Large Association of Movie Blogs
Large Association of Movie Blogs

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Film Noir At The Castro Theatre



It's a tough time to be a San Francisco Bay Area resident lacking mass quantities of both free time and discretionary income, augmented by multiple big-ass bank accounts and pockets deep enough to fit Sydney Greenstreet and Laird Cregar.


This month, there's stellar comedy galore courtesy of San Francisco Sketchfest, vocalist extraordinaire Paula West is tearing it up at The Rrazz Room and the 9th annual Noir City Film Fest brings big screen movie fun to the spectacular Castro Theatre.

The last option, offering two classic thrillers in glorious 35mm for ten bucks, suits both my pocketbook and warped sensibility. Vintage coming attractions trailers for the hard-boiled double bills have been posted on the Noir City Film Festival website.



A happy day in Noir World entails heaping helpings of
thuggery, skullduggery, chicanery, desperation, doomed relationships, dangerous double-crossing dames, sex-starved saps, roads leading nowhere, bullet-riddled sedans, nervous cigarette smoking, mobsters who make Jack LaRue's sleazy hood in (pre-code film noir precursor) The Story Of Temple Drake look like a nice fella, stark terror, claustrophobia and post-WW2 years ennui - all served up with stark yet stylish black & white chiaroscuro cinematography. 



And besides, the idea of going to a Saturday matinee to see a Fritz Lang movie appeals to me for reasons I probably shouldn't ponder. . .

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