{"id":13955,"date":"2016-07-25T02:17:43","date_gmt":"2016-07-25T06:17:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=13955"},"modified":"2016-07-25T12:15:20","modified_gmt":"2016-07-25T16:15:20","slug":"neo-noir-deux-romeo-is-bleeding-1993-black-widow-1987","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=13955","title":{"rendered":"Neo-Noir Deux: Romeo is Bleeding (1993) + Black Widow (1987)"},"content":{"rendered":"

As you\u2019ll find embedded in the following reviews, a lot of neo-noirs were made during the 80s and 90s, most of which are tremendous fun, and many of which did not do the great business their respective filmmakers had hoped; with excellent actors, taut direction, solid scripts, and provocative female leads and imagery, neo-noirs tended to find their audiences on home video and cable TV rather than the big screens. (1992’s Basic Instinct <\/strong>may be a neo-noir, but it\u2019s also\u00a0responsible for launching the eroto-thriller, a vibrant, overdone, and ultimately cheapened sub-genre which thrived in the direct-to-video \/ straight-to-cable realms.)<\/p>\n

The two films released on Blu by Twilight Time I caught during their original theatrical runs, and although each has its share of flaws, they\u2019re personal favourites.<\/p>\n

\"BlackWidow1987_poster\"The trailers for Bob Rafelson\u2019s Black Widow<\/a><\/strong> (1987) looked teasing and provocative and pulpy, and when Shoppers Drug Mart was offering $2.00 Cineplex movie coupons and I had a free afternoon between classes, I used one to catch Widow<\/strong> at the old Eaton\u2019s Centre, the world\u2019s first Cineplex multi-screen movie house<\/a>, where good movies were often dumped after a perfunctory release on bigger screens, or where bad movies debuted and faded, fulfilling a producer\u2019s absolute minimum theatrical release obligations. (It\u2019s also where Canadian movies would appear for a day or two, just to earn a legit theatrical release date.)<\/p>\n

Cineplex was known \/ infamous for developing a glorified rear projection system that resulted in a lower grade picture; the process allowed the chain to pack more films into more small, shoebox theatres, and replicate the set-up in many shopping centres around Canada and inevitably the U.S. Co-founded by Garth Drabinsky<\/a>, it was a brilliant scheme that changed the way movies were shown, offering variety in place of quality, and ticket prices that competed against the bigger chains like Famous Players.<\/p>\n

Critics at the time highlighted Black Widow<\/strong> as Rafelson and cinematographer Conrad Hall\u2019s collective return to film after long absences, and neither disappointed in what remains a slick little thriller. Michael Small\u2019s score was barely perceptible, but his name also stuck in my mind, and it took a few decades but the music eventually made its way to CD via Intrada Records.<\/p>\n

\"RomeoIsBleeding1993_poster\"Romeo is Bleeding<\/a><\/strong> (1993) was another gem I knew would die fast at the box office because it was just too odd and dark, and it\u2019s second half runs into a lot of problems, but it also represents a high point in Peter Medak\u2019s directing career; he\u2019s arguably one of the most adept filmmakers in tackling crime tales with sometimes exceptionally dark humour and sadistic violence.<\/p>\n

Romeo <\/strong>has its share of brief brutality, and although\u00a0Lena Olin received the lion\u2019s share of attention for vivifying a hitwoman who gets off on tormenting men (I\u2019d argue her erotic cackling as men squirm between her scissor-legs inspired thigh-strangling Xenia Onatopp in the 1995 Bond actioner Goldeneye<\/strong>), it\u2019s Gary Oldman who carries the show, playing a tough character straight, no matter how ridiculous his circumstances. It\u2019s a great underrated performance that like the film, is often overlooked.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mark R. Hasan<\/strong>, Editor
\nKQEK.com<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reviews of more neo-noirs, all dark and sexy on Blu from Twilight Time: Peter Medak’s Romeo is Bleeding (1993) + Bob Rafelson’s Black Widow (1987).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13956,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[4545,1476,4554,2562,2563,4547,4553],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/RomeoIsBleeding1993_featured.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-3D5","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13955"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13955"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13974,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13955\/revisions\/13974"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}