“Sweltering Summer Noirish Nights,” “Cinema of Claustrophobia: The Films of Roman Polanski”

Here’s 18 reasons to stay out of the sun and revel in dark places and icy paranoia. We start with a couple of little-known Bogart flicks, High Sierra and Dead Reckoning , that might be of interest to Bogey fanatics but are mostly little-known for good reason. But the other four films are much better bets, especially Jules Dassin’s Night and the City , with Richard Widmark as an American grifter struggling to make it big in postwar London. And don’t miss John Huston’s superb The Asphalt Jungle , chronicling the collapse of a crime gang led by Sterling Hayden as their jewelry-store heist falls victim to squabbling, encroaching law and their own greed. Later in the month, Oak Street chills out with two weeks of the decidedly cold Roman Polanski. He’s best remembered for the good but overrated detective noir Chinatown and Rosemary’s Baby —in which, you may remember, Mia Farrow learns to love her baby despite the unpleasant fact that he’s the Antichrist. (Polanski’s also famous for being the husband of Manson Family victim Sharon Tate, and as a fugitive from a statutory-rape charge. But we digress.) Here’s a chance to dig deep into his worthy filmography, screening all the full-length features, from his Polish-language Knife in the Water to 1994’s Death and the Maiden (skipping, thankfully, the disastrous Pirates and What?). Though Polanski flirted with Merchant-Ivory gentility in 1979’s Thomas Hardy adaptation Tess , his best work is all about horror. His Macbeth takes Shakespeare’s most nihilistic, bloody play and adds more blood and an even bleaker outlook. For what passes for his lighter side, check out The Fearless Vampire Killers , a deft and almost sweet-natured Dracula spoof featuring a Hassidic bloodsucker who waves away crosses with “Oy, have you got the wrong vampire!” Oak Street Cinema, (612) 331-3134


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