9. The Nice Guys (2016)

I have a weird relationship with Shane Black I absolutely love some of his movies (Lethal Weapon, Last Action Hero, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) and I can’t stand others (Iron Man 3 is my least favorite MCU movie by a mile and I refuse to even talk about The Predator). When he’s really clicking, I appreciate the flair he brings to his movies. When he’s off you can tell it’s just not going to work from the jump. The Nice Guys is thankfully an example of the former and not the latter. This movie flew completely under the radar back in 2016 (overshadowed by Ryan Gosling’s other blockbuster, La La Land) but for people who saw it, it felt like the world’s best kept secret. Black explored the neo-noir before in 2005’s Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, but here he pairs Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe as a classic mixed matched duo of private investigators to wonderful results. Gosling gets to be silly and let loose where as Crowe plays it straight for the most part. They have fantastic chemistry and make for a terrific pair. Overall this is one of the best neo-noir movies of the decade and one that surely loves to pay homage to those that came before.