25 Best Films of the 21st Century Thus Far?

THERE WILL BE LIST

It seems frightfully early to be discussing this post's title. Especially in the random time of early June 2017. What possessed the New York Times to do this beyond clickbait? OOPS, it worked. We immediately clicked on the link. There's not specific criteria or info on how the list was composed. We just know Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott were involved and that they also asked a few directors and a couple of actors (very randomly Robert Pattinson and Michelle Williams) to speak up as well. The list is composed of 10 foreign language films, 2 documentaries, and 12 proposed new additions to the American canon including two Best Picture winners Moonlight  and Million Dollar Baby. You can see their full write-ups here.

Just the lists for fun after the jump, mine included as it only shares 4 titles with the New York Times...

NY Times List
* the film made my own top ten list in its year
nominated for Best Picture at the Oscar

1. There Will Be Blood (2007)*
2. Spirited Away (2001)
3. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
4. A Touch of Sin (2013)
5. The Death of Mr Lazarescu (2006)
6. Yi Yi (2000)
7. Inside Out (2015)*
8. Boyhood (2014)*
9. Summer Hours (2009)*
10. The Hurt Locker (2009)*
11. Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
12. Timbuktu (2015)
13. In Jackson Heights (2015)
14. L'Enfant (2006)
15. White Material (2010)
16. Munich (2005)
17. Three Times (2006)
18. The Gleaners and I (2000)**
19. Mad Max Fury Road (2015)*
20. Moonlight (2016)*
21. Wendy and Lucy (2008)
22. I'm Not There (2007)
23. Silent Light (2008)
24. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)*
25. The 40 Year Old Virgin (2004)

Relatively mystified by the inclusion of Three Times (just hypnotically gorgeous but so uneven, even given the mandatorily uneven terrain of experimental art films) and Munich (not sure I'll ever understand its appeal) but otherwise I dig or understand. Though I should note that I'm Not There (2007) is my least favorite Todd Haynes feature (...speaking of uneven though its highs are remarkable).

Nathaniel's List

1. Moulin Rouge! (2001)
2. Carol (2015)
3. Brokeback Mountain (2005)
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
5. I Am Love (2009/2010)
6. Dancer in the Dark (2000)
7. Far From Heaven (2002)
8. In the Mood for Love (2000/2001)
9. A Separation (2011)
10. Under the Skin (2013/2014)
11. Talk to Her (2002)
12. Rachel Getting Married (2008)
13. Mad Max Fury Road (2015)
14. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000)
15. A History of Violence (2005)
16. Requiem for a Dream (2000)
17. Mulholland Dr (2001)
18. There Will Be Blood (2007)
19. Vera Drake (2004)
20. The Class (2008)
21. Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001/2002)
22. WALL•E (2008)
23. Before Sunset (2004)
24. The Hurt Locker (2008/2009)
25. Hunger (2008/2009)

** Note: I absolutely L-O-V-E The Gleaners and I but I never rank documentaries with narrative features as I find them impossible to compare in both their goals and their form. They share very few of the things that can make a narrative feature transcendent magic (acting, costumes, production design, etcetera).

So... what the hell a Favorite Documentaries List of the New Century too. I don't see a ton of documentaries.  I'm still hopelessly behind on the last couple of years of Oscar nominees in this category -- but these are my 10 favorites from the past 17 years unless I've forgotten something (very possible).

1. The Gleaners and I (2001)
2. Grizzly Man (2005)
   🔺 They'd both make my top ten fav docs of all time list, surely, though I've never made one. Paris is Burning would be #1 as it is EVERYTHING.
3. The Missing Picture (2013)
4. Prodigal Sons (2008)
5. Bowling for Columbine (2002)
6. Last Train Home (2009)
7. How to Survive a Plague (2012)
8. Stories We Tell (2012)
9. Waltz With Bashir (2008)
10. The House I Live In (2012)

But again, for documentaries, I defer to Glenn or Daniel who see a ton of them.

The New York Times also polled a few filmmakers for their top tens of the century thus far and you can see their individual lists here. But I thought we should share one of them because I find it so interesting...

Sofia Coppola's Top 12 of the new century

• Force Majeure (2014)
• The White Ribbon (2009)
• The Savages (2007)
• Head-On (2005)
• Daddy's Home (2015)
• Under the Skin (2014)
• The Incredibles (2004)
• Together (2001)
• Grizzly Man (2005)
• Ida (2014)
• Fish Tank (2010)
• Ex Machina (2015)

The only one of these I haven't seen is Daddy's Home (she says she loves it because her kids love it) but every other film is just fantastic.

You know what it's time for in the comments? YOUR LISTS!

Comments

[Jesus Alonso]

I'd throw this... my most rewatched films of the XXIst century

Hairspray
The LEGO Movie
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Marvel's The Avengers
The Dark Knight
2012 - I love the first two thirds of this underrated devilish political satire. Yeah, you read right. It's brilliant beyond its trashy surface.
Dawn of the Dead
The Cornetto Trilogy
Guardians of the Galaxy
Borat
Cabin in the Woods

... and the indie films I wish more people got to see...

Strapped
Buddah collapsed out of shame
Zombies of Mass Destruction

[Guestguestguest]

I don't do "top x" lists as often (the gap between #25 and #26 may be far less than the gap between #10 and #11, you know), but I do tiers. The "Tier 1" (aka all-time-classic) movies released this century are:
O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU
MOULIN ROUGE
MEMENTO
BIG FISH
FINDING NEMO
CRASH (I don't care, boo me if you want)
A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
UNITED 93
THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
WALL-E
SYNECDOCHE NY
A SERIOUS MAN
WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
THE BOOK OF ELI
INCEPTION
BEING FLYNN
CLOUD ATLAS
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
BIRDMAN
BEGIN AGAIN
INSIDE OUT
LION
LA LA LAND

[TOM]

Moonlight is a bit too over-rated.

[Carmen Sandiego]

I like Mean Girls better than most of the films listed. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[chasm301]

This started off really easy and then got really random and now I'm sure I missed like 10 movies I adore.

Moulin Rouge!
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Brooklyn
Carol
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring
La La Land
Gone Girl
Atonement
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
Silver Linings Playbook
Midnight in Paris
Black Swan
Ratatouille
The Incredibles
The Dark Knight
Mean Girls
Ocean's 11
Inception
Inglorious Basterds
Tangled
Far From Heaven
Scott Pilgrim vs the World
Sing Street

[Anthony]

"20 Feet From Stardom" (2013)
"The Artist" (2011)
"Beasts of the Southern Wild" (2012)
"Boyhood" (2014)
"Bridesmaids" (2011)
"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (2000)
"Drive"(2011)
"Elephant" (2003)
“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” (2004)
"Ex Machina" (2015)
"I Am Not Your Negro" (2017)
"The Incredibles" (2004)
"Mulholland Dr" (2001)
"Once" (2007)
"Pan’s Labyrinth" (2006)
"The Pianist" (2002)
"Requiem For a Dream" (2000)
"Shame" (2011)
"A Single Man" (2009)
"Talk to Her" (2002)
"Tangerine" (2015)
"There Will Be Blood" (2007)
"United 93" (2006)
"The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013)
"Y Tu Mamá También" (2002)

[Cesar Gaytan]

I know that this is an "old" post in wich i already comment but... in this time i change my mind and i decided to pick 25 films that i love from different countries and include some short films and documentaries because they also are part of a real FILM EXPERIENCE, right?

So, here is my definitive list:

4 Luni, 3 Saptamâni si 2 Zile (Cristian Mungiu) Romania
Bom Yeoreum Gaeul Gyeoul Geurigo Bom (Kim Ki-Duk) Corea
Chick (Michal Socha) Poland
Contracorriente (Javier Fuentes-Leon) Peru
El Cuarto de Leo (Enrique Buchichio) Uruguay
The Danish Poet (Torill Kove) Norway
Dolls (Takeshi Kitano) Japan
El Empleo (Santiago Bou Grasso) Argentina
Holy Motors (Leos Carax) France
Incendies (Denis Villeneuve) Canada
Kasi Az Gorbehaye Irani Khabar Nadareh (Bahman Ghobadi) Iran
The Look of Silence (Joshua Oppenheimer) Indonesia
Mary and Max (Adam Elliot) Australia
Michael (Markus Schleinzer, Kathrin Resetarits) Austria
La Nana (Santiago Segura) Chile
Oh Boy (Jan Ole Gerster) Germany
Once (John Carney) Ireland
Pequeñas Voces (Oscar Andrade, Jairo Eduardo Carrillo) Colombia
Requiem for a Dream (Darren Aronofsky) USA
Russkiy Kovcheg (Aleksandr Sokurov) Russia
Te Doy Mis Ojos (Iciar Bollain) Spain
Temporada de Patos (Fernando Eimbcke) México
Terkel i Knibe (Kresten Vestbjerg Andersen, Thorbjørn Christoffersen, Stefan Fjeldmark) Denmark
Vera Drake (Mike Leigh) England
Wood & Stock: Sexo, Orégano e Rock'n'Roll (Otto Guerra) Brazil