Walking Tall (1973)

I didn't recall hearing about this cult movie when YouTube suggested it, but it got two sequels, a TV series, a TV remake, and a big-screen remake trilogy starring Dwayne Johnson. It also takes inspiration from real events, tho they've since been disputed enough that I won't add my "true story" tag. Indeed, last year, investigators accused the long-deceased protagonist of uxoricide. That would not affect my feelings about the film version.

In 1964, ex-wrestler Buford Pusser (Joe Don Baker) moves back from Chicago to Adamsville, Tennessee, with his wife (Elizabeth Hartman) and kids (Leif Garrett and Dawn Lyn Nervik), planning to work as a logger for his dad (Noah Beery Jr.). His mom (Lurene Tuttle) cryptically warns him to ignore changes in town, but that's not easy when an old buddy (Ed Call) invites him to a casino. He catches the staff cheating, and they beat him within an inch of his life and steal his car. Then he discovers that the sheriff he used to look up to (Gene Evans) is worse than useless and the local judge (Douglas Fowley), while apparently staying within the bounds of the law, is not much better. So much for Buford's promise not to fight anymore....

The Secret Agent (2025)

No, nothing to do with the Joseph Conrad novel by the same title, just similarly big on corruption and tragedy. It wasn't high among my priorities for watching before the Academy Awards, but it was the only Best Picture nominee showing at a convenient time and place last night.

Most of the scenes take place on or near Carnaval 1977 in the vicinity of Recife, Brazil. Yup, it's under that government. Armando, once a researcher, has adopted the alias of Marcelo because of his dissidence, and his allies help him get clerical work in an ID office. He tries to live as normally as possible, reconnecting with his young son, who has been living with the parents of Armando's dead wife. He also reluctantly accepts protection from a corrupt civil police chief, for what that's worth when a personal enemy hires a hit man.

Touchez pas au grisbi (1954)

I wondered why I found this DVD in the H section of my library. The answer came at the title screen when the British subtitles read, "Honor Among Thieves." (No relation to a recent movie.) To make matters more confusing, it was released in the U.S. as Grisbi but appears on IMDb by its literal translation, Don't Touch the Loot.

Big-time crook Max (Jean Gabin, long after his heyday) has recently stolen gold bars, planning to retire on them. Unfortunately for him, partner in crime Riton (René Dary) has an unfaithful girlfriend (Jeanne Moreau) who lets their secret slip to her other boyfriend, Angelo (Lino Ventura). Angelo's men abduct Riton for ransom, so Max enlists two more partners (Paul Frankeur and Michel Jourdan) to help confront them....

The Nice Guys (2016)

I was not planning to see this so soon after other action crime comedies. But once again, Netflix said it would stop streaming at the end of the month. (Also, my smart TV will stop including Netflix on April 17, presumably for planned obsolescence, but my Fire Stick should take care of that.)

In '77 L.A., a suspicious death leads politically active porn actress Amelia Kuttner (Margaret Qualley) to suspect that someone will try to kill her next. She hires thuggish Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) to protect her, and he attacks drunken, semi-competent PI Holland March (Ryan Gosling) for following her to try to resolve the first death's mystery. Nevertheless, Healy talks March into a team-up when they realize there are bigger threats to counter. Who's targeting all these folks in the porn industry, and why?

The Spanish Prisoner (1997)

I had seen several movies written by David Mamet but none directed by him. This one was probably recommended to me because more than one reviewer found it Hitchcockian. I welcome an intelligent thriller.

Joe Ross (Campbell Scott) has devised a new and potentially super-profitable corporate strategy, a MacGuffin cryptically known only as "the Process." To celebrate, his boss (Ben Gazzara) invites him to a Caribbean retreat, where he meets affectionate new secretary Susan (Rebecca Pidgeon) and apparently rich and friendly tourist Jimmy (Steve Martin in a rare non-comedic role). Upon hearing of the Process, Jimmy advises Joe to contact a non-company lawyer so the executives don't stiff him on dividends. But Joe has no idea what lengths some people will go to for theft. Pretty soon, he starts to look and sound like a lying thief....

Blood Simple (1984)

I had seen a dozen Coen brothers movies. My overall impression was that they are very skilled at the craft, whether going goofy or gritty, but always include something strange and unsatisfying, seemingly to annoy viewers on purpose. I got curious about their first feature-length effort, an indie, which was the only entry on AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills I hadn't seen yet.

Texan bar owner Julian Marty (Dan Hedaya) hires PI Loren Visser (M. Emmet Walsh) to see whether Marty's wife, Abby (Frances McDormand in her screen debut), is cheating on him. She is -- with one of his employees, Ray (John Getz). When his own confrontations prove fruitless, Marty asks Visser to kill Abby and Ray. He learns the hard way not to try to make a hit man out of someone who wasn't in that line of work to begin with. But that's just Act 1. Characters get confused from there, and as their panic mounts, so do the dangerous mistakes....

Ride the Pink Horse (1947)

For a moment, I expected a quirky western. As it is, I barely understand where the title came from. A character does ride an allegedly pink carousel horse (we can't tell in black and white), but that's not important to the plot, and any symbolism in it is lost on me. Maybe the filmmakers just wanted something that didn't sound like a cookie-cutter noir.

Ex-soldier "Lucky" Gagin (Robert Montgomery, also directing) comes to the New Mexican border town of San Pablo to confront Frank Hugo (Fred Clark), a mob boss who ordered the killing of Gagin's friend "Shorty" over a blackmailing. Gagin's lucky charm is his pistol, but he wants to try his own hand at blackmail rather than vengeful murder. FBI Agent Retz (Art Smith), who's kept tabs on both Gagin and Hugo, advises against this, but given Hugo's historical pull with the government, Gagin doesn't readily trust Retz. Hugo's moll, Marjorie (Andrea King), asks Gagin to raise the ransom and cut her in, but he's not sure what to make of her either.

Pitfall (1962)

This has nothing to do with the 1948 U.S. film noir, let alone the Activision video game series. It's another Hiroshi Teshigahara adaptation of a Kōbō Abe novel. Had I realized as much, I would have put this viewing off longer. Still, this feels pretty different from what I saw last month.

The Netflix description is misleading again. Yes, a stranger in white (Kunie Tanaka) pursues a hapless miner (Hisashi Igawa) in the area of a ghost town near an exhausted mine, but it's not just to "imprison" him there: He murders the miner in the first act, after which the miner is a ghost of the type who can't be sensed by the living or move anything. Despite a warning from a fellow ghost (Ton Shimada), the protagonist wants to find out what the murder was about. The answer is quickly plain enough to me: The miner just happened to look exactly like a union leader (also Igawa), and the killer bribes a witness (Sumie Sasaki) to blame a rival union's leader (Sen Yano). Let's just say there'll be more than two ghosts by the end.

Angel Face (1952)

So far, my Otto Preminger viewings have been about half great and half mixed in my opinion. This one had the added appeal of Robert Mitchum to draw me in. He's not even the creepiest character this time.

Beverly Hills ambulance driver Frank (Mitchum) comes to a mansion where one Catherine (Barbara O'Neil) has had a close call with a gas leak. Circumstances suggest an attempt at either suicide or, as she claims, homicide, tho she names no culprit. Frank is smitten with the beauty of her stepdaughter, Diane (Jean Simmons), despite already having a girlfriend (Mona Freeman). Diane goes out of her way to make him her favorite, even persuading her father (Herbert Marshall) and Catherine to hire him as their chauffeur. Frank doesn't fully trust Diane after her insincere manipulations and contempt for Catherine, but he might just be game for whatever she schemes next....

Nightmare Alley (2021)

I had already heard of a 1947 film noir of the same title. This Guillermo del Toro project isn't a remake so much as a second adaptation of the novel. Alas, the original is more highly rated across sites yet much harder to find. Anyway, this is the only version that was nominated for Best Picture.

In 1939, shortly after covering up a murder, Stan (Bradley Cooper) finds work that will have no one inquiring into his background: a traveling carnival's barker. There he learns how to fake being a psychic, and he and stunt-performing girlfriend Molly (Rooney Mara) eventually leave for a classier venue. He then takes an unfaithful interest in a distinguished audience member, psychologist Lilith (Cate Blanchett), and asks her for confidential information that can help him fool a rich, widowed, somewhat unhinged ex-client of hers, Ezra (Richard Jenkins). Stan does not care about Molly's discomfort with his endeavors, nor does he heed the warning of his mentors (Toni Collette and David Strathairn) that moving from mind reading to seances is dangerous -- or Lilith's warning that Ezra is.

Marshland (2014)

The original Spanish title literally translates to "The Minimal Island." Either way, the point is to call attention to a remote setting, possibly with a symbolic status in light of the bleakness.

Specifically, it's set in or near Spain's Guadalquivir Marshes, reputedly akin to the U.S. Deep South, in 1980. Two promiscuous teen sisters who wanted to move away are soon found murdered in one marsh, having been treated worse than the girls in The Last House on the Left, albeit thankfully not on screen. The two Madrid-based detectives assigned to the case, Juan (Javier Gutiérrez) and Pedro (Raúl Arévalo), have not worked together before and espouse rather different worldviews, but they're both determined to catch the killer(s) before another girl meets a similar fate.

Public Enemies (2009)

This sat on my list for a long time before my friend and I were looking at possibilities. The same friend had rewatched Road to Perdition with me, so I'm not surprised he wanted another gangster flick that briefly includes Frank Nitti (Bill Camp herein).

As the title implies, the story concerns multiple notorious criminals, but they've been pared down quite a bit from the Bryan Burrough novel. Most of the focus is on John Dillinger (Johnny Depp in one of his last normal-looking roles), starting with his 1933 arrival at -- and immediate break from -- Indiana State Prison, so he's already notorious. When he's not committing armed robbery or having standoffs with law enforcement, he's wooing one Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) from the moment he lays eyes on her. The other major focal character is FBI Agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale), in charge of the pursuit.

John Wick (2014)

Sometimes when traveling, I choose movies I expect not to get too invested in, just in case I miss part of it due to technical difficulties, lack of time, or tiredness. I had already heard this movie summarized as one man killing many men to avenge his dog, which probably wouldn't resonate with me. Nevertheless, it's pretty popular and will soon have a third sequel, so I thought there might be more to it than the summary suggested.

Well, yes, to a point. First, the dog killers also beat John (Keanu Reeves) up at his home and steal his rare fancy car. Second, the dog was a posthumous gift from his late wife (Bridget Moynahan) and thus something of an extension of her. Third, little did they know that John was a legendary hitman, an underworld bogeyman à la Keyser Söze, having retired only for the sake of settling down with his wife. Fourth, lead thug Iosef (Alfie Allen) is the son of a Russian mafia leader, Viggo (Michael Nyqvist), who tries to kill John preemptively to protect Iosef. Once you know all this, it's little surprise that John is willing to kill anyone who stands between him and retaliation.

They Live by Night (1948)/Side Street (1950)

It makes sense that these two would be put on one DVD, being the only times Cathy O'Donnell and Farley Granger were paired in leading roles. Not to mention they're both semi-romantic noirs about criminals on the run. I was planning to watch only the more popular (but unprofitable) TLbN. Fortunately, they're pretty short at 95 and 83 minutes, respectively, so I made time across two nights.

In TLbN, three men escape from prison and team up for bank robberies. Circumstances split Bowie from the others, and despite his less criminal disposition, he develops a bigger reputation. He wants to give up on crime and settle down with his new girlfriend-cum-bride, Keechie, but an old comrade insists he owes them forever. In SS, mail carrier Joe tries to swipe $200 to help his pregnant wife, Ellen, but it turns out to be $30K -- in dirty money, so he's bound to get unwelcome attention from worse than the police.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)

Sometimes I can't believe my luck. When I put this next in my queue, I had no idea it was set around Christmas, with plenty of audiovisual trappings thereof. That said, the time of year is no more important to the plot than it is in Die Hard (both produced by Joel Silver). Doesn't even rate a mention in the KKBB Wikipedia synopsis.

New York burglar Harry (Robert Downey Jr.), on the run from police, accidentally enters a room where acting auditions are being held -- for just the kind of character he is. The casting director (Larry Miller) sends him to L.A., where PI "Gay" Perry (Val Kilmer) is supposed to train him for a screen test playing a PI. He also runs into former friend/crush Harmony (Michelle Monaghan), now a struggling actress, and smittenly tells her he's a real detective. In no time, Harry and Perry (yes, it gets confusing if you don't listen closely) witness the disposal of an actual, rather high-profile murder victim. Not long after, another reported death means something more personal to Harry. Against Perry's advice, he tries to solve the mystery himself with what he learned from a fictitious novel series.

Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950)

No, this has nothing to do with the Shel Silverstein poem collection of the same name. Nor does the end of the sidewalk actually come into play plotwise. Somebody just tacked the title on to convey the genre of film noir.

NYPD Det. Mark Dixon (Dana Andrews) has a record of excessive roughness against suspects, but he brushes off warnings from Lt. Thomas (Karl Malden) -- until he accidentally kills a cantankerous hood, Ken Paine (Craig Stevens). Dixon tries to make it look like Paine fled town. When the body is discovered, he tries to frame master criminal Tommy Scalise (Gary Merrill), who had likely framed Paine in the first place and whom Dixon has long wanted to put away. But Thomas instead follows the trail to Paine's hostile father-in-law, Jiggs Taylor (Tom Tully). Not only would Dixon hate to have an innocent man take the fall, but he's growing fond of Taylor's daughter, Martha (Ruth Donnelly).

Ministry of Fear (1944)

Woohoo, Fritz Lang and Graham Greene, together at last! Alas, neither one was happy with the output, which they could blame largely on writer-producer Seton I. Miller exercising too much creative control in his deviation from the novel. But the movie's still pretty esteemed, so I had to check it out.

At a British village fair, Stephen Neale (Ray Milland) accidentally says a code phrase and comes into possession of a cake containing a MacGuffin. Someone tries to make off with it by violent force, but the chaos of war ensures that nobody has it anymore. Suspecting the alleged charity that gave him the cake, Neale hires a PI (Erskine Sanford) to help investigate. Organizer Willi Hilfe (Carl Esmond) and his sister Carla (Marjorie Reynolds) appear surprised at the possibility of a spy ring in their ranks and offer their own cooperation. Of course, this wouldn't be the first Lang picture or the first Greene picture to feature major secret Nazi infiltration, so our heroes may have bitten off more than they can chew. It doesn't help that Neale wants to avoid contact with the police, because he was only recently released from an asylum....

Gone Girl (2014)

Previously, I indicated a reluctance to see this movie, primarily because I tend to have trouble liking David Fincher thrillers. But placement on IMDb's top 250 and a Best Actress Oscar nod are nothing I'd sneeze at. This being 149 minutes, I split it across two nights.

Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike) is semi-famous for the same reason as Christopher Robin Milne: She inspired a classic children's lit character by the same name. For this reason, many people take notice when she becomes a missing person. We viewers can assume up front that her husband, Nick (Ben Affleck), had no part in her disappearance, judging from his surprise at the overturned furniture when he comes home, but others have no such assurance. A lot of circumstantial evidence points to him, and his known behavior isn't utterly winning. The lead detective (Kim Dickens) is pretty lenient toward him, but he and his nearby-living twin, Margo (Carrie Coon, actually nine years Affleck's junior), feel a need to do something before the police decide they have enough cause for a murder charge. And their state of residence, Missouri, practices the death penalty.

Batman: The Killing Joke (2016)

I'd read the gist of the 1988 Alan Moore graphic novel by this title long ago: The Joker attempts to drive Gotham City Police Commissioner Jim Gordon mad with grief in just one day, hoping to demonstrate how easily a decent man can become like the Joker. More recently, I saw a clip from near the end of this adaptation. It looked so promising that I paid no mind to the viewers' mixed reactions before I decided to watch the whole thing.

The primary reason for those mixed reactions is that while the majority of the 77 minutes is highly faithful, the first third has no basis in that comic or, to my knowledge, any other. In it, the focal character and part-time narrator is Jim's daughter, Barbara, a.k.a. Batgirl (Tara Strong), who gains the quasi-affectionate attention of nonthematic mobster Paris Franz (Maury Sterling). She's in no danger of falling for his charisma, but Batman (Kevin Conroy) doesn't trust her judgment on how to deal with a twistedly playful opponent, since she hasn't dealt with the likes of the Joker (Mark Hamill). In truth, she's more interested in exploring her feelings toward Batman.

No Way Out (1987)

It's no coincidence that I gave priority this month to a political thriller set largely at a federal government building, namely the Pentagon. You may question my taste in doing so, but I assure you it bears vanishingly little resemblance to recent events.

Tom Farrell (Kevin Costner), a lieutenant commander in the Navy, falls for Susan Atwell (Sean Young) at an inaugural ball and starts an intimate relationship, unaware that she's also sleeping with another new acquaintance of his, Secretary of Defense David Brice (Gene Hackman). Seeing Tom leave her home, albeit without enough light to recognize him, Brice infers Susan's infidelity and beats her -- accidentally to death. He decides to pin it on "Yuri," a rumored double agent from the KGB, because that would let national security handle the case instead of the police. Tom gets a pretty big role in the subsequent hunt for Yuri. All too aware that he's most likely to take the fall after the evidence comes in, he does what he can to delay that until he has enough of a case against Brice.