50. Just a Sigh (2013)
Like a middle-aged Before Sunrise, Jérome Bonnell schools Richard Linklater in human desire.
Read our review.
49. Nightcrawler (2014)
Jake Gyllenhaal delivers a career best performance as a sociopathic
cameraman who manipulates crime scenes for more dramatic footage.
Read our review.
48. To the Wonder (2012)
Dismissed by some as merely a series of shots of Olga Kurylenko twirling at
magic hour (which sounds perfectly fine), Malick's film is like a
cinephile's version of going to church.
Read our review.
47. Dancer in the Dark (2000)
Melodramatic and manipulative in a manner only a musical could get away
with, Lars Von Trier got our feet tapping and our eyes watering, while
taking his place on the throne of European cinema.
46. Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
A portrait of an artist as a young narcissist,
Inside Llewyn Davis is arguably the Coens' finest hour and
one of the best movies ever made about the power of music.
Read our review.
45. Human Capital (2013)
This overlooked Italian drama is the best of the few movies to examine
life in the recession era.
Read our review.
44. Warrior (2011)
A male weepie if ever there was one, Warrior is a timeless
movie that could just as easily have been a product of 1950s or 1970s
American cinema.
Read our review.
43. Birth (2004)
It took
2013's Under the Skin
for director Jonathon Glazer to finally get some recognition, but this
atmosphere laden thriller is still his (and indeed Nicole Kidman's) best
work.
42. Piranha (2010)
A rare case of a horror remake that outshines the original, Alexandre Aja
delighted monster fans with this fun filled homage to the exploitation
flicks of old.
41. 3.10 to Yuma (2007)
As above, another remake that improves upon its predecessor. The
climactic shootout is one of the greatest action set-pieces we've seen in
a modern Hollywood movie.
40. Locke (2013)
A mild mannered Welshman instructing a colleague on the fine points of
cement laying may not sound like the most exciting way to fill 90 minutes,
but Steven Knight's film grips you immediately and takes you on an
emotional journey despite its seemingly low stakes.
Read our review.
39. The Lucky Ones (2008)
Neil Burger has since gone on to a career of big budget mediocrity; a
shame, as anyone who saw his Hal Ashby style tale of a trio of soldiers on
shore leave knows he's a highly capable storyteller. Rachel McAdams has
never been better.
38. No (2012)
Shot on 1980s video stock, this lo-fi Chilean film is centred around an
ad exec's campaign to take down General Pinochet in the country's first
democratic elections, but at its heart it's simply about a disgruntled
employee trying to get one over on his boss.
Read our review.
37. Ain't Them Bodies Saints (2013)
A love letter to a rapidly disappearing American cinema with a stunningly
subtle performance from Keith Carradine, himself a relic of a bygone age.
Read our review.
36. War of the Worlds (2005)
Though this is his only entry on the list, Spielberg had a decent run in
the 2000s with films like AI, Catch Me if You Can and The Terminal, but it's this contemporary adaptation of HG Wells' sci-fi classic that
stands out.
35. Amelie (2001)
Like Betty Blue in the '80s, Amelie was the
great international breakout hit of French cinema in the early 21st
century. Despite a twee level set to 11, Jean-Pierre Jeunet's film manages
to pull you in, and it's impossible not to fall for its charms.
34. Like Father, Like Son (2013)
Like Warrior, this is another one that will reduce the hardest hearted
male viewer to a damp sponge. A heartwarming and heartbreaking look at the
value of nurture over nature.
Read our review.
33. There Will be Blood (2007)
The movie that saw Paul Thomas Anderson mature as a film-maker, featuring
a career best turn from Daniel Day Lewis as a sociopathic oilman who makes
JR Ewing seem benevolent.
32. The Piano Teacher (2001)
Michael Haneke does his best Von Trier impersonation, putting Isabelle
Huppert's disturbed piano teacher, and the audience, through the emotional
wringer.
31. The Savages (2007)
If you had to pick an actor and actress who personified American indie
cinema in the early 21st century, you'd likely choose Philip Seymour
Hoffman and Laura Linney. Here they come together as a pair of siblings
forced to emotionally mature when their elderly father grows increasingly
ill.
30. Tangerine (2015)
Shot on iPhones and starring a pair of trans women,
Tangerine is a revolutionary movie
that tells a simple tale of friendship.
Read our review.
29. The Bourne Identity (2002)
It's common now for indie directors to be handed big budget Hollywood
properties, but when the director of Swingers was given the
keys to what would become a hugely successful franchise, many eyebrows
were raised. Yet Doug Liman proved highly skilled at orchestrating action
set pieces.
28. Metro Manila (2013)
Recent years have seen a trend of western film-makers having to work in
far flung lands in order to get their films made, and Sean Ellis's
thriller is the pick of the bunch. Don't wait for the inevitable US
remake.
Read our review.
27. Blue Jasmine (2013)
Throughout the 21st century, Woody Allen has continued to work
prolifically, producing a few gems and only
one real stinker in To Rome With Love. Blue Jasmine is his best of the period, featuring another
great Allen female lead, essayed by an on fire Cate Blanchett.
Read our review.
26. The Squid and the Whale (2005)
More great work from Laura Linney, alongside career best turns from Jeff
Daniels and Jesse Eisenberg as a pretentious English lecturer and the son
who naively idolises him.
25. Margaret (2011)
A stunning, novelistic examination of post 9/11 America,
Margaret was actually shot in 2005 but struggled to find
distribution for six years. Anna Paquin's performance would likely have
made her into a huge star had this been released back in 2005.
Read our review.
24. The Hunt (2012)
Mads Mikkelsen is outstanding as a creche worker wrongly accused of child
abuse. Like the great 1950s social dramas, The Hunt will
have you brimming with anger by its ambiguous conclusion.
Read our review.
23. Mud (2012)
Mud is that rarity in modern cinema, a true American film.
Evoking the spirit of Mark Twain, none of its cast members are Brits or
Aussies putting on Southern drawls, lending an extra dimension of reality
to Jeff Nichols' sweaty coming of age tale.
Read our review.
22. Monsters (2010)
A monster movie with both brains and a heart,
Monsters landed director Gareth Edwards the
Godzilla
gig, going from a budget of $800,000 to one totalling $160,000,000. And
now of course he's helming
Star Wars spinoff
Rogue One.
21. The White Ribbon (2009)
Haneke's masterpiece is a glacially atmospheric and quietly angry look at
life in a puritanical rural German hellhole on the cusp of the Great War.
20. It Follows (2014)
Atmospheric like no other horror movie of recent times, with plenty of
subtext to chew on and argue over.
Read our review.
19. Red Road (2006)
Andrea Arnold's thriller grips you from the outset with its kitchen sink
Rear Window premise. While couch potatoes were glued to Big
Brother, cineastes were getting their voyeuristic kicks through Kate
Dickie's Glasgow CCTV operator.
18. We Are the Best! (2013)
A delightful coming of age tale in which, refreshingly, nobody comes of
age. One of the best evocations of childhood, and specifically an '80s
childhood, ever put on screen.
Read our review.
17. The Duke of Burgundy (2014)
A brilliant examination of the paranoia and self-doubt that plagues
romantic relationships. With human toilets.
Read our review.
16. The Guest (2014)
With so many movies trading cynically on '80s nostalgia lately, Adam
Wingard gave us a film that captured the spirit of that era without having
to nudge and wink at its audience.
Read our review.
15. You Can Count On Me (2000)
Before Margaret broke his spirit, screenwriter Kenneth
Lonergan made his directorial debut with this charming sibling drama,
introducing audiences to Mark Ruffalo in the process. Oh, and Linney's
here again.
14. Final Destination 2 (2003)
Like
Superman 2, this sequel took advantage of its audience's prior knowledge of the
premise and dished out non-stop mayhem from its fantastic opening
set-piece.
13. Computer Chess (2013)
Many have tried to imitate the the unique film-making style of the late
Robert Altman but only Andrew Bujalski's tale of a computer chess
convention comes close to replicating the great man's technique. Like
Altman's best films, Computer Chess initially presents you
with a host of characters, but by the end you feel as though you've known
them forever.
Read our review.
12. Seraphim Falls (2006)
Ireland's two most iconic movie stars face off in this ridiculously
underseen western. Director David Von Ancken disappeared into TV obscurity
after this; a shame, as his work here is fantastic.
11. Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
After the abysmal The Phantom Menace and the mediocre
Attack of the Clones, George Lucas really needed to pull something special out of the bag,
and he did just that, wrapping up his prequel trilogy in bombastic style.
10. Mommy (2014)
Xavier Dolan made us ask why more movies aren't shot in a 1:1 ratio, as
it worked perfectly for this intimate drama.
Read our review.
9. Open Range (2003)
Kevin Costner became a western legend with this outstanding old school
oater. Few moments in 21st century compare to watching Robert Duvall's
rugged cowboy attempt to get his finger through the handle of a fine china
teacup.
8. Mulholland Drive (2001)
A cinematic tour de force, ironically
Mulholland Drive began life as a failed TV pilot. Lynch
rehashed many of its themes for Inland Empire but it was a
pale imitation of his late career masterpiece.
7. The Son's Room (2001)
One of the best examinations of grief ever put to cinema, and a rare
non-comic work from Nanni Moretti, who would never come close to matching
this.
6. Little Children (2006)
Compiling this list, it's depressing how many of the featured directors
haven't worked since. Todd Field has been still since giving us this
suburban classic, but thankfully he has a movie,
The Creed of Violence, currently in pre-production.
5. The Station Agent (2003)
TV addicts know Peter Dinklage for Game of Thrones; cinephiles know him for his breakout role in this charming melancholic
drama.
4. Final Destination (2000)
The turn of the century horror scene was flooded by a raft of awful
Scream imitations but James Wong revitalised the genre by
making death itself the villain of his grand guignol franchise.
Read our review.
3. Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)
A creeping menace pervades this outstanding thriller. We're never sure if
Elizabeth Olsen's cult escapee is genuinely in danger or if it's all in
her head; either way the film gets under your skin.
Read our review.
2. American Psycho (2000)
The movie that reintroduced former child star Christian Bale to the
world. He's never been better than as the deranged yuppie Patrick Bateman,
and no actor has delivered a more iconic performance in this period.
1. Zodiac (2007)
David Fincher's masterpiece. Like There Will be Blood, it's a case of a film-maker maturing and fulfilling his potential. The
movie is so dense it requires a couple of viewings to truly appreciate what a
great piece of work it really is. Its recreation of '70s San Francisco shows
just how effective CG can be when used in the right way. A movie that demands
your attention but richly rewards it.
Are you a movie lover? If yes, is your favorite movie on this top 50 list? As
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lives. Through watching movies, we feel about different lives, review history,
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