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THE TOP 5 LA FILM NOIR:
view full results see how points are awarded
| Rank |
Film |
Points |
L |
#1 |
| #1 |
Sunset Boulevard (1950, Billy Wilder, USA) |
19 |
5 |
2 |
| #2 |
Double Indemnity (1944, Billy Wilder, USA) |
12 |
3 |
1 |
| #3 |
Mulholland Drive (2001, David Lynch, USA) |
11 |
4 |
- |
| #4 |
Blade Runner (1982, Ridley Scott, UK) |
9 |
3 |
- |
| #5 |
Chinatown (1974, Roman Polanski, USA)
The Usual Suspects (1995, Bryan Singer, USA) |
8
8 |
3
2 |
-
1 |
L=How many lists each film appears on
#1=How many number one votes each film recieves
Norma Desmond finally gets her close-up, as Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard takes top honours in week number four of The Top 5 Project - garnering 19 points and appearing on five lists (out of a possible total of nine). Second place? Well that was Billy Wilder again, this time with Double Indemnity - grabbing up twelve points and appearing on three lists. Coming in third this week, was David Lynch's twisted neo-noir, Mulholland Drive, with 11 points and appearing on four lists. Rounding out the top 5 were Blade Runner (our first week winner), with 9 points and a tie for fifth place between Chinatown and The Usual Suspects. Not many surprising picks this week - although some voters chose to go a bit outside the L.A. setting realm, to stretch to San Fran and New York - but hey, what the hell (I'm pro-choice after all). Well, that's it for week #4, go to the bottom of the page to find out next week's Top 5.
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Individual lists:
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Albert H. Muth
Auteurophile
LA Noir, the epitome of noir, only the California sun can give way to the darkest noir.
The Big Sleep (Hawks) - It does not get better, not even close, everybody move to end of the line. Bogie, Bacall, Chandler-just fucking amazing!!! Who killed the chauffeur?
Chinatown (Polanski) - The Europeans revitalised noir when Holly wood forgot how to do it. "She's my sister. She's my daughter. She's my sister." "Ugly buildings and whores all become respectable if they hang around long enough." "What's wrong with you? You fuck like a Chinaman." and, "Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown."
The Long Goodbye (Altman) - Robert Altman can take any genre and make it his own and produce a masterpiece. Start with Chandler, cast a brokedown Elliott Gould, a Keith Richards' discard Nina VanPallant, and a truly insane Sterling Haydn, it's explosive. They all peaked at the right time.
Mullholland Drive (Lynch) - If you say you know what's going on in this David Lynch mind-fuck, you're as delusional as he is. Just ride it out above, below, and through all the dark flowing surfaces.
Cutter's Way (Passer) - Another European director Ivan Passer, throws together three no account losers who desperately grasp at one last chance for redemption. Sorry, nice try, but too late.
I'm leaving out Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown because, while noirish, their scope was much broader and more diffuse.
Other suggested titles for neophytes and amateurs:
Short Cuts, Magnolia, The Grifters, Farewell My Lovely, Lost Highway
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Sherry Messimer
The Femme Fatale Cinephile
Being my favorite film category, it was difficult to stick to just five. I think that true film noir is all about those black and white shadows... that dreamy sense of fatalism that b&w cinematography achieves so well... however, I did feel the need to include a few that give classic format a little twist...
1. Sunset Boulevard (Wilder, 1950)
2. The Grifters (Frears, 1990)
3. Double Indemnity (Wilder, 1944)
4. Sin City (Miller, Rodriguez, Tarantino, 2005)
5. The Maltese Falcon (Huston, 1941)
Honorable mention: Mulholland Drive (Lynch, 2001)
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Bart
The Unknown Cinephile
The Usual Suspects
Se7en (I don't think it specifically mentions the city in the film, but they're quite close to a desert, so I'm gonna assume that its L.A.)
The Limey
Jackie Brown
Memento
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J.E. Snavely
Cinephile & Home Theatre Master
1. Sunset Boulevard Narrated by a dead man. One of the great films of all time.
2. Double Indemnity Femme fatale Barbara Stanwyck corrupts the wholesome Fred McMurray of "My Three Sons". Pure evil. I love it.
3. Blade Runner Philip K. Dick's vision of a near-future LA but where's the electric sheep?
4. Chinatown
Private detective
Finds more than he bargained for
"Forget it, Jake, it's..."
5. The Limey Terrance Stamp as anti-hero see his own dark reflection in the man he thought resposible for his daughters death.
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Alexandra Hartman
Poet, Publisher & Webmaster
I didn't think I liked noir that much, but these are some of my favorite movies. So I guess I like noir. Anyway, in order of how much I liked them:
The Spanish Prisoner - Oh! This is so twisty, and Steve Martin is amazing. David Mamet directs. One of my favorite films.
Rebecca - Here's what I learned: Second marriages are tricky. It's important for women to be assertive. The old days were creepy as shit.
The Usual Suspects - Kevin Spacey! Gabriel Byrne! Keyser Söze! Cool film.
House of Games - Another twisty Mamet film. Joe Mantegna is casual and sinister at the same time. Phew.
L.A. Confidential - This was the first time I ever saw Russell Crowe, and his acting blew me away. I kept thinking, "Who IS this guy?" (and, "Wow, is he ever hot..."). This was Crowe's best film. Ever.
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Julia Tilley
Poet & Performance Artist
The Blue Dahlia (1946) - not sure if it took place in LA BUT has an LA connection as the murder of want-to-be actress Elizabeth Short in LA (1947) was called the Black Dahlia murder in a purposefully twisted reference to the Blue Dahlia film.
Dark City - wonderful camera shots
Blade Runner
Sunset Blvd
Deadmen Don’t Wear Plaid - I love Steve Martin! I remember seeing this in the theatre my senior year of high school.
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Vince
Cinephile
1. Double Indemnity
2. Sunset Boulevard
3. Blade Runner
4. L.A. Confidential
5. Mulholland Dr.
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Carter Liotta
Doctor & Cinephile
Pulp Fiction - Too easy an answer, of course, but
the defining movie of the mid 90's.
Mulholland Drive - David Lynch's film is,
literally, like watching a dream. I've just never seen a dream done so well on film. Pure, well-constructed entertainment.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit - A marvel of technology in its time, and an excellent plot. The film could have been a disasterous vehicle to re-hash old cartoons, but was too smart and utterly enjoyable.
The Big Lebowski - This film about virtually
nothing is still highly enjoyable, if only because the scenes are so bizarrely memorable. Who can forget Julianne Moore swinging from the rafters, or John
Goodman trashing little Larry's car?
The Limey - "There's one thing I don't understand.
The thing I don't understand is every motherfuckin' word you're saying." Terrance Stamp couldn't have been better cast - a perfect example of low-budget
indie moviemaking at its most compelling.
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Kevyn Knox
Film Critic & Historian
Kiss Me Deadly (1955, Robert Aldrich, USA) Lurid, sexy, pulpy as all fuck. Forget Double Indemnity or Chinatown - this is the quintessential Noir. A gruff, pissed off private dick, not one, but two hot dames, and a mysteriously glowing, possibly radioactive, possibly alien, lead box, that not only inspired both Alex Cox and Quentin Tarantino, but scared the hell out of a world at cold war.
Mulholland Drive (2001, David Lynch, USA) Sleek, slender and completely mind-fucking film from the creepy epicenter of David Lynch's equally fucked-up mind - and, as a bonus, you get to see Naomi Watts and Laura Elena Harring having hot monkey lesbian sex.
Sunset Boulevard (1950, Billy Wilder, USA) "You're Norma Desmond. You used to be in silent pictures. You used to be big." "I am big. It's the pictures that got small." -- Beautiful, sad, elegant, mesmorizing, lurid, tragic.
Chinatown (1974, Roman Polanski, USA) A twisted Neo-Noir that put the fun back into incest.
The Long Goodbye (1973, Robert Altman, USA) No matter how cool Bogie was in The Big Sleep (and he was pretty fucking cool), Elliot Gould is the superior Marlowe in Altman's tongue-in-cheek moody thriller.
Special Mention must go to Q.T.'s Pulp Fiction, easily one of the greatest films ever made, but so much more than just Noir (even if it is an homage to Kiss Me Deadly, among others), that it stands outside the darklit shadowy circle of LA Noir.
A second tier of films (in no particular order):
LA Confidential (Hanson), The Grifters (Frears), The Big Sleep (Hawks), Memento (Nolan), After Dark, My Sweet (Foley), Blade Runner (Scott), The Big Lebowski (Coen), Double Indemnity (Wilder), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Zemeckis) and David Lynch's Twin Peaks (the TV show and/or the movie)
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*points are given as follows: for numbered lists, first place recieves 5 points, second place recieves 4, third place 3, fourth place 2 and fifth place gets 1 point; for unumbered lists, each film will recieve 3 points; total points are then tallied up and a comprehensive Top 5 list is created
The Next Topic is:
Name The Top 5 Films about Filmmaking
e-mail me at
kevynknox@thecinematheque.com
with your picks for week #5,
no later than 6pm on Sunday, July 24th.
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