Tag Archives: noir
Comic Review: Daredevil – Epic Collection: A Touch of Typhoid
Published: January 13th, 2016
Written by: Ann Nocenti, Mike Baron, Fabian Nicieza
Art by: John Romita Jr., Ron Lim, Steve Ditko, Whilce Portacio
Marvel Comics, 465 Pages
Review:
The first issue of Daredevil that I ever picked up came from his stretch, collected here. This also covers about the first half of Ann Nocenti’s incredible Daredevil run. A run that sold me on the hero and made his comics ones that I would pickup monthly for years.
Other than the Typhoid Mary-centered issues, this is the first time that I’ve really reread Nocenti’s Daredevil material since the late ’80s/early ’90s.
Overall, this era is fucking great and if I’m being honest, I actually like it on the same level, if not more, than the Frank Miller era before it. While this can read lighter than Miller’s run, it still gets really damn dark and stays true to the core of what Daredevil became because of Miller.
What makes this even better and also keeps the tone right is the art by John Romita Jr. Even though I didn’t know it in 1989, when I first got hooked, Nocenti and Romita Jr. were one of the best creative duos of the time and certainly a better combination of writer and artist than Marvel has put together in modern times.
In my opinion, this is still Romita Jr.’s best work and the legacy he should hang his hat on. And yes, I say that knowing that he still works, today.
As far as the stories go, this starts with the debut of Typhoid Mary, which I’ve reviewed on its own (see here), but it also goes into some follow up stories with her character. This also happens during the major Inferno crossover event and sees Daredevil tie-up with demons and even Mephisto. In fact, the Mephisto-centric issue is one of the greatest Christmas comics ever produced.
This is just great. It’s one of the best stretches of my favorite comic book series. Revisiting it now didn’t leave me disappointed.
Rating: 9/10
Film Review: A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
Release Date: July 7th, 1988 (New York City premiere)
Directed by: Charles Crichton
Written by: John Cleese, Charles Crichton
Music by: John Du Prez
Cast: John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin, Cynthia Cleese, Stephen Fry
Star Partners Limited Partnership, Prominent Features, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 108 Minutes
Review:
“You pompous, stuck-up, snot-nosed, English, giant, twerp, scumbag, fuck-face, dickhead, asshole.” – Otto, “How very interesting. You’re a true vulgarian, aren’t you?” – Archie, “You are the vulgarian, you fuck.” – Otto
I remember adults talking about how much they loved this movie when I was nine years-old. I also vaguely remember seeing the John Cleese getting caught naked gag whether from trailers or just seeing it pop up on HBO while flipping the channels.
That’s really all I knew about the movie, though, but people still talk about it fondly, so I figured that I should finally check it out. Plus, I like Cleese, as well as Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Palin and Kevin Kline. Cynthia Cleese and Stephen Fry also pop up in this.
For the most part, this was amusing and I liked that it was essentially a film-noir structured comedy. Curtis essentially plays a femme fatale without the murder and you never really know which guy she’s screwing over and who she may choose in the end… or no one.
Cleese was as likable and hilarious as always and this really felt like somewhat of spiritual successor to probably his most famous character, Basil Fawlty of Fawlty Towers. Although, Cleese’s character here is less of a shithead.
Kline is solid as a total bastard and I especially liked his banter and scenes with Michael Palin.
Overall, this is pretty quick paced, whimsical and entertaining. However, it didn’t captivate me on the level that it has seemed to for other people, especially at the time of this picture’s release. Maybe it worked better in 1988 and for an audience that was older than me then.
Honestly, it reminds me a lot of other comedies of the time featuring a small group of people all trying to fuck each other over. It was kind of a normal comedy trope at the time and with that, I can’t really see this as something wholly original or refreshing, even for its era. While it beat Dirty Rotten Scoundrels to the theater by a few months, it pales in comparison to that by a pretty substantial margin.
Rating: 6.25/10
Vids I Dig 874: Razörfist: Shadowcast No. 5 – ‘The Voodoo Master’ and ‘Voodoo’
Comic Review: Batman: Three Jokers
Published: November 17th, 2020
Written by: Geoff Johns
Art by: Jason Fabok
DC Comics, 161 Pages
Review:
I enjoyed this story and its concept quite a bit. But generally, I’ve been a fan of Geoff Johns’ writing since he took over Green Lantern in the mid-’00s.
This isn’t really a canonical story but then again, nothing that’s modern DC really is to me anymore because they’ve rebooted their universe more times than my Uncle Terry has created children out of wedlock.
The story does directly build off of the events of classic Batman stories The Killing Joke and A Death In the Family. With that, it also utilizes Batgirl and Red Hood in the story, as it brings their issues with the Joker full circle and provides some closure to him crippling Batgirl and “killing” Red Hood when he was Robin.
The reason why the story is called “The Three Jokers” is because there are three Jokers. Each one represents a different version of the character, as he’s been used historically. One is the “criminal” Joker, another is the “comedian” Joker and the last is the “clown” Joker. The story plays off of their differences and the heroes aren’t sure which one is the real Joker or if possibly there’s been more than one all along. However, by the end, we see that there’s a much bigger, more sinister scheme at play and it’s revealed that Batman has always known who the real Joker is, all the way down to his real identity.
The story was very noir-esque, which isn’t uncommon for a Batman story but this one had so many curveballs that it just fits within that genre’s framework quite well.
Admittedly, I got to a point in the story where I started to think that the whole thing was ridiculous. By the end, though, it all came together in a really cool way and it seemed a lot less ridiculous and like something that would fit within the Joker’s larger worldview and his and Batman’s place in it.
I also really, really liked the art. I don’t know much about Jason Fabok but he captivated me, here, and I’ll be on the lookout for some of his other work. Frankly, I’d like to see him and Johns maybe work on a follow up to this and create their own unique continuity within Batman, similar to what Sean Gordon Murphy has been doing the last few years.
Rating: 8/10
Vids I Dig 858: Razörfist: The Shadowcast No. 4 – ‘The Shadow Strikes’ & ‘Death House Resecue’
Vids I Dig 850: Razörfist: The Shadowcast No. 3 – ‘Lingo’ and ‘Death to the Shadow’
Vids I Dig 843: Razörfist: The Shadowcast No. 2 – The Shadow & The Green Hornet: Dark Nights
Vids I Dig 835: Razörfist: The Shadowcast No. 1 – The Living Shadow
From the mists of mystery emerges The Shadowcast! In this first episode, we explore the origins of the Dark Avenger with the very first pulp story: THE LIVING SHADOW, and review The Knight of Darkness’s first film appearance in the rare 1931 DETECTIVE STORY MAGAZINE Film Shorts!
“Your life,” said the stranger’s voice slowly, “is no longer your own. It belongs to me now. But you are still free to destroy it. Shall we return to the bridge?”
“I don’t know,” blurted Vincent. “This is all like a dream; I don’t understand it. Perhaps I did fall from the bridge, and this is death that I am now experiencing. Yet it seems real, after all. What good is my life to anyone? What will you do with it?”
“I shall improve it,” replied the voice form the darkness. “I shall make it useful. But I shall risk it, too. Perhaps I shall lose it, for I have lost lives, just as I have saved them. This is my promise; like, with enjoyment, with danger, with excitement, and— with money. Life, above all, with honor. If I give it, I demand obedience. Absolute obedience. You may accept my terms, or your may refuse. I shall wait for you to choose.”
“I accept,” he said.
-‘The Living Shadow’ (Walter B. Gibson, 1931)
Book Review: ‘The Club Dumas’ by Arturo Pérez-Reverte
After recently revisiting The Ninth Gate, a film I love for being a solid mix of neo-noir and occult horror, I decided that reading the book it’s based on was long overdue.
I’m actually surprised that I hadn’t read this a long time ago. I was also surprised to see that this was written by the same guy that wrote the novel that served as the inspiration to the hit television crime drama, Queen of the South.
This features the same core characters as the film but the two stories have some very big differences. This version alters the relationships of some characters, as well as their personalities. Corso and Balkan’s interactions are very different, here, and I feel like in the film, things were altered in a way that maximized the talents of both Johnny Depp and Frank Langella.
The book is more detailed and explores some territory that the movie did not. I don’t want to ruin it, though, and don’t want to point out every difference.
If you are a fan of The Ninth Gate, you should probably enjoy this. While I like the movie better, overall, a lot of that could just be due to my familiarity with it and now my nostalgia for it, being that it’s over twenty years old.
The book is pretty dense at times, though, and it assumes you have knowledge of classic literature. While that knowledge isn’t necessary in order to follow this, it does probably make the overall experience more interesting and engaging.
Like the film, it was fun seeing Corso try to solve a puzzle that would lead to some dark discoveries.
Rating: 8/10
Talking Pulp 
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