A few of FNB’s fave posts from 2012

Happy 2013, all! Here’s a look at FNB highlights from 2012.

Marilyn Monroe shot by Bert Stern

Top 10 FNB posts (misc.)

Remembering Beth Short, the Black Dahlia, on the 65th anniversary of her death

TCM festival in Hollywood

Interview with Tere Tereba, author of “Mickey Cohen: The Life and Crimes of L.A.’s Notorious Mobster”

Marilyn Monroe birthday tribute

Marilyn Monroe exhibit in Hollywood

Film noir feline stars: The cat in “The Strange Love of Martha Ivers”

Famous injuries in film noir, coinciding with my fractured toe, or broken foot, depending on how dramatic I am feeling

Panel event on author Georges Simenon with director William Friedkin

History Channel announcement: FNB to curate film noir shop page

Retro restaurant reviews: Russell’s in Pasadena

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REVIEWS: 2012 neo-noirs or films with elements of noir

Crossfire Hurricane” documentary

Hitchcock

Holy Motors

Killing Them Softly

Momo: The Sam Giancana Story” documentary

Polisse

Rust and Bone

Searching for Sugar Man” documentary

Unforgivable

Wuthering Heights

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REVIEWS: Classic film noir

Anatomy of a Murder

Criss Cross

Decoy

Gilda

Gun Crazy

Murder, My Sweet

The Postman Always Rings Twice

Possessed

Sunset Blvd.

They Drive By Night

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REVIEWS: Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Dial M for Murder

The Lady Vanishes

Marnie

Notorious

The 39 Steps

FNB holiday gift guide 2012: Part Two

I’m back today with more stuff to covet. First, a few classics that any film noir fan should own. These books have been out for a while but I wanted to mention them because the Library of America editions are particularly well done.

Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1930s and 40s” (Vol. 1) includes The Postman Always Rings Twice, They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, Thieves Like Us, The Big Clock (Library of America), $35.

Raymond Chandler: Stories and Early Novels: Pulp Stories” includes The Big Sleep, Farewell, My Lovely, The High Window (Library of America), $40.

Raymond Chandler: Later Novels and Other Writings” includes The Lady in the Lake, The Little Sister, The Long Goodbye, Playback, Double Indemnity screenplay, selected essays and letters (Library of America), $35.

And now for some newly released titles.

Film Noir Graphics: Where Danger Lives by Alain Silver and James Ursini, $40.

Hollywood Sketchbook: A Century of Costume Illustration by Deborah Nadoolman Landis, $75.

The Hollywood Canteen: Where the Greatest Generation Danced With the Most Beautiful Girls in the World by Lisa Mitchell and Bruce Torrence, $23.

W: The First 40 Years by Stefano Tonchi, Christopher Bagley and John B. Fairchild, $75.

How the French Invented Love: Nine Hundred Years of Passion and Romance by Marilyn Yalom, $16.

Another Insane Devotion: On the Love of Cats and Persons by Peter Trachtenberg, $24.

The Rolling Stones 50 by The Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts, $60.

An Extraordinary Theory of Objects: A Memoir of an Outsider in Paris by Stephanie LaCava, $24.

The Blue Bottle Craft of Coffee by James Freeman, Caitlin Freeman and Tara Duggan, $25. Jeffrey Steingarten recommends this coffee; nuff said.

As a curator for the History Channel Shop, I’ve recommended 30 of my favorite film noir titles. You can’t go wrong with the Film Noir Classic Collection Vol. 1 (Warner Bros.). This essential set includes: The Asphalt Jungle, Out of the Past, Murder My Sweet, Gun Crazy and The Set-Up. (You can read mini-reviews of the first four titles on the Shop page or search for full-length reviews on this site.)

Film Noir Classic Collection Vol. 1, $50.

Last month, Paramount released “Sunset Blvd.” on Blu-ray, $27. Here’s a special-feature clip, a discussion of the mansion and pool in the film.

Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection (Universal), Blu-ray, $300.

New from Criterion: Purple Noon, Blu-ray, $32.