In place of the usual annual film poll, Talkhouse Film contributors this year voted on their favorite movies of the century so far. The results of the poll are below, showing all the titles that received multiple votes; a selection of individual ballots will be posted tomorrow. Ten points were awarded to first-place films, 9 points were given to second place, etc.
Thanks to all who voted, and to the following contributors, whose wonderful written and graphic responses to the Top 10 films are featured below: Sherman Alexie, Vashti Anderson, Rodney Ascher, Eszter Balint, Nikole Beckwith, Bernardo Britto, Zach Clark, Katherine Dieckmann, Michael Gallagher, Robert Greene, Alix Lambert, Alison Star Locke, Danny Madden, James Marsh, Kent Osborne, Leah Shore, Sandi Tan, Colleen Trundy, Onur Tukel and Joshua Z Weinstein. (Click on images to see them full size.)
1. Mulholland Drive 266
Of course, the TV execs hated it! The way Mulholland Drive went from unwanted TV pilot to unfortunately timed release (a month after 9/11!) to becoming one of the most celebrated films of the 21st century is itself a serpentine Hollywood fantasy – full of fear, loathing, reappraisal and cultish devotion.
After an early screening in 2001, I remember an idiot professional moviegoer near me fixating on the tiny old couple in the movie, mimicking their comic motions and giggling cautiously (cautious because she couldn’t tell if others actually liked the damn movie). David Lynch’s films make people nervous. It’s why lazy people use words like “surreal” and “inscrutable” to distance this one. It scares them. Mulholland Drive is a horror movie that comes in a shape they don’t recognize; it puts its disease in them. It captures something so searingly true about hope and desire in Hollywood, and the crushing rejection that happens to dreamers despite their talent, despite their Main Character Energy, despite their self-debasing malleability … No wonder this movie makes people nervous. I get spooked, too.
Lynch must not have minded nervousness. He and (editor, producer and love interest) Mary Sweeney made the film to withstand repeat viewings, revised opinions, even indifference. More like a space than a movie, Mulholland Drive will wait for you to mature and visit, and take from it solace or wisdom or humor … Some scenes, like Naomi Watts and Laura Harring entering a dark, womblike theater to watch (the late) Rebekah Del Rio perform “Llorando,” can be sampled and admired on their own. Maybe one year you’ll find it too camp. One year, you’ll cry your eyes out like it’s the only song that’s ever made sense in this cruel fucking world.
The score was by Angelo Badalamenti, who died in 2022. Co-star Robert Forster died in 2019. As Lynch and more of his co- conspirators dematerialize from our world, I like knowing we have Mulholland Drive to return to over and over to relearn, recharge, remember. Now it is communion. Soon it’ll be scripture. This movie is the stuff our dreams are made on. And without dreams, we know we are nothing. (Sandi Tan)
Image by Zach Clark
2. There Will Be Blood 148
“This movie was morally irreprehensible and ruined my evening.”
“I saw typical simplistic leftist Hollywood anti-Christian anti-industrial drivel.”
“…as this turgid, plotless and hideously over-rated guff unravels, you end up wanting to throw bricks at every single character who shows up.”
If you love a film, you have to read its 1-star Amazon reviews for some fun. This anti-religious, Charlie Chaplin-esque origin story of a sociopath should not have been the film of the century, but mirrors exist for a reason.
Beyond the social prescience, Paul Thomas Anderson and a carnival of collaborators including Daniel Day-Lewis, Robert Elswit and Jonny Greenwood come together to make this picture work on every level. The praise for this film is ubiquitous, and the “Milkshake Scene” is usually referred to as the most iconic. But while I was rewatching this week, I was taken anew by the scene that defines the emotional heart of the film, when the protagonist, Daniel Plainview, is offered to sell his oil field for a life-changing amount of money. The representative of Standard Oil makes him an offer, saying, “We’ll make you a millionaire. So you can take care of your son.” Though all Plainview’s capitalistic ambitions have been answered, he still twists this as an attack on his moral fiber. Plainview violently retorts, “You just told me how to run my family. I am going to cut your throat. You don’t tell me about my son.”
This film is about a broken man in a broken world who never had a chance to understand his own sadness. It is a film that stays with you because you cannot possibly understand Daniel Plainview, but the genius of Paul Thomas Anderson is that he gets you to empathize with him. And, for some non 1-star Amazon reviewers, even respect him. (Joshua Z Weinstein)
Image by Onur Tukel
3. No Country for Old Men 145
A few years ago, a group of psychiatrists voted and declared that Anton Chigurh is the most accurate psychopath ever portrayed on screen. I don’t doubt it. Chigurh is one of the more compelling and frightening characters in movie history. So, when I think of No Country for Old Men, my favorite film of all time, I usually think of the coin-flipping scene that takes place in that isolated gas station. The chatty clerk, as played by Gene Jones, grows increasingly terrified as he realizes that Chigurh, as played by Javier Barden, is a very dangerous man. I’ve rewatched this scene at least a hundred times. It never stops being utterly distressing. No Country certainly features incredible performances by its stars, but there are very few movies where character actors shine so brightly. Gene Jones, Garrett Dillahunt, Barry Corbin, Beth Grant, Kathy Larkin and Rodger Boyce are as compelling as the lead actors. In basketball terms, Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Kelly Macdonald, and Woody Harrelson make all the shots, but it’s the character actors who deliver the miraculous assists. (Sherman Alexie)
Image by Kent Osborne
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 124
I saw Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind not long after my son was born. This feels relevant somehow, maybe because this film is so rich with about eight thousand layers of meaning and rarely is a person’s life more steeped in meaning than after having given birth. I remember feeling so much joy partaking in this ride of a film, with a new revelation, another surprise around every corner. One of the distinct pleasures of stumbling on a work of art we love is the sense that we are witnessing a kindred spirit at work, a creator friend whose language feels familiar somehow. Even if I have little hope of ever approximating their skill and accomplishment, it feels like maybe we were once part of the same ancient tribe. To receive this gift of communion, and the desire to offer it, is one of the main reasons we do this thing, I think.
This is a fairy tale about ordinary life and love and sorrow and the inevitable hurtle towards heartbreak which awaits us all, one way or another, and makes all that we have so much more dear for it. It’s a profoundly moving and hilarious puzzle which invites multiple viewings to discover new pieces, but it does not require it; it does not confound. The story is based on an at once utterly simple and vastly ambitious concept which opens countless creative doors, and the filmmakers don’t shy away from busting through them – even ones you never suspected were there. Imagination is let loose with no constraint, but while the telling is bursting with invention, the film always honors the rules it has created. Nothing here is gratuitously strange. The most outrageous, surrealist sequences feel earned and follow the internal logic. And within this completely original world, which at times feels like a dream, the north star is always universal human emotion; our striving for connection and our tendency to be doomed to destroy it. So: relatable.
One could go on about the performances (both leads were a revelation to me), the cinematography, all of the filmmaking trickery, the editing, the gorgeous cover song by Beck and the absolutely brilliant writing at the core – but it feels almost tacky to break the magic spell down to its parts. Everything here is of a whole, dancing along playfully, seamlessly, to bring the wonder and the fun and the sadness.
I imagine it’s not easy to find an ending that feels right when you busted open so much potential with your premise. This one hits just the right note with its simplicity. It’s all right there, it still rings. “OK.” (Eszter Balint)
Image by Nikole Beckwith
5. In the Mood for Love 109
Wong Kar-wai’s giddy and gorgeous film is about a love affair that never happens. It keeps its main characters in a state of delirious limbo, an erotically charged stasis, that plays out in narrow corridors, rain-lashed streets and humble restaurants. Sublimated desire is conveyed by glances given and avoided and the occasional, inadvertent brushing of hands. The film has a brooding tension that is never released. In fact, there is an adulterous affair in the film which we never see and it only serves to further impede the coming together of our hurt and lonely lovers. The film’s pleasures and rewards aren’t so much narrative as purely cinematic – the film ravishes you with the aching melancholy of its performances, its exquisite costuming, vivacious production design, and the sweet sadness of its score. This may not be the best film made in the past 25 years, but it’s the one that has given me the most pleasure over repeated viewings and a movie that demonstrates, in its purest form, the extraordinary aesthetic and emotional power of the medium itself. (James Marsh)
Image by Danny Madden
6. Children of Men 107
No film has proven more prescient since its release than Alfonso Cuaron’s adaptation of P.D. James’ Children of Men (2006). We’re now just a year away from the 2027 setting of that story, and to absorb it today is to nod internally at what have become all-too-familiar checkpoints. Immigrants in cages, charged with being “illegals”? Streets dominated by military force, constantly on the verge of violence? A shared global reality of surveillance, media saturation, sedated populous, smug corporate overlords? It’s all right there. What’s shocking is to realize that Children of Men arrived the year before the iPhone; the only thing missing is humans bent over their individual screens. So many elements feel as urgent and surprising as they did when the movie landed: the bravura one-shot ambush scene that kills off a major character early on; the emergence of a young Black woman carrying the world’s last baby and how Clive Owen’s protagonist reluctantly and then fiercely shepherds her along; the genius of Michael Caine’s bravura performance as a former journalist living off-grid, offering sanctuary and finding the gonzo in the world’s lunacy. Self-sacrifice becomes this film’s sole honest and ethical choice, made by those committed to preserving something human, anything human, as a means of carrying on. That essence of hope in a decaying, polluted, corrupted horror show of a world is more than a lesson for our current moment. It’s a moral imperative. (Katherine Dieckmann)
Image by Alix Lambert
7. Under the Skin 80
I watched Under the Skin once, then three more times in a row. I kept thinking, she starts to understand what it is to be human, she meets the best human, then she meets the worst human. Every alien sent on this path ends up in tears. Everyone who feels empathy ends up in tears. Human aggression is relentless, and I don’t mean physical aggression only; maybe I mean to say humans are relentless. It’s like when you’re a young girl, you have all this sexual power, you feel the hardness of that power, and then you go out into the world and realize how, and in how many ways, you are powerless, and you see how recklessly mean humans can be. So Under the Skin made me think about what it is to be human. It let me in to what it is to be a predator in a way that men too often are, and also a lonely wanderer seeking isolation, sleep, thought, union with nature. And Scotland’s landscape, so dour and beautiful, so eternally goth, against the slick interior of a nightmare, or spaceship, or in-between place. That surrealist contrast is something Glazer does so dreamily. As much as the alien seduces, he does too, with visual beauty and aberration, and with much left beautifully unexplained. (Vashti Anderson)
Image by Leah Shore
8. Toni Erdmann 78
Getting people to watch a three-hour German comedy can be a hard sell. But what if it’s one of the most laugh-out-loud hilarious, visually rich and humanistic films ever made? Writer-director Maren Ade takes cringe comedy to new heights with one simple tool: patience. The camera lingers on the honest faces of lead actors Peter Simonischek and Sandra Hüller, who play a father and daughter desperate to connect (but incapable of doing so). Ade uses humor not just to make you laugh but as a narrative device – a father who loves practical jokes. This setup creates the perfect counterbalance to the constant undercurrent of emotional disconnection and longing. Shot entirely using a single lens, the camera feels like a participant stuck in the middle of some of the most uncomfortable and outrageous situations ever put on film. So many scenes stay with you, including my favorite: An impromptu cover of “The Greatest Love of All” – which captures an entire emotional arc in just three minutes. Winner of the FIPRESCI award at the Cannes Film Festival and nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards, Toni Erdmann inspires you to be bold, sit in the discomfort, and call your parents. (Michael Gallagher)
Image by Colleen Trundy
9. The Act of Killing 75
The Act of Killing is a cataclysm of a film, desperately troubling, documentary’s answer to A Clockwork Orange, a trip through several circles of hell. I believe you shouldn’t talk about – or even watch – the film without lead director Joshua Oppenheimer’s follow-up/companion film The Look of Silence, but we can leave that alone for now.
The questions raised by the director’s cut (stay away from the theatrical version) of The Act of Killing about the evil at the heart of mythologizing images, the infinite mirrors nature of documentary performance, and the potential for conjuring insoluble reality within staged scenes have haunted nonfiction cinema since the film first emerged at Telluride in 2012.
The Act of Killing concerns itself with the Indonesian genocide of the mid-20th century from the perspective of the perpetrators, who run society without impunity. They reenact their crimes. It’s a film about what Oppenheimer would call the “unacknowledged scripts” of political realities, and the film resonates well beyond Indonesia. It was nominated for an Oscar and is one of the most influential films ever made; it has had a huge impact on me and my career. As our own American democracy teeters, we are forcibly reminded of all the ways we as a nation have failed the world and failed ourselves, and this surrealist, shattering, contradictory work of cinema remains a howl from the deepest pits. (Robert Greene)
Image by Bernardo Britto
10. Zodiac 64
Zodiac is one of the greatest “process” movies ever made, a sub-subgenre I’m obsessed by, which is only fitting for a movie about the dangers of obsession. It also has the greatest tagline ever: “There is more than one way to lose your life to a serial killer.” It denies our need for clean answers to unknowable questions. It also has Mark Ruffalo using the word “bride” with respect. The death sequences, particularly the stabbing by the lake, are so harrowing, they push the suspense into an almost matter-of-fact horror. Because the film isn’t about those deaths. James Vanderbilt’s script and David Fincher’s direction obsess over the details of the destruction these killings have on all of those drawn into their web. It’s also just multiple-repeat-watch entertaining, full of vivid characters and crackling dialogue. It has remained one of my “in case of emergency, break glass” films, for whenever I need a reminder of why I do this being-a-filmmaker thing to myself. It is made with such precision, passion and humor. It refuses to look away from hard things, like sometimes you don’t catch the bad guy. Sometimes that pursuit ruins a brilliant person you care about. And that if you’re not careful, that person is you. (Alison Star Locke)
Image by Rodney Ascher
11. The Tree of Life 63
=12. Caché 62
=12. Mad Max: Fury Road 62
14. Phantom Thread 58
15 The Zone of Interest 57
16. Margaret 54
17. The Social Network 52
18. The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 50
19. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King 48
=20. Parasite 47
=20. Y Tu Mamá También 47
=22. Get Out 45
=22. Spirited Away 45
=24. City of God 43
=24. The Wolf of Wall Street 43
26. Yi Yi 42
27. Adaptation 41
28. Inside Llewyn Davis 40
=29. A Serious Man 39
=29. Synecdoche, New York 39
=31. Before Sunset 38
=31. Moonlight 38
33. A.I.: Artificial Intelligence 37
34. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days 35
35. Birth 34
36. First Reformed 33
=37. American Psycho 32
=37. Inland Empire 32
=37. Twin Peaks: The Return 32
=40. Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood 31
=40. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 31
=40. The Piano Teacher 31
=43. Morvern Callar 30
=43. Portrait of a Lady on Fire 30
=43. Uncut Gems 30
46. Oldboy (2003) 29
=47. A Separation 28
=47. Holy Motors 28
=47. Pan’s Labyrinth 28
=47. Tár 28
=51. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford 28
=51. The Master 28
53. The Lives of Others 27
=54. Cameraperson 26
=54. Punch-Drunk Love 26
=54. Sideways 26
=57. Fish Tank 25
=57. The Gleaners and I 25
=57. The Royal Tenenbaums 25
60. White Material 25
=61. Ida 24
=61. Michael Clayton 24
=61. Silent Light 24
=64. Dogtooth 23
=64. Force Majeure 23
=64. Melancholia 23
=64. Poetry 23
=64. Werckmeister Harmonies 23
=69. Boyhood 22
=69. Enter the Void 22
=69. Lost in Translation 22
=69. The Rider 22
=69. Tropical Malady 22
=69. Whiplash 22
=75. Elephant 21
=75. Moneyball 21
=75. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives 21
=78. 35 Shots of Rum 20
=78. One Battle After Another 20
=78. Roma 20
=81. Dogville 19
=81. Interstellar 19
=81. The Look of Silence 19
=84. A Prophet 18
=84. Her 18
=84. Let the Right One In (2008) 18
=84. Napoleon Dynamite 18
=84. Southland Tales 18
=89. Brokeback Mountain 17
=89. Moulin Rouge! 17
=89. Petite Maman 17
=89. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu 17
=93. Another Year 16
=93. Beau Is Afraid 16
=93. Best in Show 16
=93. Memories of Murder 16
=93. Sinners 16
=93. Talk to Her 16
=93. The Five Obstructions 16
=99. 28 Days Later 15
=99. Anatomy of a Fall 15
=99. Carol 15
=99. Everything Everywhere All at Once 15
=99. Ghost World 15
=99. Hedwig and the Angry Inch 15
=99. Ocean’s Eleven 15
=99. Pulse 15
=99. Rotting in the Sun 15
=99. The Big Short 15
=99. The New World 15
=111. Babylon 14
=111. Catch Me If You Can 14
=111. Irreversible 14
=111. The Revenant 14
=111. You Can Count on Me 14
=116. Bully 13
=116. Call Me by Your Name 13
=116. Secret Sunshine 13
=116. Sexy Beast 13
=116. The Witch 13
=121. Finding Nemo 12
=121. Hypernormalization 12
=121. Inherent Vice 12
=121. Knife + Heart 12
=121. La Cienaga 12
=121. Los Angeles Plays Itself 12
=121. Oslo, August 31st 12
=121. Requiem for a Dream 12
=121. Syndromes and a Century 12
=121. Tale of Cinema 12
=121. Team America: World Police 12
=121. The Dark Knight 12
=121. The Departed 12
=121. The Florida Project 12
=121. The Hurt Locker 12
=121. Volver 12
=137. Burning 11
=137. Gladiator 11
=137. Happy as Lazzaro 11
=137. Man on Wire 11
=137. Midsommar 11
=137. Shaun of the Dead 11
=137. Visitor Q 11
=144. Aftersun 10
=144. Black Panther 10
=144. Fat Girl 10
=144. Gosford Park 10
=144. Hamnet 10
=144. La Commune (Paris, 1871) 10
=144. Little Miss Sunshine 10
=144. The Virgin Suicides 10
=144. Tulpan 10
=153. Amour 9
=153. Annihilation 9
=153. Avatar 9
=153. Dancer in the Dark 9
=153. Metallica: Some Kind of Monster 9
=153. Mysterious Skin 9
=153. Somewhere 9
=153. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 9
=153. The White Ribbon 9
=153. Winter Sleep 9
=163. Antichrist 8
=163. Black Swan 8
=163. Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan 8
=163. Elf 8
=163. Sorry to Bother You 8
=163. The Grand Budapest Hotel 8
=163. Zama 8
=170. Right Now, Wrong Then 7
=170. Ten 7
=170. The Wayward Cloud 7
=170. We Need to Talk About Kevin 7
=170. Where the Wild Things Are 7
=175. Amelie 5
=175. Arrival 5
=175. Blue Valentine 5
=175. Climax 5
=175. Grizzly Man 5
=175. Memoria 5
=175. Personal Shopper 5
=175. Summer Hours 5
=175. The Hours 5
=184. Kings and Queen 4
=184. The Host 4
=184. The Place Beyond the Pines 4
=184. The Worst Person in the World 4
=188. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 3
=188. I Saw the TV Glow 3
=188. Nickel Boys 3
