The MoFo Top 100 Neo-noir Countdown

Seen and liked both, but neither made my ballot.

Seen: 49/62

My #3 The Nice Guys (2016), didn't expect to see it this high.

The Nice Guys was #70 on the MoFo Top 100 Comedies List.

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

While I don't love The Nice Guys the way many on this forum do, I think it's a really solid piece of entertainment. It certainly helps that I'm a big fan of Russell Crowe anyway, but he and Ryan Gosling have absolutely superb chemistry in this and it makes for a really fun ride. Incidentally, this isn't the only entry on my ballot for either actor and I voted for it at #13.

Here's what I wrote when I rewatched it for 2010s Countdown:


My Ballot:
2. You Were Never Really Here (#50)
3. The Man From Nowhere (#87)
4. The Departed (#53)
7. True Romance (#60)
12. Shutter Island (#86)
13. The Nice Guys (#39)
14. Inherent Vice (#41)
17. Killer Joe (2011) (#66)

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3
Michael Caine (Mona Lisa, The Dark Knight, Get Carter)
Dennis Hopper (The American Friend, Red Rock West, True Romance)

2
Robin Wright (Blade Runner 2049, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
Melanie Griffith (Night Moves, Body Double)
Patricia Arquette (True Romance, Lost Highway)
Gina Gershon (Bound, Killer Joe)
Bill Paxton (A Simple Plan, One False Move)
Billy Bob Thornton (A Simple Plan, One False Move)
Brad Pitt (True Romance, Thelma & Louise)
Dean Stockwell (To Live and Die in L.A., The Player)
Eric Roberts (The Dark Knight, Inherent Vice)
Gene Hackman (The French Connection, Night Moves)
Gary Oldman (True Romance, The Dark Knight)
Jeremy Piven (The Grifters, The Player)
J.T. Walsh (The Grifters, Red Rock West)
Joaquin Phoenix (Inherent Vice, You Were Never Really Here)
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Departed, Shutter Island)
Matt Damon (The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Departed)
Michael K. Williams (Gone Baby Gone, Inherent Vice)
Michelle Monaghan (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Gone Baby Gone)
Roy Scheider (The French Connection, Klute)
Robert Mitchum (The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Cape Fear)
Ryan Gosling (The Nice Guys, Blade Runner 2049)
Ted Levine (The Silence of the Lambs, Shutter Island)
Tim Robbins (The Player, Mystic River)
Tom Sizemore (Strange Days, True Romance)
Vincent D'Onofrio (The Player, Strange Days)
Wayne Knight (Basic Instinct, Dead Again)
William Fichtner (The Dark Knight, Strange Days)
William Petersen (To Live and Die in LA, Manhunter)
Won Bin (The Man from Nowhere, Mother)

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Haven't seen either film.

I haven't seen either of today's reveals. Night Moves sounds like something I might dig.

Buddy cop films have been a big thing in Hollywood primarily since the 80's. Since then, films like Lethal Weapon, 48 Hrs, Rush Hour, Tango & Cash, and The Last Boy Scout (to name a few) have sought to find the perfect balance between action and violence with good-natured humor and comedy. Although the results might vary and times have changed, if there's one thing that's important in these type of films is the chemistry between the "buddies" and the naturality of their dialogue. That's where Shane Black, director and/or writer of some of the above, flourishes.

Set in 1977, The Nice Guys follows Holland March (Ryan Gosling), a bumbling-yet-clever private investigator, and Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe), a tough-yet-well-meaning enforcer, as they get together to investigate the murder of a porn actress, also with the help of March's 13-year-old daughter, Holly (Angourie Rice). Their investigation leads them into the seedy world of the porn business and political corruption of Los Angeles.

The film has so many things in its favor that I don't know where to start. Both Gosling and Crowe are perfect in their roles, exuding equal parts of charm and insanity. Their chemistry is excellent, and they play so well off each other that you just want to see more of this pairing. Rice is a revelation as March's daughter. Her performance is effortless and confident. Black's dialogue is witty, fast-paced, and edgy, and his direction manages to find that perfect balance I spoke of in my first paragraph between great, violent action and good natured humor. And even though he doesn't bask in it for too long, there are hints of more serious undertones in both March and Healy's characters that add layers to the film.

All in all, The Nice Guys is a perfect example of a sub-genre that I thought was more or less dead. It's a pleasant watch that's both funny, charming, and thrilling, and probably the best action/comedy I've seen in a long time. I don't want to jinx things and ask for a sequel, but I really would love to see a sequel. That wouldn't hurt, right?

Grade:

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This is another one that, objectively, should be in the canon of the top dozen Neo Noirs of all time…and we have it at number forty. Oy.



Arthur Penn’s Night Moves perfectly deconstructs the private detective genre for a more modern and uncertain age. Gene Hackman’s Harry Moseby is a former football player turned gumshoe, but as he is goaded at one point by his wife’s boyfriend, he is no mythic Sam Spade figure. In the Watergate era he can find a missing person, but uncovering the true motives and conspiracies around him are existential dead ends. As far as the detective plot goes, a faded minor Hollywood starlet (Janet Ward) hires him to find her wayward teenage daughter Delly (Melanie Griffith). She’s not really worried about her, but she is living off of her trust fund and needs her to be home to get the full benefit of that wealth. Moseby searches around the edges of the film business, mechanics and stunt men, until the trail leads to the Florida Keys and Delly’s stepfather (John Crawford) and his current girlfriend (Jennifer Warren). Delly is there, but then Harry becomes embroiled in some kind of smuggling operation. In the end, Harry isn’t as bright as he thinks he is. None of us are.



A fantastic, funky, unsettling tone and another top tier Hackman performance make Night Moves more of a fever dream than a puzzle to be solved. I had it all the way up at number four on my ballot, good for twenty-two of its one-hundred points. That makes ten of mine, plus my one-pointer.


HOLDEN'S BALLOT
4. Night Moves (#40)
7. The Grifters (#45)
8. One False Move (#73)
9. Blast of Silence (#48)
12. To Live & Die in L.A. (#43)
13. The Naked Kiss (#51)
15. Shallow Grave (#95)
17. Dead Again (#90)
22. The Hot Spot (#85)
24. Blue Ruin (#82)
25. Johnny Handsome (DNP)

Nice Guys neo noir? Would never have even entertained the thought of it being anything other than a comedy.

Night Moves is good. But I couldn't stop thinking about the scene in the middle that is identical to 'Jaws'. There must be a reason for it but it's not homage as they were released within weeks of each other:

Those GIFs are from three different scenes, so I don't know what you mean about the middle of the movie or identical? That first shot has a similar angle, yes, but how many ways are there to shoot a small boat? Searching for something at night from a boat....OK. And dropping a marker versus a gigantic shark impossibly pulling them along at high speeds?

Vaguely similar, sure. "Identical"? No way.

Thanks for the great write-up, as usual! I think that we can assume that this is more a matter of exposure than quality. The best thing is that we're putting the spotlight on it, and hopefully more people (me included!) will catch up with it now.

The only film I've seen of the last 4 was KKBB, a film I was so up for before release and fell completely flat for me. I found it a huge disappointment.

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WHAT DID YOU THINK OF... NIGHT MOVES


Roger Ebert said:

Jonathan Murray, from Cineaste, said:

@Takoma11 said:

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF... THE NICE GUYS


Brian Tallerico, from RogerEbert.com, said:

David M. Higgins II, from The Southern Maryland Chronicle, said:

@Iroquois said:

I realise they are from different scenes. I just find it a coincidence that they look so similar and were released within weeks. I think they are way more similar than 'vaguely similar'.

If you show more than two seconds of them via a GIF, no, they are not. Vaguely similar is accurate.

ok man, chillout.

Night moves is as neo noir as it comes and I like the film, the performances, the style, and how it approached the genre, I didn't quite like it enough to include on my list. As good as The Nice Guys is I don't feel that it fits the genre. But I guess I'm wrong. Wikipedia does say "neo noir" in the first sentence. Which one of you edited that? Heh.

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AWARDS?


Night Moves received the following nominations:

• One (1) BAFTA Film Award nomination for Best Actor (Gene Hackman)
• One (1) New York Film Critics Circle Award nomination for Best Actor (Hackman)