Author: Max&Mike

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to today’s tour of Dark City, brought to you by Max, Mike; Movies, the podcast for your busy Dark City life, and their latest flavor . . . sorry, series, “Walk the Dark Street.” And how appropriate is that, folks, because all our streets are dark! Here. Because it’s Dark City . . . tough crowd. So, on your left, there’s a fine example of our city’s neo-classical architecture in the famous Sutherland Building, but you can’t see it . . . because it’s dark. Right now we’re going over the picturesque Connelly bridge which spans Sewell river but you can’t see either of those things . . . because it’s dark. Seriously, why does anyone shell out money for these tours? It’s dark here; that’s our whole thing! It’s in the name of city, for gosh sakes! No! Get off me! They have to know that these tours are a fraud! A fraud, I tell you!

But our podcast is not a fraud and is certainly not created by bizarre aliens wearing human forms, attempting to understand what is to be truly hu-man. What a silly idea. Or is it? This 1998 film is another non-standard choice as an example of film noir, as it’s science fiction (or fantasy, really; the science doesn’t bear a lot of scrutiny) and deals with the nature of the self and raises the question: are we nothing more than the sum of our memories? Whoa, deep! Does it work? Does the science fiction element help or hinder? And does this film belong in our Catalog of Noir? Give a listen to Mr. Max and Mr. Mike and find out!

Poll question:Is there still room for film noir in today’s cinema? Or has it all been said before? Is it still relevant?

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“Hello, hi, is this thing on? Ok, I’d like to call to order this meeting of the Sin City Chamber of Commerce. Could I get some water, please? Um, ok, I’d like to start off by saying kudos to all you guys; we’ve had a great year for at least SOME sins. Wrath, well, we sure have that covered, and big, big thanks to you guys, Marv, Dwight, and Hartigan. Lust, wow, what can I say? That’s always been a biggie here, thank you Nancy and Gail! Another great year. Let’s hear it for them! Pride, well the Rourke brothers have that pretty well covered, but folks, let’s not ignore the sinful elephant in the room (seriously, could I get some water, please?). I mean Greed has been sort of implied but not really well represented, neither has Envy and don’t get me started on Gluttony or Sloth! I mean, come on people! When people think of Sin City, we want to think of ALL the Seven Deadly Sins, not just the ones on the billboards. Now, I’ve got a 430 slide presentation on how I think we can improve the presence of our under-represented sins, but first, could I get some water, please?”

Well, that went on a bit longer than expected but if you haven’t guessed, this week’s “Walk the Dark Street” deals with a noir-type film inspired by a Frank Miller graphic novel series from the 90’s. So how does this extremely faithful-to-the-source-material film stack up? Pull on your fine, fine coat, grab lotsa guns and a vintage car and give a listen!

Poll question: What’s your favorite film adaptation of a comic book? Doesn’t have to be a superhero comic book!

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Well, we’re about halfway through our “Walk the Dark Street” series and Mike and I are learning things about film noir that we never imagined. We’ve learned hard lessons, rough lessons, painfully tight lessons . . . ok, this is going in a weird direction, but perhaps the most surprising thing we’ve learned is from this week’s Billy Wilder film, considered by many to the first film noir, and that is: forget about private eyes, forget about ex-cops or ex-spies. The hardest, nastiest, coldest guys with the sharpest edge are . . . insurance salesmen. That’s right, what use is a gat in the face of a skillfully wielded actuarial table? How many of you wouldn’t quail in the face of a detailed distribution of assets as valued in the previous tax year, including, but not limited to, personal property, annuities and general fiduciary responsibilities? These guys would make the strongest of us curl up and whimper. Phillip Marlowe and Sam Spade would run screaming into the night in the face of a table of policy holder’s rights and responsibility. Brrr. Makes me cold just thinking about it. And this movie has one of the sharpest, oiliest boys in the business . . . Fred MacMurray! That’s right, before old Fred invented Flubber or lived with His Three Sons, he romanced a tough-as-nails dame played by Barbara Stanwyck and went toe-to-toe with Edward G. Robinson. Give a listen and see what it’s like in barbed-wired-and-razor-blades world of . . . personal insurance! Dun dun DUUUUUNNNN!

Poll question: What was the worst movie viewing experience you ever had? Was it the movie, the venue, the patrons, or a combination of all three?

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In this week’s episode of “Walk the Dark Street” we return to the Age of Classic Noir with the 1946 Bogey and Bacall vehicle, directed by Howard Hawks and with a screenplay written by none other than William Faulkner, adapted from a Raymond Chandler novel. Faulkner, later legendary for his simple, clear-cut storytelling and basic, almost child-like use of language is the perfect person to adapt this painfully easy to follow story about a simple family, a simple mystery and I’m simply lying to you. This film is not easy to follow and is less of a whodunit than it is a “why is my forehead throbbing now that the movie’s over?” sort of film. Sure, the cast is amazing, Howard Hawks’ direction is slick, tight, and speedy but is that enough to overcome a, um, SLIGHTLY convoluted plot that ends up with more holes in it than a . . . thing with a lot of holes? I believe I’ve mentioned that I’m not good at these noir similes, haven’t I? Well, give a listen, and see if this is muddled mess or the sort of movie where you don’t really know what’s happening but you just don’t care? I’ll be over here with my Big Book of Film Noir Similes so maybe I’ll have a handle on it by the end of this series.

Poll question: when you watch a mystery or thriller, do you prefer to try to figure out whodunit in advance or do you like to just let the story carry you along?

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“Hey, man, you know what they call Max, Mike; Movies in France?”

“No. What do they call it?”

“They call it Le Max, Mike; Cinéma.”

“That’s cool. What do they call ‘Walk the Dark Street’ in France’?”

“That’d be “Marcher Dans La Rue Sombre. “

“Cool. Cool. Is that because they use the metric system?”

“What? No! How does that make any sense? Well, you’ve ruined it now.”

As you may have surmised, this week’s potential example of film noir comes from the land of 400 cheeses, Peugeots, and dressing: France, what with it being French and all. So, it’s French, it’s in color, and did we mention it’s not in English? Is this film actually film noir or, is it, as the French would say . . . um, film noir? Huh . . . Give le listen and findez-vous out!

Poll question: what is your favorite foreign film?

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And we’re back, walking the dark street with our series “Walk the Dark Street.” Works out rather nicely, doesn’t it? This week our subject is a 70’s take on that classic Raymond Chandler character Phillip Marlowe in Robert Altman’s film version of “The Long Goodbye.” This one’s a little different folks; for one thing, it’s in color, which is an issue in and of itself (see the poll question below). For another, the hard-bitten, hard-drinking, razor sharp detective, so ably portrayed before by Humphrey Bogart, is now played by . . . Elliott Gould? Sure, that tracks. Natural progression, going from Bogey to Gould to Robert Mitchum (1975, “Farewell My Lovely”). I mean . . . at least they’re in correct alphabetical order? So this one is a poser, most dear and impeccably dressed listeners: can a noir film work with such an odd choice for Marlowe, and in color no less? Do please consider: this movie does have a cat in it, and it’s kind of surprising who plays the feline part. And a future governor of California makes an uncredited, non-speaking appearance, so we’re in for some interesting weather. Give a listen and see what we thought!

Poll question: do you think film noir works better with black-and-white movies or does color not make a difference?

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This dame was trouble. I could tell. Those big, brown eyes, so innocent, eyes that said “trust me, I won’t stab you in the back.” Right. I’d heard that before and I had the scars on my trapezius to prove it. She tossed her long mane of hair aside and crossed her long, gorgeous legs, all four of them. I sat back and . . . four? Mane? BUMPY?! How did you even fit in the dress?! And lipstick? Ponies don’t have lips! Get out of my office!

Welcome to a brand new, shiny series! Well, it’s not shiny or new. It’s dark and bleak and gritty and the sun never shines. It’s “Walk the Dark Street,” our series on film noir, that noir-y-est of all film styles. We’re leading off with “Sunset Boulevard.” Sure, it’s not a detective story but it’s dark, cynical, world-weary, and it’s got a dead monkey in it: all the ingredients for a noir film. Join us, won’t you? You’re ready for your close-up, aren’t you?

Poll question: What is your favorite film noir?

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