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Devil in a Blue Dress<\/strong> (1995) may have been released by Tristar, but it’s safe to bet director Carl Franklin was shielded from studio interference by executive producer Jonathan Demme, whose own filmic roots go back to Roger Corman exploitation programmers.<\/p>\nFranklin’s adaptation of Walter Moseley’s novel was highly praised, but the film never launched a hoped-for franchise, and in seeing this near-perfect neo noir 21 years since its release, the character of Easy Rollins is ready for a return to cinemas or cable TV, perhaps supervised by Franklin again, now a top director for HBO.<\/p>\n
Moseley’s 1990 novel was also praised for telling a classic noir tale with nearly all African-American characters, and using the genre to show a vibrant culture ignored by Hollywood in prior noir entries.<\/p>\n
A\u00a0rare filmic antecedent can be seen in Robert Culp’s lone feature film as director, the underrated buddy detective \/ neo noir thriller Hickey & Boggs<\/strong> (1971).<\/p>\n Twilight Time’s Blu-ray edition of Devil in a Blue Dress<\/a><\/strong> sports all the extras from Sony’s 2001 DVD, whereas KINO Lorber’s BR edition of Hickey & Boggs<\/a><\/strong> is once again bare bones.\u00a0The lack of special features may be due to KL not being wholly familiar with this minor classic, or perhaps not unlike Warner Home Video’s release of the problem-plagued Twilight Zone: The Movie<\/a><\/strong> (1983), the label felt a bare bones disc\u00a0would suffice\u00a0the demands of its fans and not wade into the mess that surrounds disgraced comedic institution Bill Cosby.<\/p>\n![\"HickeyBoggs_teaser_poster_s\"](\"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/HickeyBoggs_teaser_poster_s.jpg\")
Culp sought to recapture the dynamic relationship with I Spy<\/strong> co-star Bill Cosby, and what emerged, courtesy of writer Walter Hill, was a cynical, grim saga that spotlighted characters living in uglier parts of L.A. The sun still shined brightly, but the buildings were worn and cheap.<\/p>\n
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And while we’re on the topic of KL, the label recently announced their latest nuggets from Fox’s back catalogue set to debut on Blu this fall, and the one that stood out for me is Jean Negulesco’s\u00a0