The 100 best 21st century films according to the New York Times

Twenty -five years. Many? Few? Enough to sum up and ask what the best films of the 21st century. Usually, in drawing up these lists, it is always difficult to satisfy everyone. Indeed, to be honest, it is easier to create controversy rather than find a common thread capable of combining millions of cinephiles scattered around the world. But could New York Times exempt yourself from this dirty work? In recent days, the US newspaper has published the list drawn up in collaboration with The Upshot, The section of the newspaper that addresses each issue by combining statistical data and editorial deepening. Have they done everything? Absolutely not. For a precise and complete job, they drew to their very large column of over 500 cinema professionals: directors, actors, simple fans and ninety pieces such as Pedro Almodóvar, Sofia Coppola, Barry Jenkins and Guillermo del Toro. The request was simple: “Tell us your 10 favorite films of the past 25 years”. They collected the votes and that’s what came out.

Before Talk about winners and loserslet’s start with some general considerations: What does this list tell us? First of all, It combines pop and niche. You can find films seen on TV in the early evening – such as The gladiator (#92), The dark knight (#28) or The Social Network (#10) – but also more sought after titles such as I present Toni Erdmann (#59), In The Mood for Love (#4), Tàr (#67) or the most recent Past Lives (#83). The voters seem to look nostalgia in the past: the decade 2000–2009 counts 45 films, The next one (2010-2019) 33 FilmsWhile The last, still in progress, already has 22 films on the list, With another five years to enrich your booty. It is not the prizes that dictate law: taking into consideration the Oscar, Only 9 films awarded as best film by the Academy appear on the listand less than half received at least one statuette in some other category. Then there is a negative figure: out of 100 films, only 11 are signed by a women’s director. Looking at the genres, dominates the drama (about 30%): maybe the more you cry, the more beautiful is the movie? SortEgono Thriller (20%) and Sci-Fi/Fantasy (15%).

Statistics in hand the directors to dominate are Christopher Nolanpresent with five films: INTERSTELLAR (#89), Oppenheimer (#65)Memento (#62)Inception (#55)The dark knight (#28), The brothers Joel and Ethan Coen ** with four films: About Davis (#83), brother, where are you? (#76)To Serious Man (#36) e It is not a country for old people (#6),** with equal merit with Paul Thomas Anderson: Drunk with love (#56)The Master (#42)The hidden thread (#25) and the oil tanker (#3). At the top of the ranking of the countries of origin we find the United Statesfollowed by United Kingdom, France and the outsiders South Korea And Japan. Only one Italian film It appears on the list: Call me by your name (#37) Of Luca Guadagnino.

But here we are the main reach, what most of all captures our attention: The top 10. Without doing it on purpose, The first ten films of this special ranking are representative of the last twenty -five years. It’s like find yourself in front of an emotional and political map of the themes that marked the first two decades of the 2000s. Parasite (#1), directed by Bong Joon-Hotells social disparity, class struggle and economic injustice. In second place, Mulholland Drive Of David Lynch – that he never wanted to clearly clarify what he really wanted to represent – perhaps he captures better than any other the sense of disorientation typical of the beginning of the new millennium. Following There will be Blood (#3) powerful story of the birth of American capitalism, with a Daniel Day-Lewis Simply monumental. In fourth place we find In The Mood for Lovemasterpiece of Wong Kar-Wai that expresses A melancholy soul addressed to the past, while looking to the future with a sort of “cautious pessimism”. Sofia Coppola, who voted for it, described it as a film that “uses cinema as a poetic medium, which does not necessarily have to express everything. I seemed to me something I had never seen before and it was really stimulating to achieve more impressionistic things ». The ranking continues with Moonlight (#5)in fifth position, that Takes Queer and Black themes in the United States. For Barry Jenkinswho chose him among his favorites, is “a portal for teenagers, for a better understanding of themselves or how the world understands them or does not understand them». In sixth place we find It is not a country for old people brothers Coendoes not require explanations: simply crazy. Seventh is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mindwhich we choose to call only with the original title, consciously ignoring his terrible Italian translation. The movie Explore the pain of relationships and the catastrophic and surreal effects that could have distorted use of technology. Get out (#8) merges horror and satire to deal with the theme of racism in America, anticipating the social tensions exploded with the movement Black Lives Matter. The enchanted cityninth in the standings, is a masterpiece of Hayao Miyazaki which would deserve a separate chapter. Among all the topics covered, perhaps the one most linked to the problems of our time is the conflict between tradition and consumerism. Closes the top ten The Social Networkthe story of How the digital world was born and with it a new way of relating, made of insulation and competition.

Ultimately, this list of New York Times everyone is satisfied? Perhaps it does not claim to be definitive or objective. It is the result of different tastes that they put together can return A faithful mirror of twenty -five years of cinema. Perhaps the value of this ranking like this is not so much in the titles it includes, but in the discussions it generates, as well as being a Fantastic Vademecum of the films to watch or recover.

Here the complete ranking:

1. Parasite (2019) -Bong Joon-Ho
2. Mulholland Drive (2001) – David Lynch
3. The oil tanker (2007) – Paul Thomas Anderson
4. In The Mood for Love (2000) -Wong Kar-Wai
5. Moonlight (2016) – Barry Jenkins
6. It is not a country for old people (2007) – Joel and Ethan Coen
7. If you leave me, delete you (2004) – Michel Gondry
8. ESCAPP – GET OUT (2017) – Jordan Peele
9. The enchanted city (2001) – Hayao Miyazaki
10. The Social Network (2010) – David Fincher
11. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) – George Miller
12. The Zone of Interest (2023) – Jonathan Glazer
13. The Children (2006) – Alfonso Cuarón
14. Bastards without glory (2009) – Quentin Tarantino
15. City of God – The city of God (2002) – Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund
16. Tiger & Dragon (2000) – Ang Lee
17. Brokeback Mountain (2005) – Ang Lee
18. Y tu mamá también (2001) – Alfonso Cuarón
19. Zodiac (2007) – David Fincher
20. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) – Martin Scorsese
21. The tenderbaums (2001) – Wes Anderson
22. Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) – Wes Anderson
23. Boyhood (2014) – Richard Linklater
24. Her (2013) – Spike Jonze
25. The hidden thread (2017) – Paul Thomas Anderson
26. Anatomy of A Fall (2023) – Justine Triet
27. Adaptation – a crazy spiral (2002) – Spike Jonze
28. The dark knight (2008) – Christopher Nolan
29. Arrival (2016) – Denis Villeneuve
30. Lost in Translation – Love translated (2003) – Sofia Coppola
31. The Departed – Good and Evil (2006) – Martin Scorsese
32. Bridesmaids (2011) – Paul Feig
33. A separation (2011) – Asghar Farhadi
34. Wall -and (2008) – Andrew Stanton
35. A prophet (2009) – Jacques Audiard
36. A Serious Man (2009) – Joel and Ethan Coen
37. Call me by your name (2017) – Luca Guadagnino
38. Portrait of the young man on fire (2019) – Céline Sciamama
39. Lady Bird (2017) – Greta Gerwig
40. Yi Yi – A family story (2000) – Edward Yang
41. Amélie’s fabulous world (2001) -Jean-Pierre Jeunet
42. The Master (2012) – Paul Thomas Anderson
43. Oldboy (2003) -Park Chan-Wook
44. Once upon a time … in Hollywood (2019) – Quentin Tarantino
45. Moneyball – The art of winning (2011) – Bennett Miller
46. Rome (2018) – Alfonso Cuarón
47. Almost Famous Almost Famous – (2000) – Cameron Crowe
48. The life of others (2006) – Florian Henckel von DonneSmerck
49. Before sunset (2004) – Richard Linklater
50. Up (2009) – Pete Docter and Bob Peterson
51. 12 years Schiavo (2013) – Steve McQueen
52. The Favorite (2018) – Yorgos Lanthimos
53. Borat (2006) – Larry Charles
54. The labyrinth of the fauno (2006) – Guillermo del Toro
55. Inception (2010) – Christopher Nolan
56. Love punch-red (2002) – Paul Thomas Anderson
57. Best in show – 4 legs of champions (2000) – Christopher Guest
58. Rough diamonds (2019) – Safdie Brothers
59. Toni Erdmann (2016) – Maren Hades
60. Whiplash (2014) – Damien Chazelle
61. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and 2 (2003–2004) – Quentin Tarantino
62. Memento (2000) – Christopher Nolan
63. Little Miss Sunshine (2006) – Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris
64. Gone Girl – Bughany love (2014) – David Fincher
65. Oppenheimer (2023) – Christopher Nolan
66. The spotlight case (2015) – Tom McCarthy
67. Tár (2022) – Todd Field
68. The Hurt Locker – Siege area (2008) – Kathryn Bigelow
69. Under The Skin (2013) – Jonathan Glazer
70. Let me in (2008) – Tomas Alfredson
71. Ocean’s Eleven (2001) – Steven Soderbergh
72. Carol (2015) – Todd Haynes
73. Ratatouille (2007) – Brad Bird
74. The Florida Project (2017) – Sean Baker
75. Amour (2012) – Michael Haneke
76. Or Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) – Joel and Ethan Coen
77. Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) – Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
78. Aftersun (2022) – Charlotte Wells
79. The Tree of Life (2011) – Terrence Malick
80. Volver – return (2006) – Pedro Almodóvar
81. Black Swan (2010) – Darren Aronofsky
82. The Act of Killing (2012) – Joshua Oppenheimer
83. Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) – Joel and Ethan Coen
84. Melancholia (2011) – Lars von Trier
85. Anchorma – Ron Burgundy’s legend (2004) – Adam McKay
86. Past Lives (2023) – Celine Song
87. The Lord of the Rings – The Compagnia dello ring (2001) – Peter Jackson
88. Still Life (2006) -Jia Zhang-K
89. Interstellar (2014) – Christopher Nolan
90. Frances has (2012) – Noah Baumbach
91. FISH TANK (2009) – Andrea Arnold
92. The gladiator (2000) – Ridley Scott
93. Michael Clayton (2007) – Tony Gilroy
94. Minority report (2002) – Steven Spielberg
95. The worst person in the world (2021) – Joachim Trier
96. Black Panther (2018) – Ryan Coogler
97. Gravity (2013) – Alfonso Cuarón
98. Grizzly man (2005) – Werner Herzog
99. Memoirs of a killer (2003) -Bong Joon-Ho
100. Superbad (2007) – Greg Mottola