The Criterion Collection

[The Bronx Bull]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I did miss this post earlier. This is easier said than done, because there are so many great film noirs. I mean, these were all B-movies to an extent, but many of them are quite monumental when viewed with a contemporary eye.

I don't want to spend all day doing this, so I'll simply make a quick Top 10 off the top of my head.

1. Out of the Past
Between Jacques Tourneur's beautiful visuals, the story's many picturesque settings, and some of the snappiest dialogue in cinema, this is not only my favorite film noir, but it's also my favorite movie of all time. Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas knock it out of the park.

2. The Maltese Falcon
This is a close second, and I mean a close second, behind Out of the Past. The movie's firecracker wit resonates even more today, and Humphrey Bogart is at his most iconic.

3. Double Indemnity
This Billy Wilder film is "Film Noir 101." As Eddie Muller states in one of the supplements, the entire essence of film noir can be summarized by one line. "I killed him for money - and a woman - and I didn't get the money and I didn't get the woman."

4. In a Lonely Place
This Humphrey Bogart film noir takes the genre down into its deepest and darkest depths of bleakness, but the effect is so perfectly crystalline that the movie never seems overbearing.

5. The Third Man
The Third Man is one of the most visually striking works of cinema that you'll ever see, and Carol Reed seemed incapable of making a boring shot. Orson Welles is a force of nature in this one.

6. Detour
This 1945 film noir is, as the title implies, the ultimate make-a-wrong-choice-and-you're-doomed-forever flick. Ann Savage is so brilliantly incendiary as the dame that you never want to meet. Sadly, this public domain movie may never see a proper high definition treatment, but you won't be nitpicking about picture quality if you sit down to watch the Image Entertainment DVD edition.

7. Criss Cross
Burt Lancaster starred in a great many film noir masterpieces, and this 1949 Robert Siodmak film showcases him in a beautiful this-will-not-end-well story.

8. Sweet Smell of Success
This is another film noir home run for Burt Lancaster, and I still believe that it may be Criterion's best high definition transfer of a black-and-white film.

9. The Big Heat
I cannot let this go without putting a Fritz Lang film on the list. The Big Heat is brutal and explosive, with perfect roles by Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame.

10. Private Hell 36
This scrappy Don Siegel film is a wild card on this personal top 10 noir list of mine, but I love how it delves deeply into the psyches of two characters whose lives are wrecked in different ways by temptation and guilt.

Honorable mention: The Night of the Hunter
I did not include The Night of the Hunter in the top 10, because it stretches the parameters of the genre definition a little too much for my taste, but I will fully concur with anyone who does with to place it on the top of a film noir countdown. Just think of this one as a great film that defies genre classification.


That was tough, and the list might very well change if I were to start writing it again. I left out a lot of great ones, namely The Big Combo, Ace in the Hole, Sunset Boulevard, The Killing, Killer's Kiss, Kiss Me Deadly, Laura, On Dangerous Ground, Pitfall, Dark City, The Asphalt Jungle, Act of Violence, Nightmare Alley, Hell's Half Acre, City That Never Sleeps, Scarlet Street, The Woman in the Window, The Hitch-Hiker, The Lady from Shanghai, and...actually...I'd better stop writing.

Also, I'm nowhere close to having seen all of the film noirs. There are a lot of ones in my still-unwatched DVD list here at home. The above list may change by the minute.

EDIT: I meant to type a list off the top of my head without editing, but I somehow forgot about The Big Heat when I was typing, so I had to go back and insert it into the list, kicking out The Big Combo.

This is most excellent - one of the best posts I've seen on here, and it will certainly be valuable to me, as I delve into some of the more obscure choices. Thanks!

[filmmusic]

Originally Posted by smoss469

For the B&N sale, I'm thinking of:

Sweet Smell of Success
Wages of Fear
Youth of the Beast
1 or 2 Eclipse Sets (Postwar Korasawa, Samuel Fuller, Shochiku)
Marketa Lazarová

I don't know how many I will end up picking, 3 or 4, but these are on top of my list to buy:

All that Heaven Allows (maybe I should leave this for November sale since I'm gonna watch it during Christmas anyway?)
Seconds
Il Sorpasso
Picnic at Hanging Rock
The Lady Vanishes
The Man Who Knew too much
Days of Heaven

Now that I was thinking of Picnic, I would love a Criterion of The Go-Between.
The UK release doesn't have English subtitles and I could really use them.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by ultlife2013

Nice list! Is any foreign cinema also capable of being part of the Film Noir?

In terms of the strict definition, film noir is a distinctly American genre that is grounded in our post-World War II trauma, in the uneasiness of the early Cold War years, and in the common perceptions and pitfalls of trying to attain the American Dream.

That said, I consider the following foreign films to be great examples of film noir.

Stray Dog
Drunken Angel
The Bad Sleep Well
Rififi
They Made Me a Fugitive
Stranger on the Prowl

Pale Flower (1964) was made after the classic noir era, but it perfectly encapsulates everything about the genre in a nutshell.

Jean-Pierre Melville's films of the 1960s tap into the noir wellspring with outstanding results.

Funnily enough, my unwatched DVD stack includes a recent acquisition, Luchino Visconti's Ossessione (1943), which is an Italian interpretation of The Postman Always Rings Twice.

[ultlife2013]

Originally Posted by octagon

That depends on who you ask. Strictly speaking, noir was a 'uniquely American' art form but in practical terms a lot of filmmakers in a lot of places made films very similar in tone and style to American noir.

People like to point to High and Low as an example of Japanese noir but Pale Flower is my go to.

French crime dramas (Rififi, Elevator the Gallows, Bob le Flambeur) can be very noirish.

And then there's Nordic Noir (which I suppose is technically Nordic Neo Noir) from The Vanishing and Insomnia up to things like Dragon Tattoo and a boatload of really interesting tv shows.

And this isn't even getting into the foreign films and filmmaking schools that contributed to noir before the fact.

Well when Fritz Lang's M came out in 1931 and could be seen as an inspiration for American noir films that came out later. You got some good points in your paragraph.

[aes3728]

For the B&N Sale I'm thinking of these titles. I have not seen the majority of them but have seen other works by their directors. Any comments solidifying or warning me away of them are more than welcome!

Ace in the Hole
Life Aquatic
All that Heaven Allows
Judex
Hard Day's Night
Red River
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Scanners
Pickpocket
Jacques Demy Box
Smiles on A Summer Night
*Big Chill (if sale extends or they decide to release a week earlier a la Devil's Backbone)

I'm toying with:
Solaris
Monsieur Verdoux
Il Sorpasso

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by ultlife2013

Well when Fritz Lang's M came out in 1931 and could be seen as an inspiration for American noir films that came out later. You got some good points in your paragraph.

Actually, come to think of it, Fritz Lang's M is included on many "best of" film noir lists. It's more of a "pre-noir", but I have no problem shelving it with my film noir collection.

I feel the same about Fritz Lang's early American films, Fury and You Only Live Once.

[ultlife2013]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Actually, come to think of it, Fritz Lang's M is included on many "best of" film noir lists. It's more of a "pre-noir", but I have no problem shelving it with my film noir collection.



I feel the same about Fritz Lang's early American films, Fury and You Only Live Once.

It definitely encapsulates the type of tension that works in American noir films.

[filmmusic]

Originally Posted by aes3728

*Big Chill (if sale extends or they decide to release a week earlier a la Devil's Backbone)

Oh, I'd like this too.
How long is this sale? Could it apply to new titles? Because I don't think so.
Even if they were released during the sale.

by the way, i haven't seen Scanners but I think there is an issue with some different coloring in some scenes?
You might want to read more about that before purchasing it..

[blkhrt]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Actually, come to think of it, Fritz Lang's M is included on many "best of" film noir lists. It's more of a "pre-noir", but I have no problem shelving it with my film noir collection.

I feel the same about Fritz Lang's early American films, Fury and You Only Live Once.

Don't forget Ministry of Fear!

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by blkhrt

Don't forget Ministry of Fear!

Of course not! I place Ministry of Fear squarely into the film noir genre. It did not make my top 10 list, but it's a wonderful film, and a great Criterion title.

[smoss469]

Originally Posted by ultlife2013

Nice list! Is any foreign cinema also capable of being part of the Film Noir?

There is an Eclipse set, Nikkatsu Noir. I have it but sadly, haven't watched them yet. Others have mentioned others that had Noir stylings or influences.

Originally Posted by filmmusic

I don't know how many I will end up picking, 3 or 4, but these are on top of my list to buy:

All that Heaven Allows (maybe I should leave this for November sale since I'm gonna watch it during Christmas anyway?)
Seconds
Il Sorpasso
Picnic at Hanging Rock
The Lady Vanishes
The Man Who Knew too much
Days of Heaven

Now that I was thinking of Picnic, I would love a Criterion of The Go-Between.
The UK release doesn't have English subtitles and I could really use them.

I loved the 2 Hitch titles you have listed and Il Sorpasso is on my CC wishlist. I'm in the minority that I found Seconds to be a HUGE disappointment.

[CobraVerde]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I did miss this post earlier. This is easier said than done, because there are so many great film noirs. I mean, these were all B-movies to an extent, but many of them are quite monumental when viewed with a contemporary eye.

I don't want to spend all day doing this, so I'll simply make a quick Top 10 off the top of my head.

No The Big Sleep? Even with it's plot holes, I'd (personally) put it above Maltese Falcon.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by CobraVerde

No The Big Sleep? Even with it's plot holes, I'd (personally) put it above Maltese Falcon.

I prefer The Maltese Falcon, but The Big Sleep is pretty awesome. I really wish that Criterion would release it on Blu-ray in the same fashion that they released the Blu-ray of Howard Hawks's Red River, with the original source novel included.

Everyone talks about how labyrinthian The Big Sleep is in terms of plot, but I follow it alright. I think that it's a fun story, and Stephen King pays homage to the sisters in his new novel, Mr. Mercedes.

[JoeBuck]

Seeing as everyone else is posting their lists I mine as well add mine too!

I'm definitely grabbing:

The Freshman
All That Heaven Allows
Scanners
L'Eclisse
Investigation Of a Citizen Above Suspicion

Then I'm stuck as to whether I should get one more title and the Jacques Demy set or if I wanna buy another 3 standalone titles.
The other ones that I'm stuck choosing between are:


Il Sorpasso (which would be a blind buy)
The 39 Steps
Summer With Monika
Pickpocket
Ivans Childhood
The Wages Of Fear (I've been dicking around on getting this one for too damn long)
The Royal Tenenbaums
The Life Aquatic

[smoss469]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I prefer The Maltese Falcon, but The Big Sleep is pretty awesome. I really wish that Criterion would release it on Blu-ray in the same fashion that they released the Blu-ray of Howard Hawks's Red River, with the original source novel included.

Everyone talks about how labyrinthian The Big Sleep is in terms of plot, but I follow it alright. I think that it's a fun story, and Stephen King pays homage to the sisters in his new novel, Mr. Mercedes.

Aren't we supposed to get a BD release of The Big Sleep in the near future?

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by smoss469

Aren't we supposed to get a BD release of The Big Sleep in the near future?

The word around the campfire was that Warner was supposed to release The Big Sleep on Blu-ray in 2014.

The campfire has been really quiet for the past year, though.

[filmmusic]

Originally Posted by smoss469

I'm in the minority that I found Seconds to be a HUGE disappointment.

Well, I wasn't exactly crazy either but I love Rock Hudson and I'd like to collect all of his films on Bluray.

[Scottie]

Add me to the list of people who hated Seconds.

[Clare2904]

My list is set

The Children Are Watching Us
Mon Oncle Antoine
Au Revour Les Enfants*
The 400 Blows*

*already seen but I am starting to collect all those films I have loved on Blu.

I would love to get more but finance dictates otherwise right now. Plus, I have quite a few unwatched.

[zoodermin]

My list for the B&N sale is:

Throne of Blood
The Hidden Fortress
Persona
All that Heaven Allows.

If I can afford one more, I may buy Ace in the Hole or Red River. Which one's better in your opinion?