Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Dotbankey A lot of fun.

Derry Herrera Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Leoni Haney Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Dalbert Pringle Though far from being great and containing way-way too much voice-over narration for its own good (as you'll find out for yourself), this grungy, low-budget Crime/Drama from 1961 (featuring one of the blandest protagonists imaginable) is still well-worth a view for anyone who can appreciate this particular genre of film.Though Blast Of Silence (BOS) is not quite what I would consider to be true "Film Noir", its grubby, greasy, cynical, little story about thugs, ruffians and lowlifes certainly had its fair share of entertaining moments.Set in NYC (just a day or 2 before Christmas), I guarantee you that BOS's black-hearted story will not, in any way, put you into the yuletide spirit. But, its up-tempo jazz score (which was pretty cool) may help to alleviate some of the story's more depressing moments.And, hey, if you're looking for some comedy relief - BOS actually does offer the viewer just that (unintentionally, of course).There's one episode where Frankie Bono viciously attacks the obese Ralphie with an axe. And this alone is certainly worthy of a couple of laughs.But BOS's ultimate comedy gem was when Frankie (who's attending a festive Christmas party) gets down on his hands and knees beside his opponent and at the word "Go!" these 2 fools vie to win the peanut-pushing race using only their noses to nudge the peanut along. (Yep. 'Tis the season to be jolly!?) Anyways - BOS's story concerns the callously-minded activities of Frankie Bono, an emotionally dead (well, almost) hired killer from Cleveland who has come to NYC to fulfill his contract obligations to rub out an arrogant, second-fiddle crime-boss named Troiano. As expected, when Frankie's comfortably numb "cool" gets seriously rattled, things tend not to go as originally planned.Filmed in stark b&w, BOS had a mere running time of only 77 minutes. You may find, like I did, that this film's story bared a lot of similarities to Scorsese's "Taxi Driver" from 1976.

bandw U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said about hard-core pornography that he could not define it, but he knew it when he saw it. I feel the same way about film noir--I cannot define it, but I know it when I see it. And, in my estimation, this movie is quintessential noir. It is the story of a self-described loner, Frank Bono, who has been hired to kill a small-time mob operative in New York City. The filming, in black and white, is in a style that perfectly matches the seedy story being told. The movie has the look of a low budget effort, which indeed it is, and this creates an ideal atmosphere for the downbeat tale that is being told. It would be hard to fake the authenticity conferred by the low production values and the use of relatively unknown actors. The filming effectively uses contrast and shadows, a hallmark of film noir. There are no self-consciously arty shots. Much of the movie is filmed against a backdrop of New York locations. The New York settings play such an import role in establishing time and place that there is an extra of the DVD presenting details on the locations with a lot of before (1960) and after (1996 and 2006) shots. The unusual second person narrative, delivered in a suitably gravely voice, allows for getting to know Frank at a depth uncommon for this type of movie. We see how Frank drifted into his profession, how he had yearnings (or fantasies) about how he could have turned out differently, such as an architect or engineer. He sees a bridge and says to himself that he could have designed that. Frank prides himself on being a loner, a quality that he feels is essential to his job; he makes comments to himself like, "If you want a woman, buy one. In the dark, so she won't remember your face." However, during the course of the movie he is challenged to examine his isolated lifestyle.The sharp, cynical dialog raises this movie several cuts above a typical B movie. The opening scene gives you an immediate insight into how Frank views the world and alerts you to memorable dialog that is to come: "Remembering, out of the black silence you were born in pain. ... You were born with hate and anger built in. Took a slap on the backside to blast out the scream, and then you knew you were alive. Later you learned to hold back the scream and let out the hate and anger another way."The jazz score is effective.This is worth viewing and is not just for lovers of film noir.

st-shot Blast of Silence is a bargain bin noir with a lot of heart. It's sloppy in spots and paced poorly at times but writer, director, actor Alan Baron establishes a dark sinister atmosphere with effective imagery and an impressive stoic performance as Cleveland hit man Frankie Bono.Bono has come to New York to perform a contract killing on a mobster. It shouldn't be any different from any other whack but matters both professional and of the heart complicate matters. Things get ugly with an ex-girlfriend and he's double crossed by a gun runner who keeps rats for pets. Things only get bleaker for Bono whose life and outlook on it (narrated in gravelly detail by Lionel Stander) seems to be one of self fulfilling prophecy. Blast's uncompromising grim viewpoint, amoral take and style evoke comparison to Sam Fuller and the French new wave of the times (Breathless before, Shoot the Piano Player after). Substitute Stander's thick pulp with a French narrator and you have a Jean Pierre Melville and all the praise to go along with it. In its own uneven way Blast earns it. It may not be a classic but it is interesting to look at and imaginatively strung together by auteur Baron who does an admirable job of wearing many hats at once.

brucefoster This has to be the bleakest movie ever made. Nothing I've seen comes close.It lasts a mere 77 minutes but seems twice as long. Identically filmed tracking shots of the hit-man, Frank Bono, walking along grey winter Manhattan streets as dozens of storefronts pass monotonously behind him take up 20 minutes. There's one static shot of Bono, starting as a speck, walking towards us from a full city block away that doesn't end until he literally almost runs into the camera. Add to these, two prolonged scenes photographed from Bono's car as he trails the man he has contracted to murder. These scenes kill about a half hour, leaving 45 minutes.From this you can subtract another 10 minutes during which Bono goes into a Greenwich Village nightclub and sits drinking at a bar while his prey hangs with a group at a table. In this sequence, the camera dwells mostly on a bongo-playing singer as he belts out two or three full-length beatnik songs, each as boringly dreadful – and pointless -- as the next.During all of the above not a single word of dialogue is spoken. Over most of the above is a relentlessly despairing and repetitive narrative voiced by a raspy actor speaking in comic book gangsterese. He provides Bono's boilerplate backstory and what's going through his mind as he endlessly walks and drives the streets of the city. Many, many allusions to hot hands/cold hands.So, now we're down to about a half hour of actual interaction and (dull) conversation between four (dull) characters, plus three (dull) killing sequences. The last shooting is filmed in the frigid Jamaica Bay wetlands during a perfectly bleak sideways-blowing snowstorm that is the perfectly bleak icing on the perfectly bleak cake.I know, I know. The movie is meant to be gritty and grim. It's noir, right? But what's its point? What of value is the viewer supposed to glean from this?