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The 21st Century's 100 Greatest Films (BBC Poll, 177 worldwide critics)

willow ve

Member
Nice to see Wes Anderson on the list multiple times. Sad to see they skipped out on Life Aquatic.

Also Llewyn Davis is way too high. I enjoyed the film, but it's not top 50 of the last 16 years.
 

CHC

Member
How can people still be surprised that an award winning movie that was released to nearly universal acclaim and made over a billion dollars keeps popping up on these lists? I get you not liking it. But, how can you be shocked to see it on that list?

I get the movie's appeal, and its impact / legacy, I just think in terms of content it's sort of a vacuous summer blockbuster. Which the list is otherwise pretty free of.

But you know, different strokes and all that. Dark Knight was a huge deal when it came out and the list is a pretty excellent one overall. I'm just some guy on the Internet.

Moulin Rouge is straight garbage tho
 

Dr.Acula

Banned
Decent list, surprise there are zero entries from Mamet, Villeneuve, Refn, Soderbergh, Beat Takeshi, Johnnie To, or Koreeda.
 
They also did a Top 100 Greatest American Films list, but I didnt like that one as much. 41 films shouldn't be owned by 10 directors. Spread the love around, get more comedies/genre in there, be bold! I did my own Top 100 American Films in response, added Fury Road and Carol from last year since its inception.

1. Jaws (Spielberg, 1975)
2. Casablanca (Curtiz, 1942)
3. Mulholland Dr. (Lynch, 2001)
4. Raging Bull (Scorsese, 1980)
5. The General (Keaton, 1926)
6. Sunset Blvd (Wilder, 1950)
7. Chinatown (Polanski, 1974)
8. Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989)
9. Singin’ in the Rain (Kelly & Donen, 1952)
10. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (Murnau, 1927)
11. The Conversation (Coppola, 1974)
12. All About Eve (Mankiewicz, 1950)
13. The Lady Eve (P. Sturges, 1941)
14. Days of Heaven (Malick, 1978)
15. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence (Ford, 1962)
16. Goodfellas (Scorsese, 1990)
17. Blade Runner (Scott, 1982)
18. Nashville (Altman, 1975)
19. His Girl Friday (Hawks, 1940)
20. Unforigiven (Eastwood, 1992)
21. Hannah and Her Sisters (Allen, 1986)
22. City Lights (Chaplin, 1931)
23. Barry Lyndon (Kubrick, 1975)
24. Strangers on a Train (Hitchcock, 1951)
25. Heat (Michael Mann, 1995)
26. All That Jazz (Fosse, 1979)
27. The Thing (Carpenter, 1982)
28. The Sweet Smell of Success (Mackendrick, 1957)
29. Miller’s Crossing (Coens, 1990)
30. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Gondry, 2004)
31. The Thin Red Line (Malick, 1998)
32. The Adventures of Robin Hood (Curtiz, 1938)
33. Raiders of the Lost Ark (Spielberg, 1981)
34. King Kong (Cooper & Schoedsack, 1933)
35. Mad Max: Fury Road (Miller, 2016)
36. Pulp Fiction (Tarantino, 1994)
37. Modern Times (Chaplin, 1936)
38. Rio Bravo (Hawks, 1959)
39. Blue Velvet (Lynch, 1984)
40. Dawn of the Dead (Romero, 1977)
41. The Godfather (Coppola, 1972)
42. Before Sunset (Linklater, 2004)
43. Apocalypse Now (Coppola, 1979)
44. The Maltese Falcon (Huston, 1941)
45. Dead Man (Jarmusch, 1995)
46. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
47. The Big Lebowski (Coens, 1998)
48. Alien (Scott, 1979)
49. Pinocchio (Luske & Sharpsteen, 1940)
50. Manhattan (Allen, 1979)
51. Carol (Haynes, 2015)
52. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (Spielberg, 1982)
53. Taxi Driver (Scorsese, 1976)
54. The Empire Strikes Back (Kershner, 1980)
55. Schindler’s List (Spielberg, 1993)
56. My Dinner with Andre (Malle, 1981)
57. Back to the Future (Zemeckis, 1985)
58. Die Hard (McTiernan, 1988)
59. Zodiac (Fincher, 2007)
60. Toy Story 2 (Lasseter, 1999)
61. The Right Stuff (Kaufman, 1983)
62. Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960)
63. Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005)
64. The Last of the Mohicans (Mann, 1992)
65. The Apartment (Wilder, 1960)
66. Annie Hall (Allen, 1977)
67. Winchester ’73 (Anthony Mann, 1950)
68. Amadeus (Forman, 1984)
69. Aliens (Cameron, 1986)
70. The Social Network (Fincher, 2010)
71. Out of the Past (Tourneur, 1947)
72. Touch of Evil (Welles, 1958)
73. The Shop Around the Corner (Lubitsch, 1940)
74. Imitation of Life (Sirk, 1959)
75. The Wizard of Oz (Fleming, 1939)
76. You Can Count on Me (Lonergan, 2000)
77. The Terminator (Cameron, 1983)
78. Paper Moon (Bogdanovich, 1973)
79. The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014)
80. Blow Out (DePalma, 1981)
81. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (Peckinpah, 1974)
82. 12 Angry Men (Lumet, 1957)
83. Dog Day Afternoon (Lumet, 1975)
84. Johnny Guitar (Ray, 1954)
85. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Zemeckis, 1988)
86. Ed Wood (Burton, 1995)
87. Some Like It Hot (Wilder, 1959)
88. Dangerous Liaisons (Frears, 1988)
89. The Shining (Kubrick, 1980)
90. The Lion King (Allers & Minkoff, 1994)
91. Rosemary’s Baby (Polanski, 1968)
92. 12 Years a Slave (McQueen, 2013)
93. Young Frankenstein (M. Brooks, 1974)
94. No Country for Old Men (Coens, 2007)
95. Top Hat (Sandrich, 1935)
96. L.A. Confidential (Hanson, 1997)
97. Ratatouille (Bird, 2007)
98. The Night of the Hunter (Laughton, 1955)
99. All the President’s Men (Pakula, 1976)
100. Bride of Frankenstein (Whale, 1935)
 
That, Lost Highway and Eraserhead would blow their minds.

Muholland Drive is along with Twin Peaks and Blue Velvet part of what I view as the Gateway to David Lynch's more outlandish films. They feature a lot of the thematic and structural qualities Lynch likes while still being palatable to most watchers. How you view them helps determine if Lynch is for you before getting into his more abstract films ie Erasherhead, Wild at Heart, Lost Highway and Inland Empire.
 
I love PT Anderson but Inherent Vice shouldn't be anywhere on that list. And it definitely shouldn't be above those 24 other films.

I don't have an issue with the list for the most part as they're all good, well-crafted films for the most part. I guess I just take issue with them being this century's "greatest" so far. It just seems like film critics going to their go-to directors even when some of their offerings were less than great.

Ida should be higher, 12 Years a Slave and Boyhood should be much lower, Synechdoche New York was an awful film by a great screenwriter, and how the hell isn't Punch Drunk Love on there (but again, Inherent Vice is?) And how the fuck is Moonrise Kingdom anywhere on that list but The Lobster isn't?

And I know: opinions n' all that.
 

Kill3r7

Member
They also did a Top 100 Greatest American Films list, but I didnt like that one as much. 41 films shouldn't be owned by 10 directors. Spread the love around, get more comedies/genre in there, be bold! I did my own Top 100 American Films in response, added Fury Road and Carol from last year since its inception.

1. Jaws (Spielberg, 1975)
2. Casablanca (Curtiz, 1942)
3. Mulholland Dr. (Lynch, 2001)
4. Raging Bull (Scorsese, 1980)
5. The General (Keaton, 1926)
6. Sunset Blvd (Wilder, 1950)
7. Chinatown (Polanski, 1974)
8. Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989)
9. Singin’ in the Rain (Kelly & Donen, 1952)
10. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (Murnau, 1927)
11. The Conversation (Coppola, 1974)
12. All About Eve (Mankiewicz, 1950)
13. The Lady Eve (P. Sturges, 1941)
14. Days of Heaven (Malick, 1978)
15. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence (Ford, 1962)
16. Goodfellas (Scorsese, 1990)
17. Blade Runner (Scott, 1982)
18. Nashville (Altman, 1975)
19. His Girl Friday (Hawks, 1940)
20. Unforigiven (Eastwood, 1992)
21. Hannah and Her Sisters (Allen, 1986)
22. City Lights (Chaplin, 1931)
23. Barry Lyndon (Kubrick, 1975)
24. Strangers on a Train (Hitchcock, 1951)
25. Heat (Michael Mann, 1995)
26. All That Jazz (Fosse, 1979)
27. The Thing (Carpenter, 1982)
28. The Sweet Smell of Success (Mackendrick, 1957)
29. Miller’s Crossing (Coens, 1990)
30. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Gondry, 2004)
31. The Thin Red Line (Malick, 1998)
32. The Adventures of Robin Hood (Curtiz, 1938)
33. Raiders of the Lost Ark (Spielberg, 1981)
34. King Kong (Cooper & Schoedsack, 1933)
35. Mad Max: Fury Road (Miller, 2016)
36. Pulp Fiction (Tarantino, 1994)
37. Modern Times (Chaplin, 1936)
38. Rio Bravo (Hawks, 1959)
39. Blue Velvet (Lynch, 1984)
40. Dawn of the Dead (Romero, 1977)
41. The Godfather (Coppola, 1972)
42. Before Sunset (Linklater, 2004)
43. Apocalypse Now (Coppola, 1979)
44. The Maltese Falcon (Huston, 1941)
45. Dead Man (Jarmusch, 1995)
46. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
47. The Big Lebowski (Coens, 1998)
48. Alien (Scott, 1979)
49. Pinocchio (Luske & Sharpsteen, 1940)
50. Manhattan (Allen, 1979)
51. Carol (Haynes, 2015)
52. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (Spielberg, 1982)
53. Taxi Driver (Scorsese, 1976)
54. The Empire Strikes Back (Kershner, 1980)
55. Schindler’s List (Spielberg, 1993)
56. My Dinner with Andre (Malle, 1981)
57. Back to the Future (Zemeckis, 1985)
58. Die Hard (McTiernan, 1988)
59. Zodiac (Fincher, 2007)
60. Toy Story 2 (Lasseter, 1999)
61. The Right Stuff (Kaufman, 1983)
62. Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960)
63. Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005)
64. The Last of the Mohicans (Mann, 1992)
65. The Apartment (Wilder, 1960)
66. Annie Hall (Allen, 1977)
67. Winchester ’73 (Anthony Mann, 1950)
68. Amadeus (Forman, 1984)
69. Aliens (Cameron, 1986)
70. The Social Network (Fincher, 2010)
71. Out of the Past (Tourneur, 1947)
72. Touch of Evil (Welles, 1958)
73. The Shop Around the Corner (Lubitsch, 1940)
74. Imitation of Life (Sirk, 1959)
75. The Wizard of Oz (Fleming, 1939)
76. You Can Count on Me (Lonergan, 2000)
77. The Terminator (Cameron, 1983)
78. Paper Moon (Bogdanovich, 1973)
79. The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014)
80. Blow Out (DePalma, 1981)
81. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (Peckinpah, 1974)
82. 12 Angry Men (Lumet, 1957)
83. Dog Day Afternoon (Lumet, 1975)
84. Johnny Guitar (Ray, 1954)
85. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Zemeckis, 1988)
86. Ed Wood (Burton, 1995)
87. Some Like It Hot (Wilder, 1959)
88. Dangerous Liaisons (Frears, 1988)
89. The Shining (Kubrick, 1980)
90. The Lion King (Allers & Minkoff, 1994)
91. Rosemary’s Baby (Polanski, 1968)
92. 12 Years a Slave (McQueen, 2013)
93. Young Frankenstein (M. Brooks, 1974)
94. No Country for Old Men (Coens, 2007)
95. Top Hat (Sandrich, 1935)
96. L.A. Confidential (Hanson, 1997)
97. Ratatouille (Bird, 2007)
98. The Night of the Hunter (Laughton, 1955)
99. All the President’s Men (Pakula, 1976)
100. Bride of Frankenstein (Whale, 1935)

That's an okay list. I take issue with 12 Angry Men being that low.
 

Eidan

Member
Muholland Drive is along with Twin Peaks and Blue Velvet part of what I view as the Gateway to David Lynch's more outlandish films. They feature a lot of the thematic and structural qualities Lynch likes while still being palatable to most watchers. How you view them helps determine if Lynch is for you before getting into his more abstract films ie Erasherhead, Wild at Heart, Lost Highway and Inland Empire.

Inland Empire is the only movie to ever give me an outright headache from the mindfucking.
 

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
I don't think this time period is going to be remembered well for films in the future.
 
anyways what is everybody's top 10 this century anyways since we got a lot of agreement and disagreements in this thread.

i think definites for me would be:
Mulholland Drive
Fellowship of the Ring
Mad Max Fury Road
A Separation
The New World
Miami Vice
Take Shelter

and then I would have to think pretty hard about the rest. those are just clinched tho for top 10 placement imo.

Probs something like this:

In the Mood for Love
Mulholland Drive
There Will Be Blood
Inside Llewyn Davis
The Tree of Life
No Country for Old Men
Mad Max: Fury Road
Hunger
Children of Men
Memories of Murder
 

FuturusX

Member
Inception making that list is my only question mark. I really hated that film...but I get why so many hold it in high regard.
 

MMarston

Was getting caught part of your plan?
Citizen Kane isn't number one so this is already a good list

Edit: whoops forgot the 21sr century part
 

Lothar

Banned
I've seen 4 of these: AI, Inglorious Bastards, Dark Knight, and Eternal Sunshine. And I really hated AI. Inglorious Bastards was one of my least favorite Tarantino films. (Kill Bill or Django should be here instead.) Dark Knight and Eternal Sunshine were good.
 

Lambtron

Unconfirmed Member
If I were doing a Top 10:

1. Mulholland Dr.
2. Punch-Drunk Love
3. Spring Breakers
4. 5 Centimeters Per Second
5. Boyhood
6. WALL-E
7. Mad Max: Fury Road
8. Lost in Translation
9. Adaptation
10. UP
 

Dr.Acula

Banned
anyways what is everybody's top 10 this century anyways since we got a lot of agreement and disagreements in this thread.

I was going to go through my list of films watched from 2000-2016 on imdb, but it was over 700 so I was like, "eff that." I was surprised by how many more modern ones I've seen because most movies I've seen are pre-2000s.

The things from this century that jump out as being absent are Drive, Zatoichi, Infernal Affairs, and George Washington. I'd have George Washington and Zatoichi in my top-10, while Drive and Infernal Affairs would be top-100 easily. I'd also throw in Red Belt, Che, Sicario, Rubber, Daytime Drinking, and lots of other random crap somewhere in the 100, too much stuff I'm forgetting. I'd throw Drama/Mex in my top-10, even though I don't think most people would like it.

Edit: just noticed the BBC had 3 films at 100, so this is a 102 film list.
 

Danneee

Member
No Interstellar?

I really don't understand what is is people like about Mad Max. It's ok but nowhere near great.

Oh, and Moonrise Kingdom have no place on that list.
 
That's an okay list. I take issue with 12 Angry Men being that low.

It's not a terrible list but it has a few headscratchers( Do the Right Thing,Fury Road, Eternal Sunshine,The Social Network, Brokeback,Grand Budapest, 12 Years A Slave etc are not top 100 goat material) and some odd choices( how Bring Me the Head of Alfreso Garcia is on a list where The Wild Bunch, Major Dundee and Ride the High Country are not). Though I do love seeing Winchester 73 on that list,
 
No Interstellar?

I really don't understand what is is people like about Mad Max. It's ok but nowhere near great.

Oh, and Moonrise Kingdom have no place on that list.
I'm a big Nolan fan but come on, Mad Max is a much better film than the overly long Interstellar. Mad Max looks great and is an adrenaline rush from start to finish.
 

Violet_0

Banned
Grand Budapest Hotel and Fury Road definitely deserve to be on the list, but this
It's not a terrible list but it has a few headscratchers [...] Eternal Sunshine [...] not top 100 goat material
giphy.gif

I'm a big Nolan fan but come on, Mad Max is a much better film than the overly long Interstellar. Mad Max looks great and is an adrenaline rush from start to finish.
the main problem with Interstellar is the ending
LOVE
, but otherwise it's one of my favorite recent movies. Mad Max isn't even in the same genre, I don't know how you can directly compare them. Does a movie need to provide constant thrills to be considered good or entertaining?
 

Eidan

Member
The movie requires a couple of viewings to make some kind of sense. I gave up after a second attempt . Do you really understand the movies plot?
Mulholland Drive's? Yes, absolutely. The moment you realize
that 2/3 of the movie is a dream
, everything falls into place, and it's pretty easy to dissect and discuss the numerous symbols throughout the film. It's great.
 

Meier

Member
OMG, so nice to see Yi Yi that high! My favorite film and one I always recommend. :)

Found an old post of mine of the top 5 from 2000-2005.. here was the list at the time:

1. Yi Yi
2. Spirited Away
3. Amelie
4. LOTR saga
5. Whale Rider

City of God (among others) just miss.

Sad to see Whale Rider miss out (LOTR is not a huge shock due to the nature of this sort of list).
 

Scipio

Member
No Lord of the Rings (pick 1 or 3) is really weird. That's for me, the film of the 2000s. But other than that really good list, don't agree with a few (like omitting The Departed, which is maybe my favourite movie of all time), but yay for Amélie and No Country.
 
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