Critic John Nolte has made his list of best movies so far in this century, of any type and genre and any country of origin.

Those that I've bolded have more than a touching acquaintance with NEO-NOIR. Most of those bolded are outright neo-noir. Among those not bolded, there are a few more that probably use neo-noir facets. Among those bolded, perhaps a very few should not be. However, one looks at it, there is a dominant neo-noir shading to this list, especially as we get to the higher-ranked movies. In his discussion of each film, Nolte doesn't use noir as a facet. He uses quality as he sees it. There's a great deal of neo-noir junk and a great deal of non-neo-noir junk. What is of interest to me here is that among the non-junk in his reckoning, so many are actually neo-noir, 29 out of 53 or 55 percent. One could reasonably conclude that noir is the dominant methodology in making quality films.


53. Capote (2005)
52. All Is Lost (2013)
51. The Social Network (2010)
50. The Big Short (2015)
49. Downfall (2004)
48. Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
47. The Barbarian Invasions (2003)
46. The Mule (2016)
45. Hell or High Water (2016)
44. Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
43. Nightcrawler (2014)
42. Whiplash (2014)
41. Monster’s Ball (2001)
40. Pain & Gain (2013)
39. Moneyball (2011)
38. Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
37. First Reformed (2017)
36. Joker (2019)
35. The Pledge (2001)
34. Dragged Across Concrete (2018)
33, American Sniper (2014)
32. Watchmen (2009)
31. Gladiator (2000)
30. Hustle & Flow (2005)
29. Furious 7 (2015)
28. Up (2009)
27. Sexy Beast (2000)
26. Black Hawk Down (2001)
25. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007)
24. American Hustle (2013)
23. Volver (2006)
22. Get On Up (2014)
21. Collateral (2004)
20. The Lives of Others (2006)
19. In the Bedroom (2001)
18. The Martian (2015)
17. American Gangster (2007)
16. Gran Torino (2008)
15. Zodiac (2007)
14. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
13. Match Point (2005)
12. Away from Her (2006)
11. The Dark Knight (2008)
10. Mulholland Drive (2001)
9. No Country for Old Men (2007)
8. Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007)
7. The Station Agent (2003)
6. Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
5. Logan Lucky (2017)
4. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
3. Grizzly Man (2005)
2. Passion of the Christ (2004)
1. Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)