I have seen and read a ton of these lists. I agree with a lot of the pick on
this one. I'm only posting the first 25 to make it easier to read, but the link includes all 50 movies with full descriptions (I only copy/pasted parts of it.)
Feel free to post your favorite list or your own list!
25. Finding Nemo (Andrew Stanton, 2003)
Andrew Stanton turned his own fears about being an overprotective father into one of the most beloved animated films ever made.
24. The Fog of War (Errol Morris, 2003)
Errol Morris' razor-sharp examination of the insights and demons of one of the most powerful men of the last century is simply one of the most riveting films ever made.
23. Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000)
Like the best magic tricks, it’s still riveting, even after you know how it’s done.
22. Talk to Her (Pedro Almodovar, 2002)
Talk to Her was the inevitable peak that we all knew Almodovar would reach.
21. The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2009)
When it comes to the art of raising and releasing tension at just the right pace to keep an audience biting their nails in anticipation, Hurt Locker stands as one of the most expertly directed films of the new century.
20. The 25th Hour (Spike Lee, 2002)
This elegiac look at a young man (brought to life by Ed Norton's most understated and overall best career performance) saying goodbye to one life and starting another was also a brilliant dissection of how an entire city moves forward after something as devastating as 9/11.
19. Where the Wild Things Are (Spike Jonze, 2009)
It’s a messy, passionate landscape and, the mad, wild world that Jonze brought to life on screen is one of the most emotionally honest of the decade.
18. In America (Jim Sheridan, 2002)
It is a glorious film about hope and family that remains one of the most dramatically satisfying works of the decade.
17. Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003)
We are all trying to make a connection that feels true and rewarding, no matter the age difference, language barrier, or if we're halfway around the world.
16. Moulin Rouge! (Baz Luhrmann, 2001)
All musicals should be as visually daring, thematically ambitious, and ridiculously over-the-top as Moulin Rouge!
15. Almost Famous (Cameron Crowe, 2000)
So many elements of Almost Famous shouldn't work – the deflowering of a kid, the traps of rock and roll – and yet they all feel shockingly genuine.
14. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000)
I can still remember the first time the characters in Ang Lee's best film took flight.
13. Children of Men (Alfonso Cuaron, 2006)
Clive Owen's ridiculously good performance drives one of the most memorable films ever made.
12. The Departed (Martin Scorsese, 2006)
Scorsese and his ridiculously talented cast took the clichés of the cop-and-the-rat storyline and breathed new life into them in their own vividly unique way.
11. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)
The global box-office love affair with The Dark Knight has led to an inevitable backlash of "it wasn't that good." But, here’s the thing – yes, it was that good.
10. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Julian Schnabel, 2007)
Devastating. Simply devastating. Internal memory, external pain, the power of emotion, and, eventually, the human will, Schnabel's work isn't so much of a film as it is an experience.
9. City of God (Fernando Mereilles & Katia Lund, 2002)
(...) a film that pinned me to my seat with breakneck originality as much as any I've ever seen.
8. Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2002)
Master Miyazaki's most gorgeously conceived and rendered film is a remarkable take on Alice in Wonderland, a film with some of the most striking imagery ever conceived.
7. Once (John Carney, 2007)
If anyone set out to make "a film like Once," it wouldn't work. It's like a truly memorable musical performance – once in a lifetime.
6. WALL-E (Andrew Stanton, 2008)
Rarely have I been as slack-jawed with wonder as I was at the end of WALL-E, one of the best animated films ever made.
5. Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, 2006)
Like the best fantasy films, it seared its way into our collective unconscious thanks to del Toro's powerful imagery and the timelessness of the themes with which the movie plays.
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
No film from this past decade has gotten richer with age and time more than Michel Gondry's masterpiece about regret and the powerful sway of memory and love.
3. Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001)
Clearly, the romantic in me is not afraid to put films like Moulin Rouge! and Once ahead of "colder" films ...
2. Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)
A masterpiece that plays differently every time I see it, Mulholland Drive is a fever dream about not just the allure of Hollywood but also the movies itself.
1. The Lord of the Rings (Peter Jackson, 2001-03)
The blend of the majesty of Jackson's epic scope combined with the ability of these films to transport you to a fully-realized world with relatable human emotion – nothing has matched that feeling in the six years since.
I hated both
Amelie and
Mulholland Drive (I watched it back in high school, but I have no interest in going back.) I haven't seen many of the movies listed, but I'm so happy to see
25th Hour getting some well-deserved acclaim! My #1 would have probably been
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind because I believe it is a perfect, brilliant movie.
LOTR trilogy, though, absolutely deserves the #1 spot because it is a true work of art. How they managed to do it 3 times, I have no idea, but oh,
they did it.
City of God and
The Diving Bell and The Butterfly were two "real" movies that broke me in different ways.
The Dark Knight (as well as
Batman Begins) is such an accomplishment that I don't think I have any more to say about it. Hehe. It is SUCH a good movie -- in ways movies like this (superhero movies) previously were not. Hell, most straight up action movies weren't this good.
Talk to Her was fantastic.
Memento blew my mind when I first watched it. The last 20 minutes were a true mind-bender I don't think I've experienced since. Te best part about it is that the movie isn't a cheap thriller with a half-assed twist ending; it was a true collection of skillfully designed sequences.
), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Traffic, Y tu mama tambien...
related to the animated genre. I liked many of the ones that were relased