When the 2008 Edgar Awards were announced, Barbara Peters of Poisoned Pen said, "As you can see in the Edgars list, some of the best work now is in noir. For many years wisdom had it that the French kept noir alive, but right now, it's not just well but flourishing."
To help get you in the noir spirit, there are several Film Noir Festivals coming up. For some reason, the first of the year seems to be a peak time for these--due to the starker landscapes winter brings, perhaps?
Unfortunately, one is already underway, but it runs through February, so you still have some time to catch showings. It's the Rochester, New York, Film Noir Festival, titled "What Exactly is Film Noir?" You can find a calendar and ticket information here and here. Coming up is "Nightmare Alley," with two Fritz Lang films, "The Big Heat" and "Human Desire" close behind.
Certainly one of the largest noir films festivals is the annual Noir City event, now in its 6th year, held in San Francisco's Castro Theatre with over 11,000 people in attendance last year. It starts off this Friday, January 25th, with a tribute to actress Joan Leslie in two films, "Repeat Performance" and "The Hard Way" and ends on February 3rd with two Richard Widmark films, "Roadhouse" and "Night in the City." But there's also lots of other murder and mayhem in-between.
The Belcourt Theater is hosting The Nashville Noir Film Festival February 1st - March 4th with such classics as Humphrey Bogart's turn on Philip Marlowe in "The Big Sleep" and more recent takes like "Blow Out," Brian de Palma's thriller starring John Travolta from 1981.
The University of Houston-Downtown's Department of English is hosting "Noir Nation: A Film Series" January 24 - April 17, Thursday evenings (except March 6 & 20), at 7 p.m. Although there isn't a web site for the series, it's free and open to the public, and located at the University of Houston / Downtown, 1 Main Street, Academic Building, Room A.436 (Metro stop: UH Downtown Station). A sampling of their offerings includes:
Jan. 24 -- The Maltese Falcon
Jan. 31 -- Double Indemnity
Feb. 7 -- The Big Sleep
Feb. 14 -- Gilda
Feb. 21 -- Out of the Past
And just to show that not *all* noir film festivals are early in the year, you can start marking your calendar now for the Seattle Art Museum's annual film noir series which The Los Angeles Times called "the granddaddy of the world’s film noir festivals." Tickets usually go on sale in September; you can keep an eye on the museum's web site for details.
Mention should be made of the Annual Alberque Noir Film Festival at the Guild Cinema in Nob Hill, Albuquerque, which has featured many obscure B titles over the past four years. The full 2007 program of 20 movies is listed here: http://filmsnoir.net/film_noir/noir-and-other-perversities-at-nob-hill-albuquerque-film-noir-festival.html
Posted by: films noir | January 22, 2008 at 05:21 PM