This life's HARD man, but it's HARDER if you're stupid! aka CRIME/MYSTERY/THRILLER/NOIR movie POLL nominations thread

OK I can already see that we need to agree on a title for Ascenseur pour l'échafaud before everyone votes

House of Games
Thief
Johnny Handsome
The Hit
The Long Good Friday
The Good Thief
The Cotton Club
Atlantic City

Out of the Past = Build My Gallows High, in the UK

OK I can already see that we need to agree on a title for Ascenseur pour l'échafaud before everyone votes

― scotti pruitti (wins), Sunday, March 11, 2018 1:32 PM (fourteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Rise Up to the Noose

The Killing

Le Deuxième souffle

I'm sure that all the usual suspects will be nominated--pun half-intended--so I'll wait till the end to see if anything I'd vote for is missing. I'll nominate one thing I think will be overlooked, primarily because it exists at the edge of noir: Rounders. To me, gambling-related films belong.

Mesrine: Public Enemy#1/Killer Instinct

probably trash, but I loved it at the time.

Your thread title was so familiar: "Is that in something I've seen in the past week or so?" Had to look it up, and yes, it is.

Stray Dog
High and Low
Night of the Hunter
Notorious
Elle
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
Branded to Kill
Election
Good Time
Blue Velvet
Criss Cross

While I remember, another one that may be missed: Raw Deal from 1948. Some of the best noir cinematography ever.

asphalt jungle

man this is gonna be a tougggghhhhh ballot

While I remember, another one that may be missed: Raw Deal from 1948. Some of the best noir cinematography ever.

― clemenza, Sunday, March 11, 2018 5:22 PM (thirty-seven minutes ago)

Drunken Angel

a little bit of early Kurasawa/Mifune.

(xpost) Yes--a whole section on him in Visions of Light, as I recall (or maybe it was Scorsese's documentary on American film).

i think pretty much all my faves are listed.
hmm.

add,
Payday (really a character study more than a crime film, but the climax imo is the comission of a murder.
Night Moves (1975)

and say what u will about tarantino, but no one has bothered to nominate jackie brown or reservoir dogs?

oh, THE HOT ROCK!

Straw Dogs.

blade runner
total recall

^^ Thinking outside the box! I like it!

make it a trilogy ill rep for minority report all day

rewatched last year, enjoyed.

the 39 steps

Night and the City
Laura

Ace in the Hole
The Big Clock
The Breaking Point
Double Indemnity
I Confess
Jackie Brown
Key Largo
Sweet Smell of Success
Sunset Blvd.
Taxi Driver

My idea of a true '70s noir, as much or even more than The Long Goodbye or Chinatown or Night Moves: The Conversation.

The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912)
Underworld (1927)
The Docks of New York (1928)
Thunderbolt (1929)
Asphalt (1929)
The Informer (1929)
Private Detective 62 (1933)
Woman in the Dark (1934)
Fury (1936)
They Drive by Night (UK, 1938)
Le Jour Se Leve (1938)
Panama Lady (1939)
Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)

Family Plot

control F Frenzy, nope.

Frenzy

A lot of the (often deservedly) better-known choices already made here, but don't sleep on this:

Act of Violence---1948, dir. Fred Zinneman, starring Robert Ryan, Van Heflin, Janet Leigh, Phyllis Thaxter, and Mary Astor. (In her autobiography, A Life on Film, Astor recalled filming her scenes for Act of Violence while simultaneously shooting Little Women: "For two weeks or so I was with the Zinnemann company playing a sleazy, aging whore, with Van Heflin and Robert Ryan. It was such a contrast that it was stimulating---and reviving...." Thanks, TCM.com!). Shit you can't take back, no matter how much you pay, in a star-spangled postwar suburban way or otherwise---crisis of the intractable, locked gears, friction grips, film fucking noir. (I got a bit tired of the earnest running around that Leigh, Astor, and Thaxter have to do, but the guys do it too, in a grimmer way, all in the maze.)

― dow, Thursday, July 6, 2017

That's from Last (X) Movies You Saw, which I think is also where forks and I got into a discussion of Nightmare Alley, go watch it now.

man, ONE FALSE MOVE! i haven't thought of that movie in so long and now i really need to see it. wow. and THE LAST SEDUCTION too. just the first post in this thread has me scrambling.

Cynda Williams!

i watched GUN CRAZY three times last year.

yes, Cynda! man. so great.

All the President's Men, because of the garage-freak--minus him, maybe not.

there are really too many good movies mentioned on this thread. would be too hard to make a definitive list.

So many things to watch. So little time.

so many sterling hayden movies...

kinda feel like film noir should have its own poll. so many amazing movies.

oh, gun crazy is on filmstruck. here we go!

best movie ever.

i mean i'm not even french and i kinda think it's perfect.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
The Spanish Prisoner

Perfect Blue

Yojimbo?

What nails me in this neck of the woods is the struggle with a sense of guilt, however inchoate/bone deep, your own and someone else's, probably several somebodies, who are a lotta trouble (not like you got time to crawl off and get your head straight/penance on). Which includes the two I just mentioned, and also Clash By Night---no gangsters etc., but so much torture of self and others---b-but they can't help it! Or can they? Senses of personal motherfucking responsibility (except for cute little old uncle who goes on a demented glee spree of tongue-wagging)
xpost Blade Runner goes even deeper: don't tell me what you did, what are you, man? Can you tell me that?

Brick
Hard Candy

In No Country For Old Men and Get Carter, it's all somebody else's fault, but visionary vengeance quests take personal responsibility so far that body parts could end up scuttling across the road to the next reckoning, if the movies went on a little longer. Bardem's character has tracked his shit down, killed the guilty etc. parties, why the wife too, she asks him. He promised her husband he would, he explains dutifully, quietly-sadly? Maybe deferentially, for she is part of the price that must be paid. Carter is HS-HAAAA, he'd never say anything like this, but he's payin' it forward too.

So anyway here's my ballot so far, just in the order they come to mind:
Nightmare Alley
Blade Runner
No Country For Old Men
Get Carter
Chinatown
Clash By Night
The Postman Always Rings Twice (all three versions prob, although been a while since I've seen the Italian)
Detour
Act of Violence
In A Lonely Place
Vertigo
Taxi Driver

Purple Moon is nominated, should be Purple Noon.

No Johnnie To/Milkyway yet (aside from Election)?:
Too Many Ways To Be No. 1 (solo Wai Ka Fai)
The Longest Night (Patrick Yau)
A Hero Never Dies (To/Wai)
The Mission
Exiled

More Hong Kong:
The Killer (John Woo)
My Heart is that Eternal Rose (despite title, def. gangsters - directed by Wong Kar-wai mentor Patrick Tam)
Final Victory (more Tam, co-scripted by Wong this time -- supposedly intended as part of a trilogy with As Tears Go By-- also features Tsui Hark as a crime boss!)
On The Run (Alfred Cheung, starring Yuen Biao as cop and Pat Ha as hitwoman)
Taiwan:
Goodbye South Goodbye (Hou Hsiao-hsien - basically a remake of Mean Streets, except with pig smuggling)

more noms:

Drug War (Johnnie To)
Cape Fear
The Night of the Hunter
Bad Lieutenant
Election 2 aka Triad Election

a pair of outstandingly great Korean crime films:

Nameless Gangster
New World

updated nominations list! keep 'em coming. I'll leave this open for awhile yet.

please let me know if I missed something you nominated, too.

12 Angry Men
25th Hour
52 Pick-Up
A Better Tomorrow
A Better Tomorrow II
A Better Tomorrow III
A Colt Is My Passport
A Fish Called Wanda
A Hero Never Dies
A Prophet
A Short Film About Killing
A Simple Plan
Accident (2009)
Ace in the Hole
Act of Violence
All the President's Men
Alphaville
American Me
Angel Face
Animal Kingdom
Army of Shadows
Asphalt (1929)
Atlantic City
Bad Day at Black Rock
Bad Lieutenant
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
Badlands
Bande à part
Basic Instinct
Batman Returns
Battles Without Honour and Humanity
Big Deal on Madonna Street
Big Guns/Tony Arzenta
Bitter Moon
Black Caesar
Blade Runner
Blast of Silence
Blood Simple
Blue Ruin
Blue Velvet
Bob le Flambeur
Boiling Point
Bonnie and Clyde
Bound
Branded to Kill
Breathless
Brick
Brighton Rock
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
Brute Force
Call Northside 777
Cape Fear (1962)
Carlito’s Way
Cash on Demand
Casino
Catch Me If You Can
Charley Varrick
China Moon
Chinatown
City On Fire
Clash By Night
Classes Tous Risques
Clue
Collateral
Cop
Crime Wave (1954)
Crime Wave (1985, John Paizs)
Criss Cross
Croupier
Cruel Story of Youth
Cutter's Way
Damnation
Dangerous Encouters First Kind
Dark City
Das Boot
Dead Calm
Dead Heat
Dead Man's Shoes
Death of Honor (Fukasaku)
Death of Honor (Miike)
Deep Cover
Deep Red
Detour
Devil in a Blue Dress
Dial M For Murder
Dirty Harry
Diva
Dog Day Afternoon
Double Indemnity
Dr. Mabuse the Gambler
Drive
Drug War
Drunken Angel
Eastern Promises
Election
Election 2, aka Triad Election
Elevator to the Gallows
Elle
Emergency Squad
End of Watch
Enemy of the State
Europa
Exiled
Family Plot
Fantomas
Fargo
Final Victory
Force of Evil
Frenzy
Fresh
Fury (1936)
Gaslight (1940)
Gaslight (1944)
Get Carter (1971)
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
Gilda
Gone Baby Gone
Gone Girl
Gonin
Good Time
Goodbye South Goodbye
Goodfellas
Green For Danger
Gun Crazy
Hana-bi
Hangover Square
Hard Candy
Heat
Hell is a City
Hell or High Water
High and Low
Hitman
Homicide
House of Bamboo
House of Games
I Confess
Ichi the Killer
Il Divo
In a Lonely Place
In Bruges
Infernal Affairs
Infernal Affairs II
Inherent Vice
Insomnia (1997)
Into The Night
Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion
It Always Rains on Sunday
Jackie Brown
Johnny Dangerously
Johnny Handsome
Jumping Jack Flash
Kansas City
Kansas City Confidential
Key Largo
Killer Joe
King of New York
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Kiss Me Deadly
Kiss of Death
L.A. Confidential
L'argent
La Balance
La Ceremonie
Laura
Le Boucher
Le Cercle Rouge
Le Corbeau
Le Deuxième souffle
Le Doulos
Le Jour Se Leve (1938)
Le Samourai
Le Trou
Leave Her to Heaven
Leon / The Professional
Les Diaboliques
Les Vampires (1915-16)
Light Sleeper
Little Caesar
Little Murders
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
M
Manhunter
Mean Streets
Memento
Memories of Murder
Mesrine: Public Enemy#1/Killer Instinct
Miami Blues
Michael Clayton
Milano Calibro 9
Miller's Crossing
Mona Lisa
Mulholland Drive
Murder By Contract
Murder, My Sweet
My Heart is that Eternal Rose
Nameless Gangster
New Jack City
New World
Night and the City
Night Moves
Night of the Hunter
Night Train to Munich
Nightcrawler
Nightmare Alley
No Country For Old Men
No Orchids for Miss Blandish
Nobody Will Speak of Us When We're Dead
Non-Stop
North By Northwest
Notorious
Odd Man Out
Oldboy
On Dangerous Ground
On The Run
On the Waterfront
One False Move
Out of Sight
Out of the Past
Panama Lady (1939)
Panic Room
Panique
Paper Moon
Payday
Peeping Tom
Pepe le Moko
Perfect Blue
Petrified Forest
Pickpocket
Pickup on South Street
Pierrot le fou
Pigs & Battleships
Pitfall
Point Blank
Police (1985)
Pool Of London
Port of Shadows
Prince of the City
Private Detective 62 (1933)
Pulp Fiction
Purple Noon
Pusher
Pusher II: With Blood On My Hands
Pusher III: I'm the Angel of Death
Quai des Orfèvres
Raw Deal (1948)
Rear Window
Red Riding 1980
Red Rock West
Reservoir Dogs
Revolver
Rififi
River's Edge
Robbery
Ronin
Rope
Rounders
Run Lola Run
Running Scared (1986)
Salesman
Salvatore Giuliano
Satan Met a Lady
Scarface (1932)
Scarface (1983)
Scarlet Street
Se7en
Serie Noire
Serpico
Sexy Beast
Shadow of a Doubt
Shaft (1971)
Shoot the Piano Player
Side Street
Snake Eyes
Sonatine
Spellbound
State of Grace
Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
Strangers on a Train
Straw Dogs
Stray Dog
Subway
Sunset Blvd.
Sweet Smell of Success
Taxi Driver
Tell No One
Tenebrae
The 1951 version of M
The 39 Steps
The American Friend
The Anderson Tapes
The Asphalt Jungle
The Big Clock
The Big Combo
The Big Easy
The Big Heat
The Big Lebowski
The Big Sleep
The Bird With the Crystal Plumage
The Black Hand (1906)
The Breaking Point
The Conversation
The Cotton Club
The Criminal
The Departed
The Docks of New York (1928)
The French Connection
The Friends of Eddie Coyle
The Fugitive
The General (1998)
The Getaway (1972)
The Godfather
The Godfather Pt. II
The Godfather Pt. III
The Good Thief
The Good, the Bad, and the Weird
The Grifters
The Grissom Gang
The Handmaiden
The Hidden
The High Sign (1921)
The Hit
The Hitch Hiker
The Honeymoon Killers
The Hot Rock
The Human Beast
The Hunt For Red October
The In-Laws
The Informer (1929)
The Interview
The Italian Connection
The Killer
The Killers (1946)
The Killers (1964)
The Killing
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
The Lady from Shanghai
The Ladykillers (1955)
The Last Seduction
The Late Show
The League of Gentleman
The Limey
The Line-Up
The Lodger
The Long Good Friday
The Long Goodbye
The Long Kiss Goodnight
The Longest Night
The Maltese Falcon (1931)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
The Man Upstairs
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
The Mission
The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912)
The Naked City
The Naked Kiss
The Night of the Hunter
The Offence
The Outside Man/Un Homme Est Mort
The Passenger
The Phenix City Story
The Poseidon Adventure
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981)
The Public Enemy
The Raid
The Raid 2
The Set-Up
The Ship That Died Of Shame
The Silence of the Lambs
The Silent Partner
The Small World Of Sammy Lee
The Spanish Prisoner
The Sting
The Story of Temple Drake
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
The Stranger
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
The Thin Man
The Third Man
The Trial
The Two Jakes
The Untouchables
The Vanishing (1988)
The Wages of Fear
The Woman in the Window
They Drive by Night (UK, 1938)
They Live By Night
Thief
Thieves Highway
This Gun for Hire
Three Days of the Condor
Thunderbolt (1929)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
To Die For
Tokyo Drifter
Too Many Ways To Be No. 1
Total Recall
Touch of Evil
Touchez pas au Grisbi
Trauma
Two Lane Blacktop
Underworld (1927)
Underworld USA
Vengeance is Mine
Vertigo
Violent Cop
We Own the Night
While the City Sleeps
White Heat
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Who'll Stop The Rain?
Wind River
Witness
Witness for the Prosecution
Woman in the Dark (1934)
Yojimbo
Z
Zodiac

Angels with Dirty Faces
The Asphalt Jungle
The Killing
Mikey & Nicky
The Public Enemy

What happened with this?

Shh! I wanted (re)watch time!

Noms still open, what happened is people have slowed their roll a bit.

I'm nominating

Miami Vice

(xpost)

Kidding, of course. I could probably put together a nice ballot of 30-40 movies off the top of my head, but there are a good number of key films that I really should watch before voting, plus a handful of things that I haven't seen in years. Ideally, I'd love to spend a good month doing a deep dive into the genre, but dissertation chapter, grading, life, etc would never permit that.

sorry guys, I haven't dropped the ball on this, but I've been busy.

are there enough people interested in this thing to make it a viable endeavor?

I'd drop a ballot, yeah.

I missed this but would probably vote. category seems... pretty broad

Totally, in favour of a long voting period though

Big yes to both participating and a long voting period.

the category can be as broad as anyone wants but i do recommend some self-restraint in some instances.

and the most serious crime would be not voting!

This prob deserves a nom

You Were Never Really Here

What's up with this poll? Is it dead?

I would chuck a ballot in, sure

I don’t really have time for it these days so if someone else wants to run with it go ahead.