Shared Top Border

They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?

  WebTSPDT

[ Home ] [ Directors A-L ] [ Directors M-Z ] [ 1,000 Greatest Films ] [ 21st Century ] [ Film Noir ] [ Ain't Nobody's Blues ] [ Recommended Viewing ] [ About ] [ Links ]
 
     
  The 21st Century's Most Acclaimed Films Ranking (101-150)  
  21st Century Home  Summary:  The 250 Films  The Top 50 Directors  Browse by Ranking:  1-50  51-100  101-150  151-200  201-250  Previous Titles  
     
     
 
101 102 103
About Schmidt
Alexander Payne  (98)
2002, 125m, Col, USA, Drama-Comedy
Jack Nicholson, Hope Davis, Dermot Mulroney, Kathy Bates, June Squibb, Howard Hesseman, Len Cariou, Harry Groener, Connie Ray, Mark Venhuizen
"What gives About Schmidt its ultimate boost, what pushes it into the stirring heavens is Nicholson, who produces the most understated -– and one of the most powerful –- performances of his career." - Desson Thomson, Washington Post
Selected by John Powers, Kenneth Turan, Richard Schickel, Gerald Peary, David Ansen.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
In the Bedroom
Todd Field  (93)
2001, 130m, Col, USA, Drama
Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkinson, Nick Stahl, Marisa Tomei, William Mapother, William Wise, Celia Weston, Karen Allen, Frank T. Wells, W. Clapham Murray
"The compositions, the editing, the lighting, the sound, the music: everything seems meticulously considered, conjuring up a hushed intimacy that instantly sucks you in." - David Ansen, Newsweek
Selected by Richard Schickel, Kenneth Turan, Owen Gleiberman, Roger Ebert, Carrie Rickey.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Atanarjuat
Zacahrias Kunuk  (94)
• The Fast Runner (alternative title); Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (alternative title)
2000, 172m, Col, Canada, Drama
Natar Ungalaaq, Sylvia Ivalu, Peter Henry Arnatsiaq, Lucy Tulugarjuk, Madeleine Ivalu, Pauloosie Quilitalik, Eugene Ipkarnak, Pakak Innuksuk, Neeve Irngaut, Abraham Ulayuruluk
"Nearly three hours long, and deliberately paced at that, this first feature ever in the Inuit language is a demanding experience. But the rewards for those who risk the journey are simply extraordinary." - Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
Selected by Kenneth Turan, Gerald Peary, Ty Burr, John Powers, A.O. Scott.
Amazon  Metacritic
         

         
104 105 106
My Winnipeg
Guy Maddin  (103)
2007, 80m, Col-BW, Canada-USA, Drama
Darcy Fehr, Ann Savage, Amy Stewart, Louis Negin, Brendan Cade, Wesley Cade, Lou Profeta, Fred Dunsmore, Kate Yacula, Jacelyn Lobay
"This haunting phantasmagoria of a film -- comic, singular, surreal -- is not only something no one but the Canadian director could have made, it's also a film no one else would have even wanted to make. Which is the heart of its appeal." - Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
Selected by Roger Ebert, Sukhdev Sandhu, Jonathan Romney, Piers Handling, Geoff Andrew.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Traffic
Steven Soderbergh  (101)
2000, 147m, Col, Germany-USA, Drama-Crime
Michael Douglas, Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro, Luis Guzman, Dennis Quaid, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Steven Bauer, Erika Christensen, Amy Irving, Tomas Milian
"It's a thriller that really thrills, a drama that really engages, a portrait of a world and system out of joint that is painfully convincing and totally engrossing from the first simmering minute to the last explosive second." - Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
Selected by Cameron Crowe, Owen Gleiberman, Michael Wilmington, David Sterritt, David Edelstein.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Up
Pete Docter  (115)
2009, 96m, Col, USA, Animated-Adventure-Comedy
Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai, Bob Peterson, Delroy Lindo, Jerome Ranft, John Ratzenberger, David Kaye, Elie Docter, Jeremy Leary
"Rarely has any film, let alone an animated one powered by the logic of dream and fantasy, been able to move so successfully -- and so effortlessly -- through so many different kinds of cinematic territory." - Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
Selected by Kenneth Turan, Glenn Kenny, Peter Keough, David Denby, Michael Atkinson.
Amazon  Metacritic
         
         
 
         
         
107 108 109
Saraband
Ingmar Bergman  (102)
2003, 120m, Col, Sweden-Denmark-Norway, Drama
Liv Ullmann, Erland Josephson, Borje Ahlstedt, Julia Dufvenius, Gunnel Fred
"With Saraband, the great writer-director has stepped back into the ring for one last epic wrestle with his demons. There is, as always, no easy outcome. But no one ever fought for higher emotional and spiritual stakes." - David Ansen, Newsweek
Selected by Joseph McBride, Geoff Andrew, Raymond Bellour, Gilbert Adair, Arnaud Desplechin.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
The Man Without a Past
Aki Kaurismäki  (107)
• Mies vailla menneisyyttä (original title)
2002, 97m, Col, Finland-Germany-France, Romance-Drama-Comedy
Markku Peltola, Kati Outinen, Juhani Niemela, Annikki Tahti, Kaija Pakarinen, Sakari Kuosmanen, Esko Nikkari, Outi Maenpaa, Pertti Sveholm, Anneli Sauli
"Kaurismäki is Finland's greatest filmmaker, and never has he more artfully balanced his patented blend of deadpan humor, low-key melodrama, and toe-tapping music." - David Sterritt, Christian Science Monitor
Selected by Peter von Bagh, Vivian Sobchack, David Sterritt, Chris Fuijiwara, A.O. Scott.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Shrek
Andrew Adamson & Vicky Jenson  (111)
2001, 90m, Col, USA-France, Animated-Fantasy-Comedy
Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, John Lithgow, Vincent Cassel, Peter Dennis, Clive Pearse, Jim Cummings, Bobby Block, Michael Galasso
"It is the hilarious business of Shrek, a delightful new animated feature based on the William Steig book, to subvert all the well-worn expectations of its genre." - Richard Schickel, Time
Selected by A.O. Scott, Carrie Rickey, Richard Schickel, Dave Kehr, Kenneth Turan.
Amazon  Metacritic
         

         
110 111 112
In Praise of Love
Jean-Luc Godard  (104)
• Éloge de l'amour (original title)
2001, 97m, Col-BW, France, Drama
Bruno Putzulu, Cecile Camp, Claude Baignieres, Jean Davy, Francoise Verny, Audrey Klebaner, Jeremie Lippman, Remo Forlani, Mark Hunter, Philippe Loyrette
"Like most Godard, it can be watched repeatedly, always yielding new secrets and beauties. Most profound of all, perhaps, are those incredible black-and-white images of Paris." - Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
Selected by Ann Hui, Amy Taubin, Richard Brody, Bill Krohn, James Quandt.
See also: 1,000 Greatest Films
Amazon  Metacritic
 
35 Shots of Rum
Claire Denis  (106)
• 35 rhums (original title)
2000, 89m, Col, Portugal-France, Drama-Comedy
Alex Descas, Mati Diop, Nicole Dogue, Gregoire Colin, Jean-Christophe Folly, Djedje Apali, Eriq Ebouaney, Ingrid Caven, Stephane Pocrain, Julieth Mars Toussaint
"For 20 years, Claire Denis has been among France's foremost filmmakers with her acute yet subtle observations of the ebbs and flows within relationships. Her perception and understanding seem to grow only richer over the years, and her newest film, 35 Shots of Rum, is surely one of her finest -- and thereby one of the best films of the year." - Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
Selected by Amy Taubin, Berenice Reynaud, Kent Jones, John Powers, Daryl Chin.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Colossal Youth
Pedro Costa  (108)
• Juventude Em Marcha (original title)
2006, 155m, Col, France-Portugal-Switzerland, Drama
Ventura, Vanda Duarte, Beatriz Duarte, Gustavo Sumpta, Cila Cardoso, Isabel Cardoso, Alberto 'Lento' Barros, Antonio Semedo, Paulo Nunes, Jose Maria Pina
"Beautifully photographed, this elliptical, sometime confounding, often mysterious and wholly beguiling mixture of fiction and nonfiction looks and sounds as if it were made on another planet. And, in some respects, it was." - Manohla Dargis, New York Times
Selected by Dennis Lim, Richard Brody, Bill Krohn, Thom Andersen, Jia Zhangke.
Amazon  IMDB
         

         
113 114 115
Silent Light
Carlos Reygadas  (110)
• Stellet licht (original title)
2007, 136m, Col, Mexico-France-Netherlands, Drama
Cornelio Wall, Miriam Toews, Maria Pankratz, Peter Wall, Elisabeth Wall, Jacobo Klassen, Irma Thiessen, Alfredo Thiessen, Daniel Thiessen, Autghe Loewen
"This is a deeply considered, formally accomplished, beautiful-looking and unexpectedly gripping film from a director making a giant leap into the first rank of world cinema." - Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
Selected by Roger Ebert, Michael Atkinson, Laurence Kardish, Piers Handling, Steve Erickson.
Amazon  Reverse Shot
 
The Fog of War
Errol Morris  (123)
• The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (alternative title)
2003, 107m, Col, USA, Documentary
Robert McNamara, Errol Morris
"Errol Morris may have been put on earth to make The Fog of War, a stunning portrait of Robert S. McNamara that closes a year of outstanding nonfiction movies on a high note." - Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
Selected by Joseph McBride, Phillip Lopate, Berenice Reynaud, Stephen Holden, Scott Tobias.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
The Artist
Michel Hazanavicius  new  
2011, 100m, BW, France-Belgium, Romance-Comedy-Drama
Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell, Penelope Ann Miller, Missi Pyle, Beth Grant, Ed Lauter, Joel Murray, Bitsie Tulloch
"Michael Hazanavicius's love letter to classic cinema isn't perfect but it's close enough to make just about anyone who sees it ridiculously happy - and that includes children and grown-ups who have never come across a silent film." - Ty Burr, The Boston Globe
Selected by Peter Bradshaw, Philip French, Kenneth Turan, Marshall Fine, Richard Corliss.
Amazon  Metacritic
         

         
116 117 118
Goodbye, Dragon Inn
Tsai Ming-liang  (109)
• Bu san (original title)
2003, 82m, Col, Taiwan, Drama-Comedy
Kang-Sheng Lee, Shiang-chyi Chen, Kiyonobu Mitamura, Tien Miao, Chun Shih, Chao-Jung Chen, Kuei-Mei Yang
"Has a quiet, cumulative magic, whose source is hard to identify. Its simple, meticulously composed frames are full of mystery and feeling; it's an action movie that stands perfectly still." - A.O. Scott, New York Times
Selected by Daryl Chin, Dennis Lim, Philip French, Chris Chang, Stig Bjorkman.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Vera Drake
Mike Leigh  (118)
2004, 125m, Col, UK-France, Drama
Imelda Staunton, Philip Davis, Peter Wright, Eddie Marsan, Alex Kelly, Daniel Mays, Sally Hawkins, Adrian Scarborough, Heather Craney, Ruth Sheen
"Vera Drake puts the passion in compassion. Building up to a shattering conclusion, Leigh's movie is both outrageously schematic and powerfully humanist." - J. Hoberman, Village Voice
Selected by Roger Ebert, Michael Wilmington, Richard Schickel, John Anderson, Kenneth Turan.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
The White Ribbon
Michael Haneke  (117)
• Das Weisse Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte (original title)
2009, 144m, BW, Austria-Germany-France-Italy, Crime-Drama-Mystery
Christian Friedel, Ernst Jacobi, Leonie Benesch, Ulrich Tukur, Ursina Lardi, Fion Mutert, Michael Kranz, Burghart Klaubner, Steffi Kuhnert, Maria-Victoria Dragus
"Detailed yet oblique, leisurely but compelling, perfectly cast and irreproachably acted, the movie has a seductively novelistic texture complete with a less-than-omniscient narrator." - J. Hoberman, Village Voice
Selected by Geoff Andrew, Piers Handling, David Denby. Berenice Reynaud, David Ehrenstein.
Amazon  Metacritic
         

         
119 120 121
The Aviator
Martin Scorsese  (113)
2004, 170m, Col-BW, Germany-USA, Drama-Biography
Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C. Reilly, Alec Baldwin, Alan Alda, Ian Holm, Danny Huston, Gwen Stefani, Jude Law
"If you didn't know that Martin Scorsese made The Aviator, the enthralling new adventure-biography of Howard Hughes, you might think it was the calling card of a neophyte visual genius." - Michael Sragow, Baltimore Sun
Selected by Jeanine Basinger, Richard Schickel, Kent Jones, Carrie Rickey, Roger Ebert.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Hunger
Steve McQueen  (129)
2008, 96m, Col, UK-Ireland, Drama-Historical
Michael Fassbender, Stuart Graham, Helena Bereen, Larry Cowan, Liam Cunningham, Dennis McCambridge, Liam McMahon, Laine Megaw, Brian Milligan, Rory Mullen
"Hunger is extreme cinema for an extreme subject. It is outstandingly made; long wordless sequences are composed with judgment and flair and expository dialogue scenes are confidently positioned. It surely confirms McQueen as a real film-maker." - Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
Selected by David Sterritt, Nick James, Graham Fuller, Gerald Peary, Dennis Lim.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Munich
Steven Spielberg  (114)
2005, 160m, Col, USA, Drama-Historical-Thriller
Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Geoffrey Rush, Ciaran Hinds, Mathieu Kassovitz, Hanns Zischler, Ayelet Zorer, Gila Almagor, Michel Lonsdale, Mathieu Amalric
"A superbly taut and well-made thriller that jumps from Geneva to Rome, from Paris to Beirut, from Athens to Brooklyn, each lethal assignment staged with a mastery Hitchcock might envy." - David Ansen, Newsweek
Selected by Owen Gleiberman, Armond White, Roger Ebert, Ty Burr, Michael Wilmington.
Amazon  Metacritic
         

         
122 123 124
The Dark Knight
Christopher Nolan  (112)
2008, 152m, Col, USA-UK, Action-Crime-Thriller
Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Monique Gabriela Curnen, Ron Dean, Cillian Murphy
"Beyond dark. It's as black -- and teeming and toxic -- as the mind of the Joker. Batman Begins, the 2005 film that launched Nolan's series, was a mere five-finger exercise. This is the full symphony." - Richard Corliss, Time
Selected by Matt Singer, Nick Schager, Scott Tobias, Nathan Rabin, Noel Murray.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
The Holy Girl
Lucrecia Martel  (116)
• La Niña santa (original title)
2004, 103m, Col, Argentina-Spain-Italy-Netherlands-Switzerland, Drama
Mercedes Moran, Carlos Belloso, Alejandro Urdapilleta, Maria Alche, Julieta Zylberberg, Mia Maestro, Marta Lubos, Arturo Goetz, Alejo Mango, Monica Villa
"A subtle artist and a sharp observer, Martel manages a large cast with an ease that matches her skill at storytelling, within which psychological insight and social comment flow easily and implicitly." - Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
Selected by Raymond Bellour, Jonathan Romney, Phillip Lopate, Nick James, Kent Jones,
Amazon  Metacritic
 
The Descendants
Alexander Payne  new  
2011, 115m, Col, USA, Comedy-Drama
George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, Nick Krause, Patricia Hastie, Grace A. Cruz, Kim Gennaula, Karen Kuioka Hironaga, Carmen Kaichi, Kaui Hart Hemmings
"Expertly mixing tears and laughs with the sort of alchemy not seen since Terms of Endearment, this superbly written, directed, acted, and yes, Oscar-friendly movie perfectly captures the blackly comic insanity that can overtake a family forced to confront an impending death." - Lou Lumenick, The New York Post
Selected by Owen Gleiberman, Todd McCarthy, Glenn Kenny, Marshall Fine, David Denby.
Amazon  Metacritic
         

         
125 126 127
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Peter Weir  (121)
2003, 138m, Col, USA, Drama-Adventure-Action
Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany, Billy Boyd, James D'Arcy, Chris Larkin, Lee Ingleby, George Innes, Mark Lewis Jones, Richard McCabe, Robert Pugh
"As magnificent as a high-masted 19th-century British warship, as explosive as a Napoleonic-era ocean battle seen above the cannon's mouth... probably the best movie of its kind ever made." - Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
Selected by Michael Wilmington, Michael Sragow, Ty Burr, Roger Ebert, J. Hoberman.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Time Out
Laurent Cantet  (120)
• L'Emploi du temps (original title)
2001, 134m, Col, France, Drama
Aurelien Recoing, Karin Viard, Serge Livrozet, Jean-Pierre Mangeot, Monique Mangeot, Nicholas Kalsch, Marie Cantet, Felix Cantet, Olivier Le Joubioux, Maxime Sassier
"There's piercing sadness, and fury, too, in this Everyman's isolation, and Cantet is singularly skilled at evoking the universal condition of such tragic ordinariness." - Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
Selected by John Anderson, Dave Kehr, John Powers, Kenneth Turan, Chris Fujiwara.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
The Piano Teacher
Michael Haneke  (119)
• La Pianiste (original title)
2001, 130m, Col, Austria-France-Germany, Drama
Isabelle Huppert, Benoit Magimel, Annie Girardot, Susanne Lothar, Udo Samel, Anna Sigalevitch, Cornelia Kongden, Thomas Weinhappel, Georg Friedrich, Philipp Heiss
"At once an emotional thriller and a domestic horror movie -- a woman's picture with a vengeance, in which the bloodletting is kept to a minimum, and ends up all the more powerful and profound for it." - Manohla Dargis, LA Weekly
Selected by John Waters, Michael Atkinson, Manohla Dargis, Ernest Hardy, Scott Foundas.
Amazon  Metacritic
         

         
128 129 130
Together
Lukas Moodysson  (122)
• Tillsammans (original title)
2000, 106m, Col, Sweden-Denmark-Italy, Drama-Comedy
Lisa Lindgren, Gustaf Hammarsten, Michael Nyqvist, Emma Samuelsson, Sam Kessel, Anja Lundqvist, Jessica Liedberg, Ola Norell, Axel Zuber, Shanti Roney
"Moodysson captures exactly the preening narcissism and gumption of these frazzled would-be revolutionaries trying to wriggle out of their bourgeois straitjackets." - Peter Rainer, New York Magazine
Selected by David Ansen, Armond White, Sukhdev Sandhu, Kenneth Turan, Owen Gleiberman.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Shaun of the Dead
Edgar Wright  (134)
2004, 99m, Col, UK-USA-France, Action-Comedy-Horror
Simon Pegg, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Nick Frost, Dylan Moran, Bill Nighy, Penelope Wilton, Jessica Stevenson, Peter Serafinowicz, Rafe Spall
"A gleefully gory, pitch-perfect parody of George Romero's zombie films. But this isn't a movie about other movies. Shaun of the Dead stands on its own." - Robert K. Elder, Chicago Trubune
Selected by Quentin Tarantino, Peter Bradshaw, Nick James, Richard Corliss, Shawn Levy.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
The Ghost Writer
Roman Polanski  (128)
2010, 128m, Col, France-Germany-UK, Drama-Mystery-Thriller
Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Kim Cattrall, James Belushi, Olivia Williams, Timothy Hutton, Tom Wilkinson, Eli Wallach, Robert Pugh, David Rintoul
"The Ghost Writer is the kind of impeccable adult entertainment, able to alternate edge-of-your-seat episodes with bleakly comic moments, that Hitchcock used to specialize in and that Polanski himself realized so successfully in Chinatown and Rosemary's Baby." - Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
Selected by David Denby, J. Hoberman, Owen Gleiberman, Philip French, Roger Ebert.
Amazon  Metacritic
         

         
131 132 133
Little Miss Sunshine
Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris  (142)
2006, 102m, Col, USA, Comedy-Drama
Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Steve Carell, Abigail Breslin, Paul Dano, Alan Arkin, Bryan Cranston, Marc Turtletaub, Beth Grant, Jill Talley
"This indie, a sweet, tart and smart satire about a family of losers in a world obsessed with winning, is an authentic crowd pleaser. There's been no more satisfying American comedy this year." - David Ansen, Newsweek
Selected by David Ansen, Joe Morgenstern, Peter Travers, Stephen Holden, Claudia Puig.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Head-On
Fatih Akin  (130)
• Gegen die Wand (original title)
2003, 121m, Col, Germany, Romance-Drama
Birol Unel, Sibel Kekilli, Catrin Striebeck, Meltem Cumbul, Stefan Gebelhoff, Francesco Fiannaca, Mona Mur, Ralph Misske, Philipp Baltus, Hermann Lause, Karin Niwiger
"In its breathlessly claustrophobic way the movie is vital and passionate, and lit with a lyric beauty that washes over love scenes and violent acts alike." - Ella Taylor, LA Weekly
Selected by David Ansen, Nick James, Ty Burr, Peter Keough, David Ehrenstein.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Good Night, and Good Luck
George Clooney  (124)
2005, 93m, BW, USA, Drama-Historical
David Strathairn, Patricia Clarkson, George Clooney, Robert Downey Jr., Ray Wise, Frank Langella, Jeff Daniels, Tate Donovan, Robert Burke, Reed Diamond
"This is an elegant and stirring entertainment about the hard-drinking, hard-smoking reporters of "See It Now," the show that Murrow and the producer Fred Friendly put together every week." - David Denby, The New Yorker
Selected by David Ansen, Molly Haskell, David Ehrenstein, Peter Keough, Ty Burr.
Amazon  Metacritic
         

         
134 135 136
Paranoid Park
Gus Van Sant  (132)
2007, 85m, Col, France-USA, Drama
Gabe Nevins, Taylor Momsen, Jake Miller, Dan Liu, Lauren McKinney, Scott Green, John 'Mike' Burrowes, Grace Carter, Jay 'Smay' Williamson, Christopher Doyle
"The pleasing circularity of Gus Van Sant's masterful Paranoid Park is not only a function of the film's narrative structure but reflects the arc of its maker's career. Few directors have revisited their earliest concerns with such vigor." - J. Hoberman, Village Voice
Selected by David Ehrenstein, Tom Charity, Amy Taubin, J. Hoberman, Daryl Chin.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Sexy Beast
Jonathan Glazer  (139)
2000, 88m, Col, UK-Spain-USA, Drama-Crime-Comedy
Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley, Ian McShane, Amanda Redman, Cavan Kendall, Julianne White, Alvaro Monje, James Fox, Robert Atiko, Nieves del Amo Oruet
"Carries so much impacted menace and visual narrative gamesmanship that it brought back some of the excitement I felt nearly a decade ago watching Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs." - Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
Selected by Nick James, Owen Gleiberman, Peter Rainer, David Edelstein, Elvis Mitchell.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Regular Lovers
Philippe Garrel  (125)
• Les Amants réguliers (original title)
2004, 178m, BW, France-Italy, Drama
Louis Garrel, Clotilde Hesme, Julien Lucas, Nicolas Bridet, Mathieu Genet, Raissa Mariotti, Caroline Deruas-Garrel, Rebecca Convenant, Marie Girardin, Maurice Garrel
"While the film’s desperately sad finale indicates that Philippe Garrel knows the truth of '68 better than most and might have suffered a crisis in faith in the years since, this magnificent film is itself proof that all was not lost." - Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
Selected by David Ehrenstein, Richard Brody, Michael Atkinson, Charles Tesson, Berenice Reynaud.
Amazon  Metacritic
         

         
137 138 139
Hugo
Martin Scorsese  new  
2011, 126m, Col, USA, Adventure-Drama-Family
Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Moretz, Ray Winstone, Emily Mortimer, Christopher Lee, Helen McCrory, Michael Stuhlbarg, Frances de la Tour
"Instead of sticking with the familiar, Scorsese has followed his impulses into something that feels entirely new but is still distinctively his. He has made a potential holiday classic, an exciting, comic and sentimental melodrama that will satisfy children and adults alike and reward repeat viewings for many years to come." - Andrew O'Hehir, Salon
Selected by J. Hoberman, Roger Ebert, Glenn Kenny, Ty Burr, Philip French.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
The Best of Youth
Marco Tullio Giordana  (126)
• La Meglio gioventù (original title)
2003, 373m, Col, Italy, Drama
Luigi Lo Cascio, Alessio Boni, Adriana Asti, Sonia Bergamasco, Fabrizio Gifuni, Maya Sansa, Valentina Carnelutti, Jasmine Trinca, Andrea Tidona, Lidia Vitale
"The Best of Youth doesn't have a boring millisecond. It isn't an art film, with longueurs; it's a mini-series with the sweep of a classic novel, with tons of plot." - David Edelstein, Slate
Selected by Kenneth Turan, A.O. Scott, Vivian Sobchack, Richard Schickel, Michael Wilmington.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Bowling for Columbine
Michael Moore  (147)
2002, 120m, Col, USA, Documentary-Comedy
Michael Moore, Denise Ames, Arthur A. Busch, Barry Glassner, Charlton Heston, Marilyn Manson, James Nichols, Matt Stone, Dick Clark, Seth Collins
"Moore's best movie, and one of the most blisteringly effective polemics and documentaries ever." - Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
Selected by Mark Cousins, Michael Atkinson, Ed Halter, Scott Foundas, Edward Crouse.
Amazon  Metacritic
         

         
140 141 142
La Commune (Paris, 1871)
Peter Watkins  (127)
2000, 345m, BW, France, Drama-Historical
Elaine Annie Adalto, Pierre Barbieux, Bernard Bombeau, Maylis Bouffartigue, Genevieve Capy, Anne Carlier, Veronique Couzon, Piotr Daskiewicz, Nicole Defer, Caroline Esnard-Benoit
"Taped in stark black-and-white and clocking in 15 minutes shy of six hours, this invigorating pic is big, passionate and brimming with compelling human details and broad sociopolitical idealism." - Eddie Cockrell, Variety
Selected by David Ehrenstein, J. Hoberman, Michael Atkinson, James Quandt, Amy Taubin.
See also: 1,000 Greatest Films
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Three Times
Hou Hsiao-hsien  (131)
• Zui hao de shi guang (original title)
2005, 135m, Col, France-Taiwan, Romance-Drama
Qi Shu, Chen Chang, Fang Mei, Mei Di, Su-jen Liao, Chen Shi-Zheng, Lee Pei-hsuan, Huang Ruo-shi, Liao Ling-tzu, Ko Yu-Lun
"Three varieties of love: unfulfilled, mercenary, meaningless. All photographed with such visual beauty that watching the movie is like holding your breath so the butterfly won’t stir." - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Selected by Kent Jones, Thom Andersen, Richard Combs, Piers Handling, Martin Scorsese.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
School of Rock
Richard Linklater  (141)
2003, 108m, Col, Germany-USA, Musical-Comedy
Jack Black, Joan Cusack, Mike White, Sarah Silverman, Adam Pascal, Lucas Papselias, Chris Stack, Lucas Babin, Jordan-Claire Green, Veronica Afflerbach
"This joyous farce is a big, big deal, and Jack Black is nothing less than majestic as a scruffy, irreverent rocker passing himself off as a pedagogue in a private school." - Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
Selected by Kevin MacDonald, Dennis Lim, Owen Gleiberman, Ty Burr, David Ansen.
Amazon  Metacritic
         
         
 
         
         
143 144 145
Bad Education
Pedro Almodóvar  (143)
• La Mala educación (original title)
2004, 105m, Col, Spain, Thriller-Drama
Gael Garcia Bernal, Fele Martinez, Daniel Gimenez Cacho, Lluis Homar, Francisco Maestre, Francisco Boira, Raul Garcia Forneiro, Nacho Perez, Javier Camara, Alberto Ferreiro
"Bad Education is a voluptuous experience that invites you to gorge on its beauty and vitality, although it has perhaps the darkest ending of any of the films by the Spanish writer and director." - Stephen Holden, New York Times
Selected by Gilbert Adair, Tony Rayns, Carrie Rickey, Stephen Holden, Wesley Morris.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Gladiator
Ridley Scott  (133)
2000, 154m, Col, USA, Drama-Action
Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed, Derek Jacobi, Djimon Hounsou, Richard Harris, David Schofield, John Shrapnel, Thomas Arana
"It's that very rare feeling that you're settling into a movie whose individual elements are so finely attuned they fuse into a singular construct of pure entertainment." - Ted Fry, Film.com
Selected by Frank Darabont, Owen Gleiberman, Peter Travers, Mike D'Angelo, Lisa Schwarzbaum.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
The Wrestler
Darren Aronofsky  (148)
2008, 109m, Col, USA, Drama-Sport
Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood, Mark Margolis, Todd Barry, Wass Stevens, Judah Friedlander, Ernest Miller, Dylan Keith Summers, Tommy Farra
"Rourke creates a galvanizing, humorous, deeply moving portrait that instantly takes its place among the great, iconic screen performances. An elemental story simply and brilliantly told, Darren Aronofsky's fourth feature is a winner from every possible angle." - Todd McCarthy, Variety
Selected by James Franco, Michael Atkinson, Glenn Kenny, Donna Bowman, Peter Brunette.
Amazon  Metacritic
         

         
146 147 148
Happy-Go-Lucky
Mike Leigh  (136)
2008, 118m, Col, UK-USA, Comedy-Drama
Sally Hawkins, Eddie Marsan, Alexis Zegerman, Sylvestra Le Touzel, Stanley Townsend, Kate O'Flynn, Caroline Martin, Oliver Maltman, Sarah Niles, Samuel Roukin
"Leigh and his actors work mysterious magic in Happy-Go-Lucky. This is a movie about hitting the groove of everyday life and, nearly miraculously, getting music out of it." - Stephanie Zacharek, Salon
Selected by Armond White, Amy Taubin, John Anderson, Phillip Lopate, Saul Austerlitz.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
The King's Speech
Tom Hooper  (162)
2010, 118m, Col, UK-Australia, Drama-Historical
Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Derek Jacobi, Robert Portal, Richard Dixon, Guy Pearce, Timothy Spall, Jennifer Ehle, Michael Gambon
"No screen portrait of a king has ever been more stirring-heartbreaking at first, then stirring. That's partly due to the screenplay, which contains two of the best-written roles in recent memory, and to Mr. Hooper's superb direction." - Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
Selected by Carrie Rickey, David Ansen, Michael Sragow, Roger Ebert, Anne Thompson.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
The Intruder
Claire Denis  (135)
• L'Intrus (original title)
2004, 130m, Col, France-Korea, Drama
Michel Subor, Gregoire Colin, Yekaterina Golubeva, Bambou, Florence Loiret, Lolita Chammah, Alex Descas, Dong-ho Kim, Se-tak Chang, Hong-suk Park
"Exhilarating and exhausting, the kind of picture you don't bounce back from immediately. Yet its elusiveness is the very source of its poetic energy." - Stephanie Zacharek, Salon
Selected by Dominik Graf, Kent Jones, Jonathan Romney, Chris Chang, Gavin Smith.
Amazon  Metacritic
         

         
149 150   > 151-200
House of Flying Daggers
Zhang Yimou  (137)
• Shi mian mai fu (original title)
2001, 111m, Col, Hong Kong-China, Action-Drama-Romance
Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhang Ziyi, Andy Lau, Song Dandan, Wang Yabin, Zheng Lu, Wu Weifeng, Yan Yan, Zheng Jie, Zhao Hongfei
"House of Flying Daggers finds the great Chinese director at his most romantic in this thrilling martial arts epic that involves a conflict between love and duty carried out to its fullest expression." - Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
Selected by Michael Wilmington, Richard Roeper, J.R. Jones, David Edelstein, Richard Corliss.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Police, Adjective
Corneliu Porumboiu  (138)
• Politist, adj. (original title)
2009, 115m, Col, Romania, Comedy-Crime-Drama
Dragos Bucur, Vlad Ivanov, Irina Saulescu, Ion Stoica, Marian Ghenea, Cosmin Selesi, George Remes, Dan Cogalniceanu, Serban Georgevici, Costi Dita
"Police, Adjective is a deadly serious as well as dryly humorous analysis of bureaucratic procedure and, particularly, the tyranny of language. Images may record reality, but words define it." - J. Hoberman, Village Voice
Selected by Mark Cousins, Tom Charity, Amy Taubin, David Sterritt, Phillip Lopate.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
 
     
     
     
  21st Century Home  Summary:  The 250 Films  The Top 50 Directors  Browse by Ranking:  1-50  51-100  101-150  151-200  201-250  Previous Titles  
     

 

 

[ Home ] [ Directors A-L ] [ Directors M-Z ] [ 1,000 Greatest Films ] [ 21st Century ] [ Film Noir ] [ Ain't Nobody's Blues ] [ Recommended Viewing ] [ About ] [ Links ]
[ Recommended Reading Archives ] [ The Shooting Gallery ]
 
Contact Us: bill@theyshootpictures.com.
©2002-2012 They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?