u/Diligent-Wave-4150

At first glance you wouldn't think this is a literary adaptation. But indeed it is based on the true crime book "Zodiac" by Robert Graysmith - and this is why it was controversial - not for the average movie goer but for amateur sleuths who disagree with the theory given by Graysmith about the identity of the serial killer. They think it was someone else. (The case is by the way not solved until today.)

The plot follows the cartoonist Graysmith on his stubborn search to identify and find the killer (he heard about the case when he worked for a newspaper in the early seventies). He gets help from the policeman Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) who at least listens to the cartoonist.

Fincher's movie has lots of noirish elements, unusual camera angles and intense sequences that could have been imagined by Hitchcock. A strong piece of cinema.

With Jake Gyllenhaal.

The movie by Sidney Lumet is based on the novel by Agatha Christie which was published in 1934. The story takes place on a train, Lumet follows his concept of putting as many actors on a small area as possible - like he did in "Twelve Angry Men" (1957) and "Dog Day Afternoon" (1975).

This might partly explain why he did adapt this novel since the novel is a) far from being Christie's best work and b) in my opinion unfilmable - if you take it one-to-one.

You must have a different approach. And this is to set it on the dark side. One piece is the casting of Shakespeare actor Albert Finney as Poirot. Christie fans did not like it. It was not funny. The later lighthearted movies with Peter Ustinov as Poirot seemed to be closer to the original and easier to consume.

I wouldn't say this movie is a normal piece of noir. But to claim it has nothing to do with it is wrong. I sometimes remember the scene when Poirot wakes up in his carriage in the middle of the night saying to himself: "This is the silence of murder.'

One of these noir pieces with the protagonist being a murderer. Mason (Bogart) is fixated on the sister of his wife. His solution is to kill his wife and make it look like an accident. He follows this plan consequently.

Bogart is really great in performing those "anti-social" characters. You just believe it.

Notes:

- Obvious supporting cast by Sidney Greenstreet

- The detail Mason "missed" was the flower in his wife's jacket.

This movie is based on a classic plot by writer Cornell Woolrich.

The movie is not much valued by critics and I understand why. It's not the best novel by Woolrich and the acting is somehow assimilating. There is a participation of E. G. Robinson as a friend and helper. The story ends in a hall of mirrors (picture).

Kevin McCarthy is best known for the leading role in Don Siegel's "The Body Snatchers" (1956). Robinson had his last role in "Soylent Green" (1973; director: Richard Fleischer).

Jack Tar Hotel opened in San Francisco in 1960. It had an icerink on the roof - huh. It was demolished in 2013. Though it was very modern at that time critics called it "ugly".

On one of these ugly balconies you see standing Harry Caul. Caul (Gene Hackman) is taking a peek around the corner. He expects to see Ann and Mark. He thinks that both are executing a murder plot.

Caul, a surveillance expert, later is eavesdropping in the next room. This leads to a nightmarish hitchcocian sequence with blood and plastic foil. Victim by Ann and Mark is "the director" (Robert Duvall). It stays unanswered why Caul even was observing the murder because he never intended to go to the police - though he was paid by Duvall.

To call this movie by Ford Coppola neo noir is maybe a stretch too far. There are political aspects (Watergate) and mainly psychological ones (paranoia). It is unclear if the murder really happened. Officially the director's death was labelled as a "car accident".

Every time I see this movie I find new details. One of them is that there is only a leading role and several minor roles with limited screentime. The most interesting performances in my opinion are by John Cazale, Michael Higgins and Allen Garfield.

Won the Golden Palm 1974 in Cannes.

This is probably the most neo noir movie you can find. Private-eye Moseby (Gene Hackman) is hired to find a teenager and in the progress of investigations several dead people turn up. Moseby, who is in the middle of a divorce, tries to put things together but never gets the point. The solution is delivered by director Arthur Penn in the last sequence.

It's a destruction of the classic crime movies where you always solve the case. It doesn't happen here.