“The Postwar Noirs of Carol Reed” by Anees Aref

REVIEW ESSAY: “Guilt, betrayal, disillusionment, war – the themes in these films are crafted with the precision of, indeed, a cuckoo clock.”

“Too Much of a Noir Ending?: on Late Noir” by Anees Aref

REVIEW ESSAY: “With their bold technical style and themes, Touch of Evil, Elevator to the Gallows, and other late-noirs discussed below opened the door for many later masters….”

“Out of the Shadows: Neil Jordan’s Marlowe” by Anees Aref

FILM REVIEW: “Kudos to Jordan, screenwriter William Monahan, Liam Neeson and company for bringing the private eye out of the shadows again.”

“Soderbergh’s Neo-Noir Heist: No Sudden Move (2021)” by Anees Aref

FILM REVIEW: “Soderbergh knows the genre terrain, soaking up the urban atmosphere through his typically crisp camerawork and editing….”

“No stupid moves: Frank Oz’s The Score” By Anees Aref

REVIEW ESSAY: “Thieves should respect their elders, too.”

“Back to Troubled Grounds: The Two Jakes” By Anees Aref

“You can’t forget the past…just as much as you can’t change it” –Jakes Gittes (Jack Nicholson) in The Two Jakes The Two Jakes almost never happened. The sequel to the legendary 1974 film Chinatown (directed by Roman Polanski and written by Robert Towne) was a project doomed from the start, with creative clashes behind the […]