Film noir, Bruce Lee, Kelly Reichardt: return of the Cinematheque

So the film event I had planned this spring at the Cinematheque - a rare screening of Ryszard Bugajski's momentously confrontational, Canadian-made film Clear Cut - got cancelled due to COVID-19, and there's  no word about it being re-booked; BUT the Cinematheque is open again for business, running some of the greatest film noirs ever made, from well-known classics like The Maltese Falcon and Double Indemnity to the lesser-known but highly entertaining The Black Angel (starring Dan Duryea, but also featuring a great turn from Peter Lorre). A bit later in the month they have a couple of other favourite noirs of mine, Night and the City and Sam Fuller's Pickup on South Street - both with the great Richard Widmark. There's even a Lizabeth Scott film - someone I attempted to interview once, about how her career fell apart when scandal sheets reported she was frequenting lesbian bars (she never wrote me back - who knows if she got my letter, even; she has since passed on). The film, Desert Fury, is quite a brisk, giddy, and very colourful affair, for a noir, if I recall it correctly. The complete Film Noir 2020 series listings can be found here. It's a summer tradition that I didn't entirely expect to see happen again this year (kind of odd that they missed the chance to book Panic in the Streets, the most COVID-relevant noir and also a fine Widmark vehicle, but whatever!). I'm really glad that it's happening!

Some of my friends have expressed doubts that it's a great idea to be going to movie theatres right now, with pandemic numbers predictably amping up again, but given the tiny audiences and social distancing measures I've seen in place, I've felt pretty safe at the movie theatres I've gone to since things started re-opening - safer than I feel at grocery stores, for one. So far the only bad experience I've had since returning to the movies was at a Cineplex downtown where I was catching the Train to Busan sequel; it's a fun film, but the minimum-wage-earning kids who staff the place hadn't thought to re-stock the toilet paper in the men's room, which I didn't realize until after I ducked out of the theatre and occupied a stall... we'll say no more of that (it was a bit awkward, especially with all the other stalls closed due to social distancing), but if they can't get something like that right, I am not entirely sure I trust them to make sure theatres are sanitized, y'know? By contrast, I'm entirely confident that the Cinematheque volunteers and employees - serious movie lovers - will do a better job all-round, and am especially excited for the above-mentioned noirs, which are some of the finest American films of their era, worthy classics every one. 

Also, there's a bunch of Bruce Lee films playing at the Cinematheque this summer, and the debut of Kelly Reichardt's, First Cow, opening this coming weekend. I was a bit less excited by Certain Women than I had been with Reichardt's previous films - my favourites remain Old Joy and Night Moves - but I'm certainly willing to give this one a chance, and glad to see Reichardt is back in the Pacific Northwest and working with Jon Raymond again. Looks like we're returning to a historical point of view, too, though what I've seen seems dissimilar to Meek's Cutoff, so... well, I'll take a chance regardless. I mean, I like cows, and Raymond, and Reichardt. I haven't even glanced at the cast list yet (why do I need to, when I already know it's a film I need to see?). 

Not much else to say but maybe I'll see some of you at the Cinematheque? (Haven't even LOOKED at the Vancity Theatre website yet, but I will, I will...). 

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