Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

I'm suprised nobody has mentioned Amores Perros.

I have a soft spot for interconnected story lines.

The movie is almost entirely a Mexican Pulp Fiction but it does a good job and is damn hard to stop watching.

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

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I'm suprised nobody has mentioned Amores Perros.

I have a soft spot for interconnected story lines.

The movie is almost entirely a Mexican Pulp Fiction but it does a good job and is damn hard to stop watching.

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I considered it briefly but it didn't get past the first cut!

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

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5. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, 2001
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, 2002
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2003, Peter Jackson

Fifty years from now I fully expect these three films (and you can't really separate them) to be recognized as classics, on par with The Wizard of Oz and Casablanca. They are that good. Jackson and Company created magic, pure and simple. If you really want to see what all the fuss is about, get the three extended version DVDs - you'll actually love that there's even MORE of these films than you thought! The casting was perfect, the special effects revolutionary, and the story was and still is, magic.

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Nice level.

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instead of snideness, how about posting your own choices or why you disagree with mine? And if you can't do that, post a pic of your hot wife in something skimpy.

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I was just kidding. Sorry.

I really did hate those films though. 74 hours of go here, meet these people, fight that monster, crying repressed hobit homosexuality, go there, meet those people, fight this monster, crying repressed hobit homosexuality, etc.

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

Many folks feel the same about the movies... and the books.

My favorite critique on the books was "I don't feel like wading through four pages describing [censored] grassy knolls."

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

[ QUOTE ]
I'm suprised nobody has mentioned Amores Perros.

I have a soft spot for interconnected story lines.

The movie is almost entirely a Mexican Pulp Fiction but it does a good job and is damn hard to stop watching.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is a good movie to mention. I don't like the comparison to Pulp Fiction that much, since I feel the characters in Amores Perros have more depth and I also think that Amores Perros actually deals with interesting themes. Pulp Fiction is much more about being cool and flashy, while Amores Perros uses time tricks like Pulp Fiction but in a tighter story with actual characters exploring a theme.

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

I love Lost in Translation and find the LOTR flicks a hoax. Often terrifically, epicly flaccid, I can see these easily being surpassed in the future. I feel these are very much a wonder of their time, not of all time. These will last until someone comes up with the money to do them again. And that money will be less and less as technology advances. I don't think I've been more disappointed in films in the last 20 years than these, besides any Matrix but the first. I find it hard to imagine that these movies would be more well regarded if their author weren't so subject to cult-like worship and if the technology and scope of the flicks weren't so compelling at the time of their production. I'm confident time will bear me out that the direction in these films was unexceptional and the raves for them were very firmly fixed in their time.

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

[ QUOTE ]

4. Sex and Lucia, Julio Medam, 2001

Forget the fact that star Paz Vega is absolutely luminous (and often naked) in this gem of a Spanish film, Sex and Lucia is a pure masterpiece of high-definition digital video-making. If you have any doubts that HD is the future of film making, just take a look at this gloriously beautiful film. It's that good. Medam has a novelist's way of spinning a yarn: we go back and forth in time, following "real" characters and "fictional" ones without knowing which is which...it's sexy, romantic and funny...what more could you want from a movie?



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Sex and Lucia was pretty. Otherwise an utter disappointment. I'm confident this will appear on virtually nobody's list of bests, if not now, then almost immediately.

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

Capote and Brokeback Mountain were both incredible IMO and belong in the list.

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

The Lives of Others is definitely worthy of a spot on the list as well. It does such a great great job with pacing which is refreshing to see in today's hollywood of bang bang bang bang nonstop action.

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

[ QUOTE ]
I love Lost in Translation and find the LOTR flicks a hoax. Often terrifically, epicly flaccid, I can see these easily being surpassed in the future. I feel these are very much a wonder of their time, not of all time. These will last until someone comes up with the money to do them again. And that money will be less and less as technology advances. I don't think I've been more disappointed in films in the last 20 years than these, besides any Matrix but the first. I find it hard to imagine that these movies would be more well regarded if their author weren't so subject to cult-like worship and if the technology and scope of the flicks weren't so compelling at the time of their production. I'm confident time will bear me out that the direction in these films was unexceptional and the raves for them were very firmly fixed in their time.

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i'm not sure that i totally agree with this, but i can definitely see where Blarg is coming from. I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up with a legacy like Ben-Hur--amazing for the time, but not good enough to survive the test of time all that well

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

Actually the first century was years 1/1/0000-12/31/0000, ...,1/1/999-12/31/999 so the 2d century began on 1/1/1000 and the 21st century on 1/1/2000. (This interpretation is needed to get the best movie of the last 8 years onto the list, Memento. I assume being a 2000 film is the reason it hasn't been mentioned.

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

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Capote and Brokeback Mountain were both incredible IMO and belong in the list.

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Brokeback was the last one cut...Capote did garner consideration.

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

[ QUOTE ]
The Lives of Others is definitely worthy of a spot on the list as well. It does such a great great job with pacing which is refreshing to see in today's hollywood of bang bang bang bang nonstop action.

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god i so want to see this one

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I love Lost in Translation and find the LOTR flicks a hoax. Often terrifically, epicly flaccid, I can see these easily being surpassed in the future. I feel these are very much a wonder of their time, not of all time. These will last until someone comes up with the money to do them again. And that money will be less and less as technology advances. I don't think I've been more disappointed in films in the last 20 years than these, besides any Matrix but the first. I find it hard to imagine that these movies would be more well regarded if their author weren't so subject to cult-like worship and if the technology and scope of the flicks weren't so compelling at the time of their production. I'm confident time will bear me out that the direction in these films was unexceptional and the raves for them were very firmly fixed in their time.

[/ QUOTE ]

i'm not sure that i totally agree with this, but i can definitely see where Blarg is coming from. I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up with a legacy like Ben-Hur--amazing for the time, but not good enough to survive the test of time all that well

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I guess it's possible, but they are so well-done I'll have to disagree. The only fault I find with them is Elijah Wood's performance sometimes gets stagy and, for lack of a better word, effeminate.

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I love Lost in Translation and find the LOTR flicks a hoax. Often terrifically, epicly flaccid, I can see these easily being surpassed in the future. I feel these are very much a wonder of their time, not of all time. These will last until someone comes up with the money to do them again. And that money will be less and less as technology advances. I don't think I've been more disappointed in films in the last 20 years than these, besides any Matrix but the first. I find it hard to imagine that these movies would be more well regarded if their author weren't so subject to cult-like worship and if the technology and scope of the flicks weren't so compelling at the time of their production. I'm confident time will bear me out that the direction in these films was unexceptional and the raves for them were very firmly fixed in their time.

[/ QUOTE ]

i'm not sure that i totally agree with this, but i can definitely see where Blarg is coming from. I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up with a legacy like Ben-Hur--amazing for the time, but not good enough to survive the test of time all that well

[/ QUOTE ]

I guess it's possible, but they are so well-done I'll have to disagree. The only fault I find with them is Elijah Wood's performance sometimes gets stagy and, for lack of a better word, effeminate.

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the film gets kinda sappy and melodramatic in parts, too

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

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I love Lost in Translation and find the LOTR flicks a hoax. Often terrifically, epicly flaccid, I can see these easily being surpassed in the future. I feel these are very much a wonder of their time, not of all time. These will last until someone comes up with the money to do them again. And that money will be less and less as technology advances. I don't think I've been more disappointed in films in the last 20 years than these, besides any Matrix but the first. I find it hard to imagine that these movies would be more well regarded if their author weren't so subject to cult-like worship and if the technology and scope of the flicks weren't so compelling at the time of their production. I'm confident time will bear me out that the direction in these films was unexceptional and the raves for them were very firmly fixed in their time.

[/ QUOTE ]

i'm not sure that i totally agree with this, but i can definitely see where Blarg is coming from. I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up with a legacy like Ben-Hur--amazing for the time, but not good enough to survive the test of time all that well

[/ QUOTE ]

I guess it's possible, but they are so well-done I'll have to disagree. The only fault I find with them is Elijah Wood's performance sometimes gets stagy and, for lack of a better word, effeminate.

[/ QUOTE ]

the film gets kinda sappy and melodramatic in parts, too

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there were also parts where Ian Holm may as well have been eating from a box of Nutter Butters.

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

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3. Before Sunset , Richard Linklater, 2004

This is a sequel to Before Sunrise, a film that followed 20-somethings Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke around Vienna over the course of one night, talking and falling in love. Before Sunset picks up the same twosome 9 years later, meeting in Paris for the first time since their one night long ago. They talk, they walk, they laugh, they cry. No plot. Just magic. Is there a more perfect ending to any movie than Celine's little song she sings to Jesse? Some films make you think, others make you feel. This one does both. Who knew wistful melancholy could be so attractive?


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I think Before Sunrise was alot better of a flick. I liked it so much I really looked forward to Before Sunset. I found Sunset disappointing in comparison. It started out good, the way they meet up again and all. But then seemed to fade off. Came off as a little more forced and stiff in comparison to Sunrise.

I may have to watch it again to see if my opinion has changed. But Sunrise was much better, imo.

b

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

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Let us know how you like Before Sunset...there's even a whole thread here on it somewhere!


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I'd be curious to read that thread. Was it quite awhile ago?

b

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

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Capote and Brokeback Mountain were both incredible IMO and belong in the list.

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Brokeback was the last one cut...Capote did garner consideration.

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I thought Brokeback was highly overrated. I watched it and thought, 'what's the big fuss about?' But then I guess a little shock value to the average public goes a long ways.

b

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

10. Match Point
9. Brick
8. Maria Full of Grace
7. Downfall
6. Lost in Translation
5. Before Sunset
4. Children of Men
3. Capturing the Friedmans
2. The Lives of Others
1. City of God

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

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Let us know how you like Before Sunset...there's even a whole thread here on it somewhere!


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I'd be curious to read that thread. Was it quite awhile ago?

b

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bernie, not that long ago.

As the tailend of a discussion on Before Sunrise

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

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Let us know how you like Before Sunset...there's even a whole thread here on it somewhere!


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I'd be curious to read that thread. Was it quite awhile ago?

b

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bernie, not that long ago.

As the tailend of a discussion on Before Sunrise

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Thanks! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Bonus that it's about Before Sunrise.

b

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

Bernie

please feel free to add to it. Seeing great threads like this again on the front page serves as a good and timely reminder what fantastic threads we get in this forum.

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

Under the Tuscan Sun:

This flick hit me along the same lines as Before Sunrise. Which much of my view of Sunrise equals that of Dom's view of Sunset. A well written flick about going through a healing process and starting over. Great scenery to go along with it.(Not just Diane Lane [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img])


Million Dollar Baby:

I avoided this flick for awhile. Chick boxer? Who cares. Then I saw it. Maybe it's because I grew up around boxing a little bit. I identified with alot of stuff in that flick that hit close to home. Sure, there's a throwaway scene here and there, but still an awesome flick.

b

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

[ QUOTE ]
10. Match Point
9. Brick
8. Maria Full of Grace
7. Downfall
6. Lost in Translation
5. Before Sunset
4. Children of Men
3. Capturing the Friedmans
2. The Lives of Others
1. City of God

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Man, Brick set my cinematic mind on fire like no other last year. Love that movie. The dialogue, the music, the strangely grand emotions all mixed together into hardboiled perfection that I still can't stop thinking about. I'd start a thread about it if I thought enough people had seen it (or would listen to my recommendation.)

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

I'm sure most of you will roundly boo me for offering this film as one of the best, but let me risk absurdity anyway. For me, Artificial Intelligence may be the best film of this century. One fabulous essay I read about this movie looks at it as a creation myth told by cyborgs. While this suggestion certainly has its merits, I think A.I. is a cautionary tale about losing our own humanity, more about us turning into cyborgs rather than cyborgs turning into us.

What are we ready to become and what are we becoming? the film seems to ask.

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

[ QUOTE ]
I'm sure most of you will roundly boo me for offering this film as one of the best, but let me risk absurdity anyway. For me, Artificial Intelligence may be the best film of this century. One fabulous essay I read about this movie looks at it as a creation myth told by cyborgs. While this suggestion certainly has its merits, I think A.I. is a cautionary tale about losing our own humanity, more about us turning into cyborgs rather than cyborgs turning into us.

What are we ready to become and what are we becoming? the film seems to ask.

[/ QUOTE ]

I found AI to be very interesting, yet ultimately messy. One of the problems I have with it is why would we make such a creature as the robot child? It would seem to be against all that we hold special about being human.

As for me, that question you asked is better served in Blade Runner.

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

Uhhhh...Aren't we kind of forgetting Crouching Tiger,Hidden Dragon and Spiderman 2? Sorry if they aren't boring or vapid, but they are great movies by any standards. Just in case you think I am some kind of action movie junkie, my favorite movie
is 'The Grapes of Wrath'.

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

[ QUOTE ]
I'm sure most of you will roundly boo me for offering this film as one of the best, but let me risk absurdity anyway. For me, Artificial Intelligence may be the best film of this century. One fabulous essay I read about this movie looks at it as a creation myth told by cyborgs. While this suggestion certainly has its merits, I think A.I. is a cautionary tale about losing our own humanity, more about us turning into cyborgs rather than cyborgs turning into us.

What are we ready to become and what are we becoming? the film seems to ask.

[/ QUOTE ]

I liked it a lot, but I would have loved it if it had ended when the kid is in the ocean and stares at the thing under the ocean (don't remember what it was). That would have been such a powerful ending.

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

[ QUOTE ]
10. Match Point
9. Brick
8. Maria Full of Grace
7. Downfall
6. Lost in Translation
5. Before Sunset
4. Children of Men
3. Capturing the Friedmans
2. The Lives of Others
1. City of God

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I like the inclusion of Match Point. I loved it. Last year I saw "Crimes and Misdemeanors" and it lowered my love for "Match Point" a bit, since it is a similar storyline done better in my opinion. But I thought "Match Point" was excellent from the moment I first watched it and on every subsequent watching prior to "Crimes and Misdemeanors".

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

[ QUOTE ]
I love Lost in Translation and find the LOTR flicks a hoax. Often terrifically, epicly flaccid, I can see these easily being surpassed in the future. I feel these are very much a wonder of their time, not of all time. These will last until someone comes up with the money to do them again. And that money will be less and less as technology advances. I don't think I've been more disappointed in films in the last 20 years than these, besides any Matrix but the first. I find it hard to imagine that these movies would be more well regarded if their author weren't so subject to cult-like worship and if the technology and scope of the flicks weren't so compelling at the time of their production. I'm confident time will bear me out that the direction in these films was unexceptional and the raves for them were very firmly fixed in their time.

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I disagree completely. The three movies are excellent. It is more than just technology. I don't think Peter Jackson's cult could have had that much impact, the love for the movies came from all over the place.
Also, I don't think that the fact that the books are famous is the reason that they are where they are. Many people hadn't heard of the story before. The trilogy was a hit everywhere. For example, it was a hit in LatinAmerica, and I don't think Tolkien was read that much in LatinAmerica (at least not before the epic success of the movies). Another thing to point out is that Harry Potter is a much more popular book and yet the movies don't get the critical acclaim that LOTR gets.
You may not like it, you have your reasons, but I have to disagree with the "time will tell". I think this will be remembered for many years. It will be shown to future generations alongside Star Wars as the best fantasy trilogies.

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

[ QUOTE ]
Uhhhh...Aren't we kind of forgetting Crouching Tiger,Hidden Dragon and Spiderman 2? Sorry if they aren't boring or vapid, but they are great movies by any standards. Just in case you think I am some kind of action movie junkie, my favorite movie
is 'The Grapes of Wrath'.

[/ QUOTE ]

I did consider Crouching Tiger, but I think the Spiderman movies are just not very good.

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

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[ QUOTE ]

4. Sex and Lucia, Julio Medam, 2001

Forget the fact that star Paz Vega is absolutely luminous (and often naked) in this gem of a Spanish film, Sex and Lucia is a pure masterpiece of high-definition digital video-making. If you have any doubts that HD is the future of film making, just take a look at this gloriously beautiful film. It's that good. Medam has a novelist's way of spinning a yarn: we go back and forth in time, following "real" characters and "fictional" ones without knowing which is which...it's sexy, romantic and funny...what more could you want from a movie?



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Sex and Lucia was pretty. Otherwise an utter disappointment. I'm confident this will appear on virtually nobody's list of bests, if not now, then almost immediately.

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blarg, what was disappointing to you? I'm absolutely gaga over this movie, as well as his earlier Lovers of the Arctic Circle. I just love his whole passionate, over-the-top dream narratives about fate!

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

They've been mentioned, but Capote and Lives of Others were both phenomenal and would be near the top of my top 10. Lives of Others especially. Agree with Lost in Translation.

My list would probably be some combination of the following:

Capote
Lives of Others
Lost in Translation
Eternal Sunshine
Memento
Million Dollar Baby
Mystic River
Almost Famous
21 Grams
The Departed

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

I feel I should contribute, but I genuinely haven't seen that many films from this century [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

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I did consider Crouching Tiger, but I think the Spiderman movies are just not very good.

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Okay. I have a serious question? I loved Spiderman 1 and 2 and thought they were terrific entertainment and well done (haven't seen 3 yet). I have avoided Crouching Tiger because I suspect strongly I wouldn't like it.

Why is it that film geeks, uh, er, I mean film afficianados pretty much hate on anything the general public likes and get hard ons for foreign obscurities that 99 out of 100 people would consider torture to sit through? Personally I hate foreign movies and subtitles in general because I can't focus on the visuals. I also think that movies of the past 10 or 20 years aren't all that great as a whole as whizbang special effects have taken over. I like the older stuff. Gimme the 40's through the 70's. I love classic Hollywood. But I do watch a wide variety of movies and like a lot of them. I turn a lot of them off very early on as well [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

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Aren't we kind of forgetting Crouching Tiger,Hidden Dragon

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I got this one ready to go. I haven't seen it yet.

However, it does remind me of a flick that I really, really dig:

Memoirs of a Geisha.

b

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

There's a lot of great films already listed.
I'm kind of suprised I havent seen these 3 mentioned in this thread yet, that would be in my top 5:

Gladiator
Downfall (Untergang, Der)
The Pianist

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

40 year old virgin (only comedy better IMO is dumb and dumber)
The Pianist (When I started watching this I was tired from playing basketball all day and it was 4 am and it was the last movie on ondemand that I didn't watch. I was laying back in bed and was barely paying attention, by the end I was sitting indian style on the floor just such a great film)
Saw (Woah a horror movie that doesn't suck)
Spiderman 1&2
Batman Begins (Woah a batman movie that doesn't suck)
The Weatherman (severely underrated)

Re: Best Films of the 21st Century
 

oldboy
sympathay for mr vengeance
amores perros
y u tambien

come to mind