Nov 1, 2015

Anyone who knows me by now knows that I love Film-Noir; & Noir related things.. I'm posting a list of Noir films to watch this month since it's Noirvember. Here's some recommendations for films that I love; but there's so many.. a month isn't going to cover them all..lol but here it goes!

Also, Post your favorite Noir films or Noir related films..such as Neo-Noir, aka modern day Noir..and let's discuss.


The Mob
The Blue Dahlia
The Blue Lamp
The Third Man
He Walked The Night
The Killers
Dressed To k---
Out Of The Past
Clash By Night
The Asphalt Jungle
s---t To k---
Sorry, Wrong Number
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Night & The City
The Big Combo
The Big Heat
Brute Force
Raw Deal
The Chase
The Lodger
They Won't Believe Me
Forgotten
All About Eve
Chinatown (Neo-Noir)
Kiss Me Deadly
The Killing
LA Confidential (Neo-Noir)
Devil In a Blue Dress (Neo-Noir)
Sweet Smell of Success
The Naked City
The Set Up
The Gangster
Born To k---
Key Largo
Mildred Pierce
The Lady Confesses
This Gun For Hire
In A Lonely Place
Cry Danger
DOA
Kiss of Death
Stranger On The Third Floor
Scarlett Hour
White Heat
The Big Heat
Detour
Fallen Angel
Nightmare Alley
Don't Bother To Knock
Red Light
Impact
Pickup On South Street
Criss Cross
Blonde Ice
Inner Sanctum
Jigsaw
Laura
The Maltese Falcon
Film-Noir (2007 Animated Neo-Noir)
Gun Crazy
Elevator To The Gallows (French Noir)

Start with this masterpiece if you want to begin a great experience with the genre



Enjoy, and if you want anymore recommendations just post in the thread!

 

Nov 1, 2015

Good to see DOA on there. It's a personal favorite.
I think Blade Runner (the Final Cut) is a great example of sci-fi noir.

 

Nov 1, 2015

I agree.. although I haven't seen Blade Runner in years, I need to re-watch it

 

Nov 2, 2015

Currently Playing LA Noire; and look at the cinema marquee.. it's a Noir, within a Noir! (looking for the Golden Film Reels atm)

 

Nov 2, 2015

you use that filter?

 

Nov 2, 2015

Yep.. I prefer playing it in Black and White, rather than color

 

Nov 2, 2015

Cool idea. I'll try to watch 10 that I've never watched before.

The Maltese Falcon (1941)
The Big Sleep (1946)
The Killers (1946)
The Third Man (1949)
The Big Heat (1953)
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Le Samourai (1967)
Le Cercle Rouge (1970)
Blade Runner (1982)
L.A. Confidential (1997)

 

Nov 2, 2015

have you seen Drive (2011) , @Bleed ? didn't see it on your list, probably my favorite neo-noir film.

 

Nov 2, 2015

great choices, but I must admit.. I've never seen 'Le Samourai' or 'Le Cercle Rouge'

Yea!. I've seen it a couple of times.. you really think it fits as a Neo-Noir?.. I'm still kinda hit or miss on that

 

Nov 2, 2015

Le Samourai is a critical darling. Le Cercle Rouge is just a movie I've been meaning to watch for like 2 years lol.

 

Nov 2, 2015

d---.. I'm slipping I definitely need to check those out immediately.. thanks for mentioning them

 

Nov 2, 2015

Kiss Me Deadly

 

Nov 2, 2015

One of the best tbh

 

Nov 3, 2015

The Maltese Falcon (1941) ★★★★★
(Dir. John Huston) (Wri. Dashiell Hammett)


Noirvember (1 of 10)

I decided to kick off Noirvember chronologically and start with a Bogart picture. Firstly, why don't we get posters like these anymore? Not necessarily hand drawn, but in the more square format or fat rectangular? I suppose it made sense with VHS boxes being thin, bookish rectangles, but DVDs and Blu Rays lend themselves to a square package a la the CD. Blu Rays almost commit but end up looking like midget DVDs shelved awkwardly alongside them.

Back on topic, I didn't have many expectations beyond knowing this is a classic staple of the genre. One expectation I did have was your typical, growling, iconic Bogart and well- he's kind of a mad man in this. Sam Spade is a grinning, griefless, violent, scheming, joking, bullying lunatic with a death wish. Most noirs leave me unconvinced romantically, but his fall for the compulsive liar Ruth (Mary Astor) makes perfect sense to me. Or maybe they're both pretending. Either way, they're on equal footing when it comes to sanity.

Sam's secretary Effie (Lee Patrick) decays along the way, but early on she's kind of a sisterly, sidekick who might work alongside Spade in a more equivalent society. The scene where she reports on Archer's widow with a Sherlockesque breakdown is sharper than anything Spade does. She's rolling his cigarette for him in more ways than one. Unfortunately, this dimension of her character is abandoned shortly after.

Speaking of decay, Peter Lorre's introduction is by far his character Joel Cairo's finest moment. Lorre was (type) casted perfectly as the strange, beady, accented little fellow. The bit with the gun almost feels like a comedy sketch and played straight works twice as effectively.

The Maltese Falcon is a snappy picture, hooking you in from the jump with lots of fragmented details to piece together. There's a peculiar case from an untrustworthy client, a double murder, and an affair all to be reconciled in time. The audience is usually a step behind Spade, ignorant to the affair, ignorant to his intuition when being lied to, ignorant to how he's slipping his tail, etc. There are some major developments you can guess early on, but you don't lose any interest in watching it all unfold. A very tricky feat for a mystery.

The only real gripes I had were the redundant text crawl and the couple long stretches of exposition that made it redundant in the first place. Contrary to most, I think exposition is fine if you can slip it into a conversation rather than a monologue. That way there's character interaction to go along with it which can also provide information rather than just a lecturing page and a half.

I like that Huston's adaptation doesn't pack the dialogue so thick with quips that it sounds unnatural. Spade dishes it out the heaviest, but of course a psychopath will have his quirks. The movie closes with a memorable line, as all noir's should. The twist ending is also pretty brilliant but we have Hammett to thank there.

Overall, this is my favorite Bogie performance yet. Probably my favorite classic detective noir as well.

http://letterboxd.com/redwell/film/the-maltese-falcon-1941/

 

Nov 3, 2015

Amazing film and great review!

there's nothing I wouldn't have said myself in this write up

 

Nov 3, 2015

Thanks for reading it. I usually write thinking nobody willl. How would you rank Bogie's work?

 

Nov 3, 2015

I'm a huge fan of Bogie.. ironically though my favorite film of his isn't a Noir, and it's Casablanca

Amazing actor; I think his roles in films like Casablanca and Sahara defines Cinema; quintessential films to be watched at least once

 

Nov 3, 2015

I've only caught a portion of Casablanca on TCM before. Another classic on my list.

I thought he delivered a charming performance in Sabrina. Lucky dude got to work with Katharine & Audrey Hepburn. Probably banged them both.

 

Nov 3, 2015

I totally forgot about Sabrina!.. unfortunately I've only seen bits and pieces of it though

you're definitely right; dude is a legend in his field ..lol

 

Nov 5, 2015

Anyone watch anymore?..