In the wake of this week’s contentious BBC poll, here’s my own list of the 100 greatest films of the 21st century.
- The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011)
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
- Best in Show (Christopher Guest, 2000)
- The Hours (Stephen Daldry, 2002)
- Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014)
- Toy Story 3 (Lee Unkrich, 2010)
- Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2002)
- Avatar (James Cameron, 2009)
- Gosford Park (Robert Altman, 2001)
- Y Tu Mamá También (Alfonso Cuarón, 2001)
- Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (Adam McKay, 2006)
- Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón, 2006)
- Ex Machina (Alex Garland, 2015)
- Bad Education (Pedro Almodóvar, 2004)
- The Incredibles (Brad Bird, 2004)
- Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009)
- Aquarius (Kleber Mendonça Filho, 2016)
- Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller, 2015)
- Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
- Far From Heaven (Todd Haynes, 2002)
- Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008)
- Elephant (Gus Van Sant, 2003)
- The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky, 2008)
- Mother (Bong Joon-ho, 2009)
- Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón, 2013)
- Before Sunset (Richard Linklater, 2004)
- Ponyo (Hayao Miyazaki, 2009)
- A Separation (Asghar Farhadi, 2011)
- District 9 (Neill Blomkamp, 2009)
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens (J. J. Abrams, 2015)
- WALL-E (Andrew Stanton, 2008)
- Clouds of Sils Maria (Olivier Assayas, 2014)
- Melancholia (Lars von Trier, 2011)
- Broken Flowers (Jim Jarmusch, 2005)
- Magic Mike XXL (Gregory Jacobs, 2015)
- No Country for Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007)
- Encounters at the End of the World (Werner Herzog, 2007)
- The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006)
- Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright, 2004)
- The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2008)
- Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (Brad Bird, 2011)
- Kill Bill (Quentin Tarantino, 2003-4)
- Win Win (Tom McCarthy, 2011)
- Nobody Knows (Hirokazu Koreeda, 2004)
- Swimming Pool (François Ozon, 2003)
- Talk to Her (Pedro Almodóvar, 2002)
- Moon (Duncan Jones, 2009)
- Enough Said (Nicole Holofcener, 2013)
- There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
- Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold, 2009)
- Room (Lenny Abrahamson, 2015)
- Erin Brockovich (Steven Soderbergh, 2000)
- Looper (Rian Johnson, 2012)
- The Darjeeling Limited (Wes Anderson, 2007)
- The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke, 2009)
- Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo Del Toro, 2006)
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Alfonso Cuarón, 2004)
- Gloria (Sebastián Lelio, 2012)
- Minority Report (Steven Spielberg, 2002)
- Knocked Up (Judd Apatow, 2007)
- Blue Is the Warmest Color (Abdellatif Kechiche, 2013)
- Rescue Dawn (Werner Herzog, 2006)
- Project Nim (James Marsh, 2011)
- The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)
- Amélie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001)
- Junebug (Phil Morrison, 2005)
- Spotlight (Tom McCarthy, 2015)
- Man on Wire (James Marsh, 2008)
- Young Adult (Jason Reitman, 2011)
- Lucy (Luc Besson, 2014)
- Another Year (Mike Leigh, 2011)
- Hedwig and the Angry Inch (John Cameron Mitchell, 2001)
- Winter’s Bone (Debra Granik, 2010)
- American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013)
- Requiem for a Dream (Darren Aronofsky, 2000)
- Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
- Pacific Rim (Guillermo del Toro, 2013)
- Collateral (Michael Mann, 2004)
- Two Days, One Night (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, 2014)
- Milk (Gus Van Sant, 2008)
- Catch Me If You Can (Steven Spielberg, 2002)
- Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)
- The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Julian Schnabel, 2007)
- Inside Out (Pete Docter, 2015)
- Big Hero 6 (Don Hall and Chris Williams, 2014)
- Take Shelter (Jeff Nichols, 2011)
- Happy-Go-Lucky (Mike Leigh, 2008)
- The Pianist (Roman Polanski, 2002)
- The Science of Sleep (Michel Gondry, 2006)
- 13 Going On 30 (Gary Winick, 2004)
- Ida (Paweł Pawlikowski, 2013)
- Beginners (Mike Mills, 2011)
- Planet Terror (Robert Rodriguez, 2007)
- Higher Ground (Vera Farmiga, 2011)
- Pain and Gain (Michael Bay, 2013)
- A Single Man (Tom Ford, 2009)
- Superbad (Greg Mottola, 2007)
- V for Vendetta (James McTeigue, 2006)
- Dallas Buyers Club (Jean-Marc Vallée, 2013)
- Funny Ha Ha (Andrew Bujalski, 2002)