Thursday, February 21, 2008
Nashville Noir: Point Blank
Posted by Jim Ridley on Thu, Feb 21, 2008 at 9:02 AM
For many people, I suspect, John Boorman's 1967 thriller Point Blank will be the discovery of the Belcourt's ongoing noir series. Stylish, brutal and brazen, this pulp phantasmagoria about a betrayed thug (Lee Marvin) dismantling a shadowy mob organization looks shockingly ahead of its time—in part for leaving open to infinite post-film discussion whether its numb antihero is alive or dead.
Adapted from one of Donald E. Westlake's Richard Stark novels (the same one remade as the Mel Gibson vehicle Payback), it shows for three days starting Friday at the Belcourt. Brian Gordon, artistic director of the Nashville Film Festival, introduces the 7 p.m. screening, and The Rage's Jonathan Malcolm Lampley will conduct the post-film talk. (Lampley is also hosting the annual Oscar edition of Trivia Time! 4 p.m. Sunday at East Nashville's 3 Crow Bar.)
In the meantime, watch the trailer above—and tell me this doesn't look hotter than any action movie you've seen lately. Steve McQueen always gets mentioned as the ne plus ultra of big-screen cool—hah! Lee Marvin used Steve McQueens as tooth floss.
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