{"id":1455,"date":"2011-05-17T08:11:18","date_gmt":"2011-05-17T15:11:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/?p=1455"},"modified":"2011-05-17T08:11:18","modified_gmt":"2011-05-17T15:11:18","slug":"daily-dose-l-a-noire-and-the-hard-boiled-genre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/?p=1455","title":{"rendered":"Daily Dose: L.A. NOIRE and the Hard Boiled Genre"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>As gamers clamor to their local Gamestop to grab a hot copy of \u201cLA Noire,\u201d I\u2019ve been watching movie trailers. One of them is the ubiquitous trailer for the Rockstar Games title that clearly owes something to Curtis Hanson\u2019s 1997 film \u201cL.A. Confidential\u201d that was adapted from Demon Dog James Ellroy\u2019s novel of the same name.<\/p>\n

When I interviewed Ellroy some years ago, I remember how down he was on \u201cBrick,\u201d the 2005 Rian Johnson neo-noir high school film. Given Ellroy\u2019s work in Hollywood these days, I wonder if he has softened his opinion and might even warm up to modern use of classic hard boiled detective elements pioneered by Raymond Chandler and others. Somehow I doubt it. I\u2019m unimpressed by the \u201cL.A. Noire\u201d trailer, but, of course, I don\u2019t play video games and couldn\u2019t even begin to render an informed opinion on its gaming value. But I can say I have little use for the prior work of Rockstar Games, the company responsible for \u201cGrand Theft Auto.\u201d I\u2019ve had to watch that my 9 year old doesn\u2019t get a copy of that game and any of its sequels. While the talk is that \u201cL.A. Noire\u201d changes the face of gaming, the story appears to be more of the same, violence and dark emotions directed principally against women. And unlike a movie, with the game you can step into that world virtually.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Speaking of gangsters and crime, I noticed that Lionsgate will be releasing, no doubt in limited fashion, \u201cThe Devil\u2019s Double.\u201d This is Director Lee Tamahori\u2019s first film since 2007\u2019s failure \u201cNext.\u201d This time, Tamahori steps away from the uneven Phillip K. Dick science fiction material and tries on a grounded play on historical fictionalized reality. \u201cDouble\u201d takes place during the heyday of the House of Saddam Hussein, the late tyrannical leader of Iraq. Based on historical events, the movie stars Dominic Cooper (who will be playing Howard Stark in \u201cCaptain America\u201d) in the dual role of Saddam\u2019s son Uday Hussein and his body double Latif Yahia. Called the \u201cBlack Prince\u201d by some, Uday is depicted as a \u201creckless, sadistic party-boy with a rabid hunger for sex and brutality,\u201d according the website for the film. The movie takes place prior to the Iraq War. In real life Uday, the \u201cAce of Hearts\u201d in the infamous deck of cards, was killed in a firefight with U.S. forces in 2003. <\/p>\n

The poster for \u201cThe Devil\u2019s Double\u201d is one of the most eye-catching of the year showing Uday\/Latif dressed in gold, brandishing two golden machine guns, seated on a golden throne, and surrounded by a golden room. Producers have to be happy that some writers are calling the film \u201cthe Scarface of the Middle East.\u201d Apparently, one scene involving disembowelment with a machete is so violent that some viewers walked out of festival screenings. The screenplay was adapted by Michael Thomas (\u201cScandal\u201d) from the novel by the real life Latif Yahia. One wonders what liberties were taken with the facts and whether the film is something akin to the work of Peter Morgan (\u201cThe Queen,\u201d \u201cFrost\/Nixon,\u201d and \u201cThe Last King of Scotland\u201d). Viewers will get a chance to make up their own minds as the film rolls into select theaters on July 29th. <\/p>\n