The MoFo Top 100 Neo-noir Countdown

Reservoir Dogs didn't make my ballot since it didn't pop up on any of the sites I frequent as neo noir when I assembled it, but I would've included it if I known it was eligible.

Miller's Crossing, on the other hand, was #6 on my ballot.

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6. Miller's Crossing
7. The Big Lebowski
8. Pulp Fiction
10. Le Circle Rouge
17. The Silence of the Lambs
18. Blow Out
22. Point Blank
23. Alphaville

Miller's Crossing and Reservoir Dogs are both very good films.

"Crossing" is a gripping picture with phenomenal acting. I have it at #25 on my neo-noir list.

Despite Tarantino's homage to The Killing (1956), I don't think of "Reservoir" as a noir, but more so a heist crime film. There's plenty of interesting back story material on the shoot, especially the fight between veteran badass Lawrence Tierney and Tarantino. https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/quentin...rence-tierney/ It didn't make my neo-noir list.

Miller's Crossing was #5 on my ballot. I think any contemplation I had of leaving retro-noirs off of a neo-noir ballot got erased when this one came into play.

Reservoir Dogs - It's actually pretty wild to think how long it's been since I've watched this movie. I have no idea what I'd think of it today. Probably, "it's perfectly fine." I do not have a Quentin Tarantino film on my ballot. I do have a movie starring Harvey Keitel on my ballot (seems unlikely to make it), a movie with Steve Buscemi on my ballot (likely to make it), no movie with Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, or Chris Penn though.

Like Holden, Miller's Crossing is my No.1 Coen Bros. movies.
It has been since I first saw it (in the wake of Blood Simple, my first, and Raising Arizona, my second, which I saw in the theater). And it still is.

no votes. as soon as jackie brown hit the list, i knew reservoir dogs couldn't be far behind (ahead? whatever) as it does have the most in common with classic noir out of all of tarantino's films. there was a time where i would've called it my favourite of his, but it's definitely slipped in my estimation over the years - i still really like it, but clearly not enough to vote for it. i'm more surprised that i didn't vote for miller's crossing - in a filmography defined largely by subversion and comedy, the coens doing a straightforward gangster thriller is a relative anomaly but they really throw their all into making the best possible version of such a film.

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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0

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Neo-noir Movies Picture Click Quiz II

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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

13/15 2:18

Not bad considering I've only seen 7 of them.

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As for the Coens in general, A Serious Man is my favorite of their films.

Here's a few from my ballot...

18. Jackie Brown - I guess Jackie Brown is one of my least favourite Quentin Tarantino movies, but it's still a great movie nevertheless. A friend of mine gave me the novel Rum Punch - and considering who that friend is I really ought to read the novel, because he only does that when it's something I really should read or watch. Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster, Bridget Fonda, Michael Keaton and Robert De Niro - they all bring their A-game, and of course they do. People were expecting big things after Pulp Fiction - but how on earth do you follow up that movie? Anyway, in retrospect it's a better movie than people gave it credit for. Didn't make my ballot though.

17. Blow Out - Classic, atmospheric and a last blast that echoes the paranoia of the 1970s - also an interesting film to compare with 1966 Michelangelo Antonioni film Blow-Up. John Travolta actually had a role here that tested him, and he passed with flying colours. Nancy Allen should have been a much bigger star, and I find it hard to express how much I love John Lithgow. I have Blow Out on Criterion, but it's been quite a long time since I last watched it. Regardless, it's one of my favourite films, and simply too good to miss out on a spot on my ballot. I had it at #22.

16. Reservoir Dogs - I love this film. I know, it's excruciatingly violent - but it's so well-written, and fearlessly so. Tarantino bulldozes over his own mistakes with a confidence I've never seen in a debut. The blood, the Rat Pack-like style, the nastiness and the brilliant idea to make this about the aftermath of a heist instead of the heist itself. The flash-back styled narrative, the performances and the visual style here just explodes off the screen - this was something completely new when it came out. Reservoir Dogs shakes you in your seat. It assaults you, and wastes no time letting you know that the characters in this film are nasty, terrible, awful people - murderous hounds, with their "cool" veneer a disguise. This film still electrifies me after all these years. I had it at #2.

15. Miller's Crossing - The Coen Bros Miller's Crossing showcased the visual power they had like no film before it. It's jaw-dropping inasmuch as it crosses over into the kind of style that requires a genius level of filmmaking nous. This is pure neo-noir, and Gabriel Byrne's greatest moment as an actor - but he's well backed up by Albert Finney, John Turturro, Marcia Gay Harden and Jon Polito. The plot is complex, layered and large in scope. The score is also magnificent. A very stylish masterpiece, with a dozen or so memorable scenes. Simply beautiful. I had it at #6 on my ballot.

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Seen : 61/86
I'd never even heard of : 9/86
Movies that had been on my radar, but I haven't seen yet : 16/86
Films from my list : 11

#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)

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15/15! But I couldn't beat Holden's time of 3:41, I had 2:44 left.

13/15

15 of 15 3:11

Full disclosure: If I would have had to type in the answers instead of being able to click when it asked me a title, I would have been 13/15, as I didn't know either The Late Show or Croupier, and I totally guessed on those and just happened to guess correctly.

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Predictions for the Top 14:

Blade Runner
Blood Simple
Blue Velvet
Chinatown
Drive
Fargo
Le Samouraï
L.A. Confidential
The Long Goodbye
Memento
Mulholland Drive
No Country for Old Men
SE7EN
Taxi Driver

long shots:

The Conformist
Prisoners

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Six-for-six, so far, from my Top Twenty prediction. I've got Léon: The Professional tagged rather than No Country for Old Men, but we shall see. Very soon.

80% on that quiz.

100%! I struggled a bit in the other quizzes, but take a look at me now!

You guys broke that quizz! Take a look if you don't believe me