Among my friends, it’s rather the consensus that I “like weird movies”. I tend to find this statement a little broad, but it’s not untrue. A more nuanced way of putting it, is that I like to be surprised: after watching so many movies and recognizing so many familiar patterns in them, it’s nice to be taken aback, to be amazed. And well, to do that…often takes a little weirdness.
Oddly enough, the reason I like noir is exactly the opposite: noirs have so many familiar elements, so many tropes and customs, that it’s fun just to see them all appear. Chiaroscuro lighting? check. A conflicted, maybe-not-entirely-moral man in an entirely immoral world he can’t keep up with? check. A femme fatale? check. A delightfully depressing downer denouement*? check.
So really, it’s no wonder I liked Kiss Me Deadly. And that I thought the Richard Kelly disaster it engendered was… well, you can read my reaction to that after the jump.
