# 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:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-modern-noir-movies/649953/41 "2013-02-12T18:40:28Z")
I’d go with A Simple Plan. Probably Sam Raimi’s most underrated film ever. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-modern-noir-movies/649953/42 "2013-02-12T19:01:24Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > As long as you understand that’s just your personal take. I think the style elements are more important to defining the genre. Shadows, music, downbeat vibe. I thought you just needed a detective, rain, fedoras, and a minimalist jazz soundtrack? Some neo noir films I’ve liked over the past decade or so: Shutter Island The Town Drive The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Gangster Squad American Psycho Memento Heist Murder By Numbers Road to Perdition The Salton Sea Basic 21 Grams Confidence The Cooler Mystic River Collateral A History of Violence The Ice Harvest Sin City Basic Instinct The Black Dahlia The Departed Smokin’ Aces American Gangster No Country For Old Men Eastern Promises Gone Baby Gone ---
**Author:** ![FrankJBN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@FrankJBN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrankJBN)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-modern-noir-movies/649953/43 "2013-02-12T21:44:24Z")
I disagree with much posted in this thread but will just go with: “Film noir is characterized by villains who are not so much evil or greedy as sick.” Like Casper Gutman, Joel Cairo and Briget O’Shaunessy? ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-modern-noir-movies/649953/44 "2013-02-13T21:36:48Z")
I’ve always thought “Noir” was a descriptive term that obsoleted itself almost instantly… because once such movies became popular and known, the elements that made them unique started getting used throughout “other genres”, and their uniqueness, and thus definition, vanished. Bear in mind, however, that I know almost nothing about the topic… ---
**Author:** ![EMCEE\_98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5ac83/32.png) [@EMCEE\_98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EMCEE_98)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-modern-noir-movies/649953/45 "2013-02-13T21:45:21Z")
These are four of my favorites: _Eastern Promises A History of Violence Drive Payback_ ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-modern-noir-movies/649953/46 "2013-02-14T00:41:52Z")
[Wild Things](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120890/) - noir with boobs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-modern-noir-movies/649953.md?page=2)