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TUESDAY - Neo-Noir ‘92

Programmed by: Zachary Vanes

Neo-noir was everywhere in 1992. In Hollywood, Paul Verhoeven’s BASIC INSTINCT was the 4th highest grossing film of the year. Independent giant New Line Cinema and its new indie division Fine Line Features released an ambitious slate of noirish thrillers culled from the festival circuit including films by newcomers, such as Tom Kalin’s SWOON, and the work of seasoned veterans, like Robert Altman’s THE PLAYER and Paul Schrader’s LIGHT SLEEPER. For New Line’s releases and other independently produced films like ONE FALSE MOVE, THE LIVING END, and STAR TIME, neo-noir provided the vehicle for stories of queer relationships, criticisms of the 24/7 media landscape, and reflections on the intersection of race and class in American life.

NEO-NOIR ‘92 celebrates the 30th anniversary of nine films that defined film noir for a new generation. Blending the macabre thrills of Alfred Hitchcock with the formal rule breaking of the French New Wave, these psychological crime films filled art houses and shopping mall megaplexes alike in the early 90s. Populated with a rogues’ gallery of serial killers, doomed lovers, femme fatales, and sleazy cops, the films are both a rejection of the bland respectability of the Christian Right and an expression of the country’s post-Cold War identity crisis. Gone is the guilty conscience of the classic noir - in its place is a devil-may-care embrace of the American underbelly.

7:00PM Tuesday, March 29th

Basic Instinct (1992) still

Basic Instinct (1992)

Paul Verhoeven · 128m · DCP

Provocateur Paul Verhoeven’s blockbuster neo-noir tells the story of a police detective (Michael Douglas) investigating a crime novelist (Sharon Stone) accused of murdering her boyfriend with an icepick. As the investigation intensifies, so does the steam between the two smooth operators. Joe Ezterhaus’s notoriously sleazy Vertigo-inspired script provides the perfect vehicle for Stone to give the mother of all femme fatale performances.

7:00PM Tuesday, April 5th

One False Move (1992) still

One False Move (1992)

Carl Franklin · 106m · 35mm

Ruthless outlaws Ray (Billy Bob Thornton), Fantasia (Cynda Williams), and Pluto (Michael Beach) are on a crime spree stretching from Los Angeles to Fantasia’s hometown of Star City, Arkansas. Meanwhile, the overeager Star City sheriff Dale “Hurricane” Dixon (Bill Paxton) and a team of federal marshals prepare for a showdown. Director Carl Franklin delivers a nuanced portrait of both sides of the law from a script that was co-written by Thornton.

7:00PM Tuesday, April 12th

Raising Cain (1992) still

Raising Cain (1992)

Brian De Palma · 91m · 35mm

Dr. Nix (John Lithgow) is a child psychologist with multiple personality disorder, who begins kidnapping children for research purposes in this nightmarish neo-noir that gleefully combines elements of Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960) and Powell’s Peeping Tom (1960). Made in the wake of the critical and financial failure of Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), Raising Cain is a return to the bold pastiche that defined De Palma's output during the '70s and '80s.

7:00PM Tuesday, April 19th

Swoon (1992) still

Swoon (1992)

Tom Kalin · 94m · 35mm

Tom Kalin’s retelling of the infamous case of Leopold and Loeb, convicted murderers (and University of Chicago students) who inspired Hollywood classics such as Rope (1948) and Compulsion (1959). A classic of New Queer Cinema, Swoon examines the often ignored romantic relationship between the two young men. Ellen Kuras, cinematographer of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2003) provides stunning black and white cinematography.

7:00PM Tuesday, April 26th

Star Time (1992) still

Star Time (1992)

Alexander Cassini · 85m · DCP

Despite premiering at Sundance in 1992 and receiving an enthusiastic review from Chicago critic Jonathan Rosenbaum during its run at the Music Box, Alexander Cassini’s Star Time has remained a cult film for over three decades. Recently restored by the American Genre Film Archive, the film offers a wickedly smart and frequently weird critique of news media and the serial killer genre without romanticizing mental illness or indulging in gruesome imagery.

7:00PM Tuesday, May 3rd

Batman Returns (1992) still

Batman Returns (1992)

Tim Burton · 126m · 35mm

The sequel to the 1989 Batman pits the caped crusader against criminal masterminds Penguin (Danny DeVito) and Catwoman (Michelle Pffeifer) during Christmastime in Gotham City. Burton blends the gothic twee of Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands with the postmodern noir of the Batman universe, and with supporting performances from Christopher Walken and an army of rocket-wielding penguins, this film is a blockbuster that isn’t afraid to get weird.

7:00PM Tuesday, May 10th

The Living End (1992) still

The Living End (1992)

Gregg Araki · 84m · DCP

Two HIV-positive, gay lovers drive across the country and commit crimes that target homophobes in The Living End. Luke (Mike Dytri) is a hustler on the run from the law, and Jon (Craig Gilmore) is a mild mannered film critic. Written, directed, shot, and edited by New Queer Cinema enfant terrible Gregg Araki, The Living End offers a very funny, very angry, and very '90s spin on the Bonnie and Clyde myth. The film was later nominated at Sundance.

7:00PM Tuesday, May 17th

The Player (1992) still

The Player (1992)

Robert Altman · 124m · DCP

Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins) is a Hollywood producer driven to the edge by a stream of threatening letters written by an angry stalker. The Player celebrates and satirizes the film industry at every turn, from its opening shot that rivals A Touch of Evil to the parade of Hollywood celebrity appearances. Though Robert Altman was a late addition to the production, the film bears his indelible mark and signals the resurgence of his career in Hollywood.

7:00PM Tuesday, May 24th

Light Sleeper (1992) still

Light Sleeper (1992)

Paul Schrader · 103m · 35mm

John Letour (Willem Dafoe) is a recovering addict who still works as a deliveryman for high-class drug dealer Ann (Susan Sarandon). Letour’s life begins to unravel as he faces threats of retirement from his boss and unwanted attention from a murder investigation. Writer/Director Paul Schrader has called this film the 1990s installment of his “man in the room” series such as Taxi Driver (1976) and the more recent film The Card Counter (2021).