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Author Topic: Noir-vember Group Marathon 2011  (Read 51842 times)

Beavermoose

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Re: Noir-vember Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #310 on: December 06, 2011, 11:12:45 AM »

The Grifters
I think my main problem with this film is that characters in the movie seem to have this idea that Angelica Huston is supposed to look young, she doesn't, its not believable. Also Annette Bening is really annoying. This is one of those movies that starts off really great but that just gets progressively worse the more time you spend with the characters. Maybe I'll eventually do a rewatch because I do like Stephen Frears, but this didn't impress me at all.



Bound
This is actually a pretty awesome film. Mixing up standard noir tropes with the lesbian angle is really clever and works wonders. Two women think up a plan to steal a bunch of money from a mobster and have the blame fall on one of the women's pimp/boyfriend, played by Joey Pants, with hair. What they didn't figure was how he'd turn out to be pretty psychotic. And of course when shit hits the fan everything goes wrong, that also when it gets really exciting. Thumbs up to the "pants man" he's pretty awesome in this. If you can actually get over Jennifer Tilly's voice, this movie is very good.


The Ashphalt Jungle
Heist movies aren't really my thing. The Killing was better. All the women in the movie look alike. So many unintentional sexual innuendos. A character named Dix... didn't In a Lonely Place also come out this year? Eh...


Lone Star
Interestingly structured yet often muddle pacing leave this on a bit short of a good film. Kristofferson is deliciously evil and Cooper is surprisingly toned back. I enjoyed it enough but John Sayles often adds too many different threads to his films and Lone Star is no exception. Some of the plot lines were just boring.


Well that's it for this years Noir-vember.

Top 3 were
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1. Sexy Beast
2. Gun Crazy
3. Red Rock West / Kiss Me Deadly

sdedalus

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Re: Noir-vember Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #311 on: December 06, 2011, 12:42:34 PM »
All the women in the movie look like Marilyn Monroe. . . and that's a bad thing??
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Antares

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Re: Noir-vember Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #312 on: December 06, 2011, 02:35:29 PM »
All the women in the movie look like Marilyn Monroe. . . and that's a bad thing??

I was thinking the same exact thing.  ;)
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Jared

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Re: Noir-vember Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #313 on: December 07, 2011, 12:56:28 PM »
seen rougly 75% of Martin's list. Im tempted to revisit #4 Nightmare Alley...watched it this year and it didnt stick in my memory at all. Had to go to IMDb and read the plot description.

Maybe for next years Noir-vember we can build a group top 100. Itd probably only be a dozen submissions or so, but to that I would reply, "yeah, but still..."

MartinTeller

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Re: Noir-vember Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #314 on: December 07, 2011, 02:50:46 PM »
I'm beginning to think Cape Fear may be top ten for me. I don't know why The Killers & Crossfire aren't in the top 100.

I've seen both twice.  My most recent mini-review of each:

The Killers - How funny that my old review says "I'm not a big noir guy."  Oh, how things can change in 8 years.  But one thing hasn't changed: I still think this film is merely "okay."  It's beautifully shot, but other than that I don't find it all that special.  Edmond O'Brien is good, but Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner only get a few moments to really shine.  The fractured flashback structure is an intriguing and novel way of unraveling the mystery, but there's a slight sluggishness and lack of tension to the proceedings.  It's a fine movie, especially at the chilling start and the fatalistic end... it just doesn't rev my engine that much.  As a sidenote, Criterion's DVD includes Paul Schrader's essay "Notes on Film Noir," possibly the best overview of the genre I've read.  Rating: 7

Crossfire - Liked it a little bit more this time.  It didn't seem as heavy-handed as I thought before, although the scene where the message is clearly spelled out does strike me as rather awkward.  There are a few really killer scenes, especially the ones with or related to Gloria Grahame.  But the movie still seems to have a lot of downtime and I wouldn't rank it among the best noir.  Rating: 7


If Night & The City ranks as a noir then you need to see Brighton Rock MT.

Brighton Rock has been on my need-to-see list for a while.  They just announced a DVD release, so I'll probably get to it pretty soon.

 

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