The Criterion Collection

[SlickDamian]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

There are quite a few noir fans on this forum who have me beat by a long mile, but I'll give this a go with six that come to mind...

Chinatown
Body Heat
To Live and Die in L.A.
No Country for Old Men
Thief
Blood Simple

I also heartily recommend Sharky's Machine, which is a loose remake of Laura (1944).

The Long Goodbye is a great flick that really captures the essence of Philip Marlowe as an outsider, even if it may not be what many noir films have in mind for the genre.

I've always wanted to see the 1975 film, Night Moves, but have sadly not seen it yet. I'd love for it to be announced on Blu-ray soon.

No Country for Old Men is a beauty, I never thought of it as noir before, though.

Nightcrawler is amazing and criminally underrated. A lot of noir undertones. Jake Gyllenhaal's performance is superb.

[CriterionBlues]

A friend speculated to me that we won't get the announcements on Monday. He pointed out that the last two Mondays had issues, and one was delayed. I didn't research to double check, but that sounds right.

So do you think we will get announcements Monday or Tuesday?

[kuro_sawa]

Originally Posted by CriterionBlues

A friend speculated to me that we won't get the announcements on Monday. He pointed out that the last two Mondays had issues, and one was delayed. I didn't research to double check, but that sounds right.

So do you think we will get announcements Monday or Tuesday?

The only true answer to this everytime is that your guess is as good as any of ours. Usually it's the Monday after if the 15 falls on a weekend. Best bet is to forget about it and check in at night.

[Sifox211]

Can noir be funny? I saw Robert Carlyle's The Legend of Barney Thomson last night and it is very noir like, quite violent, gorgeously shot (in a Malick way - making the ugliest parts of Glasgow look beautiful) and extremely funny. I kept thinking of The Man who wasn't there but apart from being about a barber they aren't all that similar.

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by Sifox211

Can noir be funny? I saw Robert Carlyle's The Legend of Barney Thomson last night and it is very noir like, quite violent, gorgeously shot (in a Malick way - making the ugliest parts of Glasgow look beautiful) and extremely funny. I kept thinking of The Man who wasn't there but apart from being about a barber they aren't all that similar.

Well, there's always Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid.

I think most films noir will have a slight dash of cynical, dark sarcasm or humor that may elicit a laugh or two, but will still work with the overall tone and style. I guess that would just be levity, but I wouldn't discount the possibility of an all-out film noir comedy.

[ParaOK]

Janus Films updated their cover photo on Facebook to this image:

Safe to say The American Friend is coming to the collection?

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by ParaOK

Safe to say The American Friend is coming to the collection?

Yes

[LPMA]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

Well, there's always Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid.

I think most films noir will have a slight dash of cynical, dark sarcasm or humor that may elicit a laugh or two, but will still work with the overall tone and style. I guess that would just be levity, but I wouldn't discount the possibility of an all-out film noir comedy.

While it's definitely not a film that matches the usual definition of film noir, I consider something like The Apartment to be something of a noir comedy, at least definitely a cousin of noir. Same for something like Brief Encounter being a noir drama.

[bwdowiak]

My wife has been in Toronto on a business trip, so I've had time to watch a few movies this week.

on Sunday, I watched my TT copy of The Train. for the most part, it lived up to the hype. it is an entertaining film that has some meat on its bones when it comes to the drama surrounding the Lancaster character. the only thing that peeved me is watching a movie that takes place in France at the end of WWII w/ Lancaster as a Frenchman and all the characters speaking English. I know this wasn't/isn't the first film to have it this way, but I was annoyed nevertheless.

on Monday, I watched The Soft Skin. I enjoyed every minute of it, but I didn't find it to be a "great" film. Truffaut is one of my favorite directors, so "enjoying every minute" was not exactly a difficult thing for me to do. some of the plot developments are telegraphed and can be seen from a mile away. I'd put it somewhere in the middle of my list of favorite Truffaut films. I think TT's The Story of Adele H is a better film... slightly

on Tuesday, I watched Les Mistons which is one of Truffaut's short films. It is on the Artificial Eye blu-ray release of A Gorgeous Girl Like Me. this was sweet, funny, poignant. 17 minutes well spent. nice to see that they restored this for HD. Gerard Blain, who is in the two Chabrol films in the Criterion Collection is in this one along w/ a lovely actress who plays Bernadette, the object of the affection of Blain and the boys in the film. Good stuff.

Last night I watched the first half of Satyajit Ray's The Coward. It is a 69 minute "short" film that is included as an extra on the CC release of The Big City. Started a tad bit slow, but really packed a wallop by way of an extended dialogue scene that highlights the acting chops of Madhabi Mukherjee. Great acting and well written, too. Can't wait to finish it tonight.

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by SlickDamian

No Country for Old Men is a beauty, I never thought of it as noir before, though.

Nightcrawler is amazing and criminally underrated. A lot of noir undertones. Jake Gyllenhaal's performance is superb.

I couldn't agree more strongly and completely with your comments regarding Nightcrawler. I just watched it last week, and was completely engrossed by it, from the first frame to the last. Jake Gyllenhaal was mesmerizing as Louis Bloom, who is surely a distant cousin to the character of Harry Fabian played by Richard Widmark in Night and the City. I also was very impressed by the performances given by Rene Russo and Riz Ahmed; Bill Paxton was also great in a meaty supporting role. Definitely a keeper, with replay value.

[kuro_sawa]

Originally Posted by ParaOK

Safe to say The American Friend is coming to the collection?

I think it's safe to say all the films of his they are touring will be released, and I hope they do it in a big box set too. I can't wait for this, The American Friend is top 3 of his work for me.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by Sifox211

Can noir be funny? I saw Robert Carlyle's The Legend of Barney Thomson last night and it is very noir like, quite violent, gorgeously shot (in a Malick way - making the ugliest parts of Glasgow look beautiful) and extremely funny. I kept thinking of The Man who wasn't there but apart from being about a barber they aren't all that similar.

The Official Film Noir on Blu-ray Thread lists, under neo-noir, Fargo and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

I'd also say that Guy Ritchie's first two films -- Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch are dementedly funny. They don't quite count as noir, but I think they tap their toes over the line. The same could be said of a couple of Tarantino's films.

[adamhopelies]

Originally Posted by jayembee

The Official Film Noir on Blu-ray Thread lists, under neo-noir, Fargo and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

I'd also say that Guy Ritchie's first two films -- Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrells and Snatch are dementedly funny. They don't quite count as noir, but I think they tap their toes over the line. The same could be said of a couple of Tarantino's films.

On a similar note I used the term "Film Soleil" when referring to Violent Saturday in the liner notes for a Blu-ray release of that film. I see it as a sun-baked interpositive to traditional noir. My labelling of it as such gathered a bit of momentum too, with the idea going on to be discussed in Sight & Sound.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by Sifox211

Can noir be funny? I saw Robert Carlyle's The Legend of Barney Thomson last night and it is very noir like, quite violent, gorgeously shot (in a Malick way - making the ugliest parts of Glasgow look beautiful) and extremely funny. I kept thinking of The Man who wasn't there but apart from being about a barber they aren't all that similar.

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

Well, there's always Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid.

I think most films noir will have a slight dash of cynical, dark sarcasm or humor that may elicit a laugh or two, but will still work with the overall tone and style. I guess that would just be levity, but I wouldn't discount the possibility of an all-out film noir comedy.

I agree. I think of Dick Powell's "here we go again" remarks about getting knocked out in Murder, My Sweet or The Killers title characters banter in the diner as examples of lightening the mood without changing it too much. Bogart's disguise and dialogue with the snooty secretary in The Big Sleep is also a favorite of mine.

[ajnejedi]

Saw it mentioned earlier in this thread and I had it in my collection after a sale last year, so I watched [B]Drive[B] today. Fantastic film! A lot better than I expected and definitely a Noir feel to it.

Nice to see Ron Perlman as always and Oscar Isaacs (who's starting to get quite big). Very muted but powerful performance from Ryan Gosling, who I've haven't seen too much of besides being forced to watch The Notebook by my wife years ago. Highly impressed, definitely would recommend!

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

I agree. I think of Dick Powell's "here we go again" remarks about getting knocked out in Murder, My Sweet or The Killers title characters banter in the diner as examples of lightening the mood without changing it too much. Bogart's disguise and dialogue with the snooty secretary in The Big Sleep is also a favorite of mine.

Yes. The humor in genuine films noir is usually based in cynicism, sarcasm and irony rather than true comedy. I love the first scene between Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray in Wilder's Double Indemnity in which they're bantering with another:

[Show spoiler]Phyllis: There's a speed limit in this state, Mr. Neff. Forty-five miles an hour.
Walter: How fast was I going, officer?
P: I'd say about ninety.
W: Suppose you get down off your motorcycle and give me a ticket?
P: Suppose I let you off with a warning this time.
W: Suppose it doesn't take.
P: Suppose I have to whack you over the knuckles.
W: Suppose I bust out crying and put my head on your shoulder.
P: Suppose you try putting it on my husband's shoulder.
W: That tears it.

It almost sounds like vaudeville prattle, but in fact, the two characters are testing each other out like two dogs who are trying to negotiate which one is the alpha and which is the beta. Their exchange is actually serious ...

[Show spoiler]deadly serious, as it turns out.

[Scottie]

Okay, okay, okay.

As many of you may or may not know, I am not the biggest Truffaut fan...like at all. I absolutely love The 400 Blows, but I do not particularly care for The Soft Skin, The Last Metro, but ESPECIALLY Jules and Jim.

Well, anyway I watched Day for Night tonight in preparation for the Blu-ray release and I can't even muster up the words to describe how absolutely enthralling, magnificent, and brilliant it is. 10 minutes into the film and I knew it was one of the greatest films ever made and by the time it ended, my jaw was practically on the floor.

It's really safe to say that Day for Night is able to hold hands with Fellini's 8.5 and skip down the street, side by side.

[SlickDamian]

Originally Posted by jmclick

I couldn't agree more strongly and completely with your comments regarding Nightcrawler. I just watched it last week, and was completely engrossed by it, from the first frame to the last. Jake Gyllenhaal was mesmerizing as Louis Bloom, who is surely a distant cousin to the character of Harry Fabian played by Richard Widmark in Night and the City. I also was very impressed by the performances given by Rene Russo and Riz Ahmed; Bill Paxton was also great in a meaty supporting role. Definitely a keeper, with replay value.

I agree, although I saw connections to Travis Bickle (Taxi Driver) and Robert Pupkin (King of Comedy). What De Niro did with those characters was perfect, and Gyllenhaal accomplished something similar, in my opinion.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

Yep, I'll check out MYST when I get home.

Oh, I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Originally Posted by oildude

I am not much of a gamer, but I also got into Myst and Riven. Loved those games. The atmospheric settings were phenomenal for their time, and I loved the deliberate exploration required for solving the puzzles to unlock the various locations.

Surprisingly, however, loving slow games set in beautiful natural settings does not make me a Malick fan, to keep this Criterion related.

Nice attempt on getting the conversation back on track to Criterion. I bet if Malick tried to make a film based on MYST or RIVEN it would be amazing. The thing about Malick is, his stories tend to be on childhood, family bonding and/or the human condition, something that utopian-noir video game never was. Now on the other hand if Stanley Kubrick were still around, he'd be the perfect candidate to make an atmospheric, mysterious film based on an ancient civilization and puzzles. One can only dream.

oildude: you hit it out of the ballpark when you referred to the game as atmospheric. That encapsulates it right there. Ultimately I just want an escape from this reality, and that Myst world provided it, one frame at a time.

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Okay, okay, okay.

As many of you may or may not know, I am not the biggest Truffaut fan...like at all. I absolutely love The 400 Blows, but I do not particularly care for The Soft Skin, The Last Metro, but ESPECIALLY Jules and Jim.

Well, anyway I watched Day for Night tonight in preparation for the Blu-ray release and I can't even muster up the words to describe how absolutely enthralling, magnificent, and brilliant it is. 10 minutes into the film and I knew it was one of the greatest films ever made and by the time it ended, my jaw was practically on the floor.

It's really safe to say that Day for Night is able to hold hands with Fellini's 8.5 and skip down the street, side by side.

He's been extremely hit or miss for me as well, but I may have to check that out. At the very least, your final sentence is priceless.