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It's Sunday November the 13 around 9:41AM and

Start with Kiss, End with a Bang

I don't get it. I saw it a pretty full showing yesterday of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. And yet this movie has only made $1.3 million since opening on October 21 in select cities. In fact it's only ever been in a maximum of 169 theatres so far. That is absolutely insane.

The Shane Black - I'm not dead & back from the 1990's abyss - directed first feature is an opus to film noir and satrical look at the movies he got rich off, namely 1987's Lethal Weapon. It would be a cliche to say that they don't make 'em like this today. Since, clearly they just did. The fact that Black crashed and burned churning out high priced screen plays for big budget action flicks and then went missing in action for years, probably worked to his advantage - exactly why this film works. [see Cinematical's review if you don't believe us.]

Five things to love about this damned film:

1. The title credits. No, we're not joking. Not since Catch Me If You Can, has there been a cooler set of titles. And the fact that the internet lets you watch them, is, well, why Al Gore invented we suppose. Directed and designed by Danny Yount these are worth the price of admission alone, and recall a time when Saul Bass ruled the film credits and design world. As a timely aside read about Bass's logo design for AT&T, which may be on life support. [via Screenhead

2. Art Direction. We usually fight with Art Directors, but at the end of the day, we love them. In this case the neon and modern Los Angeles is on display and potrayed in its best light for the first time in who knows how long. One nightclub setting is as one writer declares, "All decked out in gothic decadence for the holidays." This film makes L.A. cool again.

3. Two words. Michelle Monaghan. And more words. She's like a sexier Ellen Pompeo (Grey's Anatomy) if that is even possible. And she's an Iowa farm girl. Double hot. It's also interesting to note that she was also in Mr. And Mrs. Smith - another good film from the genre.

4. The Narration. Now, We've never been a huge fan of narration. To quote Robert McKee in Adaptation, "...and God help you if you use voice-over in your work, my friends. God help you. That's flaccid, sloppy writing. Any idiot can write a voice-over narration to explain the thoughts of a character. " But here it works. Really. It works because it is a very post-dvd world sort of treatment. We watch the commentary now, so why not cut to the chase a little bit and have some fun during the theatrical run.

5. Downey & Kilmer. There are few actors more fun to watch than these two. Try casting this movie with a younger group of actors - say Colin Farrell and Orlando Bloom - and this movie would simply implode under a weight of cheese. It's amazing that Downey is even alive still, and thankfully he's off the junk too. Kilmer has always been crazy. Together they are like a fine aged pinot.