The MoFo Top 100 Neo-noir Countdown

TRAILERS



Blood Simple - When the owner of a small-town Texas bar discovers that his wife is having an affair with one of his employees, he hires a private investigator to have them killed. However, it all unravels in a chaotic chain of misunderstandings, lies, and mischief.





Noir expert Eddie Muller and TCM host Ben Mankiewicz share their thoughts on Blood Simple

Love Blood Simple, and the recent death of M. Emmett Walsh reminded me not only how great the movie is, but how unique is his performance. I have a review written that I will transfer here soon, but I'll just say I had it at #4.



SEEN: 66/92
MY BALLOT: 20/25

List facts!



This is the Coen brothers sixth entry in the countdown, after Fargo (#11), No Country for Old Men (#12), Miller's Crossing (#15), The Man Who Wasn't There (#27), and The Big Lebowski (#38).

The 32 point gap between Mulholland Drive and Blood Simple is now the highest in the countdown... so far.

Swing and a miss for the three of you

watched it once and thought it was just okay. considering how many of my favourite coen films are ones i wasn't into the first time around, i obviously owe it another shot.

__________________
Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0

My #22 Blood Simple (1984).

What a debut from the Coens and out of all of their films that qualified for the countdown, and despite liking Fargo, Lebowski, and No Country more, this was the one I felt belonged the most and put it at #7.

3. Blue Velvet (1986)
4. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)
5. High and Low (1963)
7. Blood Simple (1984)
8. Mulholland Drive (2001)
10. Alphaville (1965)
13. The Conversation (1974)
14. Zodiac (2007)
15. Memories of Murder (2003)
17. Fireworks (1997)
18. Pale Flower (1964)
19. The Grifters (1990)
20. Inherent Vice (2014)
22. The American Friend (1977)
24. Le Cercle Rouge (1970)
25. Série noire (1979) - One pointer

__________________
"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

Yeah, it's great that the one Coen's film that more exemplifies neo-noir is the one that got the highest placement so far. Even if I prefer other Coen films, this is the one true neo-noir.

Why? I could've spent almost the entireity of both countdowns posting that.

I hope so, else I've barely seen anything.


Like the Noir thread, it's been a while since I last was here and so I've too much to catch up on to note everything. That being said, I'll just let you know the ones I nominated.

I had Jackie Brown at #14, Reservoir Dogs #4, Miller's Crossing #9, Blue Velvet #11 and Blood Simple #17 and the final entry on my list.

I think I'll get 3 or 4 more.

__________________
5-time MoFo Award winner.

My lucky number 13! I'm glad it gets recognition here, as it often gets overshadowed by Coen's other work. I love how a simple crime can quickly become a comedy of errors. These aren't master criminals, but regular bad people caught in extreme circumstances.


The term Blood Simple itself refers to how unfocused and careless people can be when in a heightened state of fear or rage. Such a great movie.

1 for 1 and Blood Simple was my #12 pick.

64 of 92 seen so far.

I liked Blood Simple, but it is not one of my favourite Coen films or one of my favourite neo-noirs, so it didn't make my ballot.

Seen: 79/92

...or how we learned to stop worrying and make a list full of Coen Bros films.

Coens for the win. Not my favorite of theirs, but pretty damn good

__________________
Letterboxd

I watched Blood Simple in 2019 for the 20th MoFo Hall of Fame. I liked it, but had pretty much forgotten about it since then and didn't vote for it.

While I ended up placing Miller's Crossing higher, Blood Simple was the first Coen brothers movie I knew would be on my list, the grittiest, most noir movie of their career. I had it at #8.

My List:
3. Miller's Crossing (#15)
4. Memories of Murder (#25)
5. True Romance (#60)
7. Drive (#14)
8. Blood Simple (#9)
9. Nightcrawler (#21)
11. The Friends of Eddie Coyle (#100)
12. Branded to Kill (#71)
13. The Man Who Wasn't There (#27)
14. Blast of Silence (#48)
16. Sin City (#26)
18. Following (#84)
20. Jackie Brown (#18)
21. Mother (#67)
22. Purple Noon (#94)

__________________
I may go back to hating you. It was more fun.