happy first day of fall 🍂

Concentration camp survivor Hildegard Knef returns to a ruined post-war Berlin to find her apartment occupied by traumatized doctor Ernst Wilhelm Borchert who seeks revenge on his former superior. Between the rubble, THE MURDERERS ARE AMONG US, #NoirAlley next! #TCMParty

This should be encouraged, not banned.

"By making a film that says there is no complicated legacy to Riefenstahl, Veiel’s uncomplicated … is strongly rendered into a direct, inarguable slashing of Riefenstahl’s importance,” writes @812filmreviews.com about RIENFENSTAHL.

“Art is the opposite of politics." So said Leni Riefenstahl. Seeing this latest, most lacerating documentary at any point in the last decade would feel harrowingly relevant. Seeing it this week, well ... (now playing at the Quad in NYC) www.nytimes.com/2025/09/04/m...

Canceling a streaming service? How about watching FREE silent films instead? I have the links!

I wrote three dispatches from TIFF for the Globe. To whet your appetite, I'll give you the first one. Check out the rest online. For the third year in a row, I snuck myself and the big ol' TIFF sign into the paper. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/08/a...

Acclaimed playwright Joan Crawford marries smooth actor Jack Palance, who she has just fired from her latest play. When she later overhears her husband and his lover plotting to murder her for her inheritance she’ll author a plot for vengeance. Beware of SUDDEN FEAR, #NoirAlley next! #TCMParty

From “8 Ball Bunny”. Never forget! #TheTreasureOfTheSierraMadre #TCMParty

Salute to the magnificently presented merch table at NC CHI! Enjoy Detroit and good luck!

In this week's guide I am recommending Chicagoans come see me present an Andrea Arnold film at Facets this weekend, a wonderful summertime anthology film, a hybrid documentary/visual album featuring the songs of an incarcerated musician, and a short film from a Palestinian-American filmmaker.

Need the little cloud machine from @musicboxtheatre.bsky.social ☁️ Bye, Noir Fest! Back into the sun we go

It’s the end of the line for #NoirCityChicago, but there’s still time for a great double feature! First, Joan Bennett & Dan Duryea pull their cons on SCARLET STREET. Then, Claire Trevor closes it out in MURDER, MY SWEET. Get to the @musicboxtheatre.bsky.social tonight! @noirfoundation.bsky.social

The @chicagofilmsociety.org presents a 35MM screening of Erich von Stroheim’s directorial debut BLIND HUSBANDS this Sunday at 11:30am! 🎶Live Musical Accompaniment by David Drazin🎶 Get Tickets Now: musicboxtheatre.com/films-and-ev...

Closing out #NoirCity Chicago 2025 Dick Powell narrates and stars as detective Phillip Marlowe in 1944’s  “Murder, My Sweet”. He looks for the missing girlfriend of a brute. But the gumshoe gets tangled up in another crime. Claire Trevor and Anne Shirley also star. RKO. #filmnoir

#NoirCity Chicago ends strong with dastardly dames. “Scarlet Street” (1945) is where Edward G. Robinson falls for Joan Bennett. But her pimp Dan Duryea has long con plans. Walter Wagner Prod. Thx @musicboxtheatre.bsky.social & @noirfoundation.bsky.social for a swell celebration of #filmnoir

Day 6 at #NoirCityChicago begins with Dick Powell & Rhonda Fleming heating up the screen in CRY DANGER. Then, Thomas Mitchell makes a deal with the devil in the form of Ray Milland in ALIAS NICK BEAL. Get to the @musicboxtheatre.bsky.social to catch all the action! @noirfoundation.bsky.social

After a little delay, we’re finishing off the latest edition of the NOIR CITY Annual. This is the 17th edition of the book, all previous editions are sold out (except 16, with only a few left of that one). Here’s my cover for the book.

On the #NoirCity double bill, someone will “Cry Danger” (1951) because people are in peril. Dick Powell is out of prison for a crime he didn’t commit. He’s free thanks to questionable testimony. Rhonda Fleming may know where the loot is stashed. William Conrad is the heist organizer. RKO.

Ray Milland is “Alias Nick Beal” (1949) for the penultimate night of #NoirCity Chicago. In the Faust story he tries to influence Thomas Mitchell, a good politician. Audrey Totter is on hand to corrupt the public servant. Paramount. From @musicboxtheatre.bsky.social and @noirfoundation.bsky.social

Day 5 of #NoirCityChicago starts off with Barbara Stanwyck being delightfully wicked in THE STRANGE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS. The nightcap follows with Ella Raines putting her sleuthing skills to good use to clear her boss in PHANTOM LADY. It’s @musicboxtheatre.bsky.social @noirfoundation.bsky.social

A “Phantom Lady” (1944) holds the key to a mystery as an engineer faces the death penalty. The man is accused of killing his wife. His secretary Ella Raines doesn’t buy it and teams up with Thomas Gomez to solve the crime. With Elisha Cook, Jr. Directed by Robert Siodmak. #NoirCity #MusicBox

Tuesday’s double header at #NoirCity Chicago has “The Strange Love of Martha Ivers” (1946). Barbara Stanwyck has a secret. Kirk Douglas won’t tell, but she’s unsure about Van Heflin. With Lizabeth Scott. Paramount. Presented by @musicboxtheatre.bsky.social @noirfoundation.bsky.social

Day 4 of #NoirCityChicago rolls on as Humphrey Bogart & Lizabeth Scott get entangled in murder and mayhem in DEAD RECKONING! Then, Joan Bennett is a suburban housewife who covers for her daughter after she accidentally kills her lover in THE RECKLESS MOMENT! Get into it @musicboxtheatre.bsky.social

Thanks @eddiemuller.bsky.social for opening the fantastic #NoirCity Chicago. Alan Rode takes over @thetallcinephile.bsky.social presenting riveting noirs including “The Reckless Moment” (1949). Joan Bennett’s daughter is with a bad guy found dead. His pal James Mason blackmails mother. Columbia.

“Dead Reckoning” (1947) is on the docket for Day Four of #NoirCity Chicago. Humphrey Bogart searches for a missing pal. He could be mixed up with Lizabeth Scott. She’s a shifty dame who’s playing him and gangster Morris Carnovsky. Columbia. @musicboxtheatre.bsky.social @noirfoundation.bsky.social

Day 3 of #NoirCityChicago & the ladies are in control! Helen Walker stars in MY TRUE STORY. Then, Audrey Totter schemes in TENSION. Next, Joan Bennett is THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW. Then, Evelyn Keyes is menaced in THE PROWLER. It’s all at @musicboxtheatre.bsky.social @noirfoundation.bsky.social

This will surprise no one, but I was just informed by a Music Box employee that hard-liquor sales peak each September when the Noir City crowd shows up. 🥃 😉 Also no surprise—OUT OF THE PAST is sold out. And there’s a line of people outside hoping for cancelled tickets.

Day 2 of #NoirCityChicago hits the road with DETOUR. Then, it’s two lovers on the run in GUN CRAZY. Next, trouble comes from OUT OF THE PAST. The night closes by putting you in THE HOT SPOT. See you at the @musicboxtheatre.bsky.social! @noirfoundation.bsky.social

Coming atcha from The Music Box Theatre, where Eddie Muller is introducing THE GRIFTERS on opening night of Noir City: Chicago. Ben Mankiewicz wishes he looked this good in a suit. @noirfoundation.bsky.social

The #NoirCityChicago merch table is open for business! See @maggiemac75.bsky.social & me for all your noir needs! It’s all happening at the @musicboxtheatre.bsky.social. @noirfoundation.bsky.social

IT’S OPENING NIGHT! #NoirCityChicago starts off with a banger of a double feature. First, Anjelica Huston & John Cusack star in THE GRIFTERS. Then, we hit the racetrack as Sterling Hayden tries to pull off a heist in THE KILLING! It’s all going down @musicboxtheatre.bsky.social!

NOIR CITY: CHICAGO starts Tonight at the Music Box! Featuring Stephen Frears' THE GRIFTERS at 7pm, followed by Stanley Kubrick's THE KILLING at 9:30pm. Both screenings introduced by @eddiemuller.bsky.social! Get Tickets Now: musicboxtheatre.com/series-and-f...

I love when Robert & Odie talk film. A terrific conversation about the latest Spike Lee Joint!

Noir City Chicago kicks off tomorrow night! Who's heading out to the @musicboxtheatre.bsky.social this weekend? @noirfoundation.bsky.social #NoirCity

The Music Box books a ticket to NOIR CITY: CHICAGO 2025, starting this Friday! Femme fatales ignite the screen this year, with a focus on films that shine a spotlight on women whose cinematic legacy is entwined with the rise of film noir. Full Schedule: musicboxtheatre.com/series-and-f...

New Orleans legend Kermit Ruffins plays Chicago #JazzFest! @wdcb909.bsky.social

“I like little films b/c the more of them we have out there, these honest investigations of what we’re all going through, the less alone you feel." @812filmreviews.com speaks w/ David Strathairn abt the actor’s “salt of the earth” character in A LITTLE PRAYER: www.rogerebert.com/interviews/t...

Late morning coffee & the sounds of #JazzFest in the background. @wdcb909.bsky.social

It’s Jazz Fest weekend in Chicago! #ChicagoJazzFest @wdcb909.bsky.social

The September/October MUSIC BOX FILM SCHEDULE is here! With MUSIC BOX OF HORRORS, NOIR CITY: CHICAGO, Paul Thomas Anderson's ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER, Yorgos Lanthimos' BUGONIA, Hong Kong Cinema Classics, and much more! Pick up a copy this weekend at the Music Box!

MJ's @rosaliekicks.com shares her picks for the final full week of @tcmtv.bsky.social's Summer Under The Stars.

Aug 29th 1997 - "It is August 29th. In 48 hours, her life will change for ever, but she doesn't know it yet." 📽️📅 Amélie (2001)

I thoroughly enjoyed HIGHEST 2 LOWEST this afternoon! Spike & Denzel put their own unique spin on the Kurosawa/Mifune classic. See it in a theater, it’s a fantastic film! #Highest2Lowest

The missing piece of the equation explaining why so many critic positions are being eliminated is the little AI summaries at the top of Google results, which reduced click-throughs drastically. Once again, a tech company has stolen human labor and monetized it and doesn't care about the impact.

To accompany this listicle I also wrote a piece about how interracial romances and racism are tackled in POOL OF LONDON and THE STORY OF A THREE-DAY PASS.

From ODD MAN OUT to HELL DRIVERS, here are the 14 films I watched from Locarno Film Festival’s retrospective “Great Expectations: British Postwar Cinema 1945-1960.” Read via @ebertvoices.bsky.social: www.rogerebert.com/festivals/lo...

I’m gonna be presenting Andrea Arnold’s RED ROAD at @facetschicago.bsky.social in September! 🎟️ facets.org/programs/red...

Gas by Edward Hopper, 1940