Well-crafted film noir homage with a twist!

Long Cold Walk (2022)
Starring: Nat Wise, Rocco La Motta, Stephen Scott, Jessica Rudolph, and Gene Winer
Director: Gene Winer
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

A homicide detective on the nightshift (Wise, voiced by Winer), is called to the scene of what turns out to be a greater mystery than he could have possibly imagined.

 

"Long Cold Walk" is a well-crafted film noir homage with an unexpected twist. Visually, there are a few jarring elements--such as some extreme close-ups that don't seem to serve any purpose and an extra that seems out place with the historical setting of the film--but overall Gene Winer and his crew do a fine job, on pretty much every technical level you'd care to consider.

As this film reached its final moments, I was certain that I would be giving it a solid Six of Ten Stars... but then the twist occured. I was expecting there to be some sort of twist due to a comment made by the narrator at the very beginning of the film, but when it happened, it was not at all what I expected it to be. That twist, and how it was executed, got a star added to the rating all by itself! I've watched and reviewed so many films over the past 30 years that "WOW!" moments don't happen all that often anymore, but Winer delivered one with "Long Cold Walk".

If you like old-school detective movies and TV shows, you're going to enjoy this short. Click below to check it out!

It's Women's History Month...

... so here's another cartoon from the 1920s about women's fashion trends, by author/illustrator Ethel Hays. (Her self-titled cartoon series was syndicated to over 500 newspapers.)

This Day in History...

 

Musical Monday with LostProphets

Part crime drama about small-time British crooks and part music video, "For He's a Jolly Good Felon" is the first chapter of a story about Simon (Sie Haworth) and a few other hapless men trying to get out from under the thumb of a vicious gangster/fight promoter, Harry (Alan Ford). It closes on a cliffhanger, and if I ever find Part Two, it will be featured in a future post here... because I liked both the music and film portions of this neat video--which is something of a throwback to the Golden Age of Music Videos during the 1980s and 1990s.

By the way, if you liked Alan Ford in "Snatch" (2000), you may like this one, too: He essentially plays the same character here as he did in that movie.

For He's a Jolly Good Felon (2010)

Starring: Alan Ford, Sie Haworth, Richard Sharpe, and Ian Watkins 

Director: Charlie Lightening

Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

It's Mohammed Monday!

THIS WEEK WITH JESUS & MO

'The Gay Goucho' is one of Van Beuren's best

The Gay Goucho (1933)
Starring: Gus Wicke
Director: Hugh Harman
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

Cubby Bear descends from the Argentinian highlands to spend the night with his dancer girlfriend... but when banditos intrude upon their fun, Cubby's defense of her honor places them in deadly danger.

 

Animation-wise, "The Gay Goucho" is one of the best efforts I've seen from the Van Beuren Studios; the character designs are decent, varied, and they remain stable throughout the entire run-time of the cartoon. Further there are honest-to-god detailed backgrounds and other elaborate scenery, something that's a rariety in a Van Beuren production. There is also a minimal amount of obvious looping and none of the visual gags and other sequences are stretched to the point where they stop being funny and become dull. In fact, one can even describe moments of this cartoon as thrilling. 

So why am I only giving it a rating of Six Stars? Because as funny and cute and energetic as this cartoon is, it falls completely apart and the end. The final gag is amusing, but the wrap-up is such a lazy cop-out that I knocked a full star off.

But I've embedded "The Gay Goucho" below for your viewing convenience and--hopefully--pleasure. Let me and everyone else know what YOUR thoughts are about it!

Happy birthday, Sharon Stone!

Actress Sharon Stone turns 65 years old today. We're celebrating with pictures of her from various points during the past five decades.

 

 

Fanny Friday!

A short film that made me say, 'That's all?!'

The Detective (2021)
Starring: Alex Perri
Director: Alex Perri
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

Late at night, a hardboiled detective (Perri) sits down to write a report. But something is amiss...

I have only two negative things to say about this excellent homage to the hardboiled film noir detectives and their cinematic vehicles of the 1940s and 1950s--because Alex Perri pretty much gets everything right in the minute-and-a-half run-time of "The Detective".

First, the narration provided by the title character is a too much. I understand that Perri was trying to fit all the standard elements of a film noir mystery into a very brief space, but it was so intense that it was bordering on parody. It wasn't bad, just a little over the top.

Second, despite my complaint above, I was drawn into the situation that is set up here... and when the end title card appeared, my reaction was: "That's all?! What happens next?! What about--argh!"

So, my second complaint about "The Detective" is that wanted more than what's here. What Perri delivered was so good and so engaging that I was taken aback when it ended. My complaint, therefore, is that this is vignette is so good that I want MORE! I want to know the story that's unfolding around this tiny glimpse into the shadowy world in which this nameless detective lives. 

Basically, my complaint is actually the highest praise I can give to any bit of creative story-telling that I come across: I enjoyed it so much that I didn't want it to end.

How about you? Check out "The Detective" by clicking below and let me know if you like it as much as I do!

It's Women's History Month...

 ... so here's a 100+ year-old cartoon about women's fashion trends, by cartoonist and children's books author/illustrator Ethel Hays. 

Among Hays' creations were "Flapper Fanny Says" and her self-titled "Ethel" series, which were syndicated to over 500 newspapers during the 1920s and early 1930s. ("Flapper Fanny" appeared daily while "Ethel" was two or more times a week.)

Hays stepped away from newspaper cartooning to focus more on her children and family, but she continued to illustrate children's books.