The MoFo Top 100 Neo-noir Countdown

he/him

03-11-24

I remember I kept hearing the title La Haine a lot, but wouldn't have been able to tell you what it was about (granted, some of that also comes from hearing the title Le Havre a lot when it came around on the film festival circuit back in the 2010s, and the titles/names sound pretty similar, so I'd have to periodically check to make sure I knew which one people were referring to. Le Havre is another movie I wouldn't be able to tell you anything about, but I'm also quite certain is a very different genre of film).

I don't think I've heard of Dead Again, which, I guess if it came out a few years later, I probably would have just due to my age at the time, but can't say for certain. The plot description did make me think of Angelheart, but that's a completely different movie.

ScarletLion

Wales, Europe

03-11-24

Le Havre is very good too, if you mean the Kaurismaki film.

Thief

Master of None

03-11-24

Like Shallow Grave, La Haine was one of the entries on our Neo-noir Hall of Fame, where it did fairly well. You can check multiple reviews of it here.

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Little Ash

he/him

03-11-24

Originally Posted by ScarletLion

Le Havre is very good too, if you mean the Kaurismaki film.

*Checks* I do.

For me, the movie's existence was just one of those, "showed at a film festival, heard other people penciling it in as one of the films they wanted to see, never did the legwork beyond reading the one sentence synopsis at the time, so I really just know the movie by name, movies, but couldn't tell you anything about it other than, 'people said it's good.'"
I think Kaurismaki kind of existed in that space generally for me as well. I *did* actually watch Fallen Leaves this year. Which, thinking about it, if it hasn't shown up on Mubi for streaming, that also would have also fallen into the category of, "recognize this title because it's showing up on a lot of year end top ten lists, but for the life of me, wouldn't be able to recall the premise."

Funny how certain films do that.

Little Ash

he/him

03-11-24

I can't recall if I weighed in on Shallow Grave and Talented Mr. Ripley.

Shallow Grave - I think I thought of that as more of a dark comedy, partly because of my mentality when it came out. Granted, I also have dark comedies on my ballot, so that sure isn't mutually exclusive.

Talented Mr. Ripley - This one didn't cross my mind, but I guess it is a noir in the tradition of something like In a Lonely Place, isn't it? Probably still wouldn't have made my ballot because, despite remembering really liking it and meaning to return to it again, I haven't actually done so since it came out.

Thief

Master of None

03-11-24

Isn't it interesting that every entry so far has been on either 2 or 3 ballots, except for our #100 which was on 5 ballots? Lot of love for The Friends of Eddie Coyle, but nobody put it above 11, while the other 11 entries all had Top 10 placement in at least one ballot.

Sedai

A system of cells interlinked

03-11-24

6/12 seen. You know...I just went and spaced out Dead Again completely. Should have been on my list! I've not seen La Haine.

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03-11-24

3lists41points

Red Rock West

Director

John Dahl, 1993

Starring

Nicolas Cage, Dennis Hopper, Lara Flynn Boyle, J.T. Walsh

03-11-24

3lists42points

The Man from Nowhere

Director

Lee Jeong-beom, 2010

Starring

Won Bin, Kim Sae-ron, Kim Tae-hun, Kim Hee-won

Thief

Master of None

03-11-24

TRAILERS

Red Rock West - A drifter desperately looking for a job in rural Wyoming finds himself in the middle of a misunderstanding when a bar owner mistakes him for a hitman he hired to murder his wife. But when the actual hitman arrives, complications ensue.

The Man from Nowhere - A quiet pawnshop keeper with a tragically violent past finds himself in the crossfire between two rival gangs fighting for the organ harvesting market after his only friend, a 10-year old girl, is kidnapped.

Thief

Master of None

03-11-24

Originally Posted by Thief

Like Shallow Grave, La Haine was one of the entries on our Neo-noir Hall of Fame, where it did fairly well. You can check multiple reviews of it here.

Speaking of our recent Neo-noir Hall of Fame, Red Rock West was my pick for it. Pretty cool film (you can read my review here) that barely squeaked into my ballot.

As for The Man from Nowhere, I'm a huge fan but I really didn't see it as neo-noir, so it never occurred to me to vote for it. Still, it's a kick-ass action film (you can read my review here)

Miss Vicky

MoFo's Resident Bitch

03-11-24

I first watched The Man From Nowhere for the 12th MoFo Hall of Fame. I knew nothing about it going in and was blown away. It ended up being disqualified, but it stuck with me and I have since bought the bluray and watched it a few more times. If I ever redo my personal top 100, it'll definitely make the cut. I voted for it at #3.

Originally Posted by Miss Vicky

The Man From Nowhere (Ajeossi) (Jeong-beom Lee, 2010)
Imdb

Date Watched: 01/24/17
Cinema or Home: Home
Reason For Watching: 12th Hall of Fame, RoyalWitCheese's nomination
Rewatch: No

I went into this movie completely blind. I did zero research and read none of the write-ups from the other HOF participants. And honestly I had kind of put it off because I just wasn't in the mood for reading subtitles.

But holy crap. This is the kind of movie watching experience that I hope for when I sign up for a hall of fame. And yet, it's not what I typically expect to see. This is no arthouse picture and there's no real deep meaning to it. What the film does offer though is an onslaught of action coupled with a really interesting story and some great characters.

I LOVED Cha Tae-sik. His combination of sex appeal, badassery, and sweetness was fantastic and an absolute joy to watch. But the bad guys were pretty cool, too. Though cooler still was the way they got their comeuppance - especially Jong-seok, the pretty boy brother of the main villain.

All in all, a great piece of entertainment and something I'll probably watch again.

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Allaby

Guy who likes movies

03-11-24

I liked The Man From Nowhere, but it didn't make my ballot. I haven't seen Red Rock West.

Seen: 10/14

Holden Pike

One Ornery Sumbitch

03-11-24

The Man from Nowhere was at the bottom of the MoFo Top 100 of the 2010s at #95.

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CosmicRunaway

Winner by Default

03-11-24

It's a little funny that we got back-to-back days featuring films that were disqualified from Hall of Fames! Like Miss Vicky, I saw Man from Nowhere when it was nominated in the 12th HoF, and absolutely loved it. I didn't rewatch it for the Countdown, but when I saw it on a list of neo-noirs online, I checked its eligibility, looked at my review of it, saw the header image I chose, and said "yes, this gives me neo-noir vibes", then put it straight on my shortlist haha.

Originally Posted by CosmicRunaway

The Man From Nowhere/아저씨 (2010)
Dir. Lee Jeong-beom
Starring: Won Bin, Kim Sae-ron, Kim Sung-oh

Does the whole film look like that? No, of course not. But the aesthetic is there, and to me neo-noir is more of a vibe rather than something I can articulately define, so I was confident including it on my list. I placed it quite high at #10.

Seen: 7/14

My List:
10. The Man from Nowhere (2010) - #87
15. Infernal Affairs (2002) - #91
25. The Chaser (2008) - DNP 1-pointer

It might not look like it right now, but there are English-language films on my ballot, I promise haha.

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Holden Pike

One Ornery Sumbitch

03-11-24

Red Rock West is OK, I just rewatched it for the recent Hall of Fame. Unfortunately for its legacy it was released during a bit of a Neo Noir Renaissance in the early 1990s, and frankly it just plain isn't as good as the gems that were coming out around it, many of which will hopefully make the countdown higher up, including John Dahl's own follow up The Last Seduction. Not a bad movie, just not a particularly great one, even in genre terms.

And as good as The Man from Nowhere is, it is another that didn't click anywhere near enough Noir boxes for me to even consider it for my ballot. I shudder to think how many more action movies are coming, but we shall see.

Last edited by Holden Pike; 03-12-24 at 10:41 AM.

Thief

Master of None

03-11-24

Originally Posted by Holden Pike

And as good as The Man from Nowhere is, it is another that didn't click anywhere near enough Noir boxes for me to even consider it for my ballot. I shudder to think how many more action movies are coming, but we shall see.

Thief

Master of None

03-11-24

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF... RED ROCK WEST

RT � 98%, IMDb � 7.0

Roger Ebert said:

"Red Rock West is a diabolical movie that exists sneakily between a western and a thriller, between a film noir and a black comedy." (read full review here)

Stephen Bjork from The Digital Bits said:

"Red Rock West works best if you think of it as a noir tone poem and don�t worry about the details that may or may not add up. Viewed from that angle, it�s an effective little thriller." (read full review here)

@Torgo said:

"While I like the movie, I wish I could agree with those who say it's an unheralded masterpiece, hidden gem, etc. For one, as strong as the cast may be, nobody can make up for the average character being pretty shallow [...] Again, the movie tells a good story with good surprises, but each of them only has a surface-level impact as a result." (read full review here)

Thief