Chinatown (1974)

Halfway through Roman Polasnki’s perfect crime noir “Chinatown,” the femme fatale played by Faye Dunaway bumps a car horn with her head during a moment of distress. The noise startles her and seat mate PI Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson). It is the coldest punch of foreshadowing I’ve ever seen, and I only noticed it on what may have been my 15^th (?) viewing. The next viewing I noticed a new twist: Gittes’ love of horses. That’s the beauty of Polanski’s tale of 1930s Los Angeles and ex-cop Gittes, who spies on wondering spouses, and wears fine suits. Plot: The wife of LA’s water engineer hires Gittes to bust her cheating husband, except the woman isn’t the engineer’s wife, and when the man turns up dead, Gittes realizes he’s been played. Gittes takes action. Except the cruel joke of “Chinatown” is Gittes is a fool, so lost and clueless the deeper he sinks into ancient familial evil, by film’s end he is left in shock, helpless. Robert Towne gets the screenplay credit, but Polanski wrote the unnerving finale. Polanksi’s direction is as smooth as jazz, with perfect interior car shots. As the villain, John Huston plays a monster for the ages. A+

Blood Simple (1984) and Miller's Crossing (1990)

I love me some Coen Brothers. Love 'em, and here's two of their best. Freakin' awesome films.

I recently read an interview where director Danny Boyle ("Slumdog Millionaire") discusses the brothers Joel and Ethan. "Blood Simple," he says, is their first and best film. It's hard to disagree with that. (Well, see below.) Set in Texas, this pitch-black film noir ala "Twilight Zone" comedy follows the twisting rotten relationship between two lovers (Frances McDormand and John Getz), an unbalanced husband (Dan Hedaya) and a cackling, double-crossing psychopathic P.I. (M. Emmet Walsh). With gallons of bloods and one character who won't stay dead, this crackles with intense suspense and a sickeningly funny, hair-raising climax. The game is raised by Barry Sonnenfeld's wandering, roving and jumping camera, and Walsh's evil yellow-suited cowboy. He's still the Coens' most devious creation; his laugh is unforgettable. The film, too.

"Miller's Crossing" is another classic from Joel and Ethan, this one mixing in classics "The Godfather" with "Yojimbo" and a dozen other double-cross films involving Bogart-era mobsters, dames, bookies and hoods in the woods. Oh, and some sickly dark comedy. Gabriel Byrne has never been better or cooler as Tom, a mafia lieutenant who breaks with his boss (Albert Finney) to join the other side (led by John Polito) while juggling a tramp girlfriend (Marcia Gay Harden) and her gay sleazebag bookie brother (John Turturro). Smart, brilliant, and a knowing tribute/smack down to all crime films, every shot is a work of art and every character fascinating. There's whip smart and funny dialogue, too. Midway through the film the Coens give us a scene that they have yet to top: Byrne, pistol in hand, stalking a screaming, screeching Turturro into a forest. Hell, the whole film may be their best.

Both films: A+