As a retired composer and withering movie director, both acting giants ace their respective roles, oftentimes exceeding Sorrentino’s script with a tasteful flair for the theatrics; both a reminder of their once prodigious talents and a solid case that they’ve both still got it in spades. Barbs about old girlfriends and raising children are delivered with such moxy they can seem autobiographical at points, pushing the picture into performing territory unseen by either man in quite a while.

From a pop culture perspective, private detectives stand for all that’s memorable about film noir. The indifference, the wittiness, and the moral ambiguity that define each urban knight has since become the stuff of parodied legend. We’re talking about the mediators between the crooks and the cops, the embodiment of back alley grayness that’s so tough to pin down.

A hostage situation is one of the rare plot devices that can pop up in any genre, be it action, suspense, or drama. It provides a hothouse of emotional conflict between captors and victims, often times yanking out both the best and the worst of every person involved. For filmmakers, it’s the perfect excuse to throw in chest-thumping monologues, close quarter brawls, and whatever else sparks the spirit of insanity when mortality is oh so near.

Default swaps, synthetic CDO, and subprime loans are not the first things that come to mind when watching a star-studded Hollywood drama. In fact, unless one happens to be a Wall Street stock advisor, these terms sound like nothing more than a superfluous runaround to ensure that the men in charge stay in charge – at least, that’s how narrator Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling) sells it.

The Christmas season is all about stockings, stuffing, and holiday cheer. It’s a time for redemption, reconciliation, and plain old good will towards others. It’s the perfect excuse to relax and sip eggnog while watching reruns of A Christmas Carol (pick an adaptation) and A Christmas Story (1983) airing nonstop.

Brian De Palma has become the directorial litmus test of cinephiles everywhere. To supporters, he stands as a startling visual genius with a penchant for set pieces and lurid subject matter. To naysayers, he remains a lowbrow imitator who spends his studio budgets chasing the ghosts of Alfred Hitchcock and Jean-Luc Godard.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt has come to embody the everyman for modern audiences. As the hopeless romantic in (500) Days of Summer (2009), the cancer patient in 50/50 (2011), or the naïve cop in The Dark Knight Rises (2012), his subtle charm and likable demeanor have fallen in line with the iconic average Joes of yesteryear.

If THE MALTESE FALCON (1941) is the classical rock and roll of Noirville cinema, than KISS ME DEADLY is the spiteful spirit of punk. It’s the anti-establishment yarn of the atomic age, courtesy of Shamus Flats’ most masochistic resident: detective Mike Hammer (Ralph Meeker). Gone are the cozy bourbons and late night flirtations of Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe - now it’s time to crack a few skulls whether they know anything or not.