Weekly Screenings and a Noir Blogathon Announcement

Happy to have two good reasons to post today. First, blogger The Midnite Drive-In is hosting a classic Film Noir Blogathon August 12-14. Just pick a noir film and write about it! Hope you'll join in. I'll be writing about John...

Double Indemnity Personality Quiz

We know they’re cheesy, but who can resist checking off boxes for fun? Whether we’ll discover the true nature of our soulmate or the color best suited to our business style, and despite knowing we’ll actually learn nothing of the...

Weekly Screening Round-up: from Tarantino to Weimar

My combined interest in Holocaust studies and film noir led to quite a screening expedition this week...   Odd Man Out (1947): I'd been meaning to watch this film about Northern Ireland starring James Mason and directed by Carol Reed...

#BNoirDetour Film for 4/24: City Streets

Let's roll back to 1931 and enjoy a fabulous pre-Code pre-noir together! City Streets (1931) is a pre-Code adventure ("Throbbing with thrills!") about Nan (Sylvia Sidney -- who replaced an ill Clara Bow in the role), a mobster's daughter, who falls...

Inglourious Basterds (2009): A Few Thoughts

I am not a fan of Tarantino or his films. Arrogance is a trait his characters share with him, and he's so self-consciously aiming at auteurist immortality with every genre bend, orgiastic lashing of ultraviolence, and heavy-handed intertextual reference that...

Weekly Screening Round-up

I did some rewatching of noir flicks this week, but also enjoyed two new films -- one old and dark, one new and satirically darker: Phantom Lady (1944): I finally got to see Phantom Lady, featuring Ella Raines, directed by Robert Siodmak,...

#BNoirDetour Film for Sunday 4/17: Where the Sidewalk Ends

Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950) is full of noir cred, produced and directed as it is by Otto Preminger (Laura, Fallen Angel, Angel Face), based on a screenplay by Ben Hecht (Spellbound, Notorious, Kiss of Death), and featuring Dana Andrews (Laura,...

Flicker Alley Blogathon: Gender in Woman on the Run

I was thrilled to be invited to participate in Flicker Alley's Noir Blogathon, celebrating its May 10 release (in partnership with UCLA and the Film Noir Foundation) of two great noir pictures, restored and enhanced with bonus materials in combined...

Weekly Screening Round-up

This week, I indulged in more dark classic cinema and a TV delight, too... Having discovered rarefilmm.com recently means I've also discovered some lesser known films featuring actors I love. This week, that includes Unholy Partners and Night Has a Thousand Eyes, both...