Best of the 21st Century?
Tuesday, August 23, 2016 at 10:00AM by Nathaniel R
Mulholland Drive voted the best film of the 21st century (thus far)Though we may collectively scratch our head at the need to do 21st century best of lists so often and at odd intervals. After 16 years? Ermm, okay? Lists usually get people talking. The BBC polled 177 critics (of which I was, alas, not one) and the results were both enjoyable and annoying, as with all lists.
Some notes:
• I won't see Toni Erdmann for another few weeks so I can't speak to its quality but it's odd to see it on a "best of the century list" when the film has only opened in one country (France) outside of its home countries (Germany/Austria). It starts opening in other countries next month and also hits the Toronto Film Festival. So that seems...early
• Did Christopher Nolan really need 3 pictures in the top 100? I maintain that Inception does not hold up and is relentlessly and numbingly expository for anything beyond a single viewing and it's even kind of annoying during that first plunge. Cinema about dreams should be mysterious...
• Certified Copy (which I personally love) has a curious distinction: it's the highest rated film on their list at #46 that was only voted for by male critics. Interesting.
• Isn't it weird that Hunger didn't make the list but Shame did? I thought critics thought more favorably of McQueen's debut.
• Critics need to stop bitching about the Oscars so predictably because their tastes aren't that different than the Academy's. Consider that of the seven pictures that placed from last year, six of them were Oscar favorites. Several Best Picture nominees are accounted for and a full half of the films that won Best Foreign Language Film this century made the list (the highest placement for those being Asghar Farhadi's A Separation (2011) in their top ten - it remains a horrifying truth that Oscar passed over In the Mood for Love in its submission year. They are relentlessly allergic to Asian cinemas (not directed by Kurosawa or Ang Lee) even universally adored masterpieces like that one which didn't need time to settle in as a great. People were obsessed with it from day one. People may gripe about the new Academy procedures all they like but in the newish system they use with the executive committee saves, it never would have missed the nomination.
Wong Kar Wai's masterpiece "In the Mood for Love"
Their complete list and my own (not that they asked) after the jump...
BBC's Poll of 21st Century's 100 Greatest Films
* is our own marking, indicating that the film was nominated for either Picture, Director, Documentary, Animated Feature, or Foreign Language Film at the Oscars
** indicates that the film won either Picture, Director, Doc, Animated, or Foreign Film at the Oscars
100. Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade, 2016)
100. Requiem for a Dream (Darren Aronofsky, 2000)
100. Carlos (Olivier Assayas, 2010)
Agnes Varda, "The Gleaners and I"
99. The Gleaners and I (Agnès Varda, 2000)
98. Ten (Abbas Kiarostami, 2002)
97. White Material (Claire Denis, 2009)
96. Finding Nemo (Andrew Stanton, 2003) **
95. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
94. Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008)
93. Ratatouille (Brad Bird, 2007) **
92. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik, 2007)
91. The Secret in Their Eyes (Juan José Campanella, 2009) **
90. The Pianist (Roman Polanski, 2002) **
89. The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel, 2008)
88. Spotlight (Tom McCarthy, 2015) **
87. Amélie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001) *
86. Far From Heaven (Todd Haynes, 2002)
85. A Prophet (Jacques Audiard, 2009) *
84. Her (Spike Jonze, 2013)
83. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg, 2001)
82. A Serious Man (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2009) *
81. Shame (Steve McQueen, 2011)
80. The Return (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2003)
79. Almost Famous (Cameron Crowe, 2000)
78. The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese, 2013) *
77. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Julian Schnabel, 2007) *
76. Dogville (Lars von Trier, 2003)
75. Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2014)
74. Spring Breakers (Harmony Korine, 2012)
73. Before Sunset (Richard Linklater, 2004)
72. Only Lovers Left Alive (Jim Jarmusch, 2013)
71. Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
70. Stories We Tell (Sarah Polley, 2012)
69. Carol (Todd Haynes, 2015)
68. The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001)
67. The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2008) **
66. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring (Kim Ki-duk, 2003)
65. Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold, 2009)
64. The Great Beauty (Paolo Sorrentino, 2013) **
63. The Turin Horse (Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky, 2011)
62. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009) *
61. Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013)
60. Syndromes and a Century (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2006)
59. A History of Violence (David Cronenberg, 2005)
58. Moolaadé (Ousmane Sembène, 2004)
57. Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow, 2012) *
56. Werckmeister Harmonies (Béla Tarr, director; Ágnes Hranitzky, co-director, 2000)
55. Ida (Paweล Pawlikowski, 2013) **
54. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011)
53. Moulin Rouge! (Baz Luhrmann, 2001) *
52. Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2004)
51. Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010) *
50. The Assassin (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 2015)
49. Goodbye to Language (Jean-Luc Godard, 2014)
48. Brooklyn (John Crowley, 2015) *
47. Leviathan (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2014) *
46. Certified Copy (Abbas Kiarostami, 2010)
45. Blue Is the Warmest Color (Abdellatif Kechiche, 2013)
44. 12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen, 2013) **
43. Melancholia (Lars von Trier, 2011)
42. Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012) **
41. Inside Out (Pete Docter, 2015) **
40. Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005) **
39. The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005)
38. City of God (Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, 2002) *
37. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2010)
36. Timbuktu (Abderrahmane Sissako, 2014) *
35. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000) **
34. Son of Saul (László Nemes, 2015) **
33. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)
32. The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006) **
31. Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011)
30. Oldboy (Park Chan-wook, 2003)
29. WALL-E (Andrew Stanton, 2008) **
28. Talk to Her (Pedro Almodóvar, 2002) *
27. The Social Network (David Fincher, 2010) *
26. 25th Hour (Spike Lee, 2002)
25. โMemento (Christopher Nolan, 2000)
24. The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
23. Caché (Michael Haneke, 2005)
22. Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003) *
21. The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014) *
20. Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman, 2008)
19. Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller, 2015) *
18. The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke, 2009) *
17. Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo Del Toro, 2006) *
16. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
15. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Cristian Mungiu, 2007)
14. The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer, 2012) *
13. Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón, 2006)
12. Zodiac (David Fincher, 2007)
11. Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2013)
10. No Country for Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007) **
9. A Separation (Asghar Farhadi, 2011) **
8. Yi Yi: A One and a Two (Edward Yang, 2000)
7. The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011) *
6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
5. Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014) *
4. Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001) **
3. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007) *
2. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai, 2000)
1. Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001) *
You can see individual ballots and who they polled here and they've also shared statistics.
Had they polled me my submission might have gone something like this:
Nathaniel's List
- Moulin Rouge! (#53 on theirs)
- Brokeback Mountain (#40 on theirs)
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (#6 on theirs)
- Carol (#69 on theirs)
- In the Mood for Love (#2 on theirs)
- Under the Skin (#61 on theirs)
- A Separation (#9 on theirs)
- I Am Love (not on their list)
- Dancer in the Dark (not on their list)
- Far From Heaven (#86 on theirs)
give or take: Talk to Her, Rachel Getting Married (not on their list), Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, A History of Violence, 12 Years a Slave, and Mad Max Fury Road would be the films that should feel the most aggrieved at being left of a Nathaniel top ten at this point in the century
It's worth noting that only being able to choose 10 is terribly punitive and it also makes you scratch your head at some of the titles that did appear on the list. There were enough critics that thought that movie (pick a movie) was one of the 10 best of 15 whole years of cinema. What's that about?!?
As for my "orphans" I realize that Dancer in the Dark's reputation has dimmed -- I blame Lars von Trier's inconsistent output and his ability to make foes of former fans with his constant auteurial trolling -- so I wasn't expecting to see it show up. But the other one stings as I have long been disappointed that critics at large don't seem to understand that I Am Love is a masterpiece.
Reader Comments (80)
Spirited Away is my #1 film. God, that film is just breathtaking.
Asian film allergy -> Lust, caution? Did somebody else skipped just to see Nathaniel's top 10 films? Lol
I was less peeved by this list than a lot of other similar ones, and there are even some pleasant surprises on here that I wouldn't necessarily have thought would have, as you say, settled well with a lot of critics. Films like Dogville and The New World - I was so pleased to see those two represented.
My Top 10 (today, at least):
1) Far From Heaven
2) Zodiac
3) Lust, Caution
4) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
5) Ratatouille
6) Wendy and Lucy
7) Brokeback Mountain
8) Hidden
9) Southland Tales
10) Norte, The End of History
I never liked Inception
This was all over twitter last night/this morning. These lists are always interesting to look at although, in my book, this one's less so because of your not being involved, Nathaniel.
In no order personal top ten:
The Piano Teacher (2001)
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Adaptation (2002)
Bad Education (2004)
Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006)
Death Proof (2007)
The Master (2012)
Only God Forgives (2013)
Maps to the Stars (2014)
The Neon Demon (2016)
I think the results are quite good (much better than when the DGA polled its members - goodness, that was an embarrassing list) and have given me a lot to chew over, but then again, I was surprised at how many of my favorites made it into the top 100. It's especially interesting to see which directors have multiple films represented - as you said, it's surprising to see Nolan with three films in the top 100, but I believe he is joined by PTA, Wes Anderson and the Coens. I do not agree with your point about critics complaining about the Oscars because only four best picture winners made it in, and that seems pretty paltry on a list of 100. Also, does it really "count" if films are only nominated for specialty awards, like best animated feature or best foreign language feature? The Academy should nominate great films for best picture regardless of genre.
I think my top ten would be as follows:
1. The Royal Tenenbaums
2. Lost in Translation
3. Boyhood
4. Inside Llewyn Davis
5. Black Swan
6. The Social Network
7. Zero Dark Thirty
8. The Grand Budapest Hotel
9. The Lives of Others
10. Aaaargh... I dunno, maybe Bridesmaids
I saw their top 10 and was SO THRILLED to see In the Mood for Love and Spirited Away. Those two are probably in my top 10 of all time. Also glad to see the originals for Let the Right One In, Secret in Their Eyes, Oldboy, and not the substandard English-language (American?) versions.
11 thru 20 was interesting I really liked all of those although Synecdoche would have been way down on my list. Maybe worth a rewatch,since remember not really getting it the first time around...
People don't like Dancer in the Dark anymore?? How?? When?? What?? Definitely Top 10 for me. They found room for Ratatouille but couldn't.... ugh.
Moulin Rouge is still lost on me. I kind of 'get' why it would rank so high, but personally I find it unbearable to watch :(
My list would look like this...
1. Under The Skin
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
3. Pan's Labyrinth
(Then I can't decide on an order for the rest)...
- Carol
- Brokeback Mountain
- There Will Be Blood
- In The Mood For Love
- Pitch Perfect (bite me)
- The Tree of Life
- Almost Famous
I feel terribly uncultured that there's not more foreign cinema on that list... i did love Hidden, A Prophet, Swimming Pool, The Act of Killing.... but hey, I guess I didn't love them as much.
Oh, wait, Talk to Her should be in my top 10!
I like critics' lists, they're always a great scan and nice reminder of a few things you still need to see (Yi Yi, for instance) and they're VITAL for baby cinephiles.
BUT scanning down and seeing Dark Knight at #33 tells me that maybe we could stand to wait a little longer before making best of the century lists. How does that wind up on anyone's top 10?
Chris Nolan with three motion Pictures and NO the lord of the tinha on the list???? What the hell????
This was fine but boring. Lists like this are always going to weight the overlap, so the end result is surprise-free and too reverent.
My personalidade ballot:
The Lord of the Rings
Ratatouille
Mad Max: Fury Road
Children of Men
Blue is the Warmest Color
The White Ribbon
A Separation
Million Dollar Baby
Brokeback Mountain
Pan's Labyrinth
Special honor:
Volver
Almost everything Pixar has made in the last sixteen years
Munich
The Lives of Others
Dogville
Melancholia
Her
Nebraska
Zero Dark Thirty
The Social Network
My personal Top 10:
Lincoln
Ameilie
In the Mood for Love
A Separation
Enter the Void
The Son
Lust, Caution
4 Months, 3 Years, 2 Days
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Time for Drunken Horses
2nd Tier
You Can Count on Me
A Prophet
Toy Story 3
Pusher II: With Blood on My Hands
Time Out
Offside
My Winnipeg
The Death of Mr Lazarescu
The Squid and the Whale
Amour
I try to keep documentaries separate but Act of Violence is certainly the best documentary of this millennium. I would also include The Missing Picture (too similar?)
I agree that Shame is far far inferior to McQueen's Hunger
Where are the Dardenne Brothers? The greatest living filmmakers (sez I) and not even one entry?
My wife loves Moulin Rouge... I have tried to watch it 3 times and cannot get through the whole movie.
I love( in no special order ) :
Brokeback Mountain ... Adaptation ... IN the Mood for Love ... City of God ...
Captain Phillips ... The Grand Budapest Hotel ... Devil Wears Prada
Shocking to me to be honest that Dancer in the Dark doesn't make it, considering just how great and unique it is.
Also Syndromes and a Century >>>>>>>>>>> Uncle Boonmee.
Yay for Yi Yi and my beloved Edward Yang! The critical adoration for that movie is beyond.
Carol >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> most of these movies.
Inception. Ugh.
My own top 10:
1. In the Mood for Love, Wong
2. Oasis, Lee
3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Gondry
4. Yi Yi, Yang
5. Tree of Life, Malick
6. White Material, Denis
7. Talk to Her, Almodovar
8. Carol, Haynes
9. Dancer in the Dark, von Trier
10. Kill Bill, Tarantino
Just seeing the words "Under the Skin" made me shiver with pleasure. That movie sticks with you like long-term, branded, childhood nightmare sticks with you.
I love so many of these films. There are very few films on this list I haven't seen. The only ones I can think of, off the top of my head, that I wish made the cut are: Noriko's Dinner Table, American Mary, Gin Gwai (The Eye), and I Am Love. Three of those are horror films (two foreign, one super gory, so I'm not surprised they didn't make the list). One of those is an inexcusable omission. Nathaniel already explained why. Why won't critics love I Am Love?
Based on my classics scale (personal opinion only), these are 12 movies that I would fight and advocate for preservation:
Adaptation
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Brooklyn
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Hours
Inglorious Basterds
Inside Llewyn Davis
Moulin Rouge
The Social Network
There Will Be Blood
Zodiac
ATONEMENT should be on the list. That's my one and only contribution to this.
Where to start? That LOTR didn't make the list at all seems absurd, like every critic is trying too hard not to be TOO mainstream. Actually looking at the individual critics' lists is much more interesting. There are some critics that picked only "important" movies, many I've never heard of. But there are others that actually picked their personal top 10. (Madagascar 3, Borat, and Shaun of the Dead all make appearances) So it was comforting to see some critics did recognize that The Incredibles is Pixar's finest and that Short Term 12 was indeed a masterpiece. I haven't finished scanning through the lists yet, but if any critic has the stones to put A Mighty Wind in their top 10, that will immediately become my most trusted critic.
Here is my-very personal-top 10.
10. The Dark Knight
9. The Tree of Life
8. Hero
7. Wall-E
6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
5. Of Gods and Men
4. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
3. The Incredibles
2. In America
1. Return to Me:
Here is the rest of my top 100 that I wrote 2 years ago. https://ifwp.wordpress.com/2015/01/05/monday-movie-list-top-100-films-of-the-21st-century/
Can't believe there's no Lord of the Rings on it.
Yeah. The more I see these snooty lists, the more I get turned off of by film critics.
What about LOTR, Adaptation, The Hours, The Devil Wears Prada, Kill Bill, etc.
You know, good movies? Yes to The Social Network, Zodiac, Grand Budapest Hotel, Brokeback Mountain, There Will Be Blood, Moulin Rouge.
my own top 10
1. Mulholland Dr. - Some people say we did the 21st century thing too far, but MD probably gon be #1 once this century over and we probably all dead cuz global warming and shit. A dreamy, visceral, mesmerizing film that's both a fuck-you and a love letter to the beautiful lies cinema feeds us.
2. In The Mood for Love - Deserves every bit of praise it receives. Formally perfect, sensual without so much as a kiss between the two protagonists, unforgettable.
3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - The movie you're hoping to see every time you go in the cinema. Innovative, hilarious, clever, intelligent, humane, gorgeous in so many ways. A lightning in a bottle synthesis of Michael Gondry's visual sensibilities balanced out and balancing Charlie Kaufman's smart but lonely boy pines for companionship in a flawed world.
4. Mad Max: Fury Road - Combines mythic characters, physical movement, and narrative momentum into a fresh, exciting cinematic experience. Every cut and composition is so exactly right to convey the maximum force of its visceral storytelling. Its not too early to put the best blockbuster since Die Hard on a list like this.
5. A Separation - A rich, smooth concoction of Iranian sociology and personal suffering turned into a top flight legal thriller. Was the best film of the current decade until Fury Road.
6. Yi Yi - One of the most formally flawless films ever, with its precise-yet-energetic compositions, its brilliant use of color, its perfectly calibrated performances, and its superbly designed overlapping sound design. All used to create a portrait of humanity and idealism that sticks with you long after the details fade from memory.
7. The New World - The recent Criterion Collection restoration made me realize how great this film was. So many great scenes, passages, sounds, and images.
8. Zodiac - What Devin said
9. Before Sunset - As great as Before Midnight was, the ending in this movie is my favorite of all-time and I would've been happy to leave it here.
10. A.I. Artificial Intelligence - Nowhere near as perfect as the films on this list, but a "better" version wouldn't be as interesting. An unwieldy mix of Kubrick and Spielberg sensibilities, its a film I return to again and again to experience the tensions between serving its two masters, and the rich narrative ideas in-between.
I really liked I am in Love very much, but... I don't know... the last 5 minutes were silly. I mean... Run, Tilda... RUN!!!
Jeremy -- oof. love your descriptions here. spot on. Except i hate AI ;)
Tom -- right? Under the Skin is just amaze-a-riffic
Also, I think Dancer in the Dark suffers because there is, STILL, no decent widely available HD home version yet. No HD broadcasts, no blu-rays, no nothing. Despite allllllll our advancements in humanity, we still have this huge failing hanging over our heads.
When Clinton is president, I hope this is her first issue she tackles.
I would have liked to have seen Meek's Cutoff and Marie Antoinette.
Top 10 films for me in no particular order but the first two are battling it out for the top spot:
Weekend
In the Mood for Love
Inside Llewyn Davis
Wonder Boys
Bright Star
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Royal Tenenbaums
Moulin Rouge
Punch-Drunk Love
Before Sunset
Yup, I'm a sucker for films about impossible love.
"it remains a horrifying truth that Oscar passed over In the Mood for Love in its submission year."
That. Hurt.
Hey Nathaniel can you make a post about ranking all of the Oscar nominated performances of the 2000's if you don't mind? I'd appreciate it a lot!
Wow, both you and Guy have the same number 1....
Yeah, when you realize that everyone was only limited to 10 picks, you wonder how in the living hell certain titles made it. I also have issues with this list because I thought the new century ACTUALLY BEGAN in 2001, not 2000. Seems like everyone who makes one of these lists has different rules for that and it drives me batty. BUT, going by their rules, this would be my top ten, and it was shockingly easy to compile:
Eternal Sunshine...
In the Mood for Love
LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring
Amelie
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
Moulin Rouge!
Before Sunset
Memento
Pan's Labyrinth
Toy Story 3
With apologies/honorable mentions to: A Separation, Amour, The Tree of Life, Under the Skin, Birdman, Gravity, Carol, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Weekend, and The Royal Tenenbaums.
My hastily top 10...
Bad Education
Brokeback Mountain
The Departed
Far from Heaven
Match Point
Mulholland Dr
Requiem for a Dream
Shame
25th Hour
United 93
My top 10
Far From Heaven
Carol
The Hours
Brokeback Mountain
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Moulin Rouge
Maps to the Stars
Bridesmaids
Shame
Jane Eyre
Honorable mentions:
Black swan
In the Mood for Love
Blue Valentine
Bright Star
Rachel Getting Married
Beginners
Under the Skin
Difficult to come up with a list off the top of my head. I definitely would include:
Of Gods and Men
A Separation
Requiem for a Dream
Carol
Blue Valentine
The Hours
Grand Budapest Hotel
Moonrise Kingdom
Devil Wears Prada
The Master
Adaptation
Amour
Far From Heaven
Mulholland Drive
Should we consider Toni Erdmann the front-runner in the foreign language race? Can't wait for your Foreign Language coverage. It's like a light in the fog.
Here's my Top Ten in chronological order
Mulholland Drive (2001)
Bad Education (2004)
Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
Atonement (2007)
Zodiac (2007)
Black Swan (2010)
Melancholia (2011)
Tabu (2012)
Leviathan (2014)
Nightcrawler (2014)
The White Ribbon was close, and I've always preferred 2046 to In The Mood For Love.
PS. It's annoying that there's one word on it's own, but at least the word is Love!
My top 10 would be this:
1. Blue Is The Warmest Color
2. Mad Max: Fury Road
3. Weekend
4. Almost Famous
5. The Social Network
6. Black Swan
7. Mulholland Dr.
8. Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
9. Shame
10. Rust and Bone
I love your I Am Love shout-out. I'd add Rachel Getting Married to any best-of-the-century lists.
I think Grizzly Man is the most horrifying omission from the list. It's Herzog's masterpiece from this century, and probably the best documentary of the last 15 years. Also, Dogtooth is better and way more interesting than at least 2/3 of the list.
Though I am surprised not to see it on this list, I don't agree that Dancer in the Dark's reputation has dimmed - I'm yet to meet even a semi-committed cinephile who doesn't love or at least admire it.
And I Am Love also belongs up there.
That said, my Top 10 would read:
1. Talk to Her
2. Margaret
3. Volver
4. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days
5. Brokeback Mountain
6. Kings and Queen
7. Mulholland Drive
8. Dogville
9. Certified Copy
10. Kill Bill Vol I
with honourable mentions to No Country for Old Men, The New World, Yi yi, Two Days One Night, Dancer in the Dark, Tree of Life, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, A Separation and, you know, 100 others.
Pray, sheath thy daggers. Reading these lists, I have a confession. I realize I have large gaps in my required viewing. I have never seen Mulholland Drive, The New World or Memento. Sigh. I need to get on that.
My Top Ten
1. Zero Dark Thirty
2. There Will Be Blood
3. Lost In Translation
4. 12 Years a Slave
5. Sideways
6. Birdman
7. Million Dollar Baby
8. The Hurt Locker
9. Children of Men
10. Inside Llewyn Davis
Just as a note, it seems like it didn't take all that many votes to make the list. The Royal Tenenbaums (my favorite movie), which ranked #68, appears to have had only 7 votes, ranging from #1 placements to #10 placements.
pony, I actually agree with you regarding Grizzly Bear, but I wonder how many people just excluded documentaries from their rankings?
Oh, geez. Spirited Away. I saw that movie around the time it came out, but I have zero memory of it. That doesn't speak well for it.
Very interesting list -- and even more interesting to see some of the individual ballots: 1 vote for Bamboozled, Jersey Boys, and Revenge of the Sith, 2 for The Ghost Writer, Munich, Gosford Park, etc.
Unfortunate to see Almodovar only have Talk To Her in the top 100, but otherwise some great older auteurs are still putting out really good films and being recognized -- Coens, Von Trier, Haneke. I don't really like Nolan either, but he has a certain distinctive (loud) style that I understand appeals to people. I did like The Dark Knight when it came out.
Anyway, since I'm sure you're dying to know, here's the Marsha Top Ten (and we gonna tally these and come up w the TFE10?):
10. The Wolf of Wall Street
9. There Will Be Blood
8. Mulholland Drive
7. Her
6. The New World
5. Kill Bill
4. Bad Education
3. The White Ribbon
2. Carol
1. Melancholia
Not only are critics' tastes kinda similar to the Academy, they are also as predictable. I could've come up with that top ten in my sleep if you had asked me what critics would pick as the best movies of the decade.