The MoFo Top 100 Neo-noir Countdown

[SpelingError]

1. Taxi Driver
2. Blade Runner
3. L.A. Confidential
4. Chinatown
5. The Long Goodbye

[Holden Pike]

I know, as a whole there is a negative attitude toward remakes.
98710
Yeah, no full-on remakes of any Classic Noirs made the countdown. Body Heat is very obviously "inspired" by Double Indemnity, but it isn't actually a remake. Bob Rafelson's The Postman Always Rings Twice is definitely one of the better ones from the Neo Noir era. I thought Taylor Hackford's Against All Odds, a reworking of Out of the Past, probably had the best shot of actually making it. Not because it is in the same class as the original, but because of a young, tan Jeff Bridges sweating it up with a stunning Rachel Ward in exotic locales, and frankly the enduring popularity of the Phil Collins song. Between the music video featuring highlights of the movie in heavy rotation on MTV and the flick itself playing seemingly non-stop on cable channels back in the day, I thought it may have imprinted on enough MoFo GenXers to boost it to the bottom of the list somewhere. Plus the original star Jane Greer has a cameo role as well as Noir legend Richard Widmark, tying it nicely to the spirit of the Classic Noirs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVjEcIANv1o

I suspect the D.O.A. remake with Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan must have gotten a couple votes, that premise is so appealing. I thought the Kevin Costner/Gene Hackman No Way Out, which reworks the Ray Milland/Charles Laughton-starrer The Big Clock, might make it even if some of the voters didn't even realize it was a remake (and not of the Sidney Poitier/Richard Widmark 1950 Noir of the same name).

There are plenty of others: Narrow Margin, Night and the City, Kiss of Death, The Desperate Hours, The Big Sleep, Thieves Like Us (They Live By Night), The Underneath (Criss Cross), Farewell, My Lovely (Murder, My Sweet). Can't say as I am shocked that none of them rose to the level of the Top 100, though all of them (save The Big Clock) made it onto the Classic Noir list.


A few remakes of other Neo Noirs made it: Scorsese's Cape Fear and The Departed and Minghella's The Talented Mr. Ripley. But that was it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ub4yCGzFE70
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwyYxjU3mXQ

[Sedai]

I read Holden's post, and I end up with a Phil Collins song stuck in my head for the trouble!

Good morning! ;)

[Torgo]

I thought Sedai was immune to earworms, but take a look at him now.
Sorry.

[Holden Pike]

98714

[honeykid]

I don't think of Se7en as neo-noir, but I think that's because I don't think of many films as neo-noir, however once I started to look at things through that prism, then Se7en was a definiite. I had it at #3.

Actually, one of the first films which did occur to me but I ended up not putting on my list was After Dark, My Sweet. I just couldn't remember enough, even if I liked it that much or not, to justify it to myself.

If Chinatown isn't #1 then the whole list is void.

[Sedai]

I don't think of Se7en as neo-noir, but I think that's because I don't think of many films as neo-noir, however once I started to look at things through that prism, then Se7en was a definiite. I had it at #3.

Actually, one of the first films which did occur to me but I ended up not putting on my list was After Dark, My Sweet. I just couldn't remember enough, even if I liked it that much or not, to justify it to myself.

If Chinatown isn't #1 then the whole list is void.

Best MoFo ever!

[Miss Vicky]

If Chinatown isn't #1 then the whole list is void.

I won't be surprised if it is #1, but I also won't be surprised if it isn't. I guessed Taxi Driver at #1 because I get the impression that it's more popular on this forum even if it isn't the quintessential Neo Noir that Chinatown is.

Either way, I didn't vote for it. There are still two films from my ballot that will show up. I'm holding on to a tiny shred of hope that one of them comes out on top, but I'm pretty sure they won't.

[Holden Pike]

Taxi Driver did place a few spots higher than Chinatown on the MoFo Top 100 of the 1970s (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?t=36554) list. But asking for general placement voting versus a specific genre may well yield different results, for example the way Blood Simple finished higher here than much more universally beloved Coen flicks. The Long Goodbye was only nineteenth on that '70s list but seems to have made the Top Five, here. We will know very shortly.

19. The Long Goodbye (http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=1154290#post1154290)
6. Chinatown (http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=1160181#post1160181)
3. Taxi Driver (http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=1162517#post1162517)


Thief, take it away...

[John W Constantine]

...........

[Thief]

26lists389pointsThe Long Goodbye (https://www.movieforums.com/movies/1847-the-long-goodbye.html)Director
Robert Altman, 1973

Starring
Elliott Gould, Nina van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden, Mark Rydell

[Thief]

TRAILERS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsZAfkcKb4E

The Long Goodbye - Private investigator Philip Marlowe helps a friend out of a jam, but in doing so gets implicated in his wife's murder while taking another case that might or might not be related.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJkSP5DZtJg

Here, TCM host Ben Mankiewicz shares his introduction to the film.

[Thief]

This, along with Night Moves, were probably the two that I most wanted to get to before the countdown, but I just couldn't. It's a big blindspot that I will try to remedy soon.


SEEN: 69/96
MY BALLOT: 21/25


1.
2. The Grifters (#45)
3.
4. Blood Simple (#9)
5.
6. Nightcrawler (#21)
7. The Man Who Wasn't There (#27)
8. Following (#84)
9. Mulholland Drive (#10)
10. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (#35)
11. Thief (#29)
12. Bound (#59)
13. Blow Out (#17)
14. The Naked Kiss (#51)
15. Le SamouraÏ (#7)
16. Blue Ruin (#82)
17. Drive (#14)
18. Red Rock West (#88)
19. A Simple Plan (#46)
20. Killer Joe (#66)
21. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (#42)
22. Mother (#67)
23. Body Heat (#22)
24. To Live and Die in L.A. (#43)
25.

[Thief]

List facts!

https://64.media.tumblr.com/c51298991e02b541ef5218eeaedc7593/tumblr_o7eum2DPjn1qhlx6do1_400.gif

The Long Goodbye is Robert Altman's second entry in the countdown, after The Player (#47).

The 70 point gap between Seven and The Long Goodbye will be the second biggest gap in all the countdown.

[Thief]

5. The Long Goodbye



5. The Long Goodbye


5. The Long Goodbye


5. The Long Goodbye


5. The Long Goodbye

You all hit it!

https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExcnFlYWJqZ3B6bDhoNXZ3amYzOG1hMmttaXpmZTRkMnV2ejE3YmhoYyZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfY nlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/l2Je48DDnqj5dlBBK/giphy.gif

[Holden Pike]

98717

The Long Goodbye was #19 on the MoFo Top 100 of the 1970s.

[Holden Pike]

The first time I saw The Long Goodbye it was very inauspicious, and a far less than ideal presentation. You kids born in the 1990s and 2000s will not remember, but there was such a thing as black and white television sets. I mean, originally ALL televisions were only capable of black and white, but even long after color sets became the standard you could still purchase black and white sets for far less. My family had one, initially as a small “extra” TV that went in our kitchen in the 1970s. But that little sucker hung around (bright yellow plastic), and at one point it became mine. Until I later wrangled a color set for my bedroom, I had this one. Not only was it black and white, but it was teeny. Probably 13”, maybe even smaller than some of the laptop screens you may be reading this on. But, it was mine. Wasn’t hooked up to cable, either, just the rabbit ears for local programming.

98720

One night the late movie on one of my local UHF channels was The Long Goodbye. I was probably thirteen. I didn’t really know much about Altman at that point, I had only seen MASH (1970) on TV, which my Dad was a big fan of. I hadn’t yet read any Raymond Chandler or quite hit my devouring as many old movies as I can phase. The movie started, and even panned and scanned on a crap B&W set, periodically interrupted by commercials, something about it drew me right in. I loved ”The Rockford Files” and other P.I. and cop shows, but this was different. The first ten minutes is a guy talking to his cat then grocery shopping for it. What am I even watching? As it all unfolded in that lackadaisical Altman fashion, I was more and more transfixed. Not by the mystery or who done it, but by the attitude and the dreamlike nature of it all. I watched it until the wee hours of the morning and that was that. It was an odd but undeniably fascinating movie, even through the dreadful little old TV.

It stayed with me, and while I hadn’t seen it again all the years since, I never forgot it. Then when I got my first LaserDisc player – I think this was the Christmas I was twenty-one – when I went out to buy my first round of discs at Suncoast Motion Picture Company, a chain that used to be in Malls back in the ‘80s and ‘90s, there it was: Robert Altman’s The Long Goodbye. It was an unlikely pick among the stacks and stacks to choose from, but it became one of the first seven or eight LDs I owned. But now not only was I older, not only had my cinematic appreciation and experience grown exponentially, and not only had I read all of Chandler, but the LaserDisc was letterboxed, and I now had a big color television. As much as it had transfixed me the first viewing, now I was blown away by this weird, funny, funky little movie. It was Chandler, but it also very much wasn’t. Much more Altman than Chandler, but such an ultimately powerful take on the material, setting our knight errant into the hazy Los Angeles of 1973, post-Manson Murders, during the Watergate trial, with the mainstream power structure being replaced by naked Hippies and cats with refined palates. And Altman’s widescreen visuals and audio techniques and my god the John Williams theme played twenty different ways, all anchored by Elliott Gould’s weary and bemused Marlowe who it turns out is about the only honorable fella left in this f*cked up town. I loved it.

98721

Now that I owned it, and since my collection was only starting*, I watched The Long Goodbye over and over and over again, as one should. The laissez-faire surface cynicism masking true resentment and morality is rather brilliant. Along with Harry Mosby in Arthur Penn’s Night Moves (#40), The Long Goodbye is probably the best of the ‘70s Noirs at transplanting not the tropes and plot of the Classic Noirs but juxtaposing the inherent justice and morality of that era with the conspiratorial new world.

The Long Goodbye was #2 on my ballot, twenty-four of its 389 points.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yQ48_1cfSs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5mfNmbs7IA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AGyYuIGTlY


*difficult for me to remember exactly at this point, now that we are over thirty years onward, but I believe the discs I got with my player that my Dad picked out for me were The Empire Strikes Back, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Philadelphia Story, and Young Frankenstein. In that first trip to the video store in the couple days after Christmas I believe my first purchases were The Long Goodbye, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), The Blues Brothers, Die Hard, and A Fistful of Dollars. My collection ultimately grew to over 700 titles before the advent of and explosion in popularity of DVD that killed the format in 1998-ish. I donated a few boxes worth to a theatre fundraiser in Portland, OR and sold a few here and there, but I still have hundreds and hundreds of LaserDiscs. Jealous? I didn’t think so. My wife would greatly appreciate if somebody would come and take them all out of our garage, please.

[Torgo]

Nice! It's neck and neck with Cure with my favorite discovery from the Hall of Fames. Here (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2220121#post2220121) is what I wrote about it.

Was it on my ballot? Nope. Another "relied too much on Letterboxd" casualty.

[Holden Pike]

The Long Goodbye also holds the eternal distinction of being the finest film Arnold Schwarzenegger will ever be involved with.

98722

[Holden Pike]

More videos, because there can never be enough discussion of and rumination about The Long Goodbye. Not for this MoFo's taste, anyway...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uLndYDVBXQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YmDy77dIYU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uXD_9fm0h0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuGBGSIhoR8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcq5rTMgk7M

[seanc]

Long Goodbye is my 2. I love it so much. Gould is perfect. Sufficently twisty without being confusing. Couldn’t look more 70’s. I love how the score is used. One of my absolute favorite movies. Awesome it made top ten.

[WHITBISSELL!]

1 for 1 today. Watched and really enjoyed The Long Goodbye (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2211047#post2211047). It didn't make my list.

68 of 96 seen so far.

[SpelingError]

The Long Goodbye is very good, but it didn't make my ballot.

[Allaby]

I like The Long Goodbye but it didn't make my ballot.

Seen: 83/96.

[Miss Vicky]

I guessed correctly again, but I can't say I'm really happy about that.

I first watched The Long Goodbye about ten years ago and was impressed. It was funny and I really enjoyed its protagonist. That Marlowe's companion is an orange cat certainly didn't hurt anything. I liked it enough that I bought it on DVD, watched it again (and liked it more than the first time), and even considered placing it on my personal top 100 (ultimately I didn't and instead put the movie that I voted for at #10).

But it's been several years since the last time I watched it and my memories of it have faded quite a bit since then. I had intended to watch it again before voting, but never got to it. If I had rewatched it, it likely would've earned a higher position on my ballot than it did, but I remembered it fondly enough to vote for it at #19. Oh well, the handful or so of extra points a rewatch might have gotten it clearly didn't matter much.

Here's what I wrote about it when I first watched it:
The Long Goodbye
(Robert Altman, 1973)

I went into this movie with a little bit of hesitation after being warned by someone that Robert Altman was "an acquired taste." I can definitely see where that warning was coming from, but I actually found myself really engaged with it. While I wasn't overly interested with the story and the events that unfolded, I really enjoyed the wry humor and oddball ways of the character Philip Marlowe.

Conclusion: It's okay with me.

3.5+

http://www.angelfire.com/music6/walteregan/MoFoPics/longgoodbye.gif


My Ballot:
1. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (#35)
2. You Were Never Really Here (#50)
3. The Man From Nowhere (#87)
4. The Departed (#53)
5. The Big Lebowski (#38)
6. Coming Soon
7. True Romance (#60)
8. Zodiac (#30)
9. Se7en (#6)
10. Won't Show
11. Drive (#14)
12. Shutter Island (#86)
13. The Nice Guys (#39)
14. Inherent Vice (#41)
15. Gone Girl (#34)
16. Pulp Fiction (#37)
17. Killer Joe (#66)
18. Memento (#8)
19. The Long Goodbye (#5)
20. Won't Show
21. Dark City (#24)
22. Nightcrawler (#21)
23. Won't Show
24. Won't Show
25. Won't Show

[Sedai]

I had The Long Goodbye at #13, dead center on my ballot. I am a big fan of the film, but don't count it amongst my all-time favorites of the genre. I have seen it several times, and in fact, I just did a double feature re-watch of both The Long Goodbye and Thief a couple of weekends ago, and I had a great time watching both films. It's one of those films that I have to be in a certain mood to watch, so I don't put it on as often as some others.

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTg3OTMyMzU4MV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNTU2MDI2NzE@._V1_.jpg

Gould is a ton of fun to watch, looking almost like and old school comic strip character at times, as in the shot above. Also, anytime I get to blame a cat for a series of misadventures, I am totally on board. As others have mentioned, this film is chock full of 70s style and locations, and the spaced out topless chicks next door are hilarious.

I also have to mention Sterling Hayden, who knocks it out of the park in what I guess was just him being himself while the camera was rolling. The scene where his character staggers out into the ocean while Marlowe and Ellen Wade are talking in the foreground always sticks in my mind.

https://imengine.prod.srp.navigacloud.com/?uuid=0A74AF34-4635-463F-84CB-C60CA4A97640&type=primary&q=75&width=1024

Probably the best satirical deconstruction of the genre ever made, I had to include it on my list.

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/xOEkTX4dIS4UFI4RpeAp3uMynFa.jpg

[mrblond]

Further on my ballot, I have Year of the Dragon (1985) at #17.

This movie was very popular back in the days. I've seen it several times. I was under the impression that all these early Rourke flicks in the scope, probably gonna make the countdown. Even not in the near misses... whatever, this is a well filmed atmospheric film and Rourke is right on his place.

98727

[Kaplan]

I had The Long Goodbye at #10, but it was literally the first movie I thought of for my list. I love it. I've seen it a bunch of times, and I've read the book twice. Both are equally great, in their own ways. Two of these four movies will make up my #1 and 2. And I'm predicting Chinatown wins by a lot, but we'll see.

My List:
3. Miller's Crossing (#15)
4. Memories of Murder (#25)
5. True Romance (#60)
6. Read My Lips (DNP)
7. Drive (#14)
8. Blood Simple (#9)
9. Nightcrawler (#21)
10. The Long Goodbye (#5)
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)
15. Le Samouraï (#7)
16. Sin City (#26)
17. Memento (#8)
18. Following (#84)
19. Blow-Up (DNP)
20. Jackie Brown (#18)
21. Mother (#67)
22. Purple Noon (#94)
23. Cop Land (DNP)
24. Against All Odds (DNP)
25. The Man from London (DNP)

[Harry Lime]

Probably the best satirical deconstruction of the genre ever made, I had to include it on my list.

Yeah I would say one of the nest satirical deconstructions of any genre and the credit can go to the writing, directing, and acting for that as they all play this role. Why I had it at #9. I couldn't imagine creating a neo-noir list and not including this film.


3. Blue Velvet (1986)
4. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)
5. High and Low (1963)
6. Le Samouraï (1967)
7. Blood Simple (1984)
8. Mulholland Drive (2001)
9. The Long Goodbye (1973)
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

[John-Connor]

98731
Altman is great and has been on every one of my top 250 editions with multiple films. Elliott Gould is probably the most laidback and cool version of Marlowe. Definitely the most cat friendly and possibly my favorite version of the famous private eye. Amazing soundtrack by John Williams. I had The Long Goodbye at #7.

SEEN: 90/96

25. Mirage (1965) (DNP)
22. In the Heat of the Night (1967)
20. Le Samouraï (1967)
18. High and Low (1963)
17. The Driver (1978)
15. The Hit (1984) (DNP)
14. Collateral (2004)
12. SE7EN (1995)
11. Get Carter (1971)
08. The Hot Spot (1990)
07. The Long Goodbye (1973)
06. Thief (1981)
05. Blow Out (1981)
04. One False Move (1992)

[cricket]

I'm not totally in love with The Long Goodbye but I am getting there. I am glad it made the top 5, it just feels right.

1. Killer Joe (#66)
3. Gone Baby Gone (#64)
4. The Player (#47)
5. Se7en (#6)
6. The Usual Suspects (#20)
7. Body Heat (#22)
9. Mona Lisa (#78)
10. High and Low (#19)
11. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (#62)
12. Body Double (#69)
13. The Long Goodbye (#5)
14. Blow Out (#17)
15. The Driver (#79)
16. Blood Simple (#9)
17. Night Moves (#40)
19. Drive (#14)
21. Manhunter (#77)
22. Sin City (#26)
23. Blue Velvet (#13)
24. Bound (#59)

[beelzebubble]

Nope and nope. I didn't think of Se7en as Neo-noir and I too saw The Long Good by on the late, late show on a tiny black and white TV. I didn't care for it at the time. Maybe it was over my head. I was just a young kid. I think I will give it another go.

[rauldc14]

The Long Goodbye was my 19.

[Citizen Rules]

The Long Goodbye is #5 good! I had it as my #5. I think the movie is better than what I had originally though of it last time I seen it. Anyway the film has Sterling Hayden so it had to be here.:)

[GulfportDoc]

IMO The Long Goodbye is a nice film, a curio. But it suffered from the decision to change eras from the 1940s to the 1970s. I wasn't wild about the screenplay, and I never believed Elliot Gould as Marlowe. The whole project was a little too Hippie-dippy '70s. Even the photography was not noirish. Altman is a good director, but not for noir. He was good for M*A*S*H and The Player.

I've seen it a couple of times, and although it's not terrible, it couldn't make my top neo-noir list.

[Thief]

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF... THE LONG GOODBYE

https://assets.mubicdn.net/images/film/2594/image-w1280.jpg?1608302190
RT – 95%, IMDb – 7.5


Roger Ebert said:

"The Long Goodbye should not be anybody’s first film noir, nor their first Altman movie. Most of its effect comes from the way it pushes against the genre, and the way Altman undermines the premise of all private eye movies, which is that the hero can walk down mean streets, see clearly, and tell right from wrong. The man of honor from 1953 is lost in the hazy narcissism of 1973, and it’s not all right with him." (read full review here (https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-long-goodbye-1973))

Cameron Olsen, from Collider, said:

"Throughout the film, minor characters of this sort add major color to the film’s LA setting, enhancing its realism. In granting all characters equal humanity, Altman gives noir something new. There’s a liberating sense that other goals and stories of equal importance exist outside of the protagonist’s limited plotline." (read full review here (https://collider.com/the-long-goodye-robert-altman-best-noir-satire/))

Cobpyth said:

"There isn't really anything I don't love about this movie. I love every single quirk of it and I admire how everything it seems to do can be seen as some sort of clever commentary on the clichés of the classic noir genre or the '70s itself as a time period, which beautifully contrasts, but also at the same time brilliantly accompanies the main character (flawlessly played in a very unique way by Elliott Gould) who still kind of seems stuck in the '40s or '50s." (read full review here (https://www.movieforums.com/reviews/1158212-the_long_goodbye.html))

[Thief]

AWARDS?

https://metrograph.imgix.net/2023/06/long-goodbye-1400x599-1.jpeg?fm=pjpg&ixlib=php-3.3.1


The Long Goodbye only received two nominations and one award. These is it:


One (1) National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography (Vilmos Zsigmond)
One (1) Golden Seashell Award nomination at the San Sebastián International Film Festival

[Thief]

So... who's sticking with their initial picks? Anybody new want to jump in the betting game?

Just gonna throw out my prediction for the top 5:

1. Taxi Driver
2. Chinatown
3. Blade Runner
4. L.A. Confidential
5. The Long Goodbye

I hope I'm wrong though. That's definitely not the order I want them to be in.

Top Five Prediction

1. Chinatown
2. Blade Runner
3. Taxi Driver
4. The Long Goodbye
5. L.A. Confidential

Three are from the 1970s. Four of them are set in Los Angeles. Four of them are still on my ballot.

Top 5 Prediction

1. Chinatown
2. Blade Runner
3. Taxi Driver
4. L.A. Confidential
5. The Long Goodbye

My predictions for top 5 order (I like that we all are just in agreement as to what the top 5 are):

1. Chinatown
2. L.A. Confidential
3. Taxi Driver
4. Blade Runner
5. The Long Goodbye

Top 5 prediction:

1. Taxi Driver
2. Chinatown
3. Blade Runner
4. The Long Goodbye
5. L.A. Confidential

1. Chinatown
2. Blade Runner
3. L.A. Confidential
4. Taxi Driver
5. The Long Goodbye

1. Taxi Driver
2. Blade Runner
3. L.A. Confidential
4. Chinatown
5. The Long Goodbye

[Thief]

Also, another thing that I wanted to run by the group. This countdown is set to conclude on Saturday with the reveals of #1 and #2. As I've said in various occassions through the countdown, weekends are a bit complicated for me, and this Saturday maybe moreso than the others. I will probably be out all day long with no access to my laptop.

So, what I could do is either do an early bird reveal, but I mean really early, as in 6:20am EST, before I head out... or reveal late in the afternoon, possibly even in the evening, depending on when I do get back home.

What do you prefer?

[PHOENIX74]

5. The Long Goodbye - On my Robert Altman review thread I wrote this about TLG - "The longer you look at The Long Goodbye the more remarkable it seems, and the better sense you get of what you should be focusing on. In a neo-noir film based on a 1953 Raymond Chandler novel you'd think it would be the mystery - but this is more Robert Altman movie than Raymond Chandler story - character, atmosphere and a heady blend of themes create a work of art far from your typical noir story." This is one of those films with many little flourishes that make it so original, despite the fact that it's working in a well-defined genre - for example, the way that the soundtrack consists of one song which is performed a dozen or so different ways. It's full of fun little cameos too : David Carradine and Arnold Schwarzenegger being two standouts (let us not forget Morris the cat!) The cinematography is so creative it's fascinating. I ended my review in part by saying "This film can't be fully encapsulated in one review. It's one of a thousand little touches, half a dozen great performances (including a couple from a baseball player and film director) and an Altman/Zsigmond peak of visual acuity." There's so much to it. I love this movie, and it ended up at #8 on my ballot.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seen : 71/96
I'd never even heard of : 9/96
Movies that had been on my radar, but I haven't seen yet : 16/96
Films from my list : 17 + 1

#5 - My #8 - The Long Goodbye (1973)
#6 - My #5 - Se7en (1995)
#8 - My #4 - Memento (2000)
#12 - My #10 - No Country For Old Men (2007)
#13 - My #7 - Blue Velvet (1986)
#14 - My #15 - Drive (2011)
#15 - My #6 - Miller's Crossing (1990)
#16 - My #2 - Reservoir Dogs (1992)
#17 - My #22 - Blow Out (1981)
#21 - My #13 - Nightcrawler (2014)
#27 - My #24 - The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
#28 - My #1 - The Conversation (1974)
#30 - My #23 - Zodiac (2007)
#42 - My #19 - Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
#44 - My #21 - Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
#52 - My #11 - Oldboy (2003)
#81 - My #17 - Brick (2005)
#106 - My #16 - Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)

[Miss Vicky]

So... who's sticking with their initial picks? Anybody new want to jump in the betting game?

I’m sticking with L.A. Confidential as my guess for tomorrow.

So, what I could do is either do an early bird reveal, but I mean really early, as in 6:20am EST, before I head out... or reveal late in the afternoon, possibly even in the evening, depending on when I do get back home.

What do you prefer?

I vote early reveal.

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/7Ppt4L6J/animal-kingdom.jpg

Animal Kingdom - My #25

This Australian film was my 1-pointer, and as it didn't show I guess it got votes from at least one other person. It inspired an American television series on TNT that ended up running for 6 seasons, and I liked the film so much that I gave the series a go - and I have to say I thought the series was also terrific. Anyway, the film has a few recognizable faces in it's cast for audiences worldwide - Ben Mendelsohn, Guy Pearce, Jacki Weaver and Joel Edgerton are all in it, elevating the acting quality of this movie based on a crime family who is turning young 17-year-old Josh Cody (James Frecheville), whose mother has just died of a heroin overdose, into a fully criminalized member of the gang. People already leading a lousy life are easy to turn - but Detective Nathan Leckie (Guy Pearce) takes on the near-hopeless task of saving this kid from his own kin. For those who haven't seen it, I highly recommend Animal Kingdom - both the film and the series. Looking back on this selection, I think it's highly debatable whether it's neo-noir or not - but it passed the needed test to meet qualification standards.

[PHOENIX74]

Also, another thing that I wanted to run by the group. This countdown is set to conclude on Saturday with the reveals of #1 and #2. As I've said in various occassions through the countdown, weekends are a bit complicated for me, and this Saturday maybe moreso than the others. I will probably be out all day long with no access to my laptop.

So, what I could do is either do an early bird reveal, but I mean really early, as in 6:20am EST, before I head out... or reveal late in the afternoon, possibly even in the evening, depending on when I do get back home.

What do you prefer?

Yeah, do it early.

[Iroquois]

the long goodbye is excellent, but i haven't watched it in forever. pretty sure it would hold up so ironically i don't feel i have to.

[CosmicRunaway]

Elliott Gould's performance is my favourite thing about The Long Goodbye. He carries a lot of the film, and without him I don't think the film wouldn't made it onto my list. When it was nominated in the 25th Hall of Fame, this is what I wrote about it:

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=77949

The Long Goodbye (1973)
Directed By: Robert Altman
Starring: Elliott Gould, Nina van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden

The Long Goodbye provides an interesting spin on a classic genre, as well as one of its most iconic characters. It acknowledges traditional noir clichés, and highlights how out of place someone like Phillip Marlowe would be in a world that has undergone many changes since Raymond Chandler first starting writing his novels. With overlapping dialogue and a meandering plot, this isn't a detective story that's told in a clean, succinct manner, but it's a satisfying one nonetheless.

The camera often moves around the perimeter of scenes, and films conversations from the other side of a glass screen or car, giving the impression that the audience is an outside observer. Marlowe himself doesn't seem to have much agency in the story until the very end, which fits this particular characterization of a man who is at odds with the world he lives in. Though he was perhaps a little too flippant at times, I really enjoyed Marlowe's attitude, with Elliott Gould's performance being the highlight of the film for me.

I wish I could say the same for the other actors, but most of them were just serviceable at best. This didn't bother me too much, with the exception of Sterling Hayden, who I found actively repulsive. I do wonder whether or not that was intentional, or just a side effect of his alleged inebriation at the time. Other than that, I did thoroughly enjoy The Long Goodbye for its use of humour, stark flashes of reality, and the near non-stop barrage of wisecracks.

I had it at lucky #13.

Seen: 54/96

My List: 18
01.
02. Blade Runner 2049 (2017) - #44
03. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) - #42
04. John Wick (2014) - DNP
05. Blue Ruin (2013) - #82
06. Mother (2009) - #67
07. Dark City (1998) - #24
08. Strange Days (1995) - #65
09.
10. The Man from Nowhere (2010) - #87
11. Se7en (1995) - #6
12. Reservoir Dogs (1992) - #16
13. The Long Goodbye (1973) - #5
14. Angel Heart (1987) - #31
15. Infernal Affairs (2002) - #91
16. Memento (2000) - #8
17. Memories of Murder (2003) - #25
18.
19. Le Samouraï (1967) - #7
20. The Usual Suspects (1995) - #20
21. Oldboy (2003) - #52
22.
23. Nightcrawler (2014) - #21
24.
25. The Chaser (2008) - DNP 1-pointer



https://64.media.tumblr.com/7bb9a40c686064a4978d22c0a72f6fb9/083a3ff656f00fb1-99/s500x750/10c13e850ff31c08e05f06dd3d2e7a79347a7035.gifv

[mrblond]

So, what I could do is either do an early bird reveal, but I mean really early, as in 6:20am EST, before I head out... or reveal late in the afternoon, possibly even in the evening, depending on when I do get back home.

What do you prefer?

Early bird would be nice! :up:

[SpelingError]

So... who's sticking with their initial picks? Anybody new want to jump in the betting game?
I think I might've put Chinatown a couple spots too low, but I'll stick with it anyways.

[SpelingError]

Also, I'm fine with doing an early reveal.

[Sedai]

Early reveal for me, as well.

Sticking with L.A. Confidential for today's guess, also.

[Allaby]

L.A. Confidential would be my guess as well.

[Thief]

Ok, early bird it is. Thanks!

[Little Ash]

My reasoning isn't sound, but I'm sticking Blade Runner as my guess for #4, because this isn't the Price is Right game where you always want to switch to the unrevealed door.

[Thief]

I’m sticking with L.A. Confidential as my guess for tomorrow.


I think I might've put Chinatown a couple spots too low, but I'll stick with it anyways.


Sticking with L.A. Confidential for today's guess, also.

L.A. Confidential would be my guess as well.

My reasoning isn't sound, but I'm sticking Blade Runner as my guess for #4, because this isn't the Price is Right game where you always want to switch to the unrevealed door.

I am gonna guess Taxi Driver shows today leaving the Top Three Chinatown, Blade Runner, and L.A. Confidential.

Ok, people. Let's get ready then for a reveal within the next half hour or so.

https://y.yarn.co/2785b461-4c63-41e3-8adb-93cb6d589cae_text.gif

[Holden Pike]

I am gonna guess Taxi Driver shows today leaving the Top Three Chinatown, Blade Runner, and L.A. Confidential.

[Thief]

25lists407pointsTaxi Driver (https://www.movieforums.com/movies/103-taxi-driver.html)Director
Martin Scorsese, 1976

Starring
Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel

[Thief]

TRAILERS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5IligQP7Fo

Taxi Driver - A mentally unstable veteran works as a nighttime taxi driver in New York City, where the perceived decadence and sleaze fuels his detachment from reality and his urge for violent action.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBSpPNvDrQE

Here, TCM host Ben Mankiewicz shares his introduction and thoughts on the film.

[Thief]

I know a lot of you know that I'm not a big Scorsese guy, but Taxi Driver is one I like a lot. Probably my #2 Scorsese film. Anchored by a great and disturbing performance from Robert De Niro, it is one of those films that drags you into that uneasiness that surrounds Travis Bickle. That said, I didn't vote for it, but it's a damn fine film.


SEEN: 70/97
MY BALLOT: 21/25


1.
2. The Grifters (#45)
3.
4. Blood Simple (#9)
5.
6. Nightcrawler (#21)
7. The Man Who Wasn't There (#27)
8. Following (#84)
9. Mulholland Drive (#10)
10. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (#35)
11. Thief (#29)
12. Bound (#59)
13. Blow Out (#17)
14. The Naked Kiss (#51)
15. Le SamouraÏ (#7)
16. Blue Ruin (#82)
17. Drive (#14)
18. Red Rock West (#88)
19. A Simple Plan (#46)
20. Killer Joe (#66)
21. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (#42)
22. Mother (#67)
23. Body Heat (#22)
24. To Live and Die in L.A. (#43)
25.

[Thief]

I am gonna guess Taxi Driver shows today leaving the Top Three Chinatown, Blade Runner, and L.A. Confidential.

Nailed it!

https://gifdb.com/images/high/nailed-it-red-beard-man-evli72thrwfasobz.gif

[Thief]

List facts!

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/1a/db/95/1adb957441cdeacec32df2e252a6146e.gif

Of course we're talking about you, Robert. This is, like, your fourth appearance in the countdown. You already had Jackie Brown (#18), Angel Heart (#31), and Heat (#32).

Taxi Driver is Martin Scorsese's third entry in the countdown, after The Departed (#53) and Shutter Island (#86).

[Allaby]

Taxi Driver was my number 2. It's brilliantly directed with an excellent screenplay and fantastic performances.

Seen: 84/97.

[Holden Pike]

98739

Taxi Driver was #3 on the MoFo Top 100 of the 1970s, #5 on the original MoFo Top 100, and #14 on the MoFo Top 100 Refresh.

[Miss Vicky]

I am absolutely thrilled to see that I was wrong about my predictions. Not only does this mean that the movie I voted for is top three, it also means that Taxi Driver isn't number one.

I watched Taxi Driver in 2010 and was not impressed (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=690001#post690001). There were some aspects that I liked, but didn't like it overall. I've never had any desire to revisit it and never considered it for my ballot.

[stillmellow]

Only #4 for Taxi Driver? That is very surprising. It's personally my list's #5, but I thought it'd rate higher on the forum. A movie as gritty, grimy, and mentally detached as 70's New York itself.


I have a personal grudge with The Long Goodbye, because I'm a huge fan of the novel, and this movie is VASTLY different, especially the ending.


I did really like Elliot Gould's wonderfully eccentric performance though, the movie's best feature. It's a top 40 neo Noir for me.

[Holden Pike]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsiNmT9Kwqo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfXz02fT2rE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD2RhWCJkWk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoSsh67drok

[Iroquois]

taxi driver was my #2. arguably the best neo-noir to not centre around some kind of detective figure (though i suppose a self-styled vigilante wouldn't be too far afield of that).

[Holden Pike]

There are few bigger Scorsese fans 'round these here parts than me, I reckon, and I regard Taxi Driver as Marty's second greatest film, behind only GoodFellas. But I didn't vote for it. It is Noir enough to pass the smell test, but for me it is so far beyond its genre elements that I never really considered it for my ballot. But, please do enjoy and contribute to my SCORSESE THREAD (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?t=4038).

While I did not have Taxi Driver on my ballot, I did have a lesser-known flick from the 1970s. My final Neo No-Show is a small Canadian thriller…

98740

The Silent Partner (1978) has developed a bit of a cult reputation over the decades, thanks to film nerds who keep rediscovering it no matter how well it is hidden. During its initial run in 1978 it got some decent notices, including from Siskel & Ebert – though they were not yet the TV stars they became in the 1980s once their program was syndicated. But being a small Canadian production, it had no chance to get the distribution it probably deserved. The problem continued into the VHS era where it was difficult to find. But boy is it worth a look.

Elliott Gould stars as an amiable bank teller. By chance he figures out the branch was almost held up at closing time, inadvertently thwarted by bad timing but not discovered by anyone else. Figuring the robber will be back the next day he quickly hatches a plan of his own: squirrel away a big pile of the bank’s cash in one of the safety deposit boxes, via paperwork make it seem that his till is very full, then when the bank robber comes back, hand over a relatively small amount to him then carefully claim the rest of the loot from the safety deposit. The bank and the authorities will naturally think all the money went to the criminal with the gun. Brilliant! Of course the one other person who quickly figures out what went down is the bank robber. He’s played by Christopher Plummer. Bad luck for the teller, not only is he a bank robber but he is also a vicious sadist who is now focusing his efforts on him!

98741

Terrific set up which leads to a Hitchcockian game of cat and mouse between two very smart opponents, one of whom is deadly. The supporting cast includes Susannah York as another bank employee, and there is even a small role for a pre-SCTV John Candy. Clever, violent, funny, and very well written by a young Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential). I hoped there were enough other cult lovers of The Silent Partner that it might sneak onto the list, but I am not exactly shocked it didn’t make it. Still, if you are looking for a crackerjack thriller you have never even heard of, track down The Silent Partner.

It was my number eighteen. I had five that didn't make the cut. Though the last remaining three from my ballot turn out to be the collective Top Three.

HOLDEN'S BALLOT
2. The Long Goodbye (#5)
4. Night Moves (#40)
5. High & Low (#19)
6. Nightcrawler (#21)
7. The Grifters (#45)
8. One False Move (#73)
9. Blast of Silence (#48)
10. After Dark, My Sweet (DNP)
11. Blow Out (#17)
12. To Live & Die in L.A. (#43)
13. The Naked Kiss (#51)
14. Angel Heart (#31)
15. Shallow Grave (#95)
16. The Yakuza (DNP)
17. Dead Again (#90)
18. The Silent Partner (DNP)
19. The Limey (DNP)
21. Drive (#14)
22. The Hot Spot (#85)
23. Charley Varrick (DNP)
24. Blue Ruin (#82)
25. Johnny Handsome (DNP)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69iXPoRB31c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hhSpUhNbAo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnPblStoBA8

[John W Constantine]

Had The man who occasionally drives a Taxi at #6. I'm pretty big fan of Scorsese although I haven't seen this one too many times but it has stayed with me.

[seanc]

I have Taxi Driver 10 on my Scorsese ranking and 9 on my Neo Noir list, and I don’t think I consider it Noir. I am never high nor drunk, but I must have been when making this list. Whatever, Taxi Driver is pretty great, and probably the Scorsese I have watched the most.

[Citizen Rules]

No vote from me but at least I finally got around to watching Taxi Driver. I'm sure it's an excellent movie just not my cup of joe. I did review it, if you want to read it go ahead...


https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=38477&stc=1&d=1511633143
Taxi Driver (1976)


So I watched this for the very first time and I was totally impressed with Robert DeNiro! His performance was worthy of the Oscar, indeed he was nominated for Best Actor. I mean he was the character! He immersed himself into the role, it was really quite an amazing feat of method acting. I'm impressed.

The first act, which ends after he takes Cybil Shepard to a porn film was all amazing. The intensity and oddness of the taxi driver, along with the ultra realness of the gritty world that he inhabited, was powerful stuff. It felt like I was there! I'd give the first act a 4/5, good stuff!

But when the director Martin Scorsese appears in the film for the second time it took me right out of the film's world and made me acutely aware I was watching a movie. That's not a good thing. Worse than that, I realized as Scorsese set in the cab talking about shooting his cheating wife...his dialogue...and his body language was a duplicate of the taxi drivers. That took me out of the film even further...and it reminded me of Tarantino's stale choice to insert himself into Django Unchained. Neither director is a great actor, so leave the acting to the professionals.

In the final act I was hoping the relationship between Jodie Foster's 12 year old prostitute and her would be hero, the taxi driver, would be dynamic and would power the last part of the film. Unfortunately we only get one good scene between them in the restaurant which develops their bond. And while it can be said the prostitute was what triggered him to go on a shooting rampage, there wasn't enough about their relationship to bring the movie to a fevered pitch. Instead the final act of the shooting rampage just seems to be rushed. It's like there needed to be another scene before the ending.

As it was I found the ending emotionally unsatisfying, as I the viewer hadn't sufficiently been primed by the movie to hate the pimp and the hotel manager enough to really want to see them dead.

But I'm surprised I enjoyed the shooting spree as entertainment. I found it kind of funny/entertaining when he blows his fingers off, it was kind of comically filmed. But it lacked utter seriousness in the way it was filmed and so didn't deliver an emotional wallop like I would have hoped for.

[stillmellow]

I am absolutely thrilled to see that I was wrong about my predictions. Not only does this mean that the movie I voted for is top three, it also means that Taxi Driver isn't number one.

I watched Taxi Driver in 2010 and was not impressed (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=690001#post690001). There were some aspects that I liked, but didn't like it overall. I've never had any desire to revisit it and never considered it for my ballot.



I completely understand Taxi Driver not being to everyone's tastes, either as a movie experience or as art. It's a tough watch, and too dirty and abnormal to be considered pretty.


It's a time and place that existed, and a type of person that you'll find in many real places in our world, even though we all want to pretend we won't. It can be hard to watch. Just like in the phone scene where the camera drifts away. We don't want to see. But that doesn't mean he isn't there in the back, hair shaved into a Mohawk, and a gun in his pocket.

[Thief]

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF... TAXI DRIVER

https://www.lavanguardia.com/andro4all/hero/2023/11/robert-de-niro-taxi-driver.jpg
RT – 89%, IMDb – 8.2


Roger Ebert said:

"Taxi Driver is a brilliant nightmare and like all nightmares it doesn't tell us half of what we want to know. We're not told where Travis comes from, what his specific problems are, whether his ugly scar came from Vietnam -- because this isn't a case study, but a portrait of some days in his life. " (read full review here (https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/taxi-driver-1976))

Peter Gutierrez said:

"The beauty of Taxi Driver is that it keeps us fans of noir honest by illustrating that even dreams of redemption must be critically examined lest they breed monsters. As such, it’s a fitting elegy for the genre." (read full review here (https://www.tribecafilm.com/news/512c09b51c7d76d9a9000432-taxi-driver-the-final-noi))

KeyserCorleone said:

"Taxi Driver is a very chilling and surprisingly real movie. It has a lot to say, and yet it still remains ambiguous with the morals. Robert De Niro is phenomenal in this, and it's a definite recommend for adults." (read full review here (https://www.movieforums.com/reviews/2046066-taxi_driver.html))

[WHITBISSELL!]

Watched Taxi Driver at a drive-in way back when it was first released. I had no idea who Martin Scorcese was. I'm not even sure I knew who Robert DeNiro was. This was long before I got serious about film watching. I had ... heard things ... about the movie but since it was pre-internet the information was spotty. This was mid-70's when dark, sardonic films and mature subject matter had achieved mainstream acceptance. But even by those newly relaxed standards this stood out. Being the well-seasoned teen that I was I fixated on Travis Bickle's sleeve gun. The rest of it's allures became more apparent with the passage of time. TD was my #8 pick.

69 of 97 seen far.

[SpelingError]

Taxi Driver was #9 on my ballot.

[SpelingError]

1. Le Samourai
6. Miller's Crossing
7. The Big Lebowski
8. Pulp Fiction
9. Taxi Driver
10. Le Circle Rouge
12. Memento
13. No Country for Old Men
16. Mulholland Drive
17. The Silence of the Lambs
18. Blow Out
22. Point Blank
23. Alphaville
25. Blood Simple

[Sedai]

Yet another big MoFo surprise for me to find out Holden didn't include Taxi Driver on his ballot. I would have bet my shoes on it being there, for sure. Lots of rocks on the ground between here and my house, I'll tell ya. Good thing I didn't say I would eat my hat.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Etw8F2OXcAIR4ev.jpg:large

Anyway, I most certainly did have it on my ballot, all the way up at #3, folks. Taxi Driver is technically a better film than my #2, but there was no way I was putting Taxi Driver above it, and my #1 was a lock from minute one. Taxi Driver is one of the best films ever made, is a seminal king of its genre(s) and was groundbreaking in many ways. If anyone still had reservations about Scorsese's prowess as a film maker and a director before this film was released, this certainly put that all to rest.

This film just exudes 1970s New York City. Again, like Thief (the film, not our beloved friend and MoFo), I adore the grimy streets at night with shimmering tail lights and sounds of the city atmosphere. All the side players are almost as memorable as the leads, and one can spend hours (or more) studying the character of Travis Bickle.

https://moxiecinema.com/uploads/films/_feature/Taxi-Driver-Still_190926_042525.jpg

Like Coppola with The Conversation, Scorsese employs several cinematic techniques to convey ideas is a cool way, especially the main characters warped sense of reality as he looks out of his cab. From blurry shots through rainy glass to one of my favorite scenes in all of cinema, the final sequence as Travis Drives away, when he looks in the mirror and we get a little under-cranked camera, as Travis starts to sort of glitch out. He is looking in the rear view mirror; will it all start again?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Eg1qh-_X0AIlp3-.jpg

https://media.tenor.com/WEqUU5D6uMMAAAAC/taxi-driver-mirror.gif

Like many here on MoFo, I assumed this was a lock for Top 3. It came as close as it could have without cracking it!

[WHITBISSELL!]

I see 1 (maybe 2) of my remaining picks making it which would leave me with a r̶e̶s̶p̶e̶c̶t̶a̶b̶l̶e̶ disreputable 17 or 18.

1. The French Connection (#58)
2. You Were Never Really Here (#50)
3. Get Carter (#49)
4. In the Heat of the Night (#98)
5. Blast of Silence (#48)
6. Won't make it
7. Definitely won't
8. Taxi Driver (#4)
9. Thief (#29)
10. Nope
11. Maybe?
12. Blood Simple (#9)
13. Badlands (#103)
14. No. Excellent movie, but no
15. It certainly qualifies but ...
16. Harper (#101)
17. Dark City (#24)
18. One False Move (#73)
19. No Country for Old Men (#12)
20. Nope, no giallo
21. Another good one but no
22. It'd be nice but ...
23. Drive (#14)
24. Point Blank (#72)
25. Collateral (#33)

[Harry Lime]

1. Chinatown
2. Blade Runner
3. L.A. Confidential
4. Taxi Driver
5. The Long Goodbye
I just might win this.

Taxi Driver is my second favourite movie of all-time. I mean I've only based my entire (offline) personality on the film. But I placed it at #12 because I wanted to give a boost to some other neo noir films.

3. Blue Velvet (1986)
4. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)
5. High and Low (1963)
6. Le Samouraï (1967)
7. Blood Simple (1984)
8. Mulholland Drive (2001)
9. The Long Goodbye (1973)
10. Alphaville (1965)
12. Taxi Driver (1976)
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

[honeykid]

I don't like Elliott Gould in anything I've seen him in other than Friends and I don't care for him greatly in that either. I just don't get him. :shifty:

Taxi driver, on the other hand, I do get. This will be my favourite film on this countdown, hands down, but I had it at number two because it's not the best example of Neo Noir. Again, it qualifies, but I don't really think of it as a Neo-Noir film but as it does qualify it would've been a sin to have put it any lower on my list.

[seanc]

Taxi Driver is my second favourite movie of all-time. I mean I've only based my entire (offline) personality on the film.

Here’s hoping you’re talking about Betsy, but I could see Sport. ;)

[mrblond]

98743

I have #4.Taxi Driver at #18 on my ballot.

I guess, this is the last title from my list.
At some point, I even considered to cut it from ballot in order to make room for some other great overlooked film.
Anyway, I had a hope that this one gonna win the countdown since the other favourites of this locality are not that high on my ratings.

98742

[beelzebubble]

I did not have Taxi Driver on my list. I feel like we are all living in that guy's porn-addled, homicidal brain nowadays with so many young men becoming disaffected and violent. Paul Schrader, Martin Scorcese and Robert DeNiro give us our culture and its trajectory a real blow here.
I saved space on my list for somewhat lighter entertainment which were more of a visit to the noir of yesteryear. Movies Like D.O.A., Body Heat, The Big Easy and House of Games. I pick Blade Runner for tomorrow's reveal and Chinatown for #1. My one question is...where is The Matrix?

[Harry Lime]

Ingmar Bergman on Martin Scorsese masterpiece Taxi Driver

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uohHeqk9w9w

[cricket]

I knew Taxi Driver was eligible and I've known it's on the current noir list, but I couldn't vote for it because I don't see it that way even though it's one of my all time faves.

[Kaplan]

I could have just as easily left Taxi Driver off my list, for basically the same reasons a few of you did, but if I was including it, it was going to be my #1.

My List:
1. Taxi Driver (#4)
3. Miller's Crossing (#15)
4. Memories of Murder (#25)
5. True Romance (#60)
6. Read My Lips (DNP)
7. Drive (#14)
8. Blood Simple (#9)
9. Nightcrawler (#21)
10. The Long Goodbye (#5)
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)
15. Le Samouraï (#7)
16. Sin City (#26)
17. Memento (#8)
18. Following (#84)
19. Blow-Up (DNP)
20. Jackie Brown (#18)
21. Mother (#67)
22. Purple Noon (#94)
23. Cop Land (DNP)
24. Against All Odds (DNP)
25. The Man from London (DNP)

[beelzebubble]

Ingmar Bergman on Martin Scorsese masterpiece Taxi Driver

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uohHeqk9w9w


I don't know if you are responding to what I said. I am as usual too vague. I meant that the film was prescient about the direction of American culture rather than causal.

[Harry Lime]

I don't know if you are responding to what I said. I am as usual too vague. I meant that the film was prescient about the direction of American culture rather than causal.
Sort of but not entirely. You reminded me of this clip I saw in my youtube feed not too long ago and felt I should post it..

[mrblond]

I've never seen someone mentions Sea of Love (1989), anyway, I put it at my #13.

I don't know what problems you have with this movie. I like it a lot. Saw it in theater when it came out and several more times since then. I think, I even have it on DVD.

This was my first Al Pacino film. It is interesting: I clearly remember my thoughts when I first saw the movie. I figured that the main actor is about my dad's age and I noticed that he acts with such a self-confidence which seemed somewhat funny to me. I liked him but I've said to myself, thinking of Pacino as a debutant - "...what this aging guy aiming at, he is late on the show-business track". :laugh:

98745

[GulfportDoc]

Taxi Driver is a great film, a landmark film, a very innovative film, but I have trouble seeing it as noir-- neo or otherwise, despite its dark mood. I think of it as a psychological thriller.

I was knocked out in '76 when I first saw it, and I've watched it several times since. Superb direction, production design, acting, and terrific photography by Michael Chapman (The Godfather; Jaws). And the picture would not be what it is without the strange and lovely moody score by the great Bernard Herrmann. Reportedly he died just a few hours after he finished it, which is a heart rendering finish to one of the greatest careers in Hollywood.

The bloody scenes near the end were shocking and unique for its day, even more so than Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch 7 years before. The picture deservedly put DeNiro, Keitel, and Foster on the map, as well as Scorsese.

However it couldn't make my neo-noir list.

[Miss Vicky]

My new prediction for the final 3:

1. Chinatown
2. L.A. Confidential
3. Blade Runner

[stillmellow]

It's so crazy to me that despite 47 people submitting entries, only 3 movies so far have appeared on more than half the submitted lists: Taxi Driver, The Long Goodbye, and Memento. Blood Simple came close with 23.

[Wooley]

Wow. The Long Goodbye.
Would have been very high on my list but I didn't expect it to be so high on everyone else's.
Awesome.

[Balor]

Taxi Driver---only number 4?!?!

[Balor]

I did not have Taxi Driver on my list. I feel like we are all living in that guy's porn-addled, homicidal brain nowadays with so many young men becoming disaffected and violent. Paul Schrader, Martin Scorcese and Robert DeNiro give us our culture and its trajectory a real blow here.


To me that was part of what made Taxi Driver such a strong film. I think it's too strong to say that it had any causal relationship with the (very real) culture that you describe, but I do believe that it anticipated it and captured it from a perspective that is, perhaps, uncomfortably easy to identify with.

[beelzebubble]

To me that was part of what made Taxi Driver such a strong film. I think it's too strong to say that it had any causal relationship with the (very real) culture that you describe, but I do believe that it anticipated it and captured it from a perspective that is, perhaps, uncomfortably easy to identify with.
I was kind of vague. I meant prescient not causal.

[Little Ash]

Taxi Driver was my number 2. In the days (week?) before submitting my ballot, it went from
* didn't even cross my mind that it could be classified as neo-noir
* to "seeing it on list of greatest neo-noirs, and highly questioning that classification"
* "thinking, well, I guess it has the dark, brooding nihilism of In a Lonely Place, and that's #1 on my classic noir ballot, but I'm still kind of questioning its classification"
* seeing it described as a neo-noir, psychological thriller on wiki
* thinking about it, and realizing its tone and vibe were totally noir, it's even got the noir voice-over
* to I guess I just never thought of it as noir because it came out in a time when so many movies were fatalistic and dark, and I've always kind of associated it with Apocalypse Now with the journey into a dark side of man (and we'd never consider Apocalypse Now, neo-noir), but yeah, that's totally what it is
* if it wasn't doing such a whiplash as a classification of noir in my head in such a short time period, it'd probably Blood Simple a chase for the #1 spot on the ballot, but it'd feel weird to give #1 to a movie I didn't think of as being neo-noir a week ago, so it's #2 on my ballot.

That means, of the remaining movies, 2 aren't on my ballot at all (one wasn't in consideration for my ballot at all), and the one that is, is at the bottom of my ballot. So, the top 3, not the greatest streak of movies on the countdown for me (I guess one of the ones not on my ballot, I can't complain about. I just feel dissonance on everyone's general love for it compared to me, so I can only see the discrepancy).

[Thief]

AWARDS?

https://moxiecinema.com/uploads/films/_feature/Taxi-Driver-Still_190926_042525.jpg


Taxi Driver received several nominations and awards. These are some of the most notable:


Seven (7) BAFTA Film Award nominations, including a win for Best Supporting Actress (Jodie Foster)
Six (6) National Society of Film Critics Award nominations, including a win for Best Actor (Robert De Niro)
Four (4) Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture
Two (2) Golden Globe Award nominations, including Best Actor (De Niro)
One (1) Palme d'Or Award from Cannes Film Festival

[Thief]

So, what are the guesses for today?

https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExZmljbHZlcGZrZHE3MmdqeXBoaDhudmhwenE3dXJjbjViMXNod3o0dSZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfY nlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/l0HUquQ5vbLa85SfK/giphy.gif

[Sedai]

L.A. Confidential

[honeykid]

I've never seen someone mentions Sea of Love (1989), anyway, I put it at my #13.

I've not seen it in a long time, but that film is all Ellen Barkin. Pacino's fine, but she's the only real reason to see that film beyond just to look. It's a perfectly decent, servicable film.

[Allaby]

So, what are the guesses for today?

https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExZmljbHZlcGZrZHE3MmdqeXBoaDhudmhwenE3dXJjbjViMXNod3o0dSZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfY nlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/l0HUquQ5vbLa85SfK/giphy.gif

I'll guess Chinatown today and then LA Confidential as #2 and Blade Runner as #1.

[stillmellow]

I'll guess Chinatown today and then LA Confidential as #2 and Blade Runner as #1.


https://y.yarn.co/c95d2b74-fb30-482b-bf42-bf45649bcc09_text.gif

[Thief]

L.A. Confidential

I'll guess Chinatown today and then LA Confidential as #2 and Blade Runner as #1.


3. L.A.Confidential

Ok, reveal in a couple of minutes.

https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExcWR0azcyOGUzYzJiaGY5emdrb2l5MWZwN2d4cm1haGZ3aGtzbGc3MCZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfY nlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/FP56vNcwOVyvu/giphy.gif

[Holden Pike]

1. Chinatown
2. Blade Runner
3. L.A.Confidential

[Thief]

27lists440pointsL.A. Confidential (https://www.movieforums.com/movies/2118-l.a.-confidential.html)Director
Curtis Hanson, 1997

Starring
Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kevin Spacey, Kim Basinger

[Thief]

TRAILERS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sOXrY5yV4g

L.A. Confidential - Three policemen, each with their own motives, obsessions, and methods, find themselves involved in a web of corruption after an unsolved murder results in the death of one of their partners.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvU_Xhh4poE

A nice video essay on the film noir legacy of the film.

[Thief]

Huge fan of L.A. Confidential. One of those formative 90s films for me. Pretty much every performance is pitch-perfect, every action setpiece is neatly directed, every twist is perfectly executed. I know that it is probably widely known now, but to this day, I still think that big twist towards the last act has got to be one of the most exquisitely wicked reveals on a film. Caught me *completely* off guard. Anyway, at the time I saw it, I wasn't that familiar with noir, but now that I am, I just appreciate it more. I might have some very slight issues with the very ending/epilogue, but not enough to make a dent on it. If I made a Top 20 of favorite films of all-time, it will probably be in it. I had it at #1.


SEEN: 71/98
MY BALLOT: 22/25


1. L.A. Confidential (#3)
2. The Grifters (#45)
3.
4. Blood Simple (#9)
5.
6. Nightcrawler (#21)
7. The Man Who Wasn't There (#27)
8. Following (#84)
9. Mulholland Drive (#10)
10. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (#35)
11. Thief (#29)
12. Bound (#59)
13. Blow Out (#17)
14. The Naked Kiss (#51)
15. Le SamouraÏ (#7)
16. Blue Ruin (#82)
17. Drive (#14)
18. Red Rock West (#88)
19. A Simple Plan (#46)
20. Killer Joe (#66)
21. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (#42)
22. Mother (#67)
23. Body Heat (#22)
24. To Live and Die in L.A. (#43)
25.

[Thief]

L.A. Confidential


3. L.A.Confidential

We award you the Medal of MoFoNor!

https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/la-confidential-ed-exley-guy-pierce-medal-award.jpg

You two just have to decide who gets the world, and who gets the ex-hooker and the trip to Arizona.

[Thief]

List facts!

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s4Co_7Yy_hg/VZ8jEFariSI/AAAAAAAALd8/WwIW8iuzoew/s1600/los_angeles_interdite.gif

L.A. Confidential's 99% RT score is tied for the second highest, along with one of the next two picks.

Also, the 33-point gap between L.A. Confidential and Taxi Driver will be the third highest from the countdown.

[Holden Pike]

98749

L.A. Confidential was #8 on the MoFo Top 100 of the 1990s.

[Allaby]

L.A. Confidential is fantastic and I had it at number 12 on my ballot.

Seen: 85/98

[Holden Pike]

98750

The majority of Neo-Noirs over the decades and into today lean on the tropes, style, and themes but update them to a more modern setting. Others take the path of keeping the ‘40s and ‘50s backdrop and making period pieces with updated aesthetics, details, language, and violence that would never have been allowed even in the cheapest Poverty Row production, but still with those pretty old cars and hats. When done poorly or anchored to a weak story, that period stuff can either overwhelm the drama or be done too cheaply to really come off. But when it is done well you get Chinatown and L.A. Confidential.

L.A. Confidential had a lot to live up to. Pared down from James Ellroy’s dense, sprawling novel, we follow three cops – Guy Pearce’s by-the-book political animal Edmund Exley, Russell Crowe’s obedient thug Bud White, and Kevin Spacey’s fame-hungry Jack Vincennes who will do nearly anything for a buck – who wind up entangled together in a dark, complicated plot involving drugs, murder, prostitutes, and corrupt authorities hiding in plain sight in the rotten crevices of sunny ‘50s Los Angeles. There are some touchstones from the city’s history, like real-life gangsters Mickey Cohen and Johnny Stompanato who was infamously involved with movie star Lana Turner, but mostly it is a pastiche of various types of scandals and conspiracy theories to give a sense of the levels of criminality of the era.

98751

Curtis Hanson & Brian Helgeland managed to narrow the focus enough to keep a throughline that is engaging and character-driven but also keep plenty of the feeling that absolutely everything is corrupt. We do get a bit of a happy ending, but only after they embrace the hopelessness of somehow righting all the wrongs in the world. That kind of heroism may be unrealistic and naive, but using the system against itself you may be able to carve out a few victories (at least one, at the abandoned Victory Motel).

I had L.A. Confidential twentieth on my ballot. That leaves my last two for tomorrow.

HOLDEN'S BALLOT
2. The Long Goodbye (#5)
4. Night Moves (#40)
5. High & Low (#19)
6. Nightcrawler (#21)
7. The Grifters (#45)
8. One False Move (#73)
9. Blast of Silence (#48)
10. After Dark, My Sweet (DNP)
11. Blow Out (#17)
12. To Live & Die in L.A. (#43)
13. The Naked Kiss (#51)
14. Angel Heart (#31)
15. Shallow Grave (#95)
16. The Yakuza (DNP)
17. Dead Again (#90)
18. The Silent Partner (DNP)
19. The Limey (DNP)
20. L.A. Confidential (#3)
21. Drive (#14)
22. The Hot Spot (#85)
23. Charley Varrick (DNP)
24. Blue Ruin (#82)
25. Johnny Handsome (DNP)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgCNhdkTDh4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEN5HOWWfMc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7cdhS2dR9A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ED0XXE-VdBY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNcRPd9754s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTvB7alNL8M

[Thief]

https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/lac2.jpg

This has got to be one of my favorite shots ever. Not only because of the framing, blocking, etc. but also because of the implications that are foreshadowed in one of the first scenes of the film; the three questions that Dudley asks Exley. It's such a neatly written throughline that cuts right through the character of Exley and into the whole thesis of the film which Holden mentioned above, that absolutely everything is corrupt.

[Miss Vicky]

Damn. I was really hoping this wouldn’t show today but can’t complain about #3.

L.A. Confidential is a movie that I think is great every time I watch it, but I’ve never really considered it a favorite. I actually like it a little less than some of the movies I placed below it, but it is undeniably great and is such a quintessential Neo-Noir that I felt it deserved its place on my ballot at #6.

https://www.angelfire.com/music6/walteregan/MoFoMovieGifs/laconfidentialbudwhite.gif


My Ballot:
1. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (#35)
2. You Were Never Really Here (#50)
3. The Man From Nowhere (#87)
4. The Departed (#53)
5. The Big Lebowski (#38)
6. L.A. Confidential (#3)
7. True Romance (#60)
8. Zodiac (#30)
9. Se7en (#6)
10. Won't Show
11. Drive (#14)
12. Shutter Island (#86)
13. The Nice Guys (#39)
14. Inherent Vice (#41)
15. Gone Girl (#34)
16. Pulp Fiction (#37)
17. Killer Joe (#66)
18. Memento (#8)
19. The Long Goodbye (#5)
20. Won't Show
21. Dark City (#24)
22. Nightcrawler (#21)
23. Won't Show
24. Won't Show
25. Won't Show

[rauldc14]

L.A Confidential was #4 for me. Excellent film.

[Torgo]

L.A. Confidential is also my #3. Here's (https://www.movieforums.com/reviews/2184738-l.a.-confidential.html) something I wrote about it a few years ago.

Is it a spoiler to say it has the most shocking moment I've ever seen in a movie? I hope not. Anyway, if there's a more shocking one, I'd like to see it.

[Citizen Rules]

How about that one that I've seen and voted for. I had L.A. Confidential (1997) at #16 Big fan of Kevin Spacey back in the day and the rest of the cast was solid too.

[Sedai]

I had L.A. Confidential at #12, just cracking the top half of my ballot. This is one of the films that I slid around to various slots as I put my ballot together, with it getting as far up as #6 at one point, but ultimately, after a recent re-watch, I had to ask myself if it was truly better than films like Angel Heart and Miller's Crossing, and I couldn't in good faith put it above them.

Still, what a film! It nails the period pretty much perfectly, and the screenplay is really strong, even if it's a bit of a cop out tonally at the end. Some great sequences throughout, and if I recall, this film was a huge help in sending up the stars of both Russell Crowe and Guy Pierce.

https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2016/09/21/12/la-confidential.jpg?width=1200

I also really enjoy Danny DeVito's character as he provides an old school voice over while also managing to get himself hopelessly caught up in the machinations of the complex plot. He adds a really fun dimension to the film and is always a pleasure to watch.

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNTQ5NzljOTMtNmYyMi00YTAzLWI3ZTEtZWFlYTI4ZDY5MTAzXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNDAxOTExNTM@._V1_.jpg

Top 3? That's a tad high for my taste, and I especially think Taxi Driver should have held its slot, but the MoFos have spoken! ;)

[stillmellow]

L.A. Confidential just doesn't click with me, and I'm not sure why. It's a beautiful film, with great performances. Part of it is I really don't like Russell Crowe's character. Or any of his other performances, really. Not a fan.


In retrospect this should've made it somewhere on my list. Another film that should've elbowed Under the Silver Lake off the chart.

[Tugg]

My #17 L.A. Confidential (1997).

[Harry Lime]

1. Chinatown
2. Blade Runner
3. L.A. Confidential
4. Taxi Driver
5. The Long Goodbye
Looks like old Harry Lime is going to be the winner. Although we won't know until the finale. I had L.A. Confidential at #11. Great film with a standout cast and an obvious answer to someone who asks what's a prime example of neo-noir.

3. Blue Velvet (1986)
4. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)
5. High and Low (1963)
6. Le Samouraï (1967)
7. Blood Simple (1984)
8. Mulholland Drive (2001)
9. The Long Goodbye (1973)
10. Alphaville (1965)
11. L.A. Confidential (1997)
12. Taxi Driver (1976)
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

[WHITBISSELL!]

L.A. Confidential was my #15 pick. I think it's about as perfect a movie as there is. Two picks left but I didn't include one of the two likeliest on my list. Tomorrow I'll fill in my #11 so I guess I'll finish up with 16. Comme ci, comme ça.

When all is said and done I assume we'll all be revealing our lists in their entirety. I had some picks that in hindsight didn't stand much of a chance. And then there were two that I was surprised didn't at least place (#6 & 22).

70 of 98 seen so far.

1. The French Connection (#58)
2. You Were Never Really Here (#50)
3. Get Carter (#49)
4. In the Heat of the Night (#98)
5. Blast of Silence (#48)
6. Won't make it
7. Definitely won't
8. Taxi Driver (#4)
9. Thief (#29)
10. Nope
11. Maybe?
12. Blood Simple (#9)
13. Badlands (#103)
14. No. Excellent movie, but no
15. L.A. Confidential (#3)
16. Harper (#101)
17. Dark City (#24)
18. One False Move (#73)
19. No Country for Old Men (#12)
20. Nope, no giallo
21. Another good one but no
22. It'd be nice but ...
23. Drive (#14)
24. Point Blank (#72)
25. Collateral (#33)

[seanc]

LA Confidential is one of the best modern crime films out there. I had it at 8. I watched it a few times within a few years of its release, so it’s not one I have been dying to go back to. Just seeing the comments here makes me want to crack open that blu ray though.

[CosmicRunaway]

L.A. Confidential is a great film with great performances, and was #9 on my list. When I rewatched it for the 3rd Noir HoF, I wrote this:

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=62475

L.A. Confidential (1997)
Directed by: Curtis Hanson
Starring: Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe, Kevin Spacey

L.A. Confidential is a film packed with talent and great production design. Despite the costumes and sets perfectly recreating the 1950s, the film itself looks incredibly modern, with natural lighting replacing the stylized use of contrast typically found in classic noirs. Without a nostalgic view of the era colouring perceptions, the focus can remain on the story and its characters. This more contemporary framing also allows audiences to more easily imagine these events taking place today, allowing the film's plot to transcend the decade it was set in.

The script is incredibly smart, and in true noir fashion nothing is really black or white, especially when it comes to its protagonists. Ed Exley appears at first to be a real “by the books” cop who isn't afraid to ruffle the feathers of his fellow officers if it means following protocol, however while he does clearly believe in justice, he is motivated by status within the department, and isn't afraid to play politics to get what he wants. Bud White does what it takes to get a confession, bending the rules to get results, but has a soft heart under that tough exterior. Their different approaches to police work cause them to clash, but they're ultimately more similar than they care to admit.

Rounding out the trio is Jack Vincennes, whose ego and lust for fame has him dealing under the table to score easy busts that will garner a lot of publicity. However he is by no means a lazy detective, and it's his sharp mind that becomes integral to connecting the film's seemingly unrelated story threads. It's the combination of those intertwining narratives and how its characters play off each other that make L.A. Confidential's story so satisfying. I may have mourned the lack of that classic noir aesthetic, but the script and its stellar performances more than made up for the loss.

The fact that I focused more on the characters there rather than anything else about the film is proof of how engaged I was with their stories, and the writing and performances that brought those characters to life. Glad it placed so high on the Countdown!

Seen: 56/98

My List: 19
01.
02. Blade Runner 2049 (2017) - #44
03. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) - #42
04. John Wick (2014) - DNP
05. Blue Ruin (2013) - #82
06. Mother (2009) - #67
07. Dark City (1998) - #24
08. Strange Days (1995) - #65
09. L.A. Confidential (1997) - #3
10. The Man from Nowhere (2010) - #87
11. Se7en (1995) - #6
12. Reservoir Dogs (1992) - #16
13. The Long Goodbye (1973) - #5
14. Angel Heart (1987) - #31
15. Infernal Affairs (2002) - #91
16. Memento (2000) - #8
17. Memories of Murder (2003) - #25
18.
19. Le Samouraï (1967) - #7
20. The Usual Suspects (1995) - #20
21. Oldboy (2003) - #52
22.
23. Nightcrawler (2014) - #21
24.
25. The Chaser (2008) - DNP 1-pointer

https://64.media.tumblr.com/c12f1c96119a512a5bdffd3715b0dc41/107e20739d3f7997-54/s500x750/dabdcddd06e0ab295659a90dd185699a0c9f8f12.gifv

[cricket]

I am normally very much on top of my ballot, and not one to later say I forgot about that one. The only time was when I left Pet Sematary off the female directors list, but that's understandable considering I don't usually pay attention to directors at all much less their gender. I've done it again, and I don't know how I left off L.A. Confidential because I was well aware of it while putting my ballot together. Maybe I just accidentally deleted it. It would've been high on my ballot, and now I just hope stinkin Blade Runner is not within 20 points or so because then my omission would have cost L.A.C. the #2 slot.

[SpelingError]

L.A. Confidential was #3 on my ballot.

[SpelingError]

1. Le Samourai
3. L.A. Confidential
6. Miller's Crossing
7. The Big Lebowski
8. Pulp Fiction
9. Taxi Driver
10. Le Circle Rouge
12. Memento
13. No Country for Old Men
16. Mulholland Drive
17. The Silence of the Lambs
18. Blow Out
22. Point Blank
23. Alphaville
25. Blood Simple

[mrblond]

Couldn't do it without something by Michael Haneke, so Caché [Hidden] (2005) landed at the upper half of my ballot at #12.

That's an unique movie. Daniel Auteuil and Juliette Binoche present a master-class of acting superbly directed by Haneke in this heavy psychological game. (what about the term: modern neo-noir)

I discovered Haneke thanks to his highly acclaimed Amour (2012). Since then, I've deeply examined most of his works, watching Caché three or four times in the last decade.

98766

[Thief]

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF... L.A. CONFIDENTIAL

https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/180703082214-la-confidential-2.jpg?q=w_4780,h_3071,x_0,y_0,c_fill
RT – 99%, IMDb – 8.2


Roger Ebert said:

"One of the reasons L.A. Confidential is so good, why is deserves to be mentioned with Chinatown, is that it's not just plot and atmosphere. There are convincing characters here, not least Kim Basinger's hooker, whose quiet line, 'I thought I was helping you', is one of the movie's most revealing moments [...] L.A. Confidential is seductive and beautiful, cynical and twisted, and one of the best films of the year." (read full review here (https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/la-confidential-1997))

Catherine Springer, from AwardsWatch.com, said:

"Soaked in crime-noir atmosphere, the film also pays homage to the cultural, social and political moods of the time, as well as offering a less-than-glamorous perspective of Hollywood’s heyday, with starlets and scandals as cheaply and readily available as hookers and drugs." (read full review here (https://awardswatch.com/l-a-confidential-retrospective-how-an-american-an-aussie-and-a-kiwi-created-the-best-neo-noir-film-of-the-latter-20th-century/))

JayDee said:

"Impeccably acted. Terrifically scripted. And handsomely lensed by Hanson. This is a great piece of film-making, and certainly deserving of its reputation as one of the finest films the 90s had to offer. Also deserving of its reputation as a film that you really should see." (read full review here (https://www.movieforums.com/reviews/858206-l.a._confidential.html))

[beelzebubble]

Not on my list. I saw it, lo these many years ago. I remember I enjoyed it. But all I remember is Kim Basinger had Veronica Lake's hairdo. Other than that, I do not remember it.

[beelzebubble]

Couldn't do it without something by Michael Haneke, so Caché [Hidden] (2005) landed at the upper half of my ballot at #12.

That's an unique movie. Daniel Auteuil and Juliette Binoche present a master-class of acting superbly directed by Haneke in this heavy psychological game. (what about the term: modern neo-noir)

I discovered Haneke thanks to his highly acclaimed Amour (2012). Since then, I've deeply examined most of his works, watching Caché three or four times in the last decade.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=98766
I think I'll check this out tonight. I've always meant to see it and it's available on Tubi.

[Balor]

I was kind of vague. I meant prescient not causal.

In that case, I agree much more with you!

[Iroquois]

watched it once, liked it well enough, but have never felt like i had to revisit it.

[GulfportDoc]

L.A. Confidential(1997)

This is an unusual film noir because it was not a film from the vintage 1940s-1950s, nor a modern noir representing the classic style, but a film set in the traditional noir era filmed in a modern fashion. Although the L.A. of the early 1950s was perfectly captured, something was missing from the feel of the story in terms of typical noir. And that was the photography. Evidently director Curtis Hanson had tasked the cinematographer Dante Spinotti to film it in a contemporary manner, sans the classic noir shadowy lighting and sets. The lack of shadows and murkiness did not harm the production however. In fact this is a fine film in almost every aspect.

A new police sergeant Exley is trying to live up to his father who had been a legendary L.A. police detective. At first he's determined to be a clean cop, eschewing tawdry or not-by-the-book behavior. But when he's sent to investigate a multiple murder at a Hollywood diner, The Night Owl, he does not believe the official story in which a disgraced detective is killed with the other patrons-- all of it blamed on 3 black thugs. As he investigates the true story Exley interacts with narcotics officer Jack Vincennes, officer Bud White, Captain Dudley Smith, "Hush-Hush" tabloid (fashioned after the magazine "Confidential" owner Sid Hudgens , prostitute Lynne Bracken, and escort service owner Pierce Patchett.

What follows is a twisted plot involving all characters, which slowly unwinds exposing the involvement and culpability of several high police and city officials. In the end Exley and White work together to bring down the officials, solve the complex crime, and move into a gratifying Hollywood ending.

The acting in this picture was superb. Hanson took a chance on U.S. newcomers Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe. He perfectly cast Kevin Spacey as the suave publicity seeking narcotics agent, and James Cromwell as the Irish corrupt police Captain. Kim Bassinger sizzles as a Veronica Lake type character, along with Amber Smith as an escort whose luck runs out. Danny DeVito is well cast as a sleezeball tabloid owner, and David Strathairn is convincing as the wealthy prostitute ring owner.

The picture requires its full 138 minutes to unravel the complicated plot. Reportedly the James Ellroy novel of the same name is even more complex, but Ellroy gave his blessing to the screenwriters Brian Helgeland and Curtis Hanson to reduce the story layers in order to contain it in a more standard movie length. The result is a memorable and solidly produced neo-noir which garnered Oscars that year dominated by Titanic.

Raymond Chandler provided a palpable dramatic representation of the 1940s Hollywood in his novels, as was the 1930s vibrancy in John Huston's Chinatown. L.A. Confidential stands tall among them in its portrayal of a 1950s Los Angeles that may very likely have existed, and which certainly comes alive in this picture.

This is one of the great neo-noirs. I have it at #4 on my list.

[Thief]

AWARDS?

https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/la-confidential-ed-exley-guy-pierce-broken-arm-press-conference.jpg


L.A. Confidential received a boatload of nominations and awards. These are some of the most notable:


Twelve (12) BAFTA Film Award nominations, including a win for Best Editing (Peter Honess)
Eight (8) Satellite Award nominations, including a win for Best Adapted Screenplay (Brian Helgeland)
Nine (9) Academy Award nominations, including a win for Best Supporting Actress (Kim Basinger)
Five (5) Golden Globe Award nominations, including a win for Best Supporting Actress (Basinger)
One (1) nomination to the Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival

[SpelingError]

Here are the films I voted for which won't make the list:

2. Carlito's Way
4. Raging Bull
5. The Killer
11. The Servant
14. Hard Boiled
15. Shock Corridor
19. The Player
20. Good Time
21. Ghost Dog : The Way of the Samurai
24. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia

[stillmellow]

Here are the films I voted for which won't make the list:

2. Carlito's Way
4. Raging Bull
5. The Killer
11. The Servant
14. Hard Boiled
15. Shock Corridor
19. The Player
20. Good Time
21. Ghost Dog : The Way of the Samurai
24. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia



Hard Boiled! That's a good one I didn't think of.


Aside from Harper, which was the official list's #101, the only movie on my list that didn't make it was "Ruthless: An Experiment in Terror".

[stillmellow]

My list:


1. Blade Runner (1982)
2. Mulholland Drive (2001)
3. Brick (2006)
4. Heat (1995)
5. Taxi Driver (1976)
6. Drive (2011)
7. Blue Velvet (1986)
8. Point Blank (1969)
9. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
10. Chinatown (1974)
11. Lost Highway (1997)
12. Memento (2000)
13. Blood Simple (1984)
14. Fargo (1996)
15. Oldboy (2003)
16. Basic Instinct (1992)
17. No Country for Old Men (2007)
18. Ruthless: An Experiment In Terror (1969)
19. Gone Girl (2014)
20. A Simple Plan (1998)
21. Blow Out (1981)
22. Sin City (2005)
23. Harper (1966)
24. Under the Silver Lake (2018)
25. Dark City (1998)

[PHOENIX74]

4. Taxi Driver - A classic that I've seen over and over again - one of those that always seems to be playing on television, or being watched by somebody when I happen to be around. I catch scenes every so often - so regularly that the entire film has been imprinted into my brain. The score is there. The performances, and every line. One of the most influential films of all time - there are so many other movies where I'm sat there thinking, "the director is paying some kind of homage to Taxi Driver here." It was always going to be on my ballot, and I ended up putting it in the #18 slot.

3. L.A. Confidential - A really solid neo noir - a real performance piece with the likes of Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, James Cromwell, David Strathairn, Kim Basinger, Danny DeVito - and yeah, Kevin Spacey - all getting a chance to shine. Police corruption and Hollywood culture mix together really well when it comes to this genre, and the fact that the novel was written in 1990 goes to show that neo noir isn't only confined to the big screen. As far as fiction is concerned, the style is still being adopted by various writers - as it will perhaps forever be. I don't know. I do know that I like this film however, It ended up at #20 on my ballot.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seen : 73/98
I'd never even heard of : 9/98
Movies that had been on my radar, but I haven't seen yet : 16/98
Films from my list : 19 + 1

#3 - My #20 - L.A. Confidential (1997)
#4 - My #18 - Taxi Driver (1976)
#5 - My #8 - The Long Goodbye (1973)
#6 - My #5 - Se7en (1995)
#8 - My #4 - Memento (2000)
#12 - My #10 - No Country For Old Men (2007)
#13 - My #7 - Blue Velvet (1986)
#14 - My #15 - Drive (2011)
#15 - My #6 - Miller's Crossing (1990)
#16 - My #2 - Reservoir Dogs (1992)
#17 - My #22 - Blow Out (1981)
#21 - My #13 - Nightcrawler (2014)
#27 - My #24 - The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
#28 - My #1 - The Conversation (1974)
#30 - My #23 - Zodiac (2007)
#42 - My #19 - Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
#44 - My #21 - Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
#52 - My #11 - Oldboy (2003)
#81 - My #17 - Brick (2005)
#106 - My #16 - Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/0NGLYMzB/gloria.jpg

Gloria - My #3

You might see an annoying kid, but I see Gena Rowlands giving the greatest performance of her entire career, and another John Cassavetes classic in Gloria. People talk about breaking gender rules today, but go back and watch this tough lady take on the Mafia and make them look like incompetent fools, faltering before her wrath. This is a character who has learned her skills, and has honed her abilities - growing up in a world filled with crime and dark goings on. When a small boy needs her help - when he's a target for liquidation - the only thing preventing his death is the bond he makes with Gloria Swenson (Rowlands) - the roughest, grittiest lady you could imagine. She's an ace with a pistol, and savvy - the gangster scene in New York City nothing new to her. One of my favourite characters full stop, and this is one of my favourite films. Gloria roars like a lion, and the mighty falter.

[WHITBISSELL!]

The two I was surprised didn't make the countdown.

My #6

https://www.blackartdepot.com/cdn/shop/products/shaft-movie-poster-1971-1020189628_71e2cc4e-bbc3-4b2a-b049-48a6f7231686.jpg?v=1676762591

And #22
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/QW4AAOSw9KZe2uIp/s-l1600.jpg

[Miss Vicky]

OK, I start revealing from lower spots on my ballot.

Guilty as Sin (1993) was my one-pointer #25.

Obviously, there is another supporter of this movie since it didn't show among the one-pointers group.

Don Johnson and Rebecca De Mornay in their best years, supported by Jack Warden and directed by Sidney Lumet in a very interesting story. What's More?
I've enjoyed it a lot when it came out in theatres and numerous more times since then.
I've always wondered why this film is so vilified. Otherwise, It could been much higher on my list.

98650

I just watched this. (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2457641#post2457641)

It's a deeply flawed movie but I was very much entertained. Also Johnson looks amazing in it. Thanks for putting it on my radar!

[Thursday Next]

Ones from my list that didn't make it:


In Cold Blood #10

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTMT6LBHVF6tH99EIlXDWnxw-mPtf13sxwimpv5Zzp6iw&s



Croupier #17

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ_pfDgyWpzwXT6kKV8eyO1OVSZ5hoHjWSrtoEWdGuWsQ&s



The Crying Game #19

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTV-wqwjQkls4_m3Ss4W2gactK5-vxsv_8BeUUQ2ZZ52w&s



John Wick #22

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTkrqt2L0vHMMQhPty_cySbr4G9W89XBLfnzcfcgywLNA&s



Decision to Leave #25

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRm7m3uH8qpiuUx6z21QEr2TznBXhUP8S-8inXyWvzGIw&s

[CosmicRunaway]

Decision to Leave #25
I had this on my list as well at #22. I wonder if this is the most recent film anyone voted for.

[CosmicRunaway]

When I make my ballot, I always separate my list into chunks of 5, because for some reason I find it easier to compare the films that way. I remove those extra spaces when I update my list here, but the document on my computer has them retained. Why do I mention this? Well somehow I only now noticed that the last set of 5 would've all been foreign films if it weren't for Nightcrawler haha.

As mentioned above, I had Decision to Leave at #22. This is definitely the most recent film on my list, with the next closest being Blade Runner 2049 from 2017. It's a weird film that's maybe a little long in the tooth, but it has some great cinematography and a noir vibe that made me include it on my list. Wikipedia describes it as a "neo-noir romantic mystery", and I think that's pretty spot-on.

https://64.media.tumblr.com/0b6d06dd9c148059f5f6027d32cd78d4/8545ee3d11518964-6a/s540x810/1ef33c1d405b8ae65af4daff88eb5e0653a32d27.gifv


At #24 I have A Better Tomorrow. I wasn't sure if I'd seen the whole film or not, since I only saw it (or part of it) on tv when I was a kid. It was one of the last films I decided to watch before finalizing my list, and while my interest sort of really waned back and forth throughout the film, I really liked the ending, so I decided to sneak it onto my list at the last minute.

https://64.media.tumblr.com/cfa32a9e20276be5b43c8a3bf210cd17/5fc8aad94ed1a126-ed/s540x810/3005fb245d1e3bc5a462020c22f3e2451332ae29.gifv


Seen: 56/98

My List: 19
01.
02. Blade Runner 2049 (2017) - #44
03. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) - #42
04. John Wick (2014) - DNP
05. Blue Ruin (2013) - #82
06. Mother (2009) - #67
07. Dark City (1998) - #24
08. Strange Days (1995) - #65
09. L.A. Confidential (1997) - #3
10. The Man from Nowhere (2010) - #87
11. Se7en (1995) - #6
12. Reservoir Dogs (1992) - #16
13. The Long Goodbye (1973) - #5
14. Angel Heart (1987) - #31
15. Infernal Affairs (2002) - #91
16. Memento (2000) - #8
17. Memories of Murder (2003) - #25
18.
19. Le Samouraï (1967) - #7
20. The Usual Suspects (1995) - #20
21. Oldboy (2003) - #52
22. Decision to Leave (2022) - DNP
23. Nightcrawler (2014) - #21
24. A Better Tomorrow (1986) - DNP
25. The Chaser (2008) - DNP 1-pointer

[Thief]

Ok, time for the early bird special, as requested.

https://gifdb.com/images/high/drum-roll-funny-suspense-n6zxsm4ajkcqb3g8.gif

[Thief]

26lists450pointsBlade Runner (https://www.movieforums.com/movies/78-blade-runner.html)Director
Ridley Scott, 1982

Starring
Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos

[Thief]

29lists554pointsChinatown (https://www.movieforums.com/movies/829-chinatown.html)Director
Roman Polanski, 1974

Starring
Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, Perry Lopez

[Thief]

TRAILERS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eogpIG53Cis

Blade Runner - Set in a dystopian future, a blade runner is brought out of retirement to pursue and terminate four dangerous replicants that have gone rogue. But this mission might put him in a path to question his own purpose.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T37QkBc4IGY

Chinatown - A private detective hired to expose an adulterer in 1930s Los Angeles finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption, and murder.

[Thief]

EXTRA VIDEOS!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCvWVT0XIPg


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWfEkT8SLVE

Eddie Muller and Ben Mankiewicz talk about Blade Runner and Chinatown.

[Thief]

Big, big fan of both films, although I might say Blade Runner took a couple of viewings to reach the level where I have it now. Regardless, I now consider it a bona-fide classic. The way that Ridley Scott uses this sci-fi vehicle to bring these questions of mortality and life purpose is great. Here is a bit of what I wrote last time I rewatched it:


The way that Scott injects all this religious imagery and subtext into the film, sometimes subtly and sometimes right in your face, is excellent. But I also appreciate how he instills the film with this noir-ish vibe, a genre/style that was so preoccupied with how characters can't stop fate. You can meet your "maker", and yet that's not enough to stop the clock.


Here is the link to my full review from 2022 (https://www.movieforums.com/reviews/2315272-blade_runner.html), and another review from 2018 (https://letterboxd.com/thief12/film/blade-runner/). Bottom line is that I love it, which is why I had it at #5.

As for Chinatown, this is one I've seen several times as well going back to the late 90s or early 2000s. I've loved it since and have always been impressed by this deglamorized version of noir that Polanski presents to us. Jack Nicholson is superb in a very low-key performance while Faye Dunaway has perhaps the more emotionally-loaded performance. However, the one that has always impressed me the most is John Huston himself with his chillingly evil performance as the despicable Noah Cross. He's excellently vile, which makes the ending hit way harder than it would if his character wasn't as slimy. Excellent film that I had at #3.



SEEN: 73/100
MY BALLOT: 24/25


1. L.A. Confidential (#3)
2. The Grifters (#45)
3. Chinatown (#1)
4. Blood Simple (#9)
5. Blade Runner (#2)
6. Nightcrawler (#21)
7. The Man Who Wasn't There (#27)
8. Following (#84)
9. Mulholland Drive (#10)
10. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (#35)
11. Thief (#29)
12. Bound (#59)
13. Blow Out (#17)
14. The Naked Kiss (#51)
15. Le SamouraÏ (#7)
16. Blue Ruin (#82)
17. Drive (#14)
18. Red Rock West (#88)
19. A Simple Plan (#46)
20. Killer Joe (#66)
21. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (#42)
22. Mother (#67)
23. Body Heat (#22)
24. To Live and Die in L.A. (#43)
25.

[Thief]

I'll try to post the List Facts, and all the other extra-curricular stuff later in the evening. Have fun with the conversation during the day, and thank you MoFo, for a great list!

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/90/f0/70/90f070647e96aba5ffe0330e146c9a75.gif

...Now, it's time for breakfast!

[MovieFan1988]

Have seen so far: 37 - Se7en - I haven't seen this movie in so long, I only remember bits and pieces of it. It's #9 on my ballot list.

L.A. Confidential - Decent crime movie from the 90's.

Taxi Driver - One of my favorite movies from the 70's, Robert De Niro did well in this movie. #1 on my ballot list.

Blade Runner - Just like the 2nd movie, slow paced and just boring for me, the atmosphere for the movie looked cool though.

Chinatown - Not a bad crime movie from the 70's.

Have not seen so far: 63

My Ballot List
#1 - Taxi Driver
#2 - Heat
#3 - The Dark Knight
#4 - Dog Day Afternoon
#5 - Who Framed Roger Rabbit
#6. Fargo
#7. No Country for Old Men
#8 - Drive
#9 - Se7en
#10 - Sin City

I just want to say Thief did a good job at hosting and I sure had fun viewing this list.

[Miss Vicky]

I watched Chinatown in 2014 and, according to my brief write-up (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=1064560#post1064560), liked it. However it made no lasting impression on me and I've never had any desire to rewatch it. No vote.

I haven’t seen Blade Runner. It doesn’t look like my kind of movie.

My Full Ballot
1. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (#35)
2. You Were Never Really Here (#50)
3. The Man From Nowhere (#87)
4. The Departed (#53)
5. The Big Lebowski (#38)
6. L.A. Confidential (#3)
7. True Romance (#60)
8. Zodiac (#30)
9. Se7en (#6)
10. U Turn (Oliver Stone, 1997)
11. Drive (#14)
12. Shutter Island (#86)
13. The Nice Guys (#39)
14. Inherent Vice (#41)
15. Gone Girl (#34)
16. Pulp Fiction (#37)
17. Killer Joe (#66)
18. Memento (#8)
19. The Long Goodbye (#5)
20. 12 Monkeys (Terry Gilliam, 1995)
21. Dark City (#24)
22. Nightcrawler (#21)
23. Arlington Road (Mark Pellington, 1999)
24. In Cold Blood (Richard Brooks, 1967)
25. 8MM (Joel Schumacher, 1999)

Thanks for hosting, Thief!

[Tugg]

1. Gone Girl (2014) (#34)
2. Mulholland Drive (2001) (#10)
3. The Nice Guys (2016) (#39)
4. Thelma & Louise (1991) (#56)
5. A Simple Plan (1998) (#46)
6. Collateral (2004) (#33)
7. Angel Heart (1987) (#31)
8. Dark City (1998) (#24)
9. Memento (2000) (#8)
10. Eileen (2023)
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GC11NRaWUAAy8_v.jpg
11. No Country for Old Men (2007) (#12)
12. Blade Runner 2049 (2017) (#44)
13. Blade Runner (1982) (#2)
14. Dead Calm (1989)
https://d3tvwjfge35btc.cloudfront.net/Assets/78/814/L_p0015581478.jpg
15. Miller's Crossing (1990) (#15)
16. Drive (2011) (#14)
17. L.A. Confidential (1997) (#3)
18. Jackie Brown (1997) (#18)
19. To Live and Die in L.A. (1985) (#43)
20. The Usual Suspects (1995) (#20)
21. Nightcrawler (2014) (#21)
22. Blood Simple (1984) (#9)
23. Cape Fear (1991)
https://idrawonmywall.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/mv5bodnlngy3mtgtzdq0nc00mzbklwjhzdctntjhywewnznkywmxxkeyxkfqcgdeqxvynjuwnzk3ndc-_v1_.jpg
24. Nocturnal Animals (2016)
https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/d8c5e4fb-4b81-416f-8a4b-a48189893053/dastan1-2dbb82be-a7a3-4145-a1f6-7e4b5dc8b1a4.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQz NzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6 W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2Q4YzVlNGZiLTRiODEtNDE2Zi04YTRiLWE0ODE4OTg5MzA1M1wvZGFzdGFuMS0yZGJiODJiZS1hN2Ez LTQxNDUtYTFmNi03ZTRiNWRjOGIxYTQucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.wIQS6ONk Hwbr_pI8I3USbLwSXz_xxhxxJDza4w9bKug
25. Lost Highway (1997) (#55)

[CosmicRunaway]

Thanks Thief for hosting! You did a great job, and all your "extra-curricular" stuff has been greatly appreciated - as has the facts and info provided by others like Holden Pike and John-Connor as well! <3

Blade Runner was one of the first films that came to mind when the topic of "neo noir" came up, and being the sci-fi fan that I am, it's probably not surprising that I had it at #1. I love the cinematography and the visual style of the film in general, the story's interesting, and the performances are great as well - especially the one given by Rutger Hauer. I'm glad to see it so high on the Countdown.

I'd seen Chinatown ages ago, and rewatched it before finalizing my list, but I didn't vote for it. I just wasn't feeling it at the time, though I certainly understand why so many people love it, and it definitely deserves a spot here on the Countdown.

The only other film from my ballot that didn't make it is one I wasn't originally going to vote for: Minority Report. It hadn't come to mind when I was making my list, but while looking at neo-noir lists online, I saw it come up a few times and it eventually convinced me to include it. If I hadn't rewatched it a couple years ago for the 2nd Sci-Fi HoF, I probably would've brushed it off, but I still liked it enough to put it at #19.

I'm pleasantly surprised that 20/25 films on my list made it onto the Countdown. That's definitely a record for me, though it's already been broken by the classic noir one haha.

Seen: 58/100

My List: 20
01. Blade Runner (1982) - #2
02. Blade Runner 2049 (2017) - #44
03. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) - #42
04. John Wick (2014) - DNP
05. Blue Ruin (2013) - #82
06. Mother (2009) - #67
07. Dark City (1998) - #24
08. Strange Days (1995) - #65
09. L.A. Confidential (1997) - #3
10. The Man from Nowhere (2010) - #87
11. Se7en (1995) - #6
12. Reservoir Dogs (1992) - #16
13. The Long Goodbye (1973) - #5
14. Angel Heart (1987) - #31
15. Infernal Affairs (2002) - #91
16. Memento (2000) - #8
17. Memories of Murder (2003) - #25
18. Minority Report (2002) - DNP
19. Le Samouraï (1967) - #7
20. The Usual Suspects (1995) - #20
21. Oldboy (2003) - #52
22. Decision to Leave (2022) - DNP
23. Nightcrawler (2014) - #21
24. A Better Tomorrow (1986) - DNP
25. The Chaser (2008) - DNP 1-pointer

https://64.media.tumblr.com/f6d56d68ad1bf2e390c8d8c5bf44024b/b49ae3dd904bcab8-5e/s540x810/bfb87f54e3be40a3f043d0cb23f01633466dd4f1.gifv

[mrblond]

Wow! 104 points between #1 and #2. :eek:

I didn't know that Chinatown is so popular here...

[Thursday Next]

Blade Runner was my #1. It's one of those films that every time you watch it, there seems to be something new to appreciate. As a neo-noir film, I think it's excellent. It takes a lot of the ideas and themes from noir and transplants them successfully to a completely different futuristic sci-fi setting.


I don't like Chinatown.

[Kaplan]

Chinatown deserves the #1 spot. It is the most perfect of all hardboiled neo-noirs. I had it at #2. I'm more of a fan of Blade Runner, definitely, but I made a choice not to include science fiction noir.

My List:
1. Taxi Driver (#4)
2. Chinatown (#1)
3. Miller's Crossing (#15)
4. Memories of Murder (#25)
5. True Romance (#60)
6. Read My Lips (DNP)
7. Drive (#14)
8. Blood Simple (#9)
9. Nightcrawler (#21)
10. The Long Goodbye (#5)
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)
15. Le Samouraï (#7)
16. Sin City (#26)
17. Memento (#8)
18. Following (#84)
19. Blow-Up (DNP)
20. Jackie Brown (#18)
21. Mother (#67)
22. Purple Noon (#94)
23. Cop Land (DNP)
24. Against All Odds (DNP)
25. The Man from London (DNP)

[stillmellow]

Blade Runner was my #1. It's one of those films that every time you watch it, there seems to be something new to appreciate. As a neo-noir film, I think it's excellent. It takes a lot of the ideas and themes from noir and transplants them successfully to a completely different futuristic sci-fi setting.


I don't like Chinatown.


Blade Runner is also my #1. For me, it's the director's cut all the way. The original voice over may give it a noir detective feel, but it feels extremely out of place now. The theatrical ending is way too bright and cheerful too.


Chinatown is my #10. I really like it, but I think it's a bit overrated.

[SpelingError]

Neither film made my ballot, but both are very good and overdue for a rewatch.

[SpelingError]

1. Le Samouraï (1967)
2. Carlito's Way (1993)
3. L.A. Confidential (1997)
4. Raging Bull (1980)
5. The Killer (1989)
6. Miller's Crossing (1990)
7. The Big Lebowski (1998)
8. Pulp Fiction (1994)
9. Taxi Driver (1976)
10. Le Cercle Rouge (1970)
11. The Servant (1963)
12. Memento (2000)
13. No Country for Old Men (2007)
14. Hard Boiled (1992)
15. Shock Corridor (1963)
16. Mulholland Drive (2001)
17. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
18. Blow Out (1981)
19. The Player (1992)
20. Good Time (2017)
21. Ghost Dog : The Way of the Samurai (1999)
22. Point Blank (1967)
23. Alphaville (1965)
24. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)
25. Blood Simple (1984)

[SpelingError]

Excellent hosting work, Thief!

[Harry Lime]

Nice my top five prediction was correct. And I had Chinatown and Blade Runner at 1 and 2, respectively, just like Mofo. How original...or I am so in tune with the forum that I am Mofo! What can be said about these two films? They are two of the greatest and two of my favourite films of all time. My full list is below. The three that didn't make it were my one pointer Serie noie, The Limey at #16, which was talked bout a ways back, and Wong Kar-wai's Fallen Angels.

1. Chinatown (1974)
2. Blade Runner (1982)
3. Blue Velvet (1986)
4. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)
5. High and Low (1963)
6. Le Samouraï (1967)
7. Blood Simple (1984)
8. Mulholland Drive (2001)
9. The Long Goodbye (1973)
10. Alphaville (1965)
11. L.A. Confidential (1997)
12. Taxi Driver (1976)
13. The Conversation (1974)
14. Zodiac (2007)
15. Memories of Murder (2003)
16. The Limey (1999)
17. Fireworks (1997)
18. Pale Flower (1964)
19. The Grifters (1990)
20. Inherent Vice (2014)
21. Fallen Angels (1995)
22. The American Friend (1977)
23. Bad Lieutenant (1992)
24. Le Cercle Rouge (1970)
25. Série noire (1979)

[Harry Lime]

Thank you, Thief, for running a five star countdown. Thanks to those that helped out along the way with stats and all that. And thanks to everyone that participated. Okay let's do the 90s redux next.

[Allaby]

Seen both Chinatown and Blade Runner, but didn't vote for either. I like Blade Runner, but never quite loved it, rating it an 8/10. I found Chinatown underwhelming and only rated it a 6/10. Great list overall. Excellent job hosting, Thief! Thanks for all your hard work.

Seen: 87/100

My ballot:

1. The Departed (2006)
2. Taxi Driver (1976)
3. Fargo (1996)
4. No Country for Old Men (2007)
5. The Player (1992)
6. Hard Eight (1996)
7. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
8. The Game (1997)
9. Mulholland Drive (2001)
10. Se7en (1995)
11. Thelma & Louise (1991)
12. L.A. Confidential (1997)
13. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
14. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
15. High and Low (1963)
16. Memento (2000)
17. Barton Fink (1991)
18. A History of Violence (2005)
19. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
20. Gone Girl (2014)
21. Gone Baby Gone (2007)
22. Nightcrawler (2014)
23. Prisoners (2013)
24. Badlands (1973)
25. Nightmare Alley (2021)

[seanc]

Great job Thief. Dueling countdowns turned out well and gave me a nice crime/noir watchlist. My list:

98769

[Holden Pike]

98771

Of course neither of these films are strangers to our MoFo Lists. Chinatown was #6 on the MoFo Top 100 of the 1970s, #18 on the original MoFo Top 100, and #17 on the MoFo Top 100 Refresh. Blade Runner was #6 on the MoFo Top 100 of the 1980s, #2 on the MoFo Top 100 Science Fiction Films, #20 on the original MoFo Top 100, and #7 on the MoFo Top 100 Refresh.

[Holden Pike]

98772

[John W Constantine]

I had Chinatown all the way up at no. 3 and appears on my T100 very high up. Blade Runner I didn't consider for my ballot but one can't really go wrong with either choice here.

Near misses:

#11 Bonnie and Clyde
#17 Magnum Force
#25 Bullitt

[Little Ash]

L.A. Confidential - a movie I liked in my late teens back when it first came out. I've given it even less thought than The Usual Suspects since it came out. Not on my ballot.


Bladerunner - #25 on my ballot. I've only seen the theatrical cut. People keep telling me the director's cut is the better cut. I own it (like so many unwatched movies in my collection), "one of these days." It seems like an odd choice to rank highly on a neo-noir list, but maybe that's due to the version I seem to keep end up watching and the fact I don't rewatch it a lot like other people.



Chinatown - if I was being fair, it would probably show up somewhere on a noir ballot for me, but people talk about it being one of the greatest films of all time and that just leaves me at a loss, and I think of that discrepancy between enjoyment rather than how much I enjoy the movie when these type of ballots/questions come up.

[Little Ash]

Out of my top 10, I think only Trans-Europ Express didn't make it. Robbe-Grillet's BDSM-laced (aren't they all?), meta-noir movie about people on a train coming up with a plot for a crime movie, the one that you're seeing. Lots of sly humor in it. I prefer it to Shoot the Piano Player, which along with Breathless rounded out my ballot because it would have felt a little odd not including some influential French films for a film-noir list.




1. Blood Simple (1984)
2. Taxi Driver (1976)
3. Lost Highway (1997)
4. Pale Flower (1964)
5. Miller's Crossing (1990)
6. Blue Velvet (1986)
7. Branded to Kill (1967)
8. Le Samouraï (1967)
9. Fargo (1996)
10. Trans-Europ-Express (1966)
11. The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
12. Barton Fink (1991)
13. Point Blank (1967)
14. Bad Lieutenant (1992)
15. Le Cercle Rouge (1970)
16. Mulholland Drive (2001)
17. Winter's Bone (2010)
18. Naked Lunch (1991)
19. Inherent Vice (2014)
20. The Long Goodbye (1973)
21. Breathless (1960)
22. Shoot the Piano Player (1960)
23. Under the Silver Lake (2018)
24. Down by Law (1986)
25. Blade Runner (1982)

[Hey Fredrick]

Great job running the countdown Thief!


I had neither Chinatown or Blade runner on my ballot but I did have L.A Confidential on mine - at number 1. Se7en was my number 6 and my ballot looks something like this:


1. L.A. Confidential (1997) #3
2. Jackie Brown (1997) #18
3. Se7en (1995) #6
4. The Usual Suspects (1995) #20
5. Fargo (1996) #11
6. Sin City (2005) #26
7. Payback (1999) DNP
https://i.ibb.co/NmYgJTy/payback-thats-just-mean-man.gif

8. Memento (2000) #8
9. Blood Simple (1984) #9
10. Heat (1995) #32
11. Reservoir Dogs (1992) #16
12. Mystic River (2003) #68
13. Dark City (1998) #24
14. Drive (2011) #14
15. Memories of Murder (2003) #25
16. In the Heat of the Night (1967) #98
17. Shoot the Piano Player (1960) DNP
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fgrantland.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F09%2Fhp_shoot_the_piano_player_artist.gif%3Fresize%3D326&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=277674ddade6218ce3a712ee24cae3d52417a9885a40280e9ea78c1d3c0feafb&ipo=images

18. High and Low (1963) #19
19. You Were Never Really Here (2018) #50
20. Mulholland Drive (2001) #10
21. The Hole (Le Trou) (1960) DNP
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2F64.media.tumblr.com%2Ftumblr_mbw7w7MKJr1qgu2gyo5_250.gif&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=5acf84423917348e020775a39e8e106567bf33e9790c1d73f3199993db1a72c5&ipo=images

22. Killer Joe (2011) #66
23. Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005) DNP
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2F64.media.tumblr.com%2F66351cd8c171f86177894e00a52202ea%2Ftumblr_n39kk7DqGX1riabgvo1 _r3_500.gif&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=d9c2bdda1521a2c8bc1c39c0e0f1458e1bbfdd8f7782a737a6b77414177b02e7&ipo=images

24. The Grifters (1990) #45
25. Brick (2006) #81


A couple I really missed were The Player, A Simple Plan (which I THOUGHT I had on my ballot), Lost Highway and Blue Ruin. Whoops!




edit: seen 76/100

[Thursday Next]

Good countdown, thanks Thief for hosting, you've been a great host!


My full list:

1. Blade Runner (1982)
2. Oldboy (2003)
3. Strange Days (1995)
4. Purple Noon (1960)
5. The American Friend (1977)
6. The Conversation (1974)
7. Le Samouraï (1967)
8. Le Cercle Rouge (1970)
9. Sin City (2005)
10. In Cold Blood (1967)
11. Body Heat (1981)
12. The Naked Kiss (1964)
13. Infernal Affairs (2002)
14. Miller's Crossing (1990)
15. Bound (1996)
16. Taxi Driver (1976)
17. Croupier (1998)
18. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
19. The Crying Game (1992)
20. The Player (1992)
21. The Driver (1978)
22. John Wick (2014)
23. Drive (2011)
24. Memento (2000)
25. Decision to Leave (2022)

[cricket]

If someone tells me that Chinatown is the best film ever made, I just say ok I respect that opinion. There was never a time since this countdown was announced that I wouldn't have been shocked if it weren't #1.

There are certainly things about Blade Runner that I like and that impress me, but overall I've never been a big fan.

1. Killer Joe (#66)
2. Chinatown (#1)
3. Gone Baby Gone (#64)
4. The Player (#47)
5. Se7en (#6)
6. The Usual Suspects (#20)
7. Body Heat (#22)
8. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (NS)
https://img.pastemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/28144646/before-the-devil-knows-youre-dead-header.jpg
9. Mona Lisa (#78)
10. High and Low (#19)
11. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (#62)
12. Body Double (#69)
13. The Long Goodbye (#5)
14. Blow Out (#17)
15. The Driver (#79)
16. Blood Simple (#9)
17. Night Moves (#40)
18. The Salton Sea (NS)
https://a2.tvspielfilm.de/imedia/5092/2105092,q4cujKYiPUOPYG6pBskD1DSIgKy5UcAzUQHWhgP6f3axDndj63nmbwBFJ8W6aHWbug0xhwvUxPL06ZaNxz2E_g==.jpg
19. Drive (#14)
20. Wild Things (NS)
https://burningretina.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/wildthings.jpeg?w=791
21. Manhunter (#77)
22. Sin City (#26)
23. Blue Velvet (#13)
24. Bound (#59)
25. House of Games (NS)
https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.rogerebert.com/uploads/review/primary_image/reviews/great-movie-house-of-games-1987/EB19991031REVIEWS08910310301AR.jpg

Seen 94/100


Thank you very much Thief, awesome work!

[Iroquois]

congratulations and thank you to everyone involved in putting this together.

my final ballot...

1. Blade Runner (1982)
2. Taxi Driver (1976)
3. Goodfellas (1990)
4. Heat (1995)
5. Thief (1981)
6. Ghost in the Shell (1995)
7. Miami Vice (2006)
8. The Big Lebowski (1998)
9. Sonatine (1993)
10. Perfect Blue (1997)
11. Total Recall (1990)
12. Ghost Dog : The Way of the Samurai (1999)
13. Jackie Brown (1997)
14. Fireworks (1997)
15. After Hours (1985)
16. Hard Boiled (1992)
17. Collateral (2004)
18. Brazil (1985)
19. Chinatown (1974)
20. No Country for Old Men (2007)
21. Memento (2000)
22. John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)
23. High and Low (1963)
24. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
25. Blackhat (2015)

the also-rans...

goodfellas - i have been told that this does not count as noir, but i would think a film about one man's lifelong involvement in crime leading to his rise and downfall qualifies. such is the problem with these genre countdowns where, in spite of having criteria like how it's tagged on imdb, there's never quite as much of a consensus about it as you'd think.

ghost in the shell - i mean, if blade runner is going to come in at a very well-deserved #2, then surely one of the other prime works of cyberpunk cinema (especially one that builds more on the idea of what it means to be an artificial being serving as law enforcement for a system that doesn't consider you human than blade runner 2049 ever does) merits at least some consideration. obviously, this can only be blamed on anti-anime bias.

miami vice - as with blackhat, another divisive late-period mann film, one where he reimagines his hit '80s tv show for the 21st century in ways that naturally play into noir stylings (convoluted detective plot, doomed romance on both sides of the law, etc.). it may not be as immediately enjoyable on a base level as the likes of heat or collateral, but it's still a worthwhile variation on his established work about cops and crooks.

perfect blue - i have to wonder which of these picks stretches the definition of neo-noir the most and maybe satoshi kon's psychological horror about a singer being tormented by a stalker as she embarks on an acting career is the one that seems like the biggest reach - at the same time, her struggle to keep ahead of everything from a deranged murderer to her own fragmenting psyche sounds like as good a narrative for a neo-noir as any.

total recall - if blade runner is a futuristic detective story, then this is a futuristic spy story, one complicated by its supposed everyman protagonist being made to realise that he's an amnesiac killing machine caught in the middle of an interplanetary conspiracy (or is he?). the fact that it's a schwarzenegger action movie arguably means it's difficult to consider it as a noir, but it still remains invested enough in its central mystery of why this guy had his mind wiped to qualify (as great as verhoeven's version is, it's hard not to think about how cronenberg's version might have turned out a little closer to being what we think of as neo-noir).

hard boiled - a little disappointed (if not exactly surprised) that john woo didn't get a look in. his heroic bloodshed films may be flashy in terms of their balletic action, but they are clearly operating in the same existential romanticism as the likes of melville's crime thrillers. the killer is arguably a better fit with its tale of a hitman trying to do one last job to redeem himself, but i've always given this the edge for its variation on the buddy-cop tale where a loose-cannon detective forms an unlikely partnership with an undercover cop (played by tony leung, effectively predating him playing a similar role in infernal affairs).

brazil - a film that's set "somewhere in the 20th century" and revolves around a drab grey little man being shaken out of his humdrum routine by the search for a beautiful woman definitely sounds like it fits the noir narrative/aesthetic, especially as he has to brave a world beset by everything from terrorism to bureaucracy. another pick that's a bit of a reach, but whatever.

john wick: chapter 4 - as noted earlier, if i'd voted for the original it would've made the list and thus represented a franchise that does make for a good neo-noir in showing its protagonist journeying through an arcane underworld of assassins. as it stands, i gave the edge to the newest one. like i said before, i'm an idiot.

[Harry Lime]

Wild Things! I remember that movie...for it's noir qualities yes.

[WHITBISSELL!]

Thank you Thief for going above and beyond with your hosting duties. You ran a tight ship and ...

https://i.imgflip.com/23j72l.gif

2 for 2 and as I mentioned Blade Runner was my #11. But I forgot Chinatown. So I end up having watched 72 out of 100 of the entries.

[LAMb EELYAK]

Disclaimer:


I am murky enough on the definition that I just went with movies that technically met the criteria. I'm sure there are some wasted votes on my list, but that's probably a good thing since I don't know what the heck I'm talking about.


1. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - #42
2. The Terminator
3. The Fugitive
4. The Nice Guys - #39
5. Out of Sight
6. Who Framed Roger Rabbit - #35
7. Wind River
8. Snake Eyes
9. Prisoners
10. Jackie Brown - #18
11. The Matrix
12. The Dark Knight - #61
13. Batman Begins
14. Dog Day Afternoon - #36
15. Pulp Fiction - #37
16. Reservoir Dogs - #16
17. Witness
18. Shutter Island - #83
19. John Wick: Chapter 4
20. John Wick
21. Memories of Murder - #25
22. Marnie
23. Blow Out - #17
24. The Kid Detective
25. The Little Things - 1P

[Wyldesyde19]

Wonderful job Thief! A worthy countdown! Time to hunt down the ones I haven’t seen

[Holden Pike]

It should surprise no longtime MoFos that I had both of these titles on my ballot, nor which was my top choice. Both are two of my all-time favorite movies of any genre or any time period, and one I routinely name as the greatest film ever made. So...yeah.

98777

I love Blade Runner and its various incarnations for lots and lots of reasons. But among them is definitely how it transported many of the aesthetics and tropes of Noir and fused them so wonderfully with Science Fiction. Los Angeles 2019 retrofitted in all of its dystopian cyberpunk glory is still Los Angeles. The final confrontation is in The Bradbury Building, fer cripe's sake! Even in the latter cuts with the voice over removed it has Noir in its DNA. It is now Hollywood legend how much the crew despised Ridley Scott during the arduous production, but whatever his methods there is no denying the power and horrible beauty of the stunning and still influential dense visual world they created. Critic Pauline Kael quipped that Blade Runner is film full of subtext with no text and Harrison Ford once lamented that Deckard is a detective who doesn't ever detect anything, but Blade Runner is more than the sum of its parts, emerging and enduring as a classic for the ages, well past the actual year of 2019 with no sign of diminishing.

98778

I have owned just about every version of Blade Runner there is. First taped off of cable, then the store-bought VHS, replaced by the Criterion Collection LD, then the Director's Cut on LD, eventually on DVD, and finally the Final Cut on DVD and BluRay. I have seen those various cuts over twenty times, theatrically, and literally over a hundred from all that media. More human than human, that's my motto. Blade Runner was third on my ballot.


98779

I am one of those bleak bastards who believes Chinatown is still the greatest film ever made. Cinematic perfection. Oh, sure, in story and character terms its a frickin' downer, with mayhaps the slimiest and creepiest of all slimy creeps, John Huston's Noah Cross, getting exactly what he wants in the end, part of that being his granddaughter who he fathered through incest and can now try and go for a great grandchild, I reckon. Neo-Noir is able to go places that Classic Noir could only suggest, and even then they rarely suggested it. In addition to a frankness about sexual perversions and more graphic depictions of sex and violence, what Neo-Noir could really finally do is have evil prevail. And boy does it prevail in Chinatown.

Whether or not Polanski would have been willing to push the darkness so far had his wife and child not been grotesquely murdered one can only speculate, but he was obviously the right man for the job in bringing Robert Towne's legendary script to life. The post-1960s assassinations and current Watergate-era 1970s was ripe for this tale about corruption surrounding the distribution of water around what would become the sprawling Los Angeles region, but the final twist is that the political corruption is only window dressing for the true corruption of an inveterate rapist. And what can our hero Jake Gittes do about it? Only watch it happen and try to forget about it. Noir, thy permanent address is Chinatown.

98780

My twenty-five points helped Chinatown ascend to where it simply had to be. Frankly anytime I am scrolling around the internet and find a list of Best Neo-Noirs, if Chinatown ain't number one I don't even bother reading it. I am very glad the MoFo Top 100 Neo-Noirs is not one of those.

HOLDEN'S BALLOT
1.Chinatown (#1)
2. The Long Goodbye (#5)
3. Blade Runner (#2)
4. Night Moves (#40)
5. High & Low (#19)
6. Nightcrawler (#21)
7. The Grifters (#45)
8. One False Move (#73)
9. Blast of Silence (#48)
10. After Dark, My Sweet (DNP)
11. Blow Out (#17)
12. To Live & Die in L.A. (#43)
13. The Naked Kiss (#51)
14. Angel Heart (#31)
15. Shallow Grave (#95)
16. The Yakuza (DNP)
17. Dead Again (#90)
18. The Silent Partner (DNP)
19. The Limey (DNP)
20. L.A. Confidential (#3)
21. Drive (#14)
22. The Hot Spot (#85)
23. Charley Varrick (DNP)
24. Blue Ruin (#82)
25. Johnny Handsome (DNP)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egga1aB05nA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECYLHiXvrBQ

[WHITBISSELL!]

My ballot. Outside of some glaring omissions/brain farts there isn't much I'd change. Maybe the order. I really wish Shaft and Bullitt had made the countdown. And even though I more or less knew Rolling Thunder wouldn't show up it would have still been nice to see it included. The rest are just personal favorites.

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRteQjfCKWleBaQjoVEImxUp3fVNtH9zGnVAqEcJNCNqo67BOyWA05GEi5KlMwUCh9BFZY&usqp=CAUhttps://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSvpceR9eW3O44N64fbrBkHQebWS9s9B37LYLyyFeCduclDyfPjDY4os7c1zAZAUbSkMsQ&usqp=CAUhttps://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQkYuOUJ7PnGvAvU2WP1Gct3RcP4HNeUyPCNYTeJwXF5A&shttps://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSzc711YRYh1hlbbS-B_5rj8NXbvPV7m8suijT-jUYzf8KRuZQMEXUeaubnXaiQT4urla0&usqp=CAUhttps://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ5rgnFtgj4_yGLXdeoOfT88TKR1wLyj51hrwAQhf1lXPpe5LbT7j-2NOXtxuz_A1IYZwQ&usqp=CAUhttps://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS-RNnO8g_yBydfvzgss93UpYlZ5Wo9_Ur7Q5fMemWBA094tPswTtkTFDR2WD9CHUJ1v28&usqp=CAUhttps://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQguLOkhFBnWv4jTwpiLBEj2yfnDS5Q6rLsg-U72Doh56nV1RDddsgz6Na5yobpSJTBdZ4&usqp=CAU

1. The French Connection (#58)
2. You Were Never Really Here (#50)
3. Get Carter (#49)
4. In the Heat of the Night (#98)
5. Blast of Silence (#48)
6. Shaft
7. Rolling Thunder
8. Taxi Driver (#4)
9. Thief (#29)
10. Hell or High Water
11. Blade Runner (#2)
12. Blood Simple (#9)
13. Badlands (#103)
14. Winter's Bone
15. L.A. Confidential (#3)
16. Harper (#101)
17. Dark City (#24)
18. One False Move (#73)
19. No Country for Old Men (#12)
20. Blood and Black Lace
21. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
22. Bullitt
23. Drive (#14)
24. Point Blank (#72)
25. Collateral (#33)

[Holden Pike]

98781

[WHITBISSELL!]

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=98772Nice. :yup: :up:

[Holden Pike]

Wow! 104 points between #1 and #2. :eek:
I didn't know that Chinatown is so popular here...
Chinatown is popular everywhere, and empirically it is the clear and obvious choice for top Neo Noir.

[honeykid]

Blade Runner was my #1. It's one of those films that every time you watch it, there seems to be something new to appreciate. As a neo-noir film, I think it's excellent. It takes a lot of the ideas and themes from noir and transplants them successfully to a completely different futuristic sci-fi setting.


I don't like Chinatown.
You can go off people, can't you? ;) :D



Before I get to the meat of it all, HTH did The Taking of Pelham One Two Three qualify? Now, I love that film (like top 100 love it) but I still don't think I'd have voted for it even if I knew it did. Though, I do really love it, so maybe I would've? Anyway, seems weird to me but then, what else is new? :D

Had I known Wild Things counted I'd have defintely added that to my list (and I can see the noir there) as that's a damn good film (if a little heavyhanded with the metaphors) too I'll say the same for The Killer (which I did look at but couldn't see the Neo-Noir tag for) and Hard Boiled, which I love but really don't think of as Noir and, had I already had The Killer, I think I'd have left it off anyway as being too far removed from what I think of neo noir. But I love all those films and, along with Angel Heart (which I shamefully forgot and After Dark, My Sweet which I decided against, plus a couple more I've thought of since, Miami Blues and Kill Me Again) I'd have gotten close to a full list. Ah, well. Them's the breaks.

At least you all got #1 correct. Double Indemnity should be the #1 choice for classic noir, but Chinatown had to be. It's the best example and the best film. I'd have liked to have seen L.A. Confidential at #2, but the fandom of Bladerunner is very strong and it's not as if there's any argument to be made that it isn't neo-noir, is there? It just is, even for someone like me. I could've done my bit though, as I only had it at #16, which I can't explain at all beyond I made the list quickly and it must've gotte lost in the shuffle as I tried to get my list in before the deadline.

Thanks for running a good countdown, Thief. Excellent work. :)

[Citizen Rules]

Thanks Thief for volunteering to do this portion of MoFos' first (and hopefully not last):p duel countdowns. You did an excellent job!!!
I totally appreciate you helping out so that the MoFo community could turn out two different Top 100 Film Noir/Neo Noir list. Without this countdown the Film Noir countdown would not have worked!

Thanks to everyone who participated here in the Neo Noir countdown, hope everyone had fun!

Here's my Neo Noir ballot:
1. Le Samouraï (1967)
2. The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)...
3. The Hustler (1961) ***
4. The Naked Kiss (1964)***
5. The Long Goodbye (1973)
6. Thelma & Louise (1991)
7. Strange Days (1995)***
8. The Hole (1960)
9. Body Heat (1981)
10. Blood Simple (1984)
11. L'avventura (1960)
12. Seconds (1966)
13. Blue Ruin (2013)***
14. Blow-Up (1966)
15. Road to Perdition (2002)
16. L.A. Confidential (1997)
17. Alphaville (1965)***
18. Gone Baby Gone (2007)
19. Mulholland Drive (2001)***
20. Miller's Crossing (1990)
21. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)***
22. Blade Runner (1982)
23. Le Cercle Rouge (1970)
24. Dark City (1998)***
25. Portrait in Black (1960)

[Citizen Rules]

I just logged off and was heading to work when I realized I need to thank Yoda ....Chris does all the behind the scenes work that makes the auto generated images and auto generated ballot tabulations that the Neo Noir countdown used. And he has to work with the data base and do a whole bunch more work to get both countdowns' list into the MoFo list section. So a big thanks to Yoda for making all this possible for all of us MoFos! This is what I love about the site it feels like a community:)

[Holden Pike]

I just logged off and was heading to work when I realized I need to thank Yoda ....Chris does all the behind the scenes work that makes the auto generated images and auto generated ballot tabulations that the Neo Noir countdown used. And he has to work with the data base and do a whole bunch more work to get both countdowns' list into the MoFo list section. So a big thanks to Yoda for making all this possible for all of us MoFos! This is what I love about the site it feels like a community:)


98784

A friend to Noir, Yoda is.

[Harry Lime]

Yes, yes, thank you, Yoda.

[WHITBISSELL!]

Yes, by all means, thank you to Yoda for all his behind the scenes work in making these two countdowns such polished and top drawer affairs. :) :up:

[Thief]

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF... BLADE RUNNER

https://i.imgur.com/JHggXvH.jpg
RT – 89%, IMDb – 8.1


Roger Ebert said:

"The visual environments [Ridley Scott] creates for this film are wonderful to behold, and there's a sense of detail, too; we don't just get the skyways and the monolithic skyscrapers and the sky-taxis, we also get notions about how restaurants, clothes and home furnishing will look in 2020 (not too different). Blade Runner is worth attending just to witness this artistry." (read full review here (https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/blade-runner-1982-1))

Ben Sherlock, from Game Rant, said:

"[Ridley Scott] connected the central detective story to film noir and helmed Blade Runner as one of the first-ever tech noir films. Blade Runner arguably contributed as much to establishing the neo-noir as Roman Polanski’s Chinatown, whose soul-crushing ending redefined the noir as audiences knew it, as Scott’s movie proved it was possible to bring in elements from other genres and still succeed as a complex, morally challenging entry in the noir canon." (read full review here (https://gamerant.com/80s-movie-invented-tech-noir/))

John McClane said:

"Blade Runner is a film that deserves its status as a cult classic because of these things. It gives us no answers, no explicit meaning, and no purpose to which to cling. Instead, it paints a mirror copy of our own world in the darkest of grays. More human than human? Our humanity is already tough enough." (read full review here (https://www.movieforums.com/reviews/2019188-blade_runner.html))

[Thief]

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF... CHINATOWN

https://images.mubicdn.net/images/film/325/cache-47691-1493163826/image-w1280.jpg
RT – 99%, IMDb – 8.1


Roger Ebert said:

"Roman Polanski’s Chinatown is not only a great entertainment, but something more, something I would have thought almost impossible: It’s a 1940s private-eye movie that doesn't depend on nostalgia or camp for its effect, but works because of the enduring strength of the genre itself." (read full review here (https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/chinatown-1974))

Glenn Frankel, from The Washington Post, said:

"An existential detective story bathed in shades of film noir, Chinatown is more of a who-are-we than a whodunit. Besides Polanski’s masterful direction, it boasts one of the most admired screenplays in movie history, by Robert Towne; a fabulously nuanced star performance by Jack Nicholson; and a grand theme: the fatal fragility of good intentions in an evil world. It’s also wickedly entertaining." (read full review here (https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/the-men-who-made-chinatown-unforgettable/2020/02/06/dac54a24-2116-11ea-86f3-3b5019d451db_story.html))

Daniel M said:

"Directed with so much confidence, the film has a highly ambitious 'epic' feel about it. The story is one of the most complex and haunting mysteries of all time, and the screenplay has some fantastic dialogue with a great mixture of intelligence and humour." (read full review here (https://www.movieforums.com/reviews/1160251-chinatown.html))

[Thief]

Ok, the only one from my list that didn't make it was my #25, Brian de Palma's Femme Fatale.

https://resizing.flixster.com/3ve_tY8GLrt3SyEaOhJukxUsc3c=/1100x618/v2/https://resizing.flixster.com/-XZAfHZM39UwaGJIFWKAE8fS0ak=/v3/t/assets/p30413_i_h10_ac.jpg

Admittedly, I haven't seen it in a good while, but it's still a film that stuck with me for its vibe, mood, and twisty story, which I think made it a perfect fit for this countdown. I expected it to be a one-pointer, but someone else voted for it, so I guess I'm happy about that.



SEEN: 73/100
MY BALLOT: 24/25


1. L.A. Confidential (#3)
2. The Grifters (#45)
3. Chinatown (#1)
4. Blood Simple (#9)
5. Blade Runner (#2)
6. Nightcrawler (#21)
7. The Man Who Wasn't There (#27)
8. Following (#84)
9. Mulholland Drive (#10)
10. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (#35)
11. Thief (#29)
12. Bound (#59)
13. Blow Out (#17)
14. The Naked Kiss (#51)
15. Le SamouraÏ (#7)
16. Blue Ruin (#82)
17. Drive (#14)
18. Red Rock West (#88)
19. A Simple Plan (#46)
20. Killer Joe (#66)
21. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (#42)
22. Mother (#67)
23. Body Heat (#22)
24. To Live and Die in L.A. (#43)
25. Femme Fatale (#237)

[Thief]

Ok, the only one from my list that didn't make it was my #25, Brian de Palma's Femme Fatale.

https://resizing.flixster.com/3ve_tY8GLrt3SyEaOhJukxUsc3c=/1100x618/v2/https://resizing.flixster.com/-XZAfHZM39UwaGJIFWKAE8fS0ak=/v3/t/assets/p30413_i_h10_ac.jpg

Admittedly, I haven't seen it in a good while, but it's still a film that stuck with me for its vibe, mood, and twisty story, which I think made it a perfect fit for this countdown. I expected it to be a one-pointer, but someone else voted for it, so I guess I'm happy about that.


*sees Wigram liked this*

https://media1.tenor.com/m/tG4lS7Fuhx0AAAAC/star-trek-nod.gif

[GulfportDoc]

I can't find my review of Chinatown, but it was #1 on my list. I consider it to be the greatest neo-noir ever, followed by Body Heat. The story, the acting, the directing, the settings and production design were all in the stratosphere. I also liked The Two Jakes, but it didn't click with the public as much as its predecessor. I wish Nicholson would have made a third.

I liked Blade Runner, but I had the 2017 version at #21. I probably could have used the '82 version, but I didn't...:)

[GulfportDoc]

Thanks very much to Thief for running this countdown!

He's a great guy, and it takes a lot of time and effort to put one of these things together.

Many thanks, you old cinephile you!

~Doc

[Thief]

AWARDS?

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMFzPZh6TDgpkK-vVR3JBBckbf7d3ueheY2_hEcSwzrip1lfpAHWwpWaIc7NLt5QnoqzNcs_6o10-Rut_VgqqdwHjGdvVKJohjT9KLXOmNMIQBuxUFVduhlDCQ3qW7uN0RQJZHgbLhmZTdMF3LE2JzroSrAUVpYUvHU1CtRNKruS9jk08 AuA7XKpDM/s1280/roy-batty-tears-in-the-rain-monologue.jpg


Blade Runner received several nominations and awards. These are some of the most notable:


Eight (8) BAFTA Film Award nominations, including a win for Best Cinematography (Jordan Cronenweth)
Four (4) Saturn Award nominations, including a win for Best Supporting Actor (Rutger Hauer)
Two (2) Academy Award nominations, including Best Visual Effects
One (1) Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Score (Vangelis)

[Thief]

AWARDS?

https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Jake-is-taken-away-at-the-end-of-Chinatown.jpg


Chinatown received several nominations and awards. These are some of the most notable:


Eleven (11) Academy Award nominations, including a win for Best Original Screenplay (Robert Towne)
Eleven (11) BAFTA Film Award nominations, including a win for Best Actor (Jack Nicholson)
Seven (7) Golden Globe Award nominations, including a win for Best Picture
One (1) Writers Guild of America Award for Best Writing (Towne)

[Thief]

Stats: Finish Line
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j2pTYY6iEno/UjsQweZYiRI/AAAAAAACEPg/WOY481p5PUE/s1600/c16.gif

-

Now that we hit the finish line, here's were we ended up after 100 entries:

Decade Breakdown


1960s = 13
1970s = 15
1980s = 12
1990s = 30
2000s = 17
2010s = 13
2020s = 0


As expected, the 1990s end up taking the prize. However, it's interesting that after that, the field is pretty much even all across. Also, the 1970s had the strongest showing in the Top 10 with 3 entries.


Recurring Directors


Coen Brothers = 6
David Fincher = 4
Michael Mann = 4
David Lynch = 3
Martin Scorsese = 3
Christopher Nolan = 3
Quentin Tarantino = 3
William Friedkin = 3
Ridley Scott = 2
Robert Altman = 2
Jean-Pierre Melville = 2
Brian de Palma = 2
Bong Joon-ho = 2
Shane Black = 2


Also as expected, the Coen brothers dominated with 6 entries total. Fincher and Mann settle for the second spot with 4, while this last batch brought Scorsese his third notch, and Ridlsey Scott his second.

[Harry Lime]

The three that didn't make it were my one pointer Serie noie, The Limey at #16, which was talked bout a ways back, and Wong Kar-wai's Fallen Angels.
23. Bad Lieutenant (1992)
Also Bad Lieutenant didn't make it - a bit surprising. So that's 21/25 for those of us who are counting, which is just me I'm sure.

[Thief]

I think I'm done now. It's always fun to do this things, but it wouldn't be nearly as fun if it weren't for all of you. Thanks to all of you for voting or just sharing your thoughts here. But especially, thanks to Citizen Rules for coming up with this crazy idea to do two countdowns at once, something that I admit I wasn't entirely on board with, but that ended up working rather well. Second, always thanks to Yoda for all the technical stuff, all the backstage talk, and his quick response for the two or three times I messed up :laugh: Third, thanks to John-Connor for working out the actors stats and Holden Pike for his constant grumbl... no, seriously :laugh: thanks for his backstage advise, for sharing stats, and frequent elbowing when something wasn't quite right. Finally, again, thanks to all of you for making it fun! Now let's party...

https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/media-us-westslateappcom/ruffian/production/default_remote/1507075173/laconfidential-location-jared-cowan-31.jpg

[PHOENIX74]

Okay, the last 2 are on my list...

2. Blade Runner - I was only a kid, and coming off a Raiders of the Lost Ark Harrison Ford high when Blade Runner came out. I must say I felt a little lost amongst the film noir sci-fi kind of genre twist this was - being more used to Star Wars type of fare when it came to science fiction. It's taken years of continually increased appreciation to turn that all around for me personally. This is sci-fi for adults instead of kids, and a beautiful introduction to a much bigger audience for Dutch actor Rutger Hauer. It wasn't a huge hit when it came out - but man, time has been especially kind to it's status - and it was honored with a rarely brilliant belated sequel which did the impossible and lived up to the original. I had it at #12 on my list.

1. Chinatown - There's not much left to say about Chinatown - I've seen it plenty of times, and it's another film that I love more now than when I first saw it. I never ended up seeing that follow-up, The Two Jakes - mainly because of it's reputation as a disappointment. Perhaps someone here is a fan of it? Anyway, Chinatown ended up with a #9 spot on my ballot - a kind of scattered one according to this particular countdown, with my favourite, The Conversation, ending up lower down and some of the films I had lower down on my ballot ending up near the top. I only have one more reveal as to a film that didn't show.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seen : 75/100
I'd never even heard of : 9/100
Movies that had been on my radar, but I haven't seen yet : 16/100
Films from my list : 21 + 1

#1 - My #9 - Chinatown (1974)
#2 - My #12 - Blade Runner (1982)
#3 - My #20 - L.A. Confidential (1997)
#4 - My #18 - Taxi Driver (1976)
#5 - My #8 - The Long Goodbye (1973)
#6 - My #5 - Se7en (1995)
#8 - My #4 - Memento (2000)
#12 - My #10 - No Country For Old Men (2007)
#13 - My #7 - Blue Velvet (1986)
#14 - My #15 - Drive (2011)
#15 - My #6 - Miller's Crossing (1990)
#16 - My #2 - Reservoir Dogs (1992)
#17 - My #22 - Blow Out (1981)
#21 - My #13 - Nightcrawler (2014)
#27 - My #24 - The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
#28 - My #1 - The Conversation (1974)
#30 - My #23 - Zodiac (2007)
#42 - My #19 - Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
#44 - My #21 - Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
#52 - My #11 - Oldboy (2003)
#81 - My #17 - Brick (2005)
#106 - My #16 - Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)
DNP - My #3 - Gloria (1980)
DNP - My #14 - Training Day (2001)
DNP - My #25 - Animal Kingdom (2010)

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/Dy285rLG/training.webp

Training Day - My #14

My bad. Training Day isn't really a neo noir film, but as I'm someone who is all about excuses and not at all happy with owning up to my responsibilities, I have to point out that I did search for neo noirs and Training Day showed up amongst the results. I went and made sure it qualified, and it did (almost everything did.) I really love Training Day - so much so that I blocked out the fact that it probably wouldn't belong here. Not that this didn't stop a number of other films from showing up - but as bad luck would have it not Training Day. Great performance from Denzel, and I'm always happy with Ethan Hawke - great pair up villain/hero-wise. I have to own up to it, which is what I'm doing.

[mrblond]

Thief, well done work! :up:

-----
My Ballot
▽

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/h5v3wjJQNB7q2RntEnKDLhKtTFE.jpg https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/tGCEhrjS7fLuOYaGLAklo07ULO4.jpg https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/ewbLUXvm4riZL0aepy90o0vMesn.jpg https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/bd175Fmt3Web3j0qXahSKmdZPOe.jpg https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/axuBeLVBeXfVZPGg6ph2taWRDFq.jpg
1. Angel Heart (1987) [#31]
2. Wild at Heart (1990) [near misses]
3. Jackie Brown (1997) [#18]
4. The Driver (1978) [#79]
5. Le Samouraï (1967) [#7]

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/wI6CalCMdSKXgx10gzfHY3vwyzf.jpg https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/iQCP69183K1QZo8bb23nkcLap3W.jpg https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/5t0mGiFlj5GBrZ7ggvvkMdFJ7fV.jpg https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/3X1EqovVKNpHoYHAhPznWDwQmqB.jpg https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/5ecDOWpNoYJfrQ4Epxx8vYXKUcQ.jpg
6. Red Rock West (1993) [#88]
7. The Hot Spot (1990) [#85]
8. Shallow Grave (1994) [#95]
9. Le Cercle Rouge (1970) [#23]
10. The Man Who Wasn't There (2001) [#27]

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/g7spS2Y4SZoQoC6Hn7zoqEqdYqR.jpg https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/i21qLdE76ACgjhh9vjk5D2sFEQe.jpg https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/7DkkTHIX3hUqvsRv5sDmJAkCfKK.jpg https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/7n1KNXs4OFfeVLjJ3g10M8oK1fM.jpg https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/gijsIUUuf59SHNdOHx1ib0DgVRc.jpg
11. Reservoir Dogs (1992) [#16]
12. Caché (2005)
13. Sea of Love (1989)
14. Purple Noon (1960) [#94]
15. The Swimming Pool (1969)

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/cQaqpwN5Nq0GNNKE1hIgYLpLlca.jpg https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/jdnGXZE2Ty2OcRGFwDZRpglODrp.jpg https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/ekstpH614fwDX8DUln1a2Opz0N8.jpg https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/mavrhr0ig2aCRR8d48yaxtD5aMQ.jpg https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/k52pPgVOHPwjIyMdvNZZi3Z7zFR.jpg
16. Thelma & Louise (1991) [#56]
17. Year of the Dragon (1985)
18. Taxi Driver (1976) [#4]
19. Dog Day Afternoon (1975) [#36]
20. The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981)

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/8VuPD8ZKAqxT6F1HaH9sFFURmsi.jpg https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/1ngSOsdyYaI6hw6B9gEreWLQocf.jpg https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/1l5UaoP25Ak8PWCKIULQz70yF03.jpg https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/d5iIlFn5s0ImszYzBPb8JPIfbXD.jpg https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/yqEFrL47aqfKf1glpkv06sk8dom.jpg
21. Mona Lisa (1986) [#78]
22. Blue Velvet (1986) [#13]
23. Hard Eight (1996) [near misses]
24. Pulp Fiction (1994) [#37]
25. Guilty as Sin (1993)
-----

Others on my radar:
▽
The Ninth Gate (1999) [one-pointers]
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) [#96]
True Romance (1993) [#60]
Thief (1981) [#29]
The Conversation (1974) [#28]
Sin City (2005) [#26]
Fargo (1996) [#11]

[Yoda]

Great job Thief! :) Thank you for all your hard work. :up: Rep this man, people.

[rauldc14]

So uh, what's next. Apologies if already asked.

Great job citizen and Thief. So great I didn't even give either grief this time! :)

[Torgo]

Nice work, Thief.
Here's my ballot. I bolded the ones that didn't make it.

1. Fargo
2. High and Low
3. L.A. Confidential
4. Chinatown
5. Le Samourai
6. Blade Runner
7. The French Connection
8. Memories of Murder
9. Memento
10. La Haine
11. Dog Day Afternoon
12. Sonatine
13. To Live and Die in L.A.
14. Blood Simple
15. Blow Out
16. Le Cercle Rouge
17. The Usual Suspects
18. Get Carter (1971)
19. Mona Lisa
20. House of Games
21. Point Blank
22. A Simple Plan
23. Devil in a Blue Dress
24. The Friends of Eddie Coyle
25. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

[Thief]

Forgot to say yesterday, for anyone interested, a couple of years ago I was a guest on Best Film Ever podcast where we talked about Blade Runner. Check it out here (https://bestfilmever.podbean.com/?s=blade%20runner)!

[Citizen Rules]

I've only seen 43/100 is that like the lowest score of anyone?:p

[John W Constantine]

100/100

[Thursday Next]

69/100 seen

[John W Constantine]

I am the greatest movie watching person of all time.

[Sedai]

Super busy weekend, so just catching up with everything now.

As any long time MoFo knows, by favorite film of all time is Blade Runner. It's one of the films that I can watch at pretty much any time, and I am in the mood for it. I had the pleasure of seeing the just -released Final Cut at the Coolidge Corner Cinema in Boston, which is sort of an old school theater. I brought all my friends, and we all had a ball watching this fresh new cut in a theater that made it feel like it was 1982 all over again, but with better sound and video quality. This is easily my favorite and most memorable viewing of this film I have ever experienced.

https://www.filmlinc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/BladeRunner1-1600x900-c-default.jpeg

Blade Runner was the first film where I found myself being moved by plight of the antagonists in a very affecting and conflicted way. While Roy Batty is monster, he is a tragic monster, and his search for meaning touches me on a almost deterministic level. He is existential dread personified, and his final scene moves me to tears every time I see it. Sometimes, it not even raining!

https://i0.wp.com/macguff.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Blade-Runner-Final-Cut-Movie-Still-1.jpg?resize=630%2C420&ssl=1

Blade Runner's influence cannot be denied. So many subsequent works draw inspiration from or outright steal from the film, it would take me hours to list them all. Its art direction, production design and cinematography were unmatched at the time, and the film contains several of my favorite shots in all of cinema, one of which has been my profile cover here on MoFo since the day the feature was added to the site. I get lost in the film's visuals every time I watch it.

https://highdefdiscnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/blade_runner_4k_43-1024x576.png

https://www.indiewire.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/screen-shot-2017-10-02-at-9-36-59-pm.png?w=780

https://filmgrab.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/11-tyrells-office1.png

Blade Runner is a tremendous achievement and it pretty much created the entire genre of future noir, or tech noir as it is also referred to. I of course prefer the more ambiguous Director's Cut and Final Cut to the theatrical release, but recommend that people give the theatrical a shot at some point, as it can help answer some of the questions people just seeing the films for the first time might have. Maybe shut it off just as Deckard and Rachel head into the elevator at the end, though. ;)

So, where does this leave the film as far as my ballot? I guess it seems an obvious choice that I would have it all the way at the top, what with it being my favorite film ever, right? I had Blade Runner at #2. As far as total purity of essence in the neo-noir style, there is another film that supersedes Blade Runner, and that film is usually in the second spot on my all-time favorite films list, which I will say a few words about in my next post in this thread.

[mrblond]

Is there opened thread for the next countdown theme?

[Citizen Rules]

Is there opened thread for the next countdown theme?Not yet.

The runner up in the last poll was Musicals which I assume would include all musicals old and new and animated too. It's the only genre on the MoFo List section that hasn't been done by the MoFo community and has been on the 'next time' for a long while.

[Holden Pike]

98817

For anybody just jonesing for more Neo-Noir beyond the MoFo List, I made a custom list full of titles from the 1990s Neo-Noir Renaissance (https://www.movieforums.com/lists/custom/471). I listed them alphabetically but some of my favorites, other than the ones I voted for that made it (The Grifters, One False Move, The Hot Spot, Shallow Grave, Dead Again, and L.A. Confidential) and the couple I voted for that did not make it (After Dark, My Sweet and The Limey) some of my other bigtime favorites are Fresh, Blood & Wine, Lone Star, A Perfect World, and Carlito's Way. A few of the titles that I am frankly shocked did not make the collective because I foolishly thought they were foregone conclusions are The Last Seduction, Out of Sight, Fallen Angels, Devil in a Blue Dress, Payback, and Cop Land. And then just for some oddball, over-the-top, darkly funny takes on the genre that I absolutely adore, check out Blood & Concrete: A Love Story, Miami Blues, and Romeo is Bleeding.

Not a complete and exhaustive list, but the sixty films I listed (I believe eighteen of which are also on the MoFo List) should give anyone who wants it excellent coverage and understanding of Neo-Noir in the 1990s.

[Sedai]

The Last Seduction is one that I still have queued up to see, but just haven't gotten around to yet. I was hoping to get to it before submitting my ballot, and figured that once I missed it, I would certainly have it in my watched column by the end of the countdown. Alas...

[Holden Pike]

The video below is nothing but spoilers, so definitely save it for until after your viewing (and anybody else who hasn't had the pleasure, yet), but The Last Seduction is a fantastic flick. Really and truly the only reason I didn't vote for it was because I figured it was absolutely going to show, probably as high as the Top Thirty and wouldn't have shocked me to see Top Twelve, and therefore did not need my help. I badly miscalculated on that one, obviously. Apparently MoFo - the MoFos who vote, anyway - prefers John Dahl's previous entry Red Rock West. Preferences are preferences, but empirically, critically, and according to Mr. Noir Eddie Muller himself, The Last Seduction is the superior film. And it isn't even close. It is one of the biggest and most embarrassing omissions from our collective MoFo List.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgeCjHQ8MR8

[Harry Lime]

Not yet.

The runner up in the last poll was Musicals which I assume would include all musicals old and new and animated too. It's the only genre on the MoFo List section that hasn't been done by the MoFo community and has been on the 'next time' for a long while.
There's a reason it's been "next time" for so long.

We've done three (or 2.5) genres in a row. Time for a decade. 90s Redux! I'm going to campaign and lobby on this. "A vote for the 90s is a vote for freedom (from musicals)!"

[Harry Lime]

We can do musicals next time.

https://i.gifer.com/7Ki.gif

[Sedai]

My top entry was of course Roman Polanski's masterpiece neo-noir, Chinatown.

I also agree that this is pretty much a perfect film, and the darkest of the dark in the entirely of the neo-noir catalog. Not a shred of hope remains by the time you reach the end of the film, where you find out that it's just best to forget it Jake, it's Chinatown. As I compiled my ballot, there was never a question in my mind what my top two entries were going to be, and I had settled on putting this film first from pretty much minute one.

https://variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Jack-Nicholson-Chinatown.jpg

Like Blade Runner, this is a film that I wasn't totally over the moon for after the first viewing. I recall being surprised by the revelations of the third act, and thinking it was a little bit too much of a slow burn for my taste - it seemed a bit event light. I think ti was a good year or two before I tried watching it again, but by that time, I had read a couple of books on film noir that my father had gifted to me, and I had started really paying more attention to the craftsmanship in films. So, on my second, or maybe even third viewing, I remember pausing the film about the time we are in Jake's office when the fake Evelyn makes her visit, and just marveling at the mise en scene. Then I binge watched the film a few times and from then on, I was hooked.

https://www.therpf.com/forums/attachments/chinatown_switchblade-pic-6-jpg.1529830/

One scene I have watched many, many times, is the conversation between Noah Cross and Jake Gittes. Huston looms in this scene, while Nicholson's usually commanding presence shrinks as each second ticks by. Not sure the character of Jake Gittes realizes he is in too deep during this scene, but we as the viewers certainly do.

Faye Dunaway is stellar here, and this is my favorite role of hers. Watching her transform from what seems like a cold, calculating figure in act one to the shattered, shrinking violet in act 3, into someone that has absolutely no control over her trajectory, is heartbreaking. Gittes, who thinks he is ahead in the game right up until she reveals her dark secrets, is just as stunned as we are, realizing how badly he has read his hand, figuring out he is dead money at the table and that they have both lost the game long ago. From that second onward, it's just a dark spiral of misery and death.

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-792beb-ZBzs/U0tLosdpoMI/AAAAAAAABzM/hKIbFQ6flJI/s1600/image-6.jpg

That about does it for another wonderful MoFo countdown. Thanks to everyone involved, especially Thief, and of course Yoda for the under-the-hood stuff. Another shout out to Holden Pike for all the excellent tidbits of info, videos, and other various sundry contributions. Lots of great input from many MoFos, really!

One of my favorite countdowns ever on the site, as neo noir contains many of my favorite films of all time.

[rauldc14]

62/100 seen

[Harry Lime]

It's very difficult to answer with anything other than Chinatown if asked "What's the greatest neo noir of all time?"

[beelzebubble]

It's very difficult to answer with anything other than Chinatown if asked "What's the greatest neo noir of all time?"
Well, I am not a huge fan of Chinatown. I don't know why.


But my #1 was Seance On a Wet Afternoon. Which I believe is a must see. It is a British film starring Richard Attenborough and Kim Stanley. They play a middle-aged couple, the women of which is a medium. The husband is a man who would do any mad thing she ask him. She plans a kidnapping of a child. They plan on using the kidnapping to promote her abilities as a medium. Of course, everything goes sideways. It is a wild suspenseful ride and a psychological look at this, shall we say... codependent couple.


Did anyone else have The Matrix as a neo-noir or am I the only one? It was my #18.


I want to thank Thief for doing a masterful job of running this countdown. Thanks, man!

[Sedai]

Did anyone else have The Matrix as a neo-noir or am I the only one? It was my #18.



I like The Matrix, but don't love it. As far as its qualifications as neo-noir, I guess an argument could be made for its visuals to be very noir-ish, but I think that is as far as one could take it. Conceptually, I don't see it really sticking the landing.

[Citizen Rules]

Did someone mention Chinatown...

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=61758
Chinatown (1974)

Director: Roman Polanski
Genre: Neo Noir

I enjoyed the film but to be honest I was underwhelmed. I don't think it's a case of too high of expectations as I was expecting this to be middle of the road for me. I've seen a couple of post-noirs made in the 1970s and they've seemed like a lesser copy of the greatness that was American film noir in the 1940s-1950s. So I think it's near impossible to duplicate that film noir feeling that came out of the post war era.

Luckily for film noir buffs, the 1980s & 1990s brought a new fresh style to film noir that no longer was emulating what had been done before. A good example of those neo-noirs are some of the fine works by the Coen Brothers.

Anyway back to Chinatown, which btw, I was disappointed that as a plot device it was an empty promise as we don't really get anything about Chinatown....I did however like the movie and thought Jack Nicholson was perfectly cast as a 1940s hard boiled detective. I'm not a huge Nicholson fan but he was well suited to the role.

I can't say the same for Faye Dunaway, she was lacking. She never really connected to her role or gave the film that needed oomph. I didn't find her dangerously sexy, or icy cold, or cunning or manipulative. I didn't have much of a reaction to her at all. She's not bad, but she's a pale femme fatale compared to the greats of past noirs.

What I loved most was the utter perfection in the set details. I looked in the corners of the scene, I checked behind the actors to see what was on the wall or in the cupboard. I watched with a peripheral vision as Nicholson drove his sleek convertible down the roads of southern California. And in all that snooping I never spotted anything that did not look like the 1940s to me. They got the period down pat.

What I really disliked was the rushed ending that felt like a writer's conceit, where everybody is on the same street corner at the same time...then someone says the cops are on the take. Really, there was no story line about the police covertly hindering Nicholson's investigation. The end scene was way too brief with little pathos and not much emotional pay off. John Huston's reaction to being shot almost made me laugh...and that made the ending of our femme fatale seem not all that import to me. Afterwards I read that the director Roman Polanski wrote the last scene.

It sounds like I hate Chinatown, well I don't.
rating_3_5

[Holden Pike]

I can't say the same for Faye Dunaway, she was lacking. She never really connected to her role or gave the film that needed oomph. I didn't find her dangerously sexy, or icy cold, or cunning or manipulative. I didn't have much of a reaction to her at all. She's not bad, but she's a pale femme fatale compared to the greats of past noirs.
Evelyn Mulwray is NOT a Femme Fatale. She wants to present a controlled, powerful, refined exterior, but Jake sees though it pretty quickly. He interprets her motives for those deceits to be self-serving, to hide a crime she has likely committed fueled by jealously or contempt, murdering her philandering husband. But of course the big reveal is that the crime she is hiding are her father's monstrous, unnatural acts against her, trying desperately to be strong and unflappable when in reality she is damaged and incessantly sad.

98829

That moment post-coitus in bed with Gittes, after she had allowed herself to be as vulnerable and she can manage and probably so rarely does, emotionally and physically naked, the way her entire body and soul recoils when she stutters, "You spoke with my father...?" is masterful acting. The weight of her trauma landing right back squarely on her shoulders, where it usually resides. The rightfully famous slapping scene of course gets a lot of attention and looms large in the collective memory, but Dunaway was magnificent in Chinatown.

Not all Noirs, Classic or Neo, have a Femme Fatale. It is not a prerequisite.


The 1974 crop of Best Actress nominees was very strong. Ellen Burstyn won for Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, and she was wondeful of course, and it probably should have gone to Gena Rowlands for Cassavetes' A Woman Under the Influence, but Dunaway was just as worthy for her work in Chinatown.

[ScarletLion]

Thanks for hosting. Good job.

My list

1. Le Samouraï (1967)
2. Thief (1981)
3. Memories of Murder (2003)
4. Dead Man's Shoes (2004)
5. Blood Simple (1984)
6. The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
7. Cure (1997)
8. Fireworks (1997)
9. Branded to Kill (1967)
10. Infernal Affairs (2002)
11. Breathless (1960)
12. The Wild Goose Lake (2019)
13. Caché (2005)
14. Fargo (1996)
15. A Prophet (2009)
16. A Bittersweet Life (2005)
17. Ash Is Purest White (2018)
18. Amores Perros (2000)
19. Animal Kingdom (2010)
20. Bad Timing (1980)
21. Humanité (1999)
22. Arlington Road (1999)
23. Brick (2006)
24. Nine Queens (2000)
25. Fallen Angels (1995)

[Citizen Rules]

One more: Blade Runner was #2 on the countdown, I'm just going to pretend it's the original theatrical cut;)

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZTZkMzIyMjItNmM3YS00MDgzLWI4YzMtMTBkYzA3YzkzN2I2XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjE5MzM3MjA@._V1_SX888_CR0,0,888 ,499_AL_.jpg
Blade Runner...Theatrical Cut (1982)

I really love this movie. I don't know if I love the story more or the look of it? Or maybe it's the brilliant music score. I know it's a film that makes me think and I've thought about this film a lot!...Any film that can capture my imagination and hold it, is special and Blade Runner is very special to me.

I've seen this before of course, many times, the last time I watched the Final Cut version of the film. But it's been 34 years since I've seen the original Theatrical Cut, that's the version that was released in theaters and the version I watched.

I swear Blade Runner gets better every time I watch it. This time around I realized just how beautifully Ridley Scott frames his compositions. The scene in the Tyrell corporation's office is perhaps my favorite, that's why I chose that photo. Seconds before that shot in the photo above, we see the reverse angle as Tyrell enters the room. There's this eerie light shimmer on the walls and the lighting is a warm gold, it just looks stunning. The decor is stunning too, with it's voluminous spaces and an Egyptian feel...which matches the pyramidal shape of the building. The film is filled with so many beautiful compositions...and the art designs is sublime.

If there's one thing that Ridley Scott excels at is, world building, he fills the movie from side to side and top to bottom with details...details upon details! The film is so three dimensional that it looks like you could enter the world of Blade Runner at any scene. Ridley's use of night shooting coupled with rain...lots of rain...and lots of smoke, gives the set texture and realism, that otherwise wouldn't be there. The man's a genius at getting the right look.

Then there's the haunting music score by Vangelis. It's heavy and dark when we're on the crowded urban streets, then like a lifting storm the music lightens as the spinner car lifts up into the sky. During Rachel's Voight-Kampff test, the score changes to a light tinkling bell sound. Later we have a mellow steamy saxophone score in Deckard's apartment setting the appropriate mood. The music score presents is powerful.

And what's not to like about a film noirish, existential, slow burn-sci fi film, with some graphic violence punctuating the dark night. The morals that the film explores, as it examines what it means to be human, is deep. So deep that the debate still rages over just what the film is saying. Like I said, it makes me ponder the story like no other film ever has.
rating_5

[Diehl40]

My Neo-Noir ballot


1. Lost Highway (1997)
2. Blade Runner (1982)
3. Inception (2010)
4. Angel Heart (1987)
5. The Dark Knight (2008)
6. Fargo (1996)
7. Cape Fear (1991)
8. Chinatown (1974)
9. Badlands (1973)
10. The Conversation (1974)
11. The French Connection (1971)
12. Blue Velvet (1986)
13. Mean Streets (1973)
14. To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)
15. The Departed (2006)
16. Ghost Dog : The Way of the Samurai (1999)
17. The Player (1992)
18. Memento (2000)
19. Mulholland Drive (2001)
20. Batman Begins (2005)
21. Wild at Heart (1990)
22. Minority Report (2002)
23. Insomnia (2002)
24. Taxi Driver (1976)
25. No Country for Old Men (2007)

[rauldc14]

Rauldc14's List

1. Mystic River (2003)
2. Gone Baby Gone (2007)
3. Se7en (1995)
4. L.A. Confidential (1997)
5. Collateral (2004)
6. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
7. No Country for Old Men (2007)
8. Taxi Driver (1976)
9. Jackie Brown (1997)
10. The Player (1992)
11. Chinatown (1974)
12. Fallen Angels (1995)
13. Inside Man (2006)
14. Fargo (1996)
15. The Dark Knight (2008)
16. Hell or High Water (2016)
17. Le Samouraï (1967)
18. Gone Girl (2014)
19. The Long Goodbye (1973)
20. Blood Simple (1984)
21. Heat (1995)
22. Memories of Murder (2003)
23. Sin City (2005)
24. Lost Highway (1997)
25. Drive (2011)

Looks like I missed 3.

[Sedai]

https://i.postimg.cc/rpKtL2vz/Neo-Ballot-Graphic.jpg

Props to Holden Pike for the cool ballot presentation idea. The man is always a step ahead of the curve. Two, even!

[Thief]

Evelyn Mulwray is NOT a Femme Fatale. She wants to present a controlled, powerful, refined exterior, but Jake sees though it pretty quickly. He interprets her motives for those deceits to be self-serving, to hide a crime she has likely committed fueled by jealously or contempt, murdering her philandering husband. But of course the big reveal is that the crime she is hiding are her father's monstrous, unnatural acts against her, trying desperately to be strong and unflappable when in reality she is damaged and incessantly sad.

98829

That moment post-coitus in bed with Gittes, after she had allowed herself to be as vulnerable and she can manage and probably so rarely does, emotionally and physically naked, the way her entire body and soul recoils when she stutters, "You spoke with my father...?" is masterful acting. The weight of her trauma landing right back squarely on her shoulders, where it usually resides. The rightfully famous slapping scene of course gets a lot of attention and looms large in the collective memory, but Dunaway was magnificent in Chinatown.

Not all Noirs, Classic or Neo, have a Femme Fatale. It is not a prerequisite.


The 1974 crop of Best Actress nominees was very strong. Ellen Burstyn won for Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, and she was wondeful of course, and it probably should have gone to Gena Rowlands for Cassavetes' A Woman Under the Influence, but Dunaway was just as worthy for her work in Chinatown.

Those subversions of the stereotypical expectations of the femme fatale are part of what distinguishes neo-noir from classic film noir. The same can be said, to a lesser extent maybe, about Lynn Bracken in L.A. Confidential.

[Holden Pike]

Those subversions of the stereotypical expectations of the femme fatale are part of what distinguishes neo-noir from classic film noir. The same can be said, to a lesser extent maybe, about Lynn Bracken in L.A. Confidential.
But Neo-Noir has plenty of full-blown Femme Fatales, too. Linda Fiorentino's Bridget Gregory (The Last Seduction), Kathleen Turner's Matty Walker (Body Heat), and Sharon Stone's Catherine Tramell (Basic Instinct) being three of the prime examples, mirroring their Classic Noir predecessors. But even Classic Noirs had female leads that were not Femme Fatales, like Gloria Grahame in In A Lonely Place, Gene Tierney as Laura, and Teresa Wright in Shadow of a Doubt. As I say, it is a variable, not a prerequisite. But yes, you are correct that both Chinatown and L.A. Confidential play against the archetype by having those characters presented as possible Femme Fatales when introduced, but ultimately proven to be something else by the end of the flicks.

[Fabulous]

My List

1. Taxi Driver (1976)
2. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
3. Dark City (1998)
4. Sin City (2005)
5. Body Heat (1981)
6. Alphaville (1965)
7. The Nice Guys (2016)
8. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
9. Shutter Island (2010)
10. Cape Fear (1962)
11. L.A. Confidential (1997)
12. Miller's Crossing (1990)
13. Chinatown (1974)
14. Klute (1971)
15. The Long Goodbye (1973)
16. Blood Simple (1984)
17. Shallow Grave (1994)
18. Blast of Silence (1961)
19. Brick (2006)
20. Jackie Brown (1997)
21. Drive (2011)
22. High and Low (1963)
23. The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973)
24. Blade Runner (1982)
25. Affliction (1997)

[Holden Pike]

I thought Taylor Hackford's Against All Odds, a reworking of Out of the Past, probably had the best shot of actually making it. Not because it is in the same class as the original, but because of a young, tan Jeff Bridges sweating it up with a stunning Rachel Ward in exotic locales, and frankly the enduring popularity of the Phil Collins song. Between the music video featuring highlights of the movie in heavy rotation on MTV and the flick itself playing seemingly non-stop on cable channels back in the day, I thought it may have imprinted on enough MoFo GenXers to boost it to the bottom of the list somewhere. Plus the original star Jane Greer has a cameo role as well as Noir legend Richard Widmark, tying it nicely to the spirit of the Classic Noirs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVjEcIANv1o
When I posted this a week ago I had no idea the Phil Collins hit would have a central and funny spotlight in The Fall Guy. :D

[Joel]

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF... THIEF

https://moremovies.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/thiefcov.jpg
RT – 80%, IMDb – 7.4


Roger Ebert said:



The Guardian said:



Joel said:

Thanks, bro. I used to have brains. It was surreal looking at my review. Didn't recognize myself. Thank you for reminding me about my good taste and observations about movies. Damn. LOL!

[Daniel M]

I believe I've seen 80/100 of these, a lot of my choices would have made the list and Chinatown would have been my number one. So all in all, good stuff.

[Frightened Inmate No. 2]

my list:
1. Pulp Fiction (1994)
2. Mulholland Drive (2001)
3. No Country for Old Men (2007)
4. Se7en (1995)
5. The Long Goodbye (1973)
6. The Conversation (1974)
7. Le Samouraï (1967)
8. Chinatown (1974)
9. Manhunter (1986)
10. Jackie Brown (1997)
11. Killer Joe (2011)
12. Zodiac (2007)
13. Drive (2011)
14. Memento (2000)
15. Gone Girl (2014)
16. Collateral (2004)
17. Ms. 45 (1981)
18. Shoot the Piano Player (1960)
19. The Big Lebowski (1998)
20. Bound (1996)
21. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)
22. In Cold Blood (1967)
23. Minority Report (2002)
24. Thief (1981)
25. Blood Simple (1984)

[iluv2viddyfilms]

I didn't make a list for this countdown, because at the time, I had a lot of other things going on and routed most of my focus to get in my Film Noir list for the classic films. That being said, I found a preliminary list of films I was jotting down... unranked and I think many of them made this list.

Breathless (1960)
Chinatown
Mulholland Drive
The Long Goodbye
Angel Heart
Drive
Point Blank
Memento
L.A. Confidential
Blow Up
Night Moves
Kalifornia
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Blood Simple
Blade Runner
Se7en

If I were to rank a top five, I'd probably go with...

1. Breathless (1960)
2. Chinatown
3. Blade Runner
4. Mulholland Drive
5. Blow Up

[edarsenal]

And my disgustingly late voting list for this excellent Countdown and my sincere gratitude and joy for Thief as its host. BRAVO!!!!

Seen 63 out of 100 (63%)
https://i.makeagif.com/media/3-23-2016/UG_ECZ.gif
1. Fargo (1996) #11
https://media3.giphy.com/media/13mIDsq0wgUcve/source.gif
15. L. A. Confidential (1997) #3
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3. Angel Heart (1987) #31
https://i.gifer.com/9gQf.gif
4. Memento (2000) #8
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5. Le Samouraï (1967) #7
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6. The Grifters (1990) #45
https://media.tenor.com/5oGaeRc5-dEAAAAC/jack-nickleson-chinatown.gif
7. Chinatown (1974) #1
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8. Mystic River (2003) #68
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9. Reservoir Dogs (1992) #16
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10. The Usual Suspects (1995) #20
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11. Payback (1999) #102
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12. Se7en (1995) #6
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13. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) #42
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14. Mother (2009) #67
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15. The Long Goodbye (1973) #6
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16. Romeo is Bleeding (1993) In The Ether
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17. Lucky Number Slevin (2006) In The Ether
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18. Sin City (2005) #26
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19. Nightmare Alley (2021) In The Ether
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20. The Nice Guys (2016) #39
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21. Inherent Vice (2014) #41
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22. Dark City (1998) #24
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23. Collateral (2004) #33
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24.Basic Instinct (1992) #70
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25. Things to do in Denver When You're Dead (1995) One-Pointer

[edarsenal]

The video below is nothing but spoilers, so definitely save it for until after your viewing (and anybody else who hasn't had the pleasure, yet), but The Last Seduction is a fantastic flick. Really and truly the only reason I didn't vote for it was because I figured it was absolutely going to show, probably as high as the Top Thirty and wouldn't have shocked me to see Top Twelve, and therefore did not need my help. I badly miscalculated on that one, obviously. Apparently MoFo - the MoFos who vote, anyway - prefers John Dahl's previous entry Red Rock West. Preferences are preferences, but empirically, critically, and according to Mr. Noir Eddie Muller himself, The Last Seduction is the superior film. And it isn't even close. It is one of the biggest and most embarrassing omissions from our collective MoFo List.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgeCjHQ8MR8

I did the exact same thing.
It's been some twenty years since I last witnessed Linda Fiorentino's captivating, ruthless, and cunning portrayal. Before that, I had seen it numerous times, including at the movie theater when it came out. I wanted to rewatch it before the voting, but it did not happen. Hell, watching the video, I'm kicking myself that I didn't simply YouTube something like this prior, and it'd have easily made mid-pack or higher.

So I wholeheartedly agree with your closing statement, and that I added to this omission does not f@ckin bode well with me.
https://media.tenor.com/KfhYflzpRxIAAAAC/tenor.gif

[edarsenal]

We can do musicals next time.

https://i.gifer.com/7Ki.gif

While I am hyped for it, THIS is F@CKIN hilarious!!

[Holden Pike]

I did notice the Neo-Noir and Noir lists are now up in the Lists section of the site.

https://www.movieforums.com/lists/movie_forums_top_neo-noir_films/

There were only ten titles I hadn't already checked off, for Neo.

[Robert the List]

Mine if of interest:

Honourable mentions
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Shutter Island
Manhunter
Branded to Kill
True Romance
Alphaville
Drive

Top 10
10. Body Heat
9. Nightcrawler
8. Seven
7. Chinatown
6. Taxi Driver
5. The Player
4. Blue Velvet
3. L.A. Confidential
2. Mulholland Drive
1. Blade Runner

[John-Connor]

You've watched 87 of 100 films (87%) on this list.

[Holden Pike]

Gene Hackman is gone, but his legacy survives. Just got my pre-ordered copy of the Criterion Collection edition of Night Moves (#40). Diving into the supplements, now.

106415
106416

[iluv2viddyfilms]

Digging the Hamlet and Jules and Jim posters.

Now put down the Criterion disc, logoff MoFo, get back to work, and stop giving remote workers a bad name!

And yes, Night Moves is great.

[Holden Pike]

Digging the Hamlet and Jules and Jim posters.
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Thread about MoFo posters HERE (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2259994#post2259994).