Presentation Outline

Presentation on Reservoir Dogs

Intro –

Reservoir Dogs is a film about an undercover cop pretending to be a criminal, who is hired on by a gang leader, working side by side with 5 other men to pull off a jewelry heist that in the end turns for the worst.

Elements of Film Noir-

Reservoir Dogs is a film about crime and violence taken place in the1990s with throwbacks to the 60s and early 70s. The ambiguous protagonist a “good guy”pretending to be a criminal hired by the “bad guy “Joe Cabot, along with 5 other men to steal jewels for a reward. The film focuses on paranoia and the distrust the men have with one another, along with the guilt on behalf of the the protagonist.

Mr. Orange the undercover cop kills an innocent woman as he gets away in front of his new criminal buddy Mr. White, in order to steal her car and escape from the police. This shows how he is willing to kill an innocent person to prove he is all in.

Mr. Pink and Mr. White argue in front of Mr. Orange as he bleeds to death about being set up. The men feel there is a rat amongst them, but none of them trust each other enough to talk about whom they are and what they know to prove they are not the rat.

                                 

Elements of Neo- Noir

The film is in color although the men are dressed in black and white suits, the only black character happens to be the man who teaches the white undercover cop how to be a good pretend criminal. Reservoir dogs has no Femme fatale or “good girl “role, the only females mentioned are a waitress in the diner scene and a woman who gets shot, but no speaking female roles. The film is about a heist gone wrong that is never seen, we only see the aftermath of the men killing each other. 

 

Sex and Violence – There are no sex scenes , as well as no female speaking roles, but there is a lot of violence. If the men are not shooting cops they are fighting with each other. Blood is seen throughout the film: Mr. Brown drives the getaway car with a bloody gunshot wound in the head, in the back seat of the car all over Mr. Orange and as Mr., Orange lays in a pool of blood for most of the film. Also the cop's ear bleeding after it gets cut off

Throwback Scenes – There are several elements from the 60s -70s although the film took place in the 90s: the 1965 Cadillac, the music for example “Stuck in the middle with you “and “Little Green bag”

 
 

            Commentaries:

            In 100 Greatest Gangster films: Reservoir Dogs, #15 By George Anastasia he expresses how the film relates to our current time “Turns out, we listen to the same oldies on the radio, crack the same jokes and have the same debates about issues like tipping. In a strange way that prompts you- as the viewer-to feel sympathy for these dark-hearted characters”. This allows the dark criminals to be seen in a realistic point of view , from their clothes to the cars they drive to their conversations, I can relate. All these things make me forget they were bad guys hired to steal. The noir darkness is there but it is almost blurred by the fact that the characters are so real.

 

In Reservoir Dogs By Nandini Godara she discusses how the film was about a diamond heist we never see due to budgetary“I think what came about as a result of this decision was a very human story”we get to see how the men interact  and react with each other after the plan has gone wrong. Not showing the actual heist which is the main focus of the film is like a sex scene not being shown in a classic noir film, we know what happened even though it was not seen based on the following current events.

 

 

 

Blog #8 assignment one

The two short stories "The Kidnapper Bell" and "City of Commerce" I thought were very good as far as the description goes, as I have been to both cities and found myself shaking my head thinking hey I've seen that or Ive been there. Everyone that has been to Los Angeles knows the LA River can be seen from the FWY and some streets. The LA River is known for floating trash and graffiti, even the freeways have graffiti all over. The way the story described the small tunnels with graffiti is right on point, "the dim light of the river bend,he has trouble seeing the graffiti on the drain covers" It was very easy to imagine where the story took place. In "City of Commerce" the story mentions how it is not known for its scenery or club nightlife, which is very true even though it is down the street from LA it is very different. The story mentions Commerce being known for its industrial buildings and outlet malls though both cities are close to each other one is crazier and full of nightlife and the other crazy as well but in a different kind of way as mentioned in pg.231"this town to me, isn't most notable for its candlelit, leather-bound nightclubs or fancy valley gallerias". It has to be crazy for a local to get knocked over the head in a casino and held hostage over a game of poker. The city of Commerce has not much to do , so what could be better than gambling all day long to pass time. As I read the stories I did get a good visualization as to where the story was taking place .

Blog #8 second assignment

Out of the 4 short stories in Gold Coast I choose to do my assignment on Kinship and The Hour when the ship comes in. Out of the two stories I thought Kinship was a better noir story , in the beginning of the story Manny says he drives up his driveway to see his cousin sitting there her face buried in her hands from that I took that he would be the one who would have to make things right what ever that might be. Tomas is a good family man and you can see that when he gets so upset about Emerson being bullied. Veronica tells him and his reaction is to yell "And you didn't tell me?" from that reaction I knew he was a good guy who would do something bad for what was being done to Emerson. Tomas would be the protagonist in the story which all noir films have. Overall the story shows how a good person commits a crime to prove a point for which he thinks is right, that is why this short story I would classify as noir. 
The other short story The hour when the ship comes in I thought to be hard to classify as a noir film due to the lack of good in the characters and darkness in the overall story.  The scene description is moms walking by the beach pushing their babies in there strollers , cardio classes in the gym and as stated in the book a " beautiful day in Belmont shore. The yuppie jewel of Long Beach" . None of this shows a visualization of darkness or gloom instead it made me want to go to the beach and sunbathe and shop. Also the main character Yancy and his pals Mason and PJ come off as little bad ass's there's nothing good or innocent about them. Right off the bat their cursing and plotting breaking into a dope house, when they do there is no regret or fear in their voice "Where is it motherfucker" or  " I'll blow your fucking brains out" sounds pretty bad ass to me. I also found myself becoming bored with this story and thinking why is it in this book? Therefore I wouldn't classify it as noir.

Blog #7

I have to say I LOVED reading "The Method" it was so good, and to be honest I hate reading. The Method I found to have a much more interesting storyline than Morocco Junction 90210. I would recommend The Method any day, the female narrative seemed to captivate me from the beginning. I found the female narrator easier to follow, perhaps it was cause I'm a girl and girls do it better LOL. Right away I thought finally a girl this is going to be good. I think I prefer to read a novel with a female narrator. Even though both stories had a female narrator I felt like I related better to Holly in The Method, she had a kick ass attitude. I liked how Holly didn't allow herself to be played for a fool and took matters into her own hands. From the beginning I knew the Holly had a don't mess with me attitude by the way she answered "Richard" in the restaurant. It might have been her personality or choice of words that helped me follow the story better than Morocco Junction 90210, but there was something about Morocco Junction that wasn't as captivating. I found myself questioning what I had just read, I still am a little confused with the beginning pages of the novel. I understood the ending but overall I wasn't very interested as I was reading, I actually couldn't wait to be done. The ending was good and I didn't see it coming but still I think The Method was much better.

As I started reading The Method I had feeling Richard was up to no good, I got a bad vibe from him. He was creepy and his description didn't help much either , the way he spoke alone was enough to make me roll my eyes. I didn't think Holly would give him the time of day unfortunately she did,and he played her for a little bit. Once she found out the truth about him she acted out at gave him hat he deserved. I was happy to read that I expected to act like a typical girl and stick by his side. I think the fact that he went with her gut instinct and decided to kill him was my favorite part. I think that is why I chose to recommend this novel over Morocco Junction 90210. I was happy to read that a female won over a male. I feel like most films or novels that involve a male playing a female end in the male succeeding.  This may sound weird or creepy but as Richard was dying and Holly was pretending to get him help I couldn't help but laugh and cheer her on, I was proud of her. I know I know twisted thing to say. Overall I enjoyed reading these two novels over last weeks but The Method by far is my favorite. Don't under estimate a short 5'2 small town girl, Holly was small but no one to be messed with.

Blog #6

So I found the article to be confusing and messy in a way, it jumped around a lot from film to film. I had a hard time keeping up with the article but overall I learned a few things about the differences between film noir and neo-noir. A few of the differences I noticed were regarding the femme fatale in classic noir her ending is normally tragic as she pays for her crime as for modern noir the femme fatale gets away with what ever crime she has committed, she actually is the victorious one in the end. I also noticed how the description of the femme fatale is not mentioned and as important as it is in classic noir, in neo noir the focus was more on why the female was known to be bad and dangerous versus her sexual description. Also the language is very different as far as the profanity, classic noir uses the lighting and shadowing to express the scenery to where neo -noir language and surroundings is what describes the ambiance.  Another major difference is the protagonist in film noir he realizes hes been manipulated and is trying to find an escape route to where in modern noir the protagonist is not so much a hero and he normally ends up getting screwed, sorry that's the best way I could describe it. Overall I noticed that classic noir has more of a realistic feel due to the first person narrative and description of the characters which I prefer because it helps visualize better, neo- noir is more distracting to me due to the language which I feel is the main way the scene and atmosphere is described. The story line for both is related to crime and desperation but neo- noir seems to have more going on as far the characters, there is more to the story then a bad guy and a good guy and a femme fatale manipulating the ambiguous protagonist.  I think reading a classic noir novel is easier to understand but watching a modern noir is more interesting due to graphics. The article had alot of useful information and it really gave me some new insight on the difference between the two noirs that I was not aware of. I feel like now I could tell the two apart more easily. I feel like the two are similar as far as tragedy , death and someone ends up taking the blame, but at the same time classic noir we know it will end and tragedy as the person narrating the story is already dead. Modern noir doesn't have a narrator and it is unknown as to where the story is going and who will end up dead. Like stated at the beginning the article was a bit confusing to me so I hope I have the differences correct, if anyone has anything to add to help me better understand please feel free to share info with me.

Blog #5 article review

In Cinema Autopsy Notes on film : Double Indemnity by Thomas Caldwell the author references how some thought film noir to be a stylistic genre and others a stylistic movement that defined 1930's and 40's America. Since it was a type of film that became fairly popular after the World War II, I could see where the confusion could come in, personally I think its a little of both  but mainly inspired by the war. Another thing I had no idea about is how the French film makers were the ones to come up with the term film noir well actually they referred to it as "black film",the name originating from the dim low key lighting. I really find it interesting how the name originated from the dark lighting, kind of a unique inspiration. Based on the article the dark set lighting was first seen in German films in the 1910's to early 1930's, seems like the more I read about film noir the further back we go in time. Also the one thing I noticed about all film noir articles is how they mention the importance of the femme fatale, I guess with out her the film wouldn't be what it is, there would be no murder scheme, no weak man to manipulate, basically no tragic ending. The article states how the femme fatale is responsible for the downfall of the hero for most of the film, this is also another point most people argue, is she really? or is the protagonist just making himself seem that way? maybe he always had an urge to kill and enjoys being told what to do and so happens to meet the right women at the right time and tries to blame the women for the downfall, I guess well never know that's the mystery of film noir.  Based on the article the femme fatale is the key element of film noir, and that Barbara Stanwyck's portroyal of Phyllis Dietrichsonn is considered one of the all time great femme fatales. The novel does provide a good description of phyllis so when I saw the film I saw exactly who I had imagined, Phyllis embodies all the characteristics from sexy to devious with an awesome shape. I found this article to be very interesting as it taught me a few things I didn't know regarding film noir. I also found myself agreeing with the points the author pointed out most of all how the femme fatale is the key element of film noir , I could see how back in the 40's this type of film must have been amusing to watch especially by women, being how women back then were not so outspoken and sat back in the shadows while the men made all the decisions. Like stated in the article it is not easy to define film noir but it it is easy to point out the characteristics, I'm still shocked I like it because its in black and white but I am glad I have been introduced to it.

Blog #4 zero draft questions for Double Indemnity

1. Discuss the contrasts between the endings of the novel and the film. Which ending seems more appropriate for film noir? Why?

The film and the novel have very different endings, personally I prefer the novel ending but as far as a film noir ending I think the movie fits better. The novel leaves you guessing what happened? Are they dead? Together? It's not very clear . They both end up in an unhappy state alone with each other on a boat headed to Mexico . We know there future is soon coming to an end but when and how and that I think is what doesn't really fit into film noir . It's a little to dramatic. The ending of  the novel was more about Phyllis trying to kill Walter and getting away with it, and the film is more about Phyllis and Walter planning a murder then Walter trying to make it all go away by getting rid of his accomplice Phyllis. In the film Phyllis shoots Walter in the shoulder then Walter kills Phyllis as she confesses her love for him  , he seems to not even be phased by her confession as he shoots. Walter then is left bleeding out as he confesses the truth seems like a much better noir ending. As we know Phyllis is dead and Walter is wounded and will be paying for what he has done. I like the fact that we aren't left guessing what happened and we know everyone got what they deserved.

6. Raymond Borde and Etienne Chaumeton in their work " Towards a definition of film noir" describe the qualities of film noir as " nightmarish, weird, , erotic, ambivalent, and cruel." Select one quality and discuss how it relates to the film version of Double Indemnity.

Weird .... There's was a lot of weirdness in the film and the novel actually , but the film I felt had more weirdness then the novel. The first thing I noticed was how Walter always lit Keyes cigar , normally you see men lighting cigars for women. Another weird moment was  Lola asking Walter for a ride , he's a complete stranger but yet she's sitting in his car like she's catching a ride from a friend. I think the ultimate weird scene would be how Lola decides to appear in Walters office and confess her suspicions about Phyllis, she basically breaks down and tells all to an Insurance agent she's met once. Not only that but it's not like he's a detective or anything and unbeknown to her he's the man who killed her father,Then to see them hanging out was odd too. I have to say through out the entire film I kept saying WHAT that's weird , like Sachetti for example dating Lola Phyllis bad mouthing him then all the sudden Lola gets dumped and Phyllis has herself a new lover. Overall I thought the film was full of weirdness, every scene got weirder and weirder. From the beginning  the mood was set an insurance agent in lust with a women wrapped in a towel soon to be his murder accomplice. It was just all to much but at the same time all the weirdness made it just that much more interesting.