Modern Film Noir List

Matchstick_man · August 31, 2005, 11:04am

Basic Instinct (Vertigo meets Double Indemnity)
Panic
Red Rock West
A Simple Plan
Fargo
The Usual Suspects
Strange Days
Se7en
Heat
The Usual Suspects
Face Off
LA Confidential
U-Turn
One False Move
A Simple Plan

This is a list of some I’ve seen. Any recommendations and or comments?

Well?

M0NSTER · August 31, 2005, 11:11am

It’s been awhile since I’ve seen most of those movies.

Heat - well put together and one of the first in a slew of heist films.

Strange Days - Intereting concept. Enjoyed it.

The Usual Suspects - Vaguely remember it but it does stand out in my mind.

Se7en - Was an amazing film. Enjoyed how they pointed out human nature. Puts a dark twist for everyone to see. The feeling of the film gave you the creeps.

These films were to me at least, the only ones worth mentioning.

M0NSTER · August 31, 2005, 11:12am

Limewire will be working overtime for the next few days. HA.

kolibri · September 1, 2005, 2:30am

dark city: shocking end…

how bout tim burton’s batman and memento? noir egalement?

Bu_Lai_En · September 1, 2005, 3:38am

I wouldn’t call all of those film noir.

Conceptually film noir has a mode of cynical pessimism and grittiness. Stylistically it is filmed with high contrast, dark (or blue) filters, and often rain.

I wouldn’t call films like Basic Instinct and FaceOff noir. They lack the stylistic aspects.

As for the list itself, I’ve seen most of them and they’re mostly good movies. I recommend:

Red Rock West
Fargo
The Usual Suspects
Strange Days
Se7en
The Usual Suspects
LA Confidential

Matchstick_man · September 1, 2005, 4:49pm

I called Basic Instinct film noir for a couple of reasons. The films it is obviously influenced by and then this taken from

filmsite.org

The earliest film noirs were detective thrillers, with plots and themes often taken from adaptations of literary works - preferably from best-selling, hard-boiled, pulp novels and crime fiction by Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain, Dashiell Hammett, or Cornell Woolrich. Very often, a film noir story was developed around a cynical, hard-hearted, disillusioned male character [e.g., Robert Mitchum, Fred MacMurray, or Humphrey Bogart] who encountered a beautiful but promiscuous, amoral, double-dealing and seductive femme fatale [e.g., Mary Astor, Veronica Lake, Jane Greer, Barbara Stanwyck, or Lana Turner]. She would use her feminine wiles and come-hither sexuality to manipulate him into becoming the fall guy - often following a murder. After a betrayal or double-cross, she was frequently destroyed as well, often at the cost of the hero’s life. As women during the war period were given new-found independence and better job-earning power in the homeland during the war, they would suffer – on the screen – in these films of the 40s.

Sharon Stone’s character definitely fit into that typecast.

I wouldn’t consider The Crow film noir though stylistically it fits the descriptions Bu Lai En has given. The line from The Crow I remember best is “It can’t rain all the time.”

Tetsuo · September 1, 2005, 4:55pm

Come on people - Sin City.

bob · September 1, 2005, 5:01pm

I agree. Sin City is film noir with a modern twist. The usual supects was a bore no matter the genre.

Matchstick_man · September 1, 2005, 5:04pm

[quote=“bob”]I agree. Sin City is film noir with a modern twist. The usual supects was a bore no matter the genre.[/quote]Wow. I’m not alone with my opinion of the usual suspects.

There’s a couple of different versions of Sin City on DVD coming out. I wonder if Taiwan will get them all.

bob · September 1, 2005, 5:11pm

Anywho that is one flick you gotta see on the big screen!

To appreciate it’s full comedic impact like hick*

Matchstick_man · September 1, 2005, 5:15pm

[quote=“bob”]Anywho that is one flick you gotta see on the big screen!

To appreciate it’s full comedic impact like hick*[/quote]Yep…big wolves look like big wolves on the big screen.

bob · September 1, 2005, 5:26pm

BIG BIG BIG

I AM CANADIAN!

kolibri · September 2, 2005, 2:26am

[quote=“Matchstick_man”]I called Basic Instinct film noir for a couple of reasons. The films it is obviously influenced by and then this taken from

filmsite.org

Sharon Stone’s character definitely fit into that typecast. [/quote]
so femme fatale is a must character in the film noir.
reminds me of de palma’s femme fatale/ banderas.

it’s gothic. might want to open other topics for this style.

MM, thanks for the TLI

Matchstick_man · September 2, 2005, 3:08am

[quote=“kolibri”]
so femme fatale is a must character in the film noir.
reminds me of de palma’s femme fatale/ banderas.[/quote]

I don’t think a femme fatale is a requirement for the flim noir genre after all Se7en among others on my list lacked one.

You’re welcome.

sandman · September 2, 2005, 5:56am

The Man Who Wasn’t There is one I liked but not many others seem to – most seem to say its the Brothers’ worst. Oh well.
Fargo’s one of my all-time favourites in any genre.

Alleycat · September 2, 2005, 6:31am

Chinatown

Incubus · September 2, 2005, 6:37am

Speaking of De Palma, Body Double should also be on the list, so is Body Heat with William Hurt and Kathleen Turner, or are they not “modern” enough?

naijeru · September 2, 2005, 3:41pm

I wouldn’t really call a film like Heat noir though it ends noir (for the crook), while Collateral is mostly noir except for its ending. Both are great movies though. I’m not a stickler for the definition of noir however, and I think the following movies are in the spirit of what you’re looking for:

Dead Man
Bladerunner
From Hell
Memento
North by Northwest
Matchstick Men
The Talented Mr. Ripley (been a while since I’ve seen it though)
Fight Club
Barton Fink
Dark City (seconded)

Matchstick_man · September 2, 2005, 3:46pm

[quote=“Incubus”]Speaking of De Palma, Body Double should also be on the list, so is Body Heat with William Hurt and Kathleen Turner, or are they not “modern” enough?[/quote]It’s just so long since I’ve seen them. They didn’t enter the memory when I made my original post on this thread.