After looking over the NY Times’s
list of the 25 Best Films of the 21st Century to date, I starting
think about what films would be on my list. It is tough. On one hand you have
all your favorite movies, some are more objectively good and some are certainly
not; and on the other hand, you have films that are great but not necessarily
films you seek out to watch. I decided on a compromise. These are the films
that I think are the best – but with my biases/loves built in, let run wild. I
also included my favorite documentaries at the end. Ranking all these films is
impossible (I narrowed it down to 103; 13 documentaries and 90 features). So,
this list is organized by year for the features, followed by documentaries and
finally my personal 25 favorites.
2000
American Psycho, directed by Mary Harron
2001
Amelie, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Black Hawk Down, directed by Ridley Scott
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, directed
by Peter Jackson
No Man’s Land, directed by Danis Tanovic
The Royal Tenenbaums, directed by Wes Anderson
2002
The Hours, directed by Stephen Daldry
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, directed by Peter
Jackson
The Pianist, directed by Roman Polanski
2003
The Barbarian Invasions, directed by Denys Arcand
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, directed by
Peter Jackson
Lost in Translation, directed by Sofia Coppola
Open Range, directed by Kevin Costner
2004
2046, directed by Kar Wai Wong
A Very Long Engagement, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Downfall, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, directed by
Alfonso Cuaron
Hotel Rwanda, directed by Terry George
House of Flying Daggers, directed by Yimou Zhang
The Life of Aquatic with Steve Zissou, directed by Wes
Anderson
Million Dollar Baby, directed by Clint Eastwood
Sideways, directed by Alexander Payne
Spider-Man 2, directed by Sam Raimi
Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War, directed by Je-gyu Kang
2005
Batman Begins, directed by Christopher Nolan
The Beat that My Heart Skipped, directed by Jacques Audiard
Munich, directed by Steven Spielberg
Pride & Prejudice, directed by Joe Wright
Serenity, directed by Joss Whedon
The Squid and the Whale, directed by Noah Baumbach
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days, directed by Marc Rothemund
2006
Black Book, directed by Paul Verhoeven
Children of Men, directed by Alfonso Cuaron
Mission: Impossible III, directed by J.J. Abrams
Once, directed by John Carney
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, directed by Gore
Verbinski
The Prestige, directed by Christopher Nolan
The Road to Guantanamo, directed by Michael Winterbottom
2007
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,
directed by Andrew Dominik
Atonement, directed by Joe Wright
The Darjeeling Limited, directed by Wes Anderson
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, directed by David
Yates
No Country for Old Men, directed by the Coen Brothers
There Will Be Blood, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
The Visitor, directed by Tom McCarthy
2008
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, directed by David
Fincher
The Dark Knight, directed by Christopher Nolan
Forgetting Sarah Marshall, directed by Nicholas Stoller
Hunger, directed by Steve McQueen
Revolutionary Road, directed by Sam Mendes
Vicky Cristina Barcelona, directed by Woody Allen
WALL-E, directed by Andrew Stanton
2009
Inglourious Basterds, directed by Quentin Tarantino
Up, directed by Pete Docter
2010
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, directed by
David Yates
Inception, directed by Christopher Nolan
Never Let Me Go, directed by Mark Romanek
The Social Network, directed by David Fincher
True Grit, directed by the Coen Brothers
2011
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, directed by David Fincher
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, directed by
David Yates
Incendies, directed by Denis Villeneuve
Jane Eyre, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga
Super 8, directed by J.J. Abrams
2012
The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon
The Dark Knight Rises, directed by Christopher Nolan
Life of Pi, directed by Ang Lee
The Master, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
Zero Dark Thirty, directed by Kathryn Bigelow
2013
12 Years a Slave, directed by Steve McQueen
Her, directed by Spike Jonze
Short Term 12, directed by Destin Cretton
The Wolf of Wall Street, directed by Martin Scorcese
2014
The Babadook, directed by Jennifer Kent
Gone Girl, directed by David Fincher
The Grand Budapest Hotel, directed by Wes Anderson
The Imitation Game, directed by Morten Tyldum
Interstellar, directed by Christopher Nolan
2015
Avengers: Age of Ultron, directed by Joss Whedon
Bridge of Spies, directed by Steven Spielberg
Brooklyn, directed by John Crowley
Carol, directed by Todd Haynes
Inside Out, directed by Peter Docter & Ronaldo Del
Carmen
The Revenant, directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Sicario, directed by Denis Villeneuve
2016
Arrival, directed by Denis Villeneuve
Hacksaw Ridge, directed by Mel Gibson
Hunt for the Wilderpeople, directed by Taika Waititi
Manchester by the Sea, directed by Kenneth Lonergan
Silence, directed by Martin Scorsese
Documentaries
The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons front the Life of Robert S.
McNamara, directed by Errol Morris
Super Size Me, directed by Morgan Spurlock
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, directed by Alex
Gibney
Why We Fight, directed by Eugene Jarecki
Man on Wire, directed by James Marsh
Inside Job, directed by Charles Ferguson
Magic & BirdL A Courtship of Rivals, directed by Ezra
Edelman
The House I Live In, directed by Eugene Jarecki
The Imposter, directed by Bart Layton
Citizenfour, directed by Laura Poitras
13th, directed by Ava DuVernay
O.J.: Made in America, directed by Ezra Edelman
Five Came Back, directed by Laurent Bouzereau
My Personal Favorite
25
The Dark Knight Trilogy
Lost in Translation
Inception
Inglourious Basterds
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (the whole saga really)
Pride & Prejudice
Amelie
Spider-Man 2
Interstellar
The Prestige
Serenity
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
No Country for Old Men
The Lord of the Rings
Hunger
Zero Dark Thirty
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
The Darjeeling Limited
Atonement
The Royal Tenenbaums
There Will Be Blood
American Psycho
Gone Girl
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
My Personal Favorite
25 (Redux)
Within the NY Times rules of One Film per Director
The Dark Knight
Lost in Translation
Inglourious Basterds
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Pride & Prejudice
Amelie
Spider-Man 2
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Serenity
No Country for Old Men
Hunger
Zero Dark Thirty
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
The Darjeeling Limited
There Will Be Blood
American Psycho
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Life of Pi
The Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Arrival
Downfall
Her
