The New York Times Top 100 Movies of the 21st Century
I'm not certain where this list originated, other than it being "The New York Times". A friend on a Discord server shared an image containing this list, and that generated some discussion. All of us found it contentious, thinking some of the inclusions are odd (among them, Superbad), and the exclusions are puzzling (there seems to be an anti-sequel bias).
Here's the list! I assume that the numbers are the NY Times' ranking and it's not an arbitrary list. As with any movie ranking, it's completely subjective. I don't know who wrote this, or if it was a committee. I also added a column to indicate whether I watched the film or not, and if I liked it or not.
If I indicated "unsure" in the watch column, it means I think I watched it but I can't remember; one thumb up (π) means I liked it, two thumbs up (ππ) means I loved it, and one thumbs down (π) means I didn't like it1. A shrug emoji (π€·ββοΈ) means I can't remember and should re-watch it2.
| # | Movie | Watched? | Liked? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parasite | N | |
| 2 | Mulholland Drive | N | |
| 3 | There Will Be Blood | N | |
| 4 | In the Mood for Love | N | |
| 5 | Moonlight | N | |
| 6 | No Country for Old Men | Y | π |
| 7 | Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind | Y | ππ |
| 8 | Get Out | N | |
| 9 | Spirited Away | Unsure | |
| 10 | The Social Network | Y | ππ |
| 11 | Mad Max: Fury Road | N | |
| 12 | The Zone of Interest | N | |
| 13 | Children of Men | Y | ππ |
| 14 | Inglourious Basterds | Y | π |
| 15 | City of God | N | |
| 16 | Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon | Unsure | |
| 17 | Brokeback Mountain | N | |
| 18 | Y tu mamΓ‘ tambiΓ©n | N | |
| 19 | Zodiac | Y | π |
| 20 | The Wolf of Wall Street | N | |
| 21 | The Royal Tenenbaums | Y | π |
| 22 | The Grand Budapest Hotel | N | |
| 23 | Boyhood | N | |
| 24 | Her | N | |
| 25 | Phantom Thread | N | |
| 26 | Anatomy of a Fall | N | |
| 27 | Adaptation. | Y | π |
| 28 | The Dark Knight | Y | ππ |
| 29 | Arrival | Y | ππ |
| 30 | Lost in Translation | Y | π |
| 31 | The Departed | Y | π |
| 32 | Bridesmaids | Y | π |
| 33 | A Separation | N | |
| 34 | WALL-E | Y | π |
| 35 | A Prophet | N | |
| 36 | A Serious Man | N | |
| 37 | Call Me by Your Name | N | |
| 38 | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | N | |
| 39 | Lady Bird | N | |
| 40 | Yi Yi | N | |
| 41 | AmΓ©lie | Y | π |
| 42 | The Master | N | |
| 43 | Oldboy | N | |
| 44 | Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood | Y | π |
| 45 | Moneyball | Y | ππ |
| 46 | Roma | N | |
| 47 | Almost Famous | Y | π |
| 48 | The Lives of Others | N | |
| 49 | Before Sunset | N | |
| 50 | Up | N | |
| 51 | 12 Years a Slave | N | |
| 52 | The Favourite | N | |
| 53 | Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan | N | |
| 54 | Pan's Labyrinth | N | |
| 55 | Inception | N | |
| 56 | Punch-Drunk Love | N | |
| 57 | Best in Show | N | |
| 58 | Uncut Gems | Y | π |
| 59 | Toni Erdmann | N | |
| 60 | Whiplash | N | |
| 61 | Kill Bill: Vol. 1 | Y | ππ |
| 62 | Memento | N | |
| 63 | Little Miss Sunshine | Y | π€·ββοΈ |
| 64 | Gone Girl | N | |
| 65 | Oppenheimer | N | |
| 66 | Spotlight | N | |
| 67 | TΓ‘r | N | |
| 68 | The Hurt Locker | N | |
| 69 | Under the Skin | N | |
| 70 | Let the Right One In | N | |
| 71 | Ocean's Eleven | Y | π |
| 72 | Carol | N | |
| 73 | Ratatouille | N | |
| 74 | The Florida Project | N | |
| 75 | Amour | N | |
| 76 | O Brother, Where Art Thou? | Y | π€·ββοΈ |
| 77 | Everything Everywhere All at Once | N | |
| 78 | Aftersun | N | |
| 79 | The Tree of Life | N | |
| 80 | Volver | N | |
| 81 | Black Swan | N | |
| 82 | The Act of Killing | N | |
| 83 | Inside Llewyn Davis | N | |
| 84 | Melancholia | N | |
| 85 | Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy | Y | π€·ββοΈ |
| 86 | Past Lives | N | |
| 87 | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | Y | ππ |
| 88 | The Gleaners & I | N | |
| 89 | Interstellar | N | |
| 90 | Frances Ha | N | |
| 91 | Fish Tank | N | |
| 92 | Gladiator | N | |
| 93 | Michael Clayton | Y | ππ |
| 94 | Minority Report | Y | π |
| 95 | The Worst Person in the World | N | |
| 96 | Black Panther | Y | π |
| 97 | Gravity | N | |
| 98 | Grizzly Man | N | |
| 99 | Memories of Murder | N | |
| 100 | Superbad | Y | π |
A fun summary: of this list, I watched at least 29 of them (not counting "unsure"); I liked 13 of them, loved 9 of them, and disliked 4 of them. There were 3 I'm unsure of.
Some notes I have of the list (completely my opinion!):
- Superbad doesn't deserve to be there
- I wouldn't put Bridesmaids or Moneyball on this list (even though I loved Moneyball)
- I prefer Kill Bill volume 2 over volume 1, but I would also put that on the list as one movie: Kill Bill
- I'd put Captain America: The Winter Soldier in place of The Black Panther3
- O Brother Where Art Thou would get a "like" but I don't think I've ever sat down and watched it in full; I need to correct this wrong, but until then it gets a shrug.
- Anchorman should be dropped
- If you're going to put some monumental science fiction films on the list, where is Dune?
- More anti-sequel bias: I loved Fellowship of the Ring but I feel like Return of the King is more beloved than the first film (my ranking is Fellowship > King > Towers)
I think I'll leave it there for now. I'm curious to know what other people think or have seen from the list themselves!
Reply by email Share this post Mastodon Bluesky
I didn't feel the need to use two thumbs downβif I didn't like it, that's enough.↩
I probably won't, though.↩
One of the things we thought about was whether some of these movies were on the list because of their cultural impact; Black Panther had more impact than Winter Soldier, but you can't make that argument with many of the other entries on the list.↩