289) A Time for Killing (1967)

289) A Time for Killing (1967) Dir: Phil Karlson and Roger Corman Date Released: November 1, 1967 Date Seen: July 16, 2011 Rating: 2.75/5

I remember wanting to like this a lot more than I did since Karlson's compositions often rival Jacques Tourneur's in terms of immaculate mise en scene. But the scenario is skimpy and I can't recall much of this beyond some interstitial scenes and particularly lurid shots, scenes, etc. 

314) Criss Cross (1949), 315) 5 Against the House (1955), 316) Odds Against Tomorrow (1959), 317) Kansas City Confidential (1952) and 318) The Anderson Tapes (1971)

314) Criss Cross (1949) Dir: Robert Siodmak Date Released XX 1949 Date Seen: October 2, 2010 Rating: 4/5

315) 5 Against the House (1955) Dir: Phil Karlson Date Released: Jun 1955 Date Seen: October 2, 2010 Rating: 3.25/5

316) Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) Dir: Robert Wise Date Released: October 1959 Date Seen: October 2, 2010 Rating: 3.75/5

317) Kansas City Confidential (1952) Dir: Phil Karlson Date Released: November 1952 Date Seen: October 3, 2010 Rating: 3.5/5

318) The Anderson Tapes (1971) Dir: Sidney Lumet Date Released: June 1971 Date Seen: October 3, 2010 Rating: 3.75/5

Didn't really go into either The Anderson Tapes or Kansas City Confidential in my heist noir piece for Slant Magazine so, very briefly: I really liked The Anderson Tapes' dry sense of humor and the way that it inevitably film deflates. Then again, while I appreciated the novelty of Kansas City Confidential's mystery plot, I don't think the film's screenwriters explored that conceit as much as they could have.

228) Cornered (1945), 229) Desperate (1947), 231) The Phenix City Story (1955), 232) Armored Car Robbery (1950), 233) Crime in the Streets (1956), 234) Backfire (1950) and 236) Dial 1119 (1950)

228) Cornered (1945) Dir: Edward Dmytryk Date Released: December 1945 Date Seen: July 12, 2010 Rating: 3.25/5

229) Desperate (1947) Dir: Anthony Mann Date Released: May 1947 Date Seen: July 13, 2010 Rating: 3.75/5

231) The Phenix City Story (1955) Dir: Phil Karlson Date Released: August 1955 Date Seen: July 15, 2010 Rating: 3/5

232) Armored Car Robbery (1950) Dir: Richard Fleischer Date Released: June 1950 Date Seen: July 14, 2010 Rating: 3.75/5

233) Crime in the Streets (1956) Dir: Don Siegel Date Released: June 1956 Date Seen: July 15, 2010 Rating: 2/5

234) Backfire (1950) Dir: Vincent Sherman Date Released: February 1950 Date Seen: July 16, 2010 Rating: 3.25/5

236) Dial 1119 (1950) Dir: Gerald Mayer Date Released: October 1950 Date Seen: July 18, 2010 Rating: 3.75/5

In retrospect, this noir box set was actually really very good. See my dvd review for Slant Magazine.

218) Human Desire (1954), 219) Pushover (1954), 220) The Brothers Rico (1957) and 223) City of Fear (1959)

218) Human Desire (1954) Dir: Fritz Lang Date Released: August 1954 Date Seen: July 4, 2010 Rating: 4/5

219) Pushover (1954) Dir: Richard Quine Date Released: August 1954 Date Seen: July 5, 2010 Rating: 3.75/5

220) The Brothers Rico (1957) Dir: Phil Karlson Date Released: September 1957 Date Seen: July 6, 2010 Rating: 3.25/5

223) City of Fear (1959) Dir: Irving Lerner Date Released: February 1959 Date Seen: July 8, 2010 Rating: 3/5

Little things stand out to me now about this box set: Human Desire really was rather good, Pushover too, City of Fear was freakishly interesting at the start and The Brothers Rico did very little for me. Read more of my scintillating thoughts at the NY Press.

159) Scandal Sheet (1952)

159) Scandal Sheet (1952) Dir: Phil Karlson Date Released: January 1952 Date Seen: April 30, 2010 Rating: 3.75/5

While I intermittently got a kick out of this film's staunch belief in the vital role newspapers play in informing and educating the public, not to mention its screwball dialogue and quirky noir plot, what I really took away from Scandal Sheet was Broderick Crawford's performance. This was the first role where I noticed Crawford, though now I'm sure I must have seen him many times before. He's kind of unmistakable, thoroughly uni-faceted in his acting but excellent in portraying a thuggish bluecollar bully mentality.

Crawford's a bear of a man and his tough but mercurial persona makes you want to root for him as an underdog even when he's the one you're meant to root against. The scene where he confronts an old acquaintance of his early on in the film and kinda accidentally kills her especially stands out, not just because it's winningly lurid but because it leaves you with mixed feelings. Crawford's character is trapped by circumstances he never really controlled and from that point on, is forced to play the hand he's been dealt in order to save his own skin. He's not really a bad guy here, just an understandably cowardly one, one that doesn't want to lose everything he's worked for because he wasn't always the man he wanted to be. It's a pretty intriguing quality and one that I find compliments what I have since come to identify as the character type that Crawford constantly played.