THE DEAL

A DVD Review: Brick (2006)

Damned if I don't keep missing Fox's new series STANDOFF--I've gotta remember to TiVo it next week, because my rule is you can't do a review of a series four episodes in if you haven't seen anything that's gone before it. So forgive me--I promised that I would review it and I haven't gotten to it yet.

Instead I have a cool DVD recommendation: Brick. A present day film noir set in and around a California high school, Brick stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Brendan, a high schooler who's ex-girlfriend turns up dead, sending him on his own private investigation into who did it and why. With dialogue and mannerisms that could have come straight out of The Big Sleep, some will struggle at first with the film's heavily stylized technique and tongue-twisting, anachronistic dialogue, but the more you watch it, the more you get drawn into the mystery and the top notch acting (especially by Levitt, who has now turned in two consecutive brilliant performances after last year's turn in Mysterious Skin).

An indie release that was ballyhooed at Sundance but disappeared quickly at the box office earlier this year, Brick should find a new cult following on home video. Check it out. (Written and directed by Rian Johnson). My grade: B+

A List - Six Film Noirs Everyone Should See

Brick got me thinking about other film noirs, both classic and more modern, that will make any film fan do handsprings of delight. These certainly did it for me:

The Lady From Shanghai (1948)
Double Indemnity (1944)
Chinatown (1973)
Body Heat (1981)
Blade Runner (1982)
Out of the Past (1947)

As always, send me your film noir faves!

The Deal

Alternative news outlets and al-Jazeera are reporting that Pakistan president Musharraf has guaranteed Taliban insurgents in his country's mountainous frontier that his army will not come after Osama bin Laden as part of a deal to protect his country from civil war. How come we're not hearing more about this on mainstream media outlets? Remember, Musharraf is one of Bush's principal allies in the War on Terror--and if this story is true, and indications are that it is, then that just proves what a sham the "War on Terror" really is.

Peace...