NYT- 25 Best Films of the 21st century

[Udaman]

Olympic Fan has a great list! Seen lots of them. Love the Marx Brothers.

By the way...if I were pulling a top list of all times...one movie I would have at or near the very top would be Cinema Paradiso. It's a foreign film, and it's beautiful. A testament to the power and wonder of movies. And the most powerful ending to a movie I have ever seen.

[jimmymax]

I'm no connoisseur, and am sure many folks here have seen far more movies that I have and can speak more eloquently about them, but if going back to 1900, the lists to date seem kind of lightweight and heavily slanted to the last 20 years (40 tops). I didn't read all the lists carefully but Olympic Fan's seems the most thoughtful thus far. I'm sure there are older nuggets out there someone will recommend. I would have expected to see some/more Chaplin/Keaton/Marx Bros/John Wayne/Bogart/Hepburn/Cary Grant/Sellers/Woody Allen. But it's all so subjective. For example, with a few exceptions I won't see superhero/comic-book/SNL actor/Spielberg/Lucas or sequel films. But there are a lots of movies others may find pointless that hit me at a moment in life and made a huge impression. I don't have a formal list but some that jump to mind that may/not have been listed (in no particular order and again prob none are 50 years old) include The Graduate, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Apocalypse Now, Gallipoli, Mad Max (1st), The Terminator (1st), Atlantic City, Repo Man, Strange Brew, Dazed and Confused, Buckaroo Banzai, Bourne (1st), High Fidelity, Best In Show, Office Space, The Usual Suspects, Good Will Hunting.

[Olympic Fan]

I'm no connoisseur, and am sure many folks here have seen far more movies that I have and can speak more eloquently about them, but if going back to 1900, the lists to date seem kind of lightweight and heavily slanted to the last 20 years (40 tops). I didn't read all the lists carefully but Olympic Fan's seems the most thoughtful thus far. I'm sure there are older nuggets out there someone will recommend. I would have expected to see some/more Chaplin/Keaton/Marx Bros/John Wayne/Bogart/Hepburn/Cary Grant/Sellers/Woody Allen. But it's all so subjective. For example, with a few exceptions I won't see superhero/comic-book/SNL actor/Spielberg/Lucas or sequel films. But there are a lots of movies others may find pointless that hit me at a moment in life and made a huge impression. I don't have a formal list but some that jump to mind that may/not have been listed (in no particular order and again prob none are 50 years old) include The Graduate, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Apocalypse Now, Gallipoli, Mad Max (1st), The Terminator (1st), Atlantic City, Repo Man, Strange Brew, Dazed and Confused, Buckaroo Banzai, Bourne (1st), High Fidelity, Best In Show, Office Space, The Usual Suspects, Good Will Hunting.

I appreciate the kind words and was interested to see your list. It does contain some films that certainly deserve consideration as all-time great movies (such as The Graduate, Apocalypse Now and Butch Cassidy)

But it also contains a problem that always comes up when we try to talk about the greatest films ... we include our personal favorites, which are more like guilty pleasures that truly great films.

Look, I also love Buckaroo Banzai and Strange Brew (LOVE the MacKenzie brothers), but while both are entertaining and amusing films, neither is a great film. I'll add Big Trouble in Little China, Bubba Ho-tep and Funny Bones as personal favorites. For the time being, I'd put Tomorrowland in that category, until I convince enough people that it's a great movie.

[Edouble]

Tough to condense a 100 years of film (well 97 years after the first true story film – 1903’s The Great Train Robbery). Do you list the most innovative and important developmental films – the Great Train Robbery, Birth of a Nation, The Jazz Singer?

I’ve tried to stick to films that have found an audience beyond their initial popularity. The Jazz Singer was a monumental breakthrough in film technology, but nobody watches it today (except film students). Obviously opinions vary as the great films – if you want different takes on the great films of the 20th Century, try the AFI’s 1997 list of the top 100 American Films:

http://www.afi.com/100years/movies10.aspx

Of for a different take, try Sight and Sound’s 2012 survey of the world’s greatest films (I’ve linked the director’s list, not the critics):

http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-peopl...2012/directors

Note: It’s interesting, but just four of the top 100 are from the 21st Century and none are ranked higher than No. 67 (In the Mood for Love).

I’ve tried to center my list on the greatest films of the 20th Century, not necessarily my favorites. And as I noted in an earlier post, I could have picked 10 Kurosawa films …. But I’ve tried to limit the number of films from the same creator (that’s usually the director). My list changes day to day, but it always starts with the same film:

1. Citizen Kane (1941): When Bill James attempted to rank the greatest baseball players in history in his Baseball Abstract, he said he wanted to come up with a fresh name, just to be different. But he couldn’t honestly escape the fact that Babe Ruth was the greatest player who ever lived. I feel the same way about Welles’ masterpiece. I’d love to pick another movie No. 1, but no film has established its reputation over the decades. The thinly disguised biography of William Randolph Hearst is a bravura work of filmmaking and the story of an American autocrat grasping for control of everything around him still resonates (not to get political, but didn’t we just elect a version of Charles Foster Kane Pesident?)

2. The Rules of the Game (1939): The most expensive French film ever made at the time of its release, Renoir’s masterpiece was scorned by critics and audiences when released. In October, it was banned by the French government as a bad influence on the young. It was later banned by the Nazis and by the Vichy French. What infuriated those three governments? The original print was thought destroyed by Allied bombing. In 1956, an almost complete print was rediscovered and premiered at a 1959 film festival, where it was an immediate sensation. Since then, It’s always been rated on the greatest films ever made. It’s a lovely story of a weekend house party to honor an American flier (a Lindbergh-like character). Great performances by Marcel Dalio and by Renoir himself. A searing look at French society in the summer before WWII. See this film and you understand why the French Republic collapsed like a house of cards.

3. Casablanca (1942): The directors and critics have always snubbed this film (it didn’t make the most recent Sight and Sound top 100), but it’s probably the most beloved movie ever made. It’s important too – it’s astonishing how cosmopolitan the cast and crew are. Just three of the actors appearing on screen (Bogart, Dooley Wilson and in a small part, Joy Page) are Americans. The rest are all Europeans – many of them real refugees from Nazi Europe. Take Conrad Veidt, the evil Nazi Major Strassor. Veidt, a huge star in Germany (he headlined the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari), fled the Nazis and landed in Hollywood, where he wanted to play evil Nazis – that was his contribution to the war effort. Bogey, of course, represents the United States – disillusioned by the past (as most Americans thought they were betrayed by the Allies after WWI), who finds a reason to rejoin the fight for freedom. Also a great love story …

4. Seven Samurai (1954). Kurosawa’s greatest success – it inspired Sturges “The Magnificent Seven, but this is a deeper, more complex story. The seven professional fighters recruited to save a village from bandits – and a rumination on the role of the professional military in society – a pretty sympathetic take for a Japanese director less than a decade after the military had led his nation to ruin.

5. The Searchers (1956). The greatest western ever made. Period. End of debate. And considering that the western has been at the heart of American film since the Great Train Robbery, that’s saying a lot. Wayne’s performance of the complex, flawed Ethan Edwards is his greatest performance in a long career.

6. The Godfather (1972)/The Godfather, Part 2 (1974). You have to take them together (and try to forget that Part 3 ever happened). Scorcese’s epic story of a mafia chief and his son is at the heart of American history in the 20th Century. And the acting – Brando, Pacino and DeNiro all deliver historic performances.

7. The General (1926). Both silents and comedies usually get shortchanged on these lists. I didn’t want to do that – silents made up more than a quarter or 20th Century film history and comedy, well, I’ll bet more people have seen comedies than drama or action films. Chaplin usually tops these lists, but I prefer Keaton – and I think this is his masterpiece, by a hair over Steamboat Bill Jr. and Sherlock Jr.

8. The Wizard of Oz (1939): The great American musical. It’s funny, but people don’t usually consider this a musical … but it its driven by the songs and the dance numbers. Judy Garland’s Dorothy Gale is one of the great screen creations. The story has taken a deep root in American society.

9. M (1931): Fritz Lang’s story of the criminals of Berlin getting together to story a serial killer who molests and murders little girls is haunting. Peter Lorre as the psychotic killer is amazing – the moment when he pleads for his life “I can’t help myself!”. The film also captures the breakdown of German society in the days just before Hitler filled the vacuum.

10. Dr. Strangelove (1964): I always thought this was one of the bravest films ever made – Kubrick looks into the face of our greatest fear – nuclear Armageddon – and laughs. And this film is one of the great comedies ever made – laugh out loud funny.

A real quick look at the second 10:

11. Schindler’s List (1993)
12. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
13. Some Like It Hot (1959)
14. King Kong (1933 – much superior to any rermake)
15. Ikiru (1952)
16. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
17. Nashville (1975)
18. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
19. Duck Soup (1933) or A Night at the Opera (1935)
20. The Thief of Bagdad (1924) – the 1940 Korda version is also a great film

This is my personal list today, but it might be very different tomorrow. And there are literally dozens of GREAT movies that didn’t make the list. I can't believe that I left off It's a Wonderful Life or Raging Bull or It Happened One Night or Sullivan's Travels or Saving Private Ryan or the Best Years of Our Lives or Grand Illusion or The 39 Steps or Safety Last or Bringing up Baby ...

As for the 21st Century, I really couldn’t hive you a top 10. My choice as the best movie of this century is an eccentric choice. I hope that like Blade Runner (which just missed my top 20 of the 20th century) and Rules of the Game, that Tomorrowland will eventually find its audience.

I’m sure many of you will disagree with this list – that’s okay – but I hope you guys will try and see as many of these films as possible.

Could have sworn Francis Ford Coppola was the mastermind behind The Godfather films.

[chriso]

Could have sworn Francis Ford Coppola was the mastermind behind The Godfather films.

No you're confused. Coppola did Raging Bull and Goodfellas.

[OldPhiKap]

Oly's list is painfully lacking the great portfolio of Paulie Shore films. Other than that, though, very solid list.

[Olympic Fan]

Could have sworn Francis Ford Coppola was the mastermind behind The Godfather films.

Good catch ... I knew I would screw something up.

[Devilwin]

Jason, I expect your opinion, but c'mon, you just gave a list of the top movies of the 20th Century and didn't include a black and white film?

What about Citizen Kane, Casablanca, King Kong, Stagecoach, The Searchers, Gone with the Wind (the last two in color)? Throw in Duck Soup, Bringing Up Baby, Sullivan's Travels, High Noon, Vertigo, Notorious, The Thief of Baghdad, Spartacus, They Were Expendable, Red River, City Lights, The Best Years of Lives, It's a Wonderful Life, North by Northwest (I know a few are in color) ... more recently, Schindler's List, Blade Runner, Dr. Strangelove, 2001, Raging Bull, Annie Hall, Saving Private Ryan and Taxi Driver. And as a musical, you pick Fiddler on the Roof? Really? Instead of Singin' in the Rain or West Side Story or Showboat or The Music Man or Guys and Dolls or Hair or Sweeny Todd?

I could add dozens more that are more significant -- and better -- films than The Princess Bride or The Sting (and I liked both movies)

And is there no place for foreign films? Personally, I could construct a top 10 from Kurosawa alone -- Ikiru, Red Beard, The Seven Samurai, Kagemusha, Stray Dog, High and Low, Rashomon, The Hidden Fortress (a HUGE influence on Star Wars), Throne of Blood, Ran -- but, wait, I have to include a couple of Renoir -- Grand Illusion and The Rules of the Game. Add Korda's The Four Feathers and his version of The Thief of Baghdad. Add The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes. For the highbrow, add Tokyo Story ... for the lowbrow, add Godzilla.

These are not obscure foreign films that are only loved by film critics, they are films that found a vast audience in the United States and were beloved by millions.

I know you did this off the top of your head and it's easy to leave a few great films off (I'm sure I left some great ones off too). But there were great films in black and white and great foreign films that deserve inclusion on any list of the great 20th century films.

How about "Animal Crackers", and "Arsenic and Old Lace"? Two of my favorite oldies..

[Jeffrey]

But it also contains a problem that always comes up when we try to talk about the greatest films ... we include our personal favorites, which are more like guilty pleasures that truly great films.

IMO, a person's vantage point is also a significant factor. For example, a friend of mine is a successful artist and his favorite works are frequently different than mine.

[lotusland]

Oly's list is painfully lacking the great portfolio of Paulie Shore films. Other than that, though, very solid list.

Yeah and Porky's 1, 2 and Porky's revenge is also missing - wth????

[lotusland]

I'm not sure I've seen 20 movies at a theater this century so I'm not about to make a list but I did watch WALL-E on video when one of my kids rented it and I cannot imagine how it made any good list. That movie is unwatchable as far as I'm concerned. I'd be tempted to watch it again to see what I missed but I couldn't make it through the first time.