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Matthew Legare - Thriller Author

Website for Matthew Legare, writer of historical, thriller, and noir novels, including the Reiko Watanabe/Inspector Aizawa series set in 1930s Japan.

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movie reviews

10 Japanese Film Noir Recommendations

November 14, 2021 by Matthew Legare 2 Comments

Dragnet Girl Japanese noirFilm noir is a tricky thing to define, and some still question whether it’s just a style relying on distinct lighting and shadow play or if it’s a genre unto its own. The term derived from French critic Nino Frank who, in 1946, saw many American crime movies like The Maltese Falcon (1941) and Double Indemnity (1944) for the first time, and dubbed them film noir – black films, both for their heavy use of shadows and dark subject matter.

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Tagged With: film noir, Japan, movie reviews, noir, recommendations

Little Caesar Book Vs Movie Review

February 20, 2021 by Matthew Legare Leave a Comment

In 1931, Warner Brothers launched the modern gangster genre with the hit film, Little Caesar. Based on a 1929 novel, it became one of the most popular movies at theLittle Caesar 1931 Movie Poster time, capturing the public’s attention and capturing the criminal zeitgeist of the late 20s/early 30s.

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Tagged With: 1920s, Book Reviews, gangsters, movie reviews, Novel vs Movie, Prohibition

Rising Sun by Michael Crichton Book Vs Movie Review

December 28, 2020 by Matthew Legare 1 Comment

As the Nakamoto Corporation celebrates with a lavish gala in a prestigious Los Angeles office building, a woman is found murdered in an empty board Rising Sun paperback by Michael Crichtonroom. So begins Rising Sun by Michael Crichton, one of his most controversial novels.

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Tagged With: Japan, movie reviews, Novel vs Movie, Thrillers

Babylon Berlin Season 3 Review

March 15, 2020 by Matthew Legare 16 Comments

Babylon Berlin returns for a third season, taking us back to the hectic and hedonistic days of 1929 Berlin. This season (or series as the Brits Babylon Berlin Season 3say; staffel fur die Deutschen) follows Detective Gereon Rath and his assistant/sidekick Charlotte Ritter as they investigate the strange murders on a movie set, committed by a mysterious and nightmarish Phantom. With them are enough side characters and subplots to give Deadwood a run for its money.

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Tagged With: Berlin, Conspiracy Thrillers, film noir, Germany, historical fiction, movie reviews, noir, Reviews. Weimar Republic, Thrillers, Weimar Republic

5 Japanese War Movie Recommendations

December 15, 2019 by Matthew Legare 6 Comments

Japan's Longest Day DVDJapanese cinema has never gained widespread acceptance in the West, save for Godzilla and Kurosawa films. But those are only a tiny pinprick of Japanese films, which cover all genres, including war. Aside from Tora Tora Tora and Letter From Iwo Jima, there haven’t been many movies that show war from a Japanese perspective that have gained traction in the West. I’d like to change that with 5 Japanese war movie recommendations.

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Tagged With: History, Japan, Japanese History, Japanese Military, movie reviews

Memoirs of Japanese Assassins (1969) Movie Review

October 29, 2019 by Matthew Legare Leave a Comment

Memoirs of Japanese Assassins Movie PosterMemoirs of Japanese Assassins in an anthology film from 1969 and directed by Sadao Nakajima, which dramatizes famous assassinations in modern Japanese history. Needless to say, I loved it.

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Tagged With: Japanese History, Japanese Military, movie reviews

The Revolt 動乱 (1980) Movie Review

December 31, 2018 by Matthew Legare Leave a Comment

The Revolt 動乱 (Doran) 1980 Movie Poster The Revolt 動乱 (Doran) is a Japanese movie from 1980 that seems like it was specifically made for me. It’s a sweeping historical drama set in 1930s Japan that deals with the internal politics of the Imperial Army and the two famous coup d’é tat attempts of 1932 and 1936.

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Tagged With: 1930s, Japan, movie reviews

Blood on the Sun (1945) Movie Review

September 30, 2018 by Matthew Legare Leave a Comment

By April 1945, the war in Europe was winding down but hostilities in Asia showed no signs of ending in the near Blood on the Sun Posterfuture. Perhaps as an unconscious way to remind Americans that the fight against Japan wasn’t over yet, Blood on the Sun was released. It’s a surprisingly well-made thriller, with hints of noir, starring an impressive cast such as Sylvia Sidney, John Emery as the arch villain Baron Tanaka, and most of all, James Cagney.

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Tagged With: Japan, movie reviews, World War II

Behind the Rising Sun (1943) Movie Review

July 5, 2018 by Matthew Legare 1 Comment

Before World War II, there was precious little cinematic depictions of Japan from Hollywood, especially when compared to China. However, after Pearl Harbor, a slew of propaganda films were made to depict the Japanese enemy. Even among these, they rarely showed the Japanese home front and even rarer, the internal politics of Japan in the 1930s. Behind the Rising Sun is a surprising exception.

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Tagged With: Japan, movie reviews, World War II

Tokyo Joe (1949) Movie Review

April 24, 2018 by Matthew Legare Leave a Comment

Tokyo Joe combines three of my favorite things: film noir, a historical setting, and political intrigue. It’s a criminally underrated movie and while it’s not Humphrey Bogart’s best, it still deserves to be rediscovered by audiences.

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Tagged With: film noir, Japan, movie reviews, World War II

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