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The 21st Century's 100 Greatest Films

 
 
 
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The 21st Century's 100 Greatest Films

For our poll to determine the 100 greatest American films, we surveyed 62 film critics from around the world. This time, we received responses from 177 – from every continent except Antarctica. Some are newspaper or magazine reviewers, others write primarily for websites; academics and cinema curators are well-represented too. For the purposes of this poll we have decided that a list of the greatest films of the 21st Century should include the year 2000, even though we recognise that there was no ‘Year Zero’ and that 2001 is mathematically the start of the century. Not only did we all celebrate the turn of the millennium on 31 December 1999, but the year 2000 was a landmark in global cinema, and, in particular, saw the emergence of new classics from Asia like nothing we had ever seen before.
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100. Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade, 2016)
100. Requiem for a Dream (Darren Aronofsky, 2000)
100. Carlos (Olivier Assayas, 2010)
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 (Paweł 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. ​Memento (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)
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A few of my favourites in there: Eternal Sunshine, Lost in Translation, Amelie, No Country for Old Men
 
I'm interested to know what the criteria are. Is it just an opinion poll of critics, or are there some technical criteria?
 
I would put Fury Road far closer to #100 than #19. It was fun to watch visually, but far from a "great film".

Speaking of visually stunning large budget sci-fi flix, how does Avatar not make it into the top 100 films of the last 16 years? (which seems a rather low bar).
 
They seem to have a good mix of films, both action and drama, including animation. Avatar was a landmark effects movie, but it has not aged well, largely because it offers little besides effects. Compare to, say, Jurassic Park, still very watchable. Mad Max was a virtuouso production with great effects, stunts, prop and set design, and yes, acting and writing too. While one could argue that 19 is too high, it definitely has a full quiver of different things going for it.

I, of course, am always irritated by people saying that Grand Budapest Hotel was a good movie. While Wes Anderson is definitely a significant filmmaker, I would say that that movie should be regarded as when his filmmaking style that produced many earlier greats finally collapsed under its own weight. Moonrise Kingdom, the Royal Tennenbaums, and others certainly belong on this list.

Other movies I hate that are on this list:
Moulin Rouge
Inglorious Basterds
A Serious Man.
 
Ratatouille ahead of Finding Nemo... on the list at all?

Song of the Sea is not included. And no Avengers? Did the person who put the list together not appreciate how hard it is to make a great and respectable comic book movie?

As another noted, I really haven't seen many of these films, just a few.
 
No Hangover? This doesn't add up. Hmmmm

For our poll to determine the 100 greatest American films, we surveyed 62 film critics from around the world. This time, we received responses from 177
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Yes, it is a separate survey, with more respondents, and more than just American films.
 
Ah, it's the damn foreigners.
 
There will be Blood--more like #3 on the most overrated 21st century movies.
 
Sarpedon said:
Mad Max was a virtuouso production with great effects, stunts, prop and set design, and yes, acting and writing too. While one could argue that 19 is too high, it definitely has a full quiver of different things going for it.
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Have to disagree about the writing and acting for Fury Road. The plot was largely non-existent beyond, cartoonishly over-acted bad guys chase largely silently stoic good guys back and forth, with no characters showing any depth or development or requiring skill to play. I enjoyed it as a 2 hour high-pitched battery on the senses, but it failed to engage my mind at all and not my emotions beyond the constant hurried tension. It was the weakest of the franchise in terms of everything beyond the stunts and visuals.
 
I've always felt that a given movie's tone is the guide to how to judge the acting. An understated movie should have subtle acting. What would be 'overacting' in a normal film is not inappropriate in a movie with, shall we say, a more energetic tone. A great actor can put in a great performance in any film. A more limited actor can nevertheless give a great performance in a movie that fits well with their oeuvre. I only criticize an actor when their performance doesn't meet the requirements of the film they are in, and only when it is clearly their fault and not the fault of the writer or director for not establishing a clear tone.

Fury Road had a clear and consistent tone, and the acting was well tuned for it.
 
Sarpedon said:
I've always felt that a given movie's tone is the guide to how to judge the acting. An understated movie should have subtle acting. What would be 'overacting' in a normal film is not inappropriate in a movie with, shall we say, a more energetic tone. A great actor can put in a great performance in any film. A more limited actor can nevertheless give a great performance in a movie that fits well with their oeuvre. I only criticize an actor when their performance doesn't meet the requirements of the film they are in, and only when it is clearly their fault and not the fault of the writer or director for not establishing a clear tone.

Fury Road had a clear and consistent tone, and the acting was well tuned for it.
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So are you saying Pixel is a great movie? :D
 
Wait, movies made in 2000 are 21st century?

Wasn't the first century from 1 - 100? Smells like a fencepost error to me...
 
I am an old movie buff -- OLD -- my favorite era is 1920-1934, although I happily watch any films from the feature film era (1912-present.) Anyway, it seems to me that a lot of time needs to go by, to recognize the real classics that reward multiple viewings. Plenty of films we appreciate now were disparaged or ignored in their release year. It's a Gift ('34), which is probably the best of W.C. Fields, was dismissed as a passable farce by prominent critics back then. Keaton's The General was seen as inferior to his less elaborate films. And on and on. Some highly praised dramas from the studio era look bloated today -- such as Cimarron of 1931. More modern films that haven't aged well: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (oh my God is it awful), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Dances with Wolves (apologies to anyone who liked these; I feel pandered to, when watching them.) Beyond that, aren't Best of lists about the most hacky critical exercise ever? Unless you work at TV Guide, which I think is about to do a special issue (with 4 different collector's covers) of Our 50 Best Best-Of Lists, Ever.
 
How can Spirited Away make the Top 10 but Howl's Moving Castle isn't even on the list? And where's UP?
 
Playball40 said:
How can Spirited Away make the Top 10 but Howl's Moving Castle isn't even on the list? And where's UP?
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I hated the film UP. It was terribly uncreative, so I nixed it from the list. ;)

Curse of the Wererabbit, Song of the Sea, Wall-E (well the first half without the humans)... nah replace it with Inside Out, Finding Nemo are probably best animated films for the list, that I know of.
 
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