35 Days of Me

It's been over a week now since The Noir Series 2011 came to a close. I had a great time, as evidenced by these photos:




But now that it's over, I'm trying to give myself a little space to breathe, a time to refresh and re-center. And I plan to do it watching a boatload of movies. I'll take about five weeks of time and catch up on TV shows and movies that I've borrowed, or that are expiring on NetFlix or Hulu, or knocking off a few notches on my queue or even catching up on things I've bought but haven't watched. And that doesn't take into account going to the movies. I'll try to keep you updated on what I'm watching, give you little reviews. The goal is 50 movies before April 1, but I'm already really behind. We'll see how I do. Meanwhile, watch the bar on the right to see what I've been seeing.

New Posts

I realize that I've been a bit sparse with posts lately. Hopefully this will prove worthwhile when the Noir Series comes around in January. I'm dedicating a lot of time to the program notes that accompany the films, the introductions that precede the films, and the interviews with my special guests for the series: Sean Chercover, Shannon Clute, Megan Abbott, and Charles Benoit. I'll make sure to give you peeks as they come up, but I hope these posts will suffice until I get everything sorted out.

The Noir Series, Part 4

The last two weeks of the series feature a rarely-seen classic and a returning favorite. On February 17, we will screen the first pairing of Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas in I WALK ALONE. Running rum in the 20s, Lancaster is caught but doesn't talk. On the outside, Douglas goes straight and opens a successful nightclub with the bootlegging profits. When he gets out of prison, Lancaster wants his share of the profits and Douglas's girl (Lizabeth Scott).

The last noir film of the series is the classic heist film THE ASPHALT JUNGLE, screening on February 27. Being a bit of a heist aficionado himself, and in the midst of writing a caper novel, noir author Charles Benoit returns after a successful 2010 event to answer more questions about how film noir has influenced his writing and how his new book YOU has been recieved.



I am looking forward to another successful series and expect to see all of you there!

Dark Passage (1947)

Wrapping up the Charles Benoit invasion, here is what he had to say about DARK PASSAGE right before the screening on February 4, 2010. I think he did a great job. Make sure to pre-order YOU and go visit Charles' new website!

Charles Benoit: The Revenge!

In which Charles exposes the evil of Monkeys!

Charles Benoit:3-D!

Okay, not really. But this is the wonderful third part of my interview with Charles, where he discusses Jazz, Charles Benoit, David Goodis, Count Basie and DARK PASSAGE. Enjoy!

Charles Benoit 2: Electric Boogaloo

Here is Part 2 of the interview, where Charles discusses, among other things, how the movies have influenced his writing:

Charles Benoit

Finally! I have been able to download, upload, update and graphicize my February interview with Rochester-based mystery and noir author Charles Benoit. In order to not be unwieldy, it is broken into four delectable bite-sized portions, to be served in separate courses throughout the week. OR, you can go to YouTube and see all of them now. Enjoy! I know I did. Charles is a great interview, which always makes the process so much easier. Go pre-order his newest release, YOU, coming out in August of this year!