Official Film Noir on Blu-ray Thread

[The Great Owl]

I'm double-posting my review from the Kino Lorber thread...



He Ran All the Way is somewhat predictable to most of us contemporary viewers, but it's still a riveting affair with great work from John Garfield, Shelley Winters, and Wallace Ford.

Garfield plays one of the dumbest criminals in the history of dumb criminals. I spent a lot of the movie face-palming at his decisions. The first scene, where he talks in a threatening manner to his own mother, seals him as an unlikable character. As Garfield's character flees from the aftermath of a robbery, he stumbles across a rather naive woman, played by Shelley Winters, who invites him home, only to have him hold her entire family hostage while he takes shelter from the police pursuit. The father, played by Wallace Ford, is the character for whom most viewers will cheer, and his role is impressive through and through.

This was John Garfield's last film before his passing, and, likable or not, his character is a tour-de-force of twitchy intensity. His role is one of the better portrayals of a truly desperate man that I have seen in a classic-era noir.

The real hero of He Ran All the Way, however, is cinematographer James Wong Howe. Howe's expertise with shadows and claustrophobic settings elevates this title from a simple action film to a visual film noir treat, and his touch lends a true tension to the story.

He Ran All the Way looks pretty remarkable on this Kino Lorber Blu-ray, aside from a handful of print imperfections. Facial closeups and shadows fare the best, and that's important for this particular film. On the audio front, this disc is solid, and the lack of subtitles did not bother me.

[Vlad Draculi]

Chinatown - This was quite enjoyable. It is easily one of the best Neo Noirs I have ever seen despite it lacking narration. The lighting was well done and the story was good, although, it did drag on a little bit. Oh, and the whole thing about the sister/daughter was kind of disgusting. Aside from that, a great movie that I'm going to give an 8/10 to. Jack Nicholson was great in it and it was interesting to see him not playing a psychopath.

[HGN2001]

My only complaint about the Blu is that it doesn't include the trailer, which was directed by Friedkin and is one of the greatest trailers ever made.

Over on YouTube, there's a reconstruction of the SORCERER trailer in HD, using the new 1080 Blu as a source. Looks pretty good:

Sorcerer 1977 trailer HD remaster - YouTube

Harry

[jra166]

Not to clutter this thread with videos, but this one I had to share. The day all of these are on Blu will be a very happy day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOgBa2Oij1A

[Blu Titan]

Sad to say that I watched about 45 minutes of Sunset Blvd today and stopped out of disappointment and boredom.

[RiFiFi1955]

Originally Posted by oildude

In a response to a question posted to their Facebook page, Twilight Time will be releasing Whirlpool (1949) starring Gene Tierney and directed by Otto Preminger (director of the incomparable Laura, also starring Gene Tierney). No release date, but it is coming at some point.

I have never seen Whirlpool, but have seen it listed as a psychological thriller- film noir in several publications and online.

I love Whirlpool, i think out of Fallen Angel, Sidewalk and Whirlpool...Whirlpool is probably my favorite. All 3 are great though and yes Whirlpool is definitely a psychological thriller- film noir.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Blu Titan

Sad to say that I watched about 45 minutes of Sunset Blvd today and stopped out of disappointment and boredom.

It's weird. It took me several false starts before I could finish - let alone appreciate - Sunset Boulevard. It wasn't that I disliked it, I would just feel my attention wander and would decide to come back to it another time.

But once it hooked me it hooked me to the extent that my immediate reaction to your post 'wtf, are you out of your mind' even though I had the exact same experience myself.

[RiFiFi1955]

Originally Posted by octagon

It's weird. It took me several false starts before I could finish - let alone appreciate - Sunset Boulevard. It wasn't that I disliked it, I would just feel my attention wander and would decide to come back to it another time.

But once it hooked me it hooked me to the extent that my immediate reaction to your post 'wtf, are you out of your mind' even though I had the exact same experience myself.

I only watched it once and I didn't dislike it but didn't love it either, maybe I too should give it another go. I was bored with the aging actress storyline personally, I liked the side story between Holden and the younger female lead much better.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Blu Titan

Sad to say that I watched about 45 minutes of Sunset Blvd today and stopped out of disappointment and boredom.

I approach movies like I approach my marathon races. Quitting is not an option.

The first half of Sunset Boulevard is a slow buildup, but the payoff is tremendous. It's a deep, dark noir masterpiece, although it does differ from more conventional noir movies at first glance.

[DistrictOfMisery]

I absolutely loved Sunset Boulevard, to me the entire time it had a very sinister undertone that I haven't really experienced in a film in quite some time. Also all the use of symbolism was really well done in my opinion yet it was somewhat subtle and it worked. I also felt that all relationships between characters felt super genuine, which a lot of films lack and is hard to care about the characters and their interactions with one another. Billy Wilder has become one of my favorite directors and I have been trying to watch as much stuff by him lately as possible!

[waxHead]

Originally Posted by Blu Titan

Sad to say that I watched about 45 minutes of Sunset Blvd today and stopped out of disappointment and boredom.

While I did love Sunset Boulevard the first time I watched it, I developed a much deeper appreciation of what Wilder accomplished after reading about the relationships between cast members and their film careers at the point it was made. Much of the film echoed a painful reality for (at least some of) the actors -- I suppose that's what I find most intriguing about it.

[Blu Titan]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I approach movies like I approach my marathon races. Quitting is not an option.

The first half of Sunset Boulevard is a slow buildup, but the payoff is tremendous. It's a deep, dark noir masterpiece, although it does differ from more conventional noir movies at first glance.

I usually make it though to the end ...I will revisit in the future.

[Vlad Draculi]

Originally Posted by stevieray44

And yes the sister/daughter dynamic is one of the most downright disgusting plot points I've ever seen in a movie;

On the positive side, now I know why it is called Chinatown.

Originally Posted by Blu Titan

Sad to say that I watched about 45 minutes of Sunset Blvd today and stopped out of disappointment and boredom.

Really? I saw the movie for the first time back in Jan at the Alamo Drafthouse and was just blown away by it. It was so damn interesting and enjoyable.

[Vlad Draculi]

The Third Man - My Alamo Drafthouse showed this tonight using the brand new 4K print that was just made and man was it beautiful. The movie was a vast improvement the second time around, although, it did still drag in spots. I do not know why, but everything until Harry first appears in the shadows feels slow but after that point, the movie just keeps getting better. I'm upping my original score of 7 to an 8/10 and I really hope Criterion brings out the 4K version on BD soon.

[LegacyCosts]

Music box theatre by me is having "noir city" this week but I only have a couple of the days off. I've never seen any of the movies. This friday they're playing woman on the run and abandoned. On Saturday they're playing the guilty, the chase, and no abrasive nunca esa puerta. Which one would you guys recommend going to if you've seen these films.

[burningfool]

The first place I saw many of the classic noir films was, oddly, in the Steve Martin film "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid", where clips from many of the old movies were intercut with Steve Martin's detective character Rigby Reardon. I have always liked this film, especially because it introduced me to Double Indemnity, The Killers, The Lost Weekend, The Big Sleep, and others.

A Blu-Ray is available from Italy, but it would be nice to have a USA release of this one.

Anybody else like this film?

[octagon]

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid is an incredible film. Not only is it hilarious in its own right, the homages are great and integrated very well technically.

And it's only gotten better over the years. When I first saw it way back when I was familiar with most of the films but only in a fairly generic 'late, late show' sense. I wasn't really aware of noir or just how great many of these films really are.

And at the time I completely missed two really, really cool things they did. They hired Edith Head to do the costumes and Miklos Rozsa to do the score -and- they put them front and center in the opening credits. And I don't know if this was added to a later home video release but there was a really nice dedication noting that it was Edith Head's last film (I believe that was at the end).

A great film and some very, very classy moves.

[buffetfroid]

Originally Posted by Vlad Draculi

Chinatown - This was quite enjoyable. It is easily one of the best Neo Noirs I have ever seen despite it lacking narration. The lighting was well done and the story was good, although, it did drag on a little bit. Oh, and the whole thing about the sister/daughter was kind of disgusting. Aside from that, a great movie that I'm going to give an 8/10 to. Jack Nicholson was great in it and it was interesting to see him not playing a psychopath.

Lacking narration as in voice-over narration? Interesting you found that a negative. Voice-over is often seen as a narrative crutch.

[buffetfroid]

Originally Posted by octagon

It's weird. It took me several false starts before I could finish - let alone appreciate - Sunset Boulevard. It wasn't that I disliked it, I would just feel my attention wander and would decide to come back to it another time.

But once it hooked me it hooked me to the extent that my immediate reaction to your post 'wtf, are you out of your mind' even though I had the exact same experience myself.

For me Sunset Blvd was instant love and it's been one of favorite films ever since. In college my library had a copy of the script and I xeroxed every damn page (now I'd just look for a pdf!).

[The Great Owl]

I just watched my favorite movie of 2015 so far, Ex Machina, and, although it's predominantly a science fiction film, there's a definite film noir framework.

To be more specific,

[Show spoiler]there's the film noir stalwart concept of a beautiful femme fatale who is unhappy at home with her husband/boyfriend/etc., and sees a way out when an unsuspecting drifter comes along.

The outcome of Ex Machina is pure femme fatale goodness.

I would have no reservations about considering this one to be a neo-noir.