Do you have a favourite film genre?

[NickM]

And if so, what is it? How is it defined, and what are the best examples of it?

I love neo-noir (perhaps one of the less obvious choices). A good neo-noir film has a puzzle to solve and interesting characters, at least some of them sympathetic. It evokes a time and place (always American), and its complex plot relies to some extent upon mistakes made in the past and the playing out of their consequences in the present. The protagonist seeks answers, and generally finds them. There is a satisfying sense of inevitability about its conclusion; it must leave no loose ends. It may or may not have its origins in a book, is made in colour, and is less melodramatic and often less cynical in tone than its black-and-white noir predecessors, with a wider range of different atmospheres - neo-noir is by no means exclusively gloomy or elegiac.

My top 5 neo-noir films? You may contend that some of these do not fit the definition above... nevertheless, I offer you:

Mulholland Drive
Where the Truth Lies (shockingly underrated by the critics)
The Big Lebowski
The Drowning Pool
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Mulholland Drive is an excellent film - no idea what it was really about, that's Lynch for you, but I enjoyed watching it.
Probably put 'Lost Highway' in your list for the same reason.

I need more time for a good think about this thread though ...

 

[NickM]

Mulholland Drive is an excellent film - no idea what it was really about...

Try this

 

[rich p]

I don't know if this fits your criteria Nick as it's set in Italy but I love this kind of understated style

The Consequences of Love or Le conseguenze dell'amore in Italian

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0398883/

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Try this

Must be a different film!

 

[ASC1951]

Stuff that makes me think - Krzysztof Kieslowski's Three Colours trilogy, for instance.

I can't abide noisy arcade-game garbage, like The Dark Knight.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

I prefer the original film-noir (e.g.: Double Indemnity, The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, Where the Sidewalk Ends...) its more mainstream offshoots (The Third Man, Casablanca etc.) and the German expressionist cinema it came from (The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, M, Dr Mabuse and so on) to neo-noir. I think, in fact, that this is my favourite genre.

I do also like contemporary Ozu-influenced Japanese cinema, especially Kore-Eda Hirokazu, just about anything French, particularly Patrice Leconte and Francois Ozon, and I have a weakness for big dramas that span decades - the fairly recent Italian film, The Best of Youth, being my favourite in this area.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

If I were to chose my favourite genre it would have to be the classic seven minute Hollywood cartoon, preferably by Chuck Jones, Tex Avery or Bob Clampett. The date would range from the mid 30s to the late 40s but could just about extend into the 50s. Warner Bros was by far and away the best studio.

Does this count?

 

[ComedyPilot]

German comedy.......................

 

[mikeitup]

Re

I have a fair collection of hong kong action movies.
Predominantly martial arts but a few modern actioners , Japanese Chanbara and some of the newer Thai Tony Jaa movies too.

Basically the stereotypical kung fu film revolves around a young scamp being trained by a master of a specific style to get his revenge on the bad guy (who killed his mom, dad, brother, sister, master or sometimes all of these in the same film!!). There are many different types too. You have the classic Shaw Brothers movies (swordplay in the 60's, shaolin kung fu in the 70's & 80's etc), Golden Harvest who gave us Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Samo Hung. Independant movies by guys like Ng See Yuen, Joseph Kuo and Robert Tai.
The 90's saw the period that would influence & inspire hollywood - "Heroic Bloodshed" usually triad based bloodfests involving honour, loyalty betrayal and redemption from guys like Ringo Lam and John Woo.
Also the 90's saw the "wire fu" boom which would be embraced by hollywood (Crouching tiger anyone?) although to the initiated these types of movies go back to the 1920's.

There are too many to mention but here are my top 10 (star and studio & year):

Prodigal Son (Samo Hung - Golden Harvest) 1981

Martial club (Lau Kar Fei - Shaw Bros) 1981

Heroes Two (Chen Kwan Tai, Fu Seng - Shaw Bros) 1974

36 Chamber Of Shaolin (Lau Kar Fei - Shaw Bros) 1978

City On Fire (Chow Yun Fat - Golden Harvest)) 1987

Drunken Master (Jackie Chan - Seasonal Films) 1978

Iron Monkey (Donnie Yen - Golden Harvest/film workshop) 1993

Hard Boiled (Chow Yun Fat - Golden Princess) 1990

The Killer (Chow Yun Fat - Golden Princess) 1989

Warriors Two (Casanova Wong - Golden Harvest) 1978

All these are from the HK cinema golden era.
That said the newer action films from HK: SPL, Flash Point, Fatal Contact, Fearless and more recently the excellent Ip Man are a step in the right direction.

 

[NickM]

That's a niche that had not occurred to me!

Are you a martial arts exponent yourself, mikeitup? Is it the action which makes the film for you, or do they have more depth than that? (they do sound rather formulaic, but then what do I know?).

 

[Debian]

I don't know what you'd call this "genre" but any film that makes me think.

A good recent example being Revolutionary Road - I caught this by accident on TV last week and loved it.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

36 Chamber Of Shaolin (Lau Kar Fei - Shaw Bros) 1978

Drunken Master (Jackie Chan - Seasonal Films) 1978

There's two classics of the genre. I would have added Fist of Fury, and (slightly off-genre, perhaps) A Chinese Ghost Story and New Dragon Gate Inn (a big influence on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), to my list - not sure I would have enough knowledge or enthusiasm (despite having studied kung-fu) to make a Top 10!

 

[XmisterIS]

Dunno how I'd define the genre, but my DVD collection is:

Saw 1 - 6
Hostel
Hannibal Rising
Silence of the Lambs
Red Dragon
Hannibal
Deathwatch
8mm
Seven
Hamburger Hill
Saving Private Ryan
Aliens, Alien3, Alien Resurrection
Mist by Stephen King
Cube Zero
Hellraiser 1 - 3
Anatomie 1 & 2
28 Days Later
American Psycho
Hard Candy

 

[thegrumpybiker]

Dunno how I'd define the genre, but my DVD collection is:

Saw 1 - 6
Hostel
Hannibal Rising
Silence of the Lambs
Red Dragon
Hannibal
Deathwatch
8mm
Seven
Hamburger Hill
Saving Private Ryan
Aliens, Alien3, Alien Resurrection
Mist by Stephen King
Cube Zero
Hellraiser 1 - 3
Anatomie 1 & 2
28 Days Later
American Psycho
Hard Candy

Well that clearly explains a lot!
No Alien? (pt 1)