Give 'Em Hell Malone Cannes Trailer

Aint It Cool News broke the exclusive Cannes trailer courtesy of artist Timothy Bradstreet. A lot more of the overall story and mood has been revealed and this looks to be one "helluva" good time. Great, stylized dialogue plus a no nonsense attitude both in front and behind the camera truly makes this a unique project. At least one we haven't seen in a long while. (Make sure to hit the "HQ" button for a cleaner picture)

Normal

When it comes to thrillers/noirs, there are two school of thought: the Philippe Marlowe, crime in the naked city type or the rat in the maze type. Czech filmmaker Julius Ševčík's Normal shares more in common with Dark City or The Third Man than The Maltese Falcon or Double Indemnity. The film is gorgeously shot. The old world environment complete with narrow cobbled streets, dim wrought iron lamps, and a city dominated by a central feature like a castle or church heavily contribute to the aesthetic. Conveniently, the old eastern block lends itself to this type of film as the production design certainly did not have to travel too far into history to find the appropriate look: dark wool coats, integrated fender sedans, porcelain tubs, soldiers in authoritarian-styled uniforms, and huddled masses.

From what can be gathered from the trailer, the young, male protagonist seems to be seeking truth amidst a world or perhaps his own sense of reason, that is gradually deteriorating. The official pitch is that this young man is a lawyer defending a serial killer. Even more amazingly, this is a fictional account of the life of a man named Peter Kürten, a German serial killer dubbed The Vampire of Düsseldorf, as told by this young lawyer. The air around the protagonist is thick with intense gazes that could reveal ulterior motives. Certainly the more he peels away the veil surrounding the killer and his crimes, he could plunge further into a much deeper darkness than that of the late night streets featured in the trailer. And, I am not sure how famous actor Milan Kňažko (Kürten) is in his home country, but the wrinkles-dare I say cracks-on his tight-lipped face are perfect for the high contrast lighting being employed; he's a Sin City character without prosthetics!



With the title as it is, questions certainly abound and finding out what it all means is why these kinds of films, when executed well, will always have a place in cinemas. The film was released in March, so I hope it will be picked up for distribution wherever you live.

The Perfect Sleep

Continuing with the "Noir" theme, here is a film that has all the trappings of a noir, but puts its own unique spin on it. Yes, it has the "tough-as-nails" hero, the voluptuous femme fatale, and the sinister mastermind, but it also has this rather wry humor about it--at least that's what I can gather from the trailer:



You have to love the casting of Patrick Bauchau as the heavy. That voice is too damn cool and his smoldering style of menace is perfect for the mood of the film. There is a surreal visual style being employed that doesn't exactly adhere to "noir" form, but I think this fits the apparent intention of the story. Like all noir films, there is a sense of menace and underlying atmosphere of dread; however, The Perfect Sleep also seems to have a revenge element that creates an air of uncertainty for all the characters whereas in a classic noir this sense of uncertainty hangs over the head of the protagonist alone. Add to this the notion that the standard combat motif is not guns but martial arts and you certainly have something worthy of interest. The filmmakers' description of the film is no less heady and fanciful:

Think of the hard-boiled world of film noir: the world of Dashiell Hammett’s Sam Spade, a world of femme fatales, a world of shadows. Now imagine this world populated with characters from tragic Russian novels like those by Dostoevsky: tormented figures suffering through harsh circumstance. This unique world provides the foundation for the dark and vivid dreamscape of “The Perfect Sleep.”

You can find more at the official MySpace page for the film here.
Do yourself a favor and check out the "Do Not Go See the Perfect Sleep" version of the trailer.

Give 'Em Hell Malone

Now there's a manly title. This film is starting to gather some buzz. Why? Well, it's directed by Russell Mulcahy. You might remember him from a movie called Highlander. It also stars Thomas Jane and Ving Rhames. It's an old skool Noir beat 'em up and Mulcahy's no-nonsense (and yes, some might say low budget) style is perfect for this type of film. The teaser trailer was released a few months back, but you can definitely see that Mulcahy understands the genre and how to play it with in a contemporary context.



Hell, I'm in on this movie because of the amount of slammed muscle cars on display. It's got all the right archetypes: baddass hired gun (Jane), a mysterious and sexy woman, an underworld boss, his lieutenants (one being Rhames), and an object of desire everyone is after and the source of everyone's trouble. Do you need anymore? Here's the official logline from the production company, Hannibal Pictures:

Thomas Jane as the title character and Ving Rhames as his rival, "Boulder." Malone, tough private eye, takes a job retrieving a case containing a mysterious secret. Bullets, fists, and blood fly as he fights through an army of thugs to protect the secret.

And yeah, people are shooting revolvers--so far not an automatic spray machine in sight! The release date is April 1st. Look for it in your local listings.