Season 4
"Film Noir: Classics & Reduxions"

Film Noir is a genre that began in the 1940s with films that were black & white and traditionally shared common aesthetic and thematic characteristics: they were described as dreamlike, strange, erotic, cruel, and ambivalent, and they were often synonymous with "hard boiled" detective flicks and thrillers.

Since the classic era of noir, the genre has influenced countless movies, and its permutations now encompass a very wide range of films including westerns, sci-fi, horror, and indie.

Join us for this fourth season called "Film Noir: Classics & Reduxions" as the Film Fest explores the mysteries & dark dreams of noir’s classics, reduxes, and revisionings from the past 60 years.

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Blade Runner

Blade Runner (1982).  In Ridley Scott's dystopian Los Angeles of 2019, blade runner Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) is called out of retirement to snuff a quartet of escaped "replicants" -- androids consigned to slave labor on remote planets -- seeking a way to extend their short life spans.  The film is based on the the sci-fi classic by writer Phillip K. Dick. (Screened 10/31/10)

The French Connection

The French Connection (1971).  Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle (Gene Hackman), a foul-mouthed, violent narcotics detective, pursues a suave French drug dealer (Fernando Rey) through New York City with Captain Ahab-like zeal. Director William Friedkin took the provocative stance that both the narcs and the smugglers use similar thuggish ends to get what they need. This thrilling Best Picture Oscar winner based on a true story is famous for its riveting car chase scene under an elevated train.  (Screened 10/10/10)

Brick

Brick (2005).  This unconventional film noir -- set in the halls of a modern-day high school -- marks a promising debut for writer-director Rian Johnson. Innocent teenage loner, Brendan Fry (a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt), is forced to navigate his school's social network when a secret crush turns up dead and the murderer is anyone's guess. Through intense interactions with thespians, band geeks and druggies (including a grown-up Lucas Haas), Brendan works to crack the cliques ... and the case.  (Screened 8/22/10)

Touch of Evil

Touch of Evil (1958).  Straight-arrow narcotics detective Mike Vargas (Charlton Heston) sees his honeymoon cut short when a car crossing the U.S.-Mexico border explodes before his eyes. Vargas forsakes his bride (Janet Leigh) to mount an investigation but soon locks horns with corpulent Sheriff Hank Quinlan (Orson Welles), a shady cop who's not above planting evidence or colluding with the local crime lord to keep Vargas from discovering the ugly truth.  (Screened 7/25/10)

Glengarry Glen Ross

Glengarry Glen Ross (1992).  A group of real estate salesmen (Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino, Alan Arkin, & Ed Harris and ) in Chicago vie for the best leads at a small firm selling property in resort areas such as Florida and Arizona. When a hotshot executive (Alec Baldwin) from the head office arrives and proposes a vicious sales contest where the winner gets a Cadillac and the loser gets fired, competition gets stiff as the veteran salesmen suddenly find their jobs in jeopardy.  David Mammet directs his own screenplay.  (Screened 7/11/10)

Double Indemnity

Double Indemnity (1944).  Smitten insurance man Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) plots the perfect murder with femme fatale client Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck): staging her husband's "accidental" death to collect double indemnity on his life insurance and absconding with the loot. But before their scheme can pay off, the lethal duo must first get past a crafty claims investigator (Edward G. Robinson) who senses something isn't kosher in this absolute classic noir by Billy Wilder.  (Screened 6/6/10)

The Usual Suspects

The Usual Suspects (1995).  When five unacquainted scalawags are hauled into a police station to appear in a criminal lineup, they decide to pull off a heist together. The plan gets complicated, however, when they intermix with an underworld kingpin named Keyser Söze. Gabriel Byrne, Benicio Del Toro, Kevin Pollak, Stephen Baldwin and Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey star in this intricately plotted, critically acclaimed thriller that won another Oscar for Best Screenplay.  (Screened 5/16/10)

Momento

Momento (2000):  Suffering short-term memory loss after a head injury, Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce) embarks on a grim quest to find the lowlife who murdered his wife. To carry out his plan, Shelby snaps Polaroids of people and places, jotting down contextual notes on the backs of the photos to aid in his search and jog his memory. A gritty, complex thriller, Christopher Nolan's Memento packs more knots than a hangman's noose.  (Screened 4/25/10)

Sunset Boulevard

Sunset Boulevard (1950).  Running from debt collectors, screenwriter Joe (William Holden) stumbles upon the crumbling mansion of former silent-film star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson). As he begins working for Norma, writing a comeback screenplay, their professional relationship evolves into something more. This classic noir directed by Billy Wilder is a provocative look inside old Hollywood show business, and it won Academy Awards for Art Direction, Music and Screenplay.  (Screened 4/11/10)

Sexy Beast

Sexy Beast (2001).  Ben Kingsley is unforgettably menacing in this high-voltage film that crackles with style and wit. When sociopathic gangster Don Logan (Kingsley) tries to recruit an ex-partner (Ray Winstone) for a high-stakes heist, the retired criminal refuses. But Logan won't take no for an answer. Tension hits the fever-pitch as this battle of wills plays out in a story that is as funny as it is terrifying.  (Screened 2/28/10)

Naked Lunch

Naked Lunch (1991).  Director David Cronenberg brings hallucinatory, and supposedly "unfilmable" novel by William S. Burroughs to the screen. Part-time exterminator and full-time drug addict Bill Lee (Peter Weller) plunges into the nightmarish netherworld of the Interzone, pursuing a mysterious project that leads him to confront sinister cabals and giant talking bugs.  (Screened 1/17/10)

Blue Velvet

Blue Velvet (1986).  In this "psycho noir," an innocent and young Kyle MacLachlan gets mixed up in a small-town murder mystery involving a kinky nightclub chanteuse (Isabella Rossellini) and a kidnapper (Dennis Hopper) with a penchant for snorting helium.  One of the most bizarre and critically acclaimed movies of the 1980s, David Lynch's Blue Velvet inspired a generation of independent filmmakers with its dark look behind the all-American veneer of small-town life.  (Screened 11/1/09)

Notorious

Notorious (1946).  This top-notch Alfred Hitchcock espionage thriller builds to an incredibly suspenseful climax. Government agent T.R. Devlin (Cary Grant) recruits Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman) to spy on her father's influential Nazi friends. As part of her cover, she marries ringleader Claude Rains, but finds she's falling in love with Grant. The 360-degree camera pan around a smitten Grant and Bergman ranks as one of the screen's greatest love scenes.  (Screened 8/16/09)

Blood Simple

Blood Simple (1984).  Texas tavern owner Julian Marty (Dan Hedaya) hires unscrupulous private detective Loren Visser (M. Emmet Walsh) to tail Marty's two-timing spouse (Frances McDormand, in her big-screen debut) and then murder her and her paramour (John Getz). But events take a surprising turn when the gumshoe double-crosses his client, and before you know it a bad situation spirals out of control. Walsh steals this show in this stylish shocker by the Coen Brothers.  (Screened 7/19/09)

The Postman Always Rings Twice

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946).  The sexual chemistry between a Depression-era drifter, Frank Chambers (John Garfield), and sexy, smoldering roadside café waitress Cora (Lana Turner) is so hot that they'll do anything to keep the fire lit -- even if it means killing Cora's husband.  In this film, based on an original story by author James M. Cain, the sex scenes were considered shocking for its time, even though they were watered down to conform to industry standards.  (Screened 6/7/09)

Angel Heart

Angel Heart (1987).  Harry Angel (Mickey Rourke, when he was still hot), a down-and-out 1950s Brooklyn gumshoe, is hired by shady Louis Cyphre (Robert De Niro) to locate a pop singer who reneged on a debt. Each time Harry makes contact with someone who might know the singer's whereabouts, though, he or she is killed in a horrible, ritualistic fashion. Harry's journey soon leads him to the sweltering, voodoo-filled swamps of Louisiana in search of a somewhat satanic cult. Alan Parker directs, and Lisa Bonet co-stars.  (Screened 5/10/09)

The Big Sleep

The Big Sleep (1946).  A dangerous blackmailer has targeted a wealthy family, and while private eye Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) works on the case, he ends up falling for the fiery daughter, Vivian (Lauren Bacall).  Crackling dialogue and the perfect pairing of Bogart and Bacall make this adaptation of Raymond Chandler's novel a timeless film noir classic.  (Screened 5/3/09)