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The Booze, Blood and Bombs of ‘Boardwalk Empire’
Here’s a link to an article I wrote for Creative Screenwriting Magazine on “Boardwalk Empire” showrunner and former “Sopranos” writer and producer Terence Winter. We chatted about killing off cast members without mercy, growing up in Brooklyn — he once worked in mob boss Paul Castellano’s butcher shop, and “Boardwalk Empire” executive producer Martin Scorsese…
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Leonard’s Page Turners Also Lit Up the Screen
Novelist Elmore Leonard created characters that were violent, frightening and hilarious, often all at the same time. The larger than life personalities in his books frequently made their way to the big screen. I’m mainly thinking about his gangsters, including Chili Palmer and Ray “Bones” Barboni (“Get Shorty”), and Ordell Robbie (“Jackie Brown”) to name…
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Tarantino’s Twists and Turns Add Up Perfectly
Vincent, left, and Jules settle a score. Some may quibble with “Pulp Fiction”’s herky jerky storyline. It dodges back and forth from the past to the present without warning. The trouble is, at first it’s challenging to figure out exactly what is happening in the present and what took place in the past. You have…
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It Took Two Directors to Tell the Murder, Inc. Story
Humphrey Bogart as Dist. Atty. Martin Ferguson “The Enforcer” is one of the lesser appreciated Bogart films, but it deserves more attention than it gets. Granted, it’s no “Maltese Falcon.” It would be a tall order equaling “Falcon” director John Huston’s artistry. But “Enforcer” directors Bretaigne Windust and Raoul Walsh (uncredited) pull off an impressive…
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British Invasion: Boorman Uncorks Psychedelic Noir
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High Mass: Whitey Bulger, LSD and a Devil’s Deal
Johnny Depp as Whitey Bulger? Yup, the actor who played Dillinger in “Public Enemies” is going to play another crime icon, and the movie is slated for release next year. More about that later. Dick Lehr, a former Boston Globe reporter and co-author of a new book about the life of James “Whitey” Bulger was…
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This Scarface is in Chicago, Not Miami
Living dangerously, Tony Camonte muscles in on his boss’s girlfriend. “Scarface” (1932) is one of the seminal American gangster films of the 1930s, along with “Little Caesar,” “The Roaring Twenties” and “The Public Enemy.” Each one tells the story of a gangster’s rise in the bootlegging business and his assent to the top of a powerful…
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Whitey Not a Rat? Shelley Murphy on Whitey Bulger
The James “Whitey” Bulger saga continues, and here’s an interesting interview with reporter Shelley Murphy about the incarcerated 83 year old Boston mob boss. Check out Shelley’s accent — sounds like she’s right out of Southie. Shelley Murphy on Whitey Bulger – RadioBDC blog – Boston.com You may remember that Whitey was on the lam…
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‘The Crimson Kimono’: Big Crime in Little Tokyo
Tawdry newspaper headlines bark out plot twists in ‘The Crimson Kimono’ (1959). Director, producer and writer Samuel Fuller photographs the streets of downtown L.A. stunningly in “The Crimson Kimono,“ a film that’s part mystery, part love triangle and part travelogue. We get to see the downtown exteriors, particularly Little Tokyo as it looked in 1959,…
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Just Desserts for a Bad Apple
The Hoodlum (1951) Director: Max Nosseck Writer: Sam Neuman Stars: Lawrence Tierney, Allene Roberts and Marjorie Riordan See the full movie on YouTube, or rent it on DVD. Sometimes a rat gets what he deserves – it just takes a while. “The Hoodlum” begins documentary style with a rundown of anti-hero Vincent Lubeck’s dirty dealings.…