Noirvember 2020, Episode 4: The Minus Man (1999)

I’m jumping ahead a several decades to neo-noir territory with Owen Wilson as a serial killer. Wha??? Seriously? Read more about this underseen movie.

The Spanish Prisoner (1997) David Mamet

Today I revisit a neo-noir I first saw over 20 years ago. Does it hold up? Find out!

The Haunted Characters of Cutter’s Way (1981)

Sure, we’re getting close to Halloween, but I just can’t stop watching film noir, or in this case, neo-noir. Today I examine the haunted characters of the 1981 film Cutter’s Way. (Contains spoilers!)

Film Noir Releases in August 2019

An interesting month for sure… My best advice is to be ready to try new (and old) things. Here we go…

Summer Reading Challenge 2019: Moseby Confidential: Arthur Penn’s Night Moves and the Rise of Neo-Noir (2019) Matthew Asprey Gear

A terrific movie deserves a terrific book and this is it! Please read my review.

Small Town Crime (2017) Eshom Nelms, Ian Nelms

Here’s one that’s slipped under the radar, but if you’re a fan of crime movies, you won’t want to miss it. It’s currently streaming on Netflix, so read my review and see if you think it’s for you. (I’m betting it is.)

Noirvember 2018, Episode 13: The Last Seduction (1994)

Oh boy… Linda Fiorentino will mess. You. Up. Find out more here.

Private Property (1960) Leslie Stevens

I’m taking a short break from Noir City DC to discuss a thriller/neo-noir you might’ve missed, Private Property featuring Warren Oates. Please read on!

Argentine Cinema: El Aura (2005) Fabián Bielinsky

El Aura (2005)
Written and directed by Fabián Bielinsky
Produced by Ariel Saúl, Victor Hadida, Cecilia Bossi
Music by Dario Eskenazi
Cinematography by Checco Varese
Edited by Alejandro Carrillo Penovi, Fernando Pardo
IFC DVD (2:18)

One of the things I appreciate most about film festivals and shows like TCM’s Noir Alley is the presenter’s ability to convey how film noir developed organically from events happening in the culture at the time those films were made. Those who excel at such presentations help audiences understand how post-WWII fears and anxieties greatly contributed to a sense of cynicism in films produced in the 1940s and 50s. Add to that the variations of what we once accepted as well-defined male and female roles in our society, the threat of communism, the problems of veterans returning home to a different world, and much more. Without these presenters as guides, it’s often difficult to navigate our own history while trying to understand the stories behind the stories, much less the experiences of filmmakers working in other countries. I explored some of this with El ángel desnudo (1946), the first movie discussed in the book Argentine Cinema: From Noir to Neo-Noir by David George and Gizella Meneses. Today, I’ll look at El Aura, a more recent Argentine noir which draws heavily from its cultural background.

Noir City DC 2017: Sexy Beast (2000) Jonathan Glazer

Gary “Gal” Dove (Ray Winstone) has had a good run as a safe-cracker, so good that he and his wife DeeDee (Amanda Redman) can afford to retire from London bank jobs and relax at their Spanish villa. All is well until an old associate named Don Logan (Ben Kingsley) demands that Gal pull one more heist for London crime boss Teddy Bass (Ian McShane). If you’re a fan of classic film noir, you’ll recognize this as the basic set-up from Out of the Past (1947), but the similarities pretty much end there.