Similar films?


I'm talking breathlessly paced, gritty, beautifully shot thrillers/neo-noir films. I know Michael Mann, I know Friedkin's others; I'm looking for something more obscure. For example, I recently chanced upon Cutter's Way and was blown away by that, although that doesn't quite fit into the category of films I'm looking for as it's more deliberately paced. What's striking to me about TLADILA is how artful and considered but also ridiculously entertaining/tautly paced it is, so I'm looking for more stuff up that alley.

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Hal Ashby's "8 Million Ways to Die" (it's like "Cutter's Way", also with Jeff Bridges, but feels nothing like an Ashby movie) the recent "Drive" and Walter Hill's "Driver" and "The Warriors" have a similar vibe. I call these films "neon noirs". Bong Joon-ho's "Mother" and "Memories of Murder" are two good modern crime films that feel like Michael Mann's movies. The remake of Melville's "Bob the Gambler", called "The Good Thief", is underrated too. Also Melville's "Red Circle" and to a lesser extent the recent "We Own The Night". More good ones are the director's cut of "Donnie Brasco", "Shanghai Triad", "Chungking Express" and Dumont's "Humanite". "The Wire" is better than all of them, though.


"Rape is no laughing matter. Unless you're raping a clown."

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[deleted]


I'm a big fan of _Eight Million Ways To Die_ myself. I think it's grossly underrated.

Ozy

And I stood where I did be; for there was no more use to run; And again I lookt with my hope gone.

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Yeah, "The Wire" puts most crime films to shame. And most of these films have an outdated view crime.

Some of the best modern crime films are actually documentaries. If you like "The Wire" you will like "Murder on a Sunday Morning" and "Capturing the Friedmans".



"Rape is no laughing matter. Unless you're raping a clown."

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Herzog claimed never to have seen the Ferrara film & not even knowing who Ferrara was (of course, one shouldn´t take everything coming from him on the face value, but...) He also never intended the film to be called Bad Lieutenant, just Port Call: New Orleans until the producers, for reasons unknown and difficult to understand, interfered.

I just saw that Drive thing, too, and it pretty much deserves the ragging - the ride is smooth, but it all comes without a shred of originality or much of a point and the sappy romance thing with the neighbour is pretty terrible, especially as it tends to trigger a lot of really bad, cheesy noise on the soundtrack. Also, what´s with the main character? The guy looks like someone from Backstreet Boys with his cute puppy dog smile and a constant blank stare that is probably supposed to indicate a contemplative personality, but instead makes him look comatose. Such a sweet guy, too - O´Neal in The Driver (indeed a great movie which Drive indeed copies a lot) was also largely an uncomplicated pretty boy, but at least he kept the audience at arms length, being kind of a self involved prick. And was at least semi-believable as a tough guy. Gosling, on the other hand, is unable to convey any physical threat while virtually begging for sympathy.

Hard to think of anything that´d perfectly fit the bill that hasn´t already been mentioned, but I was recently very impressed with a number called True Confessions from 1981. It´s comparatively contemplative & character driven, but does qualify as a well shot, reasonably gritty neo-noir (it may have been made in the 80´s, but sure feels like a 70´s flick). De Niro and Duvall are pretty great in it, too.



"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

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Why would producers insist on calling it Bad Lieutenant? That seems odd. The first film doesn't exactly have much brand recognition.



"Rape is no laughing matter. Unless you're raping a clown."

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I could swear I remember reading that Herzog said he disliked Ferrara's film, but maybe I'm wrong. In any case, the two films are very amusing to compare, Herzog's acting as a more deliberately, humorously campy and over-the-top retelling of Ferrara's fairly straight-faced character study.

Yeah, Gosling didn't really work, didn't convince in his role, but I get the sense the film was aiming for some kind of transcendent aesthetic in which character development is irrelevant, and failed greatly. It's a "smooth ride" indeed, a ride to nowhere, nowhere we haven't already been, and nothing that's going to really linger in the memory indelibly the way TLADILA does. (I find, contrary to most films of its genre, To Live and Die really holds up to multiple viewings -- the "ride" is as thrilling as ever, but all kinds of other subtleties reveal themselves as well).

Thanks; I'll add True Confessions to the proverbial list.

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It appears that Herzog claimed on at least two separate occasions, after Ferrara had publically wished death upon him, that he´s never seen Ferrara´s picture. Meanwhile, I can´t find any indication of him having stated the opposite.

As for the title, then possibly the producers/studio thought Port Of Call - New Orleans didn´t give much of an indication as to what kinda film it´s supposed to be. And who wouldn´t want to see corrupt police officers?



"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

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Sort of a left-field choice, but I thought Edward Yang's The Terrorizers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Terrorizers_(film)) had a lot of similar qualities to TLADILA. Despite being deliberately paced, and much more an "art film" than a crime thriller, it's edited with a brilliant sense of constant energy and motion, and shares TLADILA's startlingly sudden and violent denouement and vivid sense of place in a big city. Really thrilling stuff, if in a slightly different way than usual.

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Edward Yang definitely needs more love. A decent DVD of The Terrorizers was only released last year. Until then, only crappy VHS versions were available.

This is my murder-swagger, I wear the skin-trophy of my prey.

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I think it would do you well to check out Ronin.

And though it has pacing issues, see the Cimino/Stone movie Year of the Dragon (there's actually a thread at this board comparing the two.)

How about Se7en?

"...if that was off, I'd be whoopin' your ass up and down this street." ~ an irate Tarantino

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I'm glad somebody mentioned Ronin. Three excellent car chases, one in reverse down a crowded highway. How can you go wrong!

As an apologist turned authority I don't defend my comments because I am always right.

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I came across a worn paperback copy of the novel "Cutter and Bone" (by Newton Thornburg and published in 1978) on a sidewalk in the middle of a bunch of other paperbacks in Madras, Tamil Nadu, India, one day when I was strolling along the street dodging cows, cowpies and traffic. I had already been a big fan of "Cutter's Way," and was overjoyed to discover that the film was adapted from a book that I immediately purchased for a few rupees. A very excellent read, I might add.

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Manhunter, RUSH and Breaking Bad are similar.

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Check out Joe Carnahan's Narc.

"Nope, Hipster nonsense. I'm out."

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try LAYER CAKE and SEXY BEAST and LONDON BOULEVARD for a few brit options here



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"You are literally too stupid to insult."

"Thank you."

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KILL THE IRISHMAN is really good too. an under the radar straight to dvd release


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"You are literally too stupid to insult."

"Thank you."

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These are some similar films according to IMDB:

Sorcerer
Thief
Manhunter
Cruising
The French Connection
The Driver
Bug
Rampage
The Brink's Job
Blow Out
The Long Goodbye
Body Double

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