Film Noir

[thelastdisciple]

Who else just loves the hell out of it?

Crime, suspense, romance, mystery, retrospection, internal monologues/narration, betrayal, ambivalence, whodunits, hard-boiled detectives, femme fatales, all nighters, pouring rain and soaked city streets, diners, jazz clubs, lounge singers, fedoras and trench coats, excessive smoking and drinking, silhouettes, venetian blinds, low lights and high/low contrasts.

All of the ingredients, some more prominent than others, many you could give or take, that really make up the best of this delicious genre primarily out of the 40s and 50s.

Some of my favorites are: "Detour", "The Third Man", "Murder, My Sweet", "Black Angel", "Cry Danger"

There are still many i haven't seen and I'm always up for watching 'em. So any recommendations feel free!

I also made a huge list at IMDB that i intend to watch the entirety of at some point mind you it's always growing as I happen upon more that sound interesting.

Check it out: http://www.imdb.com/list/m6ZCsU38cQQ/

[Fixer808]

I never saw this post before, but film noir is great! I just started (like, TONIGHT, started) an attempt to write a pulp noir novel. No idea what will come of that, but we'll see!

And you are entirely correct, I loved The Third Man and its oddly jaunty score!

Oh, and last year for xmas my parents got me a book called "It's a Bitter Little World", noir movie quotes from the first one to now!

[Fixer808]

First paragraph:
"The mug coming out of the lobby was first to get it. He looked up at me, his hand cupped around a lit match, cigarette dangling from his lips, and in the split second between my pull of the trigger and the back of his head decorating the revolving doors he looked like he was about to say something. He still had a look of complete surprise on his face as I walked towards the door, little wisps of blue smoke coming from the match on the ground and the hole where his left eye used to be."

[mfte]

http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/images/column/aprilrain/deadly385.jpg

[SarahConnor]

I own two DVDs. I dislike them, DVDs, but the two are good: Felix the Cat + Silly Symphonies and a collection of Noir.
Try seeing the Stranger with Orson Welles.

[Digital Twilight]

The Maltese Falcon and In a Lonely Place are brilliant and both star Humphrey Bogart. The Third Man is probably my favourite noir though.

Chinatown and Bladerunner are good examples of a more 'modern' approach to noir.

[dpeters]

Following/Memento count, one for its adherence to convention and the other for its editing/scripting prowess.

[Lutz]

My favourites are Sunset Blvd, Flamingo Road, The Naked Kiss, Gilda and for modern Noir I like Nikos Nikolaidis' Singapore Sling and See You In Hell My Darling.

You can't go past the classics of the genre - The Postman Always Rings Twice, Laura, Double Indemnity!

[Wretchedest]

You know who is a great film noir, lesser known? Akira Kurosawa. Buried beneath his reputation for samurai movies, he actually made a few incredible fil noir, like Stray Dog, High and Low, the Bad Sleep Well.

I wrestle between Stray Dog and High and Low as my all time favorite but those are two not to miss.

[Self.Destructive.Pattern]

The Maltese Falcon and In a Lonely Place are brilliant and both star Humphrey Bogart. The Third Man is probably my favourite noir though.

Chinatown and Bladerunner are good examples of a more 'modern' approach to noir.

Good choices right there. The Maltese Falcon has to be one of my favorites of all time. If it wasn't for the movie "Brick" (Which has many many tastes of Noir), I would have never heard of Falcon.

[Digital Twilight]

I loved Brick, a little unusual but captivating all the same.

[Self.Destructive.Pattern]

I loved Brick, a little unusual but captivating all the same.

That's what I loved about it. The dialogue was fantastic, and with the low budget that Rian Johnson had to work with it will be one of my all time favorites in the genre. I really grabs you and pulls you in.. but only if you want to take the ride.

[GulDukat]

Some great films of this genre:

White Heat
Mildred Pierce
Double Indemnity
Angels with Dirty Faces

James Cagney is my favorite actor from that genre. This is the ending from White Heat:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bytoID_SNnE

[Findus]

One of my favorites:
http://www.criterion.com/films/538-blast-of-silence

[thelastdisciple]

One of my favorites:
http://www.criterion.com/films/538-blast-of-silence
Whoa, thank you for this!

Definitely going on the list to watch.

[elevenism]

Check out The Black Dahlia. This is my favorite modern noir thing.
As for the classic stuff, i've never really checked it out.

[thevoid99]

Check out The Black Dahlia. This is my favorite modern noir thing.
As for the classic stuff, i've never really checked it out.

The book was better as the film version I thought lost much of its psychological tone and the casting of Josh Hartnett in the lead didn't work at all.

[elevenism]

The book was better as the film version I thought lost much of its psychological tone and the casting of Josh Hartnett in the lead didn't work at all.

You know, i don't usually go for the "book was better" cliche (even though i find myself using it all the time, it just doesn't make and damn sense!)
But is it a pretty good read? What's it called?

I have a little confession to make about me and movies...i LOVE opiates and benzodiazapines, so, sometimes i might think a movie is wayyyy better than it really is because i am feeling so nice.
as for film noir in general, can somebody give me a good concrete definition of what it means?
My definition of it is kind of hazy.
It makes me think of hard boiled detectives and Portishead music.

[thelastdisciple]

@elevenism (http://www.echoingthesound.org/community/member.php?u=2475) Just read my first post in this thread lol i think i pretty much covered all the basis of what amounts to the Film Noir genre as a whole in both style and plot.

[elevenism]

@elevenism (http://www.echoingthesound.org/community/member.php?u=2475) Just read my first post in this thread lol i think i pretty much covered all the basis of what amounts to the Film Noir genre as a whole in both style and plot.

HA. That's high quality irony, especially after me talking about being high.
Thanks, lol.

[thevoid99]

I saw Elevator to the Gallows earlier this month. Great fucking film. That is truly one of the finest debut films ever and a real break-out for Jeanne Moreau.

[thevoid99]

Here's my review of the film: http://thevoid99.blogspot.com/2015/03/elevator-to-gallows.html

If you agree with it, OK. If not, that's OK as well.

[GulDukat]

White Heat, great film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjzKiEs_pHI

[Dra508]

I disagree completely.

Not saying you're wrong at all with your opinion, but what makes it so great? The plot was terrible and she didn't do anything so much as walk around aimlessly for 3/4 of the film.

I live for this genre. What am I not seeing?


Sometimes it's about when the film came out. Historical context.

I haven't seen it in a long time so I won't comment on whether it was good or not.

[thevoid99]

I don't want to spoil this film for anyone who may want to see it, so I PM'd you instead.

Well, I didn't write anything that would spoil the film for anyone. I read your PM. I can see why it didn't work for you. That's OK. Besides, I have my own eccentricities as a film buff as I'm a fan of 90s softcore films including the ones by Andy Sidaris and the first six Police Academy movies.

[Findus]

I stumbled upon the series Chance, on Hulu. It stars Hugh Laurie as a forensic neuropsychiatrist named Dr. Eldon Chance. Even though it's a rather modern series, I played around with the picture settings by dropping color to 0%, and boosting contrast to 100%. I went back and forth between B&W color. It looks nice in color, but the mood and intensity is certainly enhanced by the B&W alteration.