I spent most of the weekend at the Grand Lake enjoying the Noir City festival, watching dark crime movies. Here's what I saw: Saturday Matinée B+ Night Has a Thousand Eyes Do you want to know the future? In this dark fantasy, Edward G. Robinson can see the future, and he wishes he couldn't. He … Continue reading The last weekend…of this year’s Noir City
Category: Film Noir
Film Noir
It’s a dark and foggy film festival…and it’s only weeks away
Noir City isn't like most Bay Area Film Festivals. For one thing, they don't show new movies. You could probably stream most of these pictures right now in your home. But it's a lot more fun watching the movies at Oakland's Grand Lake Theater. People dress up for the occasion. Every movie is preceded by … Continue reading It’s a dark and foggy film festival…and it’s only weeks away
In the Heat of the Night in 4K
The Best Picture winner of 1967 is one terrific noir. But it's far more than that. Culturally, it was an important part of the civil rights movement, while still being an effective whodunit. It also used color film in ways that few had been rarely successful before – especially in noir. Kino Lorber is selling … Continue reading In the Heat of the Night in 4K
What’s leaving Criterion at the end of November
At the end of every month, the Criterion Channel removes a lot of movies from their streaming service (although some return surprisingly fast). Here are only a few of the films that will go away when November disappears. Full recommendations A Deep Cover (1992) Here's an extraordinary film noir from the early 1990s. Laurence Fishburne … Continue reading What’s leaving Criterion at the end of November
Early Kubrick in 4K Ultra HD: The Killing
Stanley Kubrick started his Hollywood career with this crackerjack noir heist thriller. He did it so well that it's hard to believe that he never tried to do a noir again. Professional criminal Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) orchestrates a complex racetrack robbery likely to net two million 1956 dollars. Hayden's rat-a-tat-tat delivery does wonders for … Continue reading Early Kubrick in 4K Ultra HD: The Killing
My Noir City 2022 experience
Sad to say, I've only seen one double bill in this year's Noir City festival - Saturday's matinee. And it looks like I won't be able to attend anything Sunday. So here are the two films I'm able to see this year: The Accused and The Killer That Stalked New York. Hopefully, you may be … Continue reading My Noir City 2022 experience
Touch of Evil in 4K Ultra
Orson Welles' last Hollywood feature was one of the great film noirs. It begins with a brilliant sequence done in one shot without cutting, but with considerable camera movement. Welles has already shown you that a timebomb will soon explode. It's entirely set at and near the American/Mexican border. Come next Tuesday, Kino Lorber will … Continue reading Touch of Evil in 4K Ultra
Noir City Oaktown
It was 3:00am. The streets were deserted. The fog was as thick as the plot of a Raymond Chandler novel. I was missing something important. I hadn't attended Noir City since 2019. A bad case of the flu kept me at home that year. At least I thought it was the flu. Within weeks, a … Continue reading Noir City Oaktown
Bogart, Lupino, & the High Sierra on blu-ray
Badd After eight years in prison, "Mad Dog" Roy Earle walks out. The mob paid a lot of dough to get him released - they have a job for him to do. But what does Earle do first? He goes to a local park and enjoys the trees and watches the children playing. Humphrey Bogart … Continue reading Bogart, Lupino, & the High Sierra on blu-ray
Samuel Fuller Criterion: Pickup on South Street on Blu-ray
Here's one of the best noirs from the dark, grimy, golden age of the genre. Written and directed by the great Samuel Fuller, it doesn't pull its punches, either metaphorically or literally. Richard Widmark (whose cold face cries out for noir) stars as a pickpocket who lifts the wrong wallet on a crowded New York … Continue reading Samuel Fuller Criterion: Pickup on South Street on Blu-ray
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