TOP 25 neo-noir list (Revised 10/12, items that appear in small type are films where there is not yet any confirmation that they have been re-watched.)
7.8 86 1967 Point Blank
7.7 90 1971 Dirty Harry
7.7 94 1971 The French Connection
7.1 81 1971 Klute
7.0 1972 Across 110th Street
7.5 1973 The Friends of Eddie Coyle
7.6 87 1973 The Long Goodbye
8.2 92 1974 Chinatown
7.8 85 1974 The Conversation
7.4 65 1976 The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
8.3 94 1976 Taxi Driver
7.4 77 1981 Body Heat
7.5 81 1981 Prince of the City
7.4 78 1981 Thief
8.7 90 1990 Goodfellas
7.1 87 1992 One False Move
7.9 65 1993 Carlito's Way
7.0 85 1994 The Last Seduction
6.7 78 1995 Devil in a Blue Dress
7.5 82 1998 A Simple Plan
7.5 67 1999 Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
7.0 73 1999 The Limey
7.0 63 2004 The Assassination of Richard Nixon
7.3 85 2007 Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
8.1 91 2007 No Country for Old Men
7.1 82 2008 Frozen River
7.7 73 2017 Wind River
#films whose "genre bonafides" have been questioned
*films whose quality has been downgraded from Top 25
Films from provisional 26-50 list (Updated 10/12 from 9/26, including films formally removed from Top 25 list)
7.8 1971 Punishment Park
7.4 55 1972 The Getaway
6.4 1972 Hickey & Boggs
7.7 87 1973 Serpico
7.2 65 1974 The Gambler
7.1 65 1974 The Parallax View
7.1 82 1975 Night Moves
7.4 86 1981 Blow Out
7.6 81 1984 Blood Simple*
7.3 81 1985 To Live and Die in L.A.
8.2 90 1997 L.A. Confidential*
7.3 67 1998 Enemy of the State
7.9 85 2001 Mulholland Drive
7.4 86 2001 In the Bedroom#
7.7 72 2002 Road to Perdition
7.3 74 2003 Monster
7.4 81 2005 A History of Violence
8.2 93 2007 There Will Be Blood#
7.7 78 2007 Zodiac
7.2 90 2010 Winter’s Bone
7.1 76 2011 Margin Call
5.9 36 2012 Gone
8.1 70 2013 Prisoners
7.9 76 2014 Nightcrawler
7.6 88 2016 Hell or High Water
Below is that third list culled from the 2019 Top 200 list linked in the initial update--casually noted as possibly/likely a cut above (as the "25,""50," and "75" annotations suggest...but these are not intended to be binding in any way). I rounded it out to exactly 25 more titles with the addition of two recent films and 1978's WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN per a suggestion from ChiBob, who is lurking at the moment while recovering from valve replacement surgery...
Added 10/6 are Chi-Bob titles that were ranked as possible Top 100 films from his list submitted on 10/3. These were interpolated into the third list; they appear in italic type with his annotations in small italics. Added 10/8 are five Michael Douglas films per Dan Hodges' suggestion. These are shown in bold italics. No changes here 10/12 Assumption is that these films will also be re-watched as time permits.
1968 – Pretty Poison
1969 – They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?
1971 – Play Misty For Me
1973 – Badlands
1973 – Charley Varrick
1973 – The Outfit
1974 – Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia
1974 – Thieves Like Us (re-make of They Live By Night)
1975 – Farewell, My Lovely (re-make of Murder, My Sweet)Top 25?
1975 – Hustle
1976 – Mikey And Nicky
1976 – Obsession
1977 – Last Chants For A Slow Dance Jon Jost does neo-noir arthouse?
1977 – Short Eyes (can be debated on whether it’s noir, but one hell of a prison film, imo)
1977 – Sorcerer (re-make of Wages Of Fear)
1978 – Fingers (how can you guys forget this one? Keitel is unforgettable)
1978 – Blue Collar (political noir)
6.7 73 1978 Who’ll Stop the Rain
1979 – Last Embrace
6.9 70 1981 Cutter’s Way 75
1983 – A Killer In The Family (the only TV movie, but Mitchum is in his Night Of The Hunter mode.)
8.1 78 1984 Paris, Texas 50
1984 – The Pope Of Greenwich Village
1986 – 52 Pick-Up
6.9 67 1987 Fatal Attraction
7.4 82 1989 Drugstore Cowboy 75
1989 – Last Exit To Brooklyn
1989 – Street Of No Return (Sam Fuller’s take on David Goodis)
1990 – After Dark, My Sweet (from the Jim Thompson novel)
1990 – The Grifters (more Jim Thompson)
1990 – Jacob’s Ladder
1992 – Reservoir Dogs (Tarantino)
7.0 43 1992 Basic Instinct
7.6 56 1993 Falling Down
1993 – Red Rock West
7.6 81 1994 Fresh 50
7.3 74 1994 Natural Born Killers
8.6 65 1995 Se7en 50
8.2 76 1995 Heat 50
7.5 82 1995 Leaving Las Vegas 75
6.5 1996 2 Days in the Valley 75
7.5 64 1997 Jackie Brown 50
7.8 61 1997 The Game
6.8 54 1997 U Turn
1997 – Lost Highway (Lynch)
6.5 50 1998 A Perfect Murder
8.8 66 1999 Fight Club 50
7.4 76 1999 The Talented Mr. Ripley 75
8.5 80 2000 Memento 25
7.1 41 2002 The Salton Sea 75
7.0 56 2002 Phone Booth 75
6.0 57 2002 City of Ghosts
2003 – Mystic River
8.1 86 2004 Million Dollar Baby 75
7.1 73 2006 A Scanner Darkly 75
2006 – Valley Of The Heart’s Delight (re-make of Try And Get Me)
7.7 72 2007 Gone Baby Gone 75
7.6 82 2007 Eastern Promises 50
7.1 65 2007 In the Valley of Elah 75
7.9 67 2008 In Bruges 50
7.9 80 2008 The Wrestler 75
7.3 77 2017 Detroit 75
6.8 84 2018 You Were Never Really Here
6.8 69 2019 Motherless Brooklyn
Clearly some of these will be eliminated for genre considerations (THE WRESTLER may already have been tagged as ripe for such a fate, and it will be interesting to have a parallel discussion of SIN CITY and A SCANNER DARKLY, which aside from its animation has some sci-fi elements to thrash out). Also not sure that IN BRUGES will be considered to be eligible, with its US/UK production status.
Films where consensus has been reached that they are "sub-top 100"
8.1 70 2013 Prisoners
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