The 100 Best Films of The 2000s

I compiled this list by simple quick decisions. As I came across a new film, I'd ask was this better than this one? If so, it went ahead. As such, maybe the final order is none too definitive, but it's probably still about as accurate as if I had pontificated over each selection for hours. I feel like decade-length lists should be decided quickly and that's what I did (after, of course, taking quite a long time to make a big list of everything I've seen). Omissions aside, it's a pretty good list. It pains me to see some great films at the bottom of the 100, but the order seems fair. It was a great decade for film. I doubt I could assemble a similar list for the 90s or even the 80s.



Bear in mind that it's been years since I've seen many of these films and my tastes have shifted since their arrival. I may change my opinion of many of the films from the first part of the decade if I ever see them again. Some of them I could watch almost any time of any day and others I might only want to see a few more times again, but this is a "Best" not a "Fun" list. Also, it goes without saying that I haven't seen all the films from the naughties, particularly those released in 2009.

Thus, without further ado:


1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Dir. Michel Gondry)
2. Children of Men (Dir. Alfonso Cuaron)
3. Mullholand Drive (Dir. David Lynch)
4. Superbad (Dir. Greg Mottola)
5. Wall-E (Dir. Andrew Stanton)
6. Lost in Translation (Dir. Sofia Copolla)
7. The Signal (Dir. David Bruckner, Dan Bush, and Jacob Gentry)
8. George Washington (Dir. David Gordon Green)
9. My Winnipeg (Dir. Guy Maddin)

10. Morvern Callar (Dir. Lynne Ramsay)
11. Adventureland (Dir. Greg Mottola)
12. United 93 (Dir. Paul Greengrass)
13. Shaun of the Dead (Dir. Edgar Wright)
14. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (Dir. Alex Gibney)
15. The 40-Year-old Virgin (Dir. Judd Apatow)

16. City of God (Dir. Fernando Meirelles)
17. Tarnation (Dir. Jonathan Caouette)
18. Capturing the Friedmans (Dir. Andrew Jarecki)
19. O Brother Where Art Thou (Dir. Joel Coen and Ethan Coen)
20. There Will Be Blood (Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)
21. Iron Man (Dir. Jon Favreau)
22. Mysterious Skin (Dir. Gregg Araki)
23. Anchoran: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (Dir. Adam Mckay)
24. Where the Wild Things Are (Dir. Spike Jonze)
25. The Fog of War (Dir. Errol Morris)
26. The Royal Tenenbaums (Dir. Wes Anderson)
27. The Corporation (Dir. Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott)
28. Pineapple Express (Dir. David Gordon Green)
29. District 9 (Dir. Neill Blomkamp)

30. A Scanner Darkly (Dir. Richard Linklater)
31. Be Kind Rewind (Dir. Michel Gondry)
32. Lake of Fire (Dir. Tony Kaye)
33. Primer (Dir. Shane Carruth)
34. Donnie Darko (Dir. Richard Kelly)
35. Half Nelson (Dir. Ryan Fleck)
36. The Pianist (Dir. Roman Polanski)

37. The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Dir. Andrew Dominik)
38. 28 Days Later (Dir. Danny Boyle)
39. No Country for Old Men (Dir. Joel Coen and Ethan Coen)
40. Wet Hot American Summer (Dir. David Wain)
41. Inland Empire (Dir. David Lynch)
42. No End in Sight (Dir. Charles Ferguson)
43. Step Brothers (Dir. Adam Mckay)
44. In the Loop (Dir. Armando Iannucci)

45. Control (Dir. Anton Corbijn)
46. The Dark Knight (Dir. Christopher Nolan)
47. In Bruges (Dir. Martin McDonagh)
48. Hot Fuzz (Dir. Edgar Wright)
49. Paprika (Dir. Satoshi Kon)
50. Batman Begins (Dir. Christopher Nolan)
51. Adaptation (Dir. Spike Jonze)
52. Little Miss Sunshine (Dir. Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris)
53. Land of the Dead (Dir. George A. Romero)
54. The Squid and the Whale (Dir. Noah A. Baumbach)
55. Munich (Dir. Steven Spielberg)

56. Spirited Away (Dir. Hayao Miyazaki)
57. Control Room (Dir. Jehane Noujam)
58. The Bourne Trilogy (Identity/Supremacy/Ultimatum) (Dir. Doug Liman/Paul Greengrass/Paul Greengrass)
59. Knocked Up (Dir. Judd Apatow)
60. The Dreamers (Dir. Bernardo Bertolucci)
61. Mean Girls (Dir. Mark Waters)
62. Zombieland (Dir. Ruben Fleischer)
63. Why We Fight (Dir. Eugene Jarecki)

64. When the Levees Broke (Dir. Spike Lee)
65. Cowards Bend the Knee (Dir. Guy Maddin)
66. Synedoche, NY (Dir. Charlie Kaufman)
67. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Dir. Julian Schnabel)
68. Spider (Dir. David Cronenberg)
69. Memento (Dir. Christopher Nolan)

70. The Virgin Suicides (Dir. Sofia Copolla)
71. Waking Life (Dir. Richard Linklater)
72. Bamboozled (Dir. Spike Lee)
73. Black Book (Dir. Paul Verhoeven)
74. 24 Hour Party People (Dir. Michael Winterbottom)
75. Diary of the Dead (Dir. George A. Romero)
76. The Man Who Wasn't There (Dir. Joel Coen and Ethan Coen)
77. Requiem for a Dream (Dir. Darren Arrenofsky)
78. Hotel Rwanda (Dir. Terry George)

79. Oldboy (Dir. Park Chan-Wook)
80. The Quiet American (Dir. Phillip Noyce)
81. Eastern Promises (Dir. David Cronenberg)
82. The Filth and the Fury (Dir. Julien Temple)
83. Taxi to the Dark Side (Dir. Alex Gibney)
84. Good Night and Good Luck (Dir. George Clooney)
85. An Unreasonable Man (Dir. Henriette Mantel and Steve Skrovan)

86. The Prestige (Dir. Christopher Nolan)
87. The Constant Gardener (Dir. Fernando Meirelles)
88. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (Dir. Adam Mckay)
89. American Psycho (Dir. Mary Harron)
90. The Saddest Music in the World (Dir. Guy Maddin)
91. Let the Right One In (Dir. Tomas Alfredson)
92. Finding Nemo (Dir. Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich)

93. Zodiac (Dir. David Fincher)
94. Watchmen (Dir. Zach Snyder)
95. Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (Dir. Danny Leiner)
96. Punch Drunk Love (Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)
97. Far From Heaven (Dir. Todd Haynes)
98. Amelie (Dir. Jean Pierre Jeunet)
99. Before Night Falls (Dir. Julian Schnabel)
100. Ginger Snaps (Dir. John Fawcett)


I specifically omitted A History of Violence because I did not like it upon first seeing it, but have to see it again after reading much about it. One of these days I will see it again and perhaps change my perspective.