Official Film Noir on Blu-ray Thread

[noirjunkie]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

All this talk about books made me crave reading some hardboiled/pulp stuff. I just came across ths huge (1100+ pg) Black Mask anthology collection. Anyone own it?

I have it. It's worth a pickup, as it contains a huge breadth of writers and stories.

[John Ross Ewing]

A few days ago during the Barnes And Noble sale I ordered the David Goodis LOA set, the Women Crime Writers LOA set, and the American Noir LOA set.

And today I placed a Blu-ray order which includes Olive's film noir set and Kino's film noir set. It would be nice for both of these releases to get volume 2 companions.

So after spending a shitload of money I think it would probably be a good idea to get to actually reading and watching all of this and the rest of the stuff in my book and movie collection!

By the way, how does everyone organize their noir/hard boiled books? My bookshelves are a bit of a disaster right now with books stacked on top of each other, not to mention the piles of books on the floor. I'm thinking of having a bookshelf dedicated just to noir.

[MeMynonsense]

Reposting from the criterion thread, thought it was sufficiently noirish.



Saw a delicious little heist-noir called Intimidation (part of The Warped World of Koreyoshi Kurahara Eclipse set).

It revolves around Takita - a corrupt, ladder-climbing banker who’s blackmailed into robbing his own bank before he leaves for a cushy corporate promotion.
There’s also Nakaike, his guileless, unambitious subordinate (and childhood friend - who might make the perfect fall-guy) and his hateful sister Yukie who’s harbouring her share of regrets and bitter resentments.

Kurahara comes across as a seasoned exponent of the genre particularly during the supremely executed, tension-fraught heist sequence - effectively employing quick cuts, sweaty close-ups to highlight the desperation-infested claustrophobic bank setting.
There's also some daring Hitchcockian camerawork:
Like a distinctive high angle shot in a key extortion scene (a la Dial M for Murder) or a pair of eerily-lensed, bookending train sequences (a la Shadow of a Doubt).

But it’s in its final act where Intimidation soars loaded with clever twists & turns as it transforms into a vengeful game of chess where the players use coercive leverage and deep-rooted hostilities to one-up each other.
Cerebrally intense, it never lets us off the hook throughout its 65 min runtime and would’ve been right at home in their earlier “Nikkatsu Noir” release.

This is a brilliant little film that needs to be seen and appreciated.

[lordmorpheus72]

So just finished watching the bonus features on Gotham season 2 and there was a cool feature called Gotham By Noir Light. It centered on the production of the show, and how most of the production team are big fans of Dashiell Hammett, Dorothy Hughes, and films like The Big Sleep, In a Lonely Place, The Big Heat and other classic Noir films. All-in-all it was a nice little piece about the show and its noir influences on lighting, music, clothing, and all aspects of the show. Just thought I'd share that in case anyone was interested.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I picked up the LIFE magazine Film Noir issue yesterday when I happened to spot it while I was in the checkout line at a grocery store down the street. This is a refreshing break from the drivel that I usually see on the magazine racks of grocery store checkout lanes.

This is a quick read, but a fun one all around, with some solid write-ups on the most prominently recognized classic films noir and neo-noir movies.

I just noticed that there's a Target Cartwheel 15% off coupon available for this. Offer expires tomorrow . I'm stopping by one today, so I'll see if they have it there.

https://cartwheel.target.com/o/life_...m-noir/-/68268

[noirjunkie]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

In my opinion, Hardcore (1979) should be added to the Neo-Noir section. Can I get a witness?

It's been a while since I've seen it, but from what I remember, it doesn't have many noir signifiers. It's more of a depressing 70s drama than anything else.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by noirjunkie

It's been a while since I've seen it, but from what I remember, it doesn't have many noir signifiers. It's more of a depressing 70s drama than anything else.

George C. Scott's character in Hardcore goes through some good hero/antihero complexities that liken this to classic noir characters like Glenn Ford's in The Big Heat. There's a distinct "This will not end well." vibe going on in the story, and his brush off of a major character at the end seals the deal.

[jetthead]

Received Road House today and just finished watching it. When it came to playing the psychotic villian, Richard Widmark was one of the best. Great movie and another lovely transfer from Kino.

[5150z]

Originally Posted by jetthead

Received Road House today and just finished watching it. When it came to playing the psychotic villian, Richard Widmark was one of the best. Great movie and another lovely transfer from Kino.

Likewise. Got mine Tuesday and watched it in the evening. Nice video and audio. Had not seen the movie before. Great flick and good replay. Listening to the Muller/Morgan commentary right now. Very lively. Eddie pulls out a flask during the commentary and takes some swigs. Very worthy of a purchase.

[MifuneFan]

Think I might be the one of the first to find out, but an exciting noir title is coming from Criterion for December.

Keeping it behind spoilers for those that want to wait for the official announcement.

[Show spoiler]They're releasing The Asphalt Jungle!

[CBHampson]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Think I might be the one of the first to find out, but an exciting noir title is coming from Criterion for December.

Keeping it behind spoilers for those that want to wait for the official announcement.

[Show spoiler]They're releasing The Asphalt Jungle!

I want to cry

[CBHampson]

Originally Posted by 5150z

Likewise. Got mine Tuesday and watched it in the evening. Nice video and audio. Had not seen the movie before. Great flick and good replay. Listening to the Muller/Morgan commentary right now. Very lively. Eddie pulls out a flask during the commentary and takes some swigs. Very worthy of a purchase.

Very excited for this one....Widmark is among my absolute favorite NOIR stars.

[jetthead]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Think I might be the one of the first to find out, but an exciting noir title is coming from Criterion for December.

Keeping it behind spoilers for those that want to wait for the official announcement.

[Show spoiler]They're releasing The Asphalt Jungle!

Finally!

[MifuneFan]

I picked up these Hammett books 2nd hand recently. I was looking for some copies I could carry around with me, so these fit the bill, and were cheap. Eventually I'll pick up the Library of America collections of his work, and either donate these to a local library, or pass them on to a friend.

[noirjunkie]

Another great noir is headed to blu-ray. Warner Archive will be releasing Nicholas Ray's On Dangerous Ground (1951). Here is the text and cover art from the Facebook announcement:

NEW 2016 HD REMASTER DERIVED FROM NEW 4K SCAN FROM ORIGINAL NITRATE CAMERA NEGATIVE
BD50
4x3 1.37
DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (Restored from original nitrate track negative)
English SDH

SPECIAL FEATURES:
Audio commentary by film historian Glenn Erickson (DVD Savant)
Original theatrical trailer (remastered 1080p HD)

[The Great Owl]

Between On Dangerous Ground and a certain rumored Criterion announcement, it appears that the universe is throwing a bone to all of us in this thread today. Great news!

[EVERYONE LIES]

Originally Posted by noirjunkie

Another great noir is headed to blu-ray. Warner Archive will be releasing Nicholas Ray's On Dangerous Ground (1951). Here is the text and cover art from the Facebook announcement:

Nice, keep the RKO movies coming. As a collector of movie posters I just can't get enough of these covers. It makes me interested in movies that I wouldn't be normally. That's not the case with this one though.

[MifuneFan]

Very excited for that one. This year has been amazing for noir, and for WAC too.

[78deluxe]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Between On Dangerous Ground and a certain rumored Criterion announcement, it appears that the universe is throwing a bone to all of us in this thread today. Great news!

This.

Unfortunatly that bone for Criterion is December, after the BN sale.

Wouldn't care so much but their releases between now and then are in general not anything I'm overtly interested in.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Think I might be the one of the first to find out, but an exciting noir title is coming from Criterion for December.

Keeping it behind spoilers for those that want to wait for the official announcement.

[Show spoiler]They're releasing The Asphalt Jungle!

And it's official! Criterion will be releasing John Huston's The Asphalt Jungle (1950) on Blu-ray on December 13th

https://www.criterion.com/films/2869...asphalt-jungle

• New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• Audio commentary from 2004 by film historian Drew Casper, featuring recordings of actor James Whitmore
• New interviews with film noir historian Eddie Muller and cinematographer John Bailey
• Archival footage of writer-director John Huston discussing the film
• Pharos of Chaos, a 1983 documentary about actor Sterling Hayden
• Episode of the television program City Lights from 1979 featuring John Huston
• Audio excerpts of archival interviews with Huston
• Excerpts from footage of the 1983 AFI Lifetime Achievement Award ceremony honoring Huston, featuring actor Sam Jaffe and the filmmaker
• Trailer
• New English subtitle translation
• PLUS: An essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien
• More!