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  The 21st Century's Most Acclaimed Films Ranking (201-250)  
  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  
     
     
 
201 202 203
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Banksy  (188)
2010, 86m, Col, UK, Documentary-Comedy
Andre, Wendy Asher, Banksy, Shepard Fairey, Deborah Guetta, Thierry Guetta, Rhys Ifans (narrator), Space Invader, Jay Leno, Zeus
"An exhilarating hall-of-mirrors look at what happens when global art fame turns anonymous, artists become objects, fans turn into artists, and the whole what's-sincere-and-what's-a-sham spectacle is more fun than art was ever supposed to be." - Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
Selected by A.O. Scott, David Denby, Owen Gleiberman, David Fear, Matt Singer.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Downfall
Oliver Hirschbiegel  (195)
• Der Untergang (original title)
2004, 156m, Col, Germany-Austria-Italy, War-Drama
Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Corinna Harfouch, Ulrich Matthes, Juliane Kohler, Heino Ferch, Christian Berkel, Matthias Habich, Thomas Kretschmann, Michael Mendl
"A riveting re-creation of three world-changing collapses: those of the Nazi party, of militarized Germany as a whole, and of the Führer who guided them into self-destructive ruin." - David Sterritt, Christian Science Monitor
Selected by Philip Kemp, Frank Darabont, Richard Schickel, Stephen Holden, Saul Austerlitz.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen  (185)
2000, 107m, Col, USA-France, Crime-Adventure-Comedy
George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, Charles Durning, John Goodman, Michael Badalucco, Holly Hunter, Stephen Root, Chris Thomas King, Wayne Duvall
"It is, all in all, a rambunctious and inspired ride in which the Coen brothers' voracious fascination with the arcana of American popular culture and their whiz-kid inventiveness reach new heights of whimsy." - A.O. Scott, New York Times
Selected by Joseph McBride, Cameron Crowe, Scott Tobias, Charles Taylor, Gregory Solman.
Amazon  Metacritic
         

         
204 205 206
Irréversible
Gaspar Noé  (186)
2002, 97m, Col, France, Crime-Drama-Horror
Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel, Albert Dupontel, Jo Prestia, Philippe Nahon, Stephane Drouot, Jean-Louis Costes, Michel Gondoin, Mourad Khima, Gaspar Noe
"It would be easy and convenient to dismiss Irreversible as blatant sensationalism. But Noe's bruising film is too artfully crafted to write off as exploitation." - Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Selected by Stuart Gordon, John Waters, Ian Christie, Ty Burr, Gerald Peary.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
28 Days Later...
Danny Boyle  (225)
2002, 113m, Col, UK, Thriller-Science Fiction-Horror
Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Megan Burns, Brendan Gleeson, Christopher Eccleston, Alex Palmer, Bindu de Stoppani, Jukka Hitunen, David Schneider, Toby Sedgwick
"At once an old-fashioned freakout and an environmental cautionary tale (mess with Mother Nature and she'll mess with you right back), the film combines two genre standbys -- lethal contagion and the undead -- and gives them a wicked, contemporary spin." - Manohla Dargis, Los Angeles Times
Selected by Manohla Dargis, Wesley Morris, Shawn Levy, Thomas Caldwell, Cynthia Fuchs.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Hotel Rwanda
Terry George  (190)
2004, 121m, Col, UK-USA-South Africa-Italy, War-Drama
Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Joaquin Phoenix, Desmond Dube, David O'Hara, Cara Seymour, Fana Mokoena, Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Tony Kgoroge, Mosa Kaiser
"It is a powerful portrait of a slightly befuddled man who, when inhuman demands were placed on him, found within himself an unexpected response." - Richard Schickel, Time
Selected by Roger Ebert, Richard Roeper, Mick LaSalle, Charles Taylor, Desson Thomson.
Amazon  Metacritic
         
         
 
         
         
207 208 209
The Hours
Stephen Daldry  (191)
2002, 114m, Col, USA, Drama
Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, Meryl Streep, Stephen Dillane, Miranda Richardson, George Loftus, John C. Reilly, Ed Harris, Jack Rovello, Allison Janney
"Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore bring dignity and Oscar-worthy performances to The Hours, a lovingly crafted meditation on death, loss and literature." - Andrew O'Hehir, Salon
Selected by David Sterritt, Kenneth Turan, Mick LaSalle, Stephen Holden, Andrew O'Hehir.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Persepolis
Vincent Paronnaud & Marjane Satrapi  (201)
2007, 95m, Col-BW, France-USA, Animated-Comedy-Drama
Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Danielle Darrieux, Simon Abkarian, Gabrielle Lopes, Francois Jerosme, Sophie Arthuys, Jean-Francois Gallotte, Arie Elmaleh, Mathias Mlekuz
"Cinematic poetry in black and white. It also is a deeply affecting tale of the power of resilience and an unflagging sense of humor through the worst of situations." - Claudia Puig, USA Today
Selected by Tom Charity, Jim Emerson, Sam Adams, Melissa Anderson, David D'Arcy.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Two Lovers
James Gray  (193)
2008, 110m, Col, USA-France, Drama-Romance
Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow, Vinessa Shaw, Moni Moshonov, Isabella Rossellini, John Ortiz, Bob Ari, Julie Budd, Elias Koteas, Shiran Nicholson
"As in a good European film, shots are allowed to breathe. The focus is on character and human emotion. At the same time, the movie shows an American concern for pace and story development. The result is the best of both worlds." - Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
Selected by Tom Charity, F.X. Feeney, Karina Longworth, Charles Taylor, Keith Uhlich.
Amazon  Metacritic
         

         
210 211 212
Bloody Sunday
Paul Greengrass  (194)
2001, 110m, Col, UK-Ireland, Historical-Drama
James Nesbitt, Tim Pigott-Smith, Nicholas Farrell, Gerard McSorley, Kathy Kiera Clarke, Allan Gildea, Gerard Crossan, Mary Moulds, Carmel McCallion, Christopher Villiers
"For the viewer, the miracle of Bloody Sunday is that firm moral judgment can exist side by side with a wild and bitter exhilaration in the sheer physicality of violence." - David Denby, The New Yorker
Selected by Michael Atkinson, Peter Keough, Gavin Smith, Kenneth Turan, Scott Foundas.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Morvern Callar
Lynne Ramsay  (205)
2002, 97m, Col, UK-Canada, Drama
Samantha Morton, Kathleen McDermott, Jim Wilson, Raife Patrick Burchell, Dan Cadan, Carolyn Calder, Steven Cardwell, Bryan Dick, Andrew Flannigan, Dolly Wells
"A work of astonishing delicacy and force, a tone poem about the Frankenstein jolts that all of us, at one time or another, have to live through." - Stephanie Zacharek, Salon
Selected by David Thomson, Elvis Mitchell, Ella Taylor, Mark Olsen, Charles Taylor.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Melancholia
Lars von Trier  new  
2011, 135m, Col, Denmark-Sweden-France-Germany-Italy, Drama-Science Fiction
Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Alexander Skarsgard, Brady Corbet, Cameron Spurr, Charlotte Rampling, Jesper Christensen, John Hurt, Stellan Skarsgard, Udo Kier
"For all the tyrannical disdain he's shown other filmmakers over the years, von Trier once again demonstrates a mastery of classical technique, extracting incredibly strong performances from his cast while serving up a sturdy blend of fly-on-the-wall naturalism and jaw-dropping visual effects." - Peter Debruge, Variety
Selected by J. Hoberman, Lisa Schwarzbaum, Anne Thompson, Stephanie Zacharek, Karina Longworth.
Amazon  Metacritic
         

         
213 214 215
Kinsey
Bill Condon  (196)
2004, 118m, Col, Germany-USA-UK, Drama-Biography
Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Chris O'Donnell, Peter Sarsgaard, Timothy Hutton, John Lithgow, Tim Curry, Oliver Platt, Dylan Baker, Julianne Nicholson
"A stupendously moving film. Neeson nails Kinsey's rock-hard decency and fragile ego, and Linney abets him beautifully: There isn't an actress in movies right now who's more simply alive." - David Edelstein, Slate
Selected by Owen Gleiberman, David Ehrenstein, Richard Schickel, A.O. Scott, Stephen Holden.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Femme Fatale
Brian De Palma  (206)
2002, 110m, Col, France, Thriller-Crime
Antonio Banderas, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Peter Coyote, Eriq Ebouaney, Edouard Montoute, Rie Rasmussen, Thierry Fremont, Gregg Henry, Eva Darlan, Sandrine Bonnaire
"Here, the message is the moviemaking and the unparalleled joy you get from a film that can carry you off so completely, making you forget about everything save for the beautiful lies in front of you." - Manohla Dargis, Los Angeles Times
Selected by Armond White, Bill Krohn, Gavin Smith, Adrian Martin, Manohla Dargis.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Star Spangled to Death
Ken Jacobs  new  
2004, 402m, Col-BW, USA, Avant-Garde
Jack Smith, Jerry Sims, Gib Taylor, Bill Carpenter, Cecilia Swan, Ken Jacobs
"Whether or not this is the final version of Star Spangled to Death, it stands as a rare living, breathing example of American avant-garde filmmaking, a species unfortunately well on its way to extinction." - Dave Kehr, The New York Times
Selected by David Ehrenstein, Edward Crouse, Daryl Chin, Robert Koehler, Scott Foundas.
Amazon  Metacritic
         

         
216 217 218
Nobody Knows
Hirokazu Koreeda  (199)
• Dare mo shiranai (original title)
2003, 141m, Col, Japan, Drama
Yuya Yagira, Ayu Kitaura, Hiei Kimura, Momoko Shimizu, Hanae Kan, You, Kazumi Kushida, Yukiko Okamoto, Sei Hiraizumi, Susumu Terajima
"Unfolds with such leisurely, terrible beauty, it takes a while to realize that what we are witnessing is the children's long slide into beggary, exacerbated by the slow torture of faint hope." - Ella Taylor, LA Weekly
Selected by Jia Zhangke, David Edelstein, Daryl Chin, Michael Koresky, Ed Gonzalez.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Rachel Getting Married
Jonathan Demme  (200)
2008, 113m, Col, USA, Drama-Romance
Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Bill Irwin, Tunde Adebimpe, Mather Zickel, Anna Deavere Smith, Anisa George, Robyn Hitchcock, Roger Corman, Debra Winger
"A friend asked: "Wouldn't you love to attend a wedding like that?" In a way, I felt I had. Yes, I began to feel absorbed in the experience. A few movies can do that, can slip you out of your mind and into theirs." - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Selected by Mike D'Angelo, Ed Gonzalez, Noel Murray, Matt Singer, Nathan Rabin.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Los Angeles Plays Itself
Thom Andersen  (202)
2003, 169m, Col, USA, Documentary
Encke King
"Los Angeles may be the most photographed city in the world, but it has never have been captured with such complex layers of meaning and fascination as in Thom Andersen's remarkable Los Angeles Plays Itself." - Robert Koehler, Variety
Selected by Berenice Reynaud, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Daryl Chin, Ed Halter, Saul Austerlitz.
Amazon  Metacritic
         

         
219 220 221
Casino Royale
Martin Campbell  (217)
2006, 144m, Col-BW, UK-USA-Czech Republic-Germany, Action-Adventure-Thriller
Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright, Giancarlo Giannini, Caterina Murino, Simon Abkarian, Isaach De Bankole, Jesper Christensen
"Relaunches the series by doing something I wouldn't have thought possible: It turns Bond into a human being again -- a gruffly charming yet volatile chap who may be the swank king stud of the Western world, but who still has room for rage, fear, vulnerability, love." - Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekley
Selected by Michael Wilmington, Owen Gleiberman, Molly Haskell, Michael Phillips, William Arnold.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Dogtooth
Giorgos Lanthimos  (218)
• Kynodontas (original title)
2009, 97m, Col, Greece, Drama
Christos Stergioglou, Michele Valley, Aggeliki Papoulia, Christos Passalis, Mary Tsoni, Anna Kalaitzidou, Alexander Voulgaris
"Dogtooth is like a car crash. You cannot look away. The Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos tells his story with complete command of visuals and performances. His cinematography is like a series of family photographs of a family with something wrong with it." - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Selected by Anthony Lane, Michael Atkinson, J.R. Jones, Joshua Rothkopf, Karina Longworth.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Minority Report
Steven Spielberg  (203)
2002, 144m, Col, USA, Thriller-Science Fiction-Action
Tom Cruise, Max von Sydow, Steve Harris, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton, Lois Smith, Tim Blake Nelson, Neal McDonough, Patrick Kilpatrick, Jessica Capshaw
"This film is such a virtuoso high-wire act, daring so much, achieving it with such grace and skill. Minority Report reminds us why we go to the movies in the first place." - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Selected by Peter Keough, James Berardinelli, Mike Clark, Chris Chang, William Arnold.
Amazon  Metacritic
         

         
222 223 224
21 Grams
Alejandro González Iñárritu  (207)
2003, 125m, Col, Germany-USA, Drama
Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Naomi Watts, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Melissa Leo, Clea Duvall, Danny Huston, Eddie Marsan, Paul Calderon, Annie Corley
"What gives the film a formalist kick is that the story unfolds piecemeal as a series of nonlinear moments. What gives it soul are the three lead actors who pull the pieces together with devastating power." - Manohla Dargis, Los Angeles Times
Selected by Jonathan Romney, Gerald Peary, Manohla Dargis, Mick LaSalle, Elvis Mitchell.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Tarnation
Jonathan Caouette  (208)
2003, 88m, Col-BW, USA, Documentary
Renee Leblanc, Jonathan Caouette, Adolph Davis, Rosemary Davis, David Sanin Paz, Michael Cox, Dagon James, Joshua Williams, David LeBlanc, Stacey Mowery
"Harrowing, extremely disturbing at times, but brought to the screen in dazzling pop-art images that make the movie's grim content very much worth watching." - David Sterritt, Christian Science Monitor
Selected by Guy Maddin, Kenneth Turan, A.O. Scott, Ella Taylor, Lou Lumenick.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
A Prairie Home Companion
Robert Altman  (219)
2006, 105m, Col, USA, Comedy-Drama-Musical
Woody Harrelson, L.Q. Jones, Tommy Lee Jones, Garrison Keillor, Kevin Kline, Lindsay Lohan, Virginia Madsen, John C. Reilly, Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin
"Not since Woody Allen's Radio Days has anyone created such a cinematic Valentine to the wonderfully imaginative medium of radio as A Prairie Home Companion." - Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter
Selected by Joseph McBride, Richard Combs, Michael Wilmington, Molly Haskell, Kent Jones.
Amazon  Metacritic
         

         
225 226 227
Offside
Jafar Panahi  (211)
2006, 93m, Col, Iran, Comedy-Drama-Sports
Sima Mobarak-Shahi, Safdar Samandar, Shayesteh Irani, Ayda Sadeqi, Golnaz Farmani, Mahnaz Zabihi, Nazanin Sediq-zadeh, Mohammad Kheir-abadi, Masoud Kheymeh-kabood, Mohammed-Reza Gharebaghi
"The masterly Panahi concocts a spellbinding, often corrosively and/or warmly funny story in which love of both country and sport tries to, but doesn't quite, transcend dogmatic and ingrained difference." - Glenn Kenny, Premiere
Selected by J. Hoberman, Dennis Lim, David D'Arcy, Bilge Ebiri, Ed Gonzalez.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Hero
Zhang Yimou  (212)
• Ying xiong (original title)
2002, 99m, Col, Hong Kong-China, Drama-Action
Jet Li, Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Zhang Ziyi, Daoming Chen, Donnie Yen, Liu Zhong Yuan, Zheng Tia Yong, Yan Qin, Chang Xiao Yang
"Hero is a movie that lives up to all the nobility of its title, a gift to movie audiences who cherish the opportunity to be transported to a heretofore unimagined world and absorbed totally into what happens there." - Chris Kaltenbach, Baltimore Sun
Selected by Richard Corliss, David Edelstein, Charles Taylor, Chris Kaltenbach, Mark Jenkins.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Chicken Run
Peter Lord & Nick Park  (213)
2000, 84m, Col, USA-UK, Animated-Family-Comedy
Phil Daniels, Lynn Ferguson, Mel Gibson, Tony Haygarth, Jane Horrocks, Miranda Richardson, Julia Sawalha, Timothy Spall, Imelda Staunton, Benjamin Whitrow
"Never loses its priceless stamp of individuality. Reduced to its essence, this is a joke told by a person, not a corporation--and that makes all the difference." - Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
Selected by Kenneth Turan, Desson Howe, A.O. Scott, Lisa Schwarzbaum, David Chute.
Amazon  Metacritic
         

         
228 229 230
The Sun
Aleksandr Sokurov  (215)
• Solntse (original title)
2005, 115m, Col, Russia-Italy-France-Switzerland, Drama-Historical
Issei Ogata, Robert Dawson, Kaori Momoi, Shiro Sano, Shinmei Tsuji, Taijiro Tamura, Georgi Pitskhelauri, Hiroya Morita, Toshiaki Nishizawa, Naomasa Musaka
"This 2005 masterpiece by Russian filmmaker Alexander Sokurov transforms the story of Emperor Hirohito at the close of World War II into a melancholy meditation on power and its loss." - Fred Camper, Chicago Reader
Selected by Amy Taubin, David Sterritt, Phillip Lopate, Kent Jones, J. Hoberman.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks
Wang Bing  (209)
2003, 551m, Col, China, Documentary
"Wang's monumental documentary is a poetic summation of the death throes of the heavy industries (copper smelting, sheet metal production, cable manufacture) in Shenyang, North-east China." - Tony Rayns, Time Out
Selected by Ying Liang, Berenice Reynaud, Dennis Lim, Jean-Michel Frodon, Thom Andersen.
Amazon  The New York Times
 
Monsters, Inc.
Peter Docter / David Silverman / Lee Unkrich  (228)
2001, 95m, Col, USA, Animated-Family-Comedy
John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Mary Gibbs, Steve Buscemi, James Coburn, Jennifer Tilly, Bob Peterson, John Ratzenberger, Frank Oz, Daniel gerson
"Shrek is a scintilla funnier, Toy Story 2 a hair's breadth more poignant, but MI is every bit as imaginative and lovable as these other contemporary animation classics." - Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer
Selected by Frank Darabont, Michael Wilmington, Carrie Rickey, Richard Corliss, Elvis Mitchell.
Amazon  Metacritic
         

         
231 232 233
Another Year
Mike Leigh  new  
2010, 130m, Col, UK, Comedy-Drama
Jim Broadbent, Lesley Manville, Ruth Sheen, Oliver Maltman, Peter Wight, David (2) Bradley, Martin Savage, Karina Fernandez, Michele Austin, Philip Davis
"Getting a small cohort of humanity dead right is an impressive artistic achievement, but Mike Leigh's beautifully modulated English drama Another Year advances even farther." - Kyle Smith, The New York Post
Selected by Owen Gleiberman, Philip French, David Fear, Keith Uhlich, Stephen Holden.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Black Hawk Down
Ridley Scott  (214)
2001, 144m, Col, USA, War-Drama-Action
Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Jason Isaacs, William Fichtner, Eric Bana, Sam Shepard, Ewen Bremner, Gabriel Casseus, Ioan Gruffudd
"Rivets our interest for its entire lengthy running time. And it does this without any of the usual war movie clichés, false heroics, barracks-humor nonsense or grandstanding absurdities." - William Arnold, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Selected by Bruce Beresford, Richard Schickel, Kenneth Turan, Roger Ebert, Richard Corliss.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Collateral
Michael Mann  (220)
2004, 120m, Col, USA, Thriller-Crime-Action
Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Berg, Bruce McGill, Irma P. Hall, Barry Shabaka Henley, Richard T. Jones, Javier Bardem
"As a result of Mann's craftsmanship and concern, Collateral crackles with energy and purpose, a propulsive film with character on its mind and confident men and women on both sides of the camera." - Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
Selected by Arnaud Desplechin, Richard Schickel, Manohla Dargis, Mike Clark, Ella Taylor.
Amazon  Metacritic
         

         
234 235 236
Crash
Paul Haggis  (216)
2004, 113m, Col, Germany-USA-Australia, Drama-Crime
Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Esposito, William Fichtner, Brendan Fraser, Terrence Howard, Ludacris, Thandie Newton, Ryan Phillippe
"Not just one of the best Hollywood movies about race, but, along with Collateral, one of the finest portrayals of contemporary Los Angeles life period." - Ella Taylor, LA Weekly
Selected by Richard Schickel, Roger Ebert, Kevin Thomas, Lisa Schwarzbaum, Howard Feinstein.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Flags of Our Fathers
Clint Eastwood  (222)
http://www.flagsofourfathers.com/
2006, 132m, Col, USA, War-Drama-Action
Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach, John Benjamin Hickey, John Slattery, Barry Pepper, Jamie Bell, Paul Walker, Robert Patrick, Neal McDonough
"To an extent, Flags of Our Fathers is to the WWII movie what Eastwood's Unforgiven was to the western -- a stripping-away of mythology until only a harsher, uncomfortable reality remains." - Scott Foundas, Village Voice
Selected by Richard Combs, Philip French, Kent Jones, Michael Wilmington, Kirk Honeycutt.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Old Joy
Kelly Reichardt  re-entry  
2005, 73m, Col, USA, Drama
Daniel London, Will Oldham, Tanya Smith, Robin Rosenberg, Keri Moran, Autumn Campbell, Steve Doughton, Lucy, Matt McCormick, Darren Prolsen
"It's in all the moments where little happens that Reichardt is most amazing, investing even a gas-station pit stop with perfect emotional pitch." - Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
Selected by Scott Tobias, Ed Halter, Brian Miller, Melissa Anderson, Godfrey Cheshire.
Amazon  Metacritic
         

         
237 238 239
Slumdog Millionaire
Danny Boyle  (233)
2008, 120m, Col, UK, Crime-Drama-Romance
Dev Patel, Anil Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla, Rajendranath Zutshi, Jeneva Talwar, Freida Pinto, Irfan Khan, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, Sunil Kumar Agrawal
"Slumdog Millionaire dives headfirst into something greater than a subculture - the enormous unchronicled culture of India's mega-slums - and achieves even more sweeping impact." - Michael Sragow, Baltimore Sun
Selected by Kevin B. Lee, Travis Crawford, Peter Brunette, Kim Voynar, David Poland.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India
Ashutosh Gowariker  (248)
2001, 223m, Col, India, Drama-Musical-Romance
Aamir Khan, Gracy Singh, Rachel Shelley, Paul Blackthorne, Suhasini Mulay, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Raghuvir Yadav, Rajendra Gupta, Rajesh Vivek, Shri Vallabh Vyas
"The sunny, funny, toe-tapping Lagaan is the answer to those who ask why they don't make movies like they used to: They do, but in India." - Jami Bernard, New York Daily News
Selected by Ed Halter, Robert Horton, Andy Klein, Travis Crawford, Shoma A. Chatterji.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Nick Park & Steve Box  (237)
• Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (alternative title)
2005, 85m, Col, UK-USA, Animated-Adventure-Comedy
Peter Sallis, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Peter Kay, Nicholas Smith, Liz Smith, John Thomson, Mark Gatiss, Vincent Ebrahim, Geraldine McEwan
"This latest and biggest installment is a whimsical success of a very high order: The pace never lags, the invention is incessant, and it makes you want to have a bite of cheese afterward." - Ed Park, Village Voice
Selected by Kenneth Turan, A.O. Scott, David Edelstein, Tom Charity, Donna Bowman.
Amazon  Metacritic
         

         
240 241 242
Margaret
Kenneth Lonergan  new  
2011, 150m, Col, USA, Drama
Anna Paquin, Matt Damon, Mark Ruffalo, Jean Reno, Matthew Broderick, J. Smith Cameron, Allison Janney, Jeannie Berlin,  Kieran Culkin, Sarah Steele
"And though not all of Lonergan's conceits work on a scene-by-scene basis (an upper-crust womanizer played by Jean Reno skews a bit too close to caricature), the film has a cumulative power-solidified by a devastating opera-house finale-that's staggering. This is frayed-edges filmmaking at its finest." - Keith Uhlich, Time Out New York
Selected by Richard Brody, Glenn Kenny, Peter Bradshaw, Scott Tobias, Ed Gonzalez.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Maria Full of Grace
Joshua Marston  (221)
2003, 100m, Col, USA-Colombia-Ecuador, Drama-Crime
Catalina Sandino Moreno, Yenny Paola Vega, Jhon Alex Toro, Guilied Lopez, Patricia Rae, Virginia Ariza, Rodrigo Sanchez Borhorquez, Charles Albert Patino, Wilson Guerrero, Johanna Andrea Mora
"Moreno, with her wide, watchful eyes, owns the camera - and the film. Her performance is perfectly natural and profoundly moving. Maria Full of Grace is a remarkable picture, full of suspense and discovery." - Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
Selected by John Anderson, Owen Gleiberman, Richard Schickel, Stephen Holden, Kevin Thomas.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Monsoon Wedding
Mira Nair  (226)
2001, 114m, Col, USA-Italy-Germany-France, Romance-Drama
Naseeruddin Shah, Lillete Dubey, Shefali Shetty, Vijay Raaz, Tilatama Shome, Vasundhara Das, Parvin Dabas, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Kamini Khanna, Roshan Seth
"Has an engaging warmth and an effortless sense of life. It also has an instinct for the humanity and universality of situations that are comic, romantic and quite seriously dramatic by turns." - Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
Selected by Nick Broomfield, Carrie Rickey, David Ansen, Stuart Klawans, Karen Durbin.
Amazon  Metacritic
         
         
 
         
         
243 244 245
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Wes Anderson  re-entry  
2004, 118m, Col, USA, Drama-Comedy-Adventure
Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett, Anjelica Huston, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Michael Gambon, Noah Taylor, Bud Cort, Seu Jorge
"An exquisitely evocative movie that elevates rueful melancholia to a superpower." - Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times
Selected by David Ehrenstein, David Sterritt, Steven Rea, Carina Chocano, Mike D'Angelo.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
High Fidelity
Stephen Frears  (224)
2000, 113m, Col, USA-UK, Comedy
John Cusack, Iben Hjelje, Todd Louiso, Jack Black, Lisa Bonet, Joan Cusack, Tim Robbins, Lili Taylor, Natasha Gregson Wagner, Catherine Zeta-Jones
"With its knowing take on men, messed-up romance and music, it's like one long, hook-filled pop song for the eyes." - Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
Selected by Roger Ebert, Desson Howe, Jay Carr, Keith Phipps, David Chute.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Tomas Alfredson  new  
2011, 127m, Col, France-UK-Germany, Thriller
Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds, John Hurt, Simon McBurney, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Benedict Cumberbatch, Toby Jones
"This superb remake has the inevitable look of a period piece, a smoke-filled rendering of things past. However, thanks to Tomas Alfredson's direction, a taut screenplay, and a uniformly brilliant cast, the film also retains its contemporary relevance." - Rick Groen, The Globe and Mail
Selected by Peter Bradshaw, Kenneth Turan, Keith Phipps, Sam Adams, Michael Phillips.
Amazon  Metacritic
         

         
246 247 248
Gerry
Gus Van Sant  (223)
2001, 102m, Col, USA, Drama
Casey Affleck, Matt Damon
"The movie is on some level a stunt, but it has the fervent, sun-dazed pull of an authentic experience unfolding in real time, with glints of drama, comedy, and terror mixed into the almost-but-not-quite tedium." - Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
Selected by Berenice Reynaud, Michael Atkinson, Keith Uhlich, Scott Tobias, Keith Phipps.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
I Am Love
Luca Guadagnino  (229)
• Io sono l'amore (original title)
2009, 119m, Col, Italy, Drama
Tilda Swinton, Flavio Parenti, Edoardo Gabbriellini, Alba Rohrwacher, Pippo Delbono, Diane Fleri, Maria Paiato, Marisa Berenson, Waris Ahluwalia, Gabriele Ferzetti
"I Am Love fuses the past with the changing future in a marvelous traditional narrative without a shred of the sloppy trends of contemporary filmmaking." - Rex Reed, New York Observer
Selected by Anthony Lane, Michael Atkinson, Andrew O'Hehir, Ann Hornaday, Chuck Wilson.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Woman on the Beach
Hong Sang-soo  (227)
• Haebyonui yoin (original title)
2006, 100m, Col, South Korea, Drama-Comedy
Ban-ya Choi, Hyun-jung Go, Chan Jung, Seung-woo Kim, Tae-woo Kim, Hyeon-gang Ko, Ki-woo Lee, Seong-kun Mun, Tae-kyung Oh, Seon-mi Song
"Woman On The Beach is a stripped-down, witty explication of how we all get stymied by the impulses and options inherent in the simple act of living." - Noel Murray, The A.V. Club
Selected by Phillip Lopate, Richard Brody, Kent Jones, Berenice Reynaud, Kevin B. Lee.
Amazon  Metacritic
         

         
249 250   > Previous Titles
Unknown Pleasures
Jia Zhangke  (230)
• Ren xiao yao (original title)
2002, 112m, Col, Japan-France-Korea-China, Drama-Comedy
Wei Wei Zhao, Qiong Wu, Qing Feng Zhou, Hong Wei Wang, Ru Bai, Xi An Liu, Shou Lin Xu, Ren Ai Jun, Dao Xiao, Zi Ying
"Unknown Pleasures suggests a coolly formalist reinvention of neorealism. The film is both distanced and immediate -- a fiction with the force of documentary." - J. Hoberman, Village Voice
Selected by Dennis Lim, Berenice Reynaud, Chris Fujiwara, Gavin Smith, Kent Jones.
Amazon  Metacritic
 
Crimson Gold
Jafar Panahi  (232)
• Talaye sorkh (original title)
2003, 96m, Col, Iran, Drama
Hossain Emadeddin, Kamyar Sheisi, Azita Rayeji, Shahram Vaziri, Pourang Nakhaei, Kaveh Najmabadi, Saber Safaei, Yadollah Samadian, Ramin Rastad, Ehsan Amani
"Iranian director Jafar Panahi's Crimson Gold is an anti-blockbuster--a deceptively modest undertaking that brilliantly combines unpretentious humanism and impeccable formal values." - J. Hoberman, Village Voice
Selected by John Anderson, Chris Chang, Robert Koehler, Wesley Morris, Godfrey Cheshire.
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  
     

 

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