The Black Dahlia (2006)

Wonderfully offbeat film!

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

When it comes to the future, protection from the present is to not be at risk because of the present.To not be at risk, because of the present, is to be at risk because of the past. To be at risk because of the past is impossible, because the past is unable to influence the present. The future is impossible, because the past is unable to change the present - the impossible is created by the inability of the past to create the present.In juxtaposition, it's the possible which is created by the ability of the past to create the present - reality is created by the ability of the past to create the present.Reality is created by the ability of the past to create reality.When the ability of the past creates reality, reality is created: when the ability of the past creates ability, ability is created.The ability of the past, is the non-ability of the present - the non-ability of ability. When the non-ability of ability creates ability, ability is created.An ability that's created isn't an ability or a creation: an ability that's created is an inability that isn't created.When the non-ability of ability creates ability, an inability is timeless.A non-ability ability is a timeless inability. When a timeless inability creates an ability, an inability is timeless.When a limited power creates a limitless power, a limitation is limitless.A limited power has a duty to improve itself so that the experience of limitation is better.A weakness needs to improve itself so that it's more fun to experience the weakness

I saw a trailer for Black Dahlia. It suggested the movie would be too intense for most people. They lied.Most of the movie is watching Josh Hartnett and the other players smoke. Granted people in the 1940s idled there lives away chain smoking, but from a cinematic view, it is B O R I N G.Most of the first half of the movie seems to be about endless unconnected routine police work. In the second half, the complex chains of criminal motivation are explained. However, they are so intricate, they made no sense at all to me.Mr Hartnett is very handsome. They often show him shirtless, and even with his bare bum. However, the character he plays has all the charisma of a boiled turnip. Every once in a while, he explodes in anger. I could not understand what triggered him. Normally he is very phlegmatic.The two female leads I found repulsive. They are airheads. They do nothing with their lives. They try to manipulate men with Mae West crudity and vamping about in lingerie. They are just silly.Fiona Shaw, as the wealthy, conceited, tipsy, candid mother was a hoot. Her performance was over the top, but the movie needed something to grab your attention.

While writing this post, I discovered that the Black Dahila is a very fictional tale of an event that really happen. Based on a book that talks about the real case, This movie adaption takes the unsolved mystery and runs with an over glorified possible scenario with a focus on two cops working the case.De Palma mentioned his love of Hicthcock and its cool that I am seeing that love in his movie style, being brought out (or I see it best) in these light but violent out burst that you see when characters fight or get in a gun battle. It's dark in tone, but at the same time stylized not to be.He styles a seen to feel very colorful, but then characters make physical contact and it can through you off a little, as it emphasizes the violence.It Possibly stands out more because it's a period piece taking place in golden age Hollywood (I'm a sucker for those kinds of movies). If the movie was made in 1947 like when it takes place, Universal, the studio that released it, would tell De Palma he could not get away with what most audiences today would consider no big deal.I think De Palma did that on purpose too, cause I see the same vibe in another period piece he made, the Untouchables, as well, I've seen it in Mission Impossible.De Palma got a really good cast that puts you in that period as well. Josh Hartnett got to act along side Aaron Eckhart who's a really good actor. Plus Scarlett Johansson easily looks like a women from that era. The costumes and the sets all gel together really well to complete the mood. I love how modern cinematographers tend to shoot golden age Hollywood in a way that makes California feel sunny and Romantic at the same time (Usually a sunny and romantic California that hides a very dark underworld). Plus this guy was pulling out all the Hicthcock style shoots and angles.Black Dahlia is definitely a De Palma film worth seeing, a dark tale about the criminal underbelly of the gorgeous Hollywood of yesteryear, it's a unsung gem that can shine the high notes like Roman Polanski's Chinatown (if only it was made during the same time frame)http://cinemagardens.com

The Black Dahlia (2006): Dir: Brian De Palma / Cast: Josh Hartnett, Aaron Eckhart, Scarlett Johansson, Hilary Swank, Mia Kirshner: Compelling thriller about the ugliness of greed, sex and corruption. Josh Hartnett and Aaron Eckhart play two cops investigating the murder of an actress yet things are far worse than they are. To gain its 1947 setting Brian De Palma uses tainted colour giving a noir appeal resulting in a film that comes as a cross between two other superb De Palma films, Dressed to Kill and The Untouchables. Hartnett narrates the story and becomes entangled with the crime as well as two women, however his solution may be questionable. Eckhart becomes obsessed with the case and detaching from his girlfriend. He is abusive towards her without knowing that his partner is pining after her. She is played by Scarlett Johansson who harbors feelings for Hartnett but endures the stress of her current relationship. Hilary Swank portrays a conniving female who looks like the murder victim. She will factor in with her family thus dragging Hartnett into further criminal decisions. Mia Kirshner plays the title subject under investigation because she is the deceased victim. Rich in its noir presentation with elements of early Hollywood and its dark side. De Palma once again delivers a thriller and his trademark combination of sex and murder. Score: 8 / 10