Best movies of the last 20 years

Some more good ones:

High School Musical movies

John Tucker Must Die

Prom

Never Back Down (2008)

Remember The Titans (2000)

Radio

The Polar Express gotta be in this conversation too. Great movie to watch, especially during Christmas or some time around then.

Mr. Popper’s Penguins is good too.

I just thought of another great one that I remember watching - Admission (2013)

The Matrix (1999, close enough)

Lord of the Rings

That was peak feature length movies. The best stories have moved on to other formats such as Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad. The time of the movie theater has passed.

Once (2007). At a minimum, the best date movie of the century. Can relieve PNSO.

WALL-E (2008). The opening 20 minutes are incredible.

Drumline

banned Pete wrote:

Not a bad list.

The first thing that popped into my head was Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri. I walked out of that movie awestruck, knowing it was the best movie I'd seen in many years.

The only other film I remember being so taken by, and it only just barely makes the 20-year cut, was Guy Ritchie's Snatch. I love that film.

"Best" film is obviously a matter of personal taste, and perhaps I have none... :-)

Worst film, BY FAR, I've seen in the last 20 years (ever...) was Aronofsky's Mother with Jennofer Lawrence and Javier Bardem. I don't understand why neither me nor my wife got up to walk out early in the film. God damn, it makes me upset just thinking about it now, several years later...

I really enjoyed 3 Billboards, but if we are talking Martin McDonagh movies, I have to give In Bruges the nod. It’s such a dark morality play filled with interesting themes and complex characters with razor-sharp hilarious dialogue where everything in the plot has a purpose and meaning by the end of the movie. Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes kill it. One of my favourites.

Surprised to be the first to offer for your consideration: Master and Commander (2003).

After so many good picks here I revised my list, checked up my IMDB ratings and here it goes, my top 20 from 2000 on

This list covers worldwide cinema, though half of the list is American movies (well done Americans)

I included a movie from directors who've been very relevant in the century (e.g. Tarantino, Nolan, Coen Brothers, Bong Joon-ho) and also tried to cover different genres.

20. The theory of everything

2014, UK

this i think is the best biography of the century. It is silly sometimes, far from perfect. But its beautiful moments are so beautiful. There's at least a scene here that never left my mind.

19. No Country for Old Men

2007, US

for some reason, this movie reminds of Fargo. But better.

18. Andhadhun

2018, India

My pick for best Bollywood movie of the century so far. It has been recently released (2018). Very original. It is a crime movie. or a love movie. Or both. Again it is not perfect and too long... but a movie I guarantee you will not forget.

17. Inglorious Bastards

2009, US

Tarantino delivers an original war movie tha puts together all his trademarks in a brilliant way. It is amazing also how funny this movie can be. The "arriverdecci" scene is one of my favourites.

16. City of God

2002, Brazil

again, a movie with some scenes that I think will never leave your mind. It is funny to see how some dialogues of the movie have been translated to English. I think you never experience this movie fully without being a portuguese speaker, sadly.

15. The Body

2012, Spain

Oriol Paulo has a bunch of great movies and this is the best of them. It is crime with glimpses of a horror and very well done twists. Better than the invisible guest (another of his good movies!).

14. Toy Story 3

2010, US

Yes Toy Story. Kind of a personal choice. if you've watched as a grown up that 15 years before this movie went to the cinema as a kid to watch the first one, you know what I am talking about. It hits hard, very hard.

13. Inception

2010, US

I watched every Nolan movie and though they are all good, this one is the best. Here I agree with the wide audience. The Prestige is very good, but with Inception the director flies higher.

12. Three billboards outside...

2017, US

You have to be a brilliant director to mix comedy in such a dark movie as this one is. There are two scenes here that never left me. Brilliantly acted as well.

11. Parasite

2019, South Korea

Critics are so right here, this is more than a movie. It reflects so well our XXI century that it is actually scary. I believe that in 2100 when critics are to review the movies of the century, this will be there close to the top. It doesn't matter that much how good of a movie it is (and it is very good) but how well it captures the world we live in.

10. The Witch

2015, US

Only once every 10 years or so a horror movie is so well crafted and executed. I've watched so many horror movies in the last decades of multiple subgenres (Babadook, Lighthouse, Conjuring, Quiet place, Iranian movies, Japanese movies, french movies...). This is the best of them all, and the ending is as good as it can be.

9. Lost in translation

2003, US

This one can disappoint some. There's nothing super special or original about it, but! It is so real, so moving, so much to relate to. It is a movie that the whole is greater that the sum of its parts. Once you finish watching you think, ok, it is a fine movie but nothing special. But time passes and it keeps growing, and growing. And good, i'll always be in love with scarlet johansson here.

8. The lives of the others

2006, Germany

If you're not touched by this movie... I guess nothing else will do.

7. There will be blood

2007, US

Paul Thomas Anderson was a genius and here is why. Enough said.

6. Best offer (la Migliore offerta)

2013, Italy

We're getting serious here. We have this movie from an incredible Italian director that I think few have watched. It is a love story as you've never seen, with multiple twists and incredible acting. I find incredible how critics have bashed this movie. They're all wrong. My pick for best european movie since Life is Beautiful.

5. Boyhood

US, 2014

A movie like no other. Actually much more than a movie, literally.

4. A Separation

Iran, 2011

Iranians make very good movies. But this one is just stellar. Very real, very touching, very brutal... not much to change here. it is nearly perfect.

3. Requiem for a Dream.

US, 2000

Ok here is the podium. This one is a movie that I watched only once, and probably will never watch it again. Not everyone will get it. But if you do. It will probably be the scariest movie you'll ever see.

2. Secret in their Eyes

Argentina, 2008

This is a movie that will question your beliefs very deeply. How many other movies can do that?

1. Mulholland Drive

US, 2001

As I explained in my previous post. Many critics would agree with me that this is the best of the century. It is also in my top 10 all time list. You can watch five times and there will be always something new to discover.

Thanks for the list. Early on in this thread I stated that I dont remember many great films from the last 20 years. I quickly mentioned Inside Out, Toy Story 3, A Separation, No Country for Old Men, and There Will be Blood.

I don't remember Requiem for A Dream other than being disturbed. I don't remember much about Mulholland Drive. I'll have to watch it again.

Parenting and other responsibilities have preventing me from watching films which is probably why I revere the 1970s and 80s with such reverence. I'll have to check out more films from this list.

Lord of the rings is the movie for me in the last 2 decades.

Lady Bird,

Betches

Rhodium Nights wrote:

Nutsack McGee wrote:

Oh Brother Where Art Thou.

What's the criteria here? It seems like your a list that you could just as easily look up on IMDB by searching for critically acclaimed movies within that time period, but don't forget that Zoolander, Superbad, Mean Girls, 40 Year Old Virgin, Step Brothers, The Hangover, The Notebook, The Fast and the Furious (all of them), Love Actually, Remember the Titans, Legally Blonde, V for Vendetta, Wedding Crashers, The Prestige, Gladiator, etc. were all released in the past 20 years.

I could see someone making a valid argument that any one of these is "better" than any one movie from your list.

THANK YOU SOMEBODY INCLUDED IT!! The Prestige is amazing.

Also Nutsack, you have great taste in films. You literally listed all of my favorite comedies/fun movies.

Yes good selections if you are a female.

Big Daddy is also a great one (if 1999 is close enough)

Chekhovs Pistol wrote:I really enjoyed 3 Billboards, but if we are talking Martin McDonagh movies, I have to give In Bruges the nod.

I love In Bruges too. My favourite exchange (among tons of witty dialogue):

Overweight Man: Been to the top of the tower?

Ray: Yeah, yeah, it's rubbish.

Overweight Man: It is? Guide book says it's a must see.

Ray: Well you lot ain't goin up there.

Overweight Man: Pardon me? Why?

Ray: I mean it's all windy stairs. I'm not being funny.

Overweight Man: What exactly are you trying to say?

Ray: What exactly am I trying to say? You's are a bunch of fuckin' elephants!

A few that I like, of various genres, that don't seem to have made anyone's list:

High Fidelity

Donnie Darko

Y Tu mamá también ??

The Station Agent

American Splendor

L'amico di famiglia ??

Moonlight

Confessions ??

Margaret

Bernie

Le prénom ??

Carnage

Her

Force Majeure ??

Blue Valentine

The Great Beauty ??

Elena ??

Wild Tales ??

Medicine for Melancholy

Before Midnight

Up in the Air

My favourite movie of all is Festen but it came out in 1998.

european observer wrote:

2. Secret in their Eyes

Argentina, 2008

This is a movie that will question your beliefs very deeply. How many other movies can do that?

Great suggestion--the Argentine original and not the American remake!

[And a great list overall, though I was disappointed to see "The Handmaiden" missing. I'd readily substitute it for "Inglourious Basterds"--that movie's silly shoot-'em-up ending, which was reprised even more ridiculously in "Django," left a sour taste. I'd even prefer the "Kill Bill" movies to IB.]

Anyway, for those interested in watching "The Secret in Their Eyes" ("El secrecto de sus ojos"): If you're a Spanish speaker, but not strong on Argentine dialect, I'd seriously suggest that you leave subtitles enabled. There were stretches of dialogue wherein I thought they might as well be speaking Italian--"¿Qué? ¿Qué?" The only other movie I remember with such impenetrable accents was "The Long Good Friday," in which some of the dialogue might just as well have been Dutch.

thanks. The handmaiden is excellent. Could've made it to my list. As it could the excellent "Old boy", or even Snowpiercer. South Korean cinema can be very good. But yeah i had to add a Tarantino to it. Then it was hard to take anything else out of it as i tried to mix different genres... like having one horror movie, one biography, one animation and so on. But well said on Handmaiden.

the argentinian accent is indeed a heritage of Italian migration... definitely different than mexican accent which is more known to Americans.

and yes the Hollywood remake of Secret in their Eyes is outrageous. Like the Oldboy remake.

well like pretty much every Hollywood remake of foreign movies.