After you watch the film, write a review of it as a comment on this post. In your review, tell us your name, the name of the film you watched, a very basic plot synopsis, and whether you think other members of the class should watch it (and why). Write about ways in the which the film was a typical film noir and ways it which it deviated from the typical film noir characteristics. Write about any ways in which the film helped you develop your idea for the film noir you will write in this class.
Please watch your film and post on this by September 9 to get full credit.
Sin City. If you havent seen this movie and have a stomach for gore and have no problem with rated R content than i recommend this for you! It has all elements of classic noir and its blood lusted characters are icing on the cake keeping you engaged the whole time. A true Neo Noir!
ReplyDeleteI watched Double Indemnity beforehand so it counts. You've seen it already. It was glorious. You're welcome, America.
ReplyDeleteOK, guys, I should have been more specific. I need you to write A LOT more than this to be considered a review. New instruction: please write at least three paragraphs and answer ALL of the questions in the post above. You are getting 30 points for this.
ReplyDeleteAllen here,
ReplyDeleteI recently watched Brick.
Brick follows the story of a high school student (Brenden) investigating the death of a girl he loves. With his trusty companion (Brain) he slowly starts to gather information on the event, sometimes through forcing his own hand on someone. As he learns more and more and the picture starts to become clearer he gets hit with curve balls and takes unexpected turns, next thing he knows he's in the middle of conflict between two gangs over drugs.
Filled with gnarly fight scenes, witty dialogue, and all the Joseph-Gordon Levitt you could ask for, Brick remains one of my favorite films and I would absolutely recommend it to anybody, especially ones looking for some inspiration on their own noir script!
One of my favorite tricks noirs do is starting from a part of the storys timeline that isn't the beginning, and spends the rest of the film getting the audience up to date to that point.
Also filled with tons of low key lighting, double crosses and plot twists, and a femme fatale, you can surely tell the writer/director did their homework on noirs.
As far as the film helping me develop a story, it mostly just inspired me because of it's style and how fun it was to watch, it feels like something that could've came from our own school!
This is Carlos,
ReplyDeleteI had watched Double Indemnity beforehand. I am posting it again because my previous post didn't count.
Double Indemnity is a movie about an insurance salesman who falls in love with the wife of a client. She is the man's second wife because the first wife mysteriously died. The man and the wife decide that they will kill her husband and take the insurance money. They will take the insurance out the week he dies because of a policy called double indemnity where they will get double the money. He wants to help her because he knows how to do it and pass the test that decides whether or not it actually was an accident and not a plot for money.
Anyway, it's weird when I explain it but it is a very good movie that you should all watch. 5/5.
This movie really enhanced the fatale part of the femme fatale. I recommend it to everyone.
Naomi Goss <---
ReplyDeleteThe film I watch for this assignment was Laura.
Mark McPherson is a P.I. hired to investigate the murder of Laura Hunt, a advertising executive. While hearing all about Laura from her friends and family that he interviews and reading her diary, Mark begins to fall in love with the deceased woman.
One night Mark falls asleep under Laura's portrait in her apartment and is waked by someone entering the apartment. To his surprise, it is Laura. He soon find out that the murder victim was actually another woman who was brought there by Laura's playboy boyfriend while Laura was away in the countryside. They soon discover the murderer is Waldo Lydecker, The man who boosted Laura's career with his powerful influence. He ends up being shot in the end by a policeman while attempting to actually kill Laura.
The End.
I loved this movie. It was really interesting and had a lot of plot twists! It was definitely a film noir with all the crime, love drama, and private investigator. I would definitely recommend this movie!
I watched Spirit. it is a movie about a man who mysteriously comes back after being murdered, and becomes a vigilante named the Spirit.
ReplyDeletehis nemesis known as the Octopus informs him that he knows more about him than he does. so he goes into an investigation to figure out why he is alive.
this movie is one of my favorites if you liked sin city then you should like this as well.
so i watched double indemnity and it was great, especially the narration i really like how its added as part of the story. so those of you who don't know what double indemnity is its the story of an insurance salesman who is good at his work. one day he goes to the house of a man whose auto insurance had recently expired and meats his wife instead and is instantly attracted to her, they fall in love and it goes from there. now this movie i felt was very true to classic Noir with its femme fatale and plot twist there is really only one thing that at this time i can say that does not relate to Noir and that is the fact the protagonist is not any form of detective. the fact that the protagonist was not a form of detective made think about writing a script that also does not feature a detective as its lead.
ReplyDeletein conclusion the movie was great and i would recommended that everyone in the class watch it. its a good movie with a good story line and if you like plot twist then you'll love it.
This is a great post, Jacob. You did a good job addressing all the points I asked for and it was great to read how the film helped you in your own screenwriting.
DeleteI looked up online for some neo noir films beacause older noirs arnt on Netflix and they aren't very easy for me to sit through but after watching TWO neo noirs, i was still dissapointed. I chose the worst movies ever. I hated them so much. I watched Pulp Fiction and the Rum Diary.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen Pulp Fiction, and everyone always talks about how its such an amazing movie and how everyone loves it and I've never heard anything bad about it. So when i looked online at a list of neo noirs, Pulp Fiction was on there and i was kind of excited to watch it. I turned it on and i hated it right when it started. I dont mind swearing at all, and i have a pretty bad mouth my self, but their use of the F word every other word, agitated me a lot! I didnt understand what was going on and the scenes were just bad. There was no rhyme or reason to any of it. Nothing interesting was even happening. I finally got way too bored and so i turned it off half way through and went to bed. I was talking to my dad about it the next day and he was telling me that i had to watch it the whole way through or else i wouldnt understand it so after school i watched the rest of it. He was right. It still sucked to me, but it definitely made more sense. Over all, i didnt like it.
Then a couple days later i felt like i should watch a film noir that i liked for me to feel like i completed the assignment correctly, and also ive missed a couple classes and i needed to make up the points... So i looked online and went in found the movie, Rum Diary. Johnny Depp is a god actor and all his movies are amazing and he never dissapoints me. I watched it, and of course Johnny Depp didnt dissapoint me, but the movie sure as hell did. It just wasnt a movie i would watch again on my free time. It didnt have exciting sences and it didnt pull me in. I felt stupid and picky after watching these two and felt like crap. So Josh, sorry i was so negative and didnt enjoy either. I definatly could tell how they were both Neo Noir and thats a good thing right? (;
Marina Mikesell.
It's fine to dislike them. I am glad you stated why you disliked them.
DeleteIn what ways were they noir? In what ways did they deviate from noir?
I'm about 95% sure that I'm not going to get full credit on but I'm gonna say that the movie Safe House is a neo-noir.
ReplyDeleteThe story line is about a man (Ryan Reynolds) who's been an agent at a governmental safe location for important people or in this case convicts. His first "house-guest" becomes a international disaster. Now having to protect his guest while at the same time protecting his life as well. The convict (Denzel Washington) is a ex-CIA agent who went rogue, tells Matt (Ryan) about how all the cruelness in this agency and tries to convince Matt to set him free. Tobin (Denzel) eventually gets free, so now Matt has to track down a Most Wanted Man. When the two meet up again Tobin convinces Matt that there is a traitor in the agency, with investigation they finally find out who it is at a cost. And so the two part their ways.
A lot of people who seen this movie think about it... You have your main character that seems like he switches his intentions. The different style lighting even low key lighting is in this movie. You can feel a depressing tone that comes with this movie, mixed with drama and action. Theres also the femme fatale unfortunately in this movie it's a man (David Barlow).
If your into Ryan Reynolds or Denzel Washington, I seriously recommend this movie. In fact you dont even have to like those actors to enjoy this movie. A great story line of that classic " Who can you trust?" setting
Tyson, you definitely receive points for making a sound argument of why this is a noir. Good work.
DeleteAlright, here’s my unnecessarily long review of Sin City. I couldn’t fit it all in to one comment so you get two.
ReplyDeleteI will start off by saying something positive about this film. It is one of the most visually interesting films that I have seen in a while. It really is like a watching a comic book if that makes any sense. It also brings in a lot of the classic noir elements when it comes to the use of shadows and low key lighting. Also, the slight use of color amongst all the black and white was really cool and I enjoyed noticing when the color was used and trying to figure out what message it was supposed to send.
However, just because something LOOKS fantastic does not mean it IS fantastic. The plot of this film was really confusing at times and I’m having trouble trying to figure out how to really explain it. Also, there was a plot hole that will forever bother me but I won’t point out what it is so that I don’t spoil anything…
This whole movie was basically four different stories that were so loosely related that if you so much as blinked at the wrong moment you would miss something. The first story centers on a hit man who has been hired by a woman to kill her. It’s basically a more glamorous way to commit suicide. The second story is about an aging police officer named John Hartigan who tries to save a girl named Nancy from a serial child-killer. The third one is centered on a man named Marv, a muscular brute who is trying to avenge the death of Goldie, the only woman who was ever nice to him. The fourth has to do with a man named Dwight and the Old Town prostitutes dealing with the corrupt law system of Sin City.
One thing all the stories had in common was that they were all related to crime and revenge. The “good” guys would always get their revenge on the “bad” guys. The acts of revenge however were just as violent, if not more violent, than the acts that were supposed to justify the “good” characters’ actions. You couldn’t really tell who was in the wrong. That dynamic, I believe, is one of the main elements of noir in this film and it kept me conflicted most of the way through. I thought that aspect of the film was well done.
Even so, I couldn’t fully sympathize with either side largely because the characters were pretty flat and over-dramatic. The only character I developed any kind of connection with was Marv. His character was a gem to me despite his super-human ability to never suffer from injuries. (Seriously, the man was bashed in the head with a sledgehammer and still managed to function…). As far as the female characters go, they were pretty bleak. Even the ones that were supposed to be bad asses still seemed to rely on the male characters to “save them” in a sense. The only female character that doesn’t seem to be totally reliant on a male character to have her feel complete to the audience was the mute female assassin named Miho. She seemed to have the most depth to her and she didn’t say anything the entire film…
(Cont.) As far as the violence in this movie goes, I didn’t really like how it was portrayed and felt a lot of it was unnecessary. (This is coming from me, the person who has Hellbound: Hellraiser 2 in their list of top-ten movies…). I understand that this is a comic book adaptation and there was, no doubt, a lot of violence in the comic books. However, in the comics, it seems the portrayal of violence is that you will ultimately pay for the acts you commit and choosing this lifestyle will damn you in the end (Warning: I could be wrong on this. I have not read the comics but I was told this by many people who have. I would have read the comics before watching the film but I, unfortunately, didn’t have access to them). In the movie, the violence seems to be glorified to the point where the characters are praised for the things they do. If you like lots of cartoonish blood and violence, then you would probably enjoy this movie. Despite the fact that the gore was entertaining to watch, I personally just wished the violence had more of a point at some moments.
DeleteOn another note of how this film has many noir elements, there is a high use of voice over. Some of it was well written and was enjoyable. It really helped tell the story and I probably would have been even more lost without it. It did get annoying at times but that happened in classic noirs as well so I guess it really doesn’t matter.
I understand that a lot of people love this movie and this whole review is ultimately just my opinion. I would never try to stop someone from watching this film unless there was a good reason for me to. Again, it is very interesting visual-wise. It had a very surreal vibe to it and that alone could make it worth watching for someone. Some of you might actually like the weird way in which this story is told also. Like all movies, it had its good and bad qualities. I didn’t love it or hate it.
For my at home film noir i wanted Bound ( 1996). It was a movie of two lesbians who fall in love and try to escape from one of the lovers mob boss husband with all his money. the two character hardly know each other but fall in love, (or lust) and set up a plan to kill Violets husband Ceaser. Ceaser how ever is unpredictable after going though traumatic experiences the girls put him though and which eventually makes him loose his mind and kill some very powerful people.
ReplyDeleteOver i really lied this movie it put a twist on the whole sexist film noir thing. Ceaser being a very powerful man, Violet being his wife and Corky being a Ex con women i couldn't decide who was the femme fatale. Violet seems like the obvious choice because of her seductive side and seemingly bad intentions, i had expected her to run off with the money leaving corky behind. but she stayed with corky till the end. so it seemed she had good intentions the whole time. With corky who has the dark mysterious side to her but still beautiful and shes difficult for the audience to trust. But from Ceasers point of veiw, violet would definitely be a femme fatale. she pretends to love ceaser and do anything for him yet shes planning his demise the whole time and going behind his back and eventually shooting him multiple times. and then on top of that she still pretends shes innocent after she shoots him.. she gets away not only with Corky, but the million dollars.
I definitely believe this is a film noir because of the crime drama,the femme fatale, and the low key lighting. especially when there having sex and in corkys apartment there is a lot of low key lighting and shadows.
For my film/game/noir at home I choose Bioshock Infinite. I chose it because I recently finished the game and looking back I notice how many film noir characteristics it had, it also had steam-punk and scifi themes but the plot worked with the film noir aspect more than anything else. Like a lot of film noirs it had a P.I. who was the main character named Booker Dewit, a Fem Fatale named Elizibeth, and finally a mysterious contracter. The entire game was riddled with plot twists that reminded me of a few twists in maltese falcon, especialy the ending. Now, it wasn't in black and white but with the lighting the way it was (if you don't mess with the light settings) it more than made up for it. the game also took place in a time one would expect a film noir to be since it takes place in the late 1800's to the early 1900's.
ReplyDeleteSo let's recap: I thought it was a great example of noir because of the low key lighting, sketchy side character, a flawed protagonist, a mysterious contracter, multiple plot twists, multiple conflics happening at the same time, a actually competent female side character, and a really confusing ending that left me in deep thought for several hours.