Lost River (2014)

Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut, Lost River (2014), has always sat there beckoning me. When it came out, it received mixed to poor reviews and sort of disappeared. Yet it also looks like a Nicolas Winding Refn movie, who I am a fan of. After years of putting it off, I finally dove in. For the […]

Dead Pigeon On Beethoven Street (1972)

I always loved the use of Can’s ‘Vitamin C’ in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice, but you know who used it first in a private eye flick way back in the 1970s? Samuel Fuller did, shooting an episode of a German crime TV anthology in West Germany (called Tartot) and spinning that into his own […]

One From The Heart (1981)

I used to love Tom Waits. When I was younger, I bought up most of his discography. At some point, I grew a bit tired of the barroom drifter persona and the sound; I still like him and his music, but I think I moved on from it at a certain point. Even with his […]

Remember My Name (1978)

I am a fan of director Alan Rudolph, the Robert Altman protege who carved out his own singular style with several noir-ish romances, my all time favourite being Choose Me. I always love how Rudolph will pick a singer as the ‘voice’ of his movie – such as Teddy Pendergrass for Choose Me, or Tom […]

Cat People (1942)

I’d heard so much about Cat People (1942) over the years as a classic horror-noir, and it was one of those old Hollywood movies that lived up to its reputation. I was watching it by myself one afternoon, and every moment of expressionistic lighting, suggestive and creepy use of shadows and sound design, I would […]