Official Film Noir on Blu-ray Thread

[leonmarks]

This one just popped up out of nowhere on Amazon. The Body Snatcher (gorgeously shot period noir) directed by Robert Wise is coming from Shout Factory in March. (Posting an image of the cover in this forum seems strangely complicated - I tried).



https://www.amazon.com/Body-Snatcher...atcher+blu+ray

[latehong]

Originally Posted by leonmarks

This one just popped up out of nowhere on Amazon. The Body Snatcher (gorgeously shot period noir) directed by Robert Wise is coming from Shout Factory in March. (Posting an image of the cover in this forum seems strangely complicated - I tried).



https://www.amazon.com/Body-Snatcher...atcher+blu+ray

I don't mind The Body Snatcher being called a noir and certainly there are many noir elements in every Val Lewton production from the 40s, but still, I must say it was produced and has been regarded as a horror film first and foremost. (and since you said "out of nowhere," Scream Factory, following the Criterion Blu-ray of Cat People, is releasing Val Lewton horror films one by one, starting with The Curse of the Cat People last June.)

[noirjunkie]

Originally Posted by leonmarks

This one just popped up out of nowhere on Amazon. The Body Snatcher (gorgeously shot period noir) directed by Robert Wise is coming from Shout Factory in March.

It was announced a while back, including with a press release on this site. Also, as the previous poster noted, while it fits squarely in the horror genre, it only features some typically Lewtonian noir touches, making it more of an outlier than a full-fledged member of the noir genre.

[leonmarks]

There’s nothing supernatural in “The Body Snatcher” so its horror elements are stylistic only; it’s a fantastic noir.

[koberulz]

TIL the Saw franchise is not horror.

[The Great Owl]

I think of the Val Lewton horror productions, particularly The Seventh Victim, as proto-noir, mostly in terms of visual cues.

Jacques Tourneur took everything that he learned while making Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie, and The Leopard Man, and applied it to making the perfect film noir, Out of the Past.

[Jexes23]

Originally Posted by John Ross Ewing

With the year coming to an end we've had a chance to see more noir. Instead of top 10, what is your list of top 25 noir? You can include neo noir too if you want.

Impossible task IMO. My list is constantly changing as I see more and more. The Maltese Falcon was my first and will always be my favorite because I liked it before I even knew what Noir was, but I can’t nail down a concrete list in order.

I just watched Pickup on South Street 2 weeks ago for the first time and absolutely loved it. I don’t know where it goes now, or even what to move up or down on a potential top 25 list, and in a couple weeks I might see a couple more good ones, and I might need to revisit ones I haven’t seen in a while. My tastes have changed since I first saw some of these pictures.

No, what you ask is completely impractical.

[Jexes23]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I'm going to have to give this some thought. My top 10 films noir is pretty concrete, but there's so many great ones to choose from for the rest.

I’d like to see your list for sure.

[MalteseCrow]

Rather than ranking every noir that's ever been released, I'd be more interested to hear what were everybody's highlights of 2018 in noir. That could mean a new BD release of an old classic released this year and/or neo-noir films that hit theaters in 2018.

If anyone is scratching their heads trying to remember what came out this year, here's a mostly complete list (feel free to add to it):

2018 BD Releases

• Raw Deal
• Elevator to the Gallows
• Farewell, My Lovely
• The Blue Dahlia
• While the City Sleeps
• Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
• Don't Bother to Knock
• Highway Dragnet
• No Orchids for Miss Blandish
• Down Three Dark Streets
• No Way Out
• Samuel Fuller at Columbia Box-Set (Shockproof, Scandal Sheet, Crimson Kimono, Underworld USA, etc.)
• Gun Crazy
• Moonrise
• Odds Against Tomorrow
• The Woman in the Window
• I Walk Alone
• A Strange Adventure
• The Man Who Cheated Himself
• Black Widow
• The Spiral Staircase
• The Mamie Van Doren Film Noir Collection

I've only been able to make a crack in that list, but these were my rankings of the ones I've seen:

1. The Woman in the Window
2. Gun Crazy
3. Raw Deal
4. Farewell, My Lovely
5. The Blue Dahlia
6. No Way Out
7. The Spiral Staircase
8. Moonrise
9. Down Three Dark Streets
10. I Walk Alone
11. Don't Bother to Knock

As for neo-noir (or neo-noirish!) films that hit theaters this year, here were some of my highlights:

1. American Animals
2. Thoroughbreds
3. Under the Silver Lake
4. A Simple Favor
5. Widows

...and I'm still waiting to see Bad Times at the El Royale.

[noirjunkie]

Originally Posted by MalteseCrow

Rather than ranking every noir that's ever been released, I'd be more interested to hear what were everybody's highlights of 2018 in noir.

This is what interests me as well, as everyone has already posted plenty of all-time top [insert number] lists. Here's my top five new-to-BD noirs of 2018 (I'm not counting titles such as The Blue Dahlia that already had releases in other regions):

1. Elevator to the Gallows
2. Gun Crazy
3. Don't Bother to Knock
4. The Woman in the Window
5. The Spiral Staircase

My pick for top neo-noir of 2018 is Gemini.

[javy]

These are the 2018 titles I've picked up so far and my ranking of the films.


1. Elevator to the Gallows
2. The Woman in the Window
3. Underworld USA
4. Raw Deal
5. Don't Bother to Knock
6. The Spiral Staircase
7. Gun Crazy


I like Moonrise and I own the Criterion blu ray release, but it doesn't feel like a noir to me. Actually, imo it isn't.

I already have the Arrow releae of The Blue Dahlia.

I purchased Gemini a while back and it is indeed a very solid film.

[MalteseCrow]

Originally Posted by noirjunkie

My pick for top neo-noir of 2018 is Gemini.

Thanks for mentioning Gemini. I'd forgotten all about it! Stylistically at least I thought it was brilliant, but overall it felt a little shallow to me. I should probably revisit it though.

Originally Posted by javy

These are the 2018 titles I've picked up so far and my ranking of the films.


[b]1. Elevator to the Gallows

Originally Posted by noirjunkie

Here's my top five new-to-BD noirs of 2018 (I'm not counting titles such as The Blue Dahlia that already had releases in other regions):

1. Elevator to the Gallows

Guess I really need to watch Elevator to the Gallows now, huh?

[Richard--W]

The Film Noir Foundation will unveil its new restoration of Richard Fleischer's
Trapped (1949) starring Lloyd Bridges and Barbara Payton at Noir City
Festival 17 in Frisco January 25 - February 3. Love the pictorial website, and
get a load of the schedule --

http://www.noircity.com/

-- reproduced for discussion here:

Friday January 25
TRAPPED / THE FILE ON THELMA JORDON

Saturday, January 26
Matinée
THE WELL / DETECTIVE STORY
Evening
THE TURNING POINT / ANGEL FACE

Sunday, January 27
PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET / CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS

Monday, January 28
PUSHOVER / PRIVATE HELL 36

Tuesday, January 29
KISS ME DEADLY / KILLER'S KISS

Wednesday, January 30
THE SCARLET HOUR / A KISS BEFORE DYING

Thursday, January 31
NIGHTFALL / THE BURGLAR

Friday, February 1
TOUCH OF EVIL / MURDER BY CONTRACT

Saturday, February 2
Matinee
THE CRIMSON KIMONO / ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW
Evening
BREATHLESS (A BOUT A SOUFFLE) / PSYCHO

Sunday, February 3
UNDERWORLD USA / BLAST OF SILENCE

Check out the blu-ray and restoration announcements in the right column.

Becoming a member is a great way to start the new year, so donate.

The latest issue of Noir City Magazine is a special on International Noir:

[usuallee]

Originally Posted by Richard--W

Criterion releases Julien Duvivier's classic French film noir Panique (1946) today. Here's a trenchant essay on the film:

https://www.criterion.com/current/po...e-panic-attack

I just watched Panique the other night - really enjoyed it! Definitely a thoroughly blackhearted Noir. No one in the film comes off very well -

[Show spoiler]even the supposedly sympathetic outcast/victim withheld evidence of a murder for his own selfish ends, and engaged in Peeping Tom activities.

The film has great performances from Simon and especially Viviane Romance -

[Show spoiler] she played both sides and I was played as well - I really couldn't tell which way she was going!

The bumper car sequence and the

[Show spoiler]climactic rooftop scene

were quite impressive from a technical standpoint, and of course the picture quality courtesy of Criterion was utterly ravishing. Definitely worthwhile. Thanks for the link too! An excellent read.

[noiradelic]

Originally Posted by leonmarks

There’s nothing supernatural in “The Body Snatcher” so its horror elements are stylistic only; it’s a fantastic noir.

It's a period movie based on a Robert Louis Stevenson short story, so I'm going to go with not noir. Most slasher movies aren't supernatural either.

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I think of the Val Lewton horror productions, particularly The Seventh Victim, as proto-noir, mostly in terms of visual cues.

The Seventh Victim is arguably noir, but it's the only Lewton production I'd say that about.

Jacques Tourneur took everything that he learned while making Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie, and The Leopard Man, and applied it to making the perfect film noir, Out of the Past.

Robert Wise took a lot of what he'd learned from working on Citizen Kane and applied it to the noir films he directed, but that doesn't make Citizen Kane noir.

[leonmarks]

I’ll bite. My top 25 favorites of all time, including international, in alpha order:

Act of Violence
The Big Combo
The Breaking Point
Le Corbeau
Criss Cross
Cry of the City
Les Doulos
Edge of Doom
Hangover Square
High Sierra
The Killers
Les Diaboliques
Moonrise
The Night of the Hunter
Nightmare Alley
Notorious
Odd Man Out
Odds Against Tomorrow
On Dangerous Ground
Port of Shadows
Raw Deal
Rififi
The Spiral Staircase
Sunset Boulevard
Touchez Pas Au Grisbi

Soooooo close to making the list:
Night and the City
Out of the Past
Thieves Highway
Double Indemnity
In a Lonely Place
Sudden Fear
The Third Man
...and about 20 more. This is impossible.

[MifuneFan]

Happy New Year's everyone! In Criterion's annual NYD drawing one of the clues is for Klute (1971). It's been long speculated to come from Criterion, so this is a pretty solid indication that it's happening this year.

[GeoffOliver]

My favorite noirs are probably Postman Always Rings Twice, The Woman in the Window, and They Live By Night. There’s a lot I still want to see though.

Originally Posted by leonmarks

There’s nothing supernatural in “The Body Snatcher” so its horror elements are stylistic only; it’s a fantastic noir.

A film (or any fictional story) absolutely does not need supernatural elements to qualify as horror.

[LordSummerIsle]

Originally Posted by leonmarks

I’ll bite. My top 25 favorites of all time, including international, in alpha order:

Act of Violence
The Big Combo
The Breaking Point
Le Corbeau
Criss Cross
Cry of the City
Les Doulos
Edge of Doom
Hangover Square
High Sierra
The Killers
Les Diaboliques
Moonrise
The Night of the Hunter
Nightmare Alley
Notorious
Odd Man Out
Odds Against Tomorrow
On Dangerous Ground
Port of Shadows
Raw Deal
Rififi
The Spiral Staircase
Sunset Boulevard
Touchez Pas Au Grisbi

Soooooo close to making the list:
Night and the City
Out of the Past
Thieves Highway
Double Indemnity
In a Lonely Place
Sudden Fear
The Third Man
...and about 20 more. This is impossible.

I don't even try to do lists like these anymore. It's too stressful...

[SeanJoyce]

Originally Posted by leonmarks

There’s nothing supernatural in “The Body Snatcher” so its horror elements are stylistic only; it’s a fantastic noir.

LOL The Body Snatcher a noir; I've seen it all now.