Recent reviews

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  The Man with a Cloak 1951

  ★★★½ Watched 24 Mar 2025

  Noir? Thriller? Just Plain Silly?

  Joseph Cotten, Barbara Stanwyck, Leslie Caron, Louis Calhern

  I enjoyed this little flick despite all the tricks they put in it. The cloak is the most obvious trick. The bird only slightly less so. Despite the silliness, there is a basis for a solid plot of potential intrigue suitable for a film noir but what we see instead just doesn’t make you take it seriously. And I think the director wanted it that way. It’s…

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  The Strange Love of Martha Ivers 1946

  ★★★★½ Watched 22 Mar 2025

  Film Noir

  Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, Kirk Douglass, Elizabeth Scott

  This is a pretty wild movie. For noir fans, this is essential viewing. 

  Premise: Narrative starts with the main characters as children. A murder is committed and those who witnessed it promise not to tell exactly how it happened. As adults, they are drawn together again and the long ago murder suddenly isn’t so easily swept under the carpet. 

  This noir has a fairly complex plot and a heavy psychological…

Popular reviews

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  Road House 1948

  ★★★★½ Watched 20 Mar 2025

  Film Noir

  Ida Lupino, Richard Widmark, Cornel Wilde
  Directed by Jean Negulesco

  I saw this at opening night of the Film Noir festival at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood with the Czar of Noir, Eddie Muller as host. It was my first time to see this movie. It was a full house and the crowd road every line. 

  Premise: At a road house near the Canadian border, a woman takes a job as an entertainer. She sings and plays piano.…

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  The Conversation 1974

  ★★★★ Watched 16 Mar 2025

  Mystery/Neo-Noir

  Gene Hackman, plus John Cazale, Wendy Williams, Harrison Ford, Terri Garr
  Directed by Francis Ford Coppola

  Private surveillance expert gets hired to tail a young couple. Eventually, he becomes conflicted and worries he will be responsible if anything bad should happen to them. 

  This movie intentionally develops at a slow pace before the tension builds and draws you in. The main character lives alone and seemingly has no friends or family. Other than playing the saxophone to his jazz…

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