Film Noir Releases in May 2018

If you’re new to my monthly Film Noir Releases posts, welcome! My goal is to cover all the first-time releases to Blu-ray and DVD, usually passing over reissues unless there’s a good reason to include them. (I also tend to leave out more recent films from the last several years.) Unless otherwise noted, the following are all North American Region A Blu-ray discs. I often use the terms “film noir” and “neo-noir” rather loosely, so while you may quibble with some of my choices, I hope these are films you’ll at least consider. As always, if you know of any film noir or neo-noir films I’ve left out, please let me know in the comments below. And thanks for reading.

Just a few weeks ago, things looked pretty bleak for May releases, but several new titles have been announced in the last few days. More may be on the way; if so, I’ll be sure to update the post. But what we have so far looks pretty interesting… Let’s have a look:

Film Noir Releases in November 2017

Photo: Film Riot

If you’re new to my monthly Film Noir Releases posts, welcome! My goal is to cover all the first-time releases to Blu-ray and DVD, usually passing over reissues unless there’s a good reason to include them. Unless otherwise noted, these are all North American Region A Blu-ray discs. I often use the terms “film noir” and “neo-noir” rather loosely, so while you may quibble with some of my choices, I hope these are films you’ll at least consider. As always, if you know of any film noir or neo-noir films I’ve left out, please let me know in the comments below. And thanks for reading!

As far as new releases go, November 2017 isn’t exactly a barn burner… But Noirvember does offer a classic from Criterion, a nice UK Region B box set, and maybe a few other temptations for you. Let’s get started:

Film Noir Releases in October 2017

If you’re new to my monthly film noir releases post, welcome! My goal is to cover all the first-time releases to Blu-ray and DVD, usually passing over reissues unless there’s a good reason to include them. Unless otherwise noted, these are all North American Region A Blu-ray discs. I often use the terms “film noir” and “neo-noir” rather loosely, so while you may quibble with some of my choices, I hope these are films you’ll at least consider. As always, if you know of any film noir or neo-noir films I’ve left out, please let me know in the comments below. And thanks for reading!

It should come as no surprise that October is ruled by horror releases, but there are still some nice noir titles to be had including a motherlode box set that will excite most any noir fan provided they can speak and understand French (and own a region-free Blu-ray player). Let’s see what October holds…

Movies Watched in August 2017 Part III

Overall I felt like August was a slow month, but I did manage to see quite a few films, most of them for the first time. If you missed the earlier parts of the month, please check out Part I and Part II. Here’s Part III:

Movies Watched in August 2017 Part II

If you missed Part I of the films I watched in August, this will get you caught up. Continuing…

My Introduction to the Genius of Jacques Tati

Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday (1953)
Directed by Jacques Tati
Filmstruck (1:27)

5/5

PlayTime (1967)
Directed by Jacques Tati
Filmstruck (2:04)

5/5

These two films represent many “firsts” for me: the first time I’ve seen anything by Tati, the first time (as far as I can remember) that I’ve watched two works by a new-to-me director back-to-back, and the first time (again, as far as I can remember) I’ve given five stars to back-to-back works by the same director.

Film Noir Releases in June 2017

There’s quite a bit in store for noir and neo-noir fans in June with several new releases (and at least one reissue), several of them from across the pond, so if you don’t have a region-free Blu-ray player, now’s a great time to pick one up.

Disclaimer: unless otherwise indicated, all releases are Blu-rays (just one DVD exception this month). Region B discs from France or the UK are identified as such. I’ve stopped listing releases of French films that do not have English subtitles. Unless otherwise noted, the images are those displayed under each title’s entry at Blu-ray.com.

So let’s see what June has to offer…

Movies Watched in April 2017 Part III

I saw fewer films in April (35) than I did in March (51), yet somehow time slipped away from me and I didn’t get to explore them in much detail, or in some cases at all. So here is an embarrassingly abbreviated version of what I saw during the last part of April. (You can also check out Part I and Part II.)

Movies Watched in February 2017 Part I

February is off to a pretty good start with 10 movies in seven days. Please read on…

Blind Spot Series 2017:L’Avventura (1960)

L’Avventura (1960)
Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni
Produced by Amato Pennasilico
Written by Michelangelo Antonioni, Elio Bartolini, Tonino Guerra
Cinematography by Aldo Scavarda
Edited by Eraldo Da Roma
Music by Giovanni Fusco
FilmStruck (2:23)

(For more about the Blind Spot series, please check out The Matinee.)

“Everything is becoming so hideously easy. Even forgetting pain.”

This line – delivered late in the film – summarizes what L’Avventura is all about. It is a revelatory line for the character who delivers it, a line that not only encapsulates everything about the film, but also barely scratches the surface of much bigger themes.