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Heal Thyself
You may not find this fact in film-history books, but 1987 was a seminal year for the tarnished moral and ethical authority of the proverbial investigator and law enforcer (i.e., the loosely-allied private dick and big-city cop) in Hollywood films. For this was the year in which they both succumbed to the forces of darkness and crazy-hood.
It was 22 years ago when Shane Black's (and Richard Donner and Joel Silver's) Lethal Weapon introduced the then-radical idea of a cop who was screwier and possibly more dangerous than the criminals he was chasing. '87 was also the year when Alan Parker's Angel Heart told the tale of a wise-guy shamus who turned out to be the very same grisly murderer he'd been looking to find all through the film.
Before these two movies cops and private eyes were thought to be more or less safe -- corrupted and flawed to varying degrees (like Treat Williams' narcotics cop in Prince of the City) but still vaguely decent, semi-trustworthy, on "our side," exuding a recognizable sense of morality. These two films changed all that.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on November 17, 2009 at 12:59 PM
comment #1
Blepyrus
says ...
Angel Heart has one of the best reveal endings of all time.
Posted by Blepyrus
at November 17, 2009 1:31 PM
comment #2
Anthony Thorne
says ...
I love the ending to Angel Heart when Rourke takes the lift down to hell. The movie also plays with a quiet, whispered 'Johnny' being heard every so often on the soundtrack. Then in the final few seconds of the closing credits, we hear 'Johnny........ Harry,,,,,", as if Rourke's psyche (he's 'Harry Angel' in the movie) was finally admitting to itself what it had subconsciously known all along. Big loud clang as the lift reaches its destination. Utterly chilling and brilliantly done, and still one of my favourite Parker movies. Also, the saxaphone soundtrack is magisterial.
While typing this I suddenly imagined a YouTube mashup with the above lift-descending clip having the opening bells-and-whistles theme tune to ARE YOU BEING SERVED? appearing on the soundtrack, fucked if I know why.
Posted by Anthony Thorne
at November 17, 2009 1:41 PM
comment #3
YRG
says ...
You could make the same argument for 1971, the year The French Connection and Dirty Harry both came out. The one-line IMDB plot summary for Dirty Harry is: "A San Francisco cop with little regard for rules (but who always gets results) tries to track down a serial killer who snipes at random victims." And "Popeye" Doyle wasn't exactly the most moral and sane detective in New York. I always thought Gibson's Riggs was pushed as "crazy with a z!" in the marketing of Lethal Weapon, but I never felt he could stray as far as his predecessors.
Posted by YRG
at November 17, 2009 1:56 PM
comment #4
rstaeh
says ...
Have to give To Live and Die in L.A. the edge here. The cops in Friedkin's adaptation of the Gerald Petievich novel are so "dark and crazy" they rob the FBI and have to flee the feds in an above-average freeway car chase. The year was 1985.
Posted by rstaeh
at November 17, 2009 2:06 PM
comment #5
sumo-pop
says ...
To Live And Die In LA and Angel Heart should be regarded as stone cold classics. Everytime people bring up Friedkin it's always French Connection and Excorcist. Both are great but TLADILA belongs right there. And Angel Heart is second only to The Wrestler on the Rourke-O-Meter.
Posted by sumo-pop
at November 17, 2009 2:22 PM
comment #6
sjwhitty
says ...
For modern films, yeah, maybe. But if you look at late noir, from the '50s -- "Detective Story," maybe, or "The Big Heat" -- I think you'll find a couple of lethal weapons walking around.
Posted by sjwhitty
at November 17, 2009 2:32 PM
comment #7
dinovelvet
says ...
To Live and Die in LA, Manhunter, Angel Heart, Year of the Dragon...four completely badass thrillers from the mid 80s, all now mostly forgotten.
Posted by dinovelvet
at November 17, 2009 3:37 PM
comment #8
bluefugue
says ...
1987 also gave us the cop-as-soulless-cyborg (Robocop), though ironically Robocop turns out to be the most moral character in the movie...
Posted by bluefugue
at November 17, 2009 3:57 PM
comment #9
kamichojin
says ...
While typing this I suddenly imagined a YouTube mashup with the above lift-descending clip having the opening bells-and-whistles theme tune to ARE YOU BEING SERVED? appearing on the soundtrack, fucked if I know why.
That is very very wrong. Well done, A. Thorne!
Posted by kamichojin
at November 17, 2009 4:00 PM
comment #10
actionman
says ...
dinovelvet -- i haven't forgotten
Posted by actionman
at November 17, 2009 4:10 PM
comment #11
Daviddb
says ...
Angel Heart comes out on Blu Ray on Nov 24.
Posted by Daviddb
at November 17, 2009 4:17 PM
comment #12
markj
says ...
Hollywood is incapable of making a movie like Lethal Weapon now. Great script, great direction, great chemistry between the leads, pulse-pounding action, editing and music. Where did it all go wrong?
Around 1995 and Batman Forever for me... when concept, stars and release date took a higher priority over the basic building blocks of filmmaking.
Posted by markj
at November 17, 2009 4:19 PM
comment #13
sumo-pop
says ...
dinovelvet, my man.
Posted by sumo-pop
at November 17, 2009 4:40 PM
comment #14
Pynchon8
says ...
Guess I can take Angel Heart off my queue. Thanks!!
Posted by Pynchon8
at November 17, 2009 5:35 PM
comment #15
Baron Munchausen-by-Proxy
says ...
"A. Thorne"?!?
Even your name is a cheap, dime-store trick...
Posted by Baron Munchausen-by-Proxy
at November 17, 2009 6:33 PM
comment #16
Josh Massey
says ...
I recently watched Year of the Dragon for the first time, and it was a little embarrassing. If you haven't seen it in 20 years and are coasting off of memory - don't revisit the film and keep the happy thoughts.
Posted by Josh Massey
at November 17, 2009 6:55 PM
comment #17
LexG
says ...
"How can anybody care too much?"
"I got scar tissue... on my SOUL."
You know what I always wonder about YOTD; Is Rourke supposed to be playing like a 50-year-old man or something? He's all rollin' with Ray Berry and he's married to *Cruise's mom from Born on the 4th*, a nice actress I'm sure, but she's like middle aged and clocking in at about 220 lbs.
Meanwhile The Mick's still looking like a pre-plastic surgery Greek god with a light dusting of donut powder in his hair, cheating on his Mom -- er, wife-- with that knockout Chinese chick, and NO ONE could blame him. The whole time you're like, "Why is this handsome 28-year-old man married to Tony Manero's mom? And how could he have been in 'Nam?"
Posted by LexG
at November 17, 2009 7:48 PM
comment #18
Krillian
says ...
I've noticed a lot of late 60's early 70's portrayed cops as pure evil. (Bonnie & Clyde, Easy Rider, Dog Day Afternoon...)
Posted by Krillian
at November 17, 2009 8:04 PM
comment #19
DeeZee
says ...
Best fashion moments in entertainment?
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118011506.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
Best Screenplay contenders do a roundtable Q+A.
http://tinyurl.com/yhlfqry
Total unknown attached to Alien 0 now workin' with Keanu on 47 Ronin remake...
http://www.heatvisionblog.com/2009/11/47-ronin-carl-rinsch-.html
Tim Burton @ MOMA.
http://tinyurl.com/yk8mmjg
Thinkfilm continues to be thoughtless in its business dealings.
http://tinyurl.com/yjubrmu
Bassey and Connery reunite for a cartoon.
http://tinyurl.com/yh9ceda
Hudson to be lead for Winnie Mandela movie.
http://weblogs.variety.com/bfdealmemo/2009/11/hudson-to-play-winnie-mandela.html
Lee Daniels tackles Selma march next.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118011498.html?categoryid=1236&cs=1
The WGA's lacking in diversity.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118011500.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
More on the making of Parnassus,
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118011471.html?categoryid=3683&cs=1
R.I.P. Blockbuster video.
http://popwatch.ew.com/2009/11/13/blockbuster-earnings/
Costume designers don't get shit for their work.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118011508.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
Digital Bits has info on a new BD upgrade program from WB. Oh, and the second extras disc for GWTW is not included in that Target deal.
Jurassic Avatar, courtesy of the AICN forums.
http://tinyurl.com/4x9bkk
Posted by DeeZee
at November 17, 2009 8:16 PM
comment #20
Atticus Grinch
says ...
"I gotta thing about chickens"
Posted by Atticus Grinch
at November 17, 2009 9:24 PM
comment #21
DeeZee
says ...
Nick Cage loves geekin' out with his dough.
http://tinyurl.com/ykumhku
Anyone notice an Easter Egg in the new Star Trek movie?
http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/buzz-log-r2-d2-star-trek.html
Posted by DeeZee
at November 17, 2009 10:00 PM
comment #22
Anthony Thorne
says ...
"Baron Munchausen-by-Proxy says...
"A. Thorne"?!?
Even your name is a cheap, dime-store trick..."
My full name is on every post I make, I comment when I can say something vaguely interesting or funny, and the only hostility I've shown to any other poster is to DeeZee and his thread-crapping list of links to other sites. Trying to be enigmatic? Go fuck yourself, cunt.
Posted by Anthony Thorne
at November 17, 2009 10:21 PM
comment #23
televisiontears
says ...
Dear god. 500 Days of Summer just broke my computer. At least I got to get a good look at Zooey
Posted by televisiontears
at November 17, 2009 10:29 PM
comment #24
televisiontears
says ...
Deschanel before my CPU was shredded into a million pieces.
Posted by televisiontears
at November 17, 2009 10:30 PM
comment #25
televisiontears
says ...
Sorry for that broken post, but I guess it proves my point.
Posted by televisiontears
at November 17, 2009 10:31 PM
comment #26
LexG
says ...
Anthony Thorne?
Um, dude, he was quoting Angel Heart with that "even your name" line.
Now I've got Year of the Dragon on the mind; WHITE POWDER MA. RULES.
Posted by LexG
at November 17, 2009 10:44 PM
comment #27
lazarus
says ...
Technically the line is "Even your name...is a dime store joke". One of my all-time favorites. De Niro showed new range with this one, and the rest of the supporting cast is near-perfect.
But back to Jeff's original thought, not only is Rourke's protagonist a figure of moral decay, but pretty much every character in the film is some kind of depraved monster or grotesque. Shit, the most "innocent" person in the thing is a voodoo priestess.
Not only does Parker nail the visuals, conjuring up a palpable New Orleans atmosphere and also managing to deliver some genuinely creepy images (those elevator and window fan flashbacks never fail to give me the chills), but he should also be getting major props for his screenplay. Real juicy dialogue, at times enigmatic, laugh out loud funny, or just grittily blunt ("...unless that ain't your gun up her snatch."). Rourke makes a perfect scumbag shamus, but he wouldn't be half as memorable without those lines.
Posted by lazarus
at November 18, 2009 12:00 AM
comment #28
DeeZee
says ...
Jeez, now they're suggesting Avatar cost $310 million to produce. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-avatar15-2009nov15,0,7884049.story
Posted by DeeZee
at November 18, 2009 2:36 AM
comment #29
Ulysses
says ...
For what its worth, William Hjortsberg's source novel, Falling Angel, is quite creepy, and a great read.
Posted by Ulysses
at November 18, 2009 5:31 AM
comment #30
Baron Munchausen-by-Proxy
says ...
Wow, Anthony. Wow.
How "enigmatic" was I being by quoting a line from 40 seconds before the film's scene upon which you just waxed rhapsodic?
I actually thought that you, most of all, would get a kick out of that, being such a fan. (Analogy: "Louis Cyphere" = "A. Thorne", in the same sense that "Thorn" was utilized in "The Omen".)
But, man, 2 thoughts to keep in mind: 1. It's hardly any insult that you, a single poster of hundreds, aren't distinctly memorable. And 2. - Even if I'd intended it as some sort of 'slight' against you... did a post on a movie-blog really warrant that response? Really?
I'll just add in that those whispers you so enjoyed in the final moments of the soundtrack were Deniro's.
Posted by Baron Munchausen-by-Proxy
at November 18, 2009 12:00 PM
comment #31
Anthony Thorne
says ...
Baron Munch, the location of the line you quoted at me, and the reason you were quoting it, finally clicked with me at about 5am this morning in bed. I was half dreading coming back to see what I'd wrought, but thought I should take my medicine like a man. I apologise, I'm a fuckwit, you did nothing wrong, your quote was clever, and I jumped down your throat for no reason whatsoever. Again - real apologies and I'm sorry.
Posted by Anthony Thorne
at November 18, 2009 1:58 PM
comment #32
dinovelvet
says ...
I actually haven't seen Year of the Dragon in ages. Now I really want to! I don't know what the deal is with Mickey in it though, I guess they thought just slap some grey into his hair and everyone will think he's older and grizzled.
Posted by dinovelvet
at November 18, 2009 3:22 PM
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