# Best modern "Noir" movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 11, 2013, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-modern-noir-movies/649953 "2013-02-11T07:03:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-modern-noir-movies/649953/1 "2013-02-11T07:03:32Z")
What are your choices for the best of the best of the more modern batch of “film noir” movies? Let’s say, for purposes of this thread, movies since 1980. (that allows “Body Heat” and “The Last Seduction” to be nominated, but not “Touch of Evil” or “Charley Varrick.”) This question is prompted by a recent viewing (by me) of “Payback,” which struck me as a perfect throwback to the era of Bogie, Michael Curtiz, and John Huston. What say you all? ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-modern-noir-movies/649953/2 "2013-02-11T07:15:37Z")
Drive is the best modern noir movie I’ve seen. I love everything about it. ---
**Author:** ![toast\_pakora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@toast\_pakora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toast_pakora)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-modern-noir-movies/649953/3 "2013-02-11T07:15:46Z")
LA Confidential ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-modern-noir-movies/649953/4 "2013-02-11T07:27:31Z")
Millers Crossing. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-modern-noir-movies/649953/5 "2013-02-11T07:39:23Z")
Devil in a Blue Dress The Grifters And, of course The Big Lebowski ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-modern-noir-movies/649953/6 "2013-02-11T07:52:35Z")
Hmm, I’m wondering if **Get The Gringo** would fit. **Brick** is an obvious one. \*\*The Ice Harvest \*\*would fit, as well as **Reindeer Games**. I’d also include **Collateral**. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-modern-noir-movies/649953/7 "2013-02-11T08:01:04Z")
> [@epbrown01](#): > > Hmm, I’m wondering if **Get The Gringo** would fit. **Brick** is an obvious one. \*\*The Ice Harvest \*\*would fit, as well as **Reindeer Games**. I’d also include **Collateral**. I just watched **Brick** last week. I really enjoyed it but I actually had to turn on the closed captioning a few times to figure out some of the dialogue. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-modern-noir-movies/649953/8 "2013-02-11T08:53:07Z")
I’ve always been a fan of “Noir” movies, but hadn’t thought about the relation between classic and modern noir. Wikipedia has [an extensive list, subdivided into “neo-noir”, etc.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_film_noir_titles) and [another list with more discussion](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_noir#1960s_and_1970s). These lists contain several modern noirs that I thought of. Two of my favorite recent movies are _Snatch_ and _Crash_ (2004), but of the two only Snatch is on Wikipedia’s list. (I’d have thought Snatch to be more comedy, and Crash the more noire-y. No?) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-modern-noir-movies/649953/9 "2013-02-11T09:12:55Z")
Actually, if you want to talk about modern film noir, you should make the period be anything since 1960. Usually film noir is considered to have lasted from 1941 (_The Maltese Falcon_) to 1958 (_Touch of Evil_). In the U.S., film noir ended in the late 1950’s and didn’t really get started again until the early 1980’s, with one significant outlier in the movie _Chinatown_. Outside the U.S., there were quite a few more or less deliberate imitations of classic American film noir in the 1960’s and 1970’s: > **[Film noir](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_noir)** > > Film noir (/nwɑːr/; French: \[film nwaʁ\]) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American film noir. Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key, black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography. Many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from ... I think these are the best examples of film noir since 1960, although we could probably argue forever about whether a film fits into the category: _Chinatown_ (1974, U.S., dir. Roman Polanski) _Body Heat_ (1981, U.S., dir. Lawrence Kasdan) _Blood Simple_ (1984, U.S., dir. Joel Coen) _House of Games_ (1987, U.S., dir. David Mamet) _The Usual Suspects_ (1995, U.S., dir. Bryan Singer) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-modern-noir-movies/649953/10 "2013-02-11T11:53:24Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Actually, if you want to talk about modern film noir, you should make the period be anything since 1960. Usually film noir is considered to have lasted from 1941 (_The Maltese Falcon_) to 1958 (_Touch of Evil_). In the U.S., film noir ended in the late 1950’s and didn’t really get started again until the early 1980’s, with one significant outlier in the movie _Chinatown_. Outside the U.S., there were quite a few more or less deliberate imitations of classic American film noir in the 1960’s and 1970’s: > > [Film noir - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_noir) > > I think these are the best examples of film noir since 1960, although we could probably argue forever about whether a film fits into the category: > > _Chinatown_ (1974, U.S., dir. Roman Polanski) > _Body Heat_ (1981, U.S., dir. Lawrence Kasdan) > _Blood Simple_ (1984, U.S., dir. Joel Coen) > _House of Games_ (1987, U.S., dir. David Mamet) > _The Usual Suspects_ (1995, U.S., dir. Bryan Singer) I’d argue that _The Friends of Eddie Coyle_ (1973) was the last film noir. Everything from _Chinatown_ on was retro-noir. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-modern-noir-movies/649953/11 "2013-02-11T12:40:57Z")
_Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid_ What? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-modern-noir-movies/649953/12 "2013-02-11T12:59:06Z")
**Blade Runner** ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-modern-noir-movies/649953/13 "2013-02-11T13:13:20Z")
The ones that come to mind quickest have been accounted for already. A little head scratching helped me remember one that’s hard to find but makes the grade for me. [Gotham (TV 1988)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095246/?ref_=sr_4) ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-modern-noir-movies/649953/14 "2013-02-11T13:18:31Z")
[Memento](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0209144/?ref_=sr_1) has a sort of noir vibe, and it’s a good one. Also, [Angel Heart](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092563/?ref_=sr_1). ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-modern-noir-movies/649953/15 "2013-02-11T13:34:56Z")
FARGO has a huge noir vibe, with the added joke that everything is white (snow) rather than dark (true noir.) ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-modern-noir-movies/649953/16 "2013-02-11T13:35:57Z")
Looper. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-modern-noir-movies/649953/17 "2013-02-11T15:28:35Z")
[The Man Who Wasn’t There.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0243133/?ref_=sr_3) ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-modern-noir-movies/649953/18 "2013-02-11T18:34:43Z")
_Dark City_ ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-modern-noir-movies/649953/19 "2013-02-11T18:39:36Z")
Second for _Fargo_, the finest noir film ever made. Also worth seeing: [_A Simple Plan_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120324/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) ---
**Author:** ![Nom\_de\_Plume](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/85f322/32.png) [@Nom\_de\_Plume](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nom_de_Plume)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-modern-noir-movies/649953/20 "2013-02-11T18:51:01Z")
Would Kiss Kiss Bang Bang count? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-modern-noir-movies/649953.md?page=2)