So I really, really do love Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. It is a very strange movie, but I love it so. I think that if you can get past the nearly absurd concept of the plot and just hang in there for more than twenty minutes that anyone can enjoy this movie.
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang is written by Sane Black who a true buddy cop film lover will know is the same man that wrote Lethal Weapon. The man is considered a pioneering screenwriter and Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang was his directorial debut. Having watched this movie over and over again I will again say that I really wish that Shane Black would step up to the director’s chair again and give me another movie. I think he has the potential to be one of the writer/director powerhouses that can really make his mark in the industry.
Watching Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang also reminds me of how much I do love Val Kilmer. The man may be crazy but he is a dang good actor. The man is currently voicing K.I.T.T. on the new (but soon to be if not already canceled) version of Knight Rider. He needs to stop that and get back to serious acting. From Doc Holliday to Gay Perry Val is one of the few actors who can genuinely disappear into a role and bring something special to the film – that’s the reason crazy as he is that people keep working with him. You work with Val and he becomes your character instead of just embodying the character.
I know it seems like I am on an insane Robert Downey Jr/comic book/holiday movie kick but I swear I am not. My mini-Robert Downey Jr. steak in the last few films was completely unintentional. I swear.
Perry: You don't get it, do you? This isn't "good cop, bad cop." This is fag and New Yorker. You're in a lot of trouble.
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Showing posts with label shane black. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shane black. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Friday, June 6, 2008
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
I have an irrational love of film noir. Tell me a film is noir influenced and I will probably see the film no questions asked. In light of this it is no surprise that one of my favorite films of the last few years is Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
This neo-noir is written and directed by Lethal Weapon scribe Shane Black, and is the directorial debut of Black; it stars the supremely talented Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer and Michelle Monaghan. From its use of narration, flash backs, criminal themes, and dark humor it is instantly obvious that this film loves and respects the noirs that came before it (even using Raymond Chandler book titles as headings for parts of the film), but wants to create its own off-beat take on the genre.
The first way Kiss Kiss Bang Bang breaks ground in neo-noir is by its use of the narrator in Robert Downey Jr. (Harry). Instead of idly narrating the story to himself or another character in the film (think Walter Neff’s character in Double Indemnity) Harry speaks directly to the audience breaking the fourth wall*, commenting on not only what you should be paying attention to as it’s probably important to the story, but degrading his own talent at narration. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a reflexive film; its techniques draw attention to the fact that it is a film that you are watching, and is indirectly about the process of making a film.
Harry comes to Hollywood where all his troubles begin because while fleeing the scene of a crime he hides in an audition for a crime drama and gets the part. He is then flown out to Hollywood to screen test, and while taking detective lesions from “Gay” Perry (Val Kilmer) he becomes embroiled in a murder mystery involving his producer’s daughter and his high school sweetheart turned actress’s kid sister.
This film is a funny, thrilling, yet tongue-in-cheek love affair of all that makes film noir memorable and fabulous and should be seen by anyone that wants a good laugh, great acting or just a great crime film.
Writer & Director: Shane Black
Harry: Robert Downey Jr.
”Gay” Perry: Val Kilmer
Harmony: Michelle Monaghan
Harlan Dexter: Corbin Bernsen
Dabney: Larry Miller
Harry: I peed on the corpse. Can they do, like, an ID from that?
Perry: I'm sorry, you peed on...?
Harry: On the corpse. My question is...
Perry: No, my question. I get to go first. Why in pluperfect hell would you pee on corpse?
Harry: Wow, I feel sore. I mean physically, not like a guy who's angry in a movie in the 1950's.
*The 4th Wall is a term used in theatre, film and tv referring to the imaginary barrier between the audience and the world of the characters.
This neo-noir is written and directed by Lethal Weapon scribe Shane Black, and is the directorial debut of Black; it stars the supremely talented Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer and Michelle Monaghan. From its use of narration, flash backs, criminal themes, and dark humor it is instantly obvious that this film loves and respects the noirs that came before it (even using Raymond Chandler book titles as headings for parts of the film), but wants to create its own off-beat take on the genre.
The first way Kiss Kiss Bang Bang breaks ground in neo-noir is by its use of the narrator in Robert Downey Jr. (Harry). Instead of idly narrating the story to himself or another character in the film (think Walter Neff’s character in Double Indemnity) Harry speaks directly to the audience breaking the fourth wall*, commenting on not only what you should be paying attention to as it’s probably important to the story, but degrading his own talent at narration. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a reflexive film; its techniques draw attention to the fact that it is a film that you are watching, and is indirectly about the process of making a film.
Harry comes to Hollywood where all his troubles begin because while fleeing the scene of a crime he hides in an audition for a crime drama and gets the part. He is then flown out to Hollywood to screen test, and while taking detective lesions from “Gay” Perry (Val Kilmer) he becomes embroiled in a murder mystery involving his producer’s daughter and his high school sweetheart turned actress’s kid sister.
This film is a funny, thrilling, yet tongue-in-cheek love affair of all that makes film noir memorable and fabulous and should be seen by anyone that wants a good laugh, great acting or just a great crime film.
Writer & Director: Shane Black
Harry: Robert Downey Jr.
”Gay” Perry: Val Kilmer
Harmony: Michelle Monaghan
Harlan Dexter: Corbin Bernsen
Dabney: Larry Miller
Harry: I peed on the corpse. Can they do, like, an ID from that?
Perry: I'm sorry, you peed on...?
Harry: On the corpse. My question is...
Perry: No, my question. I get to go first. Why in pluperfect hell would you pee on corpse?
Harry: Wow, I feel sore. I mean physically, not like a guy who's angry in a movie in the 1950's.
*The 4th Wall is a term used in theatre, film and tv referring to the imaginary barrier between the audience and the world of the characters.
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