re: 100 Best Films of the 21st Century, BBC Culture

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I mean, I think there's tons of films they left off that could have or even should have been included (Primer, Audition, The Prestige, The Avengers, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Sexy Beast, Big Fish, Step Brothers, The Descent...), but that should be a fun dialog, not a condemnation of the list. 

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And that's obviously the nature of lists, too. Inevitably there will be something left off. But this list, as you say, tends to skew toward the "snooty". You're right in arguing that there can be Philips and McKay next to Malick.

In no particular order:

No Country for Old Men
The Prestige
Cold Mountain
Gladiator
The Hangover
Finding Nemo
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Avatar
Into the Wild
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring

First five out:

Inception
Shutter Island
The Departed
Gangs of New York
Meet the Parents


... It's hard as shite to rate movies...

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I can't stand Mullholland Drive

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I get that it isn't accessible. It was supposed to be the plot of a multi-season series - he had to tie up all that Lynchian strange into 1 feature film. He did so magnificently.

Maybe it isn't everyone's #1 - but it is a seminal film - it is on the order of Metropolis, 2001, etc. It just is - it's film making elevated to an art form.

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1. Inglorious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009)

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I wouldn't have that in my top 100. It was a total mess.

Tree of Life is as pseudo artistic and pseudo intellectual as it gets.

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In no particular order:

No Country for Old Men
The Prestige
Cold Mountain
Gladiator
The Hangover
Finding Nemo
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Avatar
Into the Wild
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring

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Avatar????

And again, I'm extremely shocked people on this board haven't brought up Spring Breakers making the list

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Life of Pi, Ex Machina, Whiplash and The Prestige was left off the list.

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I agree with these needing to be on here. Whiplash would probably make my top 20. The Departed needs to be on here as well. Absolutely ridiculous that it's not listed.


NCFOM and TWBB are my top 2, so I'm happy to see them in the top 10

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I wonder how long it will take for people to respect the genius of Boyhood.

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I think people appreciate how hard it was to make. The fact it didn't win an Oscar for Best Editing just mystifies me. More than any other film, Boyhood makes the case that editing is filmmaking. My problem with Boyhood is that while I think it is a fascinating experiment in filmmaking, it didn't move me. It plays almost entirely to my head, and not my heart, to get gloopy about it.

It's a film I respect more than I actually like.

If you look at how the list was made, it asked critics to submit an ordered top 10 list, which is a method which begs for oversights. I don't have a problem with it, but it is a way to find the loosely defined canon of international 21st Century cinema. Taking only films from the list, I guess I'd go...

1 ?Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000)
2 Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón, 2006)
3 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Cristian Mungiu, 2007)
4 Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008)
5 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
6 Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009)
7 Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller, 2015)
8 25th Hour (Spike Lee, 2002)
9 A Separation (Asghar Farhadi, 2011)
10 Oldboy (Park Chan-wook, 2003)

Man, there were some painful cuts. And that's accounting for films not on the list I previous listed. Making a ballot of just 10 is hard as hell.

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My problem with Boyhood is that while I think it is a fascinating experiment in filmmaking, it didn't move me. It plays almost entirely to my head, and not my heart, to get gloopy about it.

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My response was completely opposite.

I have two sons, and it really made me anxious (in a good way) about watching them grow up (especially my oldest, who is 9).