Because most of them are to me, except for Frankenstein that was great [/b][/quote]Irishman, have u seen any 'Film Noir' movies from the 40's or 50's? And have u seen any Crime/Gangster movies from the 30's or 40's ?

Im just asking becuase I think youre maybe missing some of the greatest movies ever made.
The 40's IMO was the best decade for movies.(yes,even better than the 70's)

Check out these 2 lists (pre 60's movies):

Greatest (pre 60's) Film Noir (including some Noir/Gangster combos) :

I Am a Fugitive From A Chain Gang (1932)
Fury (1936)
The Letter (1940)
Rebecca (1940)
High Sierra (1941)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Laura (1944)
Double Indemnity (1944)
Gaslight (1944)
To Have and Have Not (1944)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Spellbound (1945)
The Big Sleep (1946)
Gilda (1946)
Notorious (1946)
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
Dark Passage (1947)
Nightmare Alley (1947)
Key Largo (1948)
The Lady From Shanghai (1948)
White Heat (1949)
The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Touch of Evil (1958)
Vertigo (1958)

Western/Noir Combo :

The Gunfighter (1950)
High Noon (1952)

Greatest pre 60's Crime/Gangster films :

Little Caesar (1930)
M (1931, Ger.)
The Public Enemy (1931)
Scarface: The Shame of the Nation (1932)
G-Men (1935)
The Petrified Forest (1936)
Dead End (1937)
Angels With Dirty Faces (1938)
Each Dawn I Die (1939)
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
They Drive by Night (1940)
On the Waterfront (1954)

Crime films already mentioned for their Noir elements :

Key Largo (1948)
White Heat (1949)
High Sierra (1941)
The Asphalt Jungle (1950)

(Note how the "Film Noir" sub-genre has affected the Gangster genre as well in the 40's)

A lot of films are also called Film-Noirs on IMDB for no reason other then the fact they aren't westerns or musicals. I think it's become a little overused. Double Indemnity is the best, and definitive film-noir IMO.

After the 50's, it became Neo-Noirs, and the closest a Neo-noir ever came to the original film-noirs IMO, was Polanski's masterpiece Chinatown.

Because most of them are to me, except for Frankenstein that was great [/b][/quote]Irishman, have u seen any 'Film Noir' movies from the 40's or 50's? And have u seen any Crime/Gangster movies from the 30's or 40's ?

Im just asking becuase I think youre maybe missing some of the greatest movies ever made.
The 40's IMO was the best decade for movies.(yes,even better than the 70's) [/b][/quote]No I sure haven't. I think the only 'Film Noir' movie I've seen is Pulp Fiction but I'd be open to seeing more. I have also wanted to see Howard Hughes' Scarface because I have never seen it before (even though I own it).

The Beatles Anthology 4

I'm really starting to enjoy this more as I LOVE the concert footage because it's as close as I'm ever going to get to seeing The Beatles live. The interviews and stories are very interesting (such as when they started to get into marijuana during their music careers).

Yeah the whole genre system in IMDB is pretty "vague", it gives you all the closest genres and sub-genres to classify a movie.

That said, while some dont consider movies like "Heat" , "Memento" , "Bullitt" or "Serpico" as pure Neo-Noir - they certainly contain Noir elements one cant deny.

But given all the possible choices, I agree about Chinatown - the best of the lot.

2nd Greatest Neo-Noir/Post Noir : "The Manchurian Candidate" (1962)

3rd greatest: "Fargo" (1996)

P.S - Have u seen the sequel to Chinatown - "The Two Jakes"?

did u like it?

No I didn't see the sequel. Michael Mann was inspired by Jean-Pierre Melville, who directed two EXCELLENT Neo-Noir films, that are among the greatest crime related films ever: Le Samourai and Le Cercle Rouge.

Heat definitely has Noir elements, but the thing is Neo-Noirs have evolved in style somewhat with different visuals. Collateral for instance, has Neo-Noir elements, more then Heat somewhat. Memento's noir feel is in the B/W scenes/narration.

As for Pulp Fiction, it isn't a Film-Noir.

Amen to that !
Check out the same Melville, only this time as an actor, in Godard's masterpiece "A bout de souffle".

I really wanna see some Godard films, but it's hard for me to keep up with all of these directors. If I buy another Criterion, it'll probably be Bergman's The Seventh Seal.

The Seventh Seal- I havent seen it yet but after watching Bergman's "Persona" and "Wild Strawberries" I cant wait.

Its up in my to-watch list together with John Cassavetes' "Shadows", "Faces" and "Too Late Blues".

I just watched most of the boxset within the last week. Shadows is a great film, and the beginning of the American New Wave. Faces was a lot better, and an excellent film. So far Cassavetes best for me is A Woman Under the Influence, which has one of the best performances from an actress of all time. I still have to watch Opening Night.

I've been downloading both "Le Samourai" and "Le Cercle Rouge" but it will take a while until them end, and when it happens, I know I'll have a hard time trying to find the subtitles. as for Godard, I found out lately that some of his movies are on TV here. one of these days I'm gonna get organizized and sit down to watch'em. the last one I remember was "Alphaville", but I didn't know nothing about it.

-comeback to the boriginal title of the thread- I just finished watching "A Clockwork Orange". any big fans out there? I really liked, although I was expecting something really different. definitely one of the most disturbing, weirdest movies of all time.

I just saw "The Wedding Crashers" Sunday. It was actually much better than I could have imagined. It was a rare "dumb comedy" with a decent story behind it. The only negative was that it was a little longer than it needed to be. (over 2 hrs)

I think I'm gonna see it tonight with me ma. Thanks for the review. It looks pretty funny to me so hopefully we'll like it

It's been in my DVD collection for 2 years now, and I haven't watched it! I'll probably watch it later on today... I'll post my review then.

I laughed so hard that I missed some of it and am going to see it again. It is a dumb movie but funny as hell.

Regarding the noir debate, it's generally considered that Huston's The Maltese Falcon (1941) was the first true noir, and Welles' Touch of Evil (1958) was the last. Any before or since are coincidental in their elements. And in fact, the whole "genre" of noir is vague itself, since at the time, the directors were making uncategorizable thrillers. Only the French critics coined the term at the end of the war, when these dark, American femmes fatales and sun-baked venetian blinds came flooding onto their screens.

Regarding A Clockwork Orange (1971), it is a witty, meticulous social metaphor. Terrific and terrifying, this verges many times on both farce and horror, with brilliant directorial touches throughout. Burgess' novel is even better.

Mick

Legenda Suramski Kreposti/The Legend of Suram Forest ** (1st Time)
1984, Paradjanov/Abashidze USSR
Georgian myth on film: a peasant serves a crumbling fortress by being immersed in its walls.
Ravishing to look at and difficult to follow; presented in Paradjanov's abstract, symbolic, episodic style. Aesthetics are brilliant, but without the cultural context, its impact wanes for Western audiences.

Mick

Cry-Baby

I hadn't seen this movie in awhile but when it came out on DVD I had to buy it. I'm not a huge musical fan but I enjoyed this movie as a kid and I enjoyed it as an adult. One of Johnny Depp's first lead roles in a movie and it even had a sweet Willem Dafoe cameo that I was very surprised at! Anybody else ever seen it?

The only Waters film I've seen is Hairspray, and that was a while ago. Though I do remember liking it somewhat.

Looks like there will be a remake of Hairspray as well... :rolleyes: Another remake

Rebel Without a Cause - (Nicholas Ray;1955;USA) - ****
A teenage loner comes to a new city, making friends and enemies.
James Dean's performance in here is excellent. Like Brando he was one of the first actors to take a different approach to his characters, and it works immensely. The film's social commentary on the teenagers of post-war America is also very important, and is relevant even in today's society. Ray's best film so far, and a true classic.
#27

wow I just checked my TV guide and found myself what to do tonight. I'll be watching À Bout De Souffle as late as 2:25 AM but who cares! I just hope the hype don't mess up the film.

wow I just checked my TV guide and found myself what to do tonight. I'll be watching À Bout De Souffle as late as 2:25 AM but who cares! I just hope the hype don't mess up the film. [/b][/quote]American TV? Tonight?

M ** (2nd Time)
1931, Lang, Ger
With a child murderer on the loose, the police and city's criminals search for the elusive psychopath.
Primitive now but an undoubted classic, with a disturbing theme and an over-the-top climactic session of psychoanalysis, in which the villain's murders are somewhat justified, being nothing more than a child himself.

Mick

Invasion of the Body Snatchers - (Don Siegel;1956;USA) - ***1/2
Plant-like pods begin hatching in the basements of a small town, turning the residents into emotionless people.
A great film, although not as good as I thought it would be. The original ending would've made this much better, but still this is a strong film that can be used as an allegory for the McCarthy blacklisting. McCarthy (ironic, huh?) gives a pretty good performance in the lead, and the supporting cast supports the film well. Not Siegel's best but great nevertheless.

Dodgeball Unrated Edition

I don't see what was so "unrated" about this version of the film other than 1 F bomb (that I counted) and maybe some more slurs. Other than that, it's the same old movie. I did enjoy it nonetheless. Some funny cameo's too from David Hasselhoff, William Shatner, Chuck Norris, and Lance Armstrong

it wasn't on american tv Don Vercetti. you didn't miss this one well I did watch and I did like it. the directing is somewhat genious, with all the camera moves and original soundtrack. it's cool to see where Tarantino got his long dialogue scenes from. the hotel room scene with Michel and Patricia may last almost half an hour of no action and I still was glued to the TV. it surprised a lot because I was expecting more of a crime flick, but I didn't see that many crime related stuff in the plot. instead, it's a relationship flick, like Woody Allen could do, with touches of comedy and wonderful acting from Belmondo, an actor I had never heard of. a classic. (I was talking about Godard's À Bout De Souffle )

Million Dollar Baby

I was curious to see this movie as it beat out The Aviator for the major awards. Upon my first viewing I think The Aviatar was better but Million Dollar Baby was still a good movie. Very depressing and I was shocking mid-way through the movie in terms of what happened to one of the main characters. Swank and Eastwood both did a great job. Morgan Freeman was good but I wouldn't consider him "great." So between this and Mystic River what do you guys think was the better movie?

Irish, Million Dollar Baby is better IMO. Eastwood deserved his nomination for acting as well. While MR had an overlong end, MDB doesn't. The direction is also better, especially with the lighting, most notably in that scene in the car. The script itself is very good and packs a punch of emotion while generally staying away from cliches, with the exception of that horrible character "Danger." I think Unforgiven is better then both.

Mystic River - ***1/2
Million Dollar BAby - ****

Le Samouraï - (Jean-Pierre Melville;1967;France/Italy) - ****
A perfectionist hitman leaves several witnesses on his next job, and is pursued by police and his employers.
Definitely one of the best thrillers ever. A simple plot is elevated through excellent direction and visuals from Melville. The score, which is at times Jazzy and pulsating also adds to the feel of the film, along with the grays and blues in the palette. Alain Delon plays his icy role, in what may be the best portrayal of a hitman character.
#1

I just watched Gone with the Wind for the first time.

One of the greatest movies of all time.

I've yet to watch it but it's on the list and I'll see it when I get to the top 5. I don't want to watch it before then but from what I've heard from me ma and this board I'm excited

Although I had heard of it, but never really knew what it was about, a friend of mine suggested I see "Grand Canyon". It was on HBO last week and I watched it.

Kevin Klein is a lawyer, and Danny Glover a tow truck driver, who rescues Kevin who's car breaks down in an undesirable area in L.A. Their friendship continues from there. So many horrible things happening ( from a drive-by shooting, abandon baby to an earthquake), which makes you wonder how horrible the world we live in can be. Yet the friendship between Klein & Glover that develops gives you hope that there are still good people in this world.

Very different film, but I did enjoy it.

TIS