The MoFo Top 100 Neo-noir Countdown

TRAILERS



Shutter Island - Two US marshals are sent to an asylum on a remote island in order to investigate the disappearance of a patient, where one of them uncovers a shocking truth about the place.




The Hot Spot - A drifter looking for a job in a small town in Texas finds himself in the middle of problems when he starts an affair with his boss' wife. When he robs a bank, more complications ensue.

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There's a nice connection between today's and yesterday's Anyway, I've seen Shutter Island, but I'm not a huge fan of it. Close to bottom tier Scorsese for me. The Hot Spot sounds fun, but I haven't seen it.

SEEN: 8/16
MY BALLOT: 0/25

I liked Shutter Island, but it missed my ballot. Glad it made the countdown. I haven't seen The Hot Spot and I don't think I have ever heard of it before.

Seen: 11/16

Shutter Island is okay but not my favourite Scorsese. I haven't seen The Hot Spot...another nineties neo noir (I call it a Triple N) that I haven't sen but adding to the watchlist!

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"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF... SHUTTER ISLAND


Roger Ebert said:

GradeSaver said:

@Holden Pike said:

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF... THE HOT SPOT


Roger Ebert said:

David Masciotra from Crime Reads said:

Ryan Murphy from The Miami Herald, said:

I haven't seen The Hot Spot, but this article seemed to be a pretty interesting analysis of it, both as a film and as a representation of either neo-noir or pure film noir. I skimmed through it briefly, but I didn't want to spoil the film, though.

‘The Hot Spot’ (1990) Review: No Fury Like A Woman’s Scorn

Another from my list in The Hot Spot. I had it at #24. Just as Lara Flynn Boyle can push a film out of contention, Jennifer Connelly can help tack one on. Add in Virginia Madsen with her retro style and a screenplay that nails a true-to-form noir ending, and you have a winner.



Never considered Shutter Island, which I see as more of a psychological thriller, for my ballot.

10/16 seen and two from my ballot have appeared!

Shutter Island was #76 on the MoFo Top 100 of the 2010s.

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

Shutter Island has never been a huge favorite, but I've always thought it was a really solid movie. It's got some fine performances and a lot of atmosphere. That its story reminds me of The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari, one of my favorite movies, doesn't hurt either. I voted for it at #12.

Here's what I wrote about it while preparing for the 2010s Countdown:
My Ballot:
3. The Man From Nowhere (#87)
12. Shutter Island (#86)

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I frickin’ LOVE The Hot Spot.



Yesterday when I said Red Rock West paled in comparison to some of the amazing Neo Noir titles that were bleeding onto cinema screens in the early 1990s, Dennis Hopper’s The Hot Spot is one of the specific titles I was referring to. Adapted from the Charles Williams’ 1950s pulp classic Hell Hath No Fury, it tells the unabashedly sweaty tale of a good-looking, clever drifter (Don Johnson) who wanders into a very small Texas town and charms his way into a job selling cars. The lot owner has a very young, very hot, obviously very dangerous wife (Virginia Madsen) who the drifter instantly assesses as Trouble with a capital T which rhymes with P and that stands for Poon Tang! There is also a young, ravishingly beautiful, seemingly innocent girl who works there (Jennifer Connelly) and is clearly in some extra-curricular trouble of her own. Between the two beauties and a bank just plum for the robbing, what else is there to do in a small town? Stellar supporting cast with a bevy of great character actors: Jerry Hardin, Charles Martin Smith, Barry Corbin, Jack Nance, and William Sadler at his gleefully slimiest. The soundtrack also as a high-powered dream cast: John Lee Hooker and Miles Davis (what?!? YES!) plus Taj Mahal all jamming on compositions by Jack Nitzsche! It is as steamy as the flick it scores.



This novel was almost made years earlier with Bob Mitchum, and while that certainly would have been a classic in its own right, the 1990s were such a ripe time to adapt some of these amazing pulp novels because you could finally show the sex and violence that would have only been implied had they been adapted in the 1950s or ‘60s. These novels were pulling no punches, so it is wonderful to see them adapted with the same gusto. Dennis Hopper only completed six feature films after his heralded debut of Easy Rider, and one of them got uniherited under the infamous Alan Smithee pseudonym, but this is easily my favorite. Sultry, mean, cynical, and fun! If all of THAT doesn’t make you rush out and see it, mayhaps this will help: 20-year-old Jennifer Connelly completely nekkid. You’re welcome. Yes, the same era as The Rocketeer and Career Opportunities sans clothing.

I only had The Hot Spot at number twenty-two, four little points, but that doesn’t express how much I truly love that slutty little flick. Could have easily slotted it much higher on a different day, and probably even should have. But I am ecstatic it made the list with such little numerical support from this eternal fan. And it has one of the perfect last lines in Noir from our surrendering protagonist as he correctly sums up, "Well, I found my level." Indeed.

*drag your cursor over that white space if you want the spoiler

HOLDEN'S BALLOT
15. Shallow Grave (#95)
17. Dead Again (#90)
22. The Hot Spot (#85)
25. Johnny Handsome (DNP)

Shutter Island is really good, but not a favorite.

Haven’t even heard of Hot Spot, which seems crazy because that would have been released for home video in the midst of my Blockbuster days. Putting it on the watchlist.

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Letterboxd

Shutter Island is great on repeat viewing...I wonder if both Cape Fears end up showing up on this countdown.


Never heard of Hot Spot

I only owned The Hot Spot on LaserDisc back in the day and now DVD, but I am sure it was released on VHS. It was rated R so Blockbuster could have carried it, but its reputation may have been such that some retailers decided not to have it on their shelves in more conservative communities? It played on cable quite a bit, but usually late at night.

Some trivia for anyone interested, these two – Shutter Island and The Hot Spot – have the lowest RT scores from the list so far (along with Shallow Grave). Weirdly enough, The Hot Spot also has one of the lowest IMDb scores on the countdown while Shutter Island has one of the highest.

I've seen two of the last six, but both did make the list!

At number 19 is Dead Again. A stylish film noir-ish exercise where a detective in the present finds the key to solve a mystery lies in the past. A solid cast led by Kenneth Branagh (who also directed) and Emma Thompson lead the way along with a clever script that effortlessly goes between the present and the past 50 years ago.

And at 22, I have Shutter Island. Martin Scorsese's neo noir features Leonardo DiCaprio as a marshal who along with his new partner played by Mark Ruffalo have to solve a mystery about a woman who disappeared from a locked room in an insane asylum. The further they get into it, the more dangerous it becomes. Another film that thrives with a solid cast and a clever script that mostly withstands scrutiny.

List:

4. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
19. Dead Again (1991)
22. Shutter Island (2010)
25. Kill Me Again (1989)

Seen: 6/16

I remember being quite ambivalent to Shutter Island at the time, with it being quite predictable. The twist wasn't as clever as it thought it was. That said looking back I gave it a 7/10. Maybe due a rewtch.

I'm off to seek out The Hot Spot.