"Poker Face" Evokes Vintage TV Mysteries

Natasha Lyonne in Poker Face

If you're a fan of vintage TV mystery series, then writer-director Rian Johnson (Knives Out) and actress Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll) have a real treat in store for you. Poker Face, a new show airing on Peacock beginning January 26, evokes the self-contained format of classic series such as Columbo. Both Johnson and Lyonne are fans of that much-beloved 1970s show, and the two collaborated on this new series that is a valentine to the era of weekly television series with self-contained episodes.

Poker Face features Lyonne as Charlie Cale, a casino worker with a peculiar talent: she can tell when someone is lying. Charlie is sort of a human lie detector. While this may seem like a gift to some, it's caused Charlie some trouble in her past, as well as in her present. The series follows Charlie (who's on the run) as she travels from place to place, works a series of odd jobs, interacting with some offbeat characters, and ends up getting involved with mystery and murder along the way.

The show is structured in similar fashion to Columbo, in that we see the murder committed in the first act of the episode, and then Charlie enters the scene, and helps solve the crime, often befriending some of the people she meets. There are some clever stylistic touches, including a very 1970s inspired color palette and look to the show, right down to the title font. In addition to Lyonne, who's effervescent as Charlie, there's an all-star roster of guest stars throughout the series, including Adrian Brody, Cherry Jones, Nick Nolte, Ron Perlman, Ellen Barkin and Luis Guzman.

Poker Face is an enjoyable, retro-styled combination of Columbo, The Fugitive, Ellery Queen and Murder, She Wrote. As of this writing, I've seen the first four shows, and I think the best thus far is the fourth, "Rest In Metal," featuring Chloe Sevigny as the lead singer of a once popular punk band whose last shot at the big time comes at a murderous price. In addition to Sevigny's excellent performance, there are some clever faux punk-metal tunes featured in the episode. If you enjoy classic TV mystery shows, you'll have a great time watching this clever, entertaining series. Check out the trailer for Poker Face, now streaming on Peacock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x2NzusLAqk.

Retro 1970s Movie: Farewell, My Lovely

Robert Mitchum in Farewell, My Lovely

Several actors have portrayed author Raymond Chandler's iconic private detective Philip Marlowe throughout the years, including Humphrey Bogart, Dick Powell, James Garner, Elliot Gould and James Caan. Only one actor has portrayed Marlowe more than once on film thus far: Robert Mitchum. When he first played Marlowe, Mitchum had recently appeared in a pair of well-made, noir-tinged crime dramas, the character driven The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) and the action-oriented The Yakuza (1974). Mitchum's next project would be an adaptation of Chandler's second Marlowe novel, Farewell, My Lovely (1975) which had been adapted twice before for the big screen. The story was first reworked as an entry in RKO's "Falcon" series, The Falcon Takes Over (1942), and two years later, a more faithful version of the novel, Murder, My Sweet (1944), was released by the same studio.

Farewell, My Lovely is set in 1941 Los Angeles, where a just released ex-con named Moose Malloy (played by Jack O'Halloran, who later appeared as one of the trio of Kryptonian super-villains in the first two Christopher Reeve Superman films) hires Marlowe to find his girlfriend Velma. Malloy lost touch with Velma while he was in prison for seven years after pulling a bank job, and wants to reunite with her. The search for Velma takes Philip Marlowe on a tour of both the high and low end worlds of LA, and his journey leads him through a labyrinthine plot (typical of Raymond Chandler's work) where there's a trail of dead bodies, a host of dark secrets, and no easy answers to the mystery. After all, this is a dark tale, and a movie that's based on one of the best known literary thrillers of the golden age of noir.

1970s cinema is filled with a lineup of excellent neo-noir tales, including Chinatown, Night Moves, and Charley Varrick, among many others. Farewell, My Lovely is actually more of a throwback to the older style noirs of the 1940s, with its moody cinematography by John A. Alonzo, and the lush score by David Shire. The direction by Dick Richards is solid, and David Zelag Goodman's screenplay pulls some key lines directly from Chandler's novel. There's a top notch cast, led by Mitchum's fine work as Marlowe, and featuring a host of familiar faces, including Charlotte Rampling, Anthony Zerbe, John Ireland, Sylvia Miles and Harry Dean Stanton. Sylvester Stallone and Joe Spinell, soon to appear together in Rocky, have small roles in the film. 

While many reviewers at the time of the movie's release remarked that Mitchum was too old to play of Marlowe, he projects just the right mix of low key charm and world weariness that's perfect for the role. He's got good chemistry with the cast, including Rampling's sultry Helen Grayle, Ireland's no-nonsense cop Lt. Nulty, and he even gets to sing a bit with Miles' careworn ex-chanteuse Jesse Florian. Farewell, My Lovely is worth seeing if you're a Mitchum fan, or a noir devotee. Mitchum reprised the role of Marlowe three years later in an inferior sequel, an adaptation of Chandler's The Big Sleep, which inexplicably moved the Marlowe character to the present day, and featured another all-star cast, including Joan Collins, Oliver Reed, Candy Clark and Sarah Miles. Here's the trailer for the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NgK_-g5b3c.

This Wedding "Invitation" Leads To Terror

In director Jessica M. Thompson's horror thriller, The Invitation, New York based freelance artist Evelyn "Evie" Jackson learns about some distant relatives from England after taking a DNA test. Evie is curious about these new relatives, as she has no living family. Before you know it, Evelyn is whisked off to London, after being invited to a wedding by a cousin she never knew she had. Evelyn is in store for a few more surprises once she learns the real reason she's been asked to attend this event. Despite being intrigued by her cousin Oliver, and carrying on a flirtation with Walter, the owner of New Carfax Abbey, the house where the wedding is taking place, Evie begins to witness disquieting behavior around the manor, and experiences some disturbing events.

Evie apparently isn't up on her classic horror literature because (spoiler alert) New Carfax Abbey, and Whitby, the town where it's located, are featured in a famous novel by Bram Stoker about a certain blood-drinking Count. There are all kinds of clues afoot that things are not what they seem, and a lot of talk about blood, eternal life, and multiple brides. It soon becomes apparent that Walter is none other than Dracula, and he wants Evie to be the third in his trio of vampire brides, which will solidify his power and long life. Turns out Evie is a member of several families who have provided women to Dracula throughout the decades, in exchange for protection and wealth. But Evie isn't going willingly to the altar with Dracula, or is she?

The Invitation is smoothly directed by Thompson, and there's some atmospheric cinematography courtesy of Autumn Eakin. The script by Blair Butler provides a neat twist or two on the story of Dracula, featuring some characters from the original novel in variations on their original roles, as well as some commentary on modern gender, race and relationship issues. There are some good performances, with Nathalie Emmanuel of Game of Thrones doing a nice job as Evie, and Thomas Doherty providing a smooth, slithering take on Dracula. Sean Pertwee (Alfred on the TV series Gotham) is Mr. Field, who runs the manor, and is clearly inspired by Renfield from the novel.

The film is entertaining and well-produced, but the jump scares are predictable, and there aren't any real surprises once the Dracula reveal occurs. The movie is enjoyable enough, but it doesn't quite go all the way into a classic Hammer films vibe, nor does it push the envelope in new directions. There are some more interesting recent variations on the tale of Dracula, including the 2018 BBC production with Claes Bang, and the Showtime series Penny Dreadful. Still, The Invitation is certainly better than most of the run of the mill horror fare that you can find in theaters and on demand these days, and fans of the macabre may want to give it a look. Here's the spoiler-ish trailer: https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-e&q=the+invitation+triler.