20 Great Movies Since 2000 That You Forgot Existed

16. Brick (2006)

Brick isn't the easiest film to love; it takes at least one viewing to absorb the movie's basic premise, which basically asks, "What would a film noir set in a modern day high school look and feel like?", before you can get your head around anything that's actually happening. But Brick is one movie that really does deserve to be taken in over the course of at least two or three separate viewings - the very definition of a unique picture. Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a high school student attempting to find out who murdered his girlfriend, Brick was written and directed by Rian Johnson, who went on to helm Looper (also starring Gordon-Levitt). There's no denying that Brick takes itself very seriously, and is - on occasion - kind of frustrating as a result. But it's also dense and visually stunning, and works brilliantly as a tribute to film noir and Dashiell Hammett.