Your favorite films in the crime/noir genre

[chefmike]

I'm going to start with three films, the first two are based on the writings of crime novelist Jim Thompson, who was one intense motherfucker.

The Getaway - with Steve McQueen and the beautiful Ali MacGraw. The remake with Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger is also damn good, IMO.

The Grifters - with John Cusack and Anjelica Huston, this film never fails to blow me away.

Charley Varrick - with Walter Matthau, a little-known noir classic.

If you are a fan of the genre, then all three of these films are a don't miss...

Your favorites?

[Cat]

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang

[MacShreach]

The Big Sleep, Bogart/Bacall

Saw Charlie Varrick again just a couple of months ago

[Balcanoid]

Blade runner, it`s SF but also a noir/crime

[MacShreach]

Blade runner, it`s SF but also a noir/crime

Seconded, bigtime

The Long Good Friday, noir revisited

[chefmike]

Blade runner, it`s SF but also a noir/crime

Seconded, bigtime

The Long Good Friday, noir revisited

It's one of my favorite films, and if you're talking about Brit crime films, Mona Lisa and Layer Cake also come to mind...among many others.
Sexy Beast is also a very good neo-noir film, IMO.

[JohnnyWalkerBlackLabel]

Maltese Falcon

[chefmike]

But if you're talking about the femme fatale side of the crime/noir genre, I think that the film 'The Last Seduction' is one of the very best...after 'The Postman Always Rings Twice', of course.

[MacShreach]

after 'The Postman Always Rings Twice', of course.

Brilliant, both versions.

[MacShreach]

f you're talking about Brit crime films, Mona Lisa and Layer Cake also come to mind...among many others.
Sexy Beast is also a very good neo-noir film, IMO.

The homage to Tarantino is over-the-top sometimes, but Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is a good recent Brit--

And you have to have Pulp Fiction, from the man himself

It's not well known but The Hill w/Sean Connery-- very gritty and disturbing movie, maybe not conventional noir but worth inclusion I think

[MacShreach]

Cape Fear Either version, but I prefer the original with Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum---hard as nails.

[chefmike]

f you're talking about Brit crime films, Mona Lisa and Layer Cake also come to mind...among many others.
Sexy Beast is also a very good neo-noir film, IMO.

The homage to Tarantino is over-the-top sometimes, but Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is a good recent Brit--

And you have to have Pulp Fiction, from the man himself

It's not well known but The Hill w/Sean Connery-- very gritty and disturbing movie, maybe not conventional noir but worth inclusion I think

I don't recall seeing 'The Hill', although I've watched the other two flicks that you mentioned almost as many times as I've watched 'Apocalypse Now'...

Tarantino is obviously a 'Charley Varrick' fan, as he uses a line from it in Pulp Fiction...I just read that on IMDB (although the poster didn't include the line}, and now I realize what line it was...a pair of pliers and a....

[MacShreach]

I don't recall seeing 'The Hill', although I've watched the other two flicks that you mentioned almost as many times as I've watched 'Apocalypse Now'...

I haven't seen it for a long time either, but if you get the chance to, take it. Directed by Sidney Lumet and released in 1965, when Connery was at the height of Bond fame, it's about a group of soldiers in the glasshouse in the Libyan desert. The standard punishment for any infringement is being made to run up and down an artificial hill in full kit till they drop. Connery plays a soldier who refuses to have his spirit broken and the film develops into a Kafka-esque psychological struggle between the sadistic guards, led by Ian Hendry, and Connery's soldier...and I'm not telling how it ends...but it will have you gripped.

[TomSelis]

Old School Noir: D.O.A

Later Noir: ChinaTown

New School Noir: Memento

[MacShreach]

Later Noir: ChinaTown



:rock2

[TomSelis]

'Gratz on your CTE, Mac!!!

[posty]

I know it's passe to say something so recent, but Departed rocked my world.

[chefmike]

I know it's passe to say something so recent, but Departed rocked my world.

I would say that 'The Departed' was the most noirish flick that Scorcese has done...although 'Taxi Driver' still remains my favorite Scorcese flick to this day...

[Jericho]

Any of these are worth a 2nd look:

Carlitos Way
Suicide Kings [Fantastic ending]
The Yakuza
Along came a spider
Beyond the law/Fixing the shadow [Charlie Sheen on form]
Citizen X
Donnie Brasco
16 Blocks [not a big Bruce Willis fan, but loved this]
Payback [recently saw the directors cut. A much 'tougher' Gibson]

[MacShreach]

'Gratz on your CTE, Mac!!!

Thanks Tom!

[MacShreach]

Any of these are worth a 2nd look:

Carlitos Way
Suicide Kings [Fantastic ending]
The Yakuza
Along came a spider
Beyond the law/Fixing the shadow [Charlie Sheen on form]
Citizen X
Donnie Brasco
16 Blocks [not a big Bruce Willis fan, but loved this]
Payback [recently saw the directors cut. A much 'tougher' Gibson]

I love The Yakuza. Actually I really love Robert Mitchum. Though he did appear in a few pot-boilers, many of his performances were killer.....masterful understatement, huge on-screen presence. Very studied actor who borrowed from great noir actors of the early days like Bogey, but made it his own.

You know he once did a scene in drag? Funniest shit ever. I mean he was about four feet across the shoulders, one BIG guy.

He also spent a year in the slammer for smoking da weed....And it didn't ruin his career. Says a lot for the guy, Hollywood being what it was back then.

Anyway this is not getting this story written....

[Coroner]

The Killing - Stanley Kubrick
Killer´s Kiss - Stanley Kubrick
State of Grace - Phil Joanou
Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia :) - Sam Peckinpah
Stormy Monday - Mike Figgis

there´s much more but you don´t know them, mostly European movies

[Jericho]

I love The Yakuza. Actually I really love Robert Mitchum. Though he did appear in a few pot-boilers.

Haha, yeah, one or two stinkers, but, perfect in the Yakuza.

[LTR_Seeker]

La Confidential

[fraggle543]

I agree with The Hill probably Thomas (Sean ) Connery's best film. The Transporter with Jason Statham from lock stock is quite a funny crime caper and of course the original The Italian Job is one of the best crime caper cock-up movies.

[south ov da border]

double indemnity...

[MacShreach]

I agree with The Hill probably Thomas (Sean ) Connery's best film. The Transporter with Jason Statham from lock stock is quite a funny crime caper and of course the original The Italian Job is one of the best crime caper cock-up movies.

Yes but nobody calls him "Thomas"-- he's either Tam or Sean. :D

[TheGuard]

Chinatown...

[Mista Bone]

Suicide Kings
Midnight Express
Dangerous Ground
The original Oceans 11

[freudian1]

"Brick" - Film noir where all the protagonists are in High School. It sounds dumb, but it's brilliant.

And even though it's not a movie, HBO's "The Wire" is easily the best crime series out there.

[Rockford]

I have so many favorite films, but if we're talking old style film noir, give me Sunset Boulevard, Touch of Evil and almost anything with Bogart. Key Largo is particularly good.

[MacShreach]

I have so many favorite films, but if we're talking old style film noir, give me Sunset Boulevard, Touch of Evil and almost anything with Bogart. Key Largo is particularly good.

Seconded. Big fan of Bogart here and Key Largo is brilliant. BTW rumour has it that was Bogey's own boat, both there and in To Have And Have Not, another classic, which features some serious sexual tension (with all clothes on) ..... . Most of Eddie G's stuff bears repeated watching too, Little Caesar is just one of many greats.. ...James Cagney, Angels With Dirty Faces......


You ever notice how dancers make great bad guys--Cagney, John Travolta, Christopher Walken....Why is that? Is it just the way they move? I mean they're all like cats.

[GroobySteven]

I don't recall seeing 'The Hill', although I've watched the other two flicks that you mentioned almost as many times as I've watched 'Apocalypse Now'...

I haven't seen it for a long time either, but if you get the chance to, take it. Directed by Sidney Lumet and released in 1965, when Connery was at the height of Bond fame, it's about a group of soldiers in the glasshouse in the Libyan desert. The standard punishment for any infringement is being made to run up and down an artificial hill in full kit till they drop. Connery plays a soldier who refuses to have his spirit broken and the film develops into a Kafka-esque psychological struggle between the sadistic guards, led by Ian Hendry, and Connery's soldier...and I'm not telling how it ends...but it will have you gripped.

I believe this is one of two movies that Connery made as part of a deal, to continue to do the Bond movies - although I remember something about the deal didn't work out ... I digress. It's about as gritty as you can get and shows the man has some acting skills. The other movie, was even grittier and more dour, in The Offence he plays a cop whose mettle is tested when he interogates a paedophile. It's a rough movie to watch but worth it.

seanchai

[GroobySteven]

I know it's passe to say something so recent, but Departed rocked my world.

I would say that 'The Departed' was the most noirish flick that Scorcese has done...although 'Taxi Driver' still remains my favorite Scorcese flick to this day...

In my opinion, "The Departed" was one of the worst films I've seen. Not just because the original was better but because the script & dialogue was so awful - nobody talks like that. Very poor, zero tension movie. Oh, Marty!


seanchai

[GroobySteven]

The Best Film Noir ever - "The Thin Man". It doesn't get better. Mis en scene is fantastic, the score works, the acting and the story ... I just rewatched it recently.

Also the original "Get Carter" is fucking great.

seanchai

[TomSelis]

The original "Get Carter" is a must see. Micheal Caine at his best. Kind of psychadelic, but a great film.

[MacShreach]

The original "Get Carter" is a must see. Micheal Caine at his best. Kind of psychadelic, but a great film.

Yup.

[Jericho]

The original "Get Carter" is a must see. Micheal Caine at his best. Kind of psychadelic, but a great film.

Yup.

and for added entertainment, you can play "spot the bloke with the extra finger" :lol:

[GroobySteven]

The original "Get Carter" is a must see. Micheal Caine at his best. Kind of psychadelic, but a great film.

Yup.

and for added entertainment, you can play "spot the bloke with the extra finger" :lol:

Correct - and Alf Roberts! Actually a well known character of the time in Newcastle! I think it's the Long Bar that they were in.
seanchai

[cueball]

Three I like:


"The Usual Suspects"
"The Big Sleep"
"The Valachi Papers"

[peggygee]

I have so many favorite films, but if we're talking old style film noir, give me Sunset Boulevard, Touch of Evil and almost anything with Bogart. Key Largo is particularly good.

Yeah if we are going old school film noir / cinema verite.

Touch Of Evil - Charlton Heston as a Mexican, Orson Wellles

Kiss Of Death - Victor Mature, Richard Widmark (the wheelchair scene)

White Heat - Cageney - "Top Of The World Ma"

Cape Fear - Robert Mitchum

Double Indemnity - Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck

The Thin Man Series - William Powell, Myrna Loy, and Asta

I have tons of others, but anything with Bogart, Cagney, Paul Muni,
John Garfield, or Edward G. Robinson and I'm there.

[tsmandy]

Natural Born Killers.

[SkyTwo]

Detour
Gun Crazy
Narrow Margin
Heart & Soul
I Wake Up Screaming

[Caff_Racer]

The Third Man
Get Carter (original version)
Long Good Friday
The Offence
The Hill

Then of course, there are a few pretty good French films, such as:

Razzia sur la Schnouf
Touchez pas au Grisbi
Mélodie en Sous-sol
Le Clan des Siciliens

[Jericho]

The original "Get Carter" is a must see. Micheal Caine at his best. Kind of psychadelic, but a great film.

Yup.

and for added entertainment, you can play "spot the bloke with the extra finger" :lol:

Correct - and Alf Roberts! Actually a well known character of the time in Newcastle! I think it's the Long Bar that they were in.
seanchai


Interesting site about the film "Get Carter", the Long Bar gets a mention.

http://www.aouq09.dsl.pipex.com/getcarter/home.htm

[chefmike]

Natural Born Killers.

I always found it intriguing that Woody Harrelson's father was in prison for the murder of a judge during the making of that film. As a matter of fact, I heard that he recently died in prison.

[scorpion]

Midnight Express

[Coroner]

Midnight Express

I don´t know if that´s a Film Noir.....? It´s more a prison-drama.

[SkyTwo]

The Third Man
Get Carter (original version)
Long Good Friday
The Offence
The Hill

Good call with 3rd Man and Get Carter. And if you want to bring French films into it, what about Le Circle Rouge?

[Coroner]

The Third Man
Get Carter (original version)
Long Good Friday
The Offence
The Hill

Good call with 3rd Man and Get Carter. And if you want to bring French films into it, what about Le Circle Rouge?

Yeah, truly one of the best movies ever. I was 12 when I watched it the first time and I thought Martins was Orson Welles :lol:

And hey, it was shot in Vienna :)

[SkyTwo]

The Third Man
Get Carter (original version)
Long Good Friday
The Offence
The Hill

Good call with 3rd Man and Get Carter. And if you want to bring French films into it, what about Le Circle Rouge?

Yeah, truly one of the best movies ever. I was 12 when I watched it the first time and I thought Martins was Orson Welles :lol:

And hey, it was shot in Vienna :)

That final scene rips my guts out every time. Especially when I caught the movie on the big screen.

Someone else mentioned Touch of Evil, which is also a fantastic film. I think I need to rethink my selections....

[peggygee]

And hey, it was shot in Vienna :)

You jogged my memory, and made me think of 'M',
which was shot in Berlin, Germany.

Peter Lorre ... Hans Beckert

Fritz Lang directs.

Someone is murdering children in a German city. The Police
search is so intense, it is disturbing the 'normal' criminals,
and the local hoods decide to help find the murderer as
quickly as possible.

[chefmike]

And hey, it was shot in Vienna :)

You jogged my memory, and made me think of 'M',
which was shot in Berlin, Germany.

Peter Lorre ... Hans Beckert

Fritz Lang directs.

Someone is murdering children in a German city. The Police
search is so intense, it is disturbing the 'normal' criminals,
and the local hoods decide to help find the murderer as
quickly as possible.

'M' is a great film, and a very haunting one also...it's a pretty intense flick.

[peggygee]

'M' is a great film, and a very haunting one also...it's a pretty intense flick.

Peter Kürten May 26, 1883-July 2, 1932 was a German serial killer
nicknamed The Vampire of Düsseldorf upon which the movie 'M' was
based.

This was Peter Lorre's breakout movie. He went on to star in the 'Mr
Moto' series, The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, The Man Who Knew
Too Much, Arsenic and old lace, and countless other movies, usually
type-cast as a villain.

All this talk about film noir, I'm going to rummage through my library
now and grab something.

I'm leaning towards 'White Heat'.

"Top of the world Ma". :wink:

Edit: Going with, On the Waterfront - Brando, "I could have been somebody, I could'a been a contender".

[LTR_Seeker]

LA Confidential.

[Coroner]

And hey, it was shot in Vienna :)

You jogged my memory, and made me think of 'M',
which was shot in Berlin, Germany.

Peter Lorre ... Hans Beckert

Fritz Lang directs.

Someone is murdering children in a German city. The Police
search is so intense, it is disturbing the 'normal' criminals,
and the local hoods decide to help find the murderer as
quickly as possible.

Wow :wink:

"M" was one of Lang´s next movies after "Metropolis", the first Science-Fiction movie. I´ve seen it just once and was amazed by Lorre´s role. Anyone couldn´t have made it better. If you remember Falco, the singer from Vienna, he "covered" some scenes from the movie for the video to the song "Jenny" in which he was the haunted murdered and had a "J" on his jacket.
I´m surprised and proud that you know the movie.

[SkyTwo]

"M" was one of Lang´s next movies after "Metropolis", the first Science-Fiction movie. I´ve seen it just once and was amazed by Lorre´s role. Anyone couldn´t have made it better. If you remember Falco, the singer from Vienna, he "covered" some scenes from the movie for the video to the song "Jenny" in which he was the haunted murdered and had a "J" on his jacket.
I´m surprised and proud that you know the movie.

M isn't exactly a forgotten film. Quite the opposite. Not my favorite Lang, but brilliant stuff.

[TJT]

I saw of Touch of Evil further up,that was a good one.

The original DOA would have to my fav with White Heat running second.

[Coroner]

"M" was one of Lang´s next movies after "Metropolis", the first Science-Fiction movie. I´ve seen it just once and was amazed by Lorre´s role. Anyone couldn´t have made it better. If you remember Falco, the singer from Vienna, he "covered" some scenes from the movie for the video to the song "Jenny" in which he was the haunted murdered and had a "J" on his jacket.
I´m surprised and proud that you know the movie.

M isn't exactly a forgotten film. Quite the opposite. Not my favorite Lang, but brilliant stuff.

Mine also not because "Metropolis" still defends the first place in my list.

[Rockford]

I just picked up M & The Third Man on dvd today. Also, favourites of mine that I should've mentioned earlier.

It's a rainy Sunday here, so I'm off to watch some fantastic classic movies. Love this thread.

[peggygee]

I saw of Touch of Evil further up,that was a good one.

The original DOA would have to my fav with White Heat running second.

Touch Of Evil

Plot Outline:Stark, perverse story of murder, kidnapping, and police
corruption in Mexican border town.

Charlton Heston as a Mexican narcotics officer. Orson
Welles as a dirty cop, classic film noir.

Remeber the hotel scene?

DOA

Plot Outline:Frank Bigelow, told he's been poisoned and has only a few
days to live, tries to find out who killed him and why.

Edmond O'Brien ... Frank Bigelow

Great movie, but the remake wasn't quite as good IMHO.