Movies
One of Tarantino's favorites, and sure enough, it's not that hard to see the link with Reservoir Dogs. That's kinda neat, but it doesn't really make the film better. Other than the obvious references to a much better film, this is a rather classic noir, with the usual pitfalls and limitations included. The performances are meager, the film is mostly conversation-based and the crime scenes are a little crummy. It's not quite as bad as some of its peers, but there's just very little there for me. The only way to improve these films is to cut out half the dialogue and make them more mood-based, but that's just not what they are about.Read all
A film that starts with an actual documentary segment. Quite novel and interesting, though the execution feels iffy and sensationalist. It's also a little unnecessary, as the plot isn't all that out of the ordinary. This is a pretty straightforward gangster film, only even worse than most of its peers. The performances are terrible, the cinematography is bland and the film is quite sentimental for a noir. Yes, it's all based on actual events, but we're talking about a relatively simple murder case here, not some mind-boggling news story. One of the lesser noirs I've seen so far.Read all