The 21 Best Movies of the 21st Century

For those of us Olds who remember life in the 20th century (or even life in [shudder] the 1980s) the fact that the 21st century is already 25 percent complete is slightly unfathomable. (Remember: Although most people and all Y2K-compliant computers celebrated the new millennium on January 1, 2000, the 21st century technically began one year later, on January 1, 2001. And now if you’ll excuse me, I am going to push my glasses up the bridge of my nose, straighten my bow tie, and very carefully adjust my pocket protector to ensure it is properly secured.)

While the state of movies (and especially movie theaters) does not look especially healthy at this exact moment, the first 25 years of the 21st century were overloaded with an endless supply of modern classics in just about every imaginable genre, and even a few new genres that had never existed before. (What do you think the Lumière brothers would have thought of screenlife films? How would Thomas Edison have reacted to the notion of a legacyquel? These are fun questions to ponder.)

As we careen toward the second half of the 2020s, let’s take a look back at the best movies of the century to date. And just because it has a nice ring to it, let’s make it the 21 top films of the 21st century. That pleases my OCD. Bear in mind that these choices represent just one pathetic film nerd’s opinion of course; your own list might look entirely different.

READ MORE: The Weirdest Christmas Movies From Every Year For 40 Years