Outline for the Presentation

I.               Introduce your film and provide the premise of the film in three sentences or fewer.

    In Brick, the teenaged Brendan, sets out on a search for the reason of the murder of his ex-girlfriend, who was missing and found dead.

II.         Characteristics and Conventions of the Film that Link it to Classic Film Noir

Protagonist is a detective figure on a quest for a missing person. Brendan is our protagonist, but like many classic noir figures, he is on the morality fence he hides it in order to conduct his own investigation without interference by the police. 

first quote:                                                                  

Context: 
The scene where Dode is on the phone with Brendan and he is trying to scare Brendan by telling the Pin and Tugger the killer.

Quote from the Source:

Brendan Frye: Hire another hash head to blade me?

Dode: Don't need no blade, Shamus. I just gotta squawk.

Brendan Frye: What do you want?

Dode: Just to see you sweat.

Significance:

Protagonist suffers appalling abuse in the search of truth. Beaten by Pin’s gang to persuade him to stop the investigation. The Pin sent one of his to attack Brendan, Brendan ended up beat the guy.

second quote:

Context:

David Denby, the author of "Tabacco and Drugs.

Quote from the Source:

“Yes, the knight in shining armor must walk down those mean streets; he must act like a criminal, enter the underworld (in this case, a suburban basement with prefab paneling), get himself beaten up, outsmart everyone, and, in the end, give us the pleasures of sin and of justice at the same time.” 

Significance:

The protagonist dose have to go to the dark side to get want he wants.

ProtagonProtaProtagonist is on of the characteristic as noir and so is a femme fatale. Femme fatale attempts to manipulate the protagonist like Laura manipulates Brendan in the film “Brick.” Beautiful close up shots of the little clues throughout the film and of course the outfits of the femme fatale Laura.

III.        Elements of the Film that Deviate from Classic Film Noir and Link it to Neo Noir

Protagonist suffers appalling abuse in the search of the truth, Beaten by Pin’s gang to persuade him to stop the investigation.

Location deviates from typical noir setting.

            Set in the modern-day Southern California neighborhood and high school.

Anxieties of the time.

High school, often associated with innocent children, id becoming just as corrupt as miscreant in the streets.

                       

Devastation of heroin.

Annotated Bibliography: Brick

Dark 'Brick' high school noir, but is it homage or satire?

In this review it talking about the language the film and how it relates to the storyline. It is a hardboiled detective story set in an affluent Californian high school where everyone speaks a wonderful mixture of teen slang and 70-year-old pulp lingo. Example “bulls," "pipers," "scrapers," "yegs" and "saps"

Curtright, Bob. "Dark 'Brick' high school noir, but is it homage or satire?." Wichita Eagle, The (KS)(2006): Newspaper Source. EBSCO. Web. 9 May 2011.

Dark sarcasm in the classroom

Rian Johnson's stylish teen noir murder flick “Brick” gets a gold star from JAMES CHRISTOPHER. This article is basally about the plot of the movie and then it turns out to be about the hero, Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), review. It gives details in the plot and Joseph talks about it too. It also gives some informant on hot much the movie cost at Wal-Mart.

James, Christopher. "Dark sarcasm in the classroom." Times, The (United Kingdom) n.d.: Newspaper Source. EBSCO. Web. 9 May 2011.

OLD NOIR FOR A NEW GENERATION

This article is about the film “Brick” and how it is related to film noir. It talks about the style and some elements of noir. It says that people not and days don’t really know the genre film noir and how it’s becoming new again. Neo noir is the new term for it. It also talks about the film itself. The plot of the film and how it I rated.

Rainer, Peter. "OLD NOIR FOR A NEW GENERATION." Christian Science Monitor 98.92 (2006): 14.Newspaper Source. EBSCO. Web. 9 May 2011.

She's more of a 'Brick'-out hit

This article is about Nora Zehetner, who plays Laura, a rich girl who helps high school gumshoe Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) find his ex-girlfriend's killer. She plays a high school femme fatale in the Sundance hit “Brick”. The review is about her and what she thinks of the film. And a little of her background and how she got the part in the film.

Sharon, Knolle. "She's more of a 'Brick'-out hit." USA Today n.d.: Newspaper Source. EBSCO. Web. 9 May 2011.

Here's looking at you, kid (and your film)

"Brick" is a teen movie like no other, because it carries the elaborate plot and staccato dialogue of a film noir straight out of the 1940s. The guy with the most to say is Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a moody detective who cracks heads and tracks down clues. The article talks about how this film is one of the best film noir because of the storyline. In the article it says that the detective is a young boy in high school and its perfect for film noir.

Villarreal, Phil. "Here's looking at you, kid (and your film)." Arizona Daily Star (Tucson, AZ) (2006):Newspaper Source. EBSCO. Web. 9 May 2011.

Brick

Ok so I had a difficult time finding a neo noir/ film noir movie. I went on Netflix and type in neo noir then film noir movies in the search bar. I list of movies came out but none of the one Mr. Toth assign. :/

So I watched a few on the list: 

“The Square” which was lame. 

“The Naked City” which was good but it wasn’t neo noir! 

“Cement” which I couldn’t find any reviews!

A classmate took me that “Brick” was on there so I watch it. Good thing I did because I found neo noir and film noir elements in the film and I also found reviews on it as well. The film's narrative centers on a hardboiled detective story that takes place in a Californian suburbia. Most of the main characters are high school students. The film draws heavily in plot, characterization, and dialogue from hardboiled classics, especially from Dashiell Hammett. The title refers to a block of heroin, compressed roughly to the size and shape of a brick. There is a femme fatale, male protagonist- the anti-hero, detective, crime, murder and sex and drugs. It told in a flashback and has a large number of violent. Brendan the anti-hero has an ex-girlfriend Emily, who reaches out to him unexpectedly and then vanishes. Ends up finding her dead. Brendan enlists the aid of his only true peer, The Brain, while keeping the assistant vice principal only occasionally informed of what quickly becomes a dangerous investigation.

Works Cited

"'Brick'-a Teen Film Noir." Rolling Stone 997 (2006): 75. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 7 May 2011.

James, Christopher. "Dark sarcasm in the classroom." Times, The (United Kingdom) n.d.: Newspaper Source. EBSCO. Web. 7 May 2011.

Rainer, Peter. "OLD NOIR FOR A NEW GENERATION." Christian Science Monitor 98.92 (2006): 14.Newspaper Source. EBSCO.          Web. 7 May 2011.

Sarah, Nicholson. "dvd reviews." Courier Mail, The (Brisbane) (n.d.): Newspaper Source. EBSCO. Web. 7 May 2011.

Villarreal, Phil. "Here's looking at you, kid (and your film)." Arizona Daily Star (Tucson, AZ) (2006):Newspaper Source. EBSCO. Web. 7 May 2011

The Kidnapper Bell and the City of Commerce.

[[LATE BLOG #9]]

“The Kidnapper Bell” and “City of Commerce” both have a great description of places. “The Kidnapper Bell” environment is located in Los Angeles River. This place is well distinguishes it from other places. Even through there are graffiti is anywhere in Los Angeles, this story talks about the six cats on the covers on the walls. This story create a distinct sense of place because of the six cats and what are under that one cat, the tunnel to the room where the sister is kidnap. I really do think that “The Kidnapper Bell” story give a good description what one would experience in the locations. The LA River.

The story it self was weird but interesting. Didn’t really understand the ending but that is Noir for you. Noir always has weird twisting ending. Some I do understand and others I do. In the “City of Commerce” the ending wasn’t too bad. I got it. In the “The Kidnapper Bell” the guy Jim was suppose to be the good guy. He was trying to help out the girl to find her sister. The weird part to me was when he wanted to go back and he does to change his clothes. Which I understand why. The part I don’t understand is why goes change into the kidnappers clothes. And why sleep with them on?? Weird! Another thing, Jim had a wife??? What? So why was he trying to get laid by the other girl he help out? And why did the author made him seem so good in the beginning than twisted things up at the end withal these question I was soo confuse at he end of this story. Haa but I like it :D The “City of Commerce” is different because the ending is more understanding. But is similar to “The Kidnapper Bell” because of the detail in the story.

The “City of Commerce” has a great description of places as well. Its located in Los Angeles, Commerce, where is known for its casino.  It really doesn’t distinguish it from other places with casino but it dose to Los Angeles area. Its nice and a lot of light. In this story the main character gives a good description what one would experience in the location. He talks about the pokers tables the carpets and the colors of the walls which is like the reader an be there as they read the story. 

Best and most difficult to classify as noir.

In the “the Golden Cost” section I would have to say that the story “the Girl Who Kissed Barnaby Jones” is the best example of noir. In the other hand, in my opinion the story  "Kinship" would have to be the difficult to classify as noir.

The "Kinship" is about a Filipino boy who grows up and ended up in gangs. He wants to do better for himself and for Veronica. Veronica has a son name Emerson who is disabling and is being bullied. Well the story to me can be noir in some areas like violent. But I like story “the Girl Who Kissed Barnaby Jones” better for noir.

In the story “the Girl Who Kissed Barnaby Jones” there was some crazy woman call Cherie. Well you don’t know she’s crazy till the end but ya.  I guess you can call her the femme fatal in this story. Femme fatal = noir.  Tate another character can be the male protagonist. Once again male protagonist = noir.  Noir crazy twisted ending = “the Girl Who Kissed Barnaby Jones” ending. :D Which is the famous femme fatal Cherie, kills Tate for calling the cops on her. Haa poor Tate.

Yes and .....NO

I would have to say YES on noir to "The Method" story. Holly wasn’t the femme fatale in the story, but the protagonist. The method is a weird, twisted, but interesting story. She did what she had to do to safe herself. I do consider the story to be noir because there a murder done a twisted ending which shocked me but I kind of knew it was coming. It was dark and the guy was freaky and weird. That’s noir for u.

 "Morocco Junction 90210" was interesting as well. People can say it was boring but I really did enjoyed reading it. It was more like a mystery story than a noir to me. But I did like the ending of it through. 

Stories

I picked option two. Reading the two stories "Dangerous Days" and "Midnight in Silcone Alley," they both take place in LA but in different areas. Dangerous Day its in Leimert Park where a lot of Blacks and Mexicans lives. It’s more on the poor side and where the housing are low income. Thugs and gangsters get control. Midnight in Silcone Alley is more on the wealthy side in San Marino. It’s an Asian culture and the crime is not as bad as the other story. Both stories have a murder involve. Their characters are well known have you read the stories. Both are good but different stories of neo-noir.