Are these the best 10 films of the 21st century so far?

Through some clerical mishap, my own invitation to participate hasn’t yet arrived. So I’m taking the opportunity to correct the oversight here…

Spirited Away (2001)

Although working for decades before the turn of the century, Hayao Miyazaki has grown in stature to become the most influential animator since Walt Disney. Spirited Away mixes immersive visual imagination with profound observations on life, what it means to be young and alive in a universe moved by so many frightening forces. There’s something of Franz Kafka’s Castle and yet young Chihiro, separated from her parents, becomes one of the most resilient and fascinating characters of this last quarter century.

No. 9 on the NYT list

Children of Men (2006)

Alfonso Cuarón tried to warn us. Societies facing environmental disaster don’t necessarily come up with much-needed solutions but rather tear themselves apart with xenophobia, fascistic populism or suicidal retreat and despair. Clive Owen lives in a “Broken Britain” so grim, babies are refusing to be born. He reluctantly finds himself embroiled in a mission to save a sex worker who might be the world’s last hope. Stunning action scenes and prescient political satire make this one of the most important films of recent years. Now it feels less dystopian, and more documentary. 

No. 13 on the NYT list

There Will Be Blood (2007)

It’s hard to remember that when Paul Thomas Anderson arrived on the scene, he did so among a plethora of Tarantino wannabes. Magnolia lifted that shadow to some extent, but it was with There Will Be Blood, a loose adaptation of Upton Sinclair’s novel Oil! that he overcame himself – something Tarantino never did – and became one of the most exciting filmmakers working in American cinema. More was to follow, but with a powerhouse performance by Daniel Day-Lewis, a score by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood and huge ambitions, this remains for me PTA’s masterpiece. 

No. 3 on the NYT list

The Tree of Life (2011)

When Terrence Malick disappeared for 20 years, the film which drove him into exile was a legendary project called Q. In 2011, that project came to fruition with the wildly ambitious sui generis The Tree of Life. Part coming-of-age story, part meditation on grief, part history of the universe, from black holes to nettle stings, Malick’s film took a huge swing and in the process gave us Jessica Chastain and Brad Pitt’s career-best performances and some of the most beautiful cinematography ever committed to celluloid. Not for everyone, but when has that ever mattered?

No. 79 on the NYT list

Blue is the Warmest Color (2013)

Adèle Exarchopoulos plays Adele, a teenager who falls for the blue-haired obscure object of desire, Emma (Léa Seydoux). What follows is a love affair, so profound that every twist and turn, every ecstasy and heartbreak, every intimate moment stays with the audience long after the film finishes. Abdellatif Kechiche’s film was not without controversy for its male-gazed view of scissoring lesbianism and behind the scenes stories of unfair pressure and bullying. Regardless of that, the film remains an incredible piece of work and while the director entered a whirlpool of madness, the actresses have gone on to prove themselves among the best of their generation.

Not on the NYT list

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Action cinema can get a bad rap, especially in the last three decades of CGI slop and comic book puke. And so George Miller’s Mad Max sequel came as a bolt from the post-apocalyptic wasteland. Taking his plot and much of his film grammar from Buster Keaton’s silent classic The General, Miller’s film chases Charlize Theron’s Furiosa and Tom Hardy’s Max there and back again: with spiked cars, heavy metal guitarist heralds and genuinely adrenaline-pumping excitement. Witness it! 

No. 11 on the NYT list

The Florida Project (2017)

Before Sean Baker won multiple Oscars with Anora, he broke through to arthouse acclaim with this film about a single parent caught in a poverty trap and trying to bring up her daughter in a motel run by the reluctantly affable Willem Dafoe. Despite being sensitively aware of the social issues of his main character, Baker cleverly keeps his focus trained on the children and their ability to invent games to play and find fun everywhere. Try it as a double bill with Spirited Away. The kids are alright. 

No. 74 on the NYT list

Oppenheimer (2023)

I was tempted to list this as Barbenheimer and promote two birds with one pick. The two films managed to bring cinema back to the center of cultural conversation if only for a minute. But Christopher Nolan deserves some appreciation. He is the filmmaker who gets taken for granted as he is so irritatingly successful and good at what he does. But Oppenheimer was a huge risk and a massive complex task. It was filmmaking on a grand canvas. The sort of film David Lean used to make, exploiting all the resources of the major studios to tell a story of genuine complexity and nuance. The story of the birth of the atom wasn’t simply a clever and multilayered period drama, it was a film about the risk of global annihilation and how quickly the cleverest people can cause the most damage, even with the best intentions. 

No. 65 on the NYT list

Bottoms (2024)

After the hilarious pairing of actress Rachel Sennott and director Emma Seligman for Shiva Baby, the two reunited with a queer high school comedy of pure anarchic joy. Ayo Edebiri and Sennott are the lesbians who start a girls only self-defence class/fight club in order to get close to the hot chicks. The Charlie XCX soundtrack slaps and the plot goes off the rails into some cartoonish comic universe which makes total sense. From Brian and Charles to Zoolander, film comedy is in rude health and boy do we need it. 

Not on the NYT list

The Zone of Interest (2023)

Jonathan Glazer made four films in the last quarter of a century. A fairly slow work rate, but the fact that any one of them could happily claim a place in this list shows a quite exceptional mastery of the form. His latest – a loose adaptation of Martin Amis’ novel – was an experimental take on depicting the Holocaust as being carried out by people who were uncomfortably similar to us. The director’s bold decision to use the platform of his Oscar speech to denounce Israel’s action in Gaza was entirely consistent with deploring genocides regardless of who carries them out and what their so-called justifications might be.
No. 12 on the NYT list

Honourable mention: 

Twin Peaks: The Return (2017)

David Lynch returned to the town which had elevated the cult director to a household name. That was a mad minute. I was not expecting much. But what we got was a unique 18-hour art movie which pushed the boundary of the form in revolutionary new ways. It was Lynch’s masterpiece and rounded of a golden era of television by bringing us back to the cinema.

Not on the NYT list

The NYT’s 100 best films of the 21st century so far

100) Superbad 99) Memories of Murder 98) Grizzly Man 97) Gravity 96) Black Panther 95) The Worst Person in the World 94) Minority Report 93) Michael Clayton 92) Gladiator 91) Fish Tank 90) Frances Ha 

89) Interstellar 88) The Gleaners & I 87) The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 86) Past Lives 85) Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy 84) Melancholia 83) Inside Llewyn Davis 82) The Act of Killing 81) Black Swan 80) Volver

79) The Tree Of Life 78) Aftersun 77) Everything Everywhere All at Once 76) O Brother, Where Art Thou? 75) Amour 74) The Florida Project 73) Ratatouille 72) Carol 71) Ocean’s Eleven 70) Let the Right One In

69) Under The Skin 68) The Hurt Locker 67) Tár 66) Spotlight 65) Oppenheimer 64) Gone Girl 63) Little Miss Sunshine 62) Memento 61) Kill Bill: Vol. 1 60) Whiplash

59) Toni Erdmann 58) Uncut Gems 57) Best in Show 56) Punch-Drunk Love 55) Inception 54) Pan’s Labyrinth 53) Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan 52) The Favourite 51) 12 Years a Slave 50) Up

49) Before Sunset 48) The Lives of Others 47) Almost Famous 46) Roma 45) Moneyball 44) Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood 43) Oldboy (2005) 42) The Master 41) Amélie 40) Yi Yi

39) Lady Bird 38) Portrait Of A Lady On Fire 37) Call Me By Your Name 36) A Serious Man 35) A Prophet 34) Wall-E 33) A Separation 32) Bridesmaids 31) The Departed 30) Lost In Translation

29) Arrival 28) The Dark Knight 27) Adaptation 26) Anatomy Of A Fall 25) Phantom Thread 24) Her 23) Boyhood 22) The Grand Budapest Hotel 21) The Royal Tenenbaums 20) The Wolf Of Wall Street

19) Zodiac 18) Y tu Mamá También 17) Brokeback Mountain 16) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 15) City Of God 14) Inglourious Basterds 13) Children of Men 12) The Zone of Interest 11) Mad Max: Fury Road

10) The Social Network 9) Spirited Away 8) Get Out 7) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 6) No Country for Old Men 5) Moonlight 4) In the Mood for Love 3) There Will Be Blood 2) Mulholland Drive 1) Parasite