+ Film Noir +

I hate noir films. I'm just going to throw it out there. I had more fun watching Casablanca (as it turns out... Casablanca is considered a noir film) and Gone with the Wind... and if you knew me you'd know I didn't actually like Gone with the Wind very much. The only good thing in Asphalt Jungle is almost everyone gets shot or dies. Which almost made it worth while to have been watched five times gaining nothing from the film... However, words still didn't come that would have made me compose a fantastic thesis on the intent of the movie in the time period, etc. It just... was. Honestly it could just be that I was incapable of sitting still long enough to watch the movie for the purpose of gaining understanding. Truthfully, I had to wikipedia Asphalt Jungle just to figure out what happened. It could also be the fact that I have a ton of papers, exams, and readings all due at the same time and I can't necessarily justify throwing away time to give my full attention to a film.

To be fair it is very likely that I don't so much hate the entire genre as much as I am claiming here. It is probably more likely that my professor is really making the class as god-awfully boring as possible. All she does is talk forever and ever amen about nothing. And when she's done boring everyone with nonsense that doesn't actually create enlightenment in us she then puts on some arbitrary movie that doesn't connect either. Which leads me to the assumption that all film noir is this boring. I really don't think this movement, genre, series, or mode is as amazing as she tries to make it. Or maybe I'm just really unwilling to give it a full chance because the class is so awful.

Neo-noir works aren't totally bad. I mean I do so love Along Came a Spider, or maybe it's just that I really love Morgan Freeman. That could be a possibility. The Bone Collector is also amazing, or maybe it's just that I love Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie... Are you sensing a theme? I just really like the actors involved and am definitely willing to overlook most else. But to be fair, I love me some detectives - just apparently not the type of detectives portrayed from 1941-1958...

See? I know my facts about Noir, the time period, that is isn't necessarily a series, mode, or genre but has characteristics of all of them. I just don't watch movies to be analytical. I watch movies as background noise to fool myself into thinking I'm not by myself being a hermit and also for enjoyment, with the occasional help me fall asleep bit. I don't want to think about the use of venetian blinds, low-key vs high-key lighting, or what the detective is wearing that fits into the persona of a film noir detective. I don't care that he's wearing a damn fedora or slapping a chick in the face... okay, actually that's a lie. Jack Nicholson slapping what's-her-name in the face in Chinatown was freaking priceless. The sheer sound it made... goodness, but see? That's entertainment, not analytical.

If I'm watching a movie I'm not wanting to analyze why it does or does not fit into the category critics tell me it should. I'm watching it to be entertained, for background noise, or because it struck my fancy. Maybe after the tenth time I've watched it I'll be willing to analyze the content... I guess it's a good thing I'm picking The Bone Collector for the Neo-Noir Analysis paper... That I have seen multiple times, I have it on dvd, and it can keep my interest. Though, I still think it would be fun to do it on Sin City, I'm not totally sure it would fit into the criteria, so Bone Collector it is.