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Top 10 Films of the 21st Century
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Arthouse Garage is back! Film critic Russell Miller joins the show to talk about our picks for the 10 best films from 2000-2025
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Transcript
00:00:09
Speaker
Hello, hello, and welcome back to Art House Garage, the snob free film podcast where we make art house indie classic and foreign cinema accessible to the masses. I'm your host, Andrew Swetman. And today on the show, we are counting down the top 10 films of the 21st century so far.
00:00:25
Speaker
With it being 2025, we thought we'd look back at the last 25 years of movies and talk about how the century is shaping up. Film critic Russell Miller joins me for today's discussion.
00:00:36
Speaker
Stick around. Welcome to Art House Garage. It's good to be back in the podcast booth. It's been a long time. i mentioned this in the previous episode, which was way back in January, I think.
00:00:48
Speaker
um But the reason for the hiatus is some personal stuff in my life. My daughter got very sick. She was in the hospital for a while. She's home. She's doing great. She's very healthy now.
00:00:59
Speaker
um But it just, you know, shut down life for a while and finally getting back into the swing of things. And unfortunately, podcasting can't be my top priority financially, but I was like, you know what, I think I'm ready to get back to the podcast for awards season time coming up soon. And yeah, so finally i mean back, which feels good. And today we're going to be talking about the top 10 films of the century so far, since it is a quarter of the way into the century now with 2025.
00:01:30
Speaker
A handful of lists or ah but versions of this kind of list are floating around the internet now, and including one from the critics group of my good friend who was our guest today. Welcome Russell Miller. How are you today?
00:01:44
Speaker
Hey, I'm doing great. As always, you know, the, anytime a list comes up of any kind, i jump right on that. And we usually, you know, chat between ourselves about like, you know, yeah best of this, best of that or whatever.
00:02:00
Speaker
And then when the New York times dropped their, you know, top 100 movies of the 21st century, a couple months ago, month and a half, whatever it was, um you know, we started having some discussions and talked about doing a podcast about it. And here we are.
00:02:18
Speaker
Yeah. I think initially you were doing it for your critics group. And I said, I'm glad I'm not doing that. But then I was like, actually, that sounds kind of fun, even though sounds really hard. um But I was like, bringing an aneurysm, trying to put a top 10 list of like, you know,
00:02:35
Speaker
20,000 movies together. Seriously. There's so many possibilities. So how did you approach the list? i'm curious because like when I think when you first texted me, i was like, are you doing it like your favorite movies or the best movies? Because that might be different or the most important movies or how did you think about it? And when you were making the decisions of what to cut and stuff?
00:02:52
Speaker
Yeah, it it was it's a little bit of all. So like I won't I didn't follow my because I have like my own top 20 personal ranking. I didn't follow that exactly because as an 80s kid, like a lot of my favorite movies are right from that 90s and 2000s era. yeah um and so i you know Those are the movies that I've watched the most and knew growing up and so on And so i I kind of tapered my list a little bit um with, you know, like some of the movies that are newer that maybe don't have as much of that, like, pull for me as far as, um you know, like I respect these movies and really enjoyed my time with them. um And maybe they're not on my top 20 personal list.
00:03:48
Speaker
Mm-hmm. But, you so there's a little give and take there. This doesn't, uh, you know, this doesn't follow it quite precisely. Obviously, like some of my own personal tastes are, are, you know, pretty evident in the, um, in the list as we go through them. You'll obviously see that as we filter through, you know, selections here, but, uh,
00:04:10
Speaker
Yeah, all in all, it was ah you know kind of a you know a push and pull. like Just the list in general was a torturous thing. Absolutely. i think so Similarly, i initially thought, I'll just kind of like lean into the subjectivity and like what are my favorite things.
00:04:26
Speaker
But then i had someone there that's like, you know what? I think some of these, so i don't know. It's one of the things that felt more substantial um and things that were like,
00:04:39
Speaker
very cinematic and like, I don't know, I think I appreciate something using this, the language of cinema in the ways that other art forms can't. So there's a little bit of that happening. And like, I don't know, for example, like I love the movie, Scott Pilgrim versus the world, one of my favorite movies ever. were But I was like, I don't feel like it belongs on this list for some reason. And I can't quite quantify it, but I think it is like something that's more substantial or more.
00:05:05
Speaker
Yeah. I don't know. i don't think about that movie much when I'm not watching it, I guess. Whereas some of these movies on my list are like, these kind of changed me or like stuck around in my brain for a long time. Yeah.
00:05:16
Speaker
Anyway, something like that. And I, you know, I will say that I have a little bit of that, like movies that maybe shouldn't be in the top 10 of, you know, the, the, you might say the same thing about some of mine. So, yeah. But, but yeah, but and that's one of the reasons, like, like,
00:05:36
Speaker
one of the, like, my life um is, like, is in such a more happy, fun place because the movie Anchorman exists.
00:05:49
Speaker
I didn't put it in my top ten, but I put it at number twelve because I love that movie so much. We'll get into honorable mentions after the show. We'll talk about honorable mentions at the end. But, you know, like, again, that was kind of that push and pull of, like, this movie means a heck of a lot to me, but doesn't, you know, like maybe I'll kind of taper my own love for it. but Totally. so Yeah, it was, it definitely, yeah, just took some gut feeling of what goes on here because it's always going to be subjective and all that anyway.
00:06:20
Speaker
But as we usually do, we will go through, you know, 10 to 1, go back and forth. um I kind of doubt that we're going to have any overlap. We might, but what we've done. We're going have one.
00:06:33
Speaker
What we've done in previous list episodes when it's usually like top 10 of the year, if someone has that movie higher, we will interrupt the other person and say, wait, we're going to talk about that later. Just so the person who has it highest can kind of have the first word on that that film. So we'll do that if that happens. but we we We both have our 15, our top 15. So if you have it in your other five, you'll have to at least mention that when you get a chance to chime in.
00:06:58
Speaker
I think we'll have at least... ah So so let's let's do top 15. How many overlaps will we have in our top 15? Let's just... Let's go... think have... I think we have overlaps.
00:07:09
Speaker
i think we have two
00:07:13
Speaker
and I have seven that were my outside of the 10 that I was like, do these belong? So I sort of have 17. There you go.
00:07:24
Speaker
i think, I don't know, maybe one or two. i really don't know. yeah I'll let you have two. I'll take three. I think we've got at least two. We've done that wager and when it's the best of the year, but I don't,
00:07:37
Speaker
and for I guess it really is dependent on how much of our own personal taste yeah pushed the lists, we just are like, this is like an ultimately to be revered for all time film, and my respect for it is so off the charts that, yeah.
00:07:56
Speaker
Maybe we'll have more than I think. We'll see. all All right. without further ado, should we should we get going? um I'll title it. You should go first with your number 10.
00:08:07
Speaker
My number 10 film, um is one of oh my goodness. I am just now realizing how many best picture winners I have. uh, yeah, my, my number 10 film, uh, is, the Ridley Scott film from 2000, uh, gladiator.
00:08:32
Speaker
Um, This is and epic, like, just, I don't want to really call it, like, action, adventure.
00:08:43
Speaker
Like, it's almost like, in some cases, war, but political drama. um You know, kind of pre-Game of Thrones, that, like, Grecian Empire, Rome, like, you know, civilization coming together, and and ah Russell Crowe, of course, you know,
00:09:04
Speaker
best actor nomination for, for his role that, that was just like an incredible performance. Um, and that movie, it is, it's just so well conceived. That's not one of the, uh, um, it's unfortunate that Ridley Scott actually like directed that movie and uh like it won best picture but he got no oscars for that or either the production or the direction um you know or like any any credit at all like so ridley scott right now is one of the greatest you know working filmmakers that does not have an oscar um but uh
00:09:53
Speaker
Gladiator is one of his peak, at least in my mind. Alien, of course, is is you know an all-timer. But Gladiator is on my personal list. It's in my top five movies of all time. So I had to include it on this list just because it is not only like a ah ah grand, like sweeping epic of a story, um you know maybe similar to something like ah Lawrence of Arabia or you know more recently like the Brutalist.
00:10:21
Speaker
um With like a lot of action, but you're mainly focused on this one character and ah like the political intrigue, like his, ah you know, it just his interaction with the Caesars. And yeah. And Joaquin Phoenix is just mind blowing, incredible.
00:10:41
Speaker
Like one of the worst villains in the history of cinema. I got to stop talking about it. We'll be here all night, man. Gladiator is a fantastic movie. So good.
00:10:52
Speaker
Gladiator. This is so embarrassing. I've never really seen Gladiator. Like I feel like i know so much about it and I've seen a lot of it, but I've like never sat down and watched it.
00:11:03
Speaker
And I have, there's, you know, as always, my list of regrets is probably longer than yours of things that I've just like, I've just never seen c Gladiator. I was looking through my letterbox to make this list and I had, I realized Gladiator was locked. I was like, I don't think I've actually seen this. I guess at some point I was just like, oh yeah, I've probably seen it like whatever, but I've never really seen Gladiator. So, uh, there you go.
00:11:26
Speaker
But I like that that's a nice and early, cause I looked at my, you know, like how the spread of movies, we could maybe should have said this at the front, but I have, uh, looking at this, I think I have three from 2000 to 2010.
00:11:39
Speaker
that i have ah only have one post 2020. twenty twenty I have one from 2021. Anyway, but i I tried to spread that out some. But anyway, my first one my number 10 is from 2015. And you know, this is like, I think if you look at sort of trends in movies, every movie is about trauma. Now, like every like every villain, you you learn about their trauma and their which wasn't always the case in movies. You know, sometimes bad guys were just bad guys and you knew their motivation maybe, but you didn't like know their backstory.
00:12:13
Speaker
And just like mental health in general, I think as that's become more prominent society, it's in movies too. My favorite movie but that is about mental health and trauma comes at it from a really interesting angle.
00:12:25
Speaker
This is an animated film and it is a Pixar film and it is the movie Inside Out. I love Inside Out so much. And I think it's just, oating its it's so incredibly emotional. I mean, it's about emotions.
00:12:40
Speaker
um I just think it is the best movie that's that is about um emotions and mental health and all of that, but also just the story that it tells and and does it in such a Pixar way of you know personifying the emotions and telling the story of Riley um as she's going through this big upheaval. It's like a coming of age story.
00:13:02
Speaker
and her parent characters and we get to meet their emotions too. And like ah all the layers of that, um you know, I thought about like, I wanted to have something from Pixar on here. And i really thought about Coco because I think it's another one where they do, you know, this come at the story from such a weird angle and set up this like kind of bizarre world.
00:13:23
Speaker
And then just tell a story that has devastating ah emotional consequences in the real world. And I think Inside Out does that so perfectly. And I just, like, from the beginning, I've only watched it maybe twice, I think, because I just am so emotional the whole time. Like, from frame one, that movie, it just... Watching Inside Out?
00:13:43
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, really? Yeah, oh my gosh. I've seen in that movie so many... I think that movie might be the second most... move Like, of films I've ever seen in the theater.
00:13:56
Speaker
I know Signs is number one, but I'm pretty sure... I'm pretty sure Inside Out is number two. I took my kids to see that in the theaters like five times the summer. They loved Inside Out growing up. We had this stuff that we have the stuffed toys for joy, sadness, fear, anger, disgust.
00:14:16
Speaker
Yeah. Classic. Such a fantastic film. I still haven't watched the sequel. I'm like nervous too. I will at some point. It's not terrible. It's decent. But, you know, you just...
00:14:28
Speaker
Bill Hader doesn't return. and with ah Mindy kent Kaling is the voice of disgust. it's a little different. it's not It's just not quite the same. you know yeah Yeah. yeah I'll watch it eventually, I'm sure. But but yeah, i love Inside Out so much, and that is my number 10.
00:14:47
Speaker
And it is time for your number nine. um So number nine i have on here is Parasite. This is one of the most recent movies.
00:14:59
Speaker
I think it actually is the most recent movie. I have one from the twenty twenty s in it, number 11. ah But, yeah. Pretty much 2019, is that right?
00:15:10
Speaker
I think so. Either 2018 or 2019. I think, um yeah, because it might have won Best Picture 2019. I'd have to bet that real quick, but... In any case, close enough. um Yeah. and Parasite.
00:15:21
Speaker
I haven't seen that many times, but I just remember my first experience watching that um and how it was just like, so, i mean, I hadn't really started out in like film criticism yet, but I had been over the course of the 2010s, more or less like training my brain to like kind of pick up on quality cinema and And what Bong Joon-ho delivers in Parasite um was just next level.
00:15:53
Speaker
Like the construction of that film and its like reveals. um I mean, you can just tell that that guy is a master filmmaker.
00:16:04
Speaker
direction um and The and the thought process behind the film's construction, even like the house, the construction of the house, um you know, it it just slowly ramps up and then just kind of like kicks it into high gear.
00:16:26
Speaker
um You know, what a, what a ride, a roller coaster of a film um from, you know, pretty much the, the, you know, the midway point or so that second act um it's, it's such a blast.
00:16:41
Speaker
And although it probably, I mean, I'm like a lot of critics list, it's probably higher or I think that was actually the number one film on the critics, like that the, that made New York.
00:16:53
Speaker
Oh, the New York Times critic. Yeah. The New York Times critic. Like they kind of compiled all the, you know, a bunch of different people, like, you know industry people, critics. Like, I think they surveyed like a bunch of different people to put that list together. But yeah, Parasite, I think came out on top and I,
00:17:11
Speaker
I wanted to at least throw some, uh, because of the rest of my top 10 is, is mostly like American and parasite is kind of like the premier foreign film, like foreign cinema that is just, I mean, absolute perfection of, of, you know, a cinematic, you know, masterpiece. And I wanted to give it, uh, you know, a fair shake on my list and, uh,
00:17:40
Speaker
and give it a mention. utterly that's all ad drink yeah yeah yeah I'm sorry to interrupt. it i'll just say I absolutely agree. I really considered it for my list. um Didn't quite make it. I just kind of wanted Bong Joon-ho to be represented because he he's so good. like I love The Host. I just watched that for the first time a few years ago and obsessed with that movie. I haven't seen Memories of Murder yet. I know you love that one and so many people do. That's one I need to watch. Parasite, incredible.
00:18:08
Speaker
Great choice. And I love that it's, you know, it's such a thriller once that, you know, that ride kicks as talking but it also has that, you know, the the haves and have nots, social capitalism, like social commentary and capitalism really baked into it in such a smart way.
00:18:24
Speaker
But yeah. Okay. Time for my number nine, which is the movie Boyhood from 2014. Nice. I love Richard Linklater. And, you know, i really considered the Sunset trilogy.
00:18:37
Speaker
the before trilogy, whatever it's called. um I couldn't figure out which one I would do. And you know, thought Boyhood stands on its own as such a unique film. It's kind of unlike anything that's ever been made, except by Richard Linklater.
00:18:54
Speaker
He's done other type things and has another one coming soon. ah But i I think just the way this film, and if if if you haven't seen it, anyone listening,
00:19:06
Speaker
uh, he films it over 12 years and we're watching the story of this family in particular, this young boy, Mason. And so we're actually seeing him grow up in real time. Uh, and it's just like the ultimate coming of age story.
00:19:19
Speaker
It's a time capsule for the the decade that they're filming it. Uh, we see him going to the mall to buy the new Harry Potter book. And then that just brought back such memories when I saw that. And, um,
00:19:31
Speaker
it it even though it's so specific and like his childhood is very different than my childhood there's so many like universal things in it that um at least you know growing up as a boy that film just really spoke to a lot of aspects of my experience and uh i really really love that film i just quick plug i did a podcast about this movie it's been years ago now but i interviewed the set photographer who was on set taking photos. There's a great book of his photography of set photos over the years.
00:20:05
Speaker
And just a ah one cool little tidbit from that interview is that ah in the movie, Mason, the main character, he gets really interested in photography. He's like in his high school photo club. And the photographer told me, have to look up his name. I can't remember. I can't believe I didn't write it down.
00:20:21
Speaker
But he told me that um the actor actually just became interested in photography because of him him being on set taking photos and they kind of wrote that into the movie because that was something he was really interested in i thought that was really cool so anyway check out that podcast episode i can link it but uh yeah boyhood ah just a masterpiece i love it so much that's a movie there's there's like some of those from the early twenty ten s um you know, like Birdman, Boyhood. Like I was going through and watching a bunch of those best, best picture nominees um that I just, I have never returned to.
00:20:58
Speaker
So I've seen Boyhood. I've got it. But that's like a movie that I would love to revisit and just kind of, especially now that like I just watched the before trilogy, like a few months ago, within the last six months.
00:21:13
Speaker
And, you know, I've loved Link later. He's got a couple of new movies coming out this fall. um and And yeah, like to go back and revisit Boyhood, I would really love to kind of analyze that film now and you know see see what I get from it. I can't remember it terribly well because yeah it's been what, like 12?
00:21:35
Speaker
well Yeah, 11 years. 11, 12 years, yeah, since I've watched it. Yeah, it's it's a long movie. Of course, it has a I love Ethan Hawke in anything. yeah. the dad character Patricia Arquette is the mom. She's fantastic as well. um Yeah. And Eller Coltrane is the main character of Mason. Yeah.
00:21:56
Speaker
Highly recommend. All right. Time for your number nine, number eight, number eight, number eight, the number eight film on my list is what, I mean, some people would consider um Fargo to be,
00:22:16
Speaker
peak as far as Coen brothers, but I would weigh in with a counter argument and say, well, no country for old men exists.
00:22:29
Speaker
So i I think that movie is, ah yeah. I mean the Coen's, you know, as far as they're like crime drama, you know, thriller,
00:22:44
Speaker
That movie just has it all. And like, i remember watching that movie for the first time and just being kind of pissed off at like how much ambiguity there is like towards the finale with with Tommy Lee Jones just kind of like sitting and reflecting on some of the experiences of like what he had just been through.
00:23:06
Speaker
you know um but now especially like because you know i've seen like a serious man and like a bunch of the cohen movies have that same style uh you know where they they they don't structure their movies like like most filmmakers you know it's just clean cut happily ever after like everybody's you know like home Cloud nine at the ah But but, you know, they give you something to chew on. They give you something to like take away. You're like maybe not real sure about you just like kind of sit on and weigh on it.
00:23:41
Speaker
And I specifically remember the first time that I that I watched No Country for Old Men and just having that kind of like. push and pull of like, man, did I like that ending? Did I not like that ending? And that kind of irritated me.
00:23:55
Speaker
but What would I have liked that ending to be? But as the years have gone by, the more I think about that film, and and hopefully everybody here has seen No Country for Old Men and I'm not like spoiling it.
00:24:09
Speaker
There's a lot more obviously to that movie than just like kind of the the way it finalizes and wraps up. yeah I don't think that's a serious spoiler. It's fine. Yeah, yeah. i mean, we're we're like 20 years post here, so I hope hope we're kind of past that. ah Spoiler alert.
00:24:27
Speaker
oh But yeah, I've just grown to appreciate those type of you know filmmaking choices and aspects a lot more than I did when when you know I first saw it, but that movie has just kind of grown on me, and I really wanted to find a place for that Coen Brothers movie you know, masterpiece. So I think, you know, yeah, Fargo is, is a, is a nineties classic, but no country for old men. In my opinion is, is the premier Coen brothers film.
00:25:01
Speaker
yeah Yeah. Javier Bardem plays one of the most epic villains, bad guys. We're going to get into like a few more as we go, you know, ah at least my list of like what I consider to be some of the, you know,
00:25:16
Speaker
most epic bad guys, villains, performances, actor, actresses. Like once we get, you know, a little bit further into the podcast, but there can be no denying. Yeah. I mean, Javier Bardem, he won the Oscar for best supporting actor that year.
00:25:32
Speaker
That movie just won a crap ton of Oscars in general. i mean, it's just a, an epic Coen brother masterpiece. If there ever was one. Yeah, absolute powerhouse of a movie.
00:25:44
Speaker
Love it so much. Can't believe it's not on my list, frankly. but All right, my turn. did i thought It was so hard. um I forgot to mention, I have but a little bit of a theme emerged from my list and Boyhood fits into it a little bit, which is just sort of things looking forward and things looking back and sort of like time related things and so obviously boyhood being shot over time kind of fits into that and being a sort of a time capsule for the time period it was filmed and my next one kind of fits into that as well and it is my number eight which is children of men from alfonso cuaron and he's one of my favorite directors and um
00:26:21
Speaker
i I really deliberated with Ichimama Tambien, his other film that I love so dearly. ah But this one, i think, is just so strong. um it was the first time I'd ever seen like long takes in a film, and there's some really incredible like action scenes that are in long takes.
00:26:39
Speaker
um but it's about ah if you haven't seen it it's uh humanity's dying out children have not been born 17 years or something ah like women can't get pregnant for some reason and no one knows why and so the people that are left just know like they're gonna die out and that's it and clive owen plays the lead and he's called upon by his ex-wife to help smuggle something and he finds out it's a pregnant woman and and so that's the story is trying to get her to a facility that can help her and try to you know save humanity um but it ends up being it's like about globalism and nationalism there's like a refugee crisis going on ah so it has just a lot of ideas on its on its mind and it it feels like a movie that was
00:27:25
Speaker
I don't know if ahead of its time a little bit, but but also just, um you know, since the movie came out, we've had so many refugee crises. And I mean, before it came out too, but it just feels timely in a way that um it is ah a little bit of a,
00:27:42
Speaker
zeitgeisty kind of feeling where um yeah don't know he he was tapping into because i mean we can see how nationalism is affecting ah america today we don't have to get too political about that but um definitely feels like um a movie that has a lot of resonance then and now so um yeah that is my number eight children are men maybe similar to like v for vendetta that was a movie that yeah was like in consideration for for my list it didn't make the cut but uh yeah just one of those movies that just kind of like the this you know the scope of it and like the things that it covers just like you know it's almost like haunting how they're like how eerily similar they are to some of the things that you know are taking place like right now um but yeah
00:28:35
Speaker
like The existential crisis of that movie. Yeah, like matt what a powerful film. Yeah, that's one that I haven't seen since it came out and I really should rewatch it. ah yeah Oh, yeah.
00:28:47
Speaker
Remember, remember the 5th of November. come out Maybe I'll watch it on the 5th of November. There you go November fifth All right. Are you up for your number seven?
00:28:59
Speaker
i am up for number seven. Number seven ah list for me um was the another best picture winner.
00:29:09
Speaker
i think this is the last one. so oh, yeah yeah, this is the last one. um from the movie From the year 2015, the movie Spotlight.
00:29:23
Speaker
Movie Spotlight um holds kind of a special place in in my, don't want to say heart, like but in my film experience.
00:29:37
Speaker
you know, journey towards film criticism, ah because that movie won, ah best picture with only winning one other award. And that was the screenplay.
00:29:49
Speaker
That was the first time that's ever happened that a movie won just best picture and one other thing. um And that's the ah the screenplay is, I mean, one of the best screenplays of the 21st century.
00:30:07
Speaker
um The way that it tells the story of how the Boston Globe broke their journalists and their reporters like you know investigating this whole like conspiracy by the Catholic Church to cover up.
00:30:27
Speaker
sex abuse, you know, like the systematic, you abusive children, um within the Catholic church, they, they dig into all these files and, um, you know, all these directories and things that they're putting all the pieces together along with, you know, just some, um,
00:30:47
Speaker
ah some documents that have been under seal for a long time and that the courts, you know, like the church will like lean on the government to like keep these documents under wraps and how they finally like get them to see the light of day ah through different like legal processes. Yeah.
00:31:09
Speaker
it is just captivating. The screenplay just structures that story so immaculately ah that, yeah, it is completely engrossing. I watched that movie probably about once a year because it's just so entertaining.
00:31:25
Speaker
And it's interesting now because coming from like, like the cult background that I come from, like to listen to, you know, to watch that movie and,
00:31:37
Speaker
like be like, oh, wow, look at this, like shining of example of how when you put men in positions of power, even if it's like within a religious organization, like there will be abuses of those power.
00:31:51
Speaker
And since then, like it's come out in the the cult that I was raised in that there were very similar abuses of power. and cover-ups and there are investigations ongoing into the the religious organization that i was raised in you know so it's it's really um for me just kind of like a ah reality check of you know this is what happens when you you you know institutionalize or systematically like try to cover up things and and these people that you view as like your leaders that are supposed to be protecting you can can manipulate and use that power to like cover up and sweep things under the rug and you know and what are really like crimes and and terrible atrocities these things that some of these people carried out against children so
00:32:48
Speaker
No more about Spotlight. great movie. Go check it out. Yeah, I mean, you can probably tell from my silence that this is another one I haven't seen, and it's been on my list forever, and I just really need to watch it because I think I would love it.
00:32:59
Speaker
um But yeah, I know it's super well-respected and a great choice for this list. I have one coming up on my list that similarly kind of vibes with my own upbringing in a way that makes it really powerful for me. Religious, yeah.
00:33:12
Speaker
we'll get there in a minute all right um my number seven is a little bit different uh than anything i've had on here yet it's more of a sort of a genre movie uh it's a movie ex machina from alex garland in 2014.
00:33:25
Speaker
Just an incredible movie. um It's another one that feels, you you know, that it was a little ahead of its time in the way it's dealing with AI and maybe was seeing into the future of what, I i mean, AI is free. Where we're heading. Yeah, exactly.
00:33:41
Speaker
But more than that, it's just, I think, such an incredibly well-written and directed film. um It's a thriller. If anyone hasn't seen it, it's about um Oscar Isaac plays, I think Nathan is his character's name.
00:33:54
Speaker
He's like this tech billionaire trying to invent stuff. And one of his low level employees is selected to come visit. He thinks it's his home. Turns out it's a training facility or like a research facility where he's building these very lifelike AI robots.
00:34:10
Speaker
And Alicia Vikander, plays Ava. um And the the main character is Domino Gleason. can't remember his character's name at the moment. But he comes into this, you know, wide eyed and like, Oh, I can't believe I'm in this cool place. And um then gets to meet Ava.
00:34:26
Speaker
And you realize it it. So it ends up really being almost a three hander, like ah you all three of those main characters um have a lot to do. and I heard someone say this about the movie once, and I think it's true that you can really watch the movie and and with with through any of their perspective and see any of the three of them as like the most virtuous one.
00:34:49
Speaker
yeah if you kind of shift your perspective. leg and Yeah, exactly. And um like I think you initially want to just kind of go along for the ride with Domino Gleeson, but you really can see the the story from all sides and you don't know who to trust and all that. And um it visually, it's really incredible. um ah Oscar Isaac is so good in this and he's because he's like the sort of eccentric tech guy, but he's also.
00:35:15
Speaker
Seems kind of like shady, but he's also incredibly charming and he's just really fun to watch in this. And Alex Garland is, I think, just one of our best writers that's working and they directed this as well.
00:35:28
Speaker
um I know you loved recently, 28 years later that he wrote, didn't direct, but I'm just a fan of almost everything he's ever made. And yeah, I love Ex Machina so much. When I think of like, are of my favorite movies from the last few years? This one popped into my head before anything else did ah for some reason. I just love Ex Machina.
00:35:46
Speaker
There you go. hey Yeah, I mean, I think it's when we recorded the Civil War podcast, we we did our top, we we ranked our Alex Garland films. And that's, yeah, Axe Machina is the premier Alex Garland movie.
00:36:03
Speaker
I think that's pretty much to know the consensus. It's so, mean, I won't say like vastly far and away, like better than, because all of his stuff is great. Like he does a lot of great stuff.
00:36:14
Speaker
you know, movies, but, uh, Ex Machina is in like a different tier. Like it's, it's so good. I just think it's one of the greats. I really do. And I'll, I'll mention to you at his, he has a series as well. It's on Hulu or FX or something, but it's called devs and it deals a lot of similar questions. It's almost a companion to Ex Machina. And I think a lot of people haven't seen it and it's like eight episodes. So highly recommend devs as well.
00:36:36
Speaker
But anyway, but's that's my number seven. So it is time for your number six. My number six ah is... Again, we're talking about like some of the greatest filmmakers of this you know ah currently alive and working.
00:36:59
Speaker
And although there is... like I really, really loved Licorice Pizza a few years ago. ah The best... Paul Thomas Anderson movie, like at least in my opinion, um was There Will Be Blood.
00:37:15
Speaker
um That movie, again, like kind of a sweeping, epic story of just a man. ah really gives you the inner workings of Daniel Day-Lewis and how this man is constructed and how he goes...
00:37:35
Speaker
from you know point A to point B, and you like slowly just kind of observe his decline um you know was like this this up and coming young oil entrepreneur, you know whatever you want to call him.
00:37:54
Speaker
um And what I consider to be probably if if you know I had to make a top five list of best performances that I have ever seen, i would immediately put this one in there.
00:38:10
Speaker
Daniel Day-Lewis is just so incredible. um And Paul, ah yeah, like this is peak paul PTA, Paul Thomas Anderson, ah you know, the source material that, that, that he, ah you know, wrote for this film.
00:38:25
Speaker
um I just love everything about this movie. um You know, the the period piece aspect of it and the, finale is just so yeah i'm not gonna spoil anything here but it's really haunting yeah i drink your milkshake it's It's so good. It's epic on every level. It's amazing.
00:38:51
Speaker
What a great film. I can watch that movie, even though it's a little long, like I can still, because Daniel Day Lewis's performance is so fantastic. You know, you just, you can't help, but just be sucked in,
00:39:07
Speaker
anytime he's on the screen. Yeah, it's really engrossing. Everything you said, I totally agree with. I also want to shout out Paul Dano. And this is so yeah i'm good to like, yeah I really put him on the map for me, at least.
00:39:18
Speaker
yeah And yeah, I this is another one that I really deliberated putting on the list. And I just did it. But thought I love this movie too. All right, number six, for me, this is a little bit of a curveball. Maybe this is my most recent movie on the list from 2021.
00:39:36
Speaker
is a documentary. it is the summer of soul. This is the documentary directed by Questlove that looks at the Harlem cultural Harlem culture festival that took place in 1969.
00:39:50
Speaker
And this movie is so much more than a music documentary. ah really think it's I fully believe that it deserves a place on this list. I love it so much. It's so well made and so electric and it um It's like he found this treasure trove of footage of this festival that was kind of forgotten in history, a music festival.
00:40:11
Speaker
And he used it to its fullest effect and made just an absolutely perfect movie out of it. um So what what this festival was, if anyone hasn't seen this, ah is this, people call it the Black Woodstock.
00:40:24
Speaker
So we had like BB King, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, huge names. in in black music uh at that time and still today um we're all at this festival in harlem and so it's like ah imagine woodstock is taking place three blocks from your house like there's so many people living in this area and um this footage was kind of he found it in a basement or something all these films it's incredible footage of just the stevie wonder uh just all over the stage being the electric performer that he is.
00:40:55
Speaker
But he also, he interviewed some of the artists that are still alive that were there performing. He interviewed a lot of people that were in attendance and you get to watch them see this footage.
00:41:05
Speaker
And that's some of the thing that's so incredible to me about this movie is like the the way it's about memory and experiences from childhood because more than one of them say like i completely forgot this happened and this yeah shaped shaped my life like i thought i dreamed this yeah and here i am seeing that i was like nine years old when this happened um and like this was two blocks from my house and i couldn't believe this was really happening um And so it's so incredible to watch that footage.
00:41:32
Speaker
It also digs into like the political climate at the time and race relations and and all of that stuff. And i just think it's one of the best movies I've ever seen. I love it so much and everyone should watch it if you haven't.
00:41:46
Speaker
And it it did win the Oscar for best documentary that year. yeah That was actually the one that was kind of overshadowed by the slap situation. like the very next thing yeah was that quest love was giving his speech and was like, everyone was like, what just happened?
00:42:00
Speaker
So that's a bummer, but, uh, quest love made an incredible movie and, uh, really, really love summer. Yeah. Definitely. One of the best documentaries of 21st century, for sure.
00:42:13
Speaker
That is my number six. So it's time for number five. All right. We're in the top five territory here. Here we go. Um, So yeah, i this is this is in my favorite movies of all time, but this is a little bit further down the list. But just because of how... I mean, this is this is for all the the fanboys out there, ah the comic book crowd, um you know the DC, the Marvel, like what is the perfect superhero movie?
00:42:51
Speaker
And everybody knows the answer, even though... you know marvel Marvel defenders will point to Infinity War or whatever. ah The Dark Knight is the best superhero movie of all time. um Yeah, I mean, you know, shout out to some of the OG originals. You know, they're they're the classics.
00:43:11
Speaker
But what what Heath Ledger, ah Christian Bale, and ultimately Christopher Nolan ah brought to the table with the, you know, the trilogy Batman Begins certainly was a great, great film in its own right, but The Dark Knight was really just, you know, it took Christopher Nolan's, um you know, really like head-scratching premises where there's just like so much like back and forth, like trying to stay one step ahead, like, you know, Batman versus the Joker um of the other and,
00:43:52
Speaker
you know, get, ah get, get a leg up. Uh, it just is such a, you know, masterfully created, film, not only with Keith Ledger's performance, like, you know winning the Oscar that year, because he's, you know, again, like Daniel Day-Lewis is kind of like an epic villain, villain, um,
00:44:17
Speaker
ah you know you can You can present your case to me that there's a better ah you know arch enemy in another movie, but I'll hear you out. But at the end, I know that Heath Ledger is the best ah villain or bad guy, whatever you want to say, in any movie, um at least in the superhero genre films.
00:44:41
Speaker
um He's just like so menacing and you just he just kills it. um you you know like Some men just want to watch the world burn. you know like there is you like he says when Batman's fighting him, like you have nothing.
00:44:57
Speaker
you know you You have no power over me because you have nothing that I want. You you don't have any. It's just like the perfect. And he's just so good. Yeah, I got to stop going off on these movies. ah fine Yeah, it's ah it's a legendary performance. I love that film so much. And it's my favorite Nolan film for sure.
00:45:16
Speaker
you know, as we're talking about comic books, I think you're right that it might be the best comic book movie ever. I do love Spider-Man 2 a whole lot. And I considered both of those movies. I actually really, I thought about Avengers Infinity War just because of what a huge cultural moment that was. And Endgame too. i mean yeah and yeah Yeah, that's actually, I mean, it's Endgame.
00:45:36
Speaker
But yeah, because those, yeah, were we're we're so massive. And i I do think they're very good. But anyway, yeah, excellent choice. Love, love, love Dark Knight. Well, I also thought about, so I don't have any Christopher Nolan on mine either, but I really thought about Memento.
00:45:53
Speaker
Oh yeah. Although actually, as I'm saying that, was that 1999? I think it was 2000 or 2001. Anyway, it doesn't matter. It's not on my list, but I, I, uh, considered it strongly.
00:46:04
Speaker
My number five, is a movie that um people when people say what's your favorite movie this is usually the movie i say and it's eternal sunshine of the spotless mind it's a movie that kind of made me fall in love with movies um i also just think it's incredible on rewatch it's not just i i try to watch it without the rose-colored glasses of loving it the first time but i i really do think it's that good um I think the first time I watched it, I was just so taken by Jim Carrey being so serious and like being so good as Joel is the lead of this.
00:46:37
Speaker
But then the premise, um the sort of magical realism premise of it and everywhere that that goes. Briefly, the premise if someone hasn't seen it is about um Kate Winslet and and Jim Carrey have previously been in relationship.
00:46:54
Speaker
There is a service in this ah you know, alternate world or whatever, where you can selectively erase memories. And so they've had a very painful breakup and they've erased each other from their memories.
00:47:05
Speaker
And then it's like, what happens when we meet again? Sort of, that's sort of the premise. um And that on its face is, is fascinating, but it's, The memory erasing sequences do some just insane things with editing and it's it's sort of like visualizing memory with cinematic language in a way that is just so exciting.
00:47:25
Speaker
and And I think yeah it's it really influenced a lot of things since it came out as well. You hear a lot of filmmakers saying, oh, i Eternal Sunshine and those memories things like informed how they um shot and edited different things.
00:47:38
Speaker
Yeah. it's a reflection on love and relationships and, you know, I'm a sapphire romantic person. So I love that part of it too. so i just really connect with this movie on every level and I love it so much.
00:47:52
Speaker
So and that is my number five and that came out in 2004.
00:47:58
Speaker
Now that is a movie that I've seen, but more or less like, you know, gladiator and spotlight to you. That's a movie that I just cannot remember because it's been,
00:48:09
Speaker
two decades or or more, you know, like I saw it in like a couple of years since it first came out and I've never went back to like revisit it for whatever reason. um And I need to, like, i actually started watching it like, I don't know, maybe a couple months ago, but then I got sidetracked with the kids or something. And then I was like,
00:48:27
Speaker
I watched like the first like two or three minutes of like, that is a movie that has been on my list to like, go back and like, I need to see this movie again. Like I need to remember what is that all about? Cause it's, it's Charlie Kaufman, right?
00:48:41
Speaker
Yes. He wrote it and it's directed by Michelle Gondry. Okay, yeah. And it's it's so good. Yeah, I think that even you're saying that we gave the beginning, it's just it's so low key at first that really caught me off guard when I first was watching it.
00:48:55
Speaker
Anyway, yeah, absolutely. It has ah quite a big cast as well. So it's those two and then Tom Wilkinson is the doctor. um And Kirsten Dunst is in it. And Mark Ruffalo is in it and Elijah Wood is in it.
00:49:08
Speaker
Some people you wouldn't expect to kind of round up some of the cast, but anyway. I'll stop talking about it, but it's a really, really good movie. Yeah. need to check that movie out again.
00:49:21
Speaker
All right. it's Time for your number four. My number four movie is my favorite movie from the 2010s. And that is ah a wonderful little film about baseball.
00:49:39
Speaker
It is called Moneyball. um Moneyball is... watch that movie probably at least like once every like four to six months.
00:49:52
Speaker
Wow. Just because it... Again, we talk about like great screenplays. um That screenplay to me is a masterpiece. It takes something that I...
00:50:07
Speaker
I don't even really, cause I was alive when the events from that movie like actually happened. I don't remember hearing about it, like either, you know, on the news, on the radio, whatever.
00:50:19
Speaker
um But the way that it takes the events from like what the Oakland A's were able to do and in creating like the longest ah winning streak um for, I can't remember if it's the American League or the National League, which one they're in, but basically like they set the record for the most wins in a row.
00:50:38
Speaker
um And the... and the the um Aaron Sorkin actually had ah and had a hand in writing that, ah but the main writer, I'll shout him out, is Steven Zalian, directed by Bennett Miller.
00:50:54
Speaker
Um, but that movie just, it made me care about something that I don't care at all about, which is baseball. Like I have never been to a, uh, you know, like a major league baseball game. Like that is like out of all the sports you'd like put on for me to watch.
00:51:12
Speaker
Like that's the one I'm like the least interested in to actually take, um, you know, a subject matter that I have no investment or no interest in and like take a story about it and just make it so fascinating and interesting for me that like I return to it time and time and time again um is is really something that I have so much respect for.
00:51:42
Speaker
um You know, just, and again, based on kind of a true story, Brad Pitt's great in it. um Jonah Hill's great in it. It's funny. I laugh all the time when I watch it, just at their interactions and them going back and forth.
00:51:58
Speaker
But just how how well constructed and conceived it is. um ah Man, I love Moneyball. My favorite film from the 2010 decade.
00:52:10
Speaker
decade Nice. I knew this would be on your list. I really i remember watching this and loving it. I've only seen it the once, but I know you always speak so highly of it. and great It's a great movie.
00:52:23
Speaker
I love it. Next up for me is number four. Is that where at? Four? Yes. yeah It's from 2013. This could be my favorite movie of the 20-teens. Maybe.
00:52:34
Speaker
I don't know. I got one up here higher, two up here higher. Anyway, number four for me is the movie Her from Spike Jonze. Another one, you know, if we're thinking about my little theme of like looking back and looking forward. So we have like Summer of Soul looking back and then things like Children of Men maybe looking forward to the nationalism that's plaguing our society and Ex Machina looking forward to AI.
00:52:58
Speaker
Her also looks at AI and and seems like it kind of... ah predicted some things that would happen. I mean, there are literally people dating AIs now. Like that's happening.
00:53:09
Speaker
um But what this movie does, it you know it takes the premise of you know being in love with an AI is, if you haven't seen that, that sounds odd. Obviously, it's and a strange thing.
00:53:23
Speaker
it it What it does through that is kind of deconstructs relationships and love. and um But it's also just so well-directed. um It's about... um relationships and breakups and and it's uh i think what's surprising to me about it is how warm and like warm without being um like sweet and saccharine like but it it just has this warmth to it the music is very warm and and um futuristic sounding it also has this this odd vision of the future that feels um
00:53:59
Speaker
somehow realistic ah when you're watching it and really lived in, but just like, it's not clear, I don't think, how many years in the future it's supposed to be. Maybe like after Yang? Yeah, similar to that where it's just like, vaguely in the future, still feels very grounded, but it things about it are futuristic.
00:54:19
Speaker
um I love Joaquin Phoenix in this, Scarlett Johansson as the voice of the AI. uh samantha i believe is her name and then amy adams is fantastic as as one of his friends as well um and then where this goes story-wise is is surprising moving um it's it's just not a it's not what you think this movie but it's uh it's really great have you you've seen her yeah this is This is why I was wondering if you would have any that I have not seen. and I have not seen her.
00:54:54
Speaker
I have it. I own it. And it's been on my list to watch for like forever. But yeah, this is. I forgot to mention Rooney Mara as well. as an name Anyway, go ahead. Okay. I just, I haven't said all the names. I forgot Rooney Mara. Sorry. Let me interrupt you.
00:55:11
Speaker
But yeah, definitely. Got to catch up with it at some point. Tremendous, tremendous movie. Like it's one too that just like expanded my brain when I was watching it, you know, which a lot of these movies did, I feel, but but this one especially too.
00:55:26
Speaker
We should have like a little addendum to the next podcast we do together where we catch up with our... That's a good idea. We all watch Spotlight or Sunshine of the Spiless Mind and Her.
00:55:39
Speaker
You can watch Spotlight and Gladiator and then we get little bit of feedback. I think that's a great idea. Yeah. but I think that means it's time for your number three. we're in our Number three?
00:55:53
Speaker
This one is for all the ladies out there. my DMs are open. You know what it is? I think I know. Just because of when we were texting initially about this, you threw out some titles and I was like, yeah and I thought it was interesting that this was on your list. or but Yeah, I mean, this is in my top ten favorite movies of all time.
00:56:15
Speaker
Um, that's how much I love this movie. And even though like, yeah, like it, it, this is one of the movies that like all things considered didn't make the, I don't think it was in the the New York times list of the top 100. Uh, but this movie definitely holds like a special place in my heart.
00:56:34
Speaker
Uh, I can quote this movie all day long. This is a movie that like, I remember the period of time when it came out that I had gotten like, I like, uh, uh, back when you used to have like direct TV or whatever, and I would just be cleaning the house. I would just have like HBO on or whatever playing.
00:56:55
Speaker
This movie was like one of the mainstays that like you could go through any of the HBO channels or any of the, whatever stars or Showtime, it would be playing on one of them.
00:57:06
Speaker
And as soon as it would like come on, like I would just like let it run and like listen to it while i was doing other stuff. Um, but yeah, the movie, Pride and Prejudice ah by Joe Wright.
00:57:18
Speaker
Mr. Joe Wright is just one of the best adaptations of any book ah to screen, in my and in my personal opinion.
00:57:34
Speaker
um you know i love this film so much and while there's so much that like if you go back and watch the bbc miniseries there's so many characters that just have so much more depth and if you read the book i've read the book you read the original jane austen book you know there's so much depth to these characters and it's impossible to encapsulate them and even like a miniseries there's just so much material there but i just i love um number one, like the the performances of the, of the adaptation that the 2005, I think it's either 2004, 2005 version, movie version.
00:58:13
Speaker
um Like it just kind of condenses it down to almost like the bare minimum, but there's still like so much there of like, you know, the original book.
00:58:25
Speaker
ah Obviously the book's better. um You don't have to hate me, ladies, that much, but I will absolutely put this on and watch it anytime. ah it is It is just so like It's a world that I want to go live in. like i want to go spend time with like Elizabeth, Darcy, Bingley, just such nice... Yeah, like...
00:58:49
Speaker
all of all of elizabeth's family like it's just such a nice yeah like ah period piece.
00:59:02
Speaker
Like it's just such a like romance. I love it so much. Like I just want to fall in love. Like that's it. I just want to be in love and live out the rest of my days in this world of like, you know, overcoats. I want Mr. Darcy's trench coat. Like if I ever find it, like I will buy of them.
00:59:24
Speaker
uh and walk like you know ladies you can stand somewhere and i'll walk across the field towards you and you can just like watch me walk through the mist do the hand thing people forget about the way his hand moves all of it is just i mean then meme-ified to death and like all the lines i can quote all day long it's just so good i sorry great movie Yeah, it's one that i I have seen, but I think when it came out, and again, haven't returned to it, I do love Joe Wright. Well, I guess I've only seen that, and his Cyrano from a few years ago, I think is really good.
01:00:01
Speaker
yeah um I haven't seen Atonement, actually. I really want to watch it. Oh, wow. That's good one. But, yeah, I mean, keira knightley and matthew mcfatty and but i just remembered them in particular guess so i was what 15 when this came out and that have been how old when i saw it i'm 35 now it's been a long time i really should watch it again and ah but yeah great great choice i love that you put that on your list ah time for my number three which is a movie from 2016 and it's moonlight ah ro jenkins yeah absolutely love this movie um
01:00:36
Speaker
I think I just didn't know what I was in for when I, when I put this on, I'm trying to remember if I saw it in the theater, believe I did. um but i mean, obviously it really put Barry Jenkins on the map. Um,
01:00:51
Speaker
put Mahershala Ali on my radar for the first time. He's so incredible in this movie. But the just the the script of this and the way it's broken up into three sort of timeframes, not unlike a Linklater something ah that we talked about time time moving with that.
01:01:06
Speaker
But the story it tells about ah this this boy and into young adulthood um and the the struggles he goes through, it's it's like...
01:01:21
Speaker
in some, in some aspects of the story is like one we've seen before, you know, a kid with a rough childhood, but the way it's told, and obviously there's, there's aspects of this story that around gender and sexuality that are maybe more unique to, to this, this film. But, um, I think it's just told with such, it's almost kind of minimalistic really, as I'm thinking about it, because there's, there are like,
01:01:49
Speaker
scenes with a lot of dialogue but there are also scenes with like almost no dialogue and visually doing some incredible things like the swimming scene i can just picture it and hear the music the score is incredible in this whole film um and then kind of where it goes and the ending is is just so moving and so like the diner scene is just so like edge of your seat and it's just two people sitting at a diner like it's it's so so good um I think it's a masterpiece and I knew it was going to be on my list and pretty high up and I did make my number three. The way it's about masculinity too, I think is something that feels timely. There's a little bit more of that coming up on my list in a minute, but then the cycles of abuse and all of that and and sort of in a world that wants to make this character harder, it can he find softness and like, can that persist? And like, I just think that's beautiful.
01:02:46
Speaker
So anyway, I love Moonlight. ah great mo great choice yeah i remember this this would have been one of the films that you know what when when you're raised in in the religion like you know maybe maybe to your from from your experience certainly from my experience there's a very black and white you know um rules around sexuality right homophobia absolutely
01:03:18
Speaker
And, and this movie, I remember because, because at this point, my son was a few years old, and we we had found out that he had been diagnosed with autism. And I remember watching Moonlight.
01:03:29
Speaker
And it made me really step back and consider like human sexuality in a way that I had never considered it before, you know, it in thinking in terms of my own son, and like, what if he grew up and, and you know, decided to be homosexual? Like,
01:03:46
Speaker
Or or you know that that was ah you know you know the trajectory that he you know his path takes him on. And it made me step back and assess all that from that very you know structured anti-homophobia.
01:04:04
Speaker
All those things that, again, cults will teach you. yeah ah you know These things are wrong, God hates, whatever. um and And that movie...
01:04:16
Speaker
in some ways helped me probably to start breaking out of that like mental cage or that mental box that these, you know, you know, if if if you follow the Bible, like it's the inerrant word of God and you, you shun these things, you frown upon these things.
01:04:38
Speaker
Like that movie in some ways opened my eyes to a lot of these different aspects of like, not everything's as black and white as you maybe once believed it to be.
01:04:48
Speaker
And I remember specifically this movie and a few other movies like... there's a movie called ah baby teeth that had the same kind of effect on me. There were some like really great movies through that stretch that really made me start to kind of like question my own beliefs in some ways ah that, you know, help me kind of in some ways probably break away from that, you know, cult mentality, very structured religious mentality,
01:05:19
Speaker
you know, follow the Bible to the T in every way, shape and form, a thought process that I was raised. So I really love Moonlight. And yeah, you know.
01:05:31
Speaker
Yeah, no, I love all that. And I think I think movies are so good at, at that. And that it's, you know, it's the same argument here. I'm going to get off on tangents. I'm sorry, but know ah it's like, you can hear all the arguments in the world you know for or against something. And and i also was raised in a very anti-LGBTQ sort of yeah environment.
01:05:53
Speaker
and um it's like i could i could read those uh all the arguments in the world but it's like then just knowing a gay person and like understanding their experience or yeah or hearing about it and i think movies can give you a taste of that in a way like you're kind of looking at things with another perspective like and and yeah as you said that i was like you know what 2016 that was around the time i was really questioning things in a big way too yeah and i'm sure that this movie um kind of pushed pushed me in that direction as well.
01:06:21
Speaker
but yeah That's great. Fantastic. That is my number three. so It's time for your number two. My number two is another movie that I will put on just like pretty often. at least like once a year. i just put it on like a couple months ago. yeah Probably about a month ago and just watched it.
01:06:41
Speaker
Aaron Sorkin meets David Fincher. The Social Network. is just one how of a movie that again, like I, I never was a Facebook user. Like I don't give a crap about social media.
01:06:58
Speaker
Like I use it so little and and I try purposefully. tried for many years. Like I have a Facebook page. I have a Instagram now, whatever, but I, I just, I'm not a social media person. Like I, I don't,
01:07:15
Speaker
have interest in like spending my life on, you know, apps and and on a digital medium. Like I'd much rather be out doing things and living life. Sorry.
01:07:26
Speaker
don't know. I'm getting off here. well I'm just making the point that like, I'm not interested in, in, you know, anything to do with Mark Zuckerberg or like, yeah but to take the story of the creation of you know, what what ended up becoming Facebook, you know, from Face Smash to the Facebook to the to Facebook, you know, like the way that that story, um you know, depicts those events.
01:07:57
Speaker
Obviously, there's like probably quite a bit of leeway and in some of the drama that's portrayed. But yeah, like the Aaron Sorkin dialogue just firing on all eight cylinders And David Fincher's able to like tame Sorkin's Sorkinisms. Yeah, absolutely. that's When he's just like, and ah you know when Aaron Sorkin directs his own stuff, like he could just kind of like go off.
01:08:24
Speaker
yeah um But Fincher like condenses it down and and gets like some of that David Fincher precision in. um to where he's like really focusing, you know, like a laser with just like, I can see like, I can see David Fincher in the cutting room with like a little knife tool, just like cutting out like all the extra David, all the extra Sorkin stuff. that And, and man, he just crafts like the, the most precise version of that film possible.
01:08:56
Speaker
Um, and it is just so good, um much like Moneyball. It just has the ability to take the story that I knew or cared nothing about and just make it like one of the most entertaining and fascinating pieces of cinema that I've ever seen.
01:09:14
Speaker
Uh, Jesse Eisenberg, um, you know, and, uh, Garfield, Andrew Garfield, um you know, and just kind of their story of like their friendship slowly deteriorating, falling apart. Yeah.
01:09:30
Speaker
yeah I mean, and in again, kind of like a little bit of an ambiguous ending there. um ah yeah, the social network is just one of the most rewatchable films of, of, you know, the last 25 years that I revisit so frequently.
01:09:48
Speaker
And I love that movie so much. I totally agree. That was literally like 11 or 12 on my list. I really almost had that on there. ah Love the social network. It is. It's just like the perfect marriage of writer and director, like you're saying. And the we get the Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross score. i think that was maybe their first one.
01:10:07
Speaker
let these best score probably of the 21st century. I think I agree with that. It's so good. Inside Out was is is is a banger. There's some good ones. true try I can listen to the social network score anytime. Just put it on and play it. And like, yeah,
01:10:21
Speaker
yeah incredible incredible stuff very very good movie um all right number two for me this is from 2000s we're going way back but this is a movie that um it was really hyped up for me and i was like is it gonna live to the hype and then i watched it and i said that might be the best i've ever seen i love it so much uh it is in the mood for love from wang kar wai oh and it is so so good i did a whole series on one car wine watched through the box set and um had not seen this until that and that was a couple years ago now um but it it really is that good and it's um briefly the story is um some a pair of neighbors find out that their spouses are having an affair together and then they but we actually never see either of their spouses on screen um but then they become friends and then there's just a lot of
01:11:17
Speaker
tension between them. it is a very romantic movie. um Wong Kar Wai is obsessed with time and you know the whole looking backwards and forwards idea that kind that plays into the movie's ending in a really cool way.
01:11:31
Speaker
um But it's just like the most like sumptuous is the word I want to use. ah it's It's like sensual without being sexual necessarily.
01:11:41
Speaker
ah There are some sexy parts here and there, but um there's just like a ton of longing between them. His use of color, it's like the colors are just really popping off the screen. um The costume design is incredible.
01:11:54
Speaker
The music is incredible. um It is just, it feels like the culmination of a lot of the things that he was working on, that director Wonka Wai before that.
01:12:07
Speaker
um And I love some of his other movies a whole lot, but I do think this is his best work. um So it's sort of about this emotional affair. And yeah, it's just, i think, cinematically and visually, one of the most beautiful movies I've ever seen.
01:12:24
Speaker
And the story and, oh, I should mention Tony Leung and Maggie Chung are just, beautiful humans too and and like wearing these cool suits and beautiful dresses like you can it's just intensely watchable wanker white has a little had for a while had a reputation of being like an mtv director like he would care more about how things look than maybe the substance or something was sort of a bad rap that he would get um but i which i disagree with because i think even his most flashy things uh have a lot of substance but this one um
01:12:56
Speaker
he he cares about the way the visuals make you feel. And that really comes across in this movie. ah It's beautiful. I love it. in the mood for like Nice.
01:13:08
Speaker
Well, that's a movie. Another number two that I have not seen. i think this actually made, i think this actually made, this was the only movie from the New York times. I think this was in the top 10. This might've been in the top five, if I'm not mistaken. I need to, look um I haven't looked at list. number And, and I'm pretty sure. Yeah. This was one of the top,
01:13:26
Speaker
one of the top films that I have that I haven't seen yet. I've got i think forgot the same box that is you. I just haven't cracked it open yet to start so many movies, not enough time.
01:13:38
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. I, you know, I said before, when people ask me my favorite movie, I usually say eternal sunshine. Since I saw this, I usually say this and, and it is, it's a movie that I'll say, Oh, in the mood for love is maybe my favorite movie.
01:13:53
Speaker
And usually when I'm in a room of like non-film people, yeah they're like, what is that? I've never heard of that. yeah like It's actually really like well-known. Like they're like, oh, sure it is. I'm like, no, it's really good. Now I'm glad to know it's in the top five for the New York Times. Like I told you people it was good.
01:14:08
Speaker
That's right. Indication. but Yeah, absolutely. All right. That means it's time for your number one movie of the century so far. Number one. Do you know what it is?
01:14:20
Speaker
I don't. i could have If I thought about it more, I could have narrowed it down. but i know Well, the trilogy is in my number two spot of like my favorite movies of all time. I consider them all one movie because they were all created together.
01:14:41
Speaker
But for the purposes of this list, I will go with the first film. know what you're I think. which the the the return of the king, the number three, one best picture, but I consider the first film to be probably my personal favorite just because I love that. That's the movie that um I got to spend the most time with, like when it came out in 2002, the fellowship of the ring, Lord of the Rings trilogy by Mr. Peter Jackson um is just as epic as,
01:15:17
Speaker
of a film as they come. um you know you I take some some some grief with his um adaptation of The Two Towers, um but The Fellowship of the Ring and the Return of the King are both, you know I mean, the the whole series is 10 out of 10 masterpieces.
01:15:39
Speaker
um But The Fellowship um followed by Return of the King are my favorites. um And The Fellowship of the Ring because it came out when I was kind of in, not in like college, but more kind of like in that era of like, you know, I had more time to watch that movie over and over and over again.
01:16:01
Speaker
um and so that was, you know, that's the one that probably of the trilogy holds the, you know, place in my heart where you like get to see, again, like Middle Earth.
01:16:13
Speaker
the hobbits, the Shire, they're going out on this grand adventure journey. um And, you know, like, you just kind of get a taste of what is to come in this just the most grand, epic storytelling, um you know, cinema journey that, you know, pretty much I've ever been on, um you know, with like, just a cast that's out of the world, out of this world, and literally, you know, in Middle Earth, out of this world.
01:16:51
Speaker
um It's just so cool. And so, you know, just, um you know, with the wizards and and, you know, this is the total nerd aspect of me coming out.
01:17:04
Speaker
But like, I know all the Lord of the Rings lore, you know, I've read some of the Silmarillion and, uh, some the, you know, obviously the Hobbit, um, you know, which is still a great book.
01:17:15
Speaker
Um, but I mean, even some of the technical aspects of that movie, the, the, the score, um, uh, which is, uh, Howard Shore, I believe Howard Shore. That's right. believe that's right Um, I'm almost positive.
01:17:29
Speaker
Yeah. What a epic score. Um, And yeah, like the work that they did, like like the work that Andy Serkis and that team did on creating Gollum was like state of the art, cutting edge stuff for for that time um with like the facial recognitions that they obviously like,
01:17:51
Speaker
you know It went on to like kind of perfect and and you know work on in like Avatar. and This was like the pre-Avatar days. um But yeah, like just so many aspects of that movie are just like at a 10 out of 10 level.
01:18:07
Speaker
Obviously, you know they rewarded Return of the King and it made... yeah although but The whole trilogy just made buku dollars at the box office. you know Return of the King won...
01:18:18
Speaker
whatever 13 Academy Awards tied for the most Academy Awards of all time or whatever it was. Rightly so. The Fellowship of the Ring, that was one that I just, I loved the most.
01:18:31
Speaker
If I had to like, if if you only get gun to my head, you can only watch one of these movies again for the rest of time. that would be the one I would go to um But I consider them all masterpieces. And yeah, I consider that movie that that's in my number two spot of like my favorite films of all time.
01:18:52
Speaker
there that That's a great choice for number one. I, Megan. I've said this a few times, but really considered Lord of the Rings for my list. I probably would have returned to the King. That one just, it it just brings all the emotions home. yeah And I just love it so much.
01:19:08
Speaker
But yeah, they're all great. And you know, as you're talking about the place in your life you were when you saw it, I was looking what year it was, 2011, or sorry, 2001. So I was 11 years old. And as you know, I've mentioned on the podcast before,
01:19:21
Speaker
wasn't allowed to watch a lot of movies, but i was remembering, I think it was one of the first like grownup movies I was able to go see at the theater. And I was so excited. like I had seen star Wars and like some of those things, but, um, it, cause I think it was like, is this going to be a little too scary for the kids kind of thing, but they let us go and just, just loved it and still do. And yeah, that's a wonderful choice.
01:19:46
Speaker
I love it. And that means it's time for my number one, which is the movie the tree of life from 2011. Terrence Malick's epic uh it epic feels like a weird word for it because it is ah what I love about the movies it's it's very big and it's very small like it's as big as you can possibly go he's literally showing us the origins of the universe in these you know these sequences where see dinosaurs we see the big bang happening we see uh all these um sort of things in natural history set to this gorgeous score um just an absolute like visual ride for all that and it's as small as you can possibly be and it's zoomed in on this one child's uh experience um i if someone hasn't seen this it probably sounds like the craziest thing but it's and it it kind of is but it it
01:20:45
Speaker
it goes it it goes back and forth between seeing these these sort of space images and and sort of natural history stuff that i was mentioning um and then this character as a child and as an adult um and it's this young boy his mother is jessica chastain his father is brad pitt um and in and the adult timeline which we see first i believe he's learned that one of his siblings has died and uh hold on going to clear my throat.
01:21:17
Speaker
and So we don't see a lot of adults. Sean Penn plays the adult version of of the main character. We don't see a ton of him, um but he's reflecting back on his experiences of childhood.
01:21:29
Speaker
um and his father is very stern wants him to be a strong be his own man you know wants to teach him to fight um his mother jessica chastain is just like the like the most like maternal figure i've ever seen in a movie i think in this movie um and he's wrestling with questions of faith he's we hear his prayers is like this whispered narration um as he's praying and and asking god why things are happening we witness what's coming of age in a way um it's also just like so cinematic and even the things that aren't you know outer space are shot so uh so beautifully it's emmanuel labeski is the cinematographer who he worked with on a few of his films and the camera's just floating and and uh
01:22:26
Speaker
i think terence malik movies don't feel like really anything else um i haven't seen all of his films but i've seen a handful uh and i think the way he brings in the spiritual uh realm into things um and the way he um i think what i've said i'm i i did a podcast about this but it's been a long time ago now 2018 something um that giving the equal importance to the creation of the universe and the experience of a boy growing up.
01:23:02
Speaker
um And it has some similarities with Moonlight. That's what i was mentioning about like this sort of ultra-tough masculinity and the way that it is intersecting with the church. And that's some of the stuff that resonates personally with for me with my religious upbringing.
01:23:18
Speaker
And and then you know kind of and his mother's uh fighting with father about you're being too hard on them like those sorts of things are happening in the film um culminates in this beautiful sequence uh it's just sort of a reflection on life and experiences and um i often think like just in my personal life like if something is causing me anxiety or is upsetting to me personally in some way like the best thing i can do is zoom out and try to see the bigger picture and i think this movie like literally does that uh in a way that's really cool and uh nothing else makes me feel the way this movie does um i just think it's incredible absolute masterpiece and uh yeah the tree of life from terrence malick
01:24:11
Speaker
good movie. That's a movie. I, again, like when I think about some of those early 2010 films that, uh, I really like, it took me a while to grow in my appreciation for that's one that I haven't seen in probably well over a decade.
01:24:29
Speaker
But, uh, but yeah, like I just, I remember cause I've seen a couple of his films. I've seen the thin red line and, uh, what's the other one? Uh, Oh no, you know, I haven't seen, um,
01:24:42
Speaker
Hidden life. Yes. Hidden life. I love i had only on one remember watching it. I never got to, never got to put it in. Oh, but yeah, like, you know, he, he's, he's, um, one of the most cinematic, like directors currently working. Um, just, you know, some of the most amazing shots that you can capture with the camera are in his films.
01:25:11
Speaker
Um, But, but I remember watching that kind of like, as I started to wean myself onto like more advanced art, uh, you know, in, in cinema.
01:25:24
Speaker
And I remember watching tree of life and not connecting with it and how, um, like more abstract it was in some of its filmmaking aspects.
01:25:37
Speaker
ah But that's a movie that I would love to go back along with hidden life and in some of the other Terrence Malick movies that like, I need to get around to watching just to ah be able to appreciate them now from like, you know, my yeah film critiquing journey. I know that I would get so much more out of them to, to rewatch them at this stage in the game.
01:26:00
Speaker
Yeah. I really recommend rewatching that. Cause it's one too, that I, I saw it in 2011. got DVD. Like I did in the theater. I wish I had seen a theater, my gosh. And I loved it then. and I felt maybe confused about it or, ah yeah, I wasn't super into movies yet.
01:26:18
Speaker
was what, 21 years old. and But then subsequently watching it again, i remember like thinking, oh, that's probably a masterpiece, but like, I'll probably never watch it again. or Or, you know, I don't know, just having a feeling of like, that was really good. And like so much. Yeah.
01:26:37
Speaker
And then rewatching it. to remember when I rewatched it, but I've seen it like four times, I think. And then I watched it the third time for the podcast. um Oh, and I think I watched the, there's an extended cut that's only, I think on the Criterion.
01:26:49
Speaker
I watched that one once and you can, you don't need to watch it. It's super long and the stuff is interesting, but it's not necessary. Like it was cut for reason. Terrence Malick also has a reputation for just like shooting way too much. Yeah. Long, and long movies.
01:27:04
Speaker
And like Days of Heaven. it's highly recommended but like you apparently shot like just a ridiculous amount that they had to cut out anyway but i do think he's one of my favorite filmmakers and i think this is his best movie it's it's sort of a magnum opus feeling yeah type of thing but anyway tree of life is incredible and and it's yeah i think one of the most like spiritual movies take that however you will um but i i do think it taps into something on on that level as well so anyway very nice there you go well that's it that's our our list of the top 10 movies of the century so far no overlap
01:27:46
Speaker
but No overlap. Yeah, I was right. I was like, i don't think I'll have any. But yeah, it's several that I almost had. So what are your, you know, 10 through 16 or whatever? 11 through 16. Yeah, so like ah towards the end, towards the bottom of my list, I was debating because I loved Inside Out so much.
01:28:01
Speaker
ah But in the end, I ended up going with Ratatouille, which is like my favorite. thing Yeah, I think it's like my either first or second favorite Pixar movie. But Inside Out was like neck and neck. Like those two are just right there. Ratatouille.
01:28:15
Speaker
um there I love that that Pixar movie so much. Another one that um I'll just shout out really quick, an international movie from 2021, I believe. It it lost ah the Oscar to another round, but this movie, Quo Vadis Aida. Yeah, I saw it and watched that.
01:28:41
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's a basically like a genocide. Yeah. So, so, so the lady is a translator, um a Serbian Serbian army takes over her town. They're supposed to be protected, but ah like a lot of people end up losing their lives and she, go watch it. If you ever get a chance to, it's just such a great film.
01:29:09
Speaker
Um, no, no, but it's based on a documentary, you know, actual events.
01:29:16
Speaker
yeah yeah yeah I think I remember you talking about that on the year-end show. Yeah. Quo Vadis Aida. yeah Great, great film. I had Mad Max Fury Road on there. One of the greatest action films of all time. Ocean's Eleven. the greatest One of the greatest caper movies. That actually is in my personal top 10.
01:29:38
Speaker
I love Ocean's Eleven. i can watch that movie. Brad Pitt and Clooney going back and forth. I can watch that all day long. I had Anchorman in there and Power of the Dog.
01:29:50
Speaker
Love Jane Campion and her movie. you know That's a great film. Yeah, fantastic.
01:30:02
Speaker
mine these are not necessarily in any order but i had the social network on there we talked about ah shoplifters the corey aida film i thought you might balance doesn't love that movie so much um i i couldn't believe i didn't have any wes anderson on here either and i really deliberated between grand budapest hotel and the french dispatch the french dispatch is my favorite of his i think that grand budapest might technically be better i don't know And and it's it's about more serious themes a little bit.
01:30:31
Speaker
um But I love, so I had Grand Budapest on there. The Babadook, I love The Babadook. And I think it's, you know, it's a horror movie that has a lot of, you know, emotional resonance.
01:30:43
Speaker
I had no horror on that list. Yeah, I don't really either, except for that. And I kind of wanted to have it in the top 10, but yeah yeah that's not but i love that movie. Synecdoche, New York.
01:30:55
Speaker
Real weird movie from Charlie Kaufman. um But I do think it's great. And Philip Seymour Hoffman, it's incredible in it. He couldn't quite make it on. ah The Irishman. And that was you know me wanting to have Scorsese on there. Because I do think, obviously, he's one of the greats. And I think The Irishman is...
01:31:12
Speaker
ah I love that of The Departed. I think Departed is incredible. The Irishman is a little bit more like the way it's reckoning with his own filmography and the gangster movies and feels like a ah more mature seasoned director making a gangster movie, I guess.
01:31:29
Speaker
sure Really, really good movie. a Social Network I mentioned and then Ichimama Tambien from Alphonse Quaron, but I ended up putting Children of Men up there, but I love that one as well.
01:31:42
Speaker
and My list of maybes is right here in front of me too, and it has maybe 70 things on it, so I can't get into it. But you know I had Get Out on there, was a tough one to Before Sunset, Inglourious Bastards I love. I'll just mention a couple of these. No Finishing for Old Men, Inside Llewyn Davis, Slumdog Millionaire i think is great, Scott Pilgrim I mentioned, Knives Out I think is incredible, Spirited Away. i can't believe I didn't put Spirited Away on there.
01:32:08
Speaker
Frankly, it didn't have any anime. um A Ghost Story. just incredible uh the favorite let's see i'll i'll stop but i have lots of a camera person i don't know anyone's seen camera person it's really really good documentary but anyway there's that and then i had a short list of things like these are movies that might have been on my list if i had ever seen them it's like uh mulholland drive i know yeah i've never seen and just watched that for the first time a couple months ago nice yeah what a man, you want to talk about ambiguity. That movie is just like, you don't know what to make of that film.
01:32:46
Speaker
I really got to fill in some of my Lynch blind spots. I think i think I'm going to do a whole Twin Peaks thing soon. I think I would say that forever, but I think I am going to finally get into it. um Memories of Murder, and that was really well regarded. Memories of Murder, that's, yeah.
01:33:00
Speaker
Bong Joon-ho doing a David Finch, doing his best David Fincher impersonation. Yeah. it's great that movie is ah amazing a movie that i think i would really love and everyone has told me i would love it is adaptation ah which is oh yeah yeah that would be up my alley and i just have never seen it uh crash and tiger hidden dragon i've never seen and then uh punch drug love i've also never seen that's you know okay pta one that people really like pta blind spots i need to fill in too
01:33:35
Speaker
Well, this has been really fun. I appreciate you coming back on the show. And yeah, I don't have any specific plans yet, but I'm hoping to get back into, you know, sort of award season podcasting.
01:33:46
Speaker
But yeah, thanks. well There'll be some good ones now that film festivals are kind of in full swing. Venice is happening. I think right now, Toronto, New York, we'll be getting some...
01:34:01
Speaker
You know, some movies. Guillermo's got He's got his new movie coming out pretty soon. Netflix. Yeah. He'll be out in a couple months. So there'll be some good movies here in the next little bit.
01:34:15
Speaker
That's nice. Well, with that, we can wrap it up. And I thank you again so much for coming on the show. Thank you, listeners, for tuning in.
01:34:28
Speaker
We've got a few years worth of episodes now You can hear all of those in your podcast app of choice. Our theme music is by composer Paul Hunefeld. You can learn more at appallingproductions.com. you want to support Arthouse Garage, you do have a Patreon at patreon.com slash arthousegarage.
01:34:43
Speaker
And there's a link in the show notes. You can also buy an Arthouse Garage t-shirt at arthousegarage.com slash shop You can also leave a rating or review in your podcast app, and that is hugely helpful. Stay in the loop about what's going on. can subscribe at ourhousegarage.com slash subscribe to get every episode in your inbox. And of course, follow on social media. You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Letterboxd. Just search at Our House Garage in all those places or find links in the show notes.
01:35:09
Speaker
That will do it for this episode. Thank you again so much for listening. And until next time, it snob free.