Noir focuses on the criminal mind, not a whodunit: more why they did it and will they get away with it. The abnormal psychology is what fascinates me rather than the puzzle-solving aspect.
But, number one, I think traditional noir doesn't work in contemporary storytelling because we don't live in that world anymore.
I guess what's most surprised me in most of the reviews is that they don't seem to get the noir story in the dream sequence, so they analyze it like a straight noir movie.
That's what noir feels like to me. It feels like some kind of recurring dream, with very strong archetypes operating. You know, the guilty girl being pursued, falling, all kinds of stuff that we see in our dreams all the time.
The thing I loved about the cartoons I grew up with is, to this day, I'm still just starting to get certain references from Bugs Bunny cartoons. I'll see some film noir movie and go, 'Wait, that's what Bugs Bunny was quoting!' I like the idea we made the unfolding fortune cookie for ten years from now.
I think a film noir demands a beginning and an end.
I love all kinds of stuff. I really am so eclectic in my taste. I love film noir, I love thrillers, and I love big blockbuster popcorn cinema stuff, but I like it when it's twinged with a bit more social consciousness.