Dan at Now I Know pointed to The Best Movies of the Century, According to the New York Times, and even provided a gift link.
“Between streaming services and superhero blockbusters, the way we watch and think about movies has changed dramatically over the past 25 years. But through that period of upheaval, which films have truly stood the test of time?
“To find out, we embarked on an ambitious new project, polling more than 500 filmmakers, stars, and influential film fans to vote for the 10 best movies (however they chose to define that) released since Jan. 1, 2000. In collaboration with The Upshot, we compiled their responses to create a list of the 100 best movies of the 21st century.”
First off, I did a list like this from a BBC list in 2016, and while there are some similarities, there were significant divergences as well.
Second, I’m not litigating the fact that 2000 is in the 20th century, not the 21st. The BBC used the same criterion.
If I saw it and wrote about it, I will link to that post.
I will note movies I have NOT seen this way:
DK—I don’t know this film and have never heard of it before, except if it was listed in previous lists.
WS- I’m familiar with the film and would have seen it, but it fell through the cracks, usually during the Oscar rush to see movies in December through February.
FF – There was a fear factor that it would be too violent or otherwise upsetting to watch.
We begin
100 Superbad, Greg Mottola, 2007. WS – maybe it was the marketing that made it feel too frivolous
99 Memories of Murder, Bong Joon Ho, 2005. DK
98 Grizzly Man, Werner Herzog, 2005. WS
97 Gravity, Alfonso Cuarón, 2013. I liked it.
96 Black Panther, Ryan Coogler, 2018. Not only did I love it when I saw it, but I adored it even more when I learned about Afrofuturism
95 The Worst Person In The World, Joachim Trier, 2021. I liked. And she isn’t.
94 Minority Report, Steven Spielberg, 2002. WS
93 Michael Clayton, Tony Gilroy, 2007. WS
92 Gladiator, Ridley Scott, 2000. I just wasn’t that interested.
91 Fish Tank, Andrea Arnold, 2010. DK
90 Frances Ha, Noah Baumbach, 2013. WS
89 Interstellar, Christopher Nolan, 2014. I wrote: ” I thought the third hour was better paced and more interesting than the second, which could have used a 10-minute edit. Bottom line: I’m glad I saw it, I wouldn’t watch it again, and I’m unsure whether to recommend it.”
88 The Gleaners & I, Agnès Varda, 2001. DK. BTW, #99 on the BBC list
Tolkien
87 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Peter Jackson, 2001. I wrote, “I’ve watched…only the first Lord of the Rings movie, and the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie; call me an incompletist.” They were fine, but not enough to see the sequels. At the time (2012), I had only seen one Harry Potter movie, but since then, I’d seen them all.
86 Past Lives, Celine Song, 2023. I liked it
85 Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Adam McKay, 2004. WS. I think at the time, I wrote it off as silly, based on the trailers.
84 Melancholia, Lars von Trier, 2011. WS. I was disappointed to miss the story about a rogue planet about to collide with Earth, and how that affects people
83 Inside Llewyn Davis, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, 2013. I got the soundtrack before I saw the movie, which I liked in part.
82 The Act of Killing, Joshua Oppenheimer and Anonymous, 2013. WS/FF. It is fascinating and scary to see the “incredible capacity of the human mind to compartmentalize and rationalize monstrous acts of cruelty toward other people.”
81 Black Swan, Darren Aronofsky, 2010. WS – Given my wife’s interest in dance, I don’t know how we missed this.
80 Volver, Pedro Almodóvar, 2006. It was good; “Almodovar tends to luxuriate over certain parts of the female body on occasion…”
79 The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick, 2011. WS, though I was grasping at what it was supposed to be: it “tries to wrap its arms around all of creation”?
78 Aftersun, Charlotte Wells, 2022. WS
Weird stuff
77 Everything Everywhere All At Once, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, 2022. I’m convinced this is MUCH better in the cinema.
76 O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, 2000. WS. I have, and LOVE the soundtrack. I did see a chunk of this movie on broadcast television, but not enough to say I WATCHED it. The scene with Man Of Constant Sorrow is a hoot.
75 Amour, Michael Haneke, 2012. Excellent, but somewhat depressing look at aging.
74 The Florida Project, Sean Baker, 2017. Excellent. NOT Disney World.
73 Ratatouille, Brad Bird, 2007. Rodent making food should not work, yet it does.
72 Carol, Todd Haynes, 2015. A good girl-meets-girl in 1950s NYC film.
71 Ocean’s Eleven, Steven Soderbergh, 2001. It just didn’t catch my interest, although I eventually saw Ocean’s Eight and now want to know its origin.
70 Let the Right One In, Tomas Alfredson, 2008. DK
69 Under the Skin, Jonathan Glazer, 2014. DK and it’s a ScarJo film.
Why I go to the movies
68 The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow, 2009. I wrote here about how I had the Netflix DVD for four months and never watched it.
67 Tár, Todd Field, 2022. Good, but very internal.
66 Spotlight, Tom McCarthy, 2015. Journalism! Those were the days.
65 Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan, 2023
64 Gone Girl, David Fincher, 2014. I DID see this on broadcast TV. It was pretty good.
63 Little Miss Sunshine, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, 2006. I liked it a lot.
62 Memento, Christopher Nolan, 2001. WS
61 Kill Bill: Vol. 1, Quentin Tarantino, 2003. FF: ” Never before have shootings, stabbings, beatings, beheadings, disembowelings, amputations, mutilations, gougings, slicings, choppings, and bitings been so much campy fun.” Doesn’t sound like fun.
I’ve got blisters on my fingers!
60 Whiplash, Damien Chazelle, 2014. Good but exhausting.
59 Toni Erdmann, Maren Ade, 2016. DK
58 Uncut Gems, Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie, 2019. WS
57 Best in Show, Christopher Guest, 2000. I love the Christopher Guest films.
56 Punch-Drunk Love, Paul Thomas Anderson, 2002. I recall liking it. It’s shocking since it stars Adam Sandler.
55 Inception, Christopher Nolan, 2010. WS
54 Pan’s Labyrinth, Guillermo del Toro, 2006. WS/FF – I was on the fence.
53 Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, Larry Charles, 2006. I just wasn’t into it. Yet I saw the sequel.
52 The Favourite, Yorgos Lanthimos, 2018. “My wife mused that it was a movie for which we were somehow not privy to the code. “
51 12 Years a Slave, Steve McQueen, 2013. FF. Several people told me I should watch this movie. It was an important film, and Solomon Northup lived in my metro area. Nope.
Okay, this is long enough. I’ll finish it next week.
The description of the movie The Life of Chuck on 
Welcome to Sunday Stealing.
The #1 Pop Hits of 1965, formally the #1 hits on the Top 100, were right up my sonic alley. In the present tense, I own at least 19 of these 25 songs.