The Projectors

Europa (2016)

We just wrapped up a month chock full of post-war noir movies but let’s hang on to the genre for just a little bit longer because this is a year we’re calling THE YEAR OF VON TRIER because it’s pretty much guaranteed to be a shit year so why not increase our existential dread? We’re wrapping up Lars von Trier’s Europa trilogy with his hypnotic post-war train noir from 1991 called “EUROPA” ( or “ZENTROPA” if you’re nasty ) starring Jean-Marc Barr, Barbara Sukowa and more. An AWOL American steps onto German soil just after the Second World War ends and is granted a job on a train by his cantankerous Uncle. The horrors of Germany linger in the new era as Nationalists seek to conspire against the international occupiers and guilt hangs over the perpetrators who are protected by mutual international interests. Leopold Kessler, the American, seems like the perfect blank slate in a political struggle amidst broken Germany but will love save him or will it destroy him? Are we being hypnotized? Will we ever be free of Europa?
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White Heat (1949)

With this episode we bid farewell to March’s noir theme we’ve dubbed THE LEFT HAND ENDEAVOR. We’ve discussed 21 classic film noir and a few more if you include episodes from months back. We love some crime movies and our final film discussion is a feature that feels like a culmination of a veteran leading man that has devoted so much of his career to playing dangerous men. We’re talking about Raoul Walsh’s 1949 classic “WHITE HEAT” starring the great James Cagney as Cody Jarrett, the ultimate criminal psychopath. It also stars Virginia Mayo, Edmond O’Brien & Margaret Wycherly. Probably our most brutal and violent film all month and its influences on modern gangster films is very apparent. It’s also one of those oft quoted movies in which the quote is somewhat mis-quoted kinda like “Sunset Blvd.”. Our last classic noir discussion its worth your time and we found a quality version of it at this link: https://archive.org/details/white-heat-1949_202311 We’re saying goodbye to noir, for now, and next week we return to an early topic to reevaluate some comedies that didn’t blow up the box office but how do they fair critically after all these years?
 
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Drunken Angel (1948)

We’re heading into the finish line for March’s classic noir month that we’ve been calling THE LEFT HAND ENDEAVOR. One last non-english speaking noir before we go and it’s prime post war Japanese filmmaking and our first Akira Kurosawa discussion for the show. Matsunaga (Toshiro Mifune) is a young Yakuza drunk who can’t seem to shake a sick feeling. Doctor Sanada (Takashi Shimura), who can drink him under the table, tells the young hood that he has tuberculosis. If only the Yakuza lifestyle lent itself to proper tuberculosis treatment. If anyone can teach him respect in this literal shithole then it might be the alcoholic doctor who throws things in fits of anger over how stupid his patients are. Then an old gangster returns and he’s kind of good at guitar. Perhaps our most busted setting yet here in post-war Japan in Akira Kurosawa’s 1948 Yakuza noir “DRUNKEN ANGEL” and of course we found a link. Here you go: https://archive.org/details/drunken-angel
 
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The Third Man (1949)

We’re nearing the end of our Classic Noir themed month we’re calling THE LEFT HAND ENDEAVOR and it’s just banger after banger each week and our last week is no different. Today’s classic noir is one that might show up on several “Best Movie” top 20 lists. One of the few classic noir that seem to shine beyond it’s genre. Chock full of stunning, shadowy, shots seared into the annals of film history and appreciation. A western writer by the name of “Holly” strolls into Vienna not long past the end of WWII to meet an old friend who he discovers is dead. The case seems to be officially closed but Holly finds conflicting information outside of the official narrative of Harry Lime’s death. Meanwhile, Lime’s girlfriend is fraught with her own issues but is bonding with Holly over their mutual connection with Harry. The interaction has Holly smitten with his dead friend’s gal but is she down? Of course, we’re talking about Carol Reed’s 1949 classic “THE THIRD MAN” starring Joseph Cotton, Valli, Trevor Howard and Orson Welles as the ultimate irredeemable charmer that appears in the movie for, maybe, 7 minutes. Half of that because he didn’t want to do the sewer scenes. You better believe we got a link for it. Hope it still works: https://archive.org/details/the-third-man-1949
 
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In A Lonely Place (1950)

We’re in the final stretch of our noir month, which we’ve dubbed THE LEFT HAND ENDEAVOR (because it sounds cool). To say that we’ve hit up some classic heavy hitters is putting it mildly and it won’t be any different in this final week as we hit up our second Nicholas Ray directed feature this month as well as our second Humphrey Bogart feature. Dix Steel (yes, that’s his name) is a curmudgeon Hollywood writer who gets investigated for a murder and he ain’t doing himself any favors being so flippant about it. His new girlfriend and alibi (played by Gloria Grahame) loves him dearly but when Dix’s quick anger and violent tendencies come to the surface, she realizes it might not be just his cold charm. Maybe he fucking killed somebody! What darkness lurks under the surface in Nicholas Ray’s 1950 classic, ‘IN A LONELY PLACE”. Dix sure doesn’t know how to chill.  He seems to openly fetishize violence in front of people that are literally investigating him. Is this guy just an intense genre screenwriter or a stone cold killer? Can this relationship survive either way? Nicholas Ray’s marriage to Gloria Grahame during this time sure didn’t. Of course you can find this online and I hope this link works because it’s one definitely worth checking out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybheWgXr6Po
 
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Lady in the Lake (1947)

We’re into the last stretch of THE LEFT HAND ENDEAVOR and we have five more classic noir to go and today we bid farewell to Chandler’s iconic detective in our last MARLOWE MONDAY feature. Robert Montgomery definitely isn’t our favorite Marlowe this month. Probably the worst one, actually, but this 1947 adaptation of “The Lady in the Lake” that he directed is pretty damn experimental. A first of its kind as far as we know. You see, Robert Montgomery is Philip Marlowe but also YOU are Philip Marlowe….kinda. This movie is shot from a first person perspective. Marlowe’s perspective to be exact. There’s no cutting within scenes. Just characters looking right at the camera all throughout the movie. Some parts look cool but the concept pigeonholes the execution. That said, Audrey Totter deserves credit for all the heavy lifting. It’s probably more her movie than anybody else’s, truly. It’s the gimmicky “LADY IN THE LAKE” and we will leave you a link right here: https://archive.org/details/lady-in-the-lake-robert-montgomery-audrey-totter-leon-ames-tom-tully-lloyd-nolan-1947 , So long Marlowe. See you soon.
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The Killers (1946)

It goes without saying that there’s gonna be some dangerous dames all March for our noir month we’ve dubbed THE LEFT HAND ENDEAVOR. Today’s feature has a lady that is so stunning, so femme fatale, that she’s got Burt Lancaster’s bisexual ass simping to the grave. I mean, this dude did time for this lady by taking the fall for her while she was sitting at a table with her actual boyfriend. It’s really not clear if he ever got to second base. Either way, the Swede is dead, and who else but an insurance guy is gonna piece this puzzle together? We’re talking Robert Siodmak’s 1947 adaptation of the Ernest Hemingway story “THE KILLERS” starring a sad-ass Burt Lancaster, a knockout Ava Gardner and Edmund O’Brien who ain’t a bad little piece of chicken in his own right. We also got a little bit of post-Oscar conversation as well. Congrats to Oppenheimer. Here’s a link to the movie (not Oppenheimer): https://archive.org/details/thekillers1946usafeaturingburtlancasteravagardneredmondobrienfilmnoirfullmovie_202001
 
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Le Doulos (1962)

THE LEFT HAND ENDEAVOR aka “Film Noir Month” is rolling along and you might call it “criminal” that we’re discussing only one French Noir. Ahhhh, the French. They coined the genre after its peak and plucked the inspiration for its 60s New Wave works and today’s feature is from a founding father in the French New Wave oeuvre. Our youngest movie discussion this month is this film directed by Jean-Pierre Melville from 1962 called, “LE DOULOS” and it stars Jean-Paul Belmondo & Serge Reggiani. “Le Doulas” means “The Hat” and it’s underworld slang for “police informant”. Maurice is fresh out of the pokey and has just slain a supposed friend, his other supposed friend, Silien, seems to be talking to the police but only in very specific ways that seems to protect Maurice but not the people around him. What’s going on here? That looks like he could have been Mr. Bean’s dad. Can these foxy French ladies in their swinging sixties French style be trusted? Can you really be friends with Cops and Hoods at the same time? It all unravels in our first Melville movie discussion and here’s a link to the movie right here if you speak or read French: https://archive.org/details/LeDoulos It’s also on the Plex app for free as of this writing but the commercials are very annoying.
 
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Gun Crazy (1950)

It just keeps getting deadlier and deadlier as we delve deeper into THE LEFT HAND ENDEAVOR! It’s classic film noir five days a week all March and we got some strange lovers here who go together like guns and ammunition. Bart is a gun pervert. He’s known this from a young age. He got sent to reform school over his gun perversion. Annie is also a gun pervert which has our perv protagonist absolutely chubbing while he watches her William Tell routine. Makes sense these crack shots would fall in love, except he’s trying to be a nice boy but Annie wants more and she wants to take it all using her favorite tool. There’s only one way this can end but they sure had a lot of fun along the way. We’re discussing the beautifully directed Joseph H. Lewis film based on an ok script ghost written by Dalton Trumbo. It’s “GUN CRAZY” from 1950 starring Peggy Cummins & John Dall. This movie has its flaws but it’s a lot of fun. A perfect example of a movie we might pick over another we might have technically scored higher but it’s a very well shot noir. A straight shooting wild ride of its time. Pretty easy to find online. One such link right here: https://archive.org/details/gun.-crazy.-1950
 
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The Killing (1956)

NYEAH SEE!? Who says that? Who says “Nyeah See”? Is it Jimmy Cagney? Edward G. Robinson? That tiny mobster guy in the Looney Tunes cartoon? I can’t exactly remember. March is classic Film Noir five days a week and we’re dramatically calling it “THE LEFT HAND ENDEAVOR” because it’s cool and it makes us feel cool to say it. Bob and Angela LOVE this shit so as far as they’re concerned, it’s bangers all month long and today is no exception. We’re tackling our third Stanley Kubrick movie for the show with one of his earliest pictures and his first “serious” film (as he sort of puts it) and it just happens to be one of the best heist movies of all time. Johnny Clay’s got some boys together but some of the elements are a bit volatile. There’s some sad girls and some bad girls. Crooked cops, clown masks and some Pro Wrestling. Of course we’re speaking of “THE KILLING” from 1956 starring Sterling Hayden, Elisha Cook & Marie Windsor. One of the most thrilling noirs this month and you really feel that end sequence. But why is it called “The Killing”, though? Which kill is “The Killing”? Of course you can often find these older movies online if you know where to look. For Example: https://archive.org/details/thekilling1956
 
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