Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Suman Roberson It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

blanche-2 Producer-director Brian DeCubellis had done some TV movies and short films before this bigger directorial effort, the neo-noir Manhattan Nights, from 2016. He certainly has talent.The film stars Adrien Brody as Porter Wren, a columnist for a New York newspaper. His wife (Jennifer Beals) is a surgeon, so they are able to have a darling house that is hidden down an alley in Manhattan - something like Patchin Place in the west village. When his newspaper is taken over by a Rupert Murdock type (Steven Berkoff), Porter reluctantly attends a party for him. There he meets the beautiful Caroline (Yvonne Strahovski) whose husband, well-known director Simon Crowley (Campbell Scott) was found dead, buried under the rubble of an imploded building, surrounded by pieces of jade. The two wind up having an affair.It seems Simon was a complete weirdo with an interesting hobby of recording "honest moments" on video cards. Caroline takes Porter to a safety deposit box with dozens of them. She invites him to watch them. But it turns out one of those honest moments is being used to blackmail someone, and the person being blackmailed wants it and begins to terrorize Porter to find it. This leads to Porter uncovering secrets about Simon, Caroline, and person being blackmailed, and learning something about himself.The film is based on an novel called Manhattan Nocturne. I suppose the name was changed because the filmmakers thought not enough people would know what a nocturne is. That's sad. The story is good but unsavory, and, frankly, so are the characters. And it has the usual female nudity.The acting is very good, particularly from Brody and Strahovski - she is gorgeous and reminds me of Sharon Stone when she was younger. Brody has had a so-so career since winning the Oscar. This was a good role for him. Linda Lavin has a cameo, and she's excellent.Overall I can't say I was crazy about "Manhattan Night." It was well done but unpleasant.

Takeshi-K Despite Adrien Brody pitching us his solid take on a New York columnist, his character is very much written in the Philip Marlowe private eye vein, the famous character by hard boiled crime detection novelist Raymond Chandler. Both characters share an obsessive nature, both get beaten up at least once and both do their best work at night in seedy places.Yvonne Strahovski was born to a play a femme fatale and she is magnificent in this film. Shot entirely in New York, its NYC credentials extend to its quality supporting players like Jennifer Beals and Broadway star Campbell Scott. All four really gel. Campbell Scott is great at playing morally ambiguous or slightly crazy characters and he does both here to great effect. Of course the seedy back streets of NYC also feature. Describing the plot would give too much a way, but its one of those great neo noir films where everyone is guilty of something and everyone seems to teeter on the edge of betraying somebody else. Recommended for everyone, but neo noir fans in particular.

LeonLouisRicci Neo-Noir Fans will probably Like but not Love this Entry with Adrien Brody and Yvonne Strahovski. The Film's Noir Ambiance Captivates and sets the Disturbing, Moody, Gloomy Backdrop. All those Neons, Rain, Reflections, and Claustrophobic Corridors are some of the things that Paint a Film-Noir Picture of an Underlying Dread.Welcome as they are and just as Expected in Cinema as Art, the Story on Top of the Trash must make for a Twisted Tale of Murder, Blackmail, Perversion, and other such Dark Places of the Human Condition. This one Delivers on that Notion.Speaking of Dark, there has been a Lot of Ink and other Critical Venting on the Title Change. The Original was "Manhattan Nocturne" and was Rethought as "Manhattan Night". This seems to be a bunch of Nit-Picking Apart to find some kind of Entry Point for Commentary. "Nocturne" is a Really-Cool Word and does Connotate "Noir" (black), "Night" is not as Poetic as "Nocturne" but it still works as "Darkness". It's just not as Flowery a Word. No Harm, No Foul. Now that is out of the way, Moving On.The Complexity of the Plot Intrudes somewhat, but not to the Point of Frustration. It keeps You on Your Toes. There is Murder, Blackmail, and other Disturbing and Disorienting Things unfolding in this Modern Rendition of the Genre that includes...Print is Dead and Cameras Everywhere. Its Topical with Self-Involved Moderns using Technology to Capture Every Moment of Every Day in Egomaniacal EcstasyOverall, this is more "Neo" than most in the Genre with Campbell Scott as a Film-Director Mysteriously found Dead and all of His "Found Footage" reveals a Quirky, Sexually Obsessed Weirdo. Actually the Movie isn't as Weird as it Thinks, but does Skirt the Edge of Human Behavior that is Unpleasant but Real Nonetheless and although Watching other People "On Camera" (now a National Pastime), whether Intentionally (YouTube) or not is a Reality that is Here, In-Your-Face and what it Exposes is something that the Noir-World of Yesteryear Never Saw Coming.

lavatch Adrien Brody is outstanding as the hard-luck, yet creative, investigative newspaper reporter always looking for the special scoop on human calamity. He meets his match with a femme-fatale, whose mysterious past holds the secrets to a complicated blackmail plot.The best scenes are those between Brody's character Porter Wren and the emotionally fragile Caroline Crowley played dynamically by Yvonne Strahovski. There is good sizzle to their romantic encounter, as Porter gets deeper and deeper into a plot that involves a missing chip with compromising video footage of a business tycoon.The greatest film noir movies were those that featured an innovative use of black-and-white filming. In this color film, there is nonetheless a thoughtful approach to the cinematography with fascinating location filming in New York City, plus dynamically lit interior scenes. In the bonus segment, director Brian DeCubellis described how every shot was carefully planned in advance, much in the tradition of an Alfred Hitchcock film. The behind-the-scenes segment also included Brody noting that the neo-noir films of the 1980s, including "Fatal Attraction" and "Body Heat," were the models for "Manhattan Night." The main weakness of the film was the excessive violence and the truly bizarre relationship of Caroline Crowley and her former husband, a film director played by Campbell Scott. Scott's character appears in flashback sequences that go well beyond the bizarre into the deeply troubling and unpleasant.In the classic film noir, there was always an ironic quality and even a moment or two of humor injected into the drama. In "Manhattan Night," there was a tentative attempt at the irony with a colorful character played by Linda Lavin. After catching Porter snooping around in her home, she sits him down for an outrageous conversation that ties up all the loose ends of the mystery! Still, the mood of the film rarely escapes from the somber tone of deceit, ulterior motives, and eventual trauma experienced by all of the characters. This film is definitely not for the squeamish or family-film viewer.