my fave movies of the 21st century

An interesting question came up in the comments for the post on the latest They Shoot Pictures, Don't They update: What are the one or two 21st century films that have ranked highest in my informal all-time list? Interesting enough to answer the question in a separate post.

The easiest place to start is with the Fave Fifty project a few of us did on Facebook back in 2011. Here are the 21st century films that made my all-time top 50 list:

City of God (#20 on my list, #10 on TSPDT)

In the Mood for Love (#38, #1)

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (#44, #33)

The Lives of Others (#45, #31)

Since then, I have also given my highest rating to these movies, which came out in 2011 or later:

A Separation (#17 on TSPDT)

Mad Max: Fury Road (#49)

Before Midnight (#207)

The Square (N/A)

If any of these movies would make my current Top 50 list, it's probably A Separation. Fury Road, much as I love it, isn't different enough from The Road Warrior for me to bump it that last little bit, and Before Midnight gets at least some of its value from being the third in a trilogy. The Square is the only documentary on this list, so it will get an honorable mention.

So the question is, where would A Separation fit among those other four movies from my 2011 list? The only one of those movies I've watched in the past few years is In the Mood for Love, which grows in my heart with each viewing. I'd probably put it at the top of those four movies now. So, off the top of my head, here are my Top Five movies of the 21st century:

1. In the Mood for Love
2. City of God
3. A Separation
4. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
5. The Lives of Others

Comments

[Tomás]

Clicking on your review for In the Mood for Love I noticed it's a 2000 release. TSPDT has their bar of when the 20th century ends and the 21st starts off by a year. That is, since there's no year "zero," the year 2000 is the last of the 20th century.

That said, it's an interesting group of films!

[Steven Rubio]

At our house, and apparently at TSPDT's house, the century starts with the zero year.

[steve]

Eh, Fury Road doesn't have Mel Gibson, and it does have Furiosa. And the tracking shots are way more complex. And the color palette is much more rigorous. And the narrative stakes are even higher. And George Miller was riding in the camera car!

Just sayin'.

[Steven Rubio]

Funny you mention the color palette ... have you seen the Black and Chrome version?

[steve]

No! Thanks, I'll look for it.

[Steven Rubio]

A nice, short, comparison video of the two versions of Fury Road:

https://youtu.be/rqnD_Qfx1vQ