Let the Devil Wear Black | |
---|---|
Directed by | Stacy Title |
Screenplay by | Stacy Title Jonathan Penner |
Based on | Hamlet by William Shakespeare |
Produced by | Matt Salinger |
Starring | Randall Batinkoff Jacqueline Bisset Maury Chaykin Philip Baker Hall Mary-Louise Parker Jonathan Penner Norman Reedus Jamey Sheridan |
Cinematography | Jim Whitaker |
Music by | Christophe Beck |
Production company | New Moon Productions |
Distributed by | A-Pix Entertainment |
Release date |
|
Running time | 89 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Let the Devil Wear Black is a 1999 crime thriller film directed by Stacy Title, co-written by Title and her husband, actor Jonathan Penner. The film is a modern retelling of the classic play Hamlet . [1]
The film is a modern-day version of William Shakespeare's Hamlet set in Los Angeles. [2] Its promotional tagline is "Something is Rotten in the City of Angels".
The film reworks various Shakespearean plot devices. [3] All of the language is modern. Comparisons are easy to spot between the play and the film if the person is familiar with the play. [2] Even with it being based on Hamlet, Christopher Null of Film Critic said that it still has enough originality. [4] Before the film was rated, Joe Leydon of Variety said that a couple of relatively explicit sex scenes would have to be cut if the producers wanted an R rating. [3]
Jack, a grad student who has a history of mental illness can not get over the death of his father. Jack decides to take over his father's business. After receiving an anonymous tip that his father was murdered, he tries to put together the murder scheme. Soon after, he settles on his uncle Carl as the prime suspect. At the same time, he realizes that his life is in danger.
The DVD was released in 2000 in English and German. [5] The DVD has 15 chapters, Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, pan and scan transfer, Spanish subtitles, and a moving video scene index menu. The special features are behind the scenes footage and two versions of the film's movie trailer.
A Reel Film review said the actors are good and that the somber tone makes the film watchable. [2] Christopher Null, of Film Critic, said that the film's most priceless moment is when the character Ophelia samples dog food. [4]
Ride with the Devil is a 1999 American revisionist Western film directed by Ang Lee and starring Tobey Maguire, Skeet Ulrich, Jeffrey Wright, Jewel in her feature film debut, Simon Baker, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, James Caviezel, Thomas Guiry and Jonathan Brandis. Based on the novel Woe to Live On, by Daniel Woodrell, the film, set during the American Civil War, follows a group of men who join the First Missouri Irregulars, also known as the Bushwhackers—guerrilla units loyal to pro-Confederacy units of the state—and their war against Northern Jayhawkers allied with the Union army.
Jacob's Ladder is a 1990 American psychological horror film directed by Adrian Lyne, produced by Alan Marshall and written by Bruce Joel Rubin. The film stars Tim Robbins as Jacob Singer, an American postman whose experiences before and during his military service in Vietnam result in strange, fragmentary visions and bizarre hallucinations that continue to haunt him. As his ordeal worsens, Jacob desperately attempts to figure out the truth. The film's supporting cast includes Elizabeth Peña and Danny Aiello.
Dracula is a 1958 British gothic horror film directed by Terence Fisher and written by Jimmy Sangster based on Bram Stoker's 1897 novel of the same name. The first in the series of Hammer Horror films starring Christopher Lee as Count Dracula, the film also features Peter Cushing as Doctor Van Helsing, along with Michael Gough, Melissa Stribling, Carol Marsh, and John Van Eyssen. In the United States, the film was retitled Horror of Dracula to avoid confusion with the U.S. original by Universal Pictures, 1931's Dracula.
Another 48 Hrs. is a 1990 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Walter Hill and starring Eddie Murphy, Nick Nolte, Brion James, Andrew Divoff, and Ed O'Ross. It is the sequel to the 1982 film 48 Hrs. Nolte reprises his role as San Francisco police officer Jack Cates, who has 48 hours to clear his name from a manslaughter charge. To do so, he again needs the help of Reggie Hammond (Murphy), who is a newly released convict. At the same time, a mastermind known only as the Iceman has hired a biker gang to kill Reggie, while a rogue member of the gang (Divoff) is out to kill Jack for the death of his brother from the previous installment.
Undercover Brother is a 2002 American satirical spy action comedy blaxploitation film directed by Malcolm D. Lee and starring Eddie Griffin. The screenplay by John Ridley and Michael McCullers is based on the Internet animated series created by Ridley. It spoofs blaxploitation films of the 1970s as well as a number of other films, most notably the James Bond franchise. The film also stars former Saturday Night Live cast member Chris Kattan and comedian Dave Chappelle as well as Aunjanue Ellis, Neil Patrick Harris, Denise Richards, and Billy Dee Williams, and features a cameo by James Brown.
Love Wrecked is a 2005 American adventure romantic comedy film directed by Randal Kleiser. Starring Amanda Bynes, it is a romantic comedy about a girl getting stranded with a rock star on a beach in the Caribbean.
Leonard Part 6 is a 1987 American spy parody film. It was directed by Paul Weiland and starred Bill Cosby, who also produced the film and wrote its story. The film also starred Gloria Foster as the villain, and Joe Don Baker. The film was shot in the San Francisco Bay Area. It earned several Golden Raspberry Awards; Cosby himself denounced and disowned it in the press in the weeks leading up to its release.
9½ Weeks is a 1986 American erotic romantic drama film directed by Adrian Lyne, and starring Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke. Basinger portrays a New York City art gallery employee who has a brief yet intense affair with a mysterious Wall Street broker, played by Rourke. The screenplay by Sarah Kernochan, Zalman King and Patricia Louisianna Knop is adapted from the 1978 memoir of the same name by Austrian-American author Ingeborg Day, under the pseudonym "Elizabeth McNeill".
Stacy Title was an American film director, screenwriter and producer. Her films include Let the Devil Wear Black (1999), The Last Supper (1995), and Down on the Waterfront (1993), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award.
Memento is a 2000 American neo-noir psychological thriller film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, based on the short story "Memento Mori" by his brother Jonathan Nolan, which was later published in 2001. The film stars Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Joe Pantoliano. The film follows Leonard Shelby (Pearce), a man who suffers from anterograde amnesia—resulting in short-term memory loss and the inability to form new memories—who uses an elaborate system of photographs, handwritten notes, and tattoos in an attempt to uncover the perpetrator who killed his wife and caused him to sustain the condition.
Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers is a 1988 American black comedy horror film directed by Fred Olen Ray, and starring Gunnar Hansen, Linnea Quigley, Jay Richardson and Michelle Bauer. It is known as a B-movie.
The Devil Wears Prada is a 2006 American comedy-drama film directed by David Frankel and produced by Wendy Finerman. The screenplay, written by Aline Brosh McKenna, is based on the 2003 novel by Lauren Weisberger. The film stars Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci, and Emily Blunt.
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Joseph Patrick Michael Leydon is an American film critic and historian. A critic and correspondent for Variety since 1990, he is the author of Joe Leydon's Guide to Essential Movies You Must See, and was a contributing critic for Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide. As of July 2021 he has 1225 reviews collected on the website Rotten Tomatoes. He is also a founding member of Houston Film Critics Society, and a voting member of Critics Choice. From 2001 until 2021, Leydon taught film and communication studies courses at Houston Community College and the Jack J. Valenti School of Communication at University of Houston.
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