Film Noir Face-Off
Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) Chinatown (1973)
One of the bleakest entries in the film-noir canon is also one of it’s most lauded films.
Polanski's murky masterpiece see Nicholson on top form as the dogged Gittes, Faye Dunaway before the face lift, Roman before the rape allegation and Robert Towne before his Tom Cruise period. All's not well that ends really not well, though.
Broken Nose Factor: 9
Blindness To Disturbing Incest: 9
Sleuth Factor: 9
Pistol-whipped by...
Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Bogey’s finest performance. The practically flawless adaptation of the book that birthed the genre.
This takes it simply because Bogey gets his man - and his mysterious statue. And because it makes us slightly nostalgic for sleazy-but-cool on-screen fag-puffing.
Cool Sounding Name Factor: 10
Hey, Weren’t You in Casablanca-ness: 10
Sleuth Factor: 10
Comments
adammiller2k
Jun 23rd 2009, 8:22
How about the Asian stand off? In one corner, Tequilla, has the ability to jump through the air and fire guns, carry multiple babies in a shoot-out but can't help but fall in love with the "bad-guy." out-done by Det. Jojima from Takeshi Miike's Dead or Alive, not only does he track down yakuza and triads, he seems unfazed by all the weird s**t miike sends his way (which is saying something)...plus he never loves the bad-guy, infact he blows him up (along with japan) with a bionic arm!
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