Announcements Jul 29 2008 @ 10:08 pm
August is Film Noir Month at MovieZeal
I teased you last week. Consider this the official announcement of MovieZeal’s month long film noir retrospective, 31 days chock full of cynical chiaroscuro goodness. The party (or “noir-ty” as it might be called if I had no self-respect, but I do, so it won’t) gets started this Friday, and each day will bring a new review of a different noir. Calling upon the collective power of the blogosphere like He-Man might call upon Greyskull, we’ve pulled together quite the talented crop of guest writers who will be tackling various and sundry noirs over the month. Not only does this keep things flavorful, it also prevents Phillip, Luke, and myself from sacrificing what lives we have at the Altar of the Noir.
Expect reviews and articles on noir from (in no particular order) Graham Culbertson of Movies et al., Joseph Demme of Cinexcellence, Daniel Getahun of Getafilm, Nick Plowman of Fataculture, Alexander Coleman of Coleman’s Corner in Cinema, Chuck Bowen of Bowen’s Cinematic, Craig Kennedy of Living In Cinema,Rick Olson of Coosa Creek Mambo, Dylan Fields of Blog Cabins, Matt Gamble of Where the Long Tail Ends,
Using the power of Google, I took a few hours to compile the list for the month. Using IMDB’s Top 50 Noirs as a starting place (a flawed list, to be sure), I cross-checked it with numerous other Top 10 lists and articles on the subject, as well as referencing top noir experts such as Alain Silver and Paul Schrader. I’m confident that these are 31 of the best examples the style has to offer, and while no list is perfect, this one is quite thorough. As you’ll see, I’ve confined the list to the classic period (early 40s to late 50s) rather than open it up to proto-noir, neo-noir, and all other manner of pseudo noir (I’ll go into the reasons for this more on Friday).
You may also have noticed that our randomized banner up at the top has started cycling through frames (and posters) from all of the films we will be profiling this month. There are over 90 different banners, but rather than have you attempt to guess which banner is from which film (a nearly impossible feat), I’ve included a handy little label in the bottom corner so you kids can follow along at home. I’m cool like that.
So, without further yapping (and after the jump), here are the films we will be featuring during August, in chronological order, including a gallery of all the theatrical posters. Feel free to spout off in the comments if I’ve left off your favorite.
1. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
2. This Gun For Hire (1942
3. Double Indemnity (1944)
4. Laura (1944)
5. Mildred Pierce (1945)
6. Detour (1945)
7. The Killers (1946)
8. The Big Sleep (1946)
9. Notorious (1946)
10. The Lady From Shanghai (1947)
11. Out of the Past (1947)
12. Nightmare Alley (1947)
13. The Third Man (1949)
14. White Heat (1949)
15. The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
16. Gun Crazy (1950)
17. D.O.A. (1950)
18. Sunset Boulevard (1950)
19. In a Lonely Place (1950)
20. Night and the City (1950)
21. Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1950)
22. Ace in the Hole (1951)
23. Strangers on a Train (1951)
24. The Big Heat (1953)
25. The Night of the Hunter (1955)
26. Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
27. Rififi (1955)
28. The Big Combo (1955)
29. The Killing (1956)
30. Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
31. Touch of Evil (1958)
on Jul 29 2008 @ 10:24 pm 1. Daniel said …
Flippin’ Amazing. Nothing like the hottest and most humid month of summer for a dip into the dark, gritty underworld of noir.
Man, you guys put on a good show here at MZ.
on Jul 29 2008 @ 10:33 pm 2. Cinexcellence said …
I’m enjoying The Killers so far.
And it’s nice to see my beloved Sunset Boulevard on the list.
on Jul 29 2008 @ 11:27 pm 3. Jandy said …
What a fantastic (and wide-ranging) line-up of noir! I’m really looking forward to reading all the entries and revisiting these films (and visiting a few for the first time). I’ve been wanting to rev up my Netflix queue with some noir; seems like this is a good opportunity!
on Jul 29 2008 @ 11:31 pm 4. Jandy’s Meanderings » Blog Archive » Film Noir at MovieZeal said …
[…] MovieZeal is running a series throughout August focusing on film noir: 31 days, 31 films, and every one a winner. Watch them, read about them, love them. These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. […]
on Jul 30 2008 @ 1:38 am 5. Fletch said …
If only I could watch a film a day, then read the posts. Somehow, this needs to happen. Talk about a crash course…
on Jul 30 2008 @ 10:37 am 6. Craig Kennedy said …
I’m already breaking out in a cold noir sweat…
on Jul 30 2008 @ 12:49 pm 7. G said …
Yeah, Fletch, I’m gonna do my best to watch as many of these that I haven’t seen as I can. The best news for me: many of them are on my reading list. But still, my semester starts on the 19th, and my lesson plans suck, so something’s gotta give. Maybe I’ll just make my students watch some noir…
on Jul 30 2008 @ 1:15 pm 8. Alexander Coleman said …
Awesome, Evan, awesome.
on Jul 30 2008 @ 3:07 pm 9. G said …
Spouting off time: I just realized you left Mr. Arkadin off. Have you ever wondered what Citizen Kane would be like if it were a noir? Answer: Mr. Arkadin
on Jul 30 2008 @ 3:43 pm 10. Evan Derrick said …
Geez, never even heard of Mr. Arkadin. I don’t think I came across that name once when I was doing my research. You sure that’s a real movie?
on Jul 30 2008 @ 3:48 pm 11. Haiku Girl said …
Nice list, I am going to have to hunt down the 9 I haven’t seeen yet. I would have liked to have seen some of the earlier films included. Still can’t complain at the bulk of the films.
on Jul 30 2008 @ 4:23 pm 12. G said …
Um, never heard of Mr. Arkadin? Seriously, it’s a masterpiece. There’s actually 3 versions of it on the Criterion set - I don’t know which one I’ve seen, because I saw whatever TCM was showing. But I absolutely love it. I am a raving Welles fan, though. I only know one other person who’s seen it, and he likes it even more than I do, but he likewise could never get enough of Orson.
http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=322
There wouldn’t have been anything wrong with including Journey Into Fear, either. Joseph Cotten+Orson Welles is always good.
on Jul 30 2008 @ 8:42 pm 13. Sam Juliano said …
That is a terrific list, Evan, and a buffo replication of the posters. Could be add THE STRANGER with orson Welles, or is that stretching it? WOMAN IN THE WINDOW is one I think belongs, though, and today I realized that Robert Siodmak’s little seen PHANTOM LADY definitely rates; I purchsed the DVD at a specialty site early this year.
This is a spectacular thread for movie-lovers. Congrats!
on Jul 30 2008 @ 8:43 pm 14. Sam Juliano said …
G……..nice addition there with MR. ARKADIN, that one slipped by.
on Jul 30 2008 @ 9:30 pm 15. Evan Derrick said …
I’ll take all of those suggestions into consideration, and if I (or someone else) is itching to write even more, I’ll be sure to sneak them in. No promises, though.
It’s a pretty stacked month as it is.
on Jul 30 2008 @ 10:01 pm 16. G said …
Oh, the Stranger. In my opinion that’s the weakest of the Welles on the table (Touch of Evil, Lady from Shanghai, Mr. Arkadin, and Journey Into Fear) but yeah, it still probably merits inclusion.
It’s like Orson Welles was the greatest director who ever lived or something.
on Jul 31 2008 @ 4:31 am 17. Alexander Coleman said …
Good call on Mr. Arkadin being Citizen Kane-turned-noir, G. I believe Robert Osborne pointed that out as well when he introduced it on TCM.
Journey Into Fear was apparently the Poltergeist of the Welles canon, his not being credited with directing the film despite “supervising” the production.
on Jul 31 2008 @ 6:32 am 18. G said …
Yeah, my understanding is that he technically didn’t direct the film, but, in addition to producing, he storyboarded the whole thing, which is why it looks like a Welles movie. And it is a Welles movie, just one that he didn’t direct…or only kinda directed, or at least wasn’t credited for directing.
on Jul 31 2008 @ 1:48 pm 19. Movie Zeal: Noir Exit « said …
[…] Zeal: Noir Exit Over at Evan Derrick’s indispensable site Movie Zeal, August is Film Noir month and with it comes 31 days of essays and reviews of our favorite dark […]
on Jul 31 2008 @ 2:48 pm 20. Coosa Creek Mambo » It’s Noir Month at Movie Zeal said …
[…] do, and so it’s with genuine pleasure that I direct your attention, dear readers, to MovieZeal’s Film Noir month with articles about 31 — count ‘em, 31 — noir classics, including, but certainly […]
on Aug 01 2008 @ 4:45 am 21. film noir said …
[…] is Film Noir month at MovieZeal.com. A crew of film reviewers and bloggers has been assembled to write reviews and articles on 31 […]
on Aug 01 2008 @ 5:00 am 22. Hedwig said …
I’ve been looking forward to this! Can’t wait to see what you will all write.
on Aug 01 2008 @ 2:26 pm 23. MovieZeal: Zealous for all things Noir this August « Fataculture said …
[…] there is oxygen up there. On the upside, I strongly urge everyone with a passion noir to check out MovieZeal’s splendiferous noir month going on all August. I will be publishing a review of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Notorious” over […]
on Aug 03 2008 @ 5:19 pm 24. NetFlix Update No. 6 « Cinexcellence said …
[…] on the Movie Noir Month list at Movie […]
on Aug 03 2008 @ 8:38 pm 25. G said …
I just realized: Postman Always Rings Twice isn’t on the list. I’ve actually never seen it, so I was going to watch it before you guys reviewed it. For shame! This is almost as great an indignity as leaving Mr. Arkadin off!
on Aug 03 2008 @ 8:46 pm 26. Luke Harrington said …
Yeah, I told Evan that Postman should be on the list. As usual, I was ignored.
on Aug 03 2008 @ 8:51 pm 27. Evan Derrick said …
There are only 31 days in the month, guys.
And y’all can feel free to review extra noir films and write on them for the month - we’ll squeeze every bit of noir we can get in there.
But to arrive at 31, sacrifices had to be made…
on Aug 05 2008 @ 9:11 am 28. The Killers (1946) « Cinexcellence said …
[…] […]
on Aug 09 2008 @ 12:51 am 29. Onesies, Babies, Thank-yous, & Film Noir | thimbly things said …
[…] to tell you is (and I’m late getting to it) Evan and the fellas at Movie Zeal are having a Film Noir Month right now. If you like these classic films, please check out the site to see if one of your […]
on Aug 16 2008 @ 12:59 am 30. film noir said …
[…] Film Noir Month has spawned the best film noir forum on the web - informed and passionate comment. If you are […]
on Sep 21 2008 @ 4:24 am 31. Noir Month | I don't use a pen. I write with a goose quill dipped in venom. said …
[…] mai amplu, iar dupa ce-am mai digerat cateva reviste noir si-am remarcat si maratonul de la MovieZeal, m-am decis: un blog exclusiv despre superbul genre film-noir, gimmickul de deschidere fiind faptul […]