pspanThe Femme Fatale occupies a titanic place in the history of cinema, especially in the first half of the 20th century. She goes by many names and takes even more forms. The Chanteuse. The Fallen Woman. The Boss’s Wife. Sometimes she is wicked. Sometimes she’s just in a bad way. Invariably, she is tied to the downfall, or at least temptation, of a male protagonist. In narrative terms, she is a disruptive force. Trouble with a capital T./span/ppspanSo grab a drink and settle in. For the next twenty four weeks, we’ll be examining some of cinema’s grand dames, tracing the evolution of the femme fatale from silent cinema to today, looking for footprints from designer heels deep in the celluloid dirt./span/ppstrongRecommendations:/strong/ppTristan - a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/nausicaa-of-the-valley-of-the-wind/" rel="nofollow"Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind/a/ppFred - a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/" rel="nofollow"The Good, The Bad, amp; The Ugly/a/ppWritten amp; Produced by Tristan Johnson amp; a href="http://www.fredpelzer.com/" rel="nofollow"Fred Pelzer/a/ppA Strange Phantom Production/ppMusic by a href="https://incompetech.com/" rel="nofollow"Kevin MacLeod/a./ppa href="http://www.celluloiddirt.com/" rel="nofollow"Learn more about us/a or follow us on a href="https://letterboxd.com/CelluloidDirt/" rel="nofollow"Letterboxd/a/p

pWe#39;re back with another season to tackle an additional core element of film noir - the femme fatale. Get a little taste before the new season starts in Noirvember./p

pAs we get ready to launch our next season of noir samplings, we make a quick return visit to season 1#39;s private eye, specifically Marlowe, as he makes his triumphant(?) theatrical return with Neil Jordan#39;s emMarlowe. /emWe continue the old man Marlowe routine by connecting this film back to 1998#39;s emPoodle Springs/em, a Marlowe adaptation directed by Bob Rafelson for HBO and starring James Caan in the titular role. What else is left to say about an over the hill PI? Let#39;s find out. /ppstrongRecommendations:/strong/ppTristan - a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/at-land/" rel="nofollow"At Land/a/ppFred - a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/sex-lies-and-videotape/" rel="nofollow"sex, lies, and videotape/a; a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/cool-hand-luke/" rel="nofollow"Cool Hand Luke/a/ppWritten amp; Produced by Tristan Johnson amp; a href="http://www.fredpelzer.com/" rel="nofollow"Fred Pelzer/a/ppA Strange Phantom Production/ppMusic by a href="https://incompetech.com/" rel="nofollow"Kevin MacLeod/a./ppa href="http://www.celluloiddirt.com/" rel="nofollow"Learn more about us/a or follow us on a href="https://letterboxd.com/CelluloidDirt/" rel="nofollow"Letterboxd/a/p

pEvery case must come to an end, and sometimes you even get to wrap it up in a neat little bow. Over these 20 episodes and 41 movies we#39;ve tracked the private eye across decades and state lines, cultural movements and cinematic epochs. But some things have stayed mostly the same - a wrong that needs righting, a flatfoot who can#39;t help taking the case, and a daily rate, plus expenses. And maybe that#39;s enough, for a world gone as screwy as ours./ppWritten amp; Produced by Tristan Johnson amp; a href="http://www.fredpelzer.com/" rel="nofollow"Fred Pelzer/a/ppA Strange Phantom Production/ppMusic by a href="https://incompetech.com/" rel="nofollow"Kevin MacLeod/a./ppa href="http://www.celluloiddirt.com/" rel="nofollow"Learn more about us/a or follow us on a href="https://letterboxd.com/CelluloidDirt/" rel="nofollow"Letterboxd/a/p

pThe deeper into the 21st century we travel, the greater the confusion grows. With so much input - from news, tv, internet, social media, youtube, tik tok, and whatever new, even faster mode will arrive tomorrow - the possibility of an absolute truth seems farther and farther away. What#39;s a detective to do when fact has become subjective and our individual realities grown so far apart? That#39;s one of the questions grappled with in our final two movies, emInherent Vice/em and emUnder the Silver Lake/em, as we close out this season of the Private Detective./ppbr/ppstrongRecommendations:/strong/ppTristan - a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/the-red-shoes/" rel="nofollow"The Red Shoes/a, a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/pathaan/" rel="nofollow"Pathaan/a/ppFred - a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/a-serious-man/" rel="nofollow"A Serious Man/a, a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/suspiria/" rel="nofollow"Suspiria/a/ppWritten amp; Produced by Tristan Johnson amp; a href="http://www.fredpelzer.com/" rel="nofollow"Fred Pelzer/a/ppA Strange Phantom Production/ppMusic by a href="https://incompetech.com/" rel="nofollow"Kevin MacLeod/a./ppa href="http://www.celluloiddirt.com/" rel="nofollow"Learn more about us/a or follow us on a href="https://letterboxd.com/CelluloidDirt/" rel="nofollow"Letterboxd/a/p

pWith the new century, a certain strand of pulp films get taken along a similar development path as elements of super hero movies, another genre that got its start as cheap disposal nonsense. Just like with Nolan#39;s Batman and Snyder#39;s... Snyderverse, some noir started to lean in to the grim, the dark, and the gritty as a way to prove that they were serious movies and not just kids#39; stuff. We#39;ll be looking at two such examples - Ben Affleck#39;s directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone, and the Liam Neeson actioner Walk Among the Tombstones. Throw some commercials in and you#39;d have a pretty good Sunday afternoon double bill on TNT./ppbr/ppstrongRecommendations:/strong/ppTristan - emJaane Bhi Do Yaaro/em/ppFred - emBefore Sunrise, Hit the Road, The Train/em/ppWritten amp; Produced by Tristan Johnson amp; a href="http://www.fredpelzer.com/" rel="nofollow"Fred Pelzer/a/ppA Strange Phantom Production/ppMusic by a href="https://incompetech.com/" rel="nofollow"Kevin MacLeod/a./ppa href="http://www.celluloiddirt.com/" rel="nofollow"Learn more about us/a or follow us on a href="https://letterboxd.com/CelluloidDirt/" rel="nofollow"Letterboxd/a/p

pFor our first directorial double feature we look at the work of buddy-comedy auteur Shane Black and his two 21st-century revitalizations of the PI story. In emKiss Kiss Bang Bang/em and emThe Nice Guys/em he crafts two hyper-stylized and hyper-witty worlds of guns, girls, and guys who are in way over their heads. Oh, and did we mention its Christmas? Because of course it is./ppbr/ppstrongRecommendations:/strong/ppTristan - a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/glass-onion-a-knives-out-mystery/" rel="nofollow"emGlass Onion/em/a/ppFred - a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/bones-and-all/" rel="nofollow"emBones and All/em/a/ppWritten amp; Produced by Tristan Johnson amp; a href="http://www.fredpelzer.com/" rel="nofollow"Fred Pelzer/a/ppA Strange Phantom Production/ppMusic by a href="https://incompetech.com/" rel="nofollow"Kevin MacLeod/a./ppa href="http://www.celluloiddirt.com/" rel="nofollow"Learn more about us/a or follow us on a href="https://letterboxd.com/CelluloidDirt/" rel="nofollow"Letterboxd/a/p

pIt#39;s a new millenium, and a new generation of flatfoots are hitting the streets. Precocious and jaded, wise beyond their years but in over their heads, these kid detectives show no matter how far along we get from the original noir era, there will always be someone willing to stick their neck out and find the truth in a world of shades of gray./ppbr/ppstrongRecommendations:/strong/ppTristan - a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/trouble-in-paradise/" rel="nofollow"emTrouble in Paradise/em/a/ppFred - a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/bicycle-thieves/" rel="nofollow"emBicycle Thieves/em/aem, /ema href="https://letterboxd.com/film/the-rules-of-the-game/" rel="nofollow"emThe Rules of the Game/em/a/ppWritten amp; Produced by Tristan Johnson amp; a href="http://www.fredpelzer.com/" rel="nofollow"Fred Pelzer/a/ppA Strange Phantom Production/ppMusic by a href="https://incompetech.com/" rel="nofollow"Kevin MacLeod/a./ppa href="http://www.celluloiddirt.com/" rel="nofollow"Learn more about us/a or follow us on a href="https://letterboxd.com/CelluloidDirt/" rel="nofollow"Letterboxd/a/p

pAs we near the end of the millenium, a new influence takes hold of noir - Sundance-era American indies. Comedy, absurdism and heightened worlds begin to intersect with tales of crime and desperation. Our two films tonight both came out in 1998, and both show that influence. emZero Effect /emupdates Sherlock with a post-Tarantino vibe, while emThe Big Lebowski /emsees the Coens set their own inimitable, endlessly quotable course./ppbr/ppstrongRecommendations:/strong/ppTristan - a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/the-banshees-of-inisherin/" rel="nofollow"emBanshees of Inisherin/em/a/ppFred - Charlotte Wells: a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/laps/" rel="nofollow"emLaps/em/a, a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/blue-christmas-2017/" rel="nofollow"emBlue Christmas/em/aem, /emamp; a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/aftersun/" rel="nofollow"emAftersun/em/a/ppWritten amp; Produced by Tristan Johnson amp; a href="http://www.fredpelzer.com/" rel="nofollow"Fred Pelzer/a/ppA Strange Phantom Production/ppMusic by a href="https://incompetech.com/" rel="nofollow"Kevin MacLeod/a./ppa href="http://www.celluloiddirt.com/" rel="nofollow"Learn more about us/a or follow us on a href="https://letterboxd.com/CelluloidDirt/" rel="nofollow"Letterboxd/a/p

pIt#39;s time for another round of retro-noirs as two 90s star-vehicles send us to the 1948-heyday of pulp cinema. First it#39;s the return of Jack Nicholson and Jake Gittes in the emChinatown /emsequel emThe Two Jakes/em, and then Denzel Washington appears as Easy Rawlins in the 1995 adaptation emDevil in a Blue Dress/em. Together these two films make a study in contrasts - with their stars, their stories, and their approach to the material - even as both try to pack us off in a celluloid time machine./ppstrongRecommendations:/strong/ppTristan - a href="https://letterboxd.com/thearcher87/list/sight-sound-ballot-2022/" rel="nofollow"Mock Sight amp; Sound Ballot/a/ppFred - a href="https://letterboxd.com/national2080/list/sight-sound-ballot/" rel="nofollow"Mock Sight amp; Sound Ballot/a/ppWritten amp; Produced by Tristan Johnson amp; a href="http://www.fredpelzer.com/" rel="nofollow"Fred Pelzer/a/ppA Strange Phantom Production/ppMusic by a href="https://incompetech.com/" rel="nofollow"Kevin MacLeod/a./ppa href="http://www.celluloiddirt.com/" rel="nofollow"Learn more about us/a or follow us on a href="https://letterboxd.com/CelluloidDirt/" rel="nofollow"Letterboxd/a/p