The 21st Century's 100 Greatest Films

[hewantstolurkatad]

Why should a marvel film be there for purely monetary success reasons? They've streamlined the process to such a degree I can hardly even call them films, more some kind of weird marketing event.

[Funcrusher]

12 Years a Slave is, of course, Steve McQueen's worst film.

Nah, Shame is his worst.

[Dr Rock]

Why should a marvel film be there for purely monetary success reasons?

Nobody said that?

[Kelvin]

Why should a marvel film be there for purely monetary success reasons? They've streamlined the process to such a degree I can hardly even call them films, more some kind of weird marketing event.

That's true of many of their films, but I think a film like Avengers should be on the list, both because it's as good an example of light, fun family action films as you can find in the last 15 years, and also the pinnacle of the cinematic universe model. The one film that truly balances all that's come before, with all that's yet to come, in a story that stands alone and could only have been so good created within that structure.

[Puce Moment]

That's true of many of their films, but I think a film like Avengers should be on the list, both because it's as good an example of light, fun family action films as you can find in the last 15 years, and also the pinnacle of the cinematic universe model. The one film that truly balances all that's come before, with all that's yet to come, in a story that stands alone and could only have been so good created within that structure.

I think a lot of critics have grown steadily jaded with the number of worthless films being made that are comic adaptations, reboots, franchise films and yer standard comic-con fare. I can't blame them - the poor cunts have no choice but to watch them, and see their negative reviews fall on deaf ears, as fantastic world cinema goes almost completely unnoticed.

[hewantstolurkatad]

Nobody said that?

I can't see any other reason for why somebody would be surprised none of them would make a critics list spanning the length of time. Even the better ones suffer by having the perception of their quality watered down by the five or six other ones that are pretty damn similar.

Assuming everyone involved done a top ten, what is gonna make someone pick any marvel film over fury road or [insert big Nolan film they especially loved], are they gonna drop something wildly different like a Claire Denis film from their list for a franchise that needs no more attention?

Being annoyed that there aren't any on an single critics top 100 makes total sense but that's a whole other kettle of fish.

[Dr Rock]

I can't see any other reason for why somebody would be surprised none of them would make a critics list spanning the length of time. Even the better ones suffer by having the perception of their quality watered down by the five or six other ones that are pretty damn similar.

Assuming everyone involved done a top ten, what is gonna make someone pick any marvel film over fury road or [insert big Nolan film they especially loved], are they gonna drop something wildly different like a Claire Denis film from their list for a franchise that needs no more attention?

Being annoyed that there aren't any on an single critics top 100 makes total sense but that's a whole other kettle of fish.

Well you may not like those two films, but I do, and think they are better examples of movie-making that set out to achieve its aims, more enjoyable cinematic experiences than many other entries (like Almost Famous to pick another 'just ok' movie for me).

I'm not concerned too much with how the list was compiled though can imagine that most reviewers would possibly have a bit of a quota on certain genres, and maybe Dark Knight gets in while second best superhero movie has Avengers & GOTG or Iron Man or Spider-Man 2 or whatver splitting the vote... (and probably still not making the top 200, because I don't think those movies are critically regarded enough) yet ignoring the process, I prefer both Avengers & GOTG to about ten on the list that I don't care for, simple as that. I don't think anything should be left out because it's 'already had enough attention' - if it's good it should be in there.

[hewantstolurkatad]

But how the list is compiled is pretty vital when it comes to those films that aren't already considered cast iron masterpieces like mulholland drive and there will be blood.

Doing an approach like that is also the only way to ensure the list isn't dominated by familiar names (eg a piece of shit like almost famous would almost certainly do much better if  everyone was submitting top 100s purely because they'd be running out of films to list)

Quotas on genres seems totally rational to me too, there's no other way you could possibly gauge how to rank wildly different films.

[phantom_power]

But how the list is compiled is pretty vital when it comes to those films that aren't already considered cast iron masterpieces like mulholland drive and there will be blood. 

Some  might say that The Avengers is a cast iron masterpiece of its genre and just as hard to get right as There Will Be Blood or Mulholland Drive

[Puce Moment]

Some  might say that The Avengers is a cast iron masterpiece of its genre and just as hard to get right as There Will Be Blood or Mulholland Drive

But that isn't a criteria for this, is it? You could argue that The Human Centipede 2 is a classic of the torture porn genre, or they could have considered the best Nollywood or Bollywood films of the last 16-years. Being the 'best' of a certain type of filmmaking does not mean it should be on a list of 100.

In my OP I mentioned films that would surely drop down the list if carried out again in 2026. Naturally, there will be a shedload of fantastic films released in the next decade, but I think that even if the poll was done of 2000-2016 I can't imagine that Inside Llewyn Davis would even be in the top 50, and it is even less likely that Boyhood would be close to the top 10. There is an issue here of how recent some of these higher placed films seem to be.

[Dr Rock]

Wait... Ratatouille is on this list, but Birdman isn't??? Fuck this shit!

[greenman]

I would say that one or more of Jacksons Lord of the Rings films is a much bigger miss than any Marvel blockbusters.

Too much Wes Anderson definitely stands out as well, maybe one of Duncan Jones first couple of films or some neo chanbara like Twilight Samurai or 13 Assasins instead?

[BlodwynPig]

Wait... Ratatouille is on this list, but Birdman isn't??? Fuck this shit!

Move on. Dogtooth ain't there either.

[Fishfinger]

But how the list is compiled is pretty vital

I think that's it exactly, e.g. using a weighted top-ten from those polled, films that routinely appear on nearly everyone's list as a 3rd/4th/5th/whatever choice will tend to dominate or top the final tally, even though they're no-one's actual favourite movie. Did a single contributing critic really believe Mullholland Drive was the best film of the last 16 years? Probably not. But it might've been in a lot of top 5s.

[greenman]

Wait... Ratatouille is on this list, but Birdman isn't??? Fuck this shit!

Didn't notice the latter which seems the strangest choice, the former has some charm I spose but I wouldn't even say its the 3rd best Pixar of this millennium.

[Lord Mandrake]

Argo, The Departed, In Bruges all missing and the Revanent presumably left out as too recent. Moon & Sunshine would make my 100.

[clingfilm portent]

Ratatouille is a better film than Birdman in every conceivable way. Even Patton Oswalt's lack of range can't keep it down.

[neveragain]

I've only skim-read (and that was last night) but it did seem US-heavy, or at least British-light. Am I talking cack? Possibly; do attack.

[Funcrusher]

Move on. Dogtooth ain't there either.

That is one that should be in there.

[greenman]

Ratatouille is a better film than Birdman in every conceivable way. Even Patton Oswalt's lack of range can't keep it down.

Can I just ask what the hell is that in your avi? someone throwing explosives into an oil well?

[Dr Rock]

Ratatouille is a better film than Birdman in every conceivable way.

Not in the way of not being about a rat who is a chef, to be fair.

[Old Thrashbarg]

Too much Wes Anderson definitely stands out as well

I could accept Moonrise Kingdom missing out, though I did love it, but it'd have to be replaced by Fantastic Mr Fox, which really should be on the list. And Tenenbaums and Grand Budapest have to be included as well.

I really need to get round to watching more good-quality recent films. Think I've got seven of the top 20 on DVD, but I've only watched two of them properly!

[A Car With No Doors]

Can I just ask what the hell is that in your avi? someone throwing explosives into an oil well?

Looks like a clip of workers setting oil on fire from Werner Herzog's Lessons of Darkness. But, y'know, all glitchy and shit.

[DukeDeMondo]

Nah, Shame is his worst.

Agreed. Shame is a load of garbage, save for that one shot of the threesome.

12 Years A Slave is fucking excellent, but Hunger is something else. Easily in my top 5 of the century so far, alongside Martyrs, What Richard Did, Wall-E and Bronson. Or maybe Shortbus instead of What Richard Did.

[Osmium]

Koreeda is a glaring omission. He at least 5 films that wouldn't seem out of place on such a list.

[Puce Moment]

What Richard Did

Fucking hell, I've only just made the connection between that film, Garage and Adam & Paul, and Frank and Room. Totally passed me by. I love Garage.

[Talulah, really!]

No Battle Royale? Or either Les Triplettes de Belleville or The Illusionist?

Anyway since people like list threads, my five that aren't on the list or mentioned so far I think that should have/could have made the list.

Infernal Affairs,
Upstream Color,
Paddington,
Mistress America,
The Best of Youth.

[Pepotamo1985]

Not sure you can read much into a list of the century's best films when we've got 84 years left of that century. Still, can't knock some of the entries on there. Delighted to see Mulholland Drive at number one - it's possibly my favourite movie of all time, and I'm glad it still enjoys high esteem and cultural cachet even now. It's important. It deserves to be studied.

Weird to see Zodiac so high, and two Fincher movies featuring. I used to be a committed Zodiac fanboy and impassioned defender but watched it again - twice - recently and it's nothing that special. Much to recommend about it, of course, but it's fairly light. I don't even think it's one of Fincher's best, let alone one of the century's/past 16 years' best. I still think Social Network is brilliant though, and would argue its inclusion is fair.

[Dr Rock]

Pleased the absurdly overrated Skyfall isn't on there.

Zodiac is really good.. but not great. I'd replace that with Nightcrawer. I'd lose the Hurt Locker and put American Hustle in there instead.

[worldsgreatestsinner]

I tend to lurk and read a lot more than post here, but for everybody debating how the lists were put together, what other superhero films picked up votes, etc, you know you can see every individual top ten that was submitted?

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20160819-the-21st-centurys-100-greatest-films-who-voted

It's interesting to spin through, when it comes to if critics thought Mulholland Drive was the best film since 2000 or if it just appeared in lots of top fives, it placed at number one on (I think) sixteen lists, coming second on another ten or so.

For comic book films, Avengers picked up one vote, Spiderman 2 got one vote, so did Winter Soldier. Iron Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, etc didn't get any. It doesn't seem to really be an issue of people placing quotas on themselves, more that, Dark Knight aside, comic book films just don't have the best of the best appeal for critics.