Blade Runner
where is my head at andrew? alright let me rephrase that description of “Best Modern Noir Since Body Heat and Blade Runner” LOL
I’d have to really think about it but the first one that came to mind was L.A. Confidential.
Out of Sight, Devil in a Blue Dress, and One False Move also come to mind.
Mulholland Dr. (it’s such a Mobius strip but I guess it’s noir)
Lost Highway (the same – Mobius strip)
The Grifters
The Limey
I wanted to love L.A. Confidential but I just couldn’t.
Yeah if Lost Highway and Mulholland Dr count, it’s them even over Blade Runner for me
I don’t know why but I have an almost extreme disinterest in actual “throwback” noirs like LA Confidential
Memento
Palmetto
Trixie
i really like blood simple and miller’s crossing. plus everything girlfriend said
don’t wanna start a riot but i’d even throw pulp fiction and res dogs in there
De Palma’s Femme Fatale
Veronika Voss
Dark City I think would be a great mention. I don’t think I would say I’m interested so much in what has been the greatest in 30 years. I just enjoy the genre being continued and explored in creative ways. Where the Truth Lies too.
Blade Runner is pretty brilliant though if we really must do the greatest thing :)
I’m with Ruby on Blood Simple!
I agree with most of the titles mentioned but I really want you guys to just pick ONE and explain why you think it “defines” modern noir. Does it merely wear the aesthetic of noir or is it part of the genre evolving?
Well if you had to pick just one and argue why it defines modern noir, you might be hard pressed to pick something better than Mulholland Drive.
^Peter, that’s some homework you want us to do.
My pick based on aesthetic:
ROMEO IS BLEEDING- Gary Oldman as a corrupt cop, gangsters (Roy Scheider could’ve been played by Otto Kruger), double crosses, money, floozy and a femme fatale (in a literal sense), with a smokey jazz score by Mark Isham.
Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid, if we were talking postmodern noir…
Against All Odds
Sin City
Can modern noir actually be defined by one film though? For me I would say no, considering neo-noir is so wide, so varied and fused into so many different genres now.
Insomnia, L.A. Confidential, Memento, Dark City, Mystic River, Brick and Blade Runner is all I have right now…
Although I wasn’t the biggest fan of it, I think Glengary Glen Ross is worth a mention.
The Man Who Wasn’t There is the first one that springs to mind for me. It was such a brilliantly understated performance by Billy Bob Thornton. I really connected with his character the last time I watched it. It’s yet another Coen Brothers film that reveals more with repeat viewings.
The Last Seduction, Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive, The Kill Off, Eight Million Ways To Die, After Dark My Sweet, Bertrand Tavernier’s Coup de Torchon … also an almost-forgotten movie from the late eighties, The Dead Can’t Lie (aka Gotham), with Tommy Lee Jones and Virginia Madsen (not on MUBI, alas).
Mulholland Drive or A History of Violence certainly. Nice to see support for One False Move, one of the best and most underated films of the 90s. Coup de Torchon, The Last Seduction, The Limey, Mystic River, Blood Simple, Kansas City, Romeo is Bleeding, The Professional.
If it’s an acceptable choice, I’d put Wong Kar Wai’s Fallen Angels toward the top though.
If you could stretch to 31 years, Cutter’s Way.
Basic Instinct, The Last Seduction and Body Heat….İ will always love femme fatales of this films. Long live Linda Fiorentino, Sharon Stone and Kathleen Turner!
For British neo-noir, I recommend Mona Lisa (1986) and Under Suspicion (1991).
Also, some episodes of the the American TV series Fallen Angels (1993-1995) were quite stylish and fun.
I would prefer Insomnia (1997) for the mood, L.A. Confidential, because it fits in the genre perfectly and is probably the best of its kind and The Big Lebowski for its entirely new interpretation of the genre. Of course, Mulholland Dr. is probably better than anything else mentioned here, but for me it doesn’t fit quite well as it is primarily something else and goes quite away from the genre.
I’ll go wtih BLOOD SIMPLE and RESERVOIR DOGS. BLADE RUNNER is an interesting choice, too. I’m good with HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, too, despite the hideous mistake of William Hurt’s performance.
ONE FALSE MOVE, wow. I’d forgotten all about it. A perfectly good little movie that got some extravagant overpraise. It did give Bill Paxton the chance to carry a movie, at least.
Have we not had about five of these threads already in the past year (usually under favorite neonoir)? This thread topic seems way too familiar. I’ll add Red Rock West, Killing Zoe, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Oldboy…..
13 Tzametti, LA confidential, fargo, Melville’s samourai.
Heat, Se7en, A Bittersweet Life.
peter smith
The other day I was having this discussion with a friend and they thought that nothing really tops Body Heat. I’m a huge fan of that film but what about since the release of Body Heat release? In the past thirty years which one film do you think defines modern noir?
I chewed on a bunch of titles but I would have to go with After Dark, My Sweet (1990)