EatSleepLiveFilm.com The List: 100 best films of '00s

The List: 100 best films of ’00s

The last decade of cinema has been an interesting one. The 100 films below is the most diverse of all the lists. The top ten I guessed pretty close what would be in the top ten. This time around, it’s a crazy hodge-podge of movies. The fact that two non-English films make the top ten shows how the language of cinema has matured and developed over the decades.

Doing these lists has helped me in understanding how tastes have changed and matured. It will be interesting to revisit this list in a decade to see which films are still held in high esteem and which have been forgotten. I hope you enjoyed these lists and found a few new movies to check out.

100. Casino Royale
99. The Host
98. 28 Days
97. Dawn of the Dead
96. Princess
95. Rocky Balboa
94. The Prestige
93. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
92. 40-Year-Old Virgin
91. 28 Days Later
90. Ichi the Killer
89. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
88. The Wrestler
87. King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
86. Hostel
85. Kill Bill Vol. 1
84. Shortbus
83. A.I Artificial Intelligence
82. Bubba Ho-Tep
81. The Wild Hunt
80. A Serious Man
79. Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
78. Cloverfield
77. District 9
76. Josie and the Pussycats
75. Final Destination
74. Moulin Rouge!
73. Spider-Man
72. Final Destination 2
71. Irreversible
70. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
69. Black Snake Moan
68. Mean Girls
67. Kingdom of Heaven
66. [Rec] 2
65. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
64. 25th Hour
63. Dogtooth
62. Saw
61. Crank
60. Punch-Drunk Love
59. Spider-Man II
58. Battle Royale
57. Election
56. Hellboy
55. Anvil! – The Story of Anvil
54. Haute Tension
53. Adaptation
52. Ocean’s Eleven
51. Hedwig and the Angry Inch
50. The Mist
49. Anchorman
48. The Descent
47. Requiem for a Dream
46. Mary and Max
45. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
44. Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
43. High Fidelity
42. Closer
41. Inside
40. In the Loop
39. Lost in Translation
38. Mulholland Drive
37. Amelie
36. Dancer in the Dark
35. The Departed
34. Bronson
33. O’ Brother, Where art thou?
32. Sideways
31. Persepolis
30. Sin City
29. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
28. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
27. Moon
26. Zodiac
25. Hard Candy
24. Donnie Darko
23. Let the Right One In
22. In Bruges
21. American Psycho
20. A History of Violence
19. The Incredibles
18. Brick
17. There Will Be Blood
16. Memento
15. The Devil’s Rejects
14. Batman Begins
13. Wall-E
12. [REC]
11. City of God
10. Pan’s Labyrinth
9. Children of Men
8. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings
7. Martyrs
6. No Country for Old Men
5. Shaun of the Dead
4. Inglourious Basterds
3. Almost Famous
2. The Dark Knight
1. Oldboy

Did we leave any films off that you feel should be in the top 100 of the 00′s?

Check out the other decade lists:

Best films of the 70′s

Best films of the 80′s

Best films of the 90′s

http://twitter.com/mrbonturcode Bradley Porter

Don’t you mean 3 Non-English Films? Unless like me you consider South Korea to be a county just west of Hampshire…
- http://twitter.com/mrbonturcode Bradley Porter
  
  Also, Mulholland Drive only at 48? Criminal.
- http://twitter.com/LostinSweden Stefan Halley
  
  Actually I forgot that Pan’s Labyrinth isn’t in English.
MarkShek

only one on this list that i really was taken aback by was Shortbus. I found that to be an especially boringly awful film. But what the hell… to each their own. Some beautiful work overall though, especially ranking Martyrs and Oldboy so high.

If I could pick a few to add, I’d go with The Fountain, Primer, The Royal Tenenbaums, Matchstick Men, Hunger, The Grey Zone, Sexy Beast, and dare I say… Sunshine
- http://twitter.com/LostinSweden Stefan Halley
  
  What’s funny is if Ian had voted, Sunshine would have made the list.
http://twitter.com/davoverse David Hall

Interesting list as always, and kudos to those who voted but..

I have to say that ALL these lists have a slightly embarrassing bias towards American cinema. Where is In the Mood For Love, Lust/Caution, Cache, Yi Yi, Together, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Talk to Her? And these are the more OBVIOUS choices.

There are some US flicks in the above list that are, frankly, guff. Kingdom of Heaven? For real? Wouldn’t make my top 1,000 of the decade. And I haven’t seen 1,000 films from that decade.

Also, the two best US comedies of the era – Zoolander and Team America – seem to be missing.

Mulholland Drive is the best US film of the 00s.
- JordanMcGrath
  
  Now woah, woah, woah there David! haha.
  
  The director’s cut of Kingdom of Heaven is a masterpiece. Plain and simple.
  - http://twitter.com/davoverse David Hall
    
    I just read my response back and apologies if I sounded like a bit of a cone (it was late, booze was involved). It was more a general point that, despite the widening availability of non US cinema, lots of sites seem to be getting narrower in their focus. I didn’t contribute to this one – but I did the 80s and there were SO many films on the long list that I was surprised were not there (and ones that were) that I meant to bring it up.
    
    These are all cool parlour games in the end ultimately, and there are some great flicks on there.*
    
    * and kingdom of heaven. Muhahah.
    - http://twitter.com/LostinSweden Stefan Halley
      
      I tried to make the list as wide as possible and include as many big international films but it’s impossible to include everything from everywhere. I’m pretty sure Cache was on the list and no one voted for it.
      
      Unless you are on a site that has a huge focus on international cinema, most people are going to go with what they know and watch the most, which in this case will be English language films. Y Tu Mama Tambien came in at #106.
- http://twitter.com/mrbonturcode Bradley Porter
  
  Agreed on Mulholland Drive.
  
  I dunno, yeah there’s an absence of a majority of lauded foreign films, the ones that did make seem to be genre pieces of favour shock value in some way. Cache is also one of the best films of the 00′s in my opinion but then again I adore The Wayward Cloud which was never going to make this list.
  
  I think Stefan, you should publish our individual lists somewhere… would be really interesting to see.
  - http://twitter.com/davoverse David Hall
    
    The Wayward Cloud. Brilliant.
http://twitter.com/LostinSweden Stefan Halley

Just in case you’re curious, here are the next 100 films.

The Pianist
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
Borat
Stranger than Fiction
Y tu mama tambien
Elephant
A Mighty Wind
The White Ribbon
Shadow of the Vampire
Bring It On
Serenity
Hostel II
Brokeback Mountain
300
Zombieland
Cinderella man
Apocalypto
(500) Days of Summer
Before Sunset
United 93
Suicide Club
Elf
Dog Soldiers
A Prophet
Watchmen
Black Dynamite
8 Mile
The Perfect Storm
Star Trek
Snatch
Where the Wild Things Are
Spirited Away
The Royal Tenenbaums
Monsters, Inc.
V for Vendetta
Ratatouille
Knocked Up
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Pride and Prejudice
Finding Nemo
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
American Splendor
Meet the Parents
Bad Santa
Minority Report
Gran Tourino
The Queen
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The Devil’s Backbone
I Heart Huckabees
Best in Show
The Others
Infernal Affairs
Hotel Rwanda
Unbreakable
Red Eye
School fo Rock
Hustle & Flow
Gone Baby Gone
Super Troopers

Saw II
King Kong
Good Night, and Good Luck
The Fountain
The Aviator
Wonder Boys
Hatchet
Ghost World
Down with Love
Wet Hot American Summer
The Passion of the Christ
Bourne Supremacy
Road to Perdition
American Gangster
Friday Night Lights
Ex Drummer
Eden Lake
Farhrenheit 9/11
Howl’s Moving Castle
Dear Zachary
Monster
A Single Man
Finding Neverland
Munich
Les Invasions Barbares
Les Triplettes de Belleville (The Triplets of Belleville)
Catch Me if You Can
Paranormal Activity
From Hell
Coraline
Bourne Identity
Kill Bill Vol.2
Sunshine
X-Men II
The Good, the Bad, the Weird
Paprika
Harry Brown
The Hangover