My top 10: (pre-60's film noir, please keep neo noir in a separate list):

1) Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

2) The Maltese Falcon (1941)

3) Laura (1944)

4) The Asphalt Jungle (1950)

5) The Big Sleep (1946)

6) The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

7) Nightmare Alley (1947)

8) Double Indemnity (1944)

9) Gilda (1946)

10) The Night of the Hunter (1955)


Neo Noir :


1) Chinatown (1974)

2) The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

3) Fargo (1996)


Whats your list?

What, exactly, defines the distinction between original, or pure, and "neo"? What date does old become new? Where's the line? In years to come, will Chinatown be considered among the original crop?

Recommendation: Jacques Tourneur's Out of the Past (aka Build My Gallows High). That, and Double Indemnity get my vote.

1) The third man
2) Double Indemnity
3) The Maltese Falcon
4) White Heat
5) Chinatown
6) Notorious
7) Touch of Evil
8) M
9) Shadow of A Doubt
10) Strangers on a Train
11) Sunset Blvd.
12) Detour

Listed a few extra, since defintions of what noir really is seems to differ.

Basically, the distinction is made to diffrentiate the "Godlen Age" and the modern era of film noir....considering the "Golden Age" ended between 1958-1959, it is common to list the post-60's films as neo noir.
Theres no bible here. But if you dont set a paricular time difference (pre-post 60's) the sub genre will blend classic 40's with modern stuff, even tech-noir films like Blade Runner....the definition of Film Noir will lose its classic elements.

(and Blade Runner is a great film, but should we mix it and others with the classic 40/50 ones? - )

Fair enough.

Le samourai would be my favourite "neo"-noir.

The Coen Brothers Blood Simple, and Body Heat belong on any "neo" list, IMO.

And The Man Who Wasn't There, also by the Coens, meant, I think, as a somewhat of a comedic send-up of the genre, right down to the use of the narrative form and the B & W cinematography, belongs on that list as well, I think.

Of the noires themselves, I think Double Indemnity is the best, and it is my favorite.

Amen.

I'm probably forgetting a few, and I'm not 100% sure on one or two, like Taxi Driver.

Film-Noir
1) Double Indemnity
2) Sunset Blvd.
3) The Third Man
4) The Big Sleep
5) Night of the Hunter
6) Touch of Evil
7) Notorious
8) White Heat
9) In a Lonely Place
10) Spellbound

Neo Noir
1) Taxi Driver
2) Le Samourai The Samurai
3) Chinatown
4) Le Cercle Rouge The Red Circle
5) Blue Velvet
6) Pulp Fiction
7) Memento
8) Fargo
9) Heat
10) Collateral

These are two other Neo Noirs that almost made the list, but are still great.

Un Flic A Cop
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie

Any fans of Neo-Noir should see the films of Jean-Pierre Melville, or more recently, Michael Mann.

Film Noir:
1. The Maltese Falcon (1941/Huston)
2. Out of the Past (1947/Tourner)
3. Laura (1944/Preminger)
4. Where the Sidewalk Ends (1951/Preminger)
5. Nightmare Alley (1947/Goulding)
6. Touch of Evil (1958/Welles)
7. The Asphault Jungle (1950/Huston)
8. Murder, My Sweet (1944/Dymytryk)
9. White Heat (1949/Walsh)
10. Gun Crazy (1950/Kings. Bros)
11. The Big Sleep (1946/Hawks)
12. Somewhere in the Night (1947/Mankewickz)
13. Kill of Death (1947/Hathaway)
14. Panic on the Streets (1950/Kazan)
15. Sunset Blvd. (1950/Wilder) *
16. Vertigo (1958/Hitchcock)*
17. Dial "M" for Murder (1953/Hitchcock)*
19. 'The Set-Up' (1950/Wise)


Those listed with * are questinable picks. I for one look at "Vertigo" and am reminded of many elements of noir. Same for "Dial 'M' for Murder".

1. Laura.
2. Asphalt Jungle.
3. Double Indemnity
4. The Killers.
5. Out of the Past.
6. The Killing.
7. Rififi.
8. Purple Noon.
9. The Sicilian Clan.
10. Breathless