsequently completed her senior year of high school online.

She made her film acting debut with the drama film At Any Price (2012). Aside from her work in horror, she has also had roles in the drama film Labor Day (2013), the action film Independence Day: Resurgence (2016), the neo-noir coming-of-age film Hot Summer Nights (2017), the comedy-drama film After Everything (2018) and the black comedy film Villains (2019).

Please Wish This Young Aprising Actress A Very Happy Birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊

Ms. Maika Monroe

Happy 30th Birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁  🎊 To You Ms. Monroe and here's to many more years to come

[denimbex1986]

'Steven Zaillian’s 2024 American neo-noir psychological thriller TV series Ripley is based on Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley novels. Ripley is a gorgeous looking art work in glorious black and white, and Andrew Scott is quietly sensational as Tom Ripley.

Writer-director Steven Zaillian’s 2024 American neo-noir psychological thriller TV series Ripley is based on Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley novels and stars Andrew Scott as Tom Ripley, with Dakota Fanning as Marge Sherwood and Johnny Flynn as Dickie Greenleaf. The programme is a surprise, as the first time anybody has tried to adapt Highsmith’s novels as a series. The other surprise is that Ripley is beyond virtuoso.

It is a gorgeous looking art work in glorious black and white, and Scott, more than two decades older than Highsmith’s character though the TV show adjusts this from his twenties to his thirties, makes the role his own. He really owns it. He is quietly sensational. The show builds and builds as it purrs mesmerisingly along its eight riveting episodes of around 50 minutes, up to its nail-biting final extended episode of 76 minutes, a movie in itself.

Veteran American cinematographer Robert Elswit (Oscar winner for There Will Be Blood) is the inspired cinematographer of all eight episodes, shooting with Arri Alexa LF digital cameras. He manages the impossible trick of turning the glossy, touristy Italian locations into brilliantly fitting backdrops for neo noir. Each frame is an individual art work. Gasp!

And the black and white? Zaillian explains: ‘The edition of the Ripley book I had on my desk had an evocative black-and-white photograph on the cover. As I was writing, I held that image in my mind. Black and white fits this story and it’s gorgeous.’ The miracle is that Netflix had the courage to agree and allow him to do this.

Maybe Dakota Fanning as Marge Sherwood and Johnny Flynn as Dickie Greenleaf don’t really have much of a time with their roles. Zaillian doesn’t seem very interested in them, but Maurizio Lombardi has a marvellous time as Inspector Pietro Ravini and Margherita Buy is a standout as Signora Buffi, Ripley’s landlady. Eliot Sumner plays male character Freddie Miles, but can’t really erase the memory of Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Talented Mr Ripley (1999). Nor can Kenneth Lonergan really erase the memory of James Rebhorn as that film’s Herbert Greenleaf. But John Malkovich, who plays Ripley in the 2002 film Ripley’s Game, is an inspired choice at the series end as Reeves Minot, so we eagerly await series two.

Scott recalls: ‘I found it mentally and physically really hard, Certain things I can understand, but other things… it’s actually the blankness that’s sometimes hard to engage with.’ He does blank great. He’s caught the essence of Ripley. Odd that. In person he seems such a nice man and here he seems like a deadly snake about to pounce (do snakes pounce? well this one does). It’s called acting, dear boy, and Scott is one fine actor.

Steven Zaillian explains that adapting the material as a series rather than a feature film ‘allowed me to be more faithful to the story, tone, and subtleties of Highsmith’s work. I tried to approach my adaptation in a way I imagined she might herself.’

Steven Zaillian and Andrew Scott and Robert Elswit have done a grand job, though of course they have had the finest of help, and other assets include the dazzling production design and Jeff Russo’s super score...'

[cleoenfaserum]

LIGHTHOUSE (2019) & SHUTTER ISLAND (2010)

The first time I saw this movie, well, I found it difficult to follow, but in end, it all falls into place. The acting and photography was great. Perhaps, for those of you who may have some difficulty in understanding the movie, the following vid will give you a helping hand.

Edward Daniels & Chuck Aule | SHUTTER ISLAND (2010) What the hell, boss? I’m your partner, for Christ’s sake. ​​​

This blog came about being reblogged from witchinghour who reblogged from kieselguhrkid

935-1 https://youtu.be/WO3lQOSHG3U

Shutter Island is a 2010 American neo-noir psychological thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese and adapted by Laeta Kalogridis, based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane.  The film is noted for its soundtrack, which prominently used classical music, such as that of Gustav Mahler, Krzysztof Penderecki, György Ligeti, John Cage, Ingram Marshall, and Max Richter.

Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Deputy U.S. Marshal Edward "Teddy" Daniels, who is investigating a psychiatric facility on Shutter Island after one of the patients goes missing. Mark Ruffalo plays his partner and fellow deputy marshal, Ben Kingsley plays the facility's lead psychiatrist, Max von Sydow plays a German doctor, and Michelle Williams plays Daniels' wife.Shutter Island (film) - Wikipedia

IMdB: 8'2 MYSTERY - THRILLER RUNTIME: 2h 18m

935-2 LINK https://ok.ru/video/6646035581642

The Lighthouse is a 2019 film directed and produced by Robert Eggers, from a screenplay he wrote with his brother Max Eggers. It stars Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson as nineteenth-century lighthouse keepers in turmoil after being marooned at a remote New England outpost by a wild storm. The film has been difficult categorize ranging from a horror film, a psychological thriller, and a character study, among others. The Lighthouse (2019 film) - Wikipedia

the lighthouse (2019) directed by robert eggers REBLOGGED FROM goryhorroor

IMdB: 7'4 DRAMA-FANTASY-HORROR RUNTIME 1h 49m

Two lighthouse keepers try to maintain their sanity while living on a remote and mysterious New England island in the 1890s.

935-3 LINK https://ok.ru/video/2144961104582

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

Taxi Driver (1976) dir. Martin Scorsese

[tinyreviews]

This is an okay story with many big names attached. The story is closely follows the source material.

Nightmare Alley is a 2021 American neo-noir psychological thriller film directed by Guillermo del Toro from a screenplay by del Toro and Kim Morgan, based on the 1946 novel of the same name by William Lindsay Gresham, starring Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, Mary Steenburgen, and David Strathairn.

[fmp1halimekaraca]

Movie Inspiration

Sucker Punch 

 Sucker Punch is a 2011 American psychological fantasy action film directed by Zack Snyder and co-written by Snyder and Steve Shibuya. It is Snyder's first film based on an original concept. The film stars Emily Browning as "Babydoll", a young woman who is committed to a mental institution. As she collects items she needs to escape, she enters a series of fantasy worlds where she and her fellow inmates are strong, experienced warriors.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sucker_Punch_(2011_film)

 While I’m not that much of a fan of the plot and the writing could’ve been better and some stuff really didn’t make any sense, the visuals in this movie are absolutely astonishing. The way they incorporate so many different worlds in one movie is absolutely amazing and it reflects perfectly the feeling that a dream has, where basically anything can happen. I like how they didn’t stick with only one aesthetic but rather have a little bit of something from everything (war, fantasy creatures, samurai, steampunk machinery, robots, etc) 

 I especial love this fighting scene with the robots, the whole thing is extremely dynamic and well put together and the fact that the whole scene was done without cutting the frames makes it even more impressing. 

 This movie has inspired me a lot for world building  and I would absolutely love to have this level of intrigue in my own universe. Even though my project doesn't really link with the idea of a world inside the protagonists head but rather that everything that happens ACTUALLY happens, I still fund this film to be very stimulating and always begging the question of ‘what’s real and what isn’t?’ 

Shutter Island 

 Shutter Island is a 2010 American neo-noir psychological thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Laeta Kalogridis, based on Dennis Lehane's 2003 novel of the same name. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Deputy U.S. Marshal Edward "Teddy" Daniels, who is investigating a psychiatric facility on Shutter Island after one of the patients goes missing. Mark Ruffalo plays his partner and fellow deputy marshal, Ben Kingsley is the facility's lead psychiatrist, Max von Sydow is a German doctor, and Michelle Williams is Daniels' wife.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutter_Island_(film)

 This movie is one of my favourites in this psychological genre and the ambiance it holds throughout the story is very unique and fitting. 

 I feel like Shutter Island and Sucker Punch have a very similar plot, trauma being the main reason for the protagonists actions. The only difference is that while in Sucker Punch we know right from the start that  Babydoll has some kind of mental disorder due to traumatic experiences that makes her retract into this epic fantasy world where she can be a hero and beat up the bad guys, in Shutter Island we only find by the (almost) end of the film that Teddy was in fact just another patient and that the whole thing was just a set up by the doctors to break his conspiration-landed insanity. Even the fact that in both films the protagonists get lobotomised is another similarity which has a certain effect to it since we see those characters as the heroes of the story. 

 Something that had stayed with me since the first time I’ve seen the movie is how trauma is portrayed and how impactful it is in these scenarios. The fact that Teddy believed so strongly that everything he did and who he was was the actual reality, just for him to find out by the end that he is just another patient is both so clever for a movie plot and so terrifying to think about. 

[denimbex1986]

'Christopher Nolan is known for his attention to detail in every movie he makes, but even his films have a couple of mistakes, some easier to find than others. Christopher Nolan’s career as a filmmaker began in the 1990s with a couple of short films, and his feature debut arrived in 1998 with the neo-noir crime thriller Following, which he also wrote, produced, and edited. However, Nolan’s big break was the 2000 psychological thriller Memento, starring Guy Pearce, which gave the audience a taste of the type of complex stories he likes to tell in his movies.

Since then, Nolan has explored a variety of stories, both original and adaptations of other media, with some of his most famous works being the sci-fi action film Inception, the epic sci-fi Interstellar, and his take on Batman and Gotham City in his Dark Knight trilogy. Nolan's works have been praised by critics and viewers, but they aren’t exactly perfect. Although Nolan is known for paying close attention to every detail, there are some mistakes in his movies that have caught the attention of eagle-eyed viewers...

1. The Wrong United States Flag In Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer tells the story of theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), his direction of the Manhattan Project and the development of the atomic bomb during World War II, and his fall from grace due to a security hearing in 1954. Following the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Oppenheimer gives a speech to a crowd of cheering Americans waving American flags. These flags have the 50 stars representing the 50 states, but Twitter user Andy Craig noted that, back in the 1940s, the American flag only had 48 stars, and it wasn’t until 1959-1960 that the flag got its 50 stars.'

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

Taxi Driver (1976) dir. Martin Scorsese