[N.B. Written when I first heard that GDT was remaking it] When I showed Nightmare Alley to the students in my noir film course, one came up at the end to complain that the tarot readings were way off. I agreed and encouraged him to pick up Gresham’s novel. I assured him that the author cared a…
Tag: crime
Surreal Noir: 24 Nov 21
Coming up on the eating holidays, it’s SURREAL NOIR at NoBounds Radio. This episode gets me belatedly into Noirvember mode: a dive into Highsmith’s Cry of the Owl which my students just read (they’re not onto Deep Water so maybe I will get on to that next here). I also wrote about the 2009 adaptation…
Surreal Noir: 20 Oct 21
Coming up on the spooky holidays, it’s SURREAL NOIR at NoBounds Radio. This episode brings together a surprisingly apt pair: Dorothy B. Hughes’ Ride the Pink Horse and Dorothea Tanning’s memoir Between Lives. What brings together two such unlikely texts? Chicago gangsters! Yes, really. How so? Well, you’ll have to listen to find out. I’ll…
Upcoming Events
Who’s super busy? Me. Yes, I am saying no to things — mostly so I can say YES to things I am enthusiastic about (yes, it’s still a struggle not to overburden my time). Some of them quite fun. I have two conference presentations coming up next month and another in December. I have a…
Highsmith @ 100: Ripley
TOM RIPLEY: MASTER CRIMINAL? I know I have forgotten to keep up with posting the assignments for my students, but if you want to read along, here’s the intro text for this week: I’m always amazed at the back cover copy of different editions of this book. I’ve got this edition with me. It refers…
#InternationalPodcastDay
Hey, it’s apparently International Podcast Day, so I remind you that I have TWO podcasts/internet radio shows appealing to a super-niche clientele of oddballs and hipsters. SURREAL NOIR via NoBounds Radio IS IT FUNNY? via Anchor and many platforms: new episode on Muriel Spark coming when I return to NY. Just a reminder, too, that…
Surreal Noir 22 Sep 21
The Equinox brings the monthly return of SURREAL NOIR at NoBounds Radio. This episode brings together another unlikely pair: Alice Rahon and Patricia Highsmith. This episode may sound a little different: cobbled together from the phone and recordings made in hasty moments when I could find a little quiet here at my dad’s. Not easy…
Tainted Hearts & Dirty Hellhounds
Pleased to have my Graham Wynd story ‘The Pick-Up’ in the first anthology from the fine folks at Bristol Noir. Tainted Hearts & Dirty Hell Hounds is just one of the two simultaneously released volumes. The second, Savage Minds & Raging Bulls, is just as packed with noir goodness — or is that badness? Buy…
Neo-Noir: Julia (2008)
JULIA (2008) dir Erick Zonca An A-list star takes a role in a crime film that offers a chance to slum it as a low-life in a downward, drunken spiral amongst the neon flicker of dive bars and low-rent flop houses. A recipe for Oscar-bait — well, if you’re male. If you’re Tilda Swinton, not…
Listen Now: Surreal Noir 25 Aug 21
After a brief delay the August program has been archived: Surreal portraiture—Muse or artist? Can you fall in love with a picture? Can you fall in love with someone from a picture? What about sel-portrait? How do you conjure the image of yourself? How much do you reveal? How much do you hide? The image…