Progress report
Thanks everyone for the recommendations!
I've just watched:
L.A. Confidential
Good movie. Well done and stylish. The mood near the end was
almost sort of what I was looking for, and the ending was satisfying. For some reason I didn't really care that much about any of the characters, so I didn't mind the violence.
Hustle & Flow
Good at times, but I felt it lacked a strong direction -- too focused to be a 'slice of life' piece, and too all over the place to be a 'story' piece. The story is about rap all right, but it just has a totally different feel. I also found the girls' lives to be much more interesting than the main character's.
Training Day
Rewatched. Didn't like it as much as the first time, but the 'oppressive mood' was right. The end was way overdone, in my opinion.
Trainspotting
Watched it again. Pretty cool. The withdrawal hallucination scene was awesome. I always enjoy that quirky UK feel.
Amores Perros
Liked the second story a lot
I felt like crap after watching it -- but for some reason it snapped me out of my bad mood
Still trying to get my hands on the other titles. Some of the old ones are kinda hard to find...
After trying things out, I think what I was looking for was not necessary 'depressing, working class life'. I was looking for "subtle grace under fire when life situation is totally unfair", if that makes sense.