Top 100 Films of the 21st Century (Four Year Anniversary Special)- Part 3 (80-71)

 80. Caché (2005- Michael Haneke)

Caché begins with an image of a house. But who's behind the camera? What does it mean to watch someone else? Why do I suddenly feel deep, deep terror? If you had any of these questions watching Michael Haneke's icy thriller, that was probably the intention. Caché is a film about the horror of watching. Beneath its austere surface is a thought-provoking study on the easy solutions a country applies to its history, something that extends into the very past of its main character. It's slow but rewarding, delivering on a glacial build of tension with expertly-placed shocks. Can't enjoy your favourite violent movies anymore? Blame Caché

The High Point: A frustrated Georges goes to confront Majid at his apartment and then.... oh.... oh no

79. The Handmaiden (2016- Park Chan-wook)

A romantic comedy disguised as a kinky, sadistic erotic thriller (which also happens to function as a kinky, sadistic erotic thriller), The Handmaiden is a hard film to pin down. Like the con artists that fill its runtime with their dueling plots, actually. It's quite possibly the most intricate thing that Park Chan-wook has done to date, and while it may lack the visceral shocks of say the Vengeance Trilogy, the thrills are there, so exact and measured that their cruelty becomes even more astonishing. Watching it is like playing a game you don't know the rules to: eventually you know you're going to be bested, but you soldier on because it's too much fun not to.

The High Point: The end of chapter one, and the first plot-upending twist that makes it clear that there's more here than you might have thought

78. True History of the Kelly Gang (2019- Justin Kurzel)

It's not just the scorching punk aesthetic. It's not just the heady fusion of arthouse and genre sensibilities. It's not the gung-ho approach to history, or even the sinewy, firebrand performance of George McKay that makes this film special. No, it's the alchemy at work that makes True History sing, taking all of these elements and melding them so that they work not just in synergy, but total harmony. It's one of the most impressive pieces of cinema that's come out this year, and while it might be tempting to see what something this daring means for the future of the period piece, the more appropriate thing to do is to simply bask in this film's chaotically beautiful glow

The High Point: An armored Kelly charges straight into a legion of British soldiers as the screen fills with disorienting sound and vision

77. Phantom Thread (2017- Paul Thomas Anderson)

Disorganised is not a word one would use to describe Paul Thomas Anderson, and yet Phantom Thread feels especially fastidious, even for him. Maybe it's Daniel Day-Lewis, bowing out from acting as Reynolds Woodcock. So much of this film's world flows out of this performance that to talk about the film would just result in some form of character study. It's careful, it's dark, it's funny and it's sexy, and although it might have seemed like a surprising move for PTA to make on paper, it makes total sense onscreen, with Reynolds having all the skill, panache and deep-seated maternal trauma of a thousand Frank TJ Mackeys

The High Point: "Kiss me my love, before I'm sick" Swoon. Literally

76. Shame (2011- Steve McQueen)

Steve McQueen has garnered a reputation as the kind of filmmaker who can go where others won't, and nowhere is that more apparent than in his cold, grueling tale of a sex-addict's quest for redemption. By no means an easy watch, Shame does a lot with very little, wringing its mechanical montages of joyless bonking for all of the thematic weight tney're worth. It's a film that presented more of Michael Fassbender than had ever been seen onscreen before, in more ways than one. Get your mind out of the gutter though, because apart from being quite possibly his best performance, Shame is also a wonderful take on the very unerotic destruction that sex can wreak if it gets out of hand

The High Point: Carey Mulligan's soul-stirring rendition of "New York, New York"

75. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000- Ang Lee)

Talk about starting on the right foot. Ang Lee's tale of love and honour kicked the century off nicely, sparking a revolution in the action genre and taking wuxia to a whole new level, paving the way for the likes of Hero and House of Flying Daggers in the process. An epic in the tradition of King Hu, the most exciting thing about Crouching Tiger was how it acknowledged its DNA only to remix it to create something fresh. The action stunned, not least thanks to Lee’s keen eye for detail, and twenty years later, it still feels groundbreaking

The High Point: The breathless one-on-one between Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi

74. Talk to Her (2002- Pedro Almodóvar)

Already boasting a back catalogue of full-blooded stories of complicated passion when the new millennium rolled around, Almodóvar doubled down for Talk to Her, as full-blooded, complicated and passionate as anything he’d done before (or since). It’s a film that frames love as an incredible thing that's capable of thriving in the most unlikely circumstances, too inconvenient to entertain yet impossible to ignore. His eye for melodrama is irresistible, and as the film flits between darkness and delicacy, he steadily begins to emerge as a sort of psycho-sexual Douglas Sirk. Almodóvar's relationship with cinema has always felt like Talk to Her's central romance: unrequited and possibly irresponsible, but fueled by feelings too deep to deny. Fortunately, he gave into them, resulting in his best film to date

The High Point: The bizarre, beguiling silent movie that plays in the film's centre

73. Bone Tomahawk (2015- S. Craig Zahler)

Bone Tomahawk feels like an exercise in the inevitable. Men die, eras end and we invariably find our way back into the throes of violence. Not easy viewing then, but essential, reflecting back at us the things we fear most (which is also us, of course). It’s also the best instalment of Kurt Russell’s ongoing comeback, and he’s never been better- all stony authority and soul-scorching regret. That it evokes such powerful ideas while doffing its ten-gallon hat to the grotty exploitation flicks of old is what forms the backbone of its unique charm. The shocks cut deep, but more surprising is what happens next, the uneasy analysis of a nation's wounds

The High Point: Can a total bisection even be called a high point?

72. Don't Think Twice (2016- Mike Birbiglia)

Mike Birbiglia's criminally underseen paean to the trials and tribulations of jobbing comedians is still one of the finest pieces of autobiographical cinema, 21st century or not. Less an exposé of the comedy world and more of a gentle probing of a group of people trying to figure out how to work together while not quite being able to understand themselves, and it's all the better for it, prioritising small moments over any showstopping setpieces. It's low-key without being mumblecore, forgoing emotional distance and diving straight into the complicated, painful mess that is being a creative.... and then Birbiglia multiplies it by six and ensures that every character's story is satisfyingly told. Cherry on top is Gillian Jacobs, who gives a gorgeously understated, resonant performance. Britta for the win indeed

The High Point: Sam's solo gig. Absolute showstopper

71. Under the Skin (2013- Jonathon Glazer)

Nine years after the misfire that was Birth, Jonathon Glazer bounced back for this uneasy cinematic Rorschach test, a fusion of sci-fi and horror and an instant classic of Brit-genre filmmaking. It's an elusive watch that almost immediately slithers into the subconscious with the promise of staying there for years to come. It also features a turn from an arguably never-better Scarlett Johansson as an alien talking a kind of van-based tour of Earth- or at the very least the hapless men she seduces and destroys. Harrowing? Sure, but it's also an incredibly frank look at humanity through the eyes of the other, brilliantly disguised as a study of the other through a comfortably human lens. It's not comfortable, but it is horrifyingly human

The High Point: A baby. A beach. The most upsetting scene in modern science-fiction

My Thoughts on The Devil All the Time

 

Adapted from Donald Ray Pollock's 2011 novel, The Devil All the Time has proven to be a real talking point. With a cast like that (Spiderman! Batman! Pennywise!) and content that seems ripe to provoke, it’s hardly surprising to see it attract so much heat. Even less of a surprise is the fact that it’s proving to be so divisive, only natural considering the seemingly unholy marriage of style and subject matter. A loose, eerily quiet crime saga set in the town of Knockemstiff and involving a pair of murderers, a corrupt sheriff and a paedophile priest, it goes without saying that The Devil All the Time is a typically heavy piece of work from Antonio Campos, last seen helming the similarly provocative Christine.

The story of Tom Holland’s Arvin, a troubled young man sitting square in the centre of the aforementioned rogue’s gallery, The Devil All the Time uses a kind of mosaic structure to build a world around its morally divided hero. It’s a slow, patiently told story, stewing in sticky Southern heat and taking great pleasure in setting up small details to set off greater tragedies. It’s grim from the start- something signalled by an early crucifixion- and although it’s tempting to dismiss it as bleak or hopeless, that’s not entirely accurate. Instead, it plays like an elegy for a nation that’s lost its way, quietly and deeply tragic. That’s where Arvin comes in, growing up into a doomed world without realising that he doesn’t have a chance to change it. That he tries anyway is what fuels the desperate hope at the heart of the story, transforming The Devil All the Time into something uncomfortably, nakedly human.

Holland is outstanding as Arvin, showing previously unseen levels of soul and vulnerability. It’s an exercise in range that seems long overdue from Holland. Ace as he is in the most recent Spider-outings, his Arvin feels like a revelation, all deep-seated trauma and stinging moral confusion. It’s a thrill to watch as he goes positively primal in the film’s standout scene, his nail-bitingly tense confrontation with Robert Pattison’s slimy preacher. Pattison gives another bravura turn in his ongoing streak of belters, all venomous charm as he spits his lines through a Southern drawl that would be laughable if it wasn’t so bone-chillingly sinister. Another standout is Sebastian Stan as the paunchy, stoic cop tasked with bringing justice to this deeply twisted world. He’s thoroughly corrupted himself, of course, and Stan plays his nervy jadedness with aplomb.

The world of Knockemstiff feels simultaneously alive and dead, bustling with the energy of what feels like a legion of lost souls desperately scrambling for redemption. In fact, the film’s only real issue may be that it’s too sprawling, and some characters- namely Mia Wasikowska’s shy, god-fearing Helen- get lost in the expanse of the story. It’s a shame too, with how well Piercing showcased her ability to handle such dark material with nuance and relish. The same could be said of Eliza Scanlen’s Lenore, who often threatens to turn into a plot device, only saved by the fact that this is Arvin’s story, and as such, the version of her that exists is explicitly the one that he sees, something that gives the film a kind of subjectivity that makes her relatively thin characterisation slightly less of an issue. Not that the film struggles with all of its female characters, with Riley Keogh adding another wonderful turn to her rapidly increasing repertoire.

Ultimately, The Devil All the Time is destined to provoke, upset and divide, but I'm not sure that's a bad thing. It might just be the opposite, with the film succeeding so well in sowing an atmosphere of unease and depravity that to come out the other side unscathed is to miss the point entirely. It deals with dark, contentious themes but with a lightness of touch that ensures that Campos never descends into puerile shock tactics. And while it might be divisive now, it's not impossible to imagine that, in retrospect, it'll be considered what it so clearly is: a work of genius. An oppressive, deeply troubling work of pure cinema 

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Top 100 Films of the 21st Century (Four Year Anniversary Special)- Part 2 (90-81)

 90. Attack the Block (2011- Joe Cornish)

In an era where it's become too easy to blame young people for... well, everything, Joe Cornish's wonderful throwback sci-fi/horror hybrid proved that the kids were indeed alright. Pitting his teen heroes against ace, semi-practical creatures in a sharply funny genre piece is one thing, but doing so while imbuing the film with such a distinctly London flavour and making the whole thing a showcase for some incredible young talent (John Boyega among them) is on a whole other level. In Cornish's hands, the future's bright, and that optimism hits hard, now more than ever

The High Point: Moses and co. blasting the creatures with fireworks

89. Knives Out (2019- Rian Johnson)

After saving the Star Wars saga/ ruining your childhood and indeed your life (depending on who you ask) with The Last Jedi, Rian Johnson was back with Knives Out, a tangled web of secrets and lies turned deadly, brought to life by one of the finest ensembles in recent memory. It's a love-letter to a genre, sealed with the arsenic-laced kiss of biting social commentary. Knives Out is a bonafide blockbuster that has its cake (donut?) and eats it too, expertly pairing forensic plotting with crowd-pleasing thrills. Devilishly good fun

The High Point: Or should that be the Hugh point? Best. Foreshadowing. Ever.

 88. Fish Tank (2009-Andrea Arnold)

Gritty, bleak and uncompromisingly brutal, Fish Tank is as harrowing a piece of cinema as anything we've gotten in the last 20 years. Paradoxically, it also might be one of the most affirming. Andrea Arnold's kitchen-sink drama is a portrait of life at its most desolate and unmerciful, featuring career-defining turns from Michael Fassbender and especially Katie Jarvis. It's a film that asks "what do you do when you never had a chance?" The answer? Keep going anyway.

The High Point: A final, heartbreaking dance between mother and daughters

87. Collateral (2004-Michael Mann)

LA has long been crime cinema's favourite playground, and while we could sit around arguing about the best thriller set in the city of angels, it's a fool's errand, so how about we just agree that Collateral is by far the most haunting? A nocturnal odyssey through an arena of sins and lies, Collateral is a film that seems wrong itself, unnatural, like a cry of frustrated honesty against a world that seeks to corrupt. And yet it's Jamie Foxx's Max and his inflexible morality that keep Collateral afloat, that urge the audience that the light is yet to come. It's his best role this century, ditto for a venomous Tom Cruise

The High Point: Locked in a meeting with Javier Bardem's fearsome Felix, Max lets loose

86. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010-Apichatpong Weerasethakul )

If film is a tool to understand ourselves and the universe we live in, then Uncle Boonmee is a mirror into something that might not even exist. It looks into the past, the present and the future, charting the shape of the human spirit as a dying man looks back at the different incarnations his soul has taken. It's surreal, funny and deeply sensual, subtle but immensely powerful. It also doesn't make sense- not as a story anyway. Instead UBWCRHPL plays as a symphony of feeling, like a filmmaker coming to terms with the inevitable decline of things and the unknowable matter of what comes next. And considering Apichatpong Weerasethakul insisted on shooting on 16mm over digital photography, that's not impossible

The High Point: Fish

85. Tyrannosaur (2011-Paddy Considine)

Seven years after co-writing the script for Dead Man's Shoes, Paddy Considine stepped behind the camera for Tyrannosaur, an expansion of his short film Dog Altogether and one of the most incendiary debuts of the last ten years. Refusing to fall back on style, Tyrannosaur is direct, raw and visceral, an honest and open discussion on cycles of violence and the destruction left in their wake. Tyrannosaur isn't a cry for help but a plea for kindness, as emotionally naked as drama gets. Eddie Marsan is terrifying, Olivia Colman is heartbreaking and Peter Mullan is the best he's ever been

The High Point: "It was a joke name" Joseph sighs as he uneasily explains the film's title

84. Pulse (2001-Kiyoshi Kurosawa)

Pulse came in on the wave of late 90s J-horror that took the world by storm (Think Ringu, Audition and Kurosawa's own Cure), mingling with the advent of the internet to create a uniquely eerie experience. And while other early-web shockers come up shonky when revisited, Pulse's portrait of a world that's so connected yet so crushingly lonely packs such a sting 19 years later. The technology may have dated in places but the horrible curiosity of Pulse has been preserved so well, undoubtedly because of the film's sinister atmosphere and an approach to the internet that feels more thematic than literal. All this time later, it's still skin-crawlingly creepy and gut-wrenchingly sad

The High Point: Junko just.... disappears

83. Sightseers (2012- Ben Wheatley)

Ben Wheatley's third film went deeper than his trademark deconstructions of genre; this was a demolition of an entire pastime. Carry on Camping it ain't. Sightseers plays like Nuts in May's perverted younger cousin, undoubtedly made from the same DNA but just kind of.... off. Thankfully, this is a good thing, a bizarre horror-comedy brought to life by the words and performances of a never better Alice Lowe and Steve Oram. It'd put you off camping for life if it wasn't so darkly hilarious

The High Point: The ending. Oops

82. Night is Short, Walk on Girl (2017-Masaaki Yuasa)

It's rare for films about partying to feel as fun as the revelry they're trying to capture, but Night is Short Walk on Girl comes damn close. Following a nameless girl over a night of binge drinking and general chaos, Night is Short is a heady trip that features gorgeous simplistic animation and brilliantly madcap comedy. The energy is undeniable and the go-for-broke pace is irresistible, but what really makes this film sing is its genuinely magical approach to chance and circumstance, celebrating the life-changing situations we stumble into. Trust me, you won't forget this one when morning comes

The High Point: The black-haired girl out-drinks a god

81. Happy Go-Lucky (2008-Mike Leigh)

True to his reputation as the quintessential poet of the everyday, Mike Leigh's nineteenth film is an expertly observed comedy, wrapped tightly around the ever-glorious presence that is Sally Hawkins. Happy-Go-Lucky feels real but it also feels good, rejecting kitchen-sink bleakness in favour of celebrating the real heroes: the ordinary people who can just keep smiling through it all. There's such an energy to Happy-Go-Lucky, a distinct personality that radiates out of the screen that could convert even the most hardened cynic into a true believer of the goodness of people

The High Point: En-ra-ha!

 

My Thoughts on I'm Thinking of Ending Things

 

Charlie Kaufman is back with I'm Thinking of Ending Things, a psychological horror charting a doomed relationship, and an adaptation of Ian Reid's 2016 novel . It follows Jessie Buckley as a young woman who's Thinking of Ending Things with Jake (Jesse Plemons), her pleasant, if slightly eccentric boyfriend. That she's considering this en route to his parents' house before she meets them for the first time is just the start of what promises to be a long, strange night. A new Kaufman project is always cause for celebration, not just because of their scarcity, but because every script he pens (in this case for the screen) is its own kind of puzzle box, every detail simultaneously elusive and yet impossible to resist interrogating.

It goes without saying that this film won't work for everyone, especially as it delves further and further into the surreal. The truth is that it's psychological horror at its most literal, which is to say it's a film about the terror of human consciousness. Kaufman substitutes shocks and scares for contradictions and inconsistencies, forcing the viewer to doubt every detail that the film makes a point of establishing. Again, it's bound to weed out the impatient, but part of this film's charm is that steadily building discomfort, difficult to watch but much harder not to. This is made even better by the film's queasy sense of humour, which is so paralyzingly unfunny that it makes every moment that much harder to bear. 

It's hardly a stretch for Kaufman stylistically or thematically, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Every film he makes feels like he's tunneling further into his own psyche; Eternal Sunshine dissected an imploding relationship and Anomalisa portrayed a character lost in the fog of their own waning grip on reality, but I'm Thinking of Ending Things feels like the point in his filmography where all of his pet themes are starting to blend into one gorgeously bleak idea. He's doubling down on the things that make him such a unique storyteller, and if the result is hard to understand then I think that's kind of the point. Suggesting that any of these images or ideas has any one meaning just doesn't feel right, and yet they're done with so much nuance that two people could argue for days about any of them (the pig, the dog, the ice-cream) and both of them could be correct on some level. It's a film that invites discussion and dissection and it's likely that, in years to come, we'll still be arguing about what any of the symbolism means.

In fact, if I had one reservation with I'm Thinking of Ending Things, it's that Kaufman goes too abstract on the home stretch. No spoilers, but the last 30 minutes sees a change in the story's focal point, so that instead of being about one character, it really turns out to have been exploring someone else the whole time. The issue is that, in doing this, the film relies heavily on surreal imagery and dream logic, but with much less of a tether to reality as before. The probelm isn't that it doesn't make sense- that goes with the territory- but that it doesn't feel as narratively consistent with the film that preceded it. 

There's such a notable shift in direction without enough time to properly develop it or make it feel that it has any sort of bearing on everything that was set up so well. If anything, maybe it's too clever, going so deep into the psychological that it feels at odds with the slow, sustained build of tension from before. Maybe the best comparison would be Eraserhead, another film that ventures so far into the world of dreams that applying any sort of rational thought to it just feels futile.

But again, that's perhaps to be expected from one of the most cerebral and challenging filmmakers working today. The beauty of I'm Thinking of Ending Things is in how abstract it is. It is frustrating, it is inconsistent and it doesn't need to make sense to get its point across. Maybe I'd have preferred the narrative inconsistencies and slowly escalating dread to continue through the entire runtime instead of a sudden, incredibly dense barrage of symbolism in the last ten minutes, but up to that point, I'm Thinking of Ending Things is by far one of the year's standouts. I'll admit, I loved the film but hated the experience of watching it, but that feels like the point. It's pure thought translated into cinema, and even if it trips up slightly in its home stretch, there's more than enough meaning packed into it to keep it from missing the mark. It's a really interesting piece of work that's at its best when it lets these long, often contradictory scenes of dialogue just play out, with a good part of the film's midsection being some of the most thrilling scenes of the year. I've only seen it once, and maybe I'd benefit from a revisit, but I can't help but feel that's intentional too, like the film burrows into your subconscious and grows with every subsequent rewatch. And if that's the case, I can't wait to see my thoughts develop over time

★ ★ ★ ★

My Thoughts on The Babysitter: Killer Queen

 

I suppose I should preface this by talking about how I felt about the first Babysitter movie, and cards on the table, it didn't do anything for me. Not at first, anyway. No, my initial viewing of the film was marred by what I can only assume was an aversion to fun, and so when I revisited the film a few months ago, I was overjoyed to discover that I was very, very wrong. The Babysitter is a real blast, genre-savvy and over-the-top stylised, held together by an ace Samara Weaving performance. It knows what it is and it works within its style and genre to become something more than what it advertised, I'd recommend it wholeheartedly, especially as a gateway film for those looking to sink their teeth into the genre more. The news of a sequel didn't exactly fill me with confidence (despite the open ending), but having been converted into a fan by the first film's gory charms, I actually found myself looking forward to it. So how does The Babysitter: Killer Queen stack up to the surprise horror gem of 2017?

Spoiler alert: it doesn't. Not entirely anyway. I'll elaborate on why I found this so disappointing later, but for now, let's talk about the story. The plot once again follows Judah Lewis' Cole, recovering from what happened two years before in the way that only slasher protagonists do, which is to say that nobody believes him and everyone thinks he's crazy. Business as usual then, until an attempt to just be a normal teenager goes awry on a trip to the lake that once again sees him fight for his life against the same cult from the first film, now suspiciously more alive than when we last saw them. 

I'll say right now that this plot doesn't work at all. It takes a lot of contrivances and regularly defies its own logic, which is kind of a disappointment for a film where the hero learns that taking the easy way out is rarely the right thing to do. The big shocks are certainly effective but suffer from a serious inability to make any sense whatsoever. I'll keep the spoilers to a minimum so as not to get sacrificed myself, but the first big twist in this film just doesn't sit right with me. It makes for a thrilling, interesting plot, but it's hard to buy considering what the first film lay down. I can forgive it somewhat because as a catalyst it does make for an interesting story, but even still it's the first of many bizarre leaps in logic that the film makes

Of course the big twist won't be spoiled here. No, not the one that's in the trailer for some reason, but what comes after that. What I will say is that it's one of the most ham-fisted reveals in recent memory. Not only does it completely undermine this film, it kind of spoils the first one, too. For as much fun as this film is, ultimately it just isn't a satisfying story at all, completely and surprisingly undoing itself in a climax that feels like it's being written on the spot

Not that it's all bad either. They certainly had more fun with the gore this time around, because the kills in Babysitter 2 are insane. Creative, well-executed and oftentimes hilarious, the ways that characters are offed ends up becoming the film's saving grace. Speaking of the jokes, it's also really funny. Not as funny as the first film, and definitely not as charming, but the jokes aren't bad here at all. They don't do much to save the film, but they at least make it fun. And speaking of fun, the cast are by far the best thing about this movie, and it's clear that everyone involved had an absolute blast, which turns out to be infectious 

Newcomer Jenna Ortega is probably the MVP here, taking to the film's ultra-specific tone with absolute ease. My favourite of the old guard is still Robbie Amell, going full-douchebag once more and actually outdoing himself this time around. Apart from that, there aren't too many standouts. Yeah, I said the cast are the best thing here, but they mainly just ensure that the experience is fun and the tone is consistent, which it definitely is. They're solid across the board, and apart from the two I mentioned, none of them really outdo any of the others

So no, The Babysitter: Killer Queen is not a great film, on its own or as a sequel. It's not unwatchable, and given my history with the first one I could benefit from trying it again, but fun as it is it just doesn't hold up to any sort of scrutiny. It lacks the kind of internal logic that kept the original afloat, so it just feels kind of makeshift, employing any story beat kind of on the spot in its rush towards its messy (on every level) climax. So yeah, it gives me no pleasure to say it's a damp squib, although, who knows? Maybe in another three years I'll change my mind

★ ★

Top 100 Films of the 21st Century (Four Year Anniversary Special)- Part 1 (100-91)

 We're just about one fifth of the way through the 21st Century, and I don't know about you, but I'm in the mood to take stock of things. The last 20 years in cinema have been huge, with trends coming and going like nobody's business. I mean, take the term "cinematic universe" for instance. Where once shared canonical ground was just something that existed in a director's body of work or some sort of dodgy crossover, now universe-sized franchises are celebrated. Expected, even. But I won't bemoan franchise dominance and brand recognition too much It has its place, and blockbuster cinema has definitely been  impacted, and not entirely for the worse 

And while I won't rhyme off every trend in the last two decades and discuss its effect on cinema, it's impossible not to take notice of them when you step back for a second and look at everything that's happened in that space of time. Apart from the MCU and its shared-universe ilk, there's the rise of CGI with its use in everything from blockbuster epics (Avatar) to somber dramas (The Irishman). There's also the impact of the internet; as the world becomes smaller, access to international and independent cinema becomes much easier. That's changed the game in its own way, with most of the best, most successful cinema right now coming from outside of Hollywood. Just look at the impeccable selection of titles that have come out of South Korea in the last few years

And what about the word itself? "Cinema". What is it? It's a question that's found itself up for discussion recently, as old masters criticised the current crop of superhero outings, but even before that, Cannes' refusal to show Netflix films in competition was an indication that regardless of how the old guard responded to it, the medium was moving on

And it continues to do so. Cinema will keep changing as this century progresses, undoubtedly as a result of the shifts that have already taken place since 2000, so consider this something of a time capsule. For my fourth anniversary, I want to look back, to celebrate the best that two decades of film have to offer. A tough task for sure, but one that I've found immense pleasure in undertaking. I should say right now that it wasn't easy. There was a lot of deliberating, watching, rewatching and obsessively fussing over the order. Some great films missed the cut, to say nothing of the ones I haven't seen. As for ranking them, that brought its own challenges. You might disagree with my choices, or their order, and if you want to let me know your own favourite films from the 21st century, feel free to do so. Film is a community thing, now more than ever, so let's get a discussion started

So save your "they don't make them like they used to", because if the last 20 years have taught us anything, it's that cinema is in great shape. As good as its ever been, if you ask me. And although it remains to be seen whether the following hundred films have the longevity to match their quality, it's undeniable that this is one hell of a bunch of films. So dive in and enjoy this, my top 100 films of the 21st century 

One quick warning: this list may contain spoilers in The High Point section, so maybe skip that if you haven't seen the film

100. Southland Tales (2006- Richard Kelly)

Richard Kelly's follow-up to Donnie Darko opened to a ghastly reaction at Cannes and currently finds itself sitting at a less-than glowing 39% percent on Rotten Tomatoes. It's a mess, a hodge-podge of characters and themes clashing with utterly ridiculous imagery (flying ice-cream van?), and yet when all of its imperfect parts combine, it becomes one of the most bizarrely compelling films of the last two decades. Kelly's ambition is huge, and his take on mid-2000s America- a post-9/11 nation left obsessed with celebrity and questioning its very identity- is irresistible, pure creativity that's preserved this film well enough that it's starting to receive a long-overdue reappraisal. It's about time.

The High Point:  Justin Timberlake woozily lip-syncing his way through The Killers' `All These Things That I've Done

99. The Artist (2011- Michel Hazanavicius)

The Artist arrived to us from another era, not so much a tribute to the dream machine of silent Hollywood as a piece of modern magic haunted by ghosts of old. It's a passionate film to be sure, but the unique alchemy of The Artist goes beyond simple nostalgia, undercutting its dewy-eyed reverence with a playful mischief that subverts its Oscar-bait image. The result of this is romance without romanticisation, a film that delivers both crowd-pleasing delights alongside its musings on the blurry line between life and art. The toast of the 84th Academy Awards, it's proof positive that actions speak louder than words

The High Point: "Cut!"- the silence is finally broken

98. Inherent Vice (2014- Paul Thomas Anderson)

After The Master's careful study of the human soul, PTA loosened the coils for his shambolic stoner epic, a woozy study of the end of an era. It's a film that forces the viewer to get lost, urging you to look away from the plot for a bit and just enjoy the scenery. Inherent Vice is a grand maze of a film, a richly layered mystery tale that gains a little more with each year that passes. It revealed a side of the San Fernando auteur that lay previously unseen, woolier, weirder and more wigged-out than anything he had shown us before

The High Point:  Doc's frenzied escape from his captors

97. It Follows (2014- David Robert Mitchell)

Sex and horror have long been inseparable bedfellows, and David Robert Mitchell's dread-soaked shocker celebrates their relationship with unnerving intensity. It's sparse and confrontational, a constant escalation of tension that cuts open the horrors of sexual intimacy and studies the murky, disturbing truths that slither out. Mitchell famously denied any one interpretation of the film, which is apt, because like `It`, the true meaning of the piece generates feverish terror no matter what shape it takes

The High Point: The inexplicable naked man on the roof

96. The Lives of Others (2006- Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck)

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's debut(!) is an interrogation of a country's past, a moral tale and a devastatingly human story about compassion found in the strangest of places all in one. A weighty piece of cinema with a lot on its mind, The Lives of Others is a political thriller through and through, thrillingly punctuated with jolts of love. So fiendishly plotted and meticulously composed that it really is hard to overstate how impressive it is that it's his first film, or how unbelievable it is that the same man would churn out The Tourist just four years later

The High Point: Weisler urges his mark's girlfriend not to go through with her affair, risking his cover in the process

95. Moonrise Kingdom (2012- Wes Anderson)

For his seventh film, Wes Anderson recreated the huge emotions of childhood romance, crafting a storybook world for his runaway heroes to inhabit and explore. Moonrise Kingdom feels instantly familiar, lovingly sculpted out of pure nostalgia so that watching it feels like opening the pages of a book you haven’t read in years. It’s here where the wisdom of an adult Wes mingles with the passionate idealism of his inner boy-scout, resulting in a, wistful, warm living memory

The high point: Sam and Suzie’s confrontation with the scouts sent to track him down

94. Lars and the Real Girl (2007- Craig Gillespie)

“Ryan Gosling falls for a sex doll” is not the most bankable premise for a film, but Craig Gillespie’s soulful indie makes a case for the contrary. Less a Gos-led grotfest and more a story of a community banding together to take care of one of its most vulnerable members, Lars and the Real Girl wrings warmth from the most unlikely of places. It’s an affirming reminder that it’s the most unexpected of situations that tend to bring out the best in us

The high point: Bianca’s funeral, where a twee premise suddenly gains huge emotional weight

93. A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2014- Roy Andersson)

Capping off his Living trilogy in style, Roy Andersson was on typically idiosyncratic form with this hare-brained comic anthology, a strange, slowly unfolding saga of the human soul. If that sounds dreary and well, not very funny, then it really can’t be overstated how sharply chaotic Andersson’s sense of humour is and how well it punctuates the static camera, long-take, grey n’ brown insanity. Who knew the mundane could be so much fun?

The high point: The rousing sing-song in Limping Lotta’s bar in Gothenburg. Goes on for ages but keeps the fun going for every minute

92. Mother (2009- Bong Joon-ho)

Before he took the world by storm with Parasite, Bong Joon-ho wove a similarly intricate tale of the ties that bind and the sins we commit in the name of family. Kim Hye-ja was spellbinding as a woman desperately trying to clear her son’s name in a thriller that was at once expansive and taut. In typical Bong fashion, it was the sly humour and meticulous detail that lingered after the credits rolled. Mother is a slow-burn towards an inevitable truth, and the result is devastating

The High Point: Mother dances hypnotically through a field of wheat

91. The Raid (2011- Gareth Evans)

At a time when Hollywood was churning out legions of Bourne-lite actioners, Gareth Evans went to Indonesia for his thumping film following a police raid on a gangster’s high-rise fortress. Mean, lean and uncompromisingly violent, it marked a watershed moment in modern action cinema, expertly carried by leading man Iko Uwais. Even with the sequel and the similarly ace The Night Comes For Us, The Raid still feels utterly singular almost a decade later

The High Point: The two-on-one brawl, where a pair of brothers take on Mad Dog

My Thoughts on Tenet

 

The first major theatrical blockbuster in a post-Covid world, it's only natural that all eyes are on Tenet. A new Nolan release is guaranteed to attract serious heat anyway, but the director's staunch refusal to delay the film's release date has turned it into the cinematic talking point of the year. And while its temporal musings have proven divisive, it's quite possible that this could be Nolan's most ambitious project yet, conceptually but especially release-wise. So the question is this: is Tenet the film to get big-screen releases back on track?

Essentially following The Protagonist (an on-point John David Washington), a CIA agent sent on a mission to prevent WW3, Tenet is broadly a spy film, albeit one intricately infused with Nolan's knack for time-centric cinema. The film is firmly rooted in its action, which is undoubtedly its greatest strength. The setpieces benefit from the combination of forward flowing and inverted time, and it's a joy to see previously introduced ideas take on new meaning as the plot progresses. One central car chase that's nail-biting gold on first pass gains a greater level of resonance upon repetition, a spoiler-free example of a narrative device that becomes more and more impactful every time it's used. And while the reversed time aspect may sound confusing when explained in the first act's seemingly endless exposition, it's surprisingly elegant in practice, proof that the real strength of Tenet's storytelling is in its visuals

See, the plot of Tenet isn't actually all that complicated, and unlike other Nolan fare such as Interstellar or Memento, it lacks an emotional core for the high concept to hinge itself on. Thankfully, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, with the film playing out as a breakneck ballet moving in two different directions at once and excelling as a piece of action storytelling rather than any sort of interrogation of the human experience. That said, the juxtaposition of the relatively basic story and the complex concept does mean that Tenet comes up a little light in terms of substance, an issue not helped by the constant stream of exposition, made worse by the film's sound design, where a good chunk of the dialogue ends up being just about unintelligible. The sound brings another issue with it too: This film is LOUD. I won't go so far as to label the sound mixing unfinished, but it is uneven, and the experience of the film loses a fair bit because of it

But as a piece of blockbuster cinema, Tenet is as good as anything we've gotten in the past year, expertly marrying a high-concept with Nolan's reliably strong ability to craft IMAX-worthy spectacle. Basic as the plot may be, its individual components end up being more than the sum of their parts. Kenneth Branagh's menacing Russian baddie, for instance, seems like a caricature on paper but ends up giving the film's conflict real weight and immediacy- not just something for the heroes to fight, but something to fight against: a human manifestation of a bigger idea that makes unlikely victory seem possible because it's suddenly become human. The same is true of Elizabeth Debicki and her gangster's moll, who undeniably suffers from Nolan's chronic inability to write a convincing female character but ends up softening the film's cold, objective edge, ultimately allowing the conclusion to resonate, adding satisfaction and weight to what might otherwise have been purely emotionless and functional

Ultimately, Tenet just about meets its lofty ambitions, a heady, large-scale blockbuster that warrants rewatches backwards and forwards. It's clear Nolan has a lot on his mind, with this film feeling like an extension of a man who's been vocal about his concern for the future. What it lacks in its narrative and loses with its chaotic sound design it easily makes back with intricate, well-crafted action and a satisfying eternal logic. And while it doesn't reach the heady heights of Dunkirk or the Dark Knight trilogy, it does mark a triumphant return for both cinema's most fastidious intellectual and the screens he yearns to pour his dreams onto. And you really can't ask for more than that

★ ★ ★ ★