Double Indemnity!
Oh, God. Oh, God. My hair. My hair! The government gave me bad hair!
Cordelia ,'The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco'
Buffista Movies 5: Development Hell
A place to talk about movies--old and new, good and bad, high art and high cheese. It's the place to place your kittens on the award winners, gossip about upcoming fims and discuss DVD releases and extras. Spoiler policy: White font all plot-related discussion until a movie's been in wide release two weeks, and keep the major HSQ in white font until two weeks after the video/DVD release.
Glamcookie - Nov 06, 2006 12:54:14 pm PST #5552 of 10001
I know my own heart and understand my fellow man. But I am made unlike anyone I have ever met. I dare to say I am like no one in the whole world. - Anne Lister
Strega - Nov 06, 2006 12:57:34 pm PST #5553 of 10001
I'm in a rush so maybe I misunderstood... I don't understand why the creators have to be consciously thinking "I am working in this genre" in order for it to count. Was Poe not writing detective stories? I don't even know what it means to say it's a "real" genre or not. None of them are real. They're just categories.
And unrelated: I love the Coens… except for Raising Arizona.
Polter-Cow - Nov 06, 2006 1:01:34 pm PST #5554 of 10001
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
And unrelated: I love the Coens… except for Raising Arizona.
Oh no! I have that saved on my DVR for eventual viewing.
But, of course, you often have weird tastes, and I like Nicolas Cage.
Glamcookie - Nov 06, 2006 1:03:25 pm PST #5555 of 10001
I know my own heart and understand my fellow man. But I am made unlike anyone I have ever met. I dare to say I am like no one in the whole world. - Anne Lister
except for Raising Arizona.
DUDE! That movie is the best of the Coen's work! "Son, you've got a panty on your head."
Nutty - Nov 06, 2006 1:09:33 pm PST #5556 of 10001
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
I liked Nicolas Cage in Raising Arizona, and I think possibly never again after that.
Was Poe not writing detective stories?
I'd posit that, if you don't know you're part of a tradition -- in Poe's case, if there is no tradition until you've invented it -- then you interact differently with the elements that make up that tradition. Poe's mysteries are really very strange, to the eyes of a modern mystery reader, because the generic elements of mystery hadn't been formalized yet.
I think the point David is trying to make (hold on a second while I channel his brains) is that the films noirs are very hard to describe with a single set of formal descriptors or narrative descriptors, because they were all over the map both formally and narratively. The original noir grouping is a mood grouping, and the retroactive "well all films noirs have this element or that element" tends to simplify what was going on at the time.
Strega - Nov 06, 2006 1:47:26 pm PST #5557 of 10001
I'd posit that, if you don't know you're part of a tradition -- in Poe's case, if there is no tradition until you've invented it -- then you interact differently with the elements that make up that tradition.That may be. I don't know why that matters. I mean, I'm not being snarky... Like I said, genre describes the product. What happens in the artist's head is irrelevant to that, as far as I'm concerned.
the retroactive "well all films noirs have this element or that element" tends to simplify what was going on at the time.Well, sure. All classifications simplify. That is what they're for.
But, of course, you often have weird tastes, and I like Nicolas Cage.I liked Cage fine then. The being contrary thing really does come naturally to me, though. I guess I was 14 when we saw it? My parents really liked it, and I was meh. Babies; whatever. But that led them to rent Blood Simple, which was something we could all enjoy.
esse - Nov 06, 2006 1:55:03 pm PST #5558 of 10001
S to the A -- using they/them pronouns!
My classic noir is "The Maltese Falcon." The book and the movie both completely revolutionized my perspective on media.
bon bon - Nov 06, 2006 2:15:51 pm PST #5559 of 10001
It's five thousand for kissing, ten thousand for snuggling... End of list.
And unrelated: I love the Coens… except for Raising Arizona.
You rule. Seriously, it's so overrated.
Sean K - Nov 06, 2006 2:16:44 pm PST #5560 of 10001
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty
I love the Coens… except for Raising Arizona.
I recognize all the words, but this sentence makes no sense.
Fred Pete - Nov 06, 2006 4:31:32 pm PST #5561 of 10001
Ann, that's a ferret.
I want to vote for Murder My Sweet, but that's more because it completely remade Dick Powell's image than because it's noir. So I'll vote for the surprisingly un-urban The Postman Always Rings Twice.