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Tag Archives: noir
June 2024 Viewing Diary
Sunset Boulevard (1950; d. Billy Wilder) I had so much fun discussing Sunset Boulevard with the audience after the screening at Jacob Burns Film Center. I’ll be doing another one in August, after Billy Wilder’s The Apartment. The audience was … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged action movies, Billy Wilder, comedy, France, Glen Powell, Gloria Swanson, Meryl Streep, New Zealand, noir, Richard Linklater, romantic comedy, romantic drama, short film, Steven Spielberg, Sunset Boulevard, Thomas J. Wright, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, war movies, William Holden, women directors
12 Comments
“I got my luck with Gun Crazy. It’s a part I thought I could play, don’t ask me why. ” — Peggy Cummins
It’s her birthday today. I wrote this in 2011 for a Film Noir Blogathon. I post it today in tribute to a great actress. 5 Things About Peggy Cummins in Gun Crazy Introduction Joseph Lewis’ brilliant, erotic, and influential Gun … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged crime movies, Gun Crazy, Joseph H. Lewis, noir, Peggy Cummins
45 Comments
September/October 2023 Viewing Diary
I moved in late September. Again. I found a little cozy apartment, the second floor of a little house, with slanted ceilings, little cubbyhole-eaves everywhere, and a big yard. It’s a 10 minute walk to the beach. I found it … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies
Tagged Bette Davis, biopic, comedy, Costa-Gavras, Dana Andrews, documentary, drama, Eli Wallach, England, Ewan McGregor, France, Fritz Lang, George Cukor, George Sanders, Germany, Gloria Grahame, Hal Wallis, historical drama, Ireland, Joan Crawford, Joan Fontaine, Judy Blume, Kate Lyn Sheil, Lana Turner, Lee Marvin, Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, Miriam Hopkins, noir, Norma Shearer, Otto Preminger, Paul Schrader, Rachel McAdams, River Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Roman Polanski, Rosalind Russell, Sidney Lumet, Spain, Supernatural, Vincente Minnelli, women directors, WWII
29 Comments
Mirrors #17
Wandering aimlessly through Laura’s apartment, his sense of uneasiness growing, as he almost visibly avoids Laura’s portrait, the detective (Dana Andrews) – who may very well be the most naturally taciturn man who ever lived – taciturn to the point … Continue reading
Mirrors #16
Joan Fontaine’s chilling “mirror moment” in the astonishing Ivy (1947). (Joan Fontaine? Playing an evil woman? Really?? YES.) In this moment, dressed in mourning for her husband – who died somewhat mysteriously – hmmm – she avoids looking in her … Continue reading
Mirrors #14
Robert Siodmak’s Phantom Lady has many interesting mirror moments, one where Ella Raines – dressed up as a floozy, for the purposes of going undercover to get intel from a frighteningly lascivious Elisha Cook Jr. on the mysterious woman in … Continue reading