* I saw Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix while recovering from jet lag, so I don’t have anything useful to say about it, except that Neville rules. I’m going to try to catch it on IMAX, if I have time.

* The advantage of not seeing a lot of genre films is that when something like Sunshine comes along you miss all the references and enjoy it on its own merits. Which were mighty. Sure, the science makes no sense and the ending has the hint of cheese. Doesn’t matter. The film is *gorgeous*.

* I do go in for some popcorn films, and as such, The Bourne Ultimatum was by far the three-quel I was most looking forward to. Worth it, as it delivered fully on its promise of awesome.

* Then, to the surprise of no one more than me, I caught a free screening of Superbad. What the trailers don’t tell you is that it’s all about the relationship between Seth & Evan, and their angst about going off to different colleges. It is funny and sweet and crass (particularly Seth) and I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. In that, I thought I would only like it for my strange affection towards Michael Cera, but I wound up laughing kind of a lot. So there.

…and now we are caught up. Yay!

Now that the film festival is over, the shiny new SIFF Cinema has started regular programming. They kicked off the summer with the Noir City festival, of which I caught four titles:

* Woman on the Run, starring Ann Sheridan. I’m not sure why it was titled that, as it was the husband on the run, not the wife, but noir titles have me generally befuddled. It’s a standard plot, as he’s on the run after witnessing a murder, but I really enjoyed it, and the final amusement park scene was *highly* effective. I’ve got the shivers again thinking of it.

* It was paired up with Pitfall, as each film described a marriage on the rocks. Pitfall was from the man’s point of view, a fellow stuck in the ideal life who puts a foot out of line and encounters Raymond Burr as the heaviest of heavies.

* Desert Fury was Technicolor noir… which doesn’t quite work for me. I think I might have enjoyed it more if I had taken it as straight-up camp. It certainly works better from that perspective, especially Eddie and Johnny’s relationship & the subtext rapidly becoming text.

* Leave Her to Heaven was another Technicolor noir, with Gene Tierney as a cold-blooded murderess. It was good stuff… except for the ending. Damn Hollywood.