Tagged noir

The Batman proves Warner Bros’ third law: for every divisive reboot of the Caped Crusader, there is an oppositional masterpiece waiting to be made.  Scaling down beautifully from the silly operatics of the...

There is a common narrative surrounding Orson Welles that he was too ambitious for the studio system of his day; the final edits of his movies were rarely under his control after his first film, and his...

James Gunn has become an essential player in the ongoing Marvel Cinematic Universe – so much so that even an idiotic campaign by right-wing internet trolls couldn’t keep him away. But as we eagerly await...

“Lie still. I’ve never done this before… and there will be blood." Lisbeth Salander, a stylish and intelligent enigma, is a character that embodies Scandinavian thrillers. Niels Arden Oplev’s The Girl...

With a young teen’s understanding of sex, corruption and public administration, The Shadow Play is a captivating display of bold, shambolic filmmaking. Lou Ye’s conspiracy thriller tangles its wicked web...

On an island, anything can happen. Isolated geographically, they form spaces separate from the rest of society where new rules apply and existing norms can be challenged and disrupted. It’s been this way...

When writing his review of Brick for Rolling Stone, Peter Travers stated that the film’s director, Rian Johnson, ‘risked ridicule’ by setting his neo-noir in a high school. Arguably, the bigger risk was...

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For fully neglects the thematic intensity of both its predecessor and literary source. Though it takes little deviation from either, Dame is disappointingly bereft of the tonal...

The Double sees Jesse Eisenberg thumping his two favourite masks - milksop and  scumbag - together as if they were a pair of cymbals. This doppelgänger nightmare is something we should want to digest...