The MoFo Top Neo-noir Countdown - Preliminary Thread

I don’t have an opinion on DT being neo noir but I will say this.
Thai is how we got Rambo in the war countdown 👀

Without looking, I'm trying to guess which of the Coen brothers movies are probably classified as neo-noir.


Blood Simple
Miller's Crossing
Barton Fink
The Man Who Wasn't There


I'm going to guess No Country gets labeled a neo-western and, well, I'm less certain about Hail Caesar!, but I'm also guessing "no" there as well (though seeing MD labeled neo-noir, I can't rule out either being classified as such).
/will check... at some point. I'm feeling lazy right now.

ETA: thinking about it, I won't be surprised if The Big Lebowski gets labeled neo-noir.
Reminder to self, I did like Inherent Vice.

I won't be voting for Le Samourai, but I wonder how high it'll get?

Not high enough.

Some strong contenders for my ballot. Not sure if I got a strong neo noir vibe from Barton Fink, but I think highly of the movie.

Probably between #51-#65. It has enough fans to get it plenty of votes but there’s a few of us who aren’t as big a fan.

Same here. It's been a while, though, since I saw it, but as far as I remember, Barton Fink checks off several boxes first (surreal, psychological, dark comedy) before hitting neo-noir, if at all. Some of the others are locks on my ballot, but not this one.

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Just wanted to apologize for the lack of updates, posts, etc. but I've had a pretty hectic week. As I've said in this thread and other threads, we just moved two weeks ago and we're still getting the house up to shape. I took last week off from work on "vacation", and ironically, it has been non-stop work all around the house and outside, mixed with Holiday stuff. Things might be settling in a bit this week, so expect more neo-noirish stuff soon. Thanks for understanding!

I'm starting to get my list together for this. Any must-sees or recommendations, especially for less obvious films? I've looked at the lists linked already and got a watchlist but would be interested in some more personal recs, something you really loved that you want to see make the countdown.

I haven't begun to get my neo noir list together but these films are in the running for my ballot.
*I haven't checked eligibility for all of these.

Alphaville (1965)
Blade Runner (1982)
Blood Simple (1984)
Blow-Up (1966)
Blue Ruin (2013)
Body Heat (1981)
Bonnie and Clyde 1967
Dark City (1998)
Gone Girl (2014)
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
L.A. Confidential (1997)
L'Avventura (1960)
Le Samouraï (1967)
Miller's Crossing (1990)
Minority Report (2002)
Mulholland Drive (2001)
Road to Perdition (2002)
Seconds (1966)
The Hole (1960)
The Hustler (1961)
The Long Goodbye (1973)
The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
The Naked Kiss (1964)

A few of these are on my list


I think the only one I haven't seen is The Naked Kiss so I'll check that one out.

The Naked Kiss is really good and will probably make my list. I'll see if I can share some other recs later.

I don't know if this was suggested earlier in the pages but it will be good, somewhere here to be listed the notable titles in the scope that not meet the rules of the countdown.

Not eligible:

Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
The Driver (1978)
Wild at Heart (1990)
Fargo (1996)
Drive (2011)
...

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"Population don't imitate art, population imitate bad television." W.A.
"You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." M.T.

Based on the rules of eligibility, the only one of those that's NOT eligible is Bonnie and Clyde. All the others would qualify. However, I'd like to remind everyone that the eligibility guidelines are just that; a guideline to create some sort of "tangible" boundary.

More important than that, I refer everyone to all the frequent exchanges and posts that have been posted here by me or Holden where we argue about the rationale of constructing one's ballot, and what to include.

Personally, something like Drive is very much neo-noir. Fargo? Ehh, not so much although the Coens do like to check a lot of boxes as far as the overall genre, tone, and vibe of their films go. Bonnie and Clyde? Not at all, but again, that's just me.

I just kickstarted a Neo-Noir Hall of Fame for anybody that wants to get their hands dirty with this sub-genre before the countdown.

I feel, I'm at this position now.

Watched this one yesterday. It was kind of off-kilter in ways I wasn't expecting but I liked that about it. Definitely a contender for my ballot!

Glad you watched it...The Naked Kiss has one helluva opening!

To update those that will be participating in this countdown, remember that we've been doing a couple of things to keep people engaged and thinking about neo-noirs.

First, I started the Neo-noir Scavenge Hunt a good while ago. Managed to post 4 "cases" for people to figure out. I've been meaning to update it cause the holidays and other issues kinda threw me off of it, but all 4 "cases" are still open for anyone to guess. There really wasn't much activity with that, but I'm sure that anyone that has seen the films in question can solve the "cases", so give it a try.

Second, we just started the Neo-Noir Hall of Fame, which gives you a chance to catch up with a couple of neo-noirs recommended by MoFo themselves. We just revealed the nominees, so there's still a window to jump in if you want. That window will close soon, though, so check out the nominations and make up your mind!

On that same vein, Citizen is hosting a second Film Noir Hall of Fame for the Film Noir countdown, so that's another thing worth checking out.

Ballot submitted.