Noirvember

Welcome to Noirvember. Noirvember is the month in which all the long lost promise and premise of, arguably, John Huston's greatest movie, based on, arguably, the greatest short story in the English language, and a long, long wait for this to be released on DVD and we have ... The Dead.

As mentioned in earlier posts, Huston's last movie, based on the last story in James Joyce's Dubliners was more than a cinematic masterpiece. It was a transcendent work of genius. It is a story of deep despair, of love and youth -- lost dramatically and romantically (the death of Michael Fury), lives just wasted away, and the protagonist, poor Gabriel Conroy who is the debased messenger of man's unrealized desires. All this, in a single work of fiction, transcribed to screen by the very same man who brought us Treasure of the Sierra Madre in which his father co-starred, and who cast his daughter (Anjelica Huston) as Gretta (Gabriel's wife) all while he himself was dying. Finally, this movie is available on DVD! Was it released by Criterion? They would seem the likely candidate, but after I wrote them on the subject, they were kind enough to respond with some worthless pabulum that indicated they had no idea of the value of the movie. Oddly enough, Lionsgate has released it. Go figure. In any event, if you have not read Dubliners, then you must. Then watch the DVD. Buy one for yourself; your loved one; me (kidding -- I've already ordered mine).

Ok ... Noirvember also brings us "Film Noir Classics: Volume 1". Now, for those of us who've gone out and purchased other noir collections, you have probably been somewhat disappointed. Like the movies of old, you got some gems packaged with some stuff that gave B movies a bad name. Ok, let's be blunt ... studios were maximizing their profits on movies that were made 50 years ago. The people who put the packages together didn't know shit about noir or film and no one cared. But we bought them anyways because there was always some good stuff in there. Well, this package is different. There are five movies, from Columbia (smells of the Roxie show) which include The Lineup and The Sniper (both recently shown at the Roxie). 5 Against the House (1955), directed by Phil Karlson is the rarity of the bunch. Karlson, who also directed Phenix City Story, and Kansas City Confidential, directed this movie starring Kim (Miss Deepfreeze -- she was once a refrigerator spokesperson) Novak. Oh yeah Brian (Uncle Bill Davis) Keith also stars. Ummm ... Murder by Contract and Fritz Lang's The Big Heat are also included in this package. So, if you don't already have these (and I don't see how you can) -- get them while they are still available.

What else is new? You can buy North by Northwest on Blu-ray if you are so inclined. That's hardly worth mentioning since it brings absolutely nothing to the table except for some profits for studio heads who can't figure out how to make a movie as good as North by Northwest anymore.

Oh, and The Prisoner, perhaps the only existentialist spy television series, which originally was conceived by and starred Patrick McGoohan, is coming to television (AMC). This time around Ian McKellan plays Number Two. James Caviezel, will be playing Number Six. He seems to lack the sheer forcefulness and conviction of McGoohan. Can it equal or surpass the original?