Cinema Forum
by Jason F. Koenigsberg We are a quarter century into the 21st century and recently the New York Times conducted a poll of over 500 filmmakers, stars, and influential Hollywood […]
We are a quarter century into the 21st century and recently the New York Times conducted a poll of over 500 filmmakers, stars, and influential Hollywood personalities to vote for their ten best movies released since January of 2000. They took those top ten lists and compiled their own top 100 movies of the last 25 years. How each person defined ‘best’ is up to them. I decided to make my own best of the 21st Century list and defined the films that made this list as the ones that I keep coming back to the most, but also the ones that have proven to be timely and topical both when they were released and how they hold up with the world climate today. I also counted entertainment value as well. Those that know me will probably not be surprised by the titles included on here but these are the films I talk about the most and have enhanced cinema tremendously in recent years.
To say that cinema is in a different place now than it was at the dawn of the century 25 years ago is an understatement. Movies, especially the theatrical going experience is in a different and much more precarious place now than it was a quarter century ago when audiences flocked to movies like Gladiator, Mission: Impossible 2, and Castaway. Now movie stars like Russell Crowe, Tom Cruise, and Tom Hanks, the leads for those pictures and the main reason for their success, do not matter as much anymore. Today movie stars are not the reason movies make money. Instead pre-existing IP’s like Star Wars, Marvel, and the still going strong Mission: Impossible properties are the reason movies make money.
Movies may not be the cultural touchstones and talking points that they once were 25 years ago and they took a significant drop after COVID with streaming television series overtaking it as the dominant art form in media and continuing to thrive, but movies are still here and since a quarter of the 21st century is over, there is not better time than right now to celebrate the films that have distinguished themselves as important works of art. No movies that went direct to streaming made my list, despite strong works from David Fincher, Martin Scorsese, and Alfonso Cuaron. A few titles that just missed my Best of the 21st Century list so far were High Fidelity (2000), Black Hawk Down (2001), Road to Perdition (2002), A History of Violence (2005), and There Will Be Blood (2007). Now, without any further ado, Here are Pan and Slam’s 25 Best Movies for the first quarter of the 21st Century…
Lincoln is a phenomenal picture about the President and his staff attempting to abolish slavery and pass the 13th amendment. A historical drama of the finest caliber with one of the greatest actors of all time front and center as the man trying to preserve and save the union during the final days of the Civil War. Lincoln is a powerful film and earned 12 Academy Award nominations, winning only two, Production Design and of course Best Actor for Daniel Day-Lewis. Saying that he is the best part of the film is accurate but also an understatement to the testament of Spielberg’s incredible accomplishment creating a glorious movie on a wide canvas and making such a personal story involving Abraham Lincoln and his relationships with his sons, wife played elegantly by Sally Field, cabinet members, and political rivals. This film holds up and feels even more important today with our current divisive political landscape and how our nation and the world need a leader as powerful and unselfish as President Lincoln.
One of the most gripping films of the last quarter century that never takes the easy way out and succumbs to melodramatic cliches. A smart and compelling investigative journalism story on par with All the President’s Men (1976). Every single actor delivers a great performance and the fantastic screenplay tackles the issue perfectly summarized with the great quote “It takes a village to raise a child, it also takes a village to abuse one”. This film is not only an attack on the shameful cover-ups by the Catholic Church but it is a smart commentary about Boston’s small town mentality.
A tour de force and career crowning performance by Michael Keaton, the role was tailored for Keaton perfectly. He is the only actor in the world who could have played this part and he hits a home run. The unconventional, seemingly no takes, direction will have you guessing how on earth a lot of the shots were filmed and the unconventional drum centered score captures the New York City streets stunningly well. Birdman is a rare once in a decade type of picture. This is the second consecutive Michael Keaton film on this list and both Birdman and Spotlight won consecutive Best Picture Academy Awards. Keaton was killing it ten years ago and starred in two of the best and most important films of this era.
What Schindler’s List did for the Holocaust and cinema in 1993, twenty years later 12 Years a Slave did the same for legalized bondage in the United States. A harrowing and heart-wrenching emotional experience that does not give the audience the happy ending even though Solomon Northup eventually gets his freedom. The viewer cannot forget the horrors of slavery they witnessed from the other slaves that were never as fortunate as he was. A modern masterpiece and one of the most important movies made this century.
An unconventional story about a broken friendship told during the backdrop of the Irish Civil War set in 1923. This film features some of the best performances of recent memory along with beautiful cinematography of the Emerald Isle. The story itself is fictional but The Banshees of Inisherin conjures up real emotions that make it one of the most relatable pictures of the new century and one that I will cherish for many years to come.
James Bond had quite a quarter century under the Daniel Craig era which started with arguably the best 007 film ever Casino Royale. It is almost impossible to compare any later film to the glory days of the Sean Connery era, but this one surpasses even some aspects of those films. Rarely has a reboot/prequel/origin story worked so effectively than Casino Royale. In this movie we see Bond earn his double 0 status, take on a villain who finances world terrorists, fall in love, get betrayed and then become the cold and hardened loner we know. Just about everything works. Eva Green as Vesper Lynd is one of the best Bond girls ever, Mads Mikkelsen is a great villain. All the times we have seen Bond play poker, they have never been as suspenseful and intriguing as this. Plus when it goes for big action, Casino Royale delivers in both spectacle and subtly, something no other recent Bond movies have done.
One of the darkest and yet most gorgeous films of the new century helped make a name for Guillermo Del Toro as brilliant, visionary filmmaker who values imagination above all else. Another film that takes place during the backdrop of a civil war (Spain this time during World War II) and how the importance of disobedience and standing up to evil no matter what the cost is the right thing to do. It condemns oppression and illustrates the importance of kindness against adversity even during seemingly helpless situations.
A film that I keep coming back to and one of the last great movies and performances from Jim Carrey. A movie about how we are better off to have loved and lost than not experience love at all. A cerebral comedy that explores the impact of our memories and how the pain from love and relationships is indispensable to our make up. Plus it illustrates the importance of choices and that if we are meant to be with someone because of love then we will be with them no matter what comes in our way and we will put up with the pain and hardships life gives us while facing challenges alongside the person who matters the most to us.
Her picks up where Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) left off and sadly feels more relevant with every passing year since its release and our over reliance on technology. Her has only grown better and more insightful as the years go by. I think that Her in its short life has surpassed many other great films in terms of relevance and ability to relate to the characters. One of the most humanistic and realistic looks as dating evolves further into the twenty-first century where we rely more on our devices and technology for companionship.
A masterful film of acting, editing, and cinematography. The best use of long takes out of any picture so far this century. This movie feels more poignant years later as we delve deeper into the totalitarian state shown in Children of Men. Wars and economic depression have pushed mankind into a police state with refugees imprisoned, deported, or thrown into concentration camps. A film that was meant to be science fiction is looking more and more like a reality as climate change, fear of immigrants, and political unrest ravage the globe.
The previous movie was unsettling but The Descent is without a doubt the scariest movie of the 21st century so far. It does so with great claustrophobic cinematography, a dark cave setting, and creatures that rely on real make up and practical effects providing both jump scares and psychological horror that will stay with you long after the end credits roll. It is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year although it did not premiere in North America until 2006 and with a different slightly dumber ending. A visceral film and one that the experience of in the theaters has never been duplicated, it is also a brilliantly directed and artistic picture with characters and a back-story dealing with important themes of friendship, family, death and loss that all come full circle in both a surreal and brutally realistic adventure beneath the surface of the earth. The deeper our characters go underground the darker and more intense the scares become and the darker their relationships get as they try to escape from these gruesome creatures referred to as “crawlers”. This picture is rich with glorious details and the title is a great double meaning of the main characters literal descent underground and her possible descent into madness culminating with a “rebirth” of sorts or so we think. The directors cut ending is as dark as they get while respecting the viewers intelligence to figure out if she really does escape from the creatures in the cave or not. When it first was released I heard comparisons of it to the sci-fi horror classic Alien (1979). While it is not nearly as outstanding as Ridley Scott’s influential masterpiece, the comparisons are justified. This remains one of the best horror movies I have ever seen and one that I think will remain as intense and imaginative to audiences for years to come.
Boyhood is more like a once in a lifetime kind of picture than anything else on here. Following a child actor for twelve years and capturing him on screen literally growing up before our eyes, Boyhood is the one true masterpiece of cinema to come out of 2014 and only Moonlight comes close to capturing its powerful message about memories as we mature. It encapsulates growing up better than any other film mostly because it touches on every single emotion that we feel as we grow older. It is masterfully directed by the great Richard Linklater and featuring brave and revealing performances by Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette.
I just mentioned Moonlight and go back and forth between this and Boyhood on which film I appreciate more. On my best of the decade list I put Boyhood right above this but felt it was time to switch the order up. Even years later I still cannot believe this movie was made. Moonlight is a thrillingly deep and emotional journey that explores themes of race, sexuality and poverty in the form of a brilliant coming of age story about the power of memories. An unforgettable and poetic tale that uses the camera as a tool for empathy in ways that have not been done before in motion pictures. The best sympathy generator of the decade and its surprising and unlikely Best Picture win remains one of the biggest shockers in Academy Awards history.
Another film that has grown immensely with time since I first saw it in theaters back in 2012. Zero Dark Thirty is a masterpiece. There is not one shot that I would change. Also unlike some other other films which could have been made almost any decade, Zero Dark Thirtyhas a heart pounding sense of urgency and relevancy that makes it stand out among its peers. Between 2009’s Best Picture Winner The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow has directed two of the best war pictures of the 21st century. A cinematic triumph about recent history that will be remembered for decades to come.
Quentin Tarantino has had a lot of great movies this century that could have made this list. For me, Inglorious Basterds is his best revisionist history about the power of cinema and using it as a tool to kill Hitler and end World War II. A hilarious, outlandish and unforgettable masterpiece with bravado performances from Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, and Melanie Laurent. The more I watch this movie, the more I love it.
One of the very best films of the 21st century, on par with the greatest works of Martin Scorsese, Michael Mann and William Friedkin. The Dark Knight showed that a film based on a comic book could be every bit as powerful as an Oscar winning epic. The fact this movie did not earn an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture still conjures up feelings of outrage and injustice. So much so that the following year the Academy changed their rules from the usual 5 Best Picture nominees to 10 for the first time in six decades. The most iconic aspect of the film is Heath Ledger’s posthumous Oscar winning Best Supporting Actor role as the Joker, one of the most affecting performances of all time. The Dark Knight feels more like an action-packed crime drama than it does a superhero movie, even with larger than life characters. It’s influence can be felt on every serious comic book movie that tries to emulate what Nolan was able to capture on film, but none have been able to duplicate. The Dark Knight was a cultural phenomenon that comes once a decade and is a cinematic masterpiece. One of the best films of the 21st century, it’s influence has been felt already and will continue to inspire filmmakers and audiences for decades to come.
Mentioned previously with Kathryn Bigelow’s other great war film from this century, The Hurt Locker is her best film and one of the finest war pictures ever made. It is also the best film about the post-9/11 wars in Iraq and the mentality of the hero soldier that puts his life on the front line every day the way most Americans go to work and sit in an office. The few scenes with him home spending time with his family speak volumes especially when he looks down the cereal aisle at the grocery store. One of the most intense and unforgettable pictures ever made.
Another unforgettable and harrowing film depicting a part of life most of us hopefully will never see. The slums in City of God are like nothing you can imagine and the fact that children make it out and survive to live a normal life is even more baffling. This movie throws you into the war zone and the style and kinetic filmmaking enhance the characters and themes and weave an incredible story spanning three decades of life in gangs and also make City of God a terrific film about photojournalism. The violence spirals out of control and it feels like there is no way to escape the danger around every corner. This is a movie experience no matter when or how you see it.
The funniest movie of the century. Not a lot of comedies and no pure comedies are on this list. Sideways is the closest and the funniest movie about life, love, and friendship. Similar to Banshees of Inisherin thematically but totally different in every other way except that it is the story of two friends and their male bonding only for one of them to discover he does not have much in common with this person he considers his best friend. One of the most emotionally engaging movies of the century and a career best for writer/director Alexander Payne who had a number of other humanistic comedies that could have made this list.
The movie that finally won Martin Scorsese his long awaited and well deserved Best Director Academy Award, The Departed ranks up there as one of the best films of his career. If anyone else directed it we would probably be calling The Departed the best movie of that filmmakers career. It is not Scorsese’s fault he keeps cranking out great movie after great movie every decade. The Departed is also his finest collaboration with his other most famous muse, Leonardo DiCaprio. This was their third movie together and they have made six feature films as of 2023. The Departed is a remake of an Asian police thriller and Scorsese and his team make it their own and one of the rare times a big budget Hollywood remake is better than the original. This is Scorsese’s only movie to win the Academy Award for Best Picture as well. The all star cast which also included Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Wahlberg in his only Oscar nominated role is one of the most electrifying and emotional action packed movies of Scorsese’s career and he certainly made the movie he wanted to and finally was able to connect with audiences and the Academy. This movie along with several of his subsequent collaborations with DiCaprio would be the most profitable of his career. Martin Scorsese has joked that he has probably gotten away with more than any other director in the big studio system and The Departed demonstrates that for sure. He had many other films in the past quarter century that almost earned a spot on this list as well.
Spielberg’s darkest, most subversive, and most personal passion project Munich is the most controversial film of his career. A movie laced with anger and betrayal. This is very much a film of its time and is even more relevant today with the hostile climate in Israel and the Middle East in recent years. It is also one his most underrated films. This is his best social commentary on the world post 9/11 dealing with terrorism. The violence can strike at anytime and Munich feels violent as if it is a warning that life is so fragile and we can perish at any moment. Based on the 1972 terrorist attacks at the Munich Olympics on the Israeli athletes and the Mossad plan for vengeance put into place afterwards. Some complained Spielberg went too harsh and unrestrained with Munich, others felt he was too delicate and tried hard to appease both sides. I think he balanced the need for vengeance and justice perfectly. Innocent people died from both sides and he shows that taking a life is wrong no matter what. This is the best and most realistic film about taking someones life and dealing with the physical and emotional toll of revenge. Nobody is happy and nothing can ever satisfy once you start down the path of revenge. Munich also contains the best final shot of any Spielberg film. It was not a big hit but managed to earn five Academy Award nominations including Best Picture.
I felt strange putting Parasite on my best of the decade list at the tail end of 2019 but I knew it was special and moved me in a way few motion pictures do. After it won so many Oscars including Best Picture I felt vindicated. Now I feel that I should have ranked it even higher. Parasite is a dark comic social satire that has to be seen by anyone tired of mundane motion pictures that have plagued multiplexes for years. This is the movie that made me feel like a kid again. By that I mean it rejuvenated my love for cinema and reminded me why I love this art form and always have. To experience other worlds, other lives, other cultures, and to feel real emotion and empathy for characters that I can relate to.
Now here is the movie and ranking that I feel is my biggest gamble. Placing Oppenheimer, only 2 years after its theatrical run as the third best film of the quarter century. I am placing it high to possibly spark some sort of debate and have a somewhat controversial pick on this list. But I am also betting that this movie will age well over time and probably remain high on my best of the half century list 25 years from now. Oppenheimer is really that good, a monumental picture. A smart, sophisticated blockbuster that lived up to the hype. Everything about this movie is amazing from the acting, the direction, the editing, the music score, the use of sound effects, the visuals. This three hour picture moves at a brisk pace and is riveting the entire time. A complex movie about a difficult man’s life that deserves to be in the discussion for not only the best movie of the esteemed Christopher Nolan’s career, but also one of the best movies of the relatively new century.
This is easily one of the best movies of the new millennium and has been since it was released. It is like Citizen Kane for the 21st century only instead of newspapers it is about the internet and how it simultaneously brings people together and isolates us from each other. With its outstanding soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, the movie feels refreshingly modern yet at the same time as if it could have been directed by Alan J. Pakula or Sydney Pollack during the 1970’s when they put out smartly written dramas for adults on a more regular basis. The Social Network is enthralling and intensely topical just as All the Presidents Men was for the 70’s and reflects the new century as well as Wall Street serves as a time capsule for life during the 80’s. This is a modern masterpiece that will stand the test of time.
The best movie of the century was a cinematic experience I will cherish forever. Easily the single best movie from the first decade of the twenty-first century. 2001 was a great year for movies but none stood out as much as David Lynch’s surreal exploration of dreams and deconstruction of Los Angeles and Hollywood entertainment culture than Mulholland Drive. How poetic and appropriate that Mulholland Drive began as a failed pilot for ABC. Lynch is smart enough to know they would reject it, so then went back and added a few scenes and re-edits and created arguable his finest masterpiece. Few films have captured my imagination as Mulholland Drive did. I had so much fun seeing this in the theater and then watching and re-watching the DVD trying to put the pieces together to solve the enigma of a movie Lynch had created. I knew it was an act of futility but like some of the greatest works of art it is open to interpretation and meant to have more than one meaning. What every viewer brings to the film it can effect them in their own personal way based on their experiences. Many movies have been made about the superficial culture of Hollywood but none are as complex and surreal as this film. Lynch really captures a darkness that exists in L.A. and it has never been shown in such a magnificently cynical light as Mulholland Drive. With its fantastic cinematography and eerie music score Mulholland Drive captures L.A. at it’s creepiest and most dreamlike, but in an instant that dream can turn into a nightmare. It would continue with the style Lynch set forth in Lost Highway and would culminate in his following picture Inland Empire five years later. These three movies serve as his Los Angeles trilogy and dark satire on the entertainment industry. Mulholland Drive is the most powerful and thought provoking film. It cuts deep with its social commentary but also with its rich symbolism and riddles on screen. Actors switch characters as we have seen in other Lynch films but none as masterfull as in Mulholland Drive. It also features the best build up and release of sexual tension in any movie. This is an obvious epic by a master filmmaker if there ever was one. Lynch earned Best Director from the Cannes Film Festival and his third and final Oscar nomination for Best Director with Mulholland Drive. The fact that Naomi Watts and Laura Elena Harring were both ignored in the Best Actress categories is beyond ludicrous. This was the film that put Naomi Watts on the map and allowed her to get the lead role in The Ring the following year which made her a star. Mulholland Drive is a brilliant puzzle of a movie and metaphor for the two-faced and vain characteristics of Hollywood, a place Lynch seems to love and hate equally.
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