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The Neo-Noir Thread - 1980s/1990s Neo-Noir Pictures

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  • The Neo-Noir Thread - 1980s/1990s Neo-Noir Pictures

    Alright, I know it's a tough label to pin down and 'neo-noir' is often said to run the gamut from EXPERIMENT IN TERROR to SF/noir hybrids like BLADE RUNNER.

    But there's a very specific run of neo-noir films of the 1980s and 1990s - John Dahl's KILL ME AGAIN, THE LAST SEDUCTION, RED ROCK WEST; Carl Franklin's ONE FALSE MOVE; James Foley's AFTER DARK, MY SWEET.

    I've been revisiting some of these as part of the podcast I've been recording with some of my teaching colleagues. Our next instalment is looking at one of my favourite neo-noir films, Carl Colpaert's DELUSION (1991), which is still unavailable on DVD or Blu-ray - and is absent, to my knowledge, from any of the streaming services. It's one of those films that, simply by having seen it, I feel as if I am in an increasingly small club

    As part of the research for this, I've made contact and interviewed the film's director of photography, Geza Sinkovics, and am currently in contact with Carl Colpaert himself and the film's editor (Mark Allan Kaplan), and asking them some questions about the picture - including their perceptions of the neo-noir label. (Some fascinating information is coming out of these interviews.)



    Does anyone have any specific favourites from amongst the crop of neo-noir films of the 1980s and 1990s?
    'You know, I'd almost forgotten what your eyes looked like. Still the same. Pissholes in the snow'

    http://www.paul-a-j-lewis.com (my photography website)
    'All explaining in movies can be thrown out, I think': Elmore Leonard

  • #2
    Listening to the 'After Dark My Sweet' episode of your podcast Paul (which I greatly enjoyed by the way), led me to realise that this late 80s/early 90s run of neo-noirs is a complete blind spot for me. I've somehow never managed to see any of 'em, which is an oversight I need to correct.

    I mean, obviously there are a lot of good cop movies and crime movies from this era which could easily be tagged as 'neo-noir', but these more self-conscious, small cast Thompson/Cain-influenced thrillers very much seem to consititute their own particular 'thing' which seems long overdue some attention.

    As such, I have little to add to this thread, but look forward to reading it.
    https://breakfastintheruins.blogspot.com/
    http://stereosanctity.blogspot.com/

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    • #3
      The Grifters
      House of Games
      At Close Range
      Why would anybody watch a scum show like Videodrome? Why did you watch it, Max?

      Comment


      • #4
        One of my favorites from this time is the 1985 film, Trouble in Mind ("The lives of an ex-con, a coffee-shop owner, and a young couple looking to make it rich intersect in the fictional and hypnotic Rain City.")

        Seattle stands in for Rain City (and it has a Blade Runner vibe to it, albeit minus most all the sci-fi elements). And what a cast: Kris Kristofferson, Genevií¨ve Bujold, Keith Carradine, Lori Singer, Joe Morton and, oh yeah, Divine as a mob boss named "Hilly Blue".

        The cherry on top of this cake's icing is the immaculate soundtrack, which features Marianne Faithfull and Mark Isham. This soundtrack drips pure 100% noir:



        Btw, this film is where my avatar comes from.

        Click image for larger version

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        And, the Shout! Factory trailer:

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        • #5
          TROUBLE IN MIND is a masterpiece. One of my favourite films of the '80s.
          Why would anybody watch a scum show like Videodrome? Why did you watch it, Max?

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          • #6
            I'd love to be talking up a bunch of hyper obscure masterpieces but neo-noir was so prevalent over this period that it's hard to go past the mainstream classics. Blood Simple ranks with any noir ever. Basic Instinct is just such salacious fun. What a script and Shazza is the perfect femme fatale. The Last Seduction. Red Rock West. Wild Things. Bound. A Simple Plan. The Getaway.

            Lynch maybe made the best of them. Blue Velvet and Lost Highway hit every neo noir note and are still defiantly their own thing.

            There's a whole string of films here that really up the salacious angle. It's probably the trump card of the neo noir. The 40s ones were desperate to be sexy but were sadly restricted in what they were allowed to present. The remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice feels like the kind of production they wished they could do back then. Even while pursuing that angle they kept it pretty classy for a long time. Body Heat, The Last Seduction etc. Basic Instinct ruined it for everyoine by setting a bar so sleazy that to clear it you had to make stuff like Body Of Evidence and The Colour Of Night.

            Slightly obscure ones that weren't as good... The Underneath. Steven Soderberghs attempt is a bit of a mess but it hits all the noir notes so aggressively I feel like I've seen it before. Was it a remake? Think it might have been. Basically anything from this period with Richard Gere. I was watching Final Analysis the other day. In no way would I call it a good film but I'm such a sucker for the genre that I enjoyed the hell out of it anyway. American Gigolo is better. The Grifters, never liked it as much as everyone else.
            "Never let the fact that they are doing it wrong stop you from doing it right." Hyman Mandell.

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            • #7
              I immediately think of ONE FALSE MOVE when I think of neo-noir. LOVE that film. Billy Bob Thornton co-wrote it and also co-stars - in a particularly chilling role as a psychopath. One of Bill Paxton's best roles too. The ending of this film is so emotional and gut wrenching.

              Other favs - THIEF and JOHNNY HANDSOME (this one is a neglected gem).
              I don't go to church. Kneeling bags my nylons.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Andrew Monroe View Post
                I immediately think of ONE FALSE MOVE when I think of neo-noir. LOVE that film. Billy Bob Thornton co-wrote it and also co-stars - in a particularly chilling role as a psychopath. One of Bill Paxton's best roles too. The ending of this film is so emotional and gut wrenching.
                I love the scene where Paxton overhears the big city cops making fun of him - the look on his face is heartbreaking.
                Why would anybody watch a scum show like Videodrome? Why did you watch it, Max?

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by BW Haggar View Post
                  Listening to the 'After Dark My Sweet' episode of your podcast Paul (which I greatly enjoyed by the way), led me to realise that this late 80s/early 90s run of neo-noirs is a complete blind spot for me. I've somehow never managed to see any of 'em, which is an oversight I need to correct.

                  I mean, obviously there are a lot of good cop movies and crime movies from this era which could easily be tagged as 'neo-noir', but these more self-conscious, small cast Thompson/Cain-influenced thrillers very much seem to consititute their own particular 'thing' which seems long overdue some attention.
                  Thanks for the kind comments about the podcast, BW.

                  Like you say, the neo-noir label is often painted in very broad strokes - and I agree with folks who argue that films like BLADE RUNNER, etc, are very much 'neo-noir' (or, I'd say, hybrids of noir and other genres such as SF) - but there's a smaller, subgroup of neo-noir pictures to which the label applies most directly and explicitly. Many of these, as you say, are low/mid-budget films based on, or at least inspired by, novels by 'hardboiled' writers - Goodis, Thompson, Cain, James Hadley-Chase.

                  Originally posted by Matt H. View Post
                  The Grifters
                  House of Games
                  At Close Range
                  Some excellent choices there, Matt. (I recently bought the French BD release of HOUSE OF GAMES and revisited that and Mamet's HOMICIDE, which I like equally, as part of a writing project that never came through. Such superb films. I think Mamet's RED BELT has many neo-noir elements too, but that's away from the period we're discussing. Excellent film though.)
                  Originally posted by Quot View Post
                  One of my favorites from this time is the 1985 film, Trouble in Mind ("The lives of an ex-con, a coffee-shop owner, and a young couple looking to make it rich intersect in the fictional and hypnotic Rain City.")

                  Seattle stands in for Rain City (and it has a Blade Runner vibe to it, albeit minus most all the sci-fi elements). And what a cast: Kris Kristofferson, Genevií¨ve Bujold, Keith Carradine, Lori Singer, Joe Morton and, oh yeah, Divine as a mob boss named "Hilly Blue".

                  The cherry on top of this cake's icing is the immaculate soundtrack, which features Marianne Faithfull and Mark Isham. This soundtrack drips pure 100% noir:
                  TROUBLE IN MIND is superb. I first saw that one when it was shown on UK television - I'm pretty sure as part of Alex Cox's Moviedrome series, though I can't find confirmation of this online and will need to dig out my Moviedrome books for confirmation of this.

                  Another interesting one is Marc Reichert's UNION CITY (1980), based on Cornell Woolrich's 'The Corpse Next Door', with the delectable Debbie Harry. Slightly earlier than these others but with a very David Goodis-esque plot and tone.

                  These clips are all I can find of that movie online:



                  Originally posted by Dom D View Post
                  There's a whole string of films here that really up the salacious angle. It's probably the trump card of the neo noir. The 40s ones were desperate to be sexy but were sadly restricted in what they were allowed to present. The remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice feels like the kind of production they wished they could do back then. Even while pursuing that angle they kept it pretty classy for a long time. Body Heat, The Last Seduction etc. Basic Instinct ruined it for everyoine by setting a bar so sleazy that to clear it you had to make stuff like Body Of Evidence and The Colour Of Night.
                  Definitely, Dom. The ante was upped in terms of sexual content, with overlap with those DTV erotic thrillers of the era (the Shannon Tweed/Whirry-type pictures). You're very correct in saying that BASIC INSTINCT set the bar for that so high that subsequent theatrical releases often felt more like DTV erotica - eg, as you say, COLOR OF NIGHT, but also a film like SLIVER, which I have to admit that I really like.

                  Originally posted by Andrew Monroe View Post
                  I immediately think of ONE FALSE MOVE when I think of neo-noir. LOVE that film. Billy Bob Thornton co-wrote it and also co-stars - in a particularly chilling role as a psychopath. One of Bill Paxton's best roles too. The ending of this film is so emotional and gut wrenching.

                  Other favs - THIEF and JOHNNY HANDSOME (this one is a neglected gem).
                  JOHNNY HANDSOME... I've not seen that in an age, Andrew. I've been trying to track down my DVD copy of ONE FALSE MOVE for a while but to no avail. It's in the house somewhere, but I'm tempted to just go ahead and pay for the digital HD version on iTunes. I'd buy a decent Blu-ray release of that picture in a heartbeat: i
                  'You know, I'd almost forgotten what your eyes looked like. Still the same. Pissholes in the snow'

                  http://www.paul-a-j-lewis.com (my photography website)
                  'All explaining in movies can be thrown out, I think': Elmore Leonard

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                  • #10
                    I really liked romeo is bleeding when I watched it for the first time a few years ago.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by killer must kill again View Post
                      I really liked romeo is bleeding when I watched it for the first time a few years ago.
                      I like that movie a lot too. Good call!
                      "When I die, I hope to go to Accra"

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                      • #12
                        Cutter's Way
                        Mona Lisa
                        52 Pick-Up
                        Fear City
                        Year of the Dragon
                        Best Seller
                        Cop

                        And about 5 years too early but I just caught up with it about a year ago but boy do I love Antonioni's THE PASSENGER with Jack Nicholson.

                        The first F/X film is rather noirish. And I want to include the RELENTLESS films but something is holding me back, along with the ANGEL films. There's such a fine line between noir, standard thrillers, and erotic thrillers that it all starts to blend together in the '80s and '90s.
                        "When I die, I hope to go to Accra"

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                        • #13
                          This thread made me rewatch One False Move which I hadn't seen since the late 90s, and buy a second hand DVD of Kill me again online.

                          Also, have to mention that Scott is on the money here. Fear City and Year of the Dragon are among my all time favourite films, and I like every single film on his list.

                          Most my favourites have been mentioned, but I'd like to add Get Carter, Affliction, Croupier, Dark Blue(The Kurt Russel one) ,To Live and Die in LA, Brick and No Mercy despite its cheesyness.

                          Also, I agree with Scott. It is hard to draw the line for what counts as noir or not, as most thrillers nowadays have elements of it.

                          Come to think of it, I would also like to add another favourite: Blue Thunder which might qualify as neo-noir.
                          "No presh from the Dresh!"

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Scott View Post
                            Cutter's Way
                            Mona Lisa
                            52 Pick-Up
                            Fear City
                            Year of the Dragon
                            Best Seller
                            Cop
                            For whatever reason I'd completely blanked on 'Mona Lisa', but YES, absolutely - that's textbook neo-noir whichever way you cut it. I remember thinking that the way Jordan updated the key themes and feel of 40s/50s American noir to fit '80s London without relying on obvious, nod-wink references was inspired.*

                            (*Ok, I realise there's an obvious, nod-wink reference when they're watching 'They Live By Night' on TV, but y'know, aside from that...)

                            Conversely, I'd probably categorise films like '52 Pick Up', 'Fear City' and 'Cop' as just sleazy '80s crime movies rather than neo-noir as such, but as you say, the boundaries are wafer thin.... as with 40s/50s noir, the point where it begins and ends is basically just down to personal judgement at the end of the day; trying to establish any agreed boundaries between different fans/writers is just an invitation to insanity.
                            https://breakfastintheruins.blogspot.com/
                            http://stereosanctity.blogspot.com/

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by BW Haggar View Post
                              Conversely, I'd probably categorise films like '52 Pick Up', 'Fear City' and 'Cop' as just sleazy '80s crime movies rather than neo-noir as such, but as you say, the boundaries are wafer thin.... as with 40s/50s noir, the point where it begins and ends is basically just down to personal judgement at the end of the day; trying to establish any agreed boundaries between different fans/writers is just an invitation to insanity.
                              I think I agree. I wanted to include things like STRIPPED TO KILL and ART OF DYING alongside FEAR CITY but they are both probably closer to being a slasher than a neo-noir, and they certainly share elements and influence from both of those genres but are more firmly rooted in sleazy thriller slashers like the before mentioned RELENTLESS and ANGEL films. I feel like COP is right on the edge.

                              I even paused when considering something like RAW DEAL, it's awful noirish and down to earth even if it doesn't completely land in neo-noir territory.

                              I agree with Andrew, that JOHNNY HANDSOME and THIEF are both excellent neo-noirs.
                              Scott
                              Intellectual Carrot
                              Last edited by Scott; 02-15-2021, 06:35 PM.
                              "When I die, I hope to go to Accra"

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