Sin City

Sin City began as series of graphic novels created by Frank Miller. They are loving homages to the gritty pulp novels of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Mickey Spillane and classic film noirs from the ‘40s and ‘50s. Miller’s world—the dangerous,... 

Laura

The 1940s marked the golden age of film noir and one of the genre’s key directors was Otto Preminger and one its signature films was Laura (1944). The year it came out was a pivotal one as four other noir classics were also released: Double Indemnity,... 

Thieves’ Highway

Based on A.I. Bezzerides’ novel, Thieves’ Market, Jules Dassin’s Thieves’ Highway (1949) offers a glimpse into the world of truck drivers risking their lives on the open road, having to deal with their vehicles breaking down and pushing themselves... 

Night and the City

After being blacklisted in Hollywood during the McCarthy-era witch hunts, director Jules Dassin moved to London and made the classic film noir, Night and the City (1950) for 20th Century Fox. He presents a shadowy underworld where life is cheap and money... 

I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead

At first glance, I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead (2003) seems like a very conventional film noir story but it is in fact told in a very unconventional way as director Mike Hodges refuses to spell things out. Will Graham (Owen) is a retired gangster brought... 

Mulholland Falls

They say timing is everything and this certainly applies to the release and reception of movies. Case in point: Mulholland Falls (1996). Released a year before the very similar L.A. Confidential (1997), Falls was also a retro-noir set in 1950s Los Angeles... 

Mulholland Drive

‘Academy Award Nominee!’ screams the front cover of the DVD, and rightly so. The fact that Lynch lost out the title of Best Director to Ron ‘Splash’ Howard in the 2002 Oscar race is neither here nor there. What do the academy know... 

Pickup on South Street

In the booklet that accompanies this DVD, Martin Scorsese writes, “if you don’t like the films of Sam Fuller, then you just don’t like cinema. Or at least you don’t understand it.” It’s a bold statement—one that sums up the attitude... 

Underworld Beauty

In North America, Japanese filmmaker Seijun Suzuki is virtually unknown to mainstream audiences. However, to fans of Japanese cinema, he is regarded as one of the masters of the gangster genre. In the 1950s, he was a journeyman director making crime thrillers... 

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