Don't believe me? Don't make me take out my wrench!
As a long-time fan of the genre and lover of the Noir City film festival, it's a dream come true really. Plus, working with monster talents Eddie Muller, Bill Selby, and David Allen to create this poster was an amazing experience. Not only did I get to go "behind the curtain" of the Alameda Naval Air Station's old theater (now Michaan's Auctions screening room) and hang around one of the oldest functioning projectors in the Bay Area, but I learned quite a bit about lighting, posing, and staging from these three masters.
Consistently, year after year, the Noir City posters are viscerally compelling; they grab you by the guts and sell you on the seamy shadow world we long to escape to. These posters manage to sum up what we love to characterize about the genre, all at once in one astonishing moment. Danger, sex, sweat, escapism, oblivion, Death. We got it. You want suspense? Look at what's about to happen to Eddie's glasses in that poster!
But the honor doesn't stop there. This year's festival line-up, released at last night's Noir City Xmas event, is full of iconic classics, rarities, and surprises (HELLO! 3-D NOIR!) that makes me think this year's festival is the best yet. Listen to me...I'm holding a huge wrench.
