You already know that Chinatown is the unanimous choice as the all-time great neo-noir. And you probably don’t need The Movie Gourmet to help you discover LA Confidential, Body Heat, Fargo, Point Blank or Jackie Brown. So here’s a list of less iconic neo-noir.
[Note: What is noir and what is neo-noir? Although it’s generally agreed that film noir was made in the classic noir period and that neo-noir tends to be in color, you still have to draw the line SOMEWHERE – and that line is subjective. I have chosen to place Elevator to the Gallows and Black Gravel as noir and Blast of Silence as neo-noir. Those choices could credibly go either way.]
All Night Long: Othello in the jazz world
The American Friend: Dennis Hopper and Robby Müller make things weird
…And the Fifth Horseman Is Fear: a masterpiece exposé of political oppression
The Aura: smart enough to plan the perfect crime, but is that enough?
Blast of Silence: a cauldron of seething hatred
Brick: hardboiled neo-noir in high school
Carlito’s Way: Pacino illuminates another gangster epic
Charley Varrick: his wits vs. the mob
A Colt Is My Passport: a yakuza spaghetti western
Cutter’s Way: sometimes there really is a conspiracy
A Dark, Dark Man: rounding up the usual suspects in Kazakhstan
Dose of Reality: an ending that no one will see coming
Elena: a vividly dark peek into contemporary Russia
The Gift: three people revealed
Gumshoe: a noir fan plays detective
Hard Eight: the indie neo-noir that launched careers
Killer Joe: you sure ain’t gonna be bored
The Last Lullaby: backing out on a hit
The Little Things: worth it for Denzel
Memories of Murder: one of the great serial killer movies
Mystery Road and Goldstone: indigenous outback neo-noir
One False Move: the inevitable confrontation with America’s original sin
The Outfit: Robert Duvall, Linda Black and Joe Don Baker on the loose in the 70s
Pale Flower: bracing neo-noir (highly recommended)
Saint Jack: Gazzara, Bogdanovich and Corman take on the Vietnam War
The Sicilian Clan: Gabin, Delon and Ventura
The Sniper: lethal mommy issues
The Strangler: momma’s boy hunts women, then fondles dolls
Take Aim at the Police Van: wild title, wild movie
To Live and Die in L.A.: obsession without an iota of redemption
The Two Faces of January: dark hearts in sunny Greece
Victoria: a thrill ride filmed in one shot
The Woman Chaser: a (very, very) darkly funny once-lost film
