Raymond Chandler

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By | January 01, 0001

Mostly noir

And mostly masterpieces, at the Museum of Fine Arts, June 2-13.
The definition of film noir has become elastic through the years. Of the five movies included in the MFA’s series “Rialto’s Best of British Film Noir” only two, strictly speaking, are noirs: Brighton Rock, Graham Greene & Terence Rattigan’s adaptation of Greene’s novel, and The Third Man, Greene’s most famous collaboration with the filmmaker Carol Reed.
By STEVE VINEBERG | May 26, 2010

Interview: Jason Schwartzman

On trying another identity in Bored to Death
"Three seconds into reading one of Raymond Chandler's books, I want a whiskey and a cigarette."
By RYAN STEWART | September 15, 2009

Big sleepy

Bored to Death brings a stoner PI to HBO
If television is indeed a reflection of society, then to judge from what's on the screen these days, we're all surrounded by people leading seedy double lives.
By RYAN STEWART | September 16, 2009

Dark passage

Film noir and the Production Code at the MFA
The Production Code, Hollywood's notorious self-censorship program, was instituted by the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America in 1930, but it didn't go into effect till 1934, when it was administered by Joseph I. Breen.
By STEVE VINEBERG | May 27, 2009

The price is right

Alexander C. Irvine sees a Buyout in your future
For a guy sometimes compared to Philip K. Dick, Alex Irvine took his time in getting around to writing about the future.
By SAM PFEIFLE | April 01, 2009

Sweet smell of skill

Alexander Mackendrick at the HFA
Alexander Mackendrick, who's the subject of a tribute at the Harvard Film Archive this weekend, is a somewhat mysterious figure in movie history.
By STEVE VINEBERG | January 06, 2009

Swedish schnapps

The Martin Beck mysteries
Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö's Martin Beck mysteries are back in a fourth American printing.
By WILLIAM CORBETT | December 02, 2008

Pulp fiction

Russell Banks dips into the mainstream in The Reserve
The forbidding, remorseless Russell Banks has finally conceded to popular literature.
By PETER KEOUGH | January 29, 2008

Detective comics

Brown’s playful City of Angels
Tough guys and loose women populate the lighthearted musical City of Angels like tykes playing dress-up.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | October 24, 2007

More the mystery

Kate Atkinson’s fear of genre
What’s the big deal about Kate Atkinson? If you read the rapturous reviews of her previous novel, Case Histories , you’d conclude she had written an engrossing mystery that was, you know, more than just a mystery.
By CHARLES TAYLOR | December 05, 2006

Global Murder

Plus, can Healey speak for herself?
Forget the Greens and Libertarians. It’s the Couch-Potato Party that will be the next alternative force in Massachusetts politics.
By JOHN CARROLL | August 03, 2006

Med noir

The bloody Continental take on an American genre
It all starts with murder.
By DANA KLETTER | April 27, 2006

Blown away

Quinlan’s Smoked is Grand Theft Auto: Portland
For a book set in Portland, Patrick Quinlan’s Smoked is striking for its near-total lack of Maine characters. He populates his crime-thriller/love story with people you’ve largely never seen around here.
By SAM PFEIFLE | March 22, 2006