Jump to content
 

NYT: The 25 Best Films of the 21st Century So Far


theedge00

Recommended Posts

10 hours ago, Nosferatu said:

Seen Hurt Locker & Boyhood. Boyhood, like someone stated above isn't that good. Like yeah, the way it was filmed for like 10 years or so was good. But the story is just so simple. There's better movies that are about "coming of age" or whatever IMO. The acting is good for it though. Just I find it very average.

Hurt Locker I thought was good, but IMO it wasn't even the best movie in the year it was released. I think that was competing with Avatar (which was massively overrated IMO, but I do think it was way better than Avatar). District 9 however was my favourite coming from that year.

Mad Max was fucking good. But best? Not sure. Never captured me the way the following movies did: District 9, Django Unchained, Kill Bill, The Town, Moon, 28 Days Later, LOTR Trilogy, TDK Trilogy, Interstellar, Inglorious Basterds, Wolf of Wall Street & Watchmen.

40 Year Old Virgin? Seriously? Was good. Was pretty funny but one of the best? Hell, I even preferred Click from Adam Sandler. Give me Will Ferrell's Anchorman (first one), Talledega Nights & Stepbrothers over 40 Year Old Virgin.

The rest of the movies on that list, well I've never heard of most of them. Have heard of like 4 but not seen though.

I'd recommend Watchmen. Very different for a super hero movie. To me, it's more like a thriller/detective story but super heroes are the backstory. It got a lot of criticism, probably because it followed the comic book almost exact. Kinda like Sin City if you've ever seen that. Also the trailers were a little misleading. It looked like it was gonna be another typical action superhero thing, but it's completely different. Pretty slow movie but I do love it. More of an acquired taste type IMO.

See I hated Watchmen. I had people telling me it was one the best films ever, and that it was just totally amazing. I had friends desperately trying to get me to watch giant director cut versions or whatever. When I finally relented and watched it (the normal version) I was bored shitless. I never read the comics and I think it's cool that its different from other superhero movies and that they tried to stick to the book but as a film it was incredibly dull and irritating especially after all the hype. 

10 hours ago, Nosferatu said:

Although Deadpool was a tiny bit different to most superhero stuff, like being more violent, more funny and stuff, Kick Ass already did that, and IMO did it better as well. Kick Ass 2 I can't stand though.

I liked Kick-Ass and I can get your comparisons but I found Deadpool to just be genuinely funnier. but I am also a big fan of the character in general so I'm biased. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Kay said:

See I hated Watchmen. I had people telling me it was one the best films ever, and that it was just totally amazing. I had friends desperately trying to get me to watch giant director cut versions or whatever. When I finally relented and watched it (the normal version) I was bored shitless. I never read the comics and I think it's cool that its different from other superhero movies and that they tried to stick to the book but as a film it was incredibly dull and irritating especially after all the hype. 

I liked Kick-Ass and I can get your comparisons but I found Deadpool to just be genuinely funnier. but I am also a big fan of the character in general so I'm biased. 

Yeah, I do understand why people won't like Watchmen. I just think it's one of those more acquired taste types. I'm a big fan of it. I haven't read the comics either, just know that they pretty much copied it like for like. Looking at all the trailers, you'd think it was gonna be action packed. A lot of the hype was misleading, I agree. But things like that don't really bother me. If the story interests me, I'll keep watching haha. I think most people probably didn't expect it was gonna be some 2-3 hour slow movie without much violence. It really is more of a detective/thriller kind of movie than super hero IMO.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Boyhood is pretty brilliant in terms of execution and what it essentially was, an experiment. It's not supposed to be this grand, coming of age epic. It's supposed to capture the high points of a kid growing up. It's a bit tedious, subtle, and melodramatic, but that's what growing up is often like. Combine that with two pretty great performances from Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette, and I think it earns its reputation. I'm glad it didn't veer off into crazy land with him having a drug problem or anything too insane. I like the grounded-ness of it.

I prefer a lot of Linklater's films in general, but Boyhood I think stands on its own.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's still a way to capture the essence of growing up in a way that's grounded and realistic without meandering through events and plot points with little consequence or significance like Boyhood did. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Nasa said:

There's still a way to capture the essence of growing up in a way that's grounded and realistic without meandering through events and plot points with little consequence or significance like Boyhood did. 

I agree, the movie could have still been a good story while having its great and unique film style.  But it was just a case of all style and no substance.  Its cool that it was filmed the way it was, it is, and it deserves credit for that, but that doesn't make it a good movie.  Hell if movies get to make such a list on style alone, then Avatar should be on this list.  A boring and bland story, but hey it ushered in the modern era of 3D film and made a shit-ton of money, it therefore gets to be labeled a 'great' movie.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎6‎/‎14‎/‎2017 at 10:21 AM, Nasa said:

There's still a way to capture the essence of growing up in a way that's grounded and realistic without meandering through events and plot points with little consequence or significance like Boyhood did. 

I think that describes a lot of people's young lives a lot.

On ‎6‎/‎14‎/‎2017 at 0:13 PM, M!ke said:

I agree, the movie could have still been a good story while having its great and unique film style.  But it was just a case of all style and no substance.  Its cool that it was filmed the way it was, it is, and it deserves credit for that, but that doesn't make it a good movie.  Hell if movies get to make such a list on style alone, then Avatar should be on this list.  A boring and bland story, but hey it ushered in the modern era of 3D film and made a shit-ton of money, it therefore gets to be labeled a 'great' movie.

I think you missed the point of the film. It's not about "this great boy story", it's about the minutiae of growing up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, Nasa said:

Agreed, but that doesn't mean it fundamentally makes a good movie.

No it does not. But if there's a thesis of this film, I think it's does a good job capturing that. I absolutely think the film could have improved upon itself in terms of pacing and a more intriguing story arc, but it might not fair much better in the end and lose what is pretty unique about it. That's the risk though.

It's interesting to juxtapose this film with another Linklater film, Bernie, which is a very good film, has an intriguing true story, that got less acclaim and less popularity. It has I'd say three or four outstanding performances too. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, _Kyle_ said:

I think that describes a lot of people's young lives a lot.

I think you missed the point of the film. It's not about "this great boy story", it's about the minutiae of growing up.

I understand that, and it did that effectively, sure.  But is it a great movie? No.  It just conveyed what it set out to do in an interesting way.  So I'll give it kudos for that, but its not coming anywhere close to my top 25 best films of this century. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, _Kyle_ said:

No it does not. But if there's a thesis of this film, I think it's does a good job capturing that. I absolutely think the film could have improved upon itself in terms of pacing and a more intriguing story arc, but it might not fair much better in the end and lose what is pretty unique about it. That's the risk though.

It's interesting to juxtapose this film with another Linklater film, Bernie, which is a very good film, has an intriguing true story, that got less acclaim and less popularity. It has I'd say three or four outstanding performances too. 

The only other Linklater film I've seen is Dazed and Confused, and it was okay. I also felt like it ambled around without a clear direction story or character wise. Still enjoyable at points.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, _Kyle_ said:

Yeah D&C is a signature Linklater film in that the plot isn't as important as the feeling and structure. @Nasayou ever see School of Rock?

I LOVE School of Rock! Great film! One of my favorites! :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting. I did not know that. Given his reputation for loosely structured movies I would not have expected that. Doesn't change how much I love the film of course! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I havent heard of 20 of those movies and Ive seen maybe 3. I saw There Will be Blood when it came out but I cant remember a single thing. I remember I preferred No Country for Old Men which came out around the same time lol

Eternal Sunshine was an amazing movie. 

Im surprised theres no Christopher Nolan, but then again its an obscure list. If its legit, id watch these movies but when 40 year old Virgin is on there I just dont know... :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I still haven't seen eternal sunshine. everyone seems to love it, but everything i've seen about it makes it sound like a pretentious piece of crap. I will watch it at some point but I know my missus hated it too which doesn't bode well. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 16.6.2017 at 11:44 AM, Kay said:

I still haven't seen eternal sunshine. everyone seems to love it, but everything i've seen about it makes it sound like a pretentious piece of crap. 

It's an American-made movie, not French. Kaufman movies are kinda wacky but not pretentious.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Eternal Sunshine is a gorgeous movie with a cult following. I recommend seeing it, you don't have to like it but I was surprised.

I've never seen most of these movies and now I have that overwhelming sense of missing out on important things.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, Eternal Sunshine is fantastic, and definitely belongs on the list.  I can see how if one hasn't seen the movie how it might look pretentious, but seriously, when you actually watch it, it'd be hard to not appreciate it.  Having said that, the guy's next movie, The Science of Sleep, absolutely was a pretentious and overall not good movie.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...