Film Noir - Reaction Shots

We've got a tight turn around on this month's discussion as Easy Livin' made my brain get off by a week!  So this episode will be shot in the next day or two and go up on Friday!  So let's talk Noir real quick!

Film Noir, hard crime, dark streets, grimy detectives, femme fatales, broken pocket watches, double crosses, smoking guns, bodies floating in the pool.  Lets get dark!

Examples: Chinatown, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Double Indemnity, Touch of Evil, Sunset Boulevard, Nice Guys, Out of the Past, Brick, LA Confidential, Blade Runner, and like a million other great ones. 

Film Noir is a lot of people's favorite film genre, but is it a genre or is it just a term given to us by the French to describe something that was happening on its own?

Who Framed Roger Rabbit certainly borrows from some of the greats, but it stands alone as a great Film Noir on its own right, why do you think that is?

The effects in Roger Rabbit are legendary, the combination of practical effects really grants believably to this world of tunes and goons.

Eddie Valiant is a somewhat tragic figure, is it a prerequisite of the Noir detective that they be haunted by the past?

The past often plays a large role in these films, why do you think that is?  Is being haunted by the past really just our fear of the future?

Roger Rabbit and Chinatown share many similarities, primarily in their historical backdrops, how are they different, does one do it better than the other?

Film Noir has a historically complex relationship with female characters.  Why do you suppose that is?   Do you think that Film Noir on the whole tends to vilify women or does it depict them as intelligent and capable if not tricky?  What are some  examples of positive depictions of female characters in Film Noir?

What other thoughts do you have about Film Noir?

What is your favorite Film Noir movie or show?

Sorry for the short turn around here, I'll make sure to get this up much earlier next month!