Blog Archives
Noirvember 2021 In Films
This year was the 12th year of Noirvember! Truly cannot believe how big the tradition has gotten. This year I was on NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour talking all things noir, for Inverse I wrote about the noir roots of Batman, for Letterboxd I wrote about five under the radar neo noir films directed by women, for Nerdist I wrote about ten noir films based on works written by women, and for the Classic Film Collection I wrote about The Hitch-Hiker and a poem about femme fatales. In terms of reviews, I wrote about Passing and The Power of the Dog for Crooked Marquee, Eternals for Moviefone, and Yellowjackets and Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck In Time for The Playlist. For my Moviefone column I interview Joanna Hogg about The Souvenir: Part II, Blerta Basholli about Hive, Julie Cohen & Betsy West about Julia, Danis Goulet about Night Raiders, and Tatiana Huezo about Prayers For The Stolen. Lastly, for Emmy Magazine I wrote about Women In Media’s CAMERAderie program.
As always, you can find everything I watched plus some highlighted favorites after the cut.
Noirvember 2020 in FIlms
Y’all this month was Noirvember 11!! I cannot even believe I’ve been doing this for that long. Every year more and more people (and libraries!) participate and it fills me with such joy (which is maybe the opposite of what noir should do???). I didn’t watch much this month beyond the one noir a day, but as always you can see everything I watched after the cut, plus a breakdown by decade and a few favorites.
Noirvember 2019 in Films
This was the 10th anniversary of Noirvember this year! It was really amazing to see just how wide spread the celebration has grown over the last decade. I’m grateful for everyone who participates, and am so happy that so many people are able to discover new favorites every year. As always, you can see all the films I watched in November, plus a few highlighted favorites, after the cut.
2017 in Films: 365 Days, 628 Films, and a Year Full of Cinema!
2017 was quite the film (and TV!) watching year for me. I got really obsessed with a lot of things and I watched more films this year than I have in a few years. After the cut you can see all 628 new-to-me films I watched (and you can read my monthly breakdowns here). This year was filled with a lot highlights both in terms of what I watched, but also places I visited and people I met. Here’s hoping 2018 will be even better!
Noirvember 2017 in Films
I can’t believe how fast this month seemed to go! This was the 8th year of Noirvember and it really was a banner year with more participants than ever in more countries than ever. It even got written up in the New York Times! This month along with all the noir (and neo-noir, so much neo-noir!) I also watched my way through all of Tarkovsky’s filmography, however you will not see any write-ups about his films. Spoiler alert: I can safely say I am not a Tarkovsky fan. I also saw a TON of 2017 releases and various other things. I am voracious. As always, you can see all the films I watched plus a few highlights after the cut.
Noirvember 2015 In Films
Since this month marked the 6th annual celebration of Noirvember I did watch several films that were not directed by women, however every film I watched for Noirvember either had a female screenwriter or was based on a novel/story by a woman. That way I was able to marry Noirvember with A Year With Women. I know what you’re thinking: What about Ida Lupino?! Have no fear! I joined the Flixwise podcast this month to talk Lupino’s films The Hitch-hiker and The Bigamist. I also watched several 2015 films directed by women (I wouldn’t neglect those!). I also got to see Desperately Seeking Susan on the big screen in 35mm and met director Susan Seidelman! As always, after the cut you will find a list of all the films I watched in November, as well as a few highlights.
Movie Quote of the Day – The Fake, 1953 (dir. Godfrey Grayson )
Smith: A little clumsy if I may say so, my old chap. Now if I’d been you, I would have sent her a mess of flowers and then in a day or two. . .
Paul Mitchell: Day or two? With something as pretty as that, you don’t waste a second.
Movie Quote of the Day – Blackout, 1954 (dir. Terence Fisher)
Casey Morrow: The last time Miss Opportunity knocked I let her in.
Phyllis Brunner: Oh? What happened?
Casey Morrow: Now I haven’t even got a door.
Movie Quote of the Day – A Woman’s Secret, 1949 (dir. Nicholas Ray)
Luke Jordan: You said something about “Ever since you came to New York.” Where do you come from?
Susan Caldwell: Azusa. Azusa, California.
Luke Jordan: Azusa?
Susan Caldwell: It’s kind of a made-up word. Different letters. They put them together. Everything from A to Z. USA. AZUSA.
Luke Jordan: I still don’t get it. What does the USA stand for?
Susan Caldwell: United States of America. Everybody knows that.
Movie Quote of the Day – Ride The Pink Horse, 1947 (dir. Robert Montgomery)
Lucky Gagin: I’m gonna cut you in.
Poncho: Cut me in?
Lucky Gagin: Five grand.
Poncho: Grand?
Lucky Gagin: Five thousand bucks.
Poncho: You got that much money?
Lucky Gagin: I’m gonna get it.
Poncho: Yeah, lots of people gonna get lots of things, but they don’t.
the diary of a film history fanatic 