The MoFo Top 100 Neo-noir Countdown

Ah, here we are finally at my first Film I planned on putting on my ballot when I first saw the countdown posted, but managed to completely forget when I submitted my ballot. I recall really liking Blue Ruin, thinking about it for days afterward, and I meant to watch to again on the run up to ballot deadline; I just didn't have the time, and was really trying to watch as many films that I hadn't seen as possible. Oh well, probably belonged on my ballot. Excellent film, and I recommend it to anyone that hasn't seen it.

Love Brick, and it would easily make it on my ballot in the 26-30 range.

Seen 14/20

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no votes. have seen blue ruin once and liked it well enough, but odds are i won't watch it again. rewatched brick a few years ago and, as much as i appreciate such a concerted effort to do a high-school neo-noir that's high in construction and low in irony in the abstract, i can take or leave the end result.

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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0

I wish I had more time to expound but I'm stupid busy right now, so I'll just say I really like Blue Ruin and Brick both. What a cool pairing.

Very noir to have memory problems

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Yahoo! Blue Ruin was my #13...finally a neo noir I've seen and vote for. I wrote this about it.


Blue Ruin (2013)
Hell yeah! Gotta love a movie with Jan Brady toting a Tec 10 semi auto like some backwoods survivalist in a modern day Hatfield and McCoy feud...I didn't even know Eve Plumb was in the movie and then the credits rolled, good thing I watched them as otherwise I'd never had spotted her.

I should probably hate this movie, but hot damn I really liked it. Right at the get go I was onboard when we first see the homeless guy and follow him around town...all without him speaking. I knew then that I liked this movie. I mean he could've just went dumpster diving for the next 90 minutes and I would've dug it. It's hard to explain but the movie felt like what I call 'honest cinema'. I loved that non-glossy, you are there style of film making and the main actor/character was interesting too. Gosh, I wish more movies were made without the bombastic need to 'wow' the audience.


Yes Blue Ruin had some graphic violence, but...and this is a big but...the film never presented that violence as tawdry, cheap thrills. I've watched other movies that made graphic violence seem like a thrill ride in an entertainment park. Blue Ruin on the other hand never did that and for that reason I was OK with the violence. The violence was there but it was never presented as a reward to the movie goer, instead the violence was an integral part of the story.

Loved the low key ending too, less is more and that ending worked so perfectly. Blue Ruin rocks!

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF... BLUE RUIN


Susan Wloszczyna, from RogerEbert.com said:

The Guardian said:

@MovieMeditation said:

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF... BRICK


Roger Ebert said:

David L. Tamarin of MovieWeb.com said:

@Darth Stujitzu said:

Blue Ruin was on my list. I love how quiet and deliberate the tone is, punctuated by some very graphic moments of violence. There are lots and lots of movies about revenge, and while some are cathartic wish fantasies where the baddies who done you wrong get what’s comin’ to them, in reality revenge is probably closer to the murky, bloody mess that our at-first-shaggy protagonist finds himself in. Unless there are only two people involved, as soon as you add perspective and secrets it is rarely a black-and-white division of good versus evil. This 21st Century Hatfields versus a McCoy tale is very effective.



Jeremy Saulnier certainly announced himself as a talent to watch with this dark little piece, a promise which was realized again in the fantastic and even bloodier Green Room which he also wrote and directed and co-stars Macon Blair again, and Hold in the Dark which he directed and Macon Blair wrote.

I used my second-to-last spot for Blue Ruin, so only two little points, but I am glad others had it up higher.

HOLDEN'S BALLOT
15. Shallow Grave (#95)
17. Dead Again (#90)
22. The Hot Spot (#85)
24. Blue Ruin (#82)
25. Johnny Handsome (DNP)

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

When I first saw that it was one of the picks I let out a loud, "YEAH!" Then I went looking for my ballot to see how many points I had given it. It had to have been a lot. I mean, it was my #5 on the All Time Top 100 List. Then, come to find out, I hadn't included it. Reassuring to hear I'm not alone in doing this.

But hey, two for two. Watched both Blue Ruin and Brick but neither was on my ballot.

9 of 20.

First one from my ballot show. Brick was my number 25. While I don't remember much about the plot I do remember plenty about the style and dialogue. It was such a cool movie. I could see this being a love/hate type of flick.


Completely forgot about Blue Ruin. That would have been pretty high up on my list and I would have also included The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo pretty high but didn't know it was eligible. Probably going to see a lot of that from me as there was just too much flipping around sites trying to see what was considered noir and what wasn't.

I haven't had anything to say about the reveals for a few days now, since Shutter Island was the only one I'd seen, and I wasn't really a fan of it. Been meaning to watch both versions of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for awhile now, but never seem to get around to them.

But I'm really happy to see Blue Ruin make the list today! I nominated in the 22nd Hall of Fame, and it was on my ballot here at #5. This was what I wrote about it for the HoF:

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Blue Ruin is awesome but I hated Brick

I like this pairing. Both films are fine examples of modern neo-noirs. Neither got my votes but glad to see them here.

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"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."

Seen Blue Ruin. It's just average for me though.

My heart is embiggened to hear all the love for Blue Ruin.

Blue Ruin, I have never seen. Brick, I have seen. It's not on my list. It was interesting to some extent, but mostly meh.

Blue Ruin is very good, but it didn't make my list. I love how its portrayal of revenge comes from an ordinary person whose lack of skill effects his progress and often results in bloody messes. While some scenes in it are gory (they feel like consequences to the main character's amateurism), they're fairly infrequent since the film focuses more on a slow and deliberate pace. That said, I think I prefer Green Room.

I haven't seen Brick.

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FINALLY one from my ballot.


#81 on the big list, but #3 on my own, Brick. 23 of its points were from me.


It perfectly embodies the Noir detective stories that I'm always a sucker for.


Brick is really helped by the terrifyingness of its antagonist, who counters our hero's craftiness with extreme violence and brutality. It elevates the story above similar, lighter faire, in my opinion.


3. Brick

Stats: Pit Stop #2

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After hitting our second pit stop (80), here's were we are now:

Decade Breakdown

• 1960s = 4
• 1970s = 2
• 1980s = 0
• 1990s = 8
• 2000s = 2
• 2010s = 4
• 2020s = 0

Big push from both the 90s and 2010s, which puts the former ahead of the game. Will it remain victorious?

Again, no point in doing a director breakdown cause there have been no repeats so far.