BBC 21st Century Film List

[Kaka Tim]

Pride ! Kick Ass !! Malificent !!!

Are all very good films.

 

[Reno]

I might try it again. I didn't even get to the end of Inland Empire. I think I like the idea of Lynch more than the reality of him. Bit like Jarman.

I'm with you on Jarman, but I love Lynch.

 

[Reno]

Are all very good films.

I'll take your word for it

Kick Ass may just be my most hated film of the last decade, the other two I just find bland and I say that as someone who played a small part in the real history behind Pride (unfortunately I can't say that about Malificent)

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Django Unchained is a great film and I'd have it in there too.

These lists are always going to leave out things you think definitely should be there. Where's Werckmeister Harmonies, for instance? Seems a glaring omission to me.

 

[krtek a houby]

How many films have you seen which shoot documentary footage of people which then become characters in the plot ? Under the Skin doesn't coast on style, it's detached style, which combines docu-drama with highly-styled, otherworldly scenes, is in service of the plot, which is about an alien's view of our world and her emotional and moral progress.

In a vague way; I reckon it's this century's The Man Who Fell to Earth, I'd reckon.

 

[Reno]

Django Unchained is a great film and I'd have it in there too.

These lists are always going to leave out things you think definitely should be there. Where's Werckmeister Harmonies, for instance? Seems a glaring omission to me.

I'm pretty sure I saw it in there, definitely several Bela Tarr films are in the list.

 

[Reno]

In a vague way; I reckon it's this century's The Man Who Fell to Earth, I'd reckon.

The films are superficially similar as they are based on novels about aliens on earth who pass for human and yet stay on the outside, but apart from the central premise, I think they are formally and thematically quite different. I watched the film several times at the height of my crush on Bowie in the late 70s, but when I tried to revisit it not too long ago, it lost me in the second half.

 

[krtek a houby]

The films are thematically similar as they are based on novels about aliens on earth who pass for human and yet stay on the outside, but apart from the central premise, I think they are formally and thematically quite different. I watched the film several times at the height of my crush on Bowie in the late 70s, but when I tried to revisit it not too long ago, it lost me in the second half.

I watched it in the 80s, not so much because of Bowie but at the time, I was getting into Roeg. His films themselves, often feel alien and detached... must get round to a repeat viewing one of these days.

 

[Fez909]

I thought Grizzly Man should definitely be on the list and guessed its omission was because it was a doc. But then an Act of Killing is a doc, so I think it's a glaring omission.

 

[Reno]

I thought Grizzly Man should definitely be on the list and guessed its omission was because it was a doc. But then an Act of Killing is a doc, so I think it's a glaring omission.

That may be because it's an eccentric if tragic human interest story rather than a film which deals with universal themes. And formally it doesn't do anything new either, Herzog had been making that type of documentary for decades by then. It deals with a rather grotesque and singular case of one man's mental illness. It's certainly unforgettable if also slightly voyeristic, despite witholding the actual tape.

 

[Kaka Tim]

The 2011 film of wuthering hieghts another serious ommision IMO.
And id have chicken run and frozen in there instead of Wall-E and Rataouille for the amimated kids films. And bolt.

 

[Reno]

The 2011 film of wuthering hieghts another serious ommision IMO.
And id have chicken run and frozen in there instead of Wall-E and Rataouille for the amimated kids films. And bolt.

Andrea Arnold's excellent Fish Tank is on the list and rightly so. Most critics thought that her attempt at Wuthering Heights was interesting if not entirely successful and few people would probably regard it a serious omission. Its harsh digital cinematography in combo with a shaky handheld camera makes this one of the few films which gave me a serious headache.

I agree with you that Frozen is miles better than Ratatouille, a film whose premise does nothing for me. Frozen is probably considered too populist, but it's actually quite subversive with its feminist take on the princess fairy tale and it's queer subtext. And those songs sure are catchy!

 

[stdP]

I might try it again. I didn't even get to the end of Inland Empire. I think I like the idea of Lynch more than the reality of him.

It's well worth persevering with Mulholland Drive I think; I think it's easily the most accessible of Lynch's "WTF" films; I didn't really understand it either on the first viewing.

Aside from Reno's comments on the same theme as Lost Highway, it's an indictment of the imposed artificiality of cinema, especially of Hollywood. In that sense it gels with the whole trauma/fugue state thing much better than I thought Lost Highway did. All very self-consciously post-modern and darkly funny with it, I think it manages the neat trick of deconstructing half of the idea of movies (especially of noir thrillers) by invoking them in the most cliché-ridden ways possible. And, just in case no-one's mentioned it yet, Naomi Watts delivers an utter acting masterclass in this. First time I saw it I could scarcely believe I was watching the same actress.

Spoiler

In fact I remember googling "Mulholland Drive WTF" soon after watching it for the third time with a mate (and thus instigating an argument) and finding this article at the top of the hit list. You should watch the film again first before reading it though
http://www.salon.com/2001/10/24/mulholland_drive_analysis/

 

[Reno]

Naomi Watts went from almost complete unknown (apart form some Aussie soaps) to star overnight with Mulholland Drive, which mirrored the aspirations of her character in the film. Her high point in the film is the audition scene where she acts "acting" brilliantly and in turn reveals a different, more calculating layer to her wide eyed, ingenue character.

What's also worth noting is that Mullholland Drive originally was a pilot for a TV series which never got picked up. It was on sitting the shelf for about a year and then Lynch decided to shoot extra scenes and an ending to turn in into a stand alone film.

 

[Johnny Vodka]

What's also worth noting is that Mullholland Drive originally was a pilot for a TV series which never got picked up. It was on sitting the shelf for about a year and then Lynch decided to shoot extra scenes and an ending to turn in into a stand alone film.

And this clearly shows... which is why it doesn't quite deliver on the hype and why it's surely not the best film of this century.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

And this clearly shows... which is why it doesn't quite deliver on the hype and why it's surely not the best film of this century.

I have no problem with flaws.

One of my favourite novels is The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing. She clearly didn't know how to end the book, which was itself clearly a product of severe writer's block. This much is clear from reading it. Doesn't mean it's anything less than magnificent.

 

[Reno]

And this clearly shows... which is why it doesn't quite deliver on the hype and why it's surely not the best film of this century.

I think he made it work.

It's not my personal best film of the century, its not even my favourite David Lynch film, but I have no problem with this film getting voted number 1 by a consensus. Certainly more so than 99% of films released in that period and that's good enough for me.

The Best Movie of the 21st Century: Why Critics Keep Voting for David Lynch’s ‘Mulholland Drive’

 

[Johnny Vodka]

I just think there are more solidly conceived films... off the top of my head (and no idea where they should appear in a top 100): Drive, Dead Man's Shoes, Biutiful, Martha Marcy May Marlene. All films I'd prob watch again over MH, the former two despite having seen them loads of times, and they don't even make the list. MH seems to me like a lesser Lost Highway.

 

[Reno]

The ones I'd put on the list would be: Upstream Color, Starlet, Weekend, Animal Kingdom, Polytechnique, I Am Love, Julia, Two Lovers, My Winnipeg, The Fantastic Mr Fox, Los Angeles Plays Itself, Read My Lips, Requiem, Birth, You Can Count On Me and What We Do in the Shadows.

To make space for them I would chuck: Amelie, Shame, Ratatouille, Brokeback Mountain, Goodbye to Language, The Headless Woman, Melancholia, Requiem for a Dream, The Wolf of Wall Street, Moulin Rouge, Inception, Inside Out, Son of Saul, 25th Hour, Pan's Labyrinth and The Tree of Life

 

[Sue]

And this clearly shows... which is why it doesn't quite deliver on the hype and why it's surely not the best film of this century.

Not imo the best film of the century but a pretty reasonable shout. There are other films on that list that I feel way more wtf about.

 

[nogojones]

Well that's given me a load of titles to download, but I'm pretty skeptical of it as it has Boyhood and Tree of Life in the list, both of which were pretty abysmal to me. It felt like I lost a couple of week of my life watching those.

Lost in Translation was pretty shit as well.

 

[nogojones]

The Tree of Life was shit as well.

You're far too kind about it

 

[N_igma]

Surprised Birdman isn't on that list great film.

 

[Reno]

Here are the individual lists of the voting critics:

The 21st Century’s 100 greatest films: Who voted?

 

[ska invita]

Just watched Holy Motors - top marks on lots of points, very well executed and put together, but ultimately its a film about film (and about acting in particular) and how hard it all is, so feels a bit self-absorbed and self-indulgent.
Still fun to see proper euro art house with some life in it

 

[Chz]

Just watched Holy Motors - top marks on lots of points, very well executed and put together, but ultimately its a film about film (and about acting in particular) and how hard it all is, so feels a bit self-absorbed and self-indulgent.
Still fun to see proper euro art house with some life in it

And that pretty much sums up why I didn't like it, beautiful though it is. Same reason the Mrs. hated Birdman - self-referential wank. Though I kinda liked that one.