Howard Hawks - The Big Sleep

Every time I watch it, I sigh, "They'll never make another movie as good as this again."

Thanks, Joe. The Big Sleep is not available at the local store, (darn it!) but I'll put it in my queue. My husband *loves* Bogart.

I'd like to see Gosford Park again but my local Blockbuster does not carry it either. Bummer.

I think I'll rent Tell No One. I can't believe the store actually carries this one.

Movies I have rated 9 on IMDB (and rather loosely interpreted). None of my 10s fall into this category.

Blade Runner, Bonnie & Clyde, Memento, Natural Born Killers, Sleuth, Thelma & Louise

M, The Maltese Falcon, Chinatown, Dirty Harry, Touch of Evil, Man On Fire, Rear Window, L.A. Confidential, Catch Me If You Can, A Fish Called Wanda, The Sting.

"The Game" was good -- despite my hatred of Michael Douglas. Of course "Se7en", at least for its visual appeal.

BTW, on-demand movies on cable are the best invention in, like, ever. $4.99 for a new-release movie, and I don't have to go fetch it or return it, which I would inevitably do late, compounding the expense? Dude. I LOVE THE FUTURE.

I'll also endorse "The Game", and "Frailty" with Matthew McConaughey.

I have never heard of Frailty. I'll have to look for it.

Tell No One isn't out until the 31st. I tried to rent Blood Simple and the new Ben Kingsley movie based on a Phillip Roth novel. They had neither.

Hugh, We love everything you listed, Ardiril's list too. The Maltese Falcon is one of my husband's favorite movies. We have it on DVD. Maybe we'll watch it. A Fish Called Wanda is on my top 20.

Thanks for the suggestions everybody.

I rented what my husband calls snorefests and neither fit into the crime-thriller category:

I've Loved You So Long and Marie and Bruce. I think Marie and Bruce is going to be craptacular.

El Lay Confidential was a good adaptation of the book. Angel Heart was really great. Silence of the Lambs freaked me the fuck out.

Oh yeah, Body Double was pretty good, but it might be dated due to when it came out.

I like The Long Kiss Goodnight with Gina Davis.

I am partial to Rear Window. The shot through Raymond Burr's darkened window showing nothing but a cigarette coal is very very creepy.

And I just re-watched M for the first time in awhile last week. Possibly one of the creepiest movies ever made, and it's amazing how many elements from it have ended up being the ingredients modern thrillers are made of.

Le Corbeau ("The Raven," 1943 Clouzot film about an occupied village torn apart by poison pen letters), The Name of the Rose, The Conversation, Kiss Me Deadly, Point Blank, Double Indemnity, White Heat (The Public Enemy also not to miss), Key Largo.

Gaslight, In the Heat of the Night, Freaks, True Believer, Vertigo, Rashomon, Deathtrap, Clockers.

The Big Lebowski :)

Bob Le Flambeur ("Bob the Gambler," 1955 J-P Melville criminal gallantry), Our Man in Havana, The Brink's Job, Robocop, Jackie Brown, Rififi, The Man Who Copied, The Night of the Hunter, Darkman, The Third Man, True Romance.

Name of the Rose was awesome. Love it. Vertigo is incredible, but then I have a soft spot for vintage San Francisco. I'd add The Birds to the Hitchcock stream.

I like Jules Dassin. Night and the City, Brute Force, Naked City, Topkapi, Rififi (that one's in French), I can't get enough.

Ooh, and Donald Westlake: Point Blank, The Hot Rock and The Grifters are the best of 'em.

I just watched "The Third Man" for the first time tonight. As perfect as a movie ending can be. Also, Joseph Cotton and Orson Wells.

Pretty much everything Hugh Janus said other than "Name of the Rose," but only because I read it first and the movie is horrible in comparison to the book, IMO.

Coincidental to your mentioning "Gosford Park" in a thread about crime movies, I watched Altman's "The Long Goodbye" tonight with Elliot Gould as Phillip Marlowe. In both movies, Altman had the cameras physically moving at all times so that the cinematography itself either becomes an unseen character or gives the viewer a strong sense of being a voyeur. "The Long Goodbye" is no action movie as Gould's portrayal of Marlowe is more that of a catalyst whose presence causes events to unfold, often offscreen, rather than as an involved protagonist. The plot, what remains of it from the novel, is secondary and sometimes non-existent. IOW, a very typical Altman movie and one I recommend to any of his fans who may have passed over it.

Also, for those who get into the technical side of film making, this movie uses flashing to some degree in virtually every scene. A true masterpiece of art in that respect. The digital transfer respects that aspect meticulously, and the DVD extras cover the technique in depth.

Finally, fans of Morris the Cat and cat lovers in general will love the first 10 minutes. No, nothing violent happens to the cat; his part sets up Gould's interpretation of a '50s Marlowe transplanted to the '70s.

I'm partial to The Name of the Rose mostly because I've been to St. Catherine's monastery, where it was filmed, at the foot of Mt. Sinai, and seen the ossuary.

But I think we can all agree that the best crime flick ever is Bugsy Malone.

I love Angel Heart, and The Grifters is one of my favorite movies ever.

House of Games is an excellent mindfuck kind of crime flick.

Clue!

The original Manchurian Candidate

Oh yeah, Body Double was pretty good, but it might be dated due to when it came out.

I watched Body Double pretty recently, and it has aged, but in a way that is fun to watch. (You can't think too hard about the plot, which unravels pretty horribly if you start pulling at it.) The soundtrack, mostly the poppiest of the New Wave hits, quite strikingly marks it as a product of its era. Underneath DePalma’s generous lashings of sleaze and gore, it’s a straight Hitchcockian scenario, a sort of louche homage to Rear Window & Vertigo, and even stars the daughter of a Hitchcock star.

I like The Maltese Falcon even better than The Big Sleep. I think the plot holds together better, and the patter is unbeatable, mostly lifted straight from Hammett's novel. The two together make a great double-feature. (You might want to turn down the color on your TV; our screen always shimmers with this weird haze of color when we watch it. Glorious black & white!)

The Conversation. Coppola's best film in my estimation --- really haunting and mournful but also quite suspenseful and startling. Hackman turns in an astonishing performance. Look for Harrison Ford in a small role.

Criminal: John C. Reilly, Diego Luna, and Maggie Gyllenhall in a con-game film that moved along fast, all slick and tricky. I loved it. (I've got the Argentinian original, Nueve Reinas, to watch this weekend.)

I would reccommend Body Double as well except the ending is preposterous.

Thanks, people! I love the recommendations. We will be set! There are many here that I haven't seen, so that will be extra enjoyable.

Wow. Some great suggestions here and none (of the ones I've seen) that I'd quibble with; I'll be adding a lot to our Netflix queue. I can't believe no-one's suggested The Usual Suspects, though. I can't get enough of that movie.

Yes, I know you've already got your movies. It's a movie thread, though, and therefore will never end. ;)

Oooh, let me add "Citizen X" about the first Russian serial killer.