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Crime films , in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as drama or gangster film , but also include comedy , and, in turn, is divided into many sub-genres, such as mystery , suspense or noir .

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120-480: Alpha Dog is a 2006 American crime drama film written and directed by Nick Cassavetes . It is based on the true story of the kidnapping and murder of Nicholas Markowitz in 2000. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Ben Foster , Shawn Hatosy , Emile Hirsch , Christopher Marquette , Sharon Stone , Justin Timberlake , Anton Yelchin , and Bruce Willis . Alpha Dog had its world premiere at

240-433: A B-36 accidentally dropped a Mark 17 nuclear bomb 4.5 miles from the control tower while landing at Kirtland Air Force Base . Only the conventional trigger detonated, as the bomb was unarmed. These incidents were not reported as they were classified as secret for decades. Following the end of World War II , population shifts as well as suburban development, urban sprawl and gentrification, Albuquerque's downtown entered

360-416: A Hollywood feature went from $ 20,000 in 1914 to $ 300,000 in 1924. Silver and Ursini stated that the earliest crime features were by Austrian émigré director Josef von Sternberg whose films like Underworld (1927) eliminated most of the causes for criminal behavior and focused on the criminal perpetrators themselves which would anticipate the popular gangster films of the 1930s. The groundwork for

480-478: A broader category called "film type", mystery and suspense as "macro-genres", and film noir as a "screenwriter's pathway" explaining that these categories are additive rather than exclusionary. Chinatown would be an example of a film that is a drama (film type) crime film (super-genre) that is also a noir (pathway) mystery (macro-genre). The definition of what constitutes a crime film is not straightforward. Criminologist Nicole Hahn Rafter in her book Shots in

600-505: A change signaled by films like Chinatown (1974) and The Wild Bunch (1969) noting that older genres were being transformed through cultivation of nostalgia and a critique of the myths cultivated by their respective genres. Todd found that this found its way into crime films of the 1980s with films that could be labeled as post-modern , in which he felt that "genres blur, pastiche prevails, and once-fixed ideals, such as time and meaning, are subverted and destabilized". This would apply to

720-575: A conservative era. For crime films, this led to various reactions, including political films that critiqued official policies and citizen's political apathy. These included films like Missing (1982), Silkwood (1983), and No Way Out (1987). Prison films and courtroom dramas would also be politically charged with films like Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985) and Cry Freedom (1987). While films about serial killers existed in earlier films such as M (1931) and Peeping Tom (1960),

840-454: A crooked shell" and portrayed gangsters who showcased the "romantic mystique of the doomed criminal." The 1940s formed an ambivalence toward the criminal heroes. Leitch suggested that this shift was from the decline in high-profile organized crime, partly because of the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 and partly because of the well-publicized success of the FBI. Unlike the crime films of the 1930s,

960-596: A cultural area and center of commerce. It is referred to as " Old Town Albuquerque " or simply "Old Town". Historically it was sometimes referred to as "La Placita" ( Little Plaza in Spanish). On the north side of Old Town Plaza is San Felipe de Neri Church . Built in 1793, it is one of the oldest surviving buildings in the city. After the New Mexico Territory became a part of the United States in

1080-429: A deal with Olivia so the crew will get a light sentence, which Johnny believes will never work. Sonny also furiously orders Johnny to call off the hit, but Johnny refuses, believing Zack is already free. Frankie, Elvis, Keith, and Zack drive out into the mountains and begin walking up a remote hiking trail. Keith tearfully embraces Zack and refuses to go any further up. Zack finally realizes the danger he's in when he sees

1200-513: A famous symbol of the city for decades. Outdated, it was razed in 1970 and the site was converted to a parking lot. In 2002, the Alvarado Transportation Center was built on the site in a style resembling the old landmark. The large metro station functions as the downtown headquarters for the city's transit department. It also serves as an intermodal hub for local buses, Greyhound buses, Amtrak passenger trains, and

1320-484: A film described as "crime/ action " or an "action/crime" or other hybrids was "only a semantic exercise" as both genres are important in the construction phase of the narrative. Mark Bould in A Companion to Film Noir stated that categorization of multiple generic genre labels was common in film reviews and rarely concerned with succinct descriptions that evoke elements of the film's form, content and make no claims beyond on how these elements combine. Leitch, stated that

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1440-740: A framework for a more balanced and sustainable approach to urban growth. Urban sprawl is limited on three sides—by the Sandia Pueblo to the north, the Isleta Pueblo and Kirtland Air Force Base to the south, and the Sandia Mountains to the east. Suburban growth continues at a strong pace to the west, beyond the Petroglyph National Monument, once thought to be a natural boundary to sprawl development. Because of less-costly land and lower taxes, much of

1560-407: A grave in the nearby mountains. Frankie returns and gives Zack a final chance to escape, but Zack declines, oblivious to the danger he's in. Elvis and Keith return, and Frankie finally relents when Elvis explains they could all face life in prison if Zack goes home. Sonny, Johnny's godfather and Sonny's older accomplice Cosmo Gadabeeti, and their lawyer confront Johnny, telling him they will try to make

1680-565: A hotel. Many Anglo merchants, mountain men, and settlers slowly filtered into Albuquerque, creating a major mercantile commercial center in Downtown Albuquerque . From this commercial center on July 4, 1882, Park Van Tassel became the first to fly a balloon in Albuquerque with a landing at Old Town. This was the first balloon flight in the New Mexico Territory. Due to a rising rate of violent crime, gunman Milt Yarberry

1800-491: A locker of the Hollywood Athletic Club. The Asphalt Jungle (1950) consolidated a tendency to define criminal subculture as a mirror of American culture. The cycle of caper films were foreshadowed by films like The Killers (1946) and Criss Cross (1949) to later examples like The Killing (1956) and Odds Against Tomorrow (1959). Leitch wrote that these films used the planning and action of

1920-684: A mobster known as The Snapper Kid. Regeneration (1915) was an early feature-length film about a gangster who saved from a life of crime by a social worker. These two early films and films like Tod Browning 's Outside the Law (1920) that deal with the world of criminal activity were described by Silver and Ursini as being gangsters "constrained by a strong moral code". Stuart Kaminsky in American Film Genres (1974) stated that prior to Little Caesar (1931), gangster characters were in films were essentially romances . European films of

2040-485: A period of decline. Many historic buildings were razed in the 1960s and 1970s to make way for new plazas, high-rises, and parking lots as part of the city's urban renewal phase. As of 2010 , only recently has Downtown Albuquerque come to regain much of its urban character, mainly through the construction of many new loft apartment buildings and the renovation of historic structures such as the KiMo Theater . During

2160-535: A psychopathic personality." Drew Todd in Shots in the Mirror: Crime Films and Society described the character as different than films featuring rebellious characters from the 1940s and 1950s, with a character whose anger is directed against the state, mixed with fantasies of vigilante justice. Films like Dirty Harry , The French Connection and Straw Dogs (1971) that presented a violent vigilante as

2280-417: A raucous party at a hotel, during which Zack goes skinny dipping with Julie and her friend Alma, leading to a threesome wherein he loses his virginity. Julie, Alma, Susan, and Sabrina all happily say goodbye to Zack and leave. A little while later, Elvis arrives and argues with Frankie over Johnny's plan to kill Zack. While Frankie runs off, Elvis politely introduces himself to Zack, then takes Keith to dig

2400-470: A remake of The Defiant Ones (1958). The cycle generally slowed down by the mid 1970s. Prison films closely followed the formulas of films of the past while having an increased level of profanity, violence and sex. Cool Hand Luke (1967) inaugurated the revival and was followed into the 1970s with films like Papillon (1973), Midnight Express (1978) and Escape from Alcatraz (1979). When Ronald Reagan became president in 1980, he ushered in

2520-413: A robbery todramatize the "irreducible unreasonableness of life." The themes of existential despair made the these film popular with European filmmakers, who would make their own heist films like Rififi (1955) and Il bidone (1955). Filmmakers of the coming French New Wave movement would expand on these crime films into complex mixtures of nostalgia and critique with later pictures like Elevator to

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2640-420: A savior. By the mid-1970s, a traditional lead with good looks, brawn and bravery was replaced with characters who Todd described as a "pathological outcast, embittered and impulsively violent." Hollywood productions began courting films produced and marketed by white Americans for the purpose of trying to attract a new audience with blaxploitation film. These films were almost exclusively crime films following

2760-559: A series of floods in the 1950s, passage of the "Arroyo Flood Control Act of 1963" provided for the construction of a series of concrete diversion channels. The network of channels was built by the Army Corps of Engineers during the 1960s and early 1970s. Iconic urban wildlife includes the roadrunner , Gunnison's prairie dog , coyote , and New Mexico whiptail lizard. The bosque is a popular destination for wildlife viewing, with opportunities to see porcupines and sandhill cranes in

2880-556: A street fiesta, Frankie offers Zack a chance to leave, but he declines, wanting a break from home and not wanting to cause more problems for Jake, and the two strike up an unlikely friendship. Staying at the house of Frankie's father, Juergen, Zack meets Frankie's friends Keith Stratten, Julie Beckley (with whom he falls in love), Sabrina Pope (Frankie's girlfriend), and Susan Hartunian, the only one concerned about his abduction. Johnny comes over and contemplates with Frankie on what to do. Frankie suggests that they pay Zack to keep quiet about

3000-402: Is a style of crime film that originated from two cinematic precursors: the gangster film and the gentleman thief film. The essential element in these films is the plot concentration on the commission of a single crime of great monetary significance, at least on the surface level. The narratives in these films focus on the heist being wrapped up in the execution of the crime more or at as much as

3120-730: Is also a Laotian American temple and a sizable community in parts of this area as well as around Uptown. There is also an African American community around Highland. The Four Hills neighborhoods are located in and around the foothills on the outskirts of Southeast Albuquerque. The vast newer subdivision of Volterra lies west of the Four Hills area. Popular urban neighborhoods that can be found in Southeast Albuquerque include Nob Hill , Ridgecrest, Parkland Hills, Hyder Park, and University Heights. Traditionally consisting of agricultural and rural areas and suburban neighborhoods,

3240-423: Is different just as crime are different than horror, science fiction and period drama films. Rafter also suggested that Westerns could be considered crime films, but that this perception would only be "muddying conceptual waters." The history of the crime film before 1940 follows reflected the changing social attitudes toward crime and criminals. In the first twenty years of the 20th Century, American society

3360-473: Is found by hikers a few days later. Sometime later, Susan angrily confronts Frankie over Zack's murder before she goes to alert the police, who catch Elvis trying to secure a lift out of town. Johnny flees to Albuquerque, New Mexico where an old classmate of his, Buzz Fecske, then drives him to Cosmo's house. Tiko, Keith, Frankie, and Elvis are convicted for their roles in the kidnapping and eventual murder, with Tiko serving nine years in prison, Keith staying at

3480-724: Is land and 1.8 square miles (4.7 km ) , or 0.96%, is water. Albuquerque lies within the fertile Rio Grande Valley with its Bosque forest, in the center of the Albuquerque Basin , flanked on the eastern side by the Sandia Mountains and to the west by the West Mesa . Located in central New Mexico, the city also has noticeable influences from the adjacent Colorado Plateau semi-desert, New Mexico Mountains forested with juniper and pine, and Southwest plateaus and plains steppe ecoregions, depending on where one

3600-557: Is located in north-central New Mexico. To its east are the Sandia–Manzano Mountains . The Rio Grande flows north to south through its center, while the West Mesa and Petroglyph National Monument make up the western part of the city. Albuquerque has one of the highest elevations of any major city in the U.S., ranging from 4,900 feet (1,500 m) above sea level near the Rio Grande to over 6,700 feet (2,000 m) in

3720-538: Is located. Albuquerque has one of the highest and most varied elevations of any major city in the United States, though the effects of this are greatly tempered by its southwesterly continental position. The elevation of the city ranges from 4,949 feet (1,508 m) above sea level near the Rio Grande (in the Valley) to 6,165 feet (1,879 m) in the foothill areas of Sandia Heights . At

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3840-455: Is on drugs, and Jake to retaliate by breaking into and trashing Johnny's house with a couple of his friends. Johnny brings Frankie and Tiko to confront Jake, but he is nowhere to be found. Spotting Zack on the side of a road, the gang impulsively kidnaps him, planning to hold him until Jake pays up, and drive to Palm Springs . Frankie is left to watch Zack while Johnny and Tiko return to San Gabriel for prior commitments. That night, while attending

3960-408: Is to see this picture. How would any loving parent feel about a Hollywood movie that glamorizes their son's death and allows celebrities to cash in on a brutal, evil murder?" Nonetheless, both Susan and Jeff attended the film's premiere, and Susan stated she was moved by Anton Yelchin 's portrayal of Zack (Nick). After the screening, she embraced Sharon Stone , who played Olivia (Susan). A soundtrack

4080-623: The 2006 Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2006, and was released in the United States on January 12, 2007, by Universal Pictures . The film received mixed reviews and was a minor box office success, grossing $ 32 million worldwide on a budget of $ 9.5 million. In 1999, Johnny Truelove works as a young drug dealer while making a living in the San Gabriel Valley . Johnny's father, Sonny, supplies him with marijuana , which he distributes with his gang of friends: Frankie Ballenbacher, Johnny's right-hand man and best friend; Tiko Martinez,

4200-519: The Albuquerque Basin , the city is flanked by the Sandia Mountains to the east and the West Mesa to the west, with the Rio Grande and bosque flowing north-to-south through the middle of the city. According to the 2020 census , Albuquerque had 564,559 residents, making it the 32nd-most populous city in the United States and the fourth largest in the Southwest . The Albuquerque metropolitan area had 955,000 residents in 2023, and forms part of

4320-621: The Albuquerque International Sunport , the elevation is 5,355 feet (1,632 m) above sea level. The Rio Grande is classified, like the Nile , as an "exotic" river. The New Mexico portion of the Rio Grande lies within the Rio Grande Rift Valley, bordered by a system of faults , including those that lifted up the adjacent Sandia and Manzano Mountains , while lowering the area where

4440-846: The Albuquerque–Santa Fe–Los Alamos combined statistical area , which had a population of 1,162,523. Albuquerque is a hub for technology, fine arts, and media companies . It is home to several historic landmarks , the University of New Mexico , the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta , the Gathering of Nations , the New Mexico State Fair , and a diverse restaurant scene , which features both New Mexican and global cuisine . Petroglyphs carved into basalt in

4560-640: The British Board of Film Censors or conveyed mostly through narration. Box-office receipts began to grow stronger towards the late 1960s. Hollywood's demise of the Hays Code standards would allow for further violent, risqué and gory films. As college students at the University of Berkeley and University of Columbia demonstrated against racial injustice and the Vietnam, Hollywood generally ignored

4680-673: The Civil War , Albuquerque was occupied for a month in February 1862 by Confederate troops under General Henry Hopkins Sibley . He soon afterward advanced with his main body into northern New Mexico. During his retreat from Union troops into Texas , he made a stand on April 8, 1862, and fought the Battle of Albuquerque against a detachment of Union soldiers commanded by Colonel Edward R. S. Canby . This daylong engagement at long range led to few casualties. The residents of Albuquerque aided

4800-495: The Duke City , is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico . Founded in 1706 as La Villa de Alburquerque by Santa Fe de Nuevo México governor Francisco Cuervo y Valdés , and named in honor of Francisco Fernández de la Cueva, 10th Duke of Alburquerque and Viceroy of New Spain , it served as an outpost on El Camino Real linking Mexico City to the northernmost territories of New Spain . Located in

4920-658: The FBI's most wanted list , Johnny is arrested in Paraguay, now back in California awaiting trial, facing the death penalty if found guilty. Additionally, Alec Vigil plays Johnny's younger brother P.J. Truelove, producer Chuck Pacheco plays Frankie's friend Chucky Mota, and Xan Cassavetes plays Jonna Kirshner, one of the first witnesses of Zack's kidnapping. During filming in 2004, Santa Barbara County Deputy District Attorney Ronald J. Zonen provided copies of many documents on

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5040-503: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 1935), promoted bigger budgets and wider press for his organization and himself through a well-publicized crusade against such real world gangsters as Machine Gun Kelly , Pretty Boy Floyd and John Dillinger . Hoover's fictionalized exploits were glorified in future films such as G Men (1935). Through the 1930s, American films view of criminals were predominantly glamorized, but as

5160-585: The Maxwell Museum of Anthropology , University of New Mexico , the Uptown area, which includes three shopping malls ( Coronado Center , ABQ Uptown, and Winrock Town Center ), Hoffmantown, Journal Center, and Cliff's Amusement Park are all in this quadrant. Some of the most affluent neighborhoods in the city are here, including: High Desert , Tanoan, Sandia Heights, and North Albuquerque Acres. Parts of Sandia Heights and North Albuquerque Acres are outside

5280-555: The Rail Runner commuter rail line. In the early days of transcontinental air service, Albuquerque was an important stop on many transcontinental air routes, earning it the nickname "Crossroads of the Southwest". During the early 20th century, New Mexico's dry climate attracted many tuberculosis patients to the city in search of a cure; this was before penicillin was found to be effective. Several sanitaria were developed on

5400-465: The Rio Puerco confluence south of Belen . Of these, 12 or 13 were densely clustered near present-day Bernalillo , and the remainder were spread out to the south. Two Tiwa pueblos lie on the outskirts of present-day Albuquerque. Both have been continuously inhabited for many centuries: Sandia Pueblo was founded in the 14th century, and Pueblo of Isleta is documented in written records since

5520-475: The West Mesa to serve TB patients. Presbyterian Hospital and St. Joseph Hospital, two of the largest hospitals in the Southwest, had their beginnings during this period. Influential New Deal –era governor Clyde Tingley and famed Southwestern architect John Gaw Meem were among those who came to New Mexico seeking recovery from TB. The first travelers on Route 66 appeared in Albuquerque in 1926. Soon dozens of motels, restaurants, and gift shops sprouted along

5640-1045: The Western film as they lack both the instantly recognizable or the unique intent of other genres such as parody films. Leitch and Rafter both write that it would be impractical to call every film in which a crime produces the central dramatic situation a crime film. Leitch gave an example that most Westerns from The Great Train Robbery (1903) to Unforgiven (1992) often have narratives about crime and punishment, but are not generally described as crime films. Films with crime-and-punishment themes like Winchester 73 (1950) and Rancho Notorious (1952) are classified as Westerns rather than crime films because their setting takes precedence over their story. Alain Silver and James Ursini argued in A Companion to Crime Fiction (2020) that "unquestionably most Western films are crime films" but that that their overriding generic identification

5760-495: The gangster film as both a genre on its own terms and a subgenre of the crime film. In these films, the gangster and their values have been imbedded through decades of reiteration and revision, generally with a masculine style where an elaboration on a codes of behavior by acts of decisive violence are central concerns. The archetypal gangster film was the Hollywood production Little Caesar (1931). A moral panic followed

5880-612: The 1940s films were based more on fictional tales with gangsters played by Paul Muni in Angel on My Shoulder (1946) and Cagney in White Heat (1949) were self-consciously anachronistic. Filmmakers from this period were fleeing Europe due to the rise of Nazism. These directors such as Fritz Lang , Robert Siodmak , and Billy Wilder would make crime films in the late 1930s and 1940s that were later described as film noir by French critics. Several films from 1944 like The Woman in

6000-689: The 1980s had an emphasis on the serial nature of their crimes with a larger number of films focusing on the repetitive nature of some murders. While many of these films were teen-oriented pictures, they also included films like Dressed to Kill (1980) and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) and continued into the 2000s with films like Seven (1995), Kiss the Girls (1997), and American Psycho (2000). In an article by John G. Cawelti titled " Chinatown and Generic Transformations in Recent American Films" (1979), Cawleti noticed

6120-652: The 1990s with films like Wild at Heart (1990). Quentin Tarantino would continue this trend in the 1990s with films where violence and crime is treated lightly such as Reservoir Dogs (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994) and Natural Born Killers (1994) while Lynch and the Coens would continue with Fargo (1996) and Lost Highway (1997). Other directors such as Martin Scorsese and Sidney Lumet would continue to more traditional crime films Goodfellas , Prince of

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6240-476: The 21st century, Albuquerque's population has continued to grow rapidly. The population of the city proper was estimated at 564,559 in 2020, 528,497 in 2009, and 448,607 in the 2000 census. During 2005 and 2006, the city celebrated its tricentennial with a diverse program of cultural events. The passage of the Planned Growth Strategy in 2002–2004 was the community's strongest effort to create

6360-498: The American crime film which began rejecting linear storytelling and distinctions between right and wrong with works from directors like Brian de Palma with Dressed to Kill and Scarface and works from The Coen Brothers and David Lynch whose had Todd described as having "stylized yet gritty and dryly humorous pictures evoking dream states" with films like Blood Simple (1984) and Blue Velvet (1986) and would continue into

6480-580: The California Youth Authority until the age of 25, Frankie receiving a life sentence, and Elvis on Death Row in San Quentin State Prison . Upon being asked about how Johnny was able to escape authorities for four years without any known source of help, Sonny and Cosmo deny having anything to do with it and take no responsibility in how Johnny turned out and the crimes he committed. In 2005, after over five years on

6600-522: The City (1980), Q & A (1990), and Casino (1995). Other trends of the 1990s extended boundaries of crime films, ranging from main characters who were female or minorities with films like Thelma and Louise (1991), Swoon (1991), Devil in a Blue Dress (1995), Bound (1996) and Dolores Claiborne (1996). Every genre is a subgenre of a wider genre from whose contexts its own conventions take their meaning, it makes sense to think of

6720-794: The Gallows (1958), Breathless (1960) and Shoot the Piano Player (1960). Following the classical noir period of 1940 to 1958, a return to the violence of the two previous decades. By 1960, film was losing popularity to television as the mass form of media entertainment. Despite To The crime film countered this by providing material no acceptable for television, first with a higher level of onscreen violence. Films like Psycho (1960) and Black Sunday (1960) marked an increase in onscreen violence in film. Prior to these films, violence and gorier scenes were cut in Hammer film productions by

6840-669: The Max Q commercial district, Albuquerque International Sunport , American Society of Radiologic Technologists , Central New Mexico Community College , UNM South Campus , Presbyterian Hospital Duke City BMX, University Stadium , Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park , The Pit , Mesa del Sol , Isleta Amphitheater , Netflix Studios , Isleta Resort & Casino, the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History , New Mexico Veterans Memorial, and Talin Market are all located in

6960-660: The Mirror: Crime Films and Society (2006) found that film scholars had a traditional reluctance to examine the topic of crime films in their entirety due to complex nature of the topic. Carlos Clarens in his book Crime Movies (1980), described the crime film as a symbolic representation of criminals, law, and society. Clarens continued that they describe what is culturally and morally abnormal and differ from thriller films which he wrote as being more concerned with psychological and private situations. Thomas Schatz in Hollywood Genres: Formulas, Filmmaking, and

7080-627: The Republican Union to rid the city of the occupying Confederate troops. When the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad arrived in 1880, it bypassed the Plaza, locating the passenger depot and railyards about 2 miles (3 km) east in what quickly became known as New Albuquerque or New Town. The railway company built a hospital for its workers that was later used as a juvenile psychiatric facility. It has since been converted to

7200-511: The Sandia foothills in the east. The Rio Grande's bosque has been significantly reduced and its natural flood cycle disrupted by dams built further upstream. A corridor of bosque surrounding the river within the city has been preserved as Rio Grande Valley State Park . A few remaining natural arroyos provide riparian habitat within the city, though natural arroyos draining into the Rio Grande have largely been replaced with concrete channels. After

7320-594: The Southeast quadrant of Albuquerque. The southern half of the International District lies along Central Ave and Louisiana Blvd. Here, many immigrant communities have settled and thrive, having established numerous businesses. Albuquerque's Vietnamese American community is partly business-centered in this area, as well as the Eubank, Juan Tabo, and Central areas, and other parts of Albuquerque. There

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7440-554: The Southwest quadrant comprises the south-end of Downtown Albuquerque, the Barelas neighborhood, the rapidly growing west side, and the community of South Valley, New Mexico , often called "The South Valley". The quadrant extends all the way to the Isleta Indian Reservation. Newer suburban subdivisions on the West Mesa near the southwestern city limits join homes of older construction, some dating as far back as

7560-516: The Studio System (1981) does not refer to the concept of crime film as a genre, and says that "such seemingly similar "urban crime" formulas" such as the gangster film and detective film were their own unique forms. Thomas Leitch, author of Crime Films (2004) stated that the crime film presents their defining subject as a crime culture that normalizes a place where crime is both shockingly disruptive and completely normal. Rafter suggested

7680-415: The U.S. Census. By 1990, it was 384,736 and in 2007 it was 518,271. In June 2007, Albuquerque was listed as the sixth fastest-growing city in the United States. In 1990, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Albuquerque's population as 34.5% Hispanic and 58.3% non-Hispanic white. On April 11, 1950, a USAF B-29 bomber carrying a nuclear weapon crashed into a mountain near Manzano Base . On May 22, 1957,

7800-461: The Window , Laura , Murder, My Sweet and Double Indemnity ushered in this film cycle. These works continued into the mid-1950s. A reaction to film noir came with films with a more semi-documentary approach pioneered by the thriller The House on 92nd Street (1945). This led to crime films taking a more realistic approach like Kiss of Death (1947) and The Naked City (1948). By

7920-401: The area, such as Barelas , Corrales , Isleta Pueblo , Los Ranchos , and Sandia Pueblo . After gaining independence in 1821, Mexico established a military presence here. The town of Alburquerque was built in the traditional Spanish villa pattern: a central plaza surrounded by government buildings, homes, and a church. This central plaza area has been preserved and is open to the public as

8040-486: The best way to skirt complexities of various films that may be defined as crime films as works that focus primarily on crime and its consequences, and that they should be viewed as a category that encompasses a number genres, ranging from caper films , detective films, gangster films, cop and prison films and courtroom dramas. She said that like drama and romance film, they are umbrella terms that cover several smaller more coherent groups. The criminal acts in every film in

8160-601: The box office. The success of the film and its sequel The Godfather Part II (1974) reinforced the stature of the gangster film genre, which continued into the 1990s with films Scarface (1983), Once Upon a Time in America (1984), The Untouchables (1987), Goodfellas (1990) and Donnie Brasco (1997). Dirty Harry (1971) create a new form of police film, where Clint Eastwood 's performance as Inspector Callahan which critic Pauline Kael described as an "emotionless hero, who lives and kills as affectlessly as

8280-725: The case and served as an unpaid consultant to the film, citing his desire to have Hollywood captured. Zonen prosecuted Hollywood's co-defendants and was poised to prosecute Hollywood. After Hollywood was captured in Saquarema, Brazil, and subsequently returned to the United States, his defense lawyer claimed Zonen had a conflict of interest; the California Court of Appeal for the Second District ruled on October 5, 2006, that Zonen should be recused from further involvement in prosecuting Hollywood because of his disclosure of

8400-431: The character of Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle who Leitch described as a "tireless, brutal, vicious and indifferent" in terms of constraints of the law and his commanding officers. The film won several Academy Awards and was successful in the box office. This was followed in critical and commercial success of The Godfather (1972) which also won a Best Picture Academy Award and performed even better than The French Connection in

8520-573: The city into quadrants. This quadrant has been experiencing a housing expansion since the late 1950s. It abuts the base of the Sandia Mountains and contains portions of the foothills neighborhoods, which are significantly higher in elevation than the rest of the city. Running from Central Ave and the Railrunner tracks to the Sandia Peak Aerial Tram , this is the largest quadrant both geographically and by population. Martineztown,

8640-567: The city limits proper. A few houses in the farthest reach of this quadrant lie in the Cibola National Forest , just over the line into Sandoval County . This quadrant contains historic Old Town Albuquerque , which dates to the 18th century, as well as the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center . The area has a mixture of commercial districts and low to high-income neighborhoods. Northwest Albuquerque includes

8760-476: The city to make an annual holiday snowman. Albuquerque is geographically divided into four unequal quadrants that are officially part of mailing addresses, placed immediately after the street name. They are Northeast (NE), Northwest (NW), Southeast (SE), and Southwest (SW). Albuquerque's official quadrant system uses Central Ave for the north–south division and the railroad tracks for the east–west division. I-25 and I-40 are also sometimes used informally to divide

8880-429: The continual breakdown and re-establishment of borders among criminals, crime solvers and victims, concluding that "this paradox is at the heart of all crime films." Rafter echoed these statements, saying crime films should be defined on the basis of their relationship with society. Leitch writes that crime films reinforce popular social beliefs of their audience, such as the road to hell is paved with good intentions ,

9000-412: The crime film was following changing attitudes towards the law and the social order that criminals metaphorically reflect while most film were also no more explicitly violent or explicitly sexual than those of 1934. White Heat (1949) inaugurated a cycle of crime films that would deal with the omnipresent danger of the nuclear bomb with its theme of when being threatened with technological nightmares,

9120-554: The criminal psychology and are characterized by and emphasis on the crime unfolding often though montage and extended sequences. The genre is sometimes used interchangeable with the term "caper". The term was used for the more dramatic films of the 1950s, while in the 1960s, it had stronger elements of romantic comedy with more playful elements as seen in films like The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) and Topkapi (1964). Leitch described combining genres as problematic. Screenwriter and academic Jule Selbo expanded on this, describing

9240-680: The decade ended, the attitudes Hollywood productions had towards fictional criminals grew less straightforward and more conflicted. In 1935, Humphrey Bogart played Duke Mantee in The Petrified Forest (1936), a role Leitch described as the "first of Hollywood's overtly metaphorical gangsters." Bogart would appear in films in the later thirties: Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) and The Roaring Twenties (1939). Unlike actor James Cagney , whose appeal as described by Leitch "direct, physical, and extroverted", Bogart characters and acting suggested "depths of worldly disillusionment beneath

9360-545: The early 17th century. It was then chosen as the site of the San Agustín de la Isleta Mission , a Catholic mission . The historic Navajo , Apache , and Comanche peoples were likely to have set camps in the Albuquerque area, as there is evidence of trade and cultural exchange among the different Native American groups going back centuries before European arrival. Albuquerque was founded in 1706 as an outpost as La Villa de Alburquerque by Francisco Cuervo y Valdés in

9480-401: The end of the decade, American critics such as Parker Tyler and Robert Warshow regarded Hollywood itself as a stage for repressed American cultural anxieties following World War II. This can be seen in films such as Brute Force , a prison film where the prison is an existential social metaphor for a what Leitch described as a "meaningless, tragically unjust round of activities." By 1950,

9600-509: The files and work on the film. The California Supreme Court subsequently reversed that holding, but Deputy District Attorney Joshua Lynn replaced Zonen as lead prosecution attorney. Hollywood's attorney, James Blatt, tried to block the release of the film. After the delay, Hollywood's trial started May 15, 2009, with the defense's opening statements saying Hollywood was not involved with the murder. In his opening statement, Lynn described Hollywood as "a ruthless coward." On July 8, 2009, Hollywood

9720-469: The film was sold to Universal Pictures after New Line requested edits to the film that Cassavetes didn't want to make. The film's release was delayed by a year to January 12, 2007. Alpha Dog was released on DVD and HD-DVD on May 1, 2007 by Universal Studios Home Entertainment . DVD sales gathered $ 12,324,535 in revenue from 743,036 units sold. It was released on Blu-ray on July 13, 2010. During its opening weekend, Alpha Dog grossed $ 6,412,775 and

9840-653: The foothill areas of Sandia Heights and Glenwood Hills. The civic apex is found in an undeveloped area within the Albuquerque Open Space; there, the terrain rises to an elevation of approximately 6,880 feet (2,100 m), and the metropolitan area's highest point is Sandia Crest at an altitude of 10,678 feet (3,255 m). According to the United States Census Bureau , Albuquerque has a total area of 189.5 square miles (490.9 km ) , of which 187.7 square miles (486.2 km )

9960-536: The gangster films of the early 1930s were influenced by the early 1920s when cheap wood-pulp paper stocks led to an explosion in mass-market publishing. Newspapers would make folk heroes of bootleggers like Al Capone , while pulp magazines like Black Mask (1920) helped support more highbrow magazines such as The Smart Set which published stories of hard-edged detetives like Carroll John Daly 's Race Williams. The early wave of gangster films borrowed liberally from stories for early Hollywood productions that defined

10080-466: The genre has been popular since the dawn of the sound era of film. Ursini and Silver said that unlike the Western, the horror film, or the war film, the popularity of crime cinema has never waned. Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( / ˈ æ l b ə k ɜːr k i / AL -bə-kur-kee ; Spanish: [alβuˈkeɾke] ), also known as ABQ , Burque , and

10200-412: The genre represents a larger critique of either social or institutional order from the perspective of a character or from the film's narrative at large. The films also depend on the audience ambivalence towards crime. Master criminals are portrayed as immoral but glamourous while maverick police officers break the law to capture criminals. Leitch defined this as a critical to the film as the films are about

10320-566: The genre with films like Little Caesar (1931), The Public Enemy (1931), and Scarface (1932). In comparison to much earlier films of the silent era, Leitch described the 1930s cycle as turning "the bighearted crook silent films had considered ripe for redemption into a remorseless killer." Hollywood Studio heads were under such constant pressure from public-interest groups to tone down their portrayal of professional criminals that as early as 1931. Jack L. Warner announced that Warner Bros. would stop producing such films. Scarface itself

10440-443: The grave and begins to break down crying, pleading for his life. Frankie contemplates to Elvis that they shouldn't do it, but Elvis insists on following through to repay his debt. Frankie calms Zack down, telling him that he would never hurt him, and ties his hands and mouth with tape. Elvis then knocks Zack down into the grave and shoots him dead before he and Frankie silently leave. Left in the hastily covered shallow grave, Zack's body

10560-651: The green is due to large swaths of conifer forests. However, Robert Julyan notes in The Place Names of New Mexico , "the most likely explanation is the one believed by the Sandia Pueblo Indians: the Spaniards, when they encountered the Pueblo in 1540, called it Sandia, because they thought the squash growing there were watermelons, and the name Sandia soon was transferred to the mountains east of

10680-483: The group's muscle; Elvis Schmidt, who is ridiculed for being in debt to Johnny; and Jake Mazursky, a local drug addict also in debt with Johnny. Jake attempts to borrow money from his father, Butch, and stepmother, Olivia, while his younger half-brother Zack looks up to him and longs to escape his home life. A fight breaks out when Jake tries to pay Johnny only part of his debt, leading Johnny to get him fired from his telemarketing job by ratting on him to his boss that Jake

10800-526: The growing rage against the establishment spilled into portrayal police themselves with films like Bullitt (1968) about a police officer caught between mob killers and ruthless politicians while In the Heat of the Night (1967) which called for racial equality and became the first crime film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture . The French Connection (1971) dispensed Bullitt ' s noble hero for

10920-752: The growth in the metropolitan area is taking place outside of the city of Albuquerque itself. In Rio Rancho to the northwest, the communities east of the mountains, and the incorporated parts of Valencia County , population growth rates approach twice that of Albuquerque. The primary cities in Valencia County are Los Lunas and Belen , both of which are home to growing industrial complexes and new residential subdivisions. The mountain towns of Tijeras , Edgewood , and Moriarty , while close enough to Albuquerque to be considered suburbs, have experienced much less growth compared to Rio Rancho, Bernalillo, Los Lunas, and Belen. Limited water supply and rugged terrain are

11040-447: The kidnapping and send him home, to which Johnny agrees. However, after a threatening phone-call from Jake and learning from his lawyer that he could face life in prison for his actions, Johnny goes to Elvis and offers to cancel his debt if he kills Zack, handing him a submachine gun before going out with his girlfriend, Angela Holden, to celebrate her birthday. Believing Zack will be returning home that night, Frankie and his friends throw

11160-598: The largest section of Downtown , Rio Grande Nature Center State Park and the Bosque ("woodlands"), Petroglyph National Monument, Double Eagle II Airport , the Paradise Hills neighborhood, Taylor Ranch, and Cottonwood Mall . This quadrant also contains the North Valley settlement, outside the city limits, which has some expensive homes and small ranches along the Rio Grande . The city of Albuquerque engulfs

11280-445: The law is above individuals, and that crime does not pay. The genre also generally has endings that confirm the moral absolutes that an innocent victim, a menacing criminal, and detective and their own morals that inspire them by questioning their heroic or pathetic status, their moral authority of the justice system, or by presenting innocent characters who seem guilty and vice-versa. Crime films includes all films that focus on any of

11400-432: The life-sustaining Rio Grande now flows. Albuquerque lies in the Albuquerque Basin , a portion of the Rio Grande rift . The Sandia Mountains are the predominant geographic feature visible in Albuquerque. Sandía is Spanish for " watermelon ", and is popularly believed to be a reference to the brilliant pink and green coloration of the mountains at sunset. The pink is due to large exposures of granodiorite cliffs, and

11520-438: The line between reconstruction and reality in ways that are admittedly interesting, if more than a little artistically suspect." Yelchin was praised as "able to bring all of the conflicting emotions of Zack," and conveying all of it beautifully. Susan Markowitz attempted suicide three times. Jeff Markowitz elaborated, "She is so tortured by what happened that she has tried to take her own life. The last thing that either of us want

11640-498: The main gangster Jody Jarrett fights fire with fire. These themes extended into two other major crime films by bring the issues down from global to the subcultural level: The Big Heat (1953) and Kiss Me Deadly (1955) which use apocalyptical imagery to indicate danger with the first film which the film persistently links to images of catastrophically uncontrolled power and the "traumatic consequences" of nuclear holocaust and Kiss Me Deadly literally features an atom bomb waiting in

11760-491: The main limiting factors for development in these towns. The Mid Region Council of Governments (MRCOG), which includes constituents from throughout the Albuquerque area, was formed to ensure that these governments along the middle Rio Grande would be able to meet the needs of their rapidly rising populations. MRCOG's cornerstone project is currently the New Mexico Rail Runner Express . Albuquerque

11880-585: The mid-19th century, a federal garrison and quartermaster depot, the Post of Albuquerque, were established here, operating from 1846 to 1867. In Beyond the Mississippi (1867), Albert D. Richardson , traveling to California via coach, passed through Albuquerque in late October 1859—its population was 3,000 at the time—and described it as "one of the richest and pleasantest towns, with a Spanish cathedral and other buildings more than two hundred years old." During

12000-532: The old route now have brown, historical highway markers denoting it as Pre-1937 Route 66. The establishment of Kirtland Air Force Base in 1939, Sandia Base in the early 1940s, and Sandia National Laboratories in 1949, would make Albuquerque a key player of the Atomic Age. Meanwhile, the city continued to expand outward into the Northeast Heights, reaching a population of 201,189 by 1960 per

12120-405: The only or first gangster film following the fall of the production code, The Godfather (1972) was the most popular and launched a major revival of the style. The film followed the themes of the genres past while adding new emphasis on the intricate world of the mafia and its scale and seriousness that established new parameters for the genre. The heist film, also known as the "big caper" film

12240-498: The provincial kingdom of Santa Fe de Nuevo México . The settlement was named after the original town of Viceroy Francisco Fernández de la Cueva , 10th duke of Alburquerque , who was from Alburquerque, Badajoz in southwest Spain. Albuquerque developed primarily for farming and sheep herds. It was a strategically located trading and military outpost along the Camino Real . It served other Tiquex and Hispano towns settled in

12360-792: The pueblo." He also notes that the Sandia Pueblo Indians call the mountain Bien Mur , "Big Mountain." Albuquerque lies at the northern edge of the Chihuahuan Desert transitioning into the Colorado Plateau . The Sandia Mountains represent the northern edge of the Arizona/New Mexico Mountains ecoregion . The environments of Albuquerque include the Rio Grande bosque , (floodplain cottonwood forest), arid scrub, and mesas that turn into

12480-434: The release of the early gangster films following Little Caesar , which led to the 1935 Production Code Administration in 1935 ending its first major cycle. As early as 1939, the traditional gangster was already a nostalgic figure as seen in films like The Roaring Twenties (1939). American productions about career criminals became possible through the relaxation of the code in the 1950s and its abolition in 1966. While not

12600-514: The roadside to serve them. Route 66 originally ran through the city on a north–south alignment along Fourth Street. In 1937 it was realigned along Central Avenue , a more direct east–west route. The intersection of Fourth and Central downtown was the principal crossroads of the city for decades. The majority of the surviving structures from the Route 66 era are on Central, though there are also some on Fourth. Signs between Bernalillo and Los Lunas along

12720-480: The scenery, while Justin Timberlake gives a noteworthy performance." Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 53 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale. Justin Chang of Variety wrote: "Writer-director Nick Cassavetes' sprawling dramatization recklessly blurs

12840-536: The silent era differed radically from the Hollywood productions, reflecting the post-World War I continental culture. Drew Todd wrote that with this, Europeans tended to create darker stories and the audiences of these films were readier to accept these narratives. Several European silent films go much further in exploring the mystique of the criminal figures. These followed the success in France of Louis Feuillade 's film serial Fantômas (1913). The average budget for

12960-410: The success of Shaft (1971) which led to studios rushing to follow it's popularity with films like Super Fly (1972), Black Caesar (1973), Coffy (1973) and The Black Godfather (1974) The films were often derivations of earlier films such as Cool Breeze (1972), a remake of The Asphalt Jungle , Hit Man (1972) a remake of Get Carter (1971), and Black Mama, White Mama (1973)

13080-407: The three parties to a crime: criminal, victims, and avengers and explores what one party's relation to the other two. This allows the crime film to encompass films as wide as Wall Street (1987); caper films like The Asphalt Jungle (1950); and prison films ranging from Brute Force (1947) to The Shawshank Redemption (1994). Crime films are not definable by their mise-en-scene such as

13200-623: The village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque . A small portion of the rapidly developing area on the west side of the river south of the Petroglyphs, known as the " West Mesa " or "Westside", consisting primarily of traditional residential subdivisions, also extends into this quadrant. The city proper is bordered on the north by the North Valley, the village of Corrales , and the city of Rio Rancho . Kirtland Air Force Base , Sandia National Laboratories , Sandia Science & Technology Park,

13320-450: The war in narratives, with exceptions of film like The Green Berets (1968). The crime film Bonnie and Clyde (1967) revived the gangster film genre and captured the antiestablishment tone and set new standards for onscreen violence in film with its themes of demonizing American institution to attack the moral injustice of draft. This increase of violence was reflected in other crime films such as Point Blank (1967). Leitch found

13440-542: The western part of the city bear testimony to a Native American presence in the area dating back many centuries. These are preserved in the Petroglyph National Monument . The Tanoan and Keresan peoples had lived along the Rio Grande for centuries before European colonists arrived in the area that developed as Albuquerque. By the 1500s, there were around 20 Tiwa pueblos along a 60-mile (97 km) stretch of river from present-day Algodones to

13560-447: The winter. Cooper's hawks are common in city parks. Iconic vegetation includes the Rio Grande cottonwood in the bosque, and tree cholla , prickly pear , yucca , chamisa , and oneseed juniper in upland areas. The foothill open space at the eastern border also features Sonoran scrub oak and piñon pine . Desert willows are commonly planted throughout the city. Tumbleweeds are a common weed in disturbed areas, and are used by

13680-607: Was #7 at the box office. The film closed on February 22, 2007, after grossing $ 15,309,602 domestically, and totaled $ 32,145,115 worldwide over its six-week release. In the United States, Alpha Dog was released on January 12, 2007, along with Stomp the Yard & Primeval . On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 54% of 144 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The website's consensus reads: "A glossy yet unflinching portrait of violent, hedonistic teenagers. Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone chew

13800-536: Was also the city's first mayor, is the oldest continuing Jewish organization in the city. By 1900, Albuquerque boasted a population of 8,000 and all the modern amenities, including an electric street railway connecting Old Town, New Town, and the recently established University of New Mexico campus on the East Mesa. In 1902, the Alvarado Hotel was built adjacent to the new passenger depot, and it remained

13920-455: Was appointed the town's first marshal that year. New Albuquerque was incorporated as a town in 1885, with Henry N. Jaffa its first mayor. It was incorporated as a city in 1891. Old Town remained a separate community until the 1920s, when it was absorbed by Albuquerque. Old Albuquerque High School , the city's first public high school, was established in 1879. Congregation Albert , a Reform synagogue established in 1897, by Henry N. Jaffa, who

14040-522: Was convicted of simple kidnapping and first-degree murder with special circumstances and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Alpha Dog was first screened at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2006, as the closing film. The film was originally set to be distributed by New Line Cinema , who previously distributed John Q. (2002) and The Notebook (2004) for director Nick Cassavetes . However,

14160-532: Was delayed for over a year as its director Howard Hughes talked with the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America 's Production Code Office over the films violence and overtones of incest. A new wave of crime films that began in 1934 were made that had law enforcers as glamourous and as charismatic as the criminals. J. Edgar Hoover , director the Bureau of Investigation (renamed

14280-465: Was released by Milan Records on January 9, 2007. Crime drama Screenwriter and scholar Eric R. Williams identified crime film as one of eleven super-genres in his Screenwriters Taxonomy , claiming that all feature-length narrative films can be classified by these super-genres.  The other ten super-genres are action, fantasy, horror, romance, science fiction, slice of life, sports, thriller, war and western. Williams identifies drama in

14400-400: Was under intense social reform with cities rapidly expanding and leading to social unrest and street crime rising and some people forming criminal gangs. In this early silent film period, criminals were more prominent on film screens than enforcers of the law. Among these early films from the period is D.W. Griffith 's The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912) involving a young woman hounded by

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