Recent

Rivette's 'Paris nous appartient' Nods to McCarthyism, Communist Witch Hunts, and Cold War Paranoia in the USA

Jacques Rivette's first French New Wave film, Paris nous appartient, is infused with the look and feel of Hollywood's more paranoid, conspiratorial and apocalyptic films noir.

Film

Film Noir Comes with a Hint of Hitchcock in 'The Man Who Cheated Himself'

This professional seen-it-all flatfoot believes he can orchestrate his way out of situations where a thousand fools have floundered.

Film

The Erotic Tease in 'Tiger by the Tail' Turns into an Explosion of Fisticuffs

Whenever this movie threatens to get sexy or implies nudity, the story hastily goes back to two-fisted action.

Film

'Le Corbeau' at the Film Forum (trailer) (premiere)

Why was Henri-Georges Clouzot's film noir Le Corbeau banned by the French film industry?

Film

Jean-Pierre Melville’s 'Le Samouraï' Plays with the Perils of the Loner

Under the lens of cultural and historical context, as well as understanding the reflective nature of popular culture, it's hard not to read this film as a cautionary tale about the limitations of isolationism.

Film

Smudge and Jury: The Punk-Noir Pulp of 'I, The Jury'

With all the roughneck charm of a '40s-era pulp novel and much style to spare, I, The Jury is a good, popcorn-filling yarn.

Film

'Tharlo' Is a Slow-moving Allegory About Innocence lost

Pema Tseden's Tharlo presents an allegory of Tibet and China in the guise of a film noir story set in Thailand

Reviews

Harry Belafonte Fights Racism in 'Odds Against Tomorrow'

By the late '50s, some Hollywood filmmakers were producing films that reflected changes in public attitudes and addressed the concerns of the nascent Civil Rights movement.

Film

'Gilda' Is an Invitation to Look Deeper Into Pop Culture

Beautiful, classic, important, and thoroughly complex, Gilda is a real “aficionado” film, and yet it has an undeniable popular appeal.

Film

Library of America Rethinks Women and the Hard Boiled Tradition in New Set of Women's Crime Writing

This box set represents a nuanced perspective not only of the crime fiction genre, but of women's contributions to mid-century American culture.

Reviews

'The Killers' DVD Is a Double Whammy

Criterion brings two film versions, one a classic and one a misfire, of Ernest Hemingway's short story, "The Killers".

Film

Moving Pixels Podcast: 'White Night', White Noir

White Night tells the story of a haunted house and a decaying American economy.

Games

Farther Than You Think: Mapping the Noir Terrain

Rope of Sand, Dark City, and Union Station each extend the shadowy reach of film noir.

Film

'Fear in the Night' Speaks the Indecipherable Language of Noir

Noir, as a definitive term, is elusive and always out of reach, as are dreams. So what are we to do with Fear in the Night, a noir that traffics in dreams?

Film

'Cry Danger' Is Simple Noir Elegance

Olive Films' reissue of the 1951 Cry Danger is as no-frills as the old school film itself.

Film

A Little Ominous Noir Music Makes Jules Dassin's 'Rifif' Nearly Perfect

This benchmark of the heist genre shows that for the criminal, elegance and brutality go hand-in-hand, never more vividly depicted than in this tightly structured ode to Paris.

Film

Pop Ten

The 50 Best Albums of 2019 So Far

Jackie Chan's 10 Best Films

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 1: 100 - 81

Collapse Expand Pop Ten

Mixed Media

Collapse Expand Mixed Media

PM Picks

Collapse Expand Pm Picks