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Overlooked Noir
99 RIVER STREET: can he get off the canvas of life?
ACROSS THE BRIDGE: predicament after predicament, all of his own making
ANOTHER DAWN: tight escapes embedded in political critique
ACT OF VIOLENCE: stunned into terror and self-loathing
ASHES AND DIAMONDS: a killer wants to stop
THE BEAST MUST DIE: it’s all in the motive
THE BIG COMBO: toppling a sadist to steal his dame
THE BRIBE: ambiguity and double crosses amid the sweat
BLACK GRAVEL: too jaded for love?
THE BURGLAR: loyalty among thieves
THE BLACK VAMPIRE: bad guys and good guys all chase the child killer
CAGED: Eleanor Parker and Hope Emerson in the prototype for Orange is the New Black
CASH ON DEMAND: film noir’s Christmas Carol
THE CRIMSON KIMONO: Sam Fuller and James Shigeta break ground
CRY DANGER: getting framed wasn’t the worst part
THE DARK CORNER: framed…again
DECOY: the MOST FATALE femme fatale
ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS: one murder is his alibi for another
GAMBLING HOUSE: ordinary except for the patter
THE GANGSTER: a seedy empire crumbles
GUILTY BYSTANDER: booze gets in the way of redemption
HE WALKED BY NIGHT: nerd hunt
HIS KIND OF WOMAN: he knows the deal is too good
HUMAN DESIRE: she is who she is
JOE MACBETH: the Scottish play in gangster Chicago
I WAKE UP SCREAMING: framed by a stalker
KILLER’S KISS: Stanley Kubrick presages neo-noir
KISS OF DEATH: trapped, and facing a giggling psycho
THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK: outbreak noir
THE LINEUP: cool killer, volcanic killer, careening thru San Francisco
THE LONG HAUL: moments from an escape
THE MAN WHO CHEATED HIMSELF: he shoulda known better
THE MIDNIGHT STORY: a North Beach whodunit
MURDER, MY SWEET: hardboiled detective as piñata
THE NARROW MARGIN: murderous hide and go seek on a train
NIGHT AND THE CITY: he doesn’t know that he’s the sucker
NIGHT FALLS: can he skip out on EVERY woman he has mistreated?
NIGHTFALL: hunting loot while on the run
PAID TO KILL: paying for a murder and then changing your mind
PANIC IN THE STREETS: a man hunt on the down low
THE PHENIX CITY STORY: ripped from the headlines
Hugo Haas and PICKUP: an old fool and his young blonde…
PITFALL: a noir thriller without a sap or a femme fatale
THE PROWLER: Van Heflin takes a dark turn
PUSHOVER: stealing the girl from the crook and the loot from the cops
RAW DEAL: Ménage à noir
RAZZIA: Gabin as gangster consultant
RIDE THE PINK HORSE: disillusioned in New Mexico
SALON MEXICO: a Mexico City time capsule
THE SET-UP: when the loser surprises
STRANGER ON THE THIRD FLOOR: Nicholas Musaraca and the beginning of film noir
SUDDEN FEAR: twelve minutes of movie perfection
LOS TALLOS AMARGOS (THE BITTER STEMS): his nemesis is within him
THREE STRANGERS: some motives are darker than others
THE TURNING POINT: justice comes at a high price
TWILIGHT: concentrated passion, obsession and betrayal – all ready to explode
VIOLENT SATURDAY: desert noir in De Luxe color
WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS: backstabbing in the boardroom in a race to find the killer
WITNESS TO MURDER: can she believe her own eyes?
WOMAN ON THE RUN: a sassy gal in 1950 San Francisco
Overlooked Neo-noir
ALL NIGHT LONG: Othello in the jazz world
…AND THE FIFTH HORSEMAN IS FEAR: a masterpiece exposé of political oppression
THE AMERICAN FRIEND: Dennis Hopper and Robby Müller make things weird
THE AURA: smart enough to plan the perfect crime, but is that enough?
BLAST OF SILENCE: a cauldron of seething hatred
BRICK: hardboiled neo-noir in high school
CARLITO’S WAY – Pacino illuminates another gangster epic
CHARLEY VARRICK: his wits vs. the mob
A COLT IS MY PASSPORT: a yakuza spaghetti western
CUTTER’S WAY – sometimes there really is a conspiracy
A DARK, DARK MAN: rounding up the usual suspects in Kazakhstan
DOSE OF REALITY: an ending that no one will see coming
ELENA – a vividly dark peek into contemporary Russia
FRANK & LOLA: bad girl or troubled girl?
THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE: when all the choices are bad
THE GIFT: three people revealed
GUMSHOE: a noir fan plays detective
HARD EIGHT – the indie neo-noir that launched careers
IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH: undeterred, even by heartbreak
KILLER JOE: you sure ain’t gonna be bored
THE LAST LULLABY: backing out of a contract hit
LE DEUXIEME SOUFFLE (SECOND WIND): a criminal and a cop, both formidable
THE LITTLE THINGS: worth it for Denzel
MEMORIES OF MURDER: one of the great serial killer movies
MYSTERY ROAD and GOLDSTONE: indigenous outback neo-noir
ONE FALSE MOVE: the inevitable confrontation with America’s original sin
THE OUTFIT: Robert Duvall, Karen Black and Joe Don Baker on the loose in the 70s
PALE FLOWER: bracing neo-noir
SAINT JACK: Gazzara, Bogdanovich and Corman take on the Vietnam War
THE SICILIAN CLAN: Gabin, Delon and Ventura
THE SNIPER: lethal mommy issues
THE STRANGLER: momma’s boy hunts women, then fondles dolls
TAKE AIM AT THE POLICE VAN: wild title, wild movie
TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A.: obsession without an iota of redemption
THE TWO FACES OF JANUARY: dark hearts in sunny Greece
VICTORIA: a thrill ride filmed in one shot
THE WHISTLERS: walking a tightrope of treachery
THE WOMAN CHASER: a (very, very) darkly funny once-lost film
THE YAZUKA: an older Mitchum, just as cool
2,000 Movies (alpha list)
SFFILM
SFFILM 2024
SFFILM 2023
SFFILM 2022
SFFILM 2021
SFFILM 2019
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SFFILM 2017
SFFILM 2016
CINEQUEST
CINEQUEST 2026
Streaming the Best of Cinequest
CINEQUEST 2025
Cinequest 2024
Cinequest 2023
Cinequest 2022
Cinequest 2021
Cinequest 2020
Cinequest 2019
Cinequest 2018
Cinequest 2017
Cinequest 2016
Cinequest 2015
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Cinequest 2012
Cinequest 2011
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