The 21st Century's 25 Greatest Films

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by George P, Aug 23, 2016.

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  1. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    Agreed. Some nice filmmaking, but otherwise I thought it was really lackluster. Like a B-movie "cautionary" tale from the early '70s. I couldn't believe the rave reviews.
     
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  2. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    You're right. As far as pure filmmaking and storytelling, The Lord of the Rings does deserve a slot in there, certainly. Peter Jackson wove one of the greatest epics ever told on film and did it beautifully. Sure it was escapist entertainment, but that shouldn't detract from his artistic achievement at actually making a successful adaptation of a beloved trilogy. As I said, this is a highly pretentious selection of films. Holy Rollers...... :doh:
     
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  3. Khaki F

    Khaki F Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kenosha, WI. USA
    I was really glad to see Zodiac and Mulholland Dr. up there. Zodiac left me cold on first viewing (I'd read the book and thought it was much creepier) but it has grown on me like you wouldn't believe, and held up to so many repeated viewings because it has a great feel to it. It's really a movie, in so many different ways.

    Mulholland Dr. has worked for me on a number of levels, too. I've grown to appreciate it at first, as a cool David Lynch film. Moody and eerie as always. I appreciated its ingenuity when I figured out the plot. It was fun to solve that riddle, and rewarding that it all made sense once I knew what was happening. Ultimately though, I think it's justified in its high ranking because I can't think of another film that illustrates as well, what the predatory mindset can do to its victim. That's its real value for me, showing the extent of the damage. Lynch's shifting perspectives throughout the film create an empathy that I don't think straight ahead storytelling could have accomplished. Glad it's been recognized.
     
    Last edited: Aug 24, 2016
  4. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    No Nightcrawler ?
     
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  5. johnnyyen

    johnnyyen Senior Member

    Location:
    Scotland
    There are far too many great films on this list for it to be invalidated by one film.
     
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  6. daglesj

    daglesj Forum Resident

    Location:
    Norfolk, UK
    Small Apartments
     
  7. 93curr

    93curr Senior Member

    might as well do the rest.

    100. Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade, 2016) - haven't seen it
    100. Requiem for a Dream (Darren Aronofsky, 2000) - not that crazy about it, to be honest. it's one of my favorite novels of all time and the film just didn't live up to the brilliance of the book.
    100. Carlos (Olivier Assayas, 2010) - spectactular
    99. The Gleaners and I (Agnès Varda, 2000) - haven't seen it
    98. Ten (Abbas Kiarostami, 2002) - okay, but not great
    97. White Material (Claire Denis, 2009) - haven't seen it
    96. Finding Nemo (Andrew Stanton, 2003) - haven't seen it
    95. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012) - loved it
    94. Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008) - brilliant
    93. Ratatouille (Brad Bird, 2007) - lotsa fun
    92. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik, 2007) - great
    91. The Secret in Their Eyes (Juan José Campanella, 2009) - never seen it
    90. The Pianist (Roman Polanski, 2002) - not that great. I'll admit to having little patience for later-day Polanski
    89. The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel, 2008) - never seen it
    88. Spotlight (Tom McCarthy, 2015) - pretty good, but not as compelling as it should have been. ends too early.
    87. Amélie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001) - not good. painfully overrated.
    86. Far From Heaven (Todd Haynes, 2002) - brilliant
    85. A Prophet (Jacques Audiard, 2009) - never seen it
    84. Her (Spike Jonze, 2013) - loved it
    83. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg, 2001) - one of Spielberg's less annoying films
    82. A Serious Man (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2009) - loved it
    81. Shame (Steve McQueen, 2011) - loved it
    80. The Return (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2003) - haven't seen it yet, but everything I've read about it makes me think I'd love it
    79. Almost Famous (Cameron Crowe, 2000) - too cute by half
    78. The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese, 2013) - pretty great, but it does kind of feel like an excuse for Scorsese to just do his greatest hits
    77. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Julian Schnabel, 2007) - overrated
    76. Dogville (Lars von Trier, 2003) - pretty great
    75. Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2014) - loved it
    74. Spring Breakers (Harmony Korine, 2012) - absolutely brilliant
    73. Before Sunset (Richard Linklater, 2004) - nope
    72. Only Lovers Left Alive (Jim Jarmusch, 2013) - awesome
    71. Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012) - never seen it
    70. Stories We Tell (Sarah Polley, 2012) - not a fan
    69. Carol (Todd Haynes, 2015) - pretty great
    68. The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001) - excellent
    67. The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2008) - no thank you
    66. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring (Kim Ki-duk, 2003) - this one kind of fell through the cracks. not sure I have an explanation as to why I haven't caught it yet
    65. Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold, 2009) - excellent
    64. The Great Beauty (Paolo Sorrentino, 2013) - okay
    63. The Turin Horse (Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky, 2011) - never seen it
    62. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009) - spectacular
    61. Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013) - brilliant
    60. Syndromes and a Century (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2006) - never even heard of it
    59. A History of Violence (David Cronenberg, 2005) - masterful
    58. Moolaadé (Ousmane Sembène, 2004) - missed this one
    57. Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow, 2012) - awkward contrived propaganda
    56. Werckmeister Harmonies (Béla Tarr, director; Ágnes Hranitzky, co-director, 2000) - never heard of it
    55. Ida (Paweł Pawlikowski, 2013) - never seen it
    54. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011) - never seen it
    53. Moulin Rouge! (Baz Luhrmann, 2001) - hated it. a lot.
    52. Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2004) - nope
    51. Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010) - okay, but not one of his best. I much preferred 'The Prestige' or even 'Dark Knight.'
    50. The Assassin (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 2015) - great
    49. Goodbye to Language (Jean-Luc Godard, 2014) - excellent
    48. Brooklyn (John Crowley, 2015) - nah
    47. Leviathan (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2014) - never seen it
    46. Certified Copy (Abbas Kiarostami, 2010) - okay, but nowhere near as impressive as everyone told me it was.
    45. Blue Is the Warmest Color (Abdellatif Kechiche, 2013) - an absolute masterpiece
    44. 12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen, 2013) - excellent
    43. Melancholia (Lars von Trier, 2011) - brilliant
    42. Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012) - never seen it
    41. Inside Out (Pete Docter, 2015) - one of the most entertaining and engaging kids' films ever. right up there with 'The Lego Movie' and 'Wreck-It Ralph.' Just brilliant.
    40. Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005) - excellent
    39. The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005) - overrated. I've given up hope of ever becoming a Malick fan.
    38. City of God (Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, 2002) - brilliant
    37. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2010) - okay
    36. Timbuktu (Abderrahmane Sissako, 2014) - absolutely spectacular
    35. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000) - it was all right
    34. Son of Saul (László Nemes, 2015) - pretty good
    33. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008) - this is how mass-media popcorn films should be. more craft than art, but there's a place for that too.
    32. The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006) - pretty great
    31. Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011) - brilliant, but you really need to see the longer cut on the DVD
    30. Oldboy (Park Chan-wook, 2003) - really great (though I kind of preferred 'Thirst')
    29. WALL-E (Andrew Stanton, 2008) - lotsa fun
    28. Talk to Her (Pedro Almodóvar, 2002) - only okay
    27. The Social Network (David Fincher, 2010) - surprisingly great
    26. 25th Hour (Spike Lee, 2002) - okay

    I'm impressed. This is actually a pretty great list. I'm gonna make an effort to track down some of the ones I missed out on.
     
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  8. Matheusms

    Matheusms Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brazil
    Spotlight is much like The King's Speech: academy overreaction at its extreme. El Club does the same subject in a much more complex, less preachy and adult way but it's a little too much for them.
     
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  9. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Thw one's i rate below.

    Moonrise Kingdom
    (Wes Anderson, 2012) -6.5
    Ratatouille (Brad Bird, 2007) - 8.0
    The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik, 2007) - 10.0
    The Pianist (Roman Polanski, 2002) -7.5
    Spotlight (Tom McCarthy, 2015)- 6.5
    Amélie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001) -10.0
    From Heaven (Todd Haynes, 2002) -8.0
    A Prophet (Jacques Audiard, 2009) - 8.0
    Her (Spike Jonze, 2013) - 5.0
    A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg, 2001) - 8.0
    A Serious Man (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2009) - 7.0
    Shame (Steve McQueen, 2011) - 6.5
    Almost Famous (Cameron Crowe, 2000) - 8.0
    Only Lovers Left Alive (Jim Jarmusch, 2013) - 7.0
    Carol (Todd Haynes, 2015) - 7.0
    The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001) - 9.0
    Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009) - 7.0
    Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013) - 8.0
    A History of Violence (David Cronenberg, 2005) - 7.5
    . Inception (Christopher Nolan, 8.0
    12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen, 2013) - 7.0
    The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005) - 8.0
    City of God - 8.0
    The Lives of Others- 7.5
    WALL-E
    - 8.0
    Talk to Her -8.0
    The Social Network 7.0
     
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  10. MekkaGodzilla

    MekkaGodzilla Forum Resident

    Location:
    Westerville, Ohio
    No Larry Crowne?

    :wtf:

    List is invalid!
     
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  11. Matheusms

    Matheusms Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brazil
    The forgotten ones:

    - The Club
    - 45 Years
    - Room
    - Nightcrawler
    - Phoenix
    - Wild Tales
    - Whiplash
    - Nymphomaniac
    - Birdman (really???)
    - Dallas Buyer's Club (really???)
    - Blue Jasmine
    - Venus in Furs
    - Dance of Reality
    - The Hunt
    - Biutiful
    - Submarino
    - Gespenster
    - Private Fears in Public Places

    ...
     
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  12. johnnyyen

    johnnyyen Senior Member

    Location:
    Scotland
    I've seen 85/100, and agree, it's a great list. The one I must track down is Yi Yi. Not only have I not seen it, but I never even knew it existed before the list was published.
     
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  13. daca

    daca Currently on Double Secret Probation

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    It's the BBC and a "list." I take it with a grain of salt.

    Yes.

    Definitely yes.
     
  14. peopleareleaving

    peopleareleaving Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    All n all a decent list. I've seen 45 of 100, with plenty to investigate.

    What about these>>>

    Sexy Beast
    Dancer In The Dark
    Downfall
    The triplets of belleville
    Amores perros
    Donnie darko
    Oh brother, where art thou
    Ghost world
    Midnight in Paris
    Irreversible
    21 grams
    Good night and good luck
    Sideways
     
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  15. PH416156

    PH416156 Alea Iacta Est

    Location:
    Europe
    I rarely feel I've wasted my time after watching a movie, but that's what I thought when "Holy motors" was over. Still don't know how I was able to make it until the end.
     
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  16. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001) - 9.0

    Your highest rated film and I thoroughly agree! A comedic masterpiece. What a stylist! An actually SMART comedy.
     
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  17. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    Spotlight not only wasn't the best film, it's scarcely even a good film!
     
  18. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    You must have been in shock like I was. I think all the critics must have seen this film at the same showing at Cannes and everyone was afraid to admit they didn't like it. It's so blantantly a whimsical, surreal, absurdist art piece -- like a self-indulgent one-man show by a fading performance artist at a Soho cafe where everyone in the audience knows each other -- that to have said you couldn't appreciate it would instantly have branded you an luddite, obviously with no appreciation for ART.

    Otherwise, the only way I'd ever say I liked this film was if I was on a first date with a coked-out French supermodel who raved about it and, deep in my scrotum, I sensed the necessity to agree.
     
    Last edited: Aug 24, 2016
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  19. Solaris

    Solaris a bullet in flight

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    Agreed, and I felt the same about Nymphomaniac Vol 1. I never bothered with Vol 2.

    I like art house movies just fine, but purely entertaining films can be "great" too. Avengers or Iron Man anyone? If you can find room for Mad Max: Fury Road, you can find room for one or both of those.

    I think that, as @Ghostworld observes, a lot of critics are afraid to have an honest opinion that goes against the grain. I'll go out on a limb and say one reason for that is the inability of most critics to write an effective defense of their position. Another is insecurity. Consequently, a lot of pretentious bull **** and half-realized ideas get widely praised.
     
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  20. PH416156

    PH416156 Alea Iacta Est

    Location:
    Europe
    In shock? I was disgusted. Heck gimme Man of steel or Jupiter ascending anytime over Holy motors!

    I can't fault you for that. In a similar situation, I'd say I would have even championed stuff such as "Jack and Jill" or Movie 43".
     
    Last edited: Aug 25, 2016
  21. PH416156

    PH416156 Alea Iacta Est

    Location:
    Europe
    Exactly. It looks like a "I'm the coolest and highly rate cool stuff" race. There are some more movies on the list that personally disliked but none of them is the disappointment that "Holy motors" was.

    Back to the list, I noticed several Pixar films but, strangely, not "The Incredibles" :eek:
     
  22. Macman

    Macman Senior Member

    Incendies should be there somewhere.
     
  23. 93curr

    93curr Senior Member

    I don't know that it's necessarily that cynical. Critics get to see a lot more films than the average person does and, instead of having to pay to do so, they get paid. It's not too hard to imagine why, having been exposed to so much more bad films than most people have to endure, they want to put in an extra effort to draw attention to the smaller films with limited advertising budgets that they actually get enthusiastic about. Everybody everywhere was aware of the marvel movies; they got an insane amount of attention already.

    It's not very often anymore that I see anyone out in public wearing a rock t-shirt. But, when I do, it's inevitably of some band that doesn't need to be promoted: The Beatles or Led Zeppelin or the Stones. I'm always puzzled why anyone would pay money to advertise that they like the exact same classic music that everyone else does. Film critics pushing the indie art-house or obscure foreign films are like the kids in high school back in the 70s who were wearing Joy Division t-shirts before Ian Curtis's death. Smiths t-shirts before their records were even available Stateside. Can t-shirts before anyone even recognized the cover designs.
     
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  24. harmonica98

    harmonica98 Senior Member

    Location:
    London, UK
    That is a truly great film. I've only seen it twice but it had a profound effect on me. Please post when you've checked it out!
     
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  25. johnnyyen

    johnnyyen Senior Member

    Location:
    Scotland
    Definitely. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be available on Region 2/B dvd at the moment, but I'll continue looking.
     
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