People Who Need People
Thomas and Rose Uva are about to become the somebodies they always wanted to be.
Read MoreThe Mark of Cain
Axel Freed (James Caan) is desperately trying to become a loser on his own terms in James Toback’s The Gambler (1974). Directed by Karel Reisz, costarring Paul Sorvino and Lauren Hutton.
Read MoreNowhere Man
Man Without a Map (1968) is a bizarre psychedelic explosion of a detective film from the minds of Hiroshi Teshigahara, Kobo Abe, and Tôru Takemitsu.
Read MoreNoblesse Oblige
“Can the Devil get justice?” Jeremy Irons is Claus von Bülow in Reversal of Fortune (1990)
Read MoreDon't Fear the Reaper
Jason Miller and Bo Hopkins star in The Nickel Ride (1974), a noir fever dream set in LA’s Skid Row.
Read MoreWithin the Law
In The Glass Shield, J.J. Johnson (Michael Boatman) is the first African American in the county sheriff’s department and the bullshit starts immediately. Charles Burnett’s 1994 film is a meditative look at racism and corruption within law enforcement that unfortunately feels like it was made yesterday. Costarring Lori Petty, Ice Cube, Bernie Casey, M. Emmet Walsh, and Elliott Gould.
Read MoreCalifornia Soul
Spoiler alert: there is no laughter in The Laughing Policeman (1973). This deeply flawed film, starring Walter Matthau and shot on location in San Francisco, offers a rare glimpse into a city on the brink of immense change.
Read MoreMy Favorite Classic Noir Films
In honor of Noir City 2020 I thought it would be nice to list some of my favorite noir films that range from top-notch pantheon titles to a few that are more obscure but no less thrilling. See you at the Castro!
Read MoreCreatures of the Night
In forty-three years All the President’s Men (1976) has evolved from a headline-driven biopic into a Val Lewton-esque horror film with danger lurking in every shadow.
Read MoreCrossing the Line
Cassandra’s Dream (2007) is an underrated thriller from Woody Allen’s London period starring Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell.
Read MoreA Death in the Family
Little Odessa (1994) is director James Grey’s debut feature, a mournful family drama set in the criminal underworld of Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach. Starring Tim Roth, Edward Furlong, Maximilian Schell, and Vanessa Redgrave.
Read MoreHeatstroke
After Dark, My Sweet (1990) begins as only the best noirs do: a handsome drifter arrives in town with dubious motives and immediately makes the acquaintance of a woman with sinister plans of her own. Based on a novel by Jim Thompson.
Read MoreLet Us Now Praise Famous Men
Two of the greatest film stars of the 1970s, John Cassavetes and Peter Falk, are old friends on the run in Mikey and Nicky (1976)
Read MoreAlong the River Danube
Jessica Lange begins to question her father's past (Armin Mueller-Stahl) when he's accused of war crimes in Costa-Gavras's Music Box (1989)
Read MoreBeing Good
Why is the dirtiest cop in New York smiling? Watch The Seven Five (2014) to find out, a documentary that takes you into most dangerous neighborhood of late-80s Brooklyn and introduces you to the cops who took advantage of the terror.
Read MoreLost in a Fog
Watch Gregory Peck lose his mind in Edward Dmytryk's Mirage (1965), a brisk and funny thriller co-starring Walter Matthau and Diane Baker.
Read MoreCastles Made of Sand
Michael Clayton (2007) is not a film about good people.
Read MoreDaydream Nation
S.F.W. (1994) is not a cookie-cutter Gen X movie. It's a critique on how the media trivializes and commodifies tragedy that has, if anything, become stronger twenty years later in the wake of 9/11, reality TV, and alternative facts.
Read MoreTroubled Waters
Young Adam (2003) is an unforgettable tale of angst, wanderlust, and regret set in 1950s Scotland.
Read MoreThe Ties That Bind
Sean Penn's The Indian Runner (1991) is a poignant drama the envisions Cain and Abel in small-town America.
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