Speaking of Tom Waits and noir, have you seen the Jim Jarmusch film "Down By Law"? From the first few minutes, it seems pretty obvious that you're gonna get a gritty noir pic. But this is Jarmusch, so it wanders... elsewhere. Kestrell and I both found it quite satisfying.

(I first discovered it from the film blog of a New Orleans T-shirt store. They said it perfectly captured New Orleans, except for the fact that there is no swamp anywhere near the relevant jail.)