Touch of Evil (1958), is considered one of the last examples of film noir in the classic era (from the early 1940s until the late 1950s). It was directed by Orson Welles, who also appeared as corrupt policeman, Captain Hank Quinlan. The black-and-white film also features Charlton Heston as Mike Vargas, a Mexican narcotics agent on his honeymoon, Janet Leigh ("at her most perversely innocent" as one critic put it) as his bride, and Marlene Dietrich as Tana, a cigar-smoking Mexican gypsy brothel owner. The movie was written in two weeks by Welles based on Whit Masterson's novel Badge of Evil.

The plot

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The movie opens with a famous three minute continuous tracking shot, which shows a man placing a bomb in a car and then the journey of the car to the US/Mexican border crossing. The scene ends with Mike Vargas (Charlton Heston) and Susie Vargas (Janet Leigh), newlyweds, kissing. The scene then cuts to the car, containing a man and a stripper friend, exploding, and the rising action of the movie begins. Mike Vargas, an important police official within the Mexican government, realizes the implications of a Mexican bomb exploding on US soil and begins to investigate. The police chief Pete Gould (Harry Shannon) and district attorney Adair (Ray Collins) arrive shortly on the scene, as well as police Captain Hank Quinlan (Orson Welles) and Quinlan's friend and partner, Pete Menzies (Joseph Calleia). The scene sets up all the important characters, as well as introduces the idea that Quinlan doesn't like Vargas, primarily because Vargas is Mexican. The scene also reveals that Vargas has been on the hunt of a large dope ring led by the Grandi family, and that Vargas will testify at the trial of Vick Grandi later in the week.

More on [ Touch of Evil ]

Movies Reviews

Review for WALL-E - Go - Pixar does it again
Awesome animation, nice story line with a strong green message. Great for kids and adults alike. Definitely a good one to take the family out to (if you can afford the prices, that is :) )
Review for The Dark Knight - Must Go! - THIS MOVIE IS GONNA BE EPIC
In all the previews i've seen in the movie theaters, there have been few times where i've heard the sound of thunderous applause after the preview of the upcoming movie. The only time this has happened was it previewed star wars episodes one, three, and the lord of the rings. I found myself standing up and applauding with everyone else after the preview was over for Dark Knight, this movie is gonna be the movie of the year for me considering Batman Begins blew me away. Definitely a must see, I CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS AWESOME MOVIE TO COME OUT
Review for Hancock - Must Go! - I saw a special screening on South Beach last night.....
and this is a must see!! It is funny, full of action, with a little twist! Big Willie did it again!! He owns the 4th of July in the box office! Parents - you might want to watch it first before letting your kids under 13 to see it. There is quite a bit of swearing in it.

L.A. Times - Movie Reviews

'Chris & Don: A Love Story'
Fri, 04 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700
The complexities that attended writer Christopher Isherwood and artist Don Bachardy's early romance aren't hard to grasp. There was the three-decade age difference, Isherwood being 49 when he met the 18-year-old Bachardy on a Santa Monica beach in 1953. Check the imbalance in their accomplishments: Isherwood's authorial celebrity having been established from his "Berlin Stories," while Bachardy remained unformed for years and marginalized by Isherwood's famous friends, until he discovered a talent for portraiture. They were also openly gay during a perilously conservative era.
'Diminished Capacity'
Fri, 04 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Alan Alda plays a man with dementia and Matthew Broderick plays his loopy nephew in a charming comedy directed by Terry Kinney. In "Diminished Capacity," Alan Alda plays a former tavern owner in rural Missouri who is succumbing to dementia with style. To pass the time, he rigs the keyboard of an old manual typewriter to a baited fish hook, then waits for the fish to pull on the line and snap a letter onto a sheet of paper. After a small eternity (and only after judicious editing), poems happen.
'Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson.'
Fri, 04 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700
'Gonzo' is stuffed with Hunter S. Thompson minutae but shies from the tough questions. To make a documentary, you must be passionate about the subject. But too much admiration can lead to a film with more of a fan's view than is good for it. Such is the case with "Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson."

Movies

Wanted
Anthony Lane Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:00:00 -0000
The Film File
The Happening
Anthony Lane Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:00:00 -0000
The Film File
The Exiles
Richard Brody Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:00:00 -0000
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Rolling Stone Movie Reviews

Dark Knight
Wed, 25 Jun 2008 07:50:04 -0700
Starring: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron E... Review: Heads up: a thunderbolt is about to rip into the blanket of bland we call summer movies. The Dark Knight, director Christopher Nolan's absolute stunner of a follow-up to 2005's Batman Begins, is a potent provocation decked out as a comic-book movie. Feverish action? Check. Dazzling spectacle? Check. Devilish fun? Check. But Nolan is just warming up. There's something raw and elemental at work in this artfully imagined universe. Striking out from his Batman origin story, Nolan cuts through to a deeper dimension. Huh? Wha? How can a conflicted guy in a bat suit and a villain with a cracked, painted-on clown smile speak to the essentials of the human condition? Just hang on for a shock to the system. The Dark Knight creates a place where good and evil — expected to do battle —... Rating: 3.5 Stars
WALL-E
Mon, 30 Jun 2008 01:37:40 -0700
Starring: Fred Willard, Jeff Garlin, Sigourney Weaver, John Ratzenberger, K... Review: First image: the Earth as a garbage dump, a future reduced to ruins. For the past 700 years, what's left of humanity has been cruising the skies in a spaceship. Only a tiny robot, WALL-E (for Waste Allocation Load Lifter: Earth class), scoots around on urban terra firma compacting trash into piles that grow into skyscrapers. First sound: a voice lifted in song: "Out there/there's a world outside of Yonkers." The tune is "Put On Your Sunday Clothes," a merry ditty from the forgotten 1969 movie version of Hello, Dolly with Barbra Streisand. WALL-E, his eyes like binoculars (hell, they are binoculars!), watches an old, muddy video tape of Dolly with the same yearning we see in Michael Crawford, who plays a young store clerk at the turn of the 20th-century, warbling about... Rating: 4 Stars
Tell No One
Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:37:07 -0700
Starring: Francois Cluzet, Kristin Scott Thomas, Marie-Josee Croze, Andre D... Review: Don't you hate it when critics review mystery movies and give away all the plot twists? I do. So I won't reveal diddly about Tell No One, except to say that the young French director Guillaume Canet — channeling Hitchcock's masterpiece Vertigo while working from an American mystery novel by the uber-clever Harlan Coben — has fired off one terrific, twisty thriller. Hot-blooded, haunting and packed with the pleasures of the unexpected, Tell No One will pin you to your seat. Francois Cluzet is a marvel as Alex, the widower pediatrician who is jolted to learn that his wife Margot (Marie-Josée Croze), believed murdered eight years ago, might just be alive. The acting is uniformly first-rate, with special props going to Kristen Scott Thomas as a lesbian married to... Rating: 3.5 Stars

Rotten Tomatoes: Top Movies

35% Hancock
Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:05:02 -0700
Though it begins with promise, Hancock suffers from a flimsy narrative and poor execution.
97% WALL-E
Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:05:02 -0700
Charming, audacious, and timely, Wall-E's lighthearted magic and stellar visuals testify once again to Pixar's ingenuity.
72% Wanted
Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:05:02 -0700
Wanted is a fast-paced, crackling thrill ride tailor-made for the Summer audience.

NPR Topics: Movies

Black Community Radio Fights for a Voice
Mon, 07 Jul 2008 12:00:00 -0400
Although big names such as Tom Joyner, Michael Baisden and Steve Harvey enjoy large audiences and thriving careers in radio, African-American voices in community radio are declining. U-Savior Washington and Bob Law talk about the disparity as highlighted in their new documentary, Disappearing Voices.
Vermont's Leahy Cameos In 'Dark Knight'
Sat, 05 Jul 2008 11:03:33 -0400
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), is making a cameo appearance in the latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight. The lifelong Batman fan will also host a $50-a-ticket screening on July 12. The proceeds will go to Montpelier's Kellogg-Hubbard Library.
Summary Judgement
Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:24:00 -0400
Writer Mark Jordan Legan looks at two movies for Slate.com's Summary Judgment: The new Will Smith super anti-hero film Hancock and the coming of age film The Wackness, starring Ben Kingsley and Mary Kate Olsen.

NYT > Red Carpet

The Lawsuit Over Producer Credit for 'Crash' Gets Personal
SHARON WAXMAN Thu, 09 Mar 2006 00:00:00 -0400
A top executive of the movie academy described one of the producing team behind the best-picture winner, "Crash," as throwing a tantrum in suing over credit for the film.
News Analysis: Los Angeles Retains Custody of Oscar
DAVID CARR Tue, 07 Mar 2006 00:00:00 -0400
Los Angeles, a place where race is discussed rarely, saw itself in "Crash," a film where encounter and understanding are just a random fender-bender away.
'Crash' Walks Away With the Top Prize at the Oscars
DAVID M. HALBFINGER and DAVID CARR Mon, 06 Mar 2006 00:00:00 -0400
In a stunning twist, the motion picture academy turned its back on "Brokeback Mountain," awarding the Oscar for best picture to "Crash."

Village Voice Film

Afro-Punk Lives On
Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400
More hits than misses at this year's fest (By Aaron Hillis)
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson: Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400
A new doc goes beyond the sensational (By Jim Ridley)
Hancock: Hancock
Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400
Super-flick squanders potential greatness with lame humor and a half-baked hero (By Robert Wilonsky)

Film News from Times Online

Uma Thurman's pulp (non-)fiction
Sun, 06 Jul 2008 00:00:25 -0000
If Uma Thurman ever decides to give up Hollywood — and she has done so before — she could run an excellent course for aspiring starlets. At 38, she has developed a rather unnerving natural authority. And, my word, she has lived the life: teen stardom, tabloid marriages, sinister stalkers, a career that has oscillated between modern classics (Pulp Fiction) and outright stinkers (Even Cowgirls Get the Blues).
Kung Fu Panda
Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0000

The Visitor
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