Blue Ruin

[John Bailey]

Best definition of genre I was ever taught was that it's a set of
expectations we bring to a text, not always consciously, and we may or may
not find interest in how a particular work replays, subverts, deviates from
or fulfils those expectations. If we've much familiarity with noir, we
might associate it with a particular set of themes, iconography, stock
characters, a visual and sonic language, etc. So Blue Ruin (which I haven't
seen) is probably going to ping those noir flags for some while not for
others, because any genre is partly subjective due to our own past exposure
to examples of it, though it's also broadly cultural and shared in some
other senses.
And then if you're like anyone on the P-list you probably gain pleasure
from the ways Gravity's Rainbow upends expectations about the genre of the
novel itself. Others gain pleasure from a novel that just ticks all the
boxes.

On Sun, Apr 2, 2017 at 6:06 AM, Jesse Gooch <jlgooch at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Because of a thing for school, I’ve looked at a lot of definitions of film
> noir lately and have learned that it gets harder and harder to pinpoint
> what is and isn’t “noir” after about 1950, I think the “neo” qualifier
> allows it to cover even more stuff.  I could try to find the article on
> neo-noir that had it on the list of movies, but I don’t remember it really
> listing its qualifications.  Not being a specific genre, it’s a pretty
> subjective thing.  I’ll get back to you on the verite aspect once I write a
> paper on that. For now, I’ll trust that you’re probably right.
> As far as Green Room goes, it’s never bad watching Nazis get killed.  But
> having grown up in the punk scene, and then been locked-up with a lot of
> skinheads, it just seemed silly.  It felt like a movie about punks and
> white supremacists made by somebody that had only seen punks and white
> supremacists on TV (like if a white guy from Bismarck had made Boys in the
> Hood after binge-watching gangland and lockup raw). Not a terrible movie
> though. Nice to see Sir Patrick playing something different.
>
> On 4/1/17, 3:26 PM, "Mark Thibodeau" <jerkyleboeuf at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>     I thought it was... okay. Don't see the "noir" aspect though, as it's
>     anything but stylish/stylized. It felt more verite' to me. Noir
>     doesn't just mean grim and depressing with an all but silent anti-hero
>     now, does it?
>
>     I preferred his Green Room, but then again, I like watching Nazis die
>     horrible deaths.
>
>     Jerky
>
>     On Sat, Apr 1, 2017 at 1:52 PM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>     > Funny:  I was at my local library this AM randomly looking at the DVD
>     > shelves, thinking to randomly find something good.  I saw Blue Ruin,
> and
>     > liked the name, but didn't pick it up.  Next time I will.
>     >
>     > David Morris
>     >
>     > On Sat, Apr 1, 2017 at 12:32 PM Jesse Gooch <jlgooch at hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>     >>
>     >> Who’s seen Blue Ruin?  I liked this quite a bit.  Came across it in
> an
>     >> article about neo noir and enjoyed it.  Good pacing and the
> protagonist was
>     >> interesting.
>     >>
>     >> Not so much a fan of the other 2 movies the guy made (Murder Party
> and
>     >> Green Room) but this one is good.
>
>
>
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