A quarter can feel so small at times. 15 minutes of an hour; 25 cents of a dollar. They evaporate and are spent without us even thinking about them. Stretched large enough, though, and a quarter can quickly become more than you expect. A quarter of a century, say, is 25 years of humans and the world evolving in ways never expected. At the forefront of history is art. Taking the thoughts and feelings of the moment and documenting them onto canvas, stone, and most recently, film. As we enter the turn of a new quarter, I thought it would be fun and valuable to look back on my favorite art form over the past two and a half decades. The changes seen across the film industry were as vast and impactful as the introduction of color in the 40’s and 50’s and the New Hollywood movement of the mid-60’s and 70’s. The end of the 90’s already saw the gradual shift to digital, emphasized by the electric reception to The Blair Witch Project, something that would not have been able to be made on studio film cameras. As the 2000’s kicked off, the ingenuity of filmmakers to get things made quickly and cheaply continued to blossom, while the studios officially began their transition to the oncoming domination of blockbusters built off of Intellectual Property, spurred by the immense success of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace ($430+ million gross) in 1999. In 2000, 7 out of the top 10 at the domestic box office were original films, 3 of which would produce sequels. For 2024 that number will be 0. In theaters, the digitization of film projection made the distribution of films easier, removing the bulk of canisters carrying weighty reels of footage prone to damage, while gradually zapping the movie-going public of what differentiates the art form from inferior versions of video media, and limiting the roles and skills of projectionists. Fast-forward to today and younger generations don’t have the knowledge to recognize what makes something like There Will Be Blood different from, say, Outer Banks, and that was before the Covid-19 pandemic proved to even more people that their preferred viewing experience was at home– something we’re all guilty of.

I have changed over this span of time also, as you could imagine. Entering 2000 as a 9-year-old, and leaving 2024 at 33 (math). I was a kid with simple tastes– Adam Sandler; Batman– and as I got older pushed and taught myself about world cinema while maintaining an appreciation for good comedy and excellent horror. My goal of this list is to reflect all of that. These 25 years have brought us hobbits, elves, and trolls; Baumbach & Gerwig; 4 Spider-Men and a Spider-Gwen; Marty & Leo; Harry, Ron, and Hermione; Jedis and Sith and BB-8; Dom & Letty; Amazing Amy; Anton Chigurh; Christine Lady Bird; Furiosa; Marlin & Dory; Phillip Seymour Hoffman in Along Came Polly; Phillip Seymour Hoffman in Mission: Impossible III; Phillip Seymour Hoffman in Moneyball; Jason Bourne; Bella Swan; Jigsaw; Toros and Clovers; Shrek and Fiona; and of course, Ally. The amount of times movies have been declared dead is too many to count. I look forward to watching the artists who fight back and push this beautiful creation to new heights in the next 25 years to come.

Let’s get to the list! Some housekeeping: To help figure this out, I made a list of anything that crossed my mind as a potential contender to make the top 250, which you can view here. To spread the love, I limited myself to include only two films per director, which created some tough decisions, but my hope is that in place of some of the films that you’d expect to see will be a new future favorite. At the end of the day, I went with what films maintained the most emotional relevance to me over time. Even for someone like myself who watches as much as I can, there are still so many films from the past quarter century I’ve yet to experience that I don’t feel comfortable fully declaring this as a list of “the best”, but they certainly are all worthy of our attention.

250. Knocked Up (2007) Directed by Judd Apatow

249. Hell House, LLC. (2015) Directed by Stephen Cognetti

248. Zama (2017) Directed by Lucrecia Martel

247. Signs (2002) Directed by M. Night Shyamalan

246. Coherence (2013) Directed by James Ward Byrkit

245. Edge of Tomorrow (2014) Directed by Doug Liman

244. Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020) Directed by Eliza Hittman

243. Morvern Callar (2002) Directed by Lynne Ramsay

242. The Wrestler (2008) Directed by Darren Aronofsky

241. Somewhere (2010) Directed by Sofia Coppola

Kicking off the countdown with a varied lot, and already proof at how tough of a task this was. Apatow’s comedy was at the forefront of launching a new era of stars, and deserves mention. Hell House is probably the best horror movie most people haven’t heard about. Lucrecia Martel is one of the unique filmmaking voices in the world; Zama being her most recent feature. Coherence and Edge of Tomorrow each take science fiction into new and different directions, both going oh so hard. Hittman is one of my favorite new artists working, and Ramsay has grown into global acclaim; both films turning tender, beautiful eyes toward women’s emotions. Coppola has defined herself away from her family name, Somewhere being her most underrated picture.

240. The Assistant (2020) Directed by Kitty Green

239. The House of the Devil (2009) Directed by Ti West

238. Scarlet Diva (2000) Directed by Asia Argento

237. Two Days, One Night (2014) Directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne

236. Grizzly Man (2005) Directed by Werner Herzog

235. Nickel Boys (2024) Directed by Ramell Ross

234. Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) Directed by Rian Johnson

233. Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) Directed by James Cameron

232. Dogville (2003) Directed by Lars von Trier

231. A Quiet Passion (2016) Directed by Terence Davies

The importance of the #MeToo movement that ran through Hollywood starting in 2017 is still being felt today and hopefully will be forever. Green’s debut feature faces the monster head-on, without ever naming or showing any individual man, proving her point in effective fashion. Argento’s film takes the opposite approach, featuring a blatant character and scene that is as close to reenactment of the many claims made against Harvey Weinstein as you can get. At Cannes 2018, Argento revealed she was, in fact, raped by Weinstein in 1997. Viewing her excellent film now (a Mini-DV masterpiece) reads as an angered shriek for support, and condemns those who saw it and did nothing at the time. Unfortunately, Argento is not the model agent of resistance, as she settled her own accusation of sexual assault against a co-star in court in 2018.

230. Force Majeure (2014) Directed by Ruben Östlund

229. Captain Phillips (2013) Directed by Paul Greengrass

229. Anora (2024) Directed by Sean Baker

227. Hundreds of Beavers (2024) Directed by Mike Cheslik

226. Titane (2021) Directed by Julia Ducournau

225. Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004) Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber

224. Blue is the Warmest Color (2013) Directed by Abdellatif Kechiche

223. RRR (2022) Directed by S. S. Rajamouli

222. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (2022) Directed by Laura Poitras

221. A Most Violent Year (2014) Directed by J.C. Chandor

Fighting off recency bias, but films from 2024 still need representation. We have two in this group, one in the previous, and two more coming up. Tough to say how far up or down they’ll each move over the years, but bunching them into this lower tier feels like the right move for now. There’s no knowing how high Hundreds of Beavers will go for me, personally. Captain Phillips might have the most quoted line of an essentially unquotable movie, meanwhile every line of Dodgeball lives in my head rent free.

220. Nocturama (2016) Directed by Bertrand Bonello

219. All We Imagine as Light (2024) Directed by Payal Kapadia

218. The Duke of Burgundy (2014) Directed by Peter Strickland

217. Crimes of the Future (2022) Directed by David Cronenberg

216. Best in Show (2000) Directed by Christopher Guest

215. Free Solo (2018) Directed by Jimmy Chin & Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi

214. Paranormal Activity (2007) Directed by Oren Peli, & Paranormal Activity 3 (2011) Directed by Ariel Schulman & Henry Joost

213. Challengers (2024) Directed by Luca Guadagnino

212. Unbreakable (2000) Directed by M. Night Shyamalan

211. Tully (2018) Directed by Jason Reitman

You’ll see my first round of cheating here. Paranormal Activity was a word-of-mouth sensation, catapulting its $15,000 budget into a domestic cume of just under $108 million, and launching Jason Blum as a major producer. The series has now seen 7 installments, but none are better than 3, going into prequel mode and leveraging the time-old instincts of, “Oh no, not the kids!”

210. Take Shelter (2011) Directed by Jeff Nichols

209. 20th Century Women (2016) Directed by Mike Mills

208. Sound of Metal (2020) Directed by Darius Marder

207. The Secret World of Arrietty (2010) Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi

206. The Iron Claw (2023) Directed by Sean Durkin

205. Hero (2002) Directed by Zhang Yimou

204. Things to Come (2016) Directed by Mia Hansen-Løve

203. Leave No Trace (2018) Directed by Debra Granik

202. Support the Girls (2018) Directed by Andrew Bujalski

201. The Descendants (2011) Directed by Alexander Payne

A lot of acclaim in this batch that have faded in discussion over time. Take Shelter has one of the best endings on the list, and great performances by Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain. 20th Century Women is a coming of age movie with Mills’ personal spin. Featuring Greta Gerwig in one of her best roles, it makes a winning pair with her own Lady Bird (seen later). The sound design in Sound of Metal is just as good as the emotions inside of it, and Hero uses the most vibrant of colors to light up your eyes and tell its story. Hansen-Løve has complete control over her craft and her stories; her pairing with Isabelle Huppert in 2016 was eye-opening to me.

200. Collateral (2004) Directed by Michael Mann

199. Monsters, Inc. (2001) Directed by Pete Docter

198. The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) Directed by Paul Greengrass

197. Furious 7 (2015) Directed by James Wan

196. Coraline (2009) Directed by Henry Selick

195. Dogtooth (2009) Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos

194. Jennifer’s Body (2009) Directed by Karyn Kusama

193. The Orphanage (2007) Directed by J.A. Bayona

192. Jeepers Creepers (2001) Directed by Victor Salva

191. Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) Directed by Travis Knight

The top 200! How do you not love all of these, right? Michael Mann got Tom Cruise to play a Heavy, and he only needed 6 words to prove it was worth it. Monsters, Inc., Coraline, and Kubo take the journeys of children and each brilliantly tell their stories with fun, adventure, and a touch of fear. Lanthimos brought his weirdo logic and sensibility to the world stage with Dogtooth, and he hasn’t looked back. Kusama and writer, Diablo Cody, made a teen horror classic that never got the chance to reach those heights, failed by Fox’s marketing department the second it was put in front of them. Wan leapt from his horror routes to revive the Fast franchise, and did so with aplomb, while handling the shocking death of Paul Walker with impressive touch and depth. It is the modern era of the franchise at its most pure.

190. Bring it On (2000) Directed by Peyton Reed

189. Knives Out (2019) Directed by Rian Johnson

188. Train to Busan (2016) Directed by Yeon Sang-ho

187. Room (2015) Directed by Lenny Abrahamson

186. Tron: Legacy (2010) Directed by Joseph Kosinski

185. The Love Witch (2016) Directed by Anna Biller

184. Mean Girls (2004) Directed by Mark Waters

183. The Descent (2005) Directed by Neil Marshall

182. Let the Right One In (2008) Directed by Tomas Alfredson

181. Cast Away (2000) Directed by Robert Zemeckis

Some biggies here from a few different eras. Train to Busan is the first zombie movie to ever make me cry, if that tells you anything. Tron: Legacy has no reason being as good as it is, but tells you all you need to know about Kosinski’s future success. We can all admit we think Tina Fey ghost-directed Mean Girls, right? Another group of women go spelunking on this list and what goes down is unforgettable for both us and them. Hanks and Zemeckis found the magic again in 2000, reeling in $429.6 million worldwide, and countless sales of Wilson volleyballs.

180. Fat Girl (2001) Directed by Catherine Breillat

179. Breathe (2014) Directed by Mélanie Laurent

178. A Touch of Sin (2013) Directed by Jia Zhangke

177. American Honey (2016) Directed by Andrea Arnold

176. Pulse (2001) Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa

175. Swiss Army Man (2016) Directed by Daniels

174. The Fits (2015) Directed by Anna Rose Holmer

173. Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé (2019) Directed by Beyoncé & Ed Burke

172. The Martian (2015) Directed by Ridley Scott

171. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010) Directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Beyoncé has been no stranger to movies. Her appearance in Austin Powers in Goldmember is one for the ages. The visual album that she made alongside her release of Lemonade was also a major step forward for her as a storyteller. That impressive knowing of self, and growth as an artist was undeniable by 2019, when Queen B headlined Coachella and subsequently released her documentary, Homecoming. An in depth look inside the mind of one of our time’s most powerful artists, the effort of creating and putting on a standout performance, and the group of human beings committed to her vision.

170. Ash is Purest White (2018) Directed by Jia Zhangke

169. Martin Eden (2019) Directed by Pietro Marcello

168. Certified Copy (2010) Directed by Abbas Kiarostami

167. The Salesman (2016) Directed by Asghar Farhadi

166. Fruitvale Station (2013) Directed by Ryan Coogler

165. The Act of Killing (2012) Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer

164. Widows (2018) Directed by Steve McQueen

163. Birdman (2014) Directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu

162. It Follows (2014) Directed by David Robert Mitchell

161. The Worst Person in the World (2021) Directed by Joachim Trier

A nice group of international favorites, a few Oscar winners, and a modern horror classic. Not to mention Coogler’s feature debut, a painful vision of a life taken far sooner than any should be.

160. The Green Knight (2021) Directed by David Lowery

159. Drive My Car (2021) Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi

158. If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) Directed by Barry Jenkins

157. Columbus (2017) Directed by Kogonada

156. Jackass: The Movie (2002) & Jackass Forever (2022) Directed by Jeff Tremaine

155. Elle (2016) Directed by Paul Verhoeven

154. Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) Directed by Nicholas Stoller

153. Julie & Julia (2009) Directed by Nora Ephron

152. Raw (2016) Directed by Julia Ducournau

151. A History of Violence (2005) Directed by David Cronenberg

The simple beauty of Columbus sits funnily next to the simple chaos of Jackass. Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, and their troupe committed to nut shots and bodily harm are the end-all, be-all of skate video culture, and are in direct communication with the stunt comedy of Buster Keaton. Their first endeavor into theaters, paired with their cheerful return as 40- and 50-year-olds, is the perfect example of how movies can be anything you make of them. Ephron and Ducournau also humorously sit next to each other; one focused on the connection through time of two women cooking food, while the other is the connection of two sisters in college who learn to have an affliction for eating something else.

150. Training Day (2001) Directed by Antoine Fuqua

149. First Cow (2019) Directed by Kelly Reichardt

148. Your Name (2016) Directed by Makoto Shinkai

147. The Town (2010) Directed by Ben Affleck

146. The Fast and the Furious (2001) Directed by Rob Cohen

145. The Conjuring (2013) Directed by James Wan

144. Margaret (Director’s Cut) (2011) Directed by Kenneth Lonergan

143. Love & Basketball (2000) Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood

142. Casino Royale (2006) Directed by Martin Campbell

141. Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) Directed by Guillermo del Toro

I’ll never forget the first trailer for The Town featuring Ben Affleck and his crew of bank robbers in a van dressed as nuns. It’s a perfect cinematic image, as is the pair of skeletons found together at the start of Reichardt’s film, Denzel Washington peacocking in a cul de sac, the body-swapping anime of Your Name, how NOS courses through the veins of Dominic Toretto’s Dodge Charger, two hands appearing out of the dark going clap clap, a bus driver looking out his window away from the road, a game of 1 on 1 in the backyard, a martini sipped at a poker table, and del Toro’s miraculous creature creations.

140. Meek’s Cutoff (2010) Directed by Kelly Reichardt

139. Good Time (2017) Directed by Josh & Benny Safdie

138. Personal Shopper (2016) Directed by Olivier Assayas

137. Inland Empire (2006) Directed by David Lynch

136. The Empty Man (2020) Directed by David Prior

135. The Gleaners and I (2000) Directed by Agnès Varda

134. Trouble Every Day (2001) Directed by Claire Denis

133. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) Directed by Wes Anderson

132. High Life (2018) Directed by Claire Denis

131. Annihilation (2018) Directed by Alex Garland

French cinema is such a major part of the story of the art form, as well as my journey as a film viewer. There are 4 films, by 3 french directors here. Assayas worked with Kristen Stewart twice over 3 years, and found a potent cocktail together with Personal Shopper. Varda is the mother of the French New Wave, but continued making profound cinema until she passed away in 2019. She, in particular, is one of the reasons I don’t want to claim this list as “the best”, because some of her most recent films I still haven’t seen. What she does in Gleaners, though, is a joy. Denis is still active, at 78 years old, and it felt right to include films of hers from both the start of the century and closer to now.

130. May December (2023) Directed by Todd Haynes

129. The Handmaiden (2016) Directed by Park Chan-wook

128. Dark Water (2002) Directed by Hideo Nakata

127. Magic Mike XXL (2015) Directed by Gregory Jacobs

126. Selma (2014) Directed by Ava DuVernay

125. American Psycho (2000) Directed by Mary Harron

124. Poor Things (2023) Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos

123. Miami Vice (2006) Directed by Michael Mann

122. Nightcrawler (2014) Directed by Dan Gilroy

121. The Edge of Seventeen (2016) Directed by Kelly Fremon Craig

What is there to say? The joy of male friendship has never been more beautiful than on the drive from Tampa to Myrtle Beach in Magic Mike XXL, and their dedication to women’s desires equally so. Jada Pinkett Smith should have won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Speaking of Oscars, DuVernay’s fantastic picture was only nominated for Best Picture and Best Song, winning the latter, but becoming a beacon of the Oscars So White movement that began a year later.

120. Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) Directed by Daniels

119. Midnight Special (2016) Directed by Jeff Nichols

118. Brokeback Mountain (2005) Directed by Ang Lee

117. Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen

116. Ad Astra (2019) Directed by James Gray

115. Spirited Away (2001) Directed by Hayao Miyazaki

114. Brooklyn (2015) Directed by John Crowley

113. Mistress America (2015) Directed by Noah Baumbach

112. Finding Nemo (2003) Directed by Andrew Stanton

111. Sideways (2004) Directed by Alexander Payne

One movie running the table at the Oscars always invites a bit of souring, because how could it be that good? I am definitely up to debate some of the wins, but Everything Everywhere All at Once is, without any doubt, an exciting, awesome movie. If you liked A Complete Unknown, could I interest you in Inside Llewyn Davis? A brilliant film of someone being good but never destined to be great. What you remember being good about Finding Nemo is still good now, a great example of a family film that never dumbs itself down to entertain its younger audience members. Sideways would drown itself in Napa’s finest wine before dumbing down for anyone.

110. Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) Directed by Christopher McQuarrie

109. Jackie (2016) Directed by Pablo Larrain

108. Little Women (2019) Directed by Greta Gerwig

107. Creed (2015) Directed by Ryan Coogler

106. Stories We Tell (2012) Directed by Sarah Polley

105. Borat (2006) Directed by Larry Charles

104. Wall-E (2008) Directed by Andrew Stanton

103. Queen of Earth (2015) Directed by Alex Ross Perry

102. Top Gun: Maverick (2022) Directed by Joseph Kosinski

101. Bridesmaids (2011) Directed by Paul Feig

Fallout easily goes down as one of the best action movies of last decade, only edged out by the few to come ahead. The past breathes into the present in a lot of this group. Gerwig cemented herself as a voice to be heard with her gorgeous adaptation of Louis May Alcott’s novel. The same can be said for Coogler and his vision for Creed. Polley’s film is bold, digging into her family’s past through interview and reenactment. And Kosinski returns here with the jaw-dropping spectacle that was Maverick, only 36 years after the original. Every scene in Bridesmaids should be put in the Louvre.

100. John Wick (2014) Directed by Chad Stahelski

99. Spider-Man 2 (2004) Directed by Sam Raimi

98. A Star is Born (2018) Directed by Bradley Cooper

97. Her (2013) Directed by Spike Jonze

96. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011) Directed by Brad Bird

95. Sleeping With Other People (2015) Directed by Leslye Headland

94. Paddington (2014) Directed by Paul King

93. TÁR (2022) Directed by Todd Field

92. Midsommar (2019) Directed by Ari Aster

91. The Tree of Life (2011) Directed by Terrence Malick

100! I hope you’re still with me! Everything from here on out is a certified banger, so to quote Samuel L. Jackson, “Hold on to your butts.” John Wick reignited the icon that is Keanu Reeves, and established a new generation of mainstream action filmmaking. Sleeping With Other People is the Millenial When Harry Met Sally and I will continue to fight for its recognition as such. Ghost Protocol is the one where Ethan Hunt climbs up the outside of the Burj Khalifa, if you were trying to remember. I love Paddington, and you should too.

90. The Lost City of Z (2016) Directed by James Gray

89. I’m thinking of ending things (2020) Directed by Charlie Kaufman

88. They Came Together (2014) Directed by David Wain

87. Hereditary (2018) Directed by Ari Aster

86. Bamboozled (2000) Directed by Spike Lee

85. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) Directed by Adam McKay

84. Phoenix (2014) Directed by Christian Petzold

83. All is Lost (2013) Directed by J.C. Chandor

82. The Souvenir (2019) Directed by Joanna Hogg

81. School of Rock (2003) Directed by Richard Linklater

The Wain brand of comedy is specific and learned. Most might know his work from Wet Hot American Summer. What’s accomplished in They Came Together feels like a miracle, though. Bamboozled takes industry satire and twists into itself over and over again until all of the bones turn to dust. Phoenix is a ghostly thriller of shifting identity with a final scene to crush you. If you don’t know about Anchorman and School of Rock and you made it this far, let’s take a pause and go enjoy yourself. Joan Cusack singing The Edge of Seventeen and sipping a beer is, to be frank, cinema.

80. The Incredibles (2004) Directed by Brad Bird

79. The Others (2001) Directed by Alejandro Amenábar

78. Gravity (2013) Directed by Alfonso Cuarón

77. Toy Story 3 (2010) Directed by Lee Unkrich

76. Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019) Directed by Quentin Tarantino

75. Ex Machina (2014) Directed by Alex Garland

74. Spotlight (2015) Directed by Tom McCarthy

73. Step Brothers (2008) Directed by Adam McKay

72. Black Swan (2010) Directed by Darren Aronofsky

71. Almost Famous (2000) Directed by Cameron Crowe

The Others is probably the least seen of this bunch, but Nicole Kidman is excellent in it, and the film works even beyond its twists. Back to my prior point about picking favorites, particularly when a director’s filmography is full of great choices, my appreciation for Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time has only grown since its release and stands as a major achievement in his career.

70. Up in the Air (2009) Directed by Jason Reitman

69. The Invitation (2015) Directed by Karyn Kusama

68. Paddington 2 (2017) Directed by Paul King

67. Superbad (2007) Directed by Greg Mottola

66. Atonement (2007) Directed by Joe Wright

65. Magic Mike (2012) Directed by Steven Soderbergh

64. A Separation (2011) Directed by Asghar Farhadi

63. Avatar (2009) Directed by James Cameron

62. Lincoln (2012) Directed by Steven Spielberg

61. Steve Jobs (2015) Directed by Danny Boyle

Two of the most rousing examples of biopic sit at the bottom here, and rightly so. A genre that can become trite, full of caricature, or just plain boring, but with the right touch and point of view can easily fill you with excitement. Spielberg & Daniel Day-Lewis, and Boyle & Michael Fassbender dive deep and come out successful. James Cameron proved his doubters wrong again with Avatar, and still faces doubts upon each new release. Paddington 2, Superbad, and Magic Mike are all major aspects of my personality, they carry more weight than any number here.

60. La La Land (2016) Directed by Damien Chazelle

59. Memoria (2021) Apichatpong Weerasethakul

58. Uncut Gems (2019) Directed by Josh and Benny Safdie

57. Moneyball (2011) Directed by Bennett Miller

56. No Country for Old Men (2007) Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen

55. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) Directed by Peter Jackson

54. Open Water (2003) Directed by Chris Kentis

53. Zero Dark Thirty (2012) Directed by Kathryn Bigelow

52. Burning (2018) Directed by Lee Chang-dong

51. Call Me By Your Name (2017) Directed by Luca Guadagnino

How can you not be romantic about listing movies, am I right? You either love Moneyball or you don’t. And I love Moneyball. The Safdie brothers put Adam Sandler’s money on the line and all of us in the audience immediately hit it big. Return of the King is the finale of all finales– complaints of having too many endings be damned. A stunning accomplishment cherished by so many. Another micro-budget legend, I watched Open Water on my laptop in my childhood bedroom when I was 19 and it was the sweatiest I’ve ever been.

50. Interstellar (2014) Directed by Christopher Nolan

49. Oldboy (2003) Directed by Park Chan-wook

48. The Hurt Locker (2009) Directed by Kathryn Bigelow

47. Shoplifters (2018) Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda

46. Memories of Murder (2003) Directed by Bong Joon-ho

45. Gone Girl (2014) Directed by David Fincher

44. Michael Clayton (2007) Directed by Tony Gilroy

43. Children of Men (2006) Directed by Alfonso Cuarón

42. The Babadook (2014) Directed by Jennifer Kent

41. The Irishman (2019) Directed by Martin Scorsese

If you like Fincher’s Zodiac, Memories of Murder should be on your list immediately. If you like found family and eventually getting hit in the chest with a sledgehammer, Shoplifters should be on your list immediately. If you like revenge and were particularly interested in the weird family relationships from Game of Thrones, let me introduce you to Oldboy. All of these movies are so good, holy shit.

40. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) Directed by Celine Sciamma

39. The New World (Director’s Cut) (2005) Directed by Terrence Malick

38. Donnie Darko (2001) Directed by Richard Kelly

37. Unstoppable (2010) Directed by Tony Scott

36. The Florida Project (2017) Directed by Sean Baker

35. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) Directed by Steven Spielberg

34. Whiplash (2014) Directed by Damien Chazelle

33. Manchester by the Sea (2016) Directed by Kenneth Lonergan

32. Birth (2004) Directed by Jonathan Glazer

31. Get Out (2017) Directed by Jordan Peele

Sciamma sets the synapses on fire with her indelible romance. Malick’s poetic cinema hits some of its highest peaks during The New World. Donnie Darko is probably the only movie I’ve made the conscious choice to watch twice in one day. Unstoppable is a work of hair-raising thrills by the late Tony Scott, who shoots the ever living hell out of his runaway train masterpiece. Sean Baker– who we’ll be seeing a lot of this coming awards season– made magic with a group of child and first-time actors at an Orlando motel. One of our most legendary directors stepped in to complete the project of a mentor and friend, bringing childlike wonder and his patented familial baggage along with him, and daring us not to care about the robot boy who wants to be loved. Lonergan writes life like no one else, dropping a cloud to eye level and slowly poking holes through it so you can appreciate the light. Birth is Glazer’s most unsung film, so of course it’s my favorite. A hysterical shock and another committed Kidman performance. At the turn of 2020, I made a list of the best movies of the 2010’s. Whiplash was not on that list. Upon further review, that list is cool, but wrong. Whiplash is great; Whiplash rules. Get Out transitioned a comedy staple into a must-watch new filmmaker, and provided one of the perfect salves for an uneasy time.

30. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) Directed by Quentin Tarantino

29. Sicario (2015) Directed by Denis Villeneuve

28. A Ghost Story (2017) Directed by David Lowery

27. Past Lives (2023) Directed by Celine Song

26. Ocean’s Eleven (2001) Directed by Steven Soderbergh

25. Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) Directed by Martin Scorsese

24. Arrival (2016) Directed by Denis Villeneuve

23. Holy Motors (2012) Directed by Leos Carax

22. First Reformed (2017) Directed by Paul Schrader

21. Lost in Translation (2003) Directed by Sofia Coppola

All of these, at one point or another, held my top spot of their respective year of release. Let’s talk about some spoiler-free endings. I’m a sucker for Kill Bill and Uma Thurman’s Bride taking on The Crazy 88 still goes down as one of the best scenes of the century. If you want to feel small in relation to the expanse of time, A Ghost Story will do that and more. Connected through time and the internet, Song’s feature debut walks her characters back along a physical timeline, to leave the past in the past and move on. Soderbergh’s comedown after an adrenaline-fueled heist sequence intercuts a final moment between George Clooney and Julia Roberts, while the titular Eleven stand in admiration of the Bellagio fountain show, each drifting away one at a time like the water evaporating into the air. The best movie of 2023, Scorsese takes the final scene of his Killers to refocus on who his story is actually about, and why he chose to make it before someone else did. Villeneuve has sky-rocketed over the last decade and a half into the conversation as one of the great technocratic directors working. Sicario and Arrival coming in back to back years point to a filmmaker still interested in humans and this Earth, before getting consumed in the stars and sands of Arrakis. The less said about Holy Motors, the better. It’s filmmaking and acting at electric levels, and you will never know what to expect. Go in open-minded and you will leave rewarded. American film legend, Paul Schrader, kicked off a late-career resurgence of popularity with his Ethan Hawke-starring character study, pitting a man of faith against environmentalism. I won’t tell you who comes out on top, but it’s a conclusion as visceral as any on this list. The end of Lost in Translation has been studied and debated from the moment Coppola debuted it. What did they say to each other on that crowded Tokyo street? We don’t know, because the words don’t matter. Look into their eyes and you know just how they feel.

20. Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003) Tsai Ming-liang

19. Lady Bird (2017) Directed by Greta Gerwig

18. In the Mood For Love (2000) Directed by Wong Kar-wai

17. The VVitch (2015) Directed by Robert Eggers

16. The Dark Knight (2008) Directed by Christopher Nolan

15. Moonlight (2016) Directed by Barry Jenkins

14. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) Directed by Peter Jackson

13. Parasite (2019) Directed by Bong Joon-ho

12. Crouching Tiger, HIdden Dragon (2000) Directed by Ang Lee

11. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) Directed by Michel Gondry

To prepare for this list, I’ve been watching movies all year, trying to catch up with as many holes in my watchlist as possible. 2 of those films have made it into the top 20. Maybe it’s recency bias, but it doesn’t matter. Goodbye, Dragon Inn immediately swept me up into its magic, depicting a movie theater on its final day of operation; a reminder to cherish each time you sit in a theater and the lights get low, as you commune not just with the film in front of you, but with the echoes of cinema from all of time. Gerwig’s directorial debut is a coming-of-age masterpiece, featuring blazing dialogue and a top-tier cast delivering on every emotion she asks of them. Lady Bird, it’s the TITULAR role. Wong is another director whose filmography I need to continue to explore. His In the Mood for Love has carried me for quite some time, though, as a romance that never gets its chance to bloom. Eggers’ pension for period-accurate detail and dialogue matched perfectly with the rustic, New England horror of The VVitch, a simple, frightening tale of evil in the woods. The first installment of Jackson’s world-renowned trilogy is still the best, there’s not much else to say, except… What about second breakfast? Two more darlings of Asian cinema follow up next, and you’d have to think the barriers knocked down by Lee at the start of the century had a direct correlation to the whirlwind awards season rise and ultimately the Best Picture-awarding of Bong’s film in 2020. When a Charlie Kaufman script finds a director on its perfect wavelength, there are few things better in all of movies. Gondry brings so much visual flair to this lo-fi science fiction break-up movie, alongside career-best performances by Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet.

On to the top 10!

10. 25th Hour (2002) Directed by Spike Lee

The newest watch for me is right here, and what a revelation it was. Lee’s film, with screenplay by David Benioff (of Game of Thrones and married to Amanda Peet fame), is beyond compare to anything else on this list, or ever made. A post-9/11 movie, set in Manhattan; you can see the open wounds of the city just barely starting to heal. People returned to their daily lives, but most are not the same. Edward Norton is a drug dealer, living out his final day of freedom before having to report to prison. He walks around the city with his dog, meets his dad for dinner at his father’s Irish pub, and eventually goes out with his girlfriend and two best friends. What Lee does in the gaps of all of those words and actions is where the movie lives, though. The immensity of living, shrink-wrapped into a single day; splattered with the mantras and hypocrisies of the red, white, & blue, as Spike does better than anyone else.

9. The Master (2012) Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

A lost soul drifting through a post-war America comes upon a new mission he can commit his loyalty to. Even trying to whittle The Master into a simple sentence like that feels like a disservice to the experience it provides once you give yourself into its clutches. Anderson, with a career of incredibly well-written and distinct characters, might have reached his apex in the skill here, with a large cast of people who feel as real as they do from another planet. Managing to pair Hoffman alongside Joaquin Phoenix in a battle of control is a feat in itself and their performances together can easily go down as one of the great romances of the century. Amy Adams, also balancing devotion with an ear for power, is as good as she’s ever been, just to put the cherry on top.

8. Synecdoche, New York (2008) Directed by Charlie Kaufman

3 straight movies with Phillip Seymour Hoffman to kick off the top 10? That sentiment alone should tell you just how much of an impact this actor had on the form and the filmmakers who defined it over these past 25 years. Kaufman takes the plight of the artist and just being human in general and contorts it like Nolan did to the buildings in Inception. They take the line between art and reality and slowly dissolve it until we are all just living the lie so long that it becomes the only truth left. Death is just a doorway to another existence, or there’s nothing. Do with life what you want of it.

7. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) Directed by George Miller

Miller’s return to the Wasteland is the ultimate spectacle. The engines roaring; the dust floating; the war boys and pole cats flying; a woman, determined to free other women before decades are lost to the abuse of their ruler, goes behind the wheel and owns every foot of the desert that lay ahead of them. Imagination and practical filmmaking combined at the highest of levels. One of the greatest action pictures of all time.

6. Phantom Thread (2017) Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

When it was announced that PTA’s upcoming film would feature Daniel Day-Lewis as a clothing designer, I can’t say I expected it to be my favorite movie of 2017, but knowing the talent behind and in front of the camera it would be something well worth viewing. As it goes for Anderson’s filmography, Phantom Thread is much more than what meets the eye, though the visuals and the costume design are absolutely magnificent, and the introduction of Vicky Krieps to the world stage takes what might have been a stuffy drama and turns it into a deliciously kinky romantic comedy. Think twice before you ask for mushrooms in your omelette.

5. Frances Ha (2012) Directed by Noah Baumbach

You’re in your late-20’s, living in Manhattan, with things you know you want to do, but no money to do them. The place you think will give you work can’t afford to keep you, and your best friend decides to move in with her boyfriend who you hate because he wears pre-distressed hats and says shit like, “I gotta take a leak.” Crumbling isn’t an option, so living each day to the best that you can is. Maybe you are undateable, and you spent all your credit to go to Paris for a weekend, only to sleep off your jet lag for the majority of the trip. You’re also just a person, trying to maintain the connections to the people you care about most. Eventually something will go your way, and those people will show up for you. You’ll look across the room and make eye contact with them, no words needed to know what you want to say and hear. You’re my best friend. You’re my best friend, too.

4. The Social Network (2010) Directed by David Fincher

We thought we knew it all back in 2010. The Social Network debuted as rollicking telling of the dawn of the social media age and the complicated whiz-kid who made it. As each passing year goes by, the film more and more reveals itself to have had its finger on the dark pulse of what’s come to pass in the 15 years since. Social equity and self worth hinged to a profile and the “likes” you can generate. A digital shield to cover those unwilling to exist in the real world. A Harvard brat making decisions of what to do with the information of billions of people. We didn’t know shit.

3. Before Sunset (2004) & Before Midnight (2013) Directed by Richard Linklater

When Jesse and Celine left each other on that Vienna train platform in 1994, it was only a gap of 6 months that they agreed upon to meet again at the same place. Before Sunrise was just a really good movie, with a hopeful, elliptical ending. 9 years later, Linklater, Hawke, and Julie Delpy picked up the pen to see what would unfold, and it’s nothing short of perfection. Jesse, in Venice promoting his novel that just might be based off of their star-crossed meeting, bumps into Celine and they proceed to spend another day together, this time with 9 years of questions, confusion, and what-could-have-been’s all pent up inside of them. When Sunset ends, it feels like a worthy culmination for two people who have spent a collective ~30 hours together total in their lives, but are connected far deeper than that. So of course, 9 years later we catch up with them again, in Midnight. Now middle-aged and married with children, what does such a golden-coated relationship look and feel like now that 30 hours has become 3,285 days. What happens when passion fades and partnership remains. These films stand on their own, greatly at that, but their feeling and complexion deepen to amazing depths when paired together. The achievement of Linklater alongside his actors and co-writers is of deep importance to me.

2. Carol (2015) Directed by Todd Haynes

When Carol Aird (Cate Blanchett) mistakenly left her gloves behind at a department store, she probably thought nothing of it. When Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara) provides an utmost kindness by finding her address and mailing her the gloves back, she was only thinking it was the right thing to do. The staging and elegance of Haynes’ romantic masterpiece guides you into this grainy New York winter, letting you fall for the bond between these two women as they do for each other. From performances, to cinematography, to score, to editing, it is a perfect film. Two women denied their desires due to the expectations of their gender, uncared for by the men in their lives, finding affection within each other to finally feel the warmth of another’s touch.

“Tell me you know what you’re doing.” “I don’t… I never did.”

1. Mulholland Drive (2001) Directed by David Lynch

What Carol does to the heart, Mulholland Drive does to the mind. The greatest example of how a film can evolve each time you view it. One night it will be about dreams; the next is a neo-noir about the perils of Hollywood; and the following is a beautiful relationship squandered in the pursuit of greatness. No other film changes upon each return to its transfixing ways, as you fall deeper and deeper into the blue box. Within that structure of storytelling are enough flights of fancy to make your head spin, but it’s all a part of the design, grounding you through the powerhouse performance of Naomi Watts. A Canadian girl venturing out on her own into the California sun, rays of light beaming off of her face, blinding her eyes to demons unknown. Lynch doesn’t explain his movies and his movies don’t explain themselves. He provides the images and sounds, and your brain can do the rest. I just can’t think of any purer use of this medium than that. SILENCIO!