This is the third in a series of posts describing my recent trip to NOIR CITY 16 in San Francisco. I base these posts on 102 pages of notes in my little black Moleskine notebook, 254 photographs and my memory (supplemented as necessary). This post focuses specifically on the Castro Theatre and its environs. You … Continue reading NOIR CITY 16: The Castro
Author: Matt Berger
I am a data geek, writer, investigator and film noir devotee with academic training in political science (Yale BA, Harvard MA), biostatistics (Boston University SPH MA) and epidemiology (Boston University SPH PhD). In January 2021, I finished writing Interrogating Memory: Film Noir Spurs a Deep Dive Into My Family History...and My Own, which I published through Interrogating Memory Press (via BookBaby) in May 2002. In Chapter 6: So...What Is Film Noir, Again?, I analyze my film noir database, which contains 4,825 titles. My musical holy trinity is Genesis, Miles Davis and Stan Ridgway. I am a liberal Democrat who understands a thriving democracy requires at least two mature political parties. I grew up just outside Philadelphia, and I live just outside Boston, where my wife and daughters keep me happy, sane and grounded. Please ask me anything else you want to know.
NOIR CITY 16: Getting there is WAY less than half the fun
This is the second in a series of posts based upon my recent trip to NOIR CITY 16 in San Francisco. I base these posts on 102 pages of notes in my little black Moleskine notebook, 254 photographs and my memory (supplemented as necessary). This post gets me to the start of the festival. You … Continue reading NOIR CITY 16: Getting there is WAY less than half the fun
NOIR CITY 16: The Noir Strikes Back!
As I noted with great fanfare here, I attended the NOIR CITY 16 film festival, held January 26-February 4 at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, CA. I will have more to say about my raucous trip to the festival over the next two weeks or so, based upon my recollections (talk about interrogating memory!), … Continue reading NOIR CITY 16: The Noir Strikes Back!
NOIR CITY 16: Setting the Stage
Thank you for your patience as I cavorted on the left coast for 11 days. I am now home in Brookline organizing my thoughts, notes, photographs and, of course, data. This is the first in a series of posts based upon my recent trip to NOIR CITY 16 in San Francisco, California. It outlines my … Continue reading NOIR CITY 16: Setting the Stage
Interrogating memories of the LAST Eagles-Patriots Super Bowl
Sometimes, when my psychotherapist and I are interrogating (my) memories, she brings up the Freudian concept of “screen memories,” in which we essentially replace a traumatic childhood memory with a more innocuous memory. In her telling, a screen memory could be any set of memories which have become jumbled together, with the affect from an … Continue reading Interrogating memories of the LAST Eagles-Patriots Super Bowl
In which the objective is to get more…personal
I launched my blog on December 19, 2016 with this introductory post. It is ironic (even premonitory), given that I am now writing a book exploring facets of my identity, that I debuted with two radically different versions of my life story. On December 17, 2017 I published this post, my 52nd in 52 weeks, … Continue reading In which the objective is to get more…personal
Querying the impossible once again….
As readers of this blog know (and I am grateful to each of you, especially as the one-year anniversary of this blog arrives tomorrow), I am writing a book tentatively titled Interrogating Memory: Film Noir Spurs a Deep Dive Into My Family History...and My Own. The impetus for the book came from a career-related conversation … Continue reading Querying the impossible once again….
A less-wicked-early look at the 2018 U.S. Senate Elections
In this May 2017 post, I took a “wicked early” look at the 2018 U.S. Senate (Senate) races. Depending on whether Democrat Doug Jones or Republican Roy Moore wins the December 12 special Senate election in Alabama, Republicans will control 51 or 52 Senate seats heading into the 2018 midterm elections. Democrats (46 or 47 … Continue reading A less-wicked-early look at the 2018 U.S. Senate Elections
Doctor, validate thyself!
I recently wrote about my long-term fascination with American electoral geography, the way voting patterns are distributed across states, Congressional districts, counties and other areal units. Pursuing this interest as an undergraduate political science major, I began to explore state-level presidential voting data. During my junior year, I created a large chart that ranked how … Continue reading Doctor, validate thyself!
Separating the art from the artist
The director David Lynch—who I dressed as this past Halloween—gave this response to a question about the meaning of a puzzling moment toward the end of episode 15 of Twin Peaks: The Return. “What matters is what you believe happened,” he clarified. “That’s the whole thing. There are lots of things in life, and we wonder about … Continue reading Separating the art from the artist
Just Bear With Me... 