The Public's Favorite Films of the Century

What do you think?

Last month, I posted a poll of 100 favorite movies since 2000, as chosen by a few hundred film making insiders (rather than critics). Now, the New York Times has posted its readers’ rankings.

However, the public’s choices were made after the original listed was released, and the public was clearly highly influenced by the first list (which was a pretty good list, all things considered): e.g., the public agrees with the professionals that Parasite was #1 and Mulholland Drive #2. The public moves No Country for Old Men up from #6 to #3 to replace There Will Be Blood, which falls to #4. And so forth.

So, here are the public’s top 200 choices that didn’t make the insiders’ top 100:

The Reader Top 100

… 15. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Yup. The Lord of the Rings trilogy strikes me as the great cinematic achievement of the 21st Century.

16. La La Land

A wonderful original musical.

27. Dune: Part Two

I admire Denis Villenueve, but he doesn’t always spark joy in me, as Marie Kondo might say.

34. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

I enjoyed this cartoon superhero movie a lot.

43. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

My favorite of the trilogy, perhaps because I saw it with Jerry Pournelle.

50. Pride & Prejudice

This is the one with Keira Knightley.

52. Sinners

Solid original IP, which is rare these days.

59. Django Unchained

I gave Tarantino a hard time over this, but there are some great shots in it.

60. Little Women

Not as good as the 1933 black & white version with Katharine Hepburn or the 1949 color version with June Allison (they just reused the same script and the same sets) because Saoirse Ronan is too much of a girly girl to play tomboy Jo: e.g., she can’t throw a baseball through a glass window.

62. Hereditary

63. Blade Runner 2049

65. Fantastic Mr. Fox

67. The Handmaiden

77. The Prestige

82. Mean Girls

83. Perfect Days

84. Barbie

86. Dune: Part One

88. Top Gun: Maverick

Perhaps the great Hollywood movie post-covid and post-George Floyd.

89. Drive My Car

91. Knives Out

92. The Incredibles

93. Killers of the Flower Moon

96. Howl’s Moving Castle

97. The Lighthouse

98. The Holdovers

99. Midsommar

100. Avengers: Endgame

“And … I am … Iron Man.”

The editor came up with that climactic line in post-production.

101. Synecdoche, New York

102. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

104. Nope

105. American Psycho

106. Poor Things

108. Hot Fuzz

109. Challengers

110. Inside Out 111.

The Devil Wears Prada

112. In Bruges

Seem more like a top 25 pick.

113. Donnie Darko

114. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

115. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

116. Requiem for a Dream

119. Sicario

120. Manchester by the Sea

121. Prisoners

122. First Reformed

123. The Banshees of Inisherin

126. The Substance

127. Incendies

128. The Piano Teacher

129. Drive

130. Moulin Rouge!

131. Shrek

132. Paddington 2 133.

The Big Short

134. Chicago

136. The Witch

137. Coco

138. Toy Story 3

139. 1917

140. The Pianist

141. Anora

142. Ex Machina

143. Avatar

144. Casino Royale

147. Moonrise Kingdom

148. Burning

149. Jojo Rabbit

150. Shrek 2

151. Dunkirk

152. Finding Nemo

154. Spider-Man 2

156. 28 Days Later

157. I Saw the TV Glow

158. Shaun of the Dead

158. Catch Me If You Can

160. About Time

161. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

163. Slumdog Millionaire

164. Inland Empire

165. Avengers: Infinity War

167. Godzilla Minus One

168. Your Name.

169. Shutter Island

170. The Batman

171. Juno

172. Mission: Impossible - Fallout

173. Sideways

174. The Martian

175. Babylon

176. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

177. The Irishman

178. Coraline

179. Legally Blonde

180. School of Rock

181. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

183. Mamma Mia!

184. Mysterious Skin

187. La Chimera

188. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

189. Midnight in Paris

190. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

191. Collateral

192. The Lobster

193. Decision to Leave

194. Conclave

195. Monster

196. Napoleon Dynamite

198. How to Train Your Dragon

199. Silver Linings Playbook

And the rest of the public’s top 500 choices without checking for whether they made the top 100

200. Borat 201. Atonement 202. Shoplifters 203. The Nice Guys 204. Wicked 205. Step Brothers 206. Dogville 207. Silence 208. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 209. Snatch 210. Nickel Boys 211. Marie Antoinette 212. John Wick 213. Caché 214. The Fall 215. Minority Report 216. Skyfall 217. Tropic Thunder 218. Dancer in the Dark 219. Gravity 220. The Great Beauty 221. The Perks of Being a Wallflower 222. Lincoln 223. Speed Racer 224. Flow 225. RRR 226. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou 227. The Shape of Water 228. Titane 229. Good Time 230. 500 Days of Summer 231. Let the Right One In 232. Nightcrawler 233. Joker 234. The Hangover 235. The Wind Rises 236. Sound of Metal 237. The Bourne Identity 238. The King’s Speech 239. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford 240. Paprika 241. The Brutalist 242. Monsters, Inc. 243. Another Round 244. Argo 245. Kill Bill: Vol. 2 246. Amour 247. All of Us Strangers 248. Love Actually 249. The Hurt Locker 250. Training Day 251. Big Fish 252. Baby Driver 253. I’m Still Here 254. Hell or High Water 255. Zero Dark Thirty 256. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire 257. Amores Perros 258. A.I. Artificial Intelligence 259. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives 260. Talk to Her 261. The Hateful Eight 262. The Fabelmans 263. It’s Such a Beautiful Day 264. Green Book 265. A Beautiful Mind 266. Marriage Story 267. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone 268. The Hunt 269. Million Dollar Baby 270. Goodbye, Dragon Inn 271. The Revenant 272. Us 273. Grizzly Man 274. Mommy 275. Edge of Tomorrow 276. Burn After Reading 277. Tenet 278. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty 279. The Tale of The Princess Kaguya 280. CODA 281. Sorry to Bother You 282. Climax 283. Iron Man 284. Beau travail 285. Wet Hot American Summer 286. Miami Vice 287. Inherent Vice 288. Crazy, Stupid, Love. 289. Annihilation 290. The Boy and the Heron 291. Cast Away 292. Asteroid City 293. Holy Motors 294. Lilo & Stitch 295. Cold War 296. The Notebook 297. Bottoms 298. Sing Sing 299. It Follows 300. The Hours 301. Dogtooth 302. The White Ribbon 303. Bridget Jones’s Diary 304. Logan 305. The Darjeeling Limited 306. Millennium Actress 307. The Raid: Redemption 308. Train to Busan 309. Booksmart 310. All Quiet on the Western Front 311. Twilight 312. Nomadland 313. Certified Copy 314. The Virgin Suicides 315. The Gleaners & I 316. Werckmeister Harmonies 317. Guardians of the Galaxy 318. Mystic River 319. Ford v Ferrari 320. District 9 321. Spring Breakers 322. Cars 323. The Death of Stalin 324. Nosferatu 325. Love Exposure 326. The Hunger Games 327. V for Vendetta 328. Licorice Pizza 329. Gangs of New York 330. 20th Century Women 331. BlacKkKlansman 332. Tangerine 333. Promising Young Woman 334. Hidden Figures 335. Soul 336. Ponyo 337. Margaret 338. The Secret in Their Eyes 339. The Dark Knight Rises 340. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 341. Elf 342. Hundreds of Beavers 343. The Iron Claw 344. The Intouchables 345. True Grit 346. Saw 347. Suspiria 348. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 349. Spider-Man 350. Batman Begins 351. Nobody Knows 352. Erin Brockovich 353. A Star Is Born 354. Crazy Rich Asians 355. The Green Knight 356. Birth 357. Forgetting Sarah Marshall 358. Brooklyn 359. Toni Erdmann 360. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 361. Kung Fu Hustle 362. Tropical Malady 363. Memoria 364. The Wild Robot 365. The Avengers 366. The Killing of a Sacred Deer 367. Moana 368. What We Do in the Shadows 369. Triangle of Sadness 370. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days 371. Sexy Beast 372. Remember the Titans 373. Zoolander 374. 25th Hour 375. Sing Street 376. Frozen 377. Tangled 378. Pulse 379. Into the Wild 380. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 381. West Side Story 382. Ghost World 383. The New World 384. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story 385. The Beast 386. An Elephant Sitting Still 387. Raw 388. The Help 389. Hunt for the Wilderpeople 390. The Lego Movie 391. Pitch Perfect 392. Battle Royale 393. The Wrestler 394. A History of Violence 395. Hero 396. Before Midnight 397. Hedwig and the Angry Inch 398. Life of Pi 399. Enter the Void 400. Jennifer’s Body 401. Hot Rod 402. The Power of the Dog 403. Minari 404. Pain and Glory 405. Billy Elliot 406. The 40-Year-Old Virgin 407. Gran Torino 408. Bones and All 409. Gosford Park 410. Shin Godzilla 411. Columbus 412. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 413. Black Hawk Down 414. Paterson 415. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish 416. Snowpiercer 417. A Ghost Story 418. Isle of Dogs 419. Wedding Crashers 420. Once 421. A Prophet 422. Mandy 423. The Wailing 424. Cloud Atlas 425. Signs 426. The Imitation Game 427. La ciénaga 428. Elephant 429. Palm Springs 430. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On 431. Blue Valentine 432. The Princess Diaries 433. The Town 434. Petite Maman 435. Millennium Mambo 436. 2046 437. Beau Is Afraid 438. Tokyo Godfathers 439. Blue Is the Warmest Colour 440. tick, tick... BOOM! 441. The Father 442. The Fast and the Furious 443. Eighth Grade 444. Force Majeure 445. American Fiction 446. Only Lovers Left Alive 447. Avatar: The Way of Water 448. The Cabin in the Woods 449. Aruitemo aruitemo 450. Fast Five 451. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days 452. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping 453. Munich 454. Unbreakable 455. Inside Man 456. Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi 457. Beasts of the Southern Wild 458. Infernal Affairs 459. O.J.: Made in America 460. Ida 461. Mother! 462. Pacific Rim 463. The Turin Horse 464. The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie 465. Irréversible 466. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby 467. John Wick: Chapter 4 468. Persepolis 469. Hacksaw Ridge 470. Under the Silver Lake 471. Sunshine 472. Emma. 473. Creed 474. The Other Guys 475. Les Misérables 476. Happy as Lazzaro 477. 13 Going on 30 478. A Silent Voice: The Movie 479. 3 Idiots 480. Wild Tales 481. Lady Vengeance 482. Beautiful Boy 483. If Beale Street Could Talk 484. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga 485. High Fidelity 486. Bohemian Rhapsody 487. The Menu 488. May December 489. Pearl 490. Close 491. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 492. Everybody Wants Some!! 493. The Holiday 494. I’m Thinking of Ending Things 495. Dallas Buyers Club 496. Downfall 497. Evangelion: 3.0+1.01 Thrice Upon a Time 498. Morvern Callar 499. Long Day’s Journey Into Night 500. The Farewell

What do you think?