Crime

  • Jonas Akerlund – Spun (2002)

    2001-2010ComedyCrimeJonas AkerlundUSA

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    Quote:
    This roller coaster ride depicting four days in the life of a group of speed freaks has a real gay feel to it. Blondie diva Deborah Harry plays a nosy man-hating, butch-dyke neighbor who steals the girl, Eric Roberts dives right into the role an over-the-top totally queenie drug dealer adorned on both sides by hunky Abercrombie and Fitch-type models. Openly gay Alexis Arquette butches it up as a drug-addicted cop with some wild sunglasses. A heavily tatooed ex-Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford (who it is rumored was booted out of the band for coming out) makes an appearance as the manager of an adult video arcade. And sexy John Leguizamo spends most of the film either half dressed or undressed as he performs a hilarious extended masturbation scene wearing only a sock over his dick. All this, a great story and a terrific soundtrack (and cameo) from ex-Smashing Pumpkin Billy Corgan.Read More »

  • Raoul Ruiz – Généalogies d’un crime AKA Genealogies of a Crime (1997)

    1991-2000ArthouseCrimeFranceRaoul Ruiz

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    Drawing from an actual incident, artistically audacious director Raoul Ruiz and writer Pascal Bonitzer turn a story of psychoanalysis gone awry into a labyrinthine psychological mystery in Genealogies of a Crime. Weaving together flashbacks, flashbacks within flashbacks, multiple renditions of the alleged crime of le monstre, and surreal, voyeuristic compositions, Ruiz skewers psychoanalysis’ excesses in a narrative mind-bender that takes on such heady topics as nature vs. nurture, repetition-compulsion, and the nature of certainty. The dueling psychoanalytic societies provide moments of black comedy, with Michel Piccoli’s certifiably insane Georges as the ultimate dark joke. The flashback structure trickily melds Catherine Deneuve’s two identities as Rene’s lawyer and the embodied memory of the victim, suggesting that she may indeed be Rene’s karmic punishment. Yet there’s still the matter of that little girl holding a cat and a knife. Though some critics were put off by Ruiz’s pretensions, others deemed Genealogies of a Crime a beautifully shot and acted intellectual game, with Deneuve channeling an eerie psychosis reminiscent of her work with Roman Polanski and Luis Buñuel. — Lucia Bozzola, All Movie GuideRead More »

  • Jim Jarmusch – Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)

    1991-2000CrimeCultJim JarmuschUSA

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    IMDB wrote:

    In Jersey City, an African American hit man follows “Hagakure: The Way of the Samurai.” He lives alone, in simplicity with homing pigeons for company, calling himself Ghost Dog. His master, who saved his life eight years ago, is part of the local mob. When the boss’ daughter witnesses one of Ghost Dog’s hits, he becomes expendable. The first victims are his birds, and in response, Ghost Dog goes right at his attackers but does not want to harm his master or the young woman. On occasion, he talks with his best friend, a French-speaking Haitian who sells ice cream in the park, and with a child with whom he discusses books. Can he stay true to his code? And if he does, what is his fate?Read More »

  • Seijun Suzuki – Mikkô zero rain AKA Smashing The 0-Line (1960)

    1951-1960AsianCrimeJapanSeijun Suzuki

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    Two reporters from competing newspapers and different moral setups investigate a drug ring, delving deeper into the underworld in the process.Read More »

  • Howard Hawks – The Big Sleep [Prerelease] (1945)

    1941-1950ClassicsCrimeHoward HawksUSA

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    Summoned by the dying General Sternwood, Philip Marlowe is asked to deal with several problems that are troubling his family. Marlowe finds that each problem centers about the disappearance of Sternwood’s favoured employee who has left with a mobster’s wife. Each of the problems becomes a cover for something else as Marlowe probes.Read More »

  • Louis J. Gasnier – Reefer Madness (1936)

    1931-1940CrimeDramaLouis J. GasnierUSA

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    Quote:
    Propaganda film that relates the story, as told by high school principal Dr. Carroll to parents at a PTA meeting, of the scourge of marijuana. The tale revolves around Mae and Jack, accomplices in the distribution of marijuana, who manage to entice the local high school kids to stop by Mae’s apartment to smoke reefer. The lives of all who are involved with this menace are inevitably shattered. One man becomes so addicted to the killer weed that the guilt over framing a teen for murder causes a judge to order him to be committed for life to a mental hospital! Dr. Carroll closes by advising us to not incur the same tragedy. Written by Rick Gregory {[email protected]}Read More »

  • Andrew Thomas Hunt – Sweet Karma (2009)

    2001-2010Andrew Thomas HuntCanadaCrimeThriller

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    A mute Russian girl infiltrates Toronto’s underground sex trade to avenge the death of her sister.

    Montreal Gazette wrote:
    2009, Canada
    Directed by Andrew Thomas Hunt
    Written by Andrew Thomas Hunt, James Fler, Michael Paszt
    Starring Shera Bechard, John Tokatlidis, Frank J. Zupancic, Christian Bako
    82 minutes, English
    HD

    The exploitation film formula is fairly simple: take a social issue or problem, and try to solve it with breasts and knives. Everything from race relations to drug addiction has been tackled in this fashion. And though the films don’t provide any real solutions, I’m now unable to debate drug policy without suggesting criminals should have their genitals mutilated by woman in stiletto heels. Thanks, 1970s genre cinema.Read More »

  • Bruce Kessler – Killers Three (1968)

    1961-1970Bruce KesslerCrimeExploitationUSA

    29f7c043f76a2bde437fd0d52a185152

    allmovie.com wrote:
    Three friends from a small North Carolina town face bleak economic futures in the years following World War II. Johnny (Robert Walker Jr) takes to running moonshine after his discharge from military service. He tries to think of a way for a better life for wife Carol (Diane Varsi) and their young son. Johnny and Carol hook up with Roger (Dick Clark), an ex-army demolitions expert. They plan to blow up the safe of a bootlegger, steal $200,000 and head off for a new life in sunny California. Their plans are thwarted when Roger uses too many explosives and the noise draws the attention of a Federal agent. Johnny kills the agent in this backwoods crime drama. Merle Haggard has a bit part and sings a few songs with the help of his band The Strangers. Clark was the producer who, with Michael Fisher, is responsible for the story. Plot Synopsis by Dan PavlidesRead More »

  • Alfred Zeisler – Der Schuß im Tonfilmatelier AKA The Shot in the Talker Studio (1930)

    1921-1930Alfred ZeislerCrimeGermanyWeimar Republic cinema

    29f7c043f76a2bde437fd0d52a185152

    IMDB:
    During the shooting of a jealousy scene on a soundstage, one actress is murdered. Due to the fact that the male star of the movie had a relation with the victim and the female star is now his fiance, he is suspected by the police. Written by Stephan Eichenberg

    During the production of an early movie using not only pictures but also sound an actress is murdered. The arriving inspectors do not only have to get to know the circumstances of the crime but also the new conditions: how “sound-movies” are made, to solve the crime. Written by katharina_strehl public.uni-hamburg.deRead More »

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