# NY Times Readers' 100 Top Movies of the 21st Century **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [July 3, 2025, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-times-readers-100-top-movies-of-the-21st-century/1020441 "2025-07-03T12:46:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2025, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-times-readers-100-top-movies-of-the-21st-century/1020441/81 "2025-07-05T01:09:08Z")
Oh, forgot Hell or High Water, that’d be in my top 100 for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2025, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-times-readers-100-top-movies-of-the-21st-century/1020441/82 "2025-07-05T01:17:41Z")
Completely forgot that one. Might be top 50 for me. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2025, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-times-readers-100-top-movies-of-the-21st-century/1020441/83 "2025-07-05T01:35:08Z")
**Bad Times at the El Royale** would be in my top 10-20 for sure. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2025, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-times-readers-100-top-movies-of-the-21st-century/1020441/84 "2025-07-05T03:56:52Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > The Prestige – The movies with a twist where you go back and watch the movie and see it in a totally different light – this is the best of the bunch. I really appreciate the plotting of this one, the themes, and all the twists and turns, and the hidden/double meaning of dialogue and scenes. I love **The Prestige**. It’s in my top 10 or 20 favorites ever. I’m a fan of **Three Billboards Outside Ebbings, Missouri** , despite its flaws, but I think **The Ballad of Buster Scruggs** is an even better Coen Bros movie. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2025, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-times-readers-100-top-movies-of-the-21st-century/1020441/85 "2025-07-05T05:46:54Z")
I totted up how many of these I’ve seen and it comes to 66. There are also 3 I tried to watch but gave up on as they were just too much hard work (shameful, I know); _The Grand Budapest Hotel_, _The Master_, _The Royal Tennenbaums_. I keep thinking of ones that I’d definitely have on my list… _In Bruges_ - where the hell is that?! I also remember getting quite emotional at the end of _Finding Neverland_. One of Johnny Depp’s best performances. And my fabourite of the Jason Bourne films, _The Bourne Ultimatum_, I’d have that on my list too. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2025, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-times-readers-100-top-movies-of-the-21st-century/1020441/86 "2025-07-05T14:41:46Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I’m a fan of **Three Billboards Outside Ebbings, Missouri** , despite its flaws, but I think **The Ballad of Buster Scruggs** is an even better Coen Bros movie. Hmmm…did you think the Coen Brothers made Three Billboards? It was Martin McDonagh. Who also did In Bruges, a definite contender for the top 5 if I made a list. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2025, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-times-readers-100-top-movies-of-the-21st-century/1020441/87 "2025-07-05T14:46:18Z")
You know, between the various streaming services I’m on, I’m pretty sure there’s only one DVD that I’ve bought in the last fifteen years: **Birdman.** I mean, sure, looking like it’s being shot in one take is a gimmick — and, if you want, we could separate that out to evaluate the story. And, sure, the story of a guy struggling to make a serious-actor comeback decades after the blockbuster ‘superhero’ role that still overshadows him — well, that gets big unavoidable bonus points from him being _Michael Keaton,_ but we could evaluate the movie on its own minus that gimmick, too. And maybe show-within-a-show is the oldest storytelling gimmick of ‘em all, and twice as much if you’re blurring the lines between reality and fiction for what the characters are living through — but, hey, maybe you could still cobble together a straight-ahead story worth telling out of what’s left over even without all of that stuff. But: _why do that?_ If you simply take it as a whole, it’s _terrific!_ It’s _obvious_ why it won the Oscar for Best Picture: it’s equal parts _entertaining and interesting!_ ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2025, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-times-readers-100-top-movies-of-the-21st-century/1020441/88 "2025-07-05T16:52:56Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Hmmm…did you think the Coen Brothers made Three Billboards? It was Martin McDonagh. Oh, good grief, I just assumed with Frances McDormand… Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2025, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-times-readers-100-top-movies-of-the-21st-century/1020441/89 "2025-07-05T20:41:14Z")
I understand not liking Burning (2019) but it has its fans. Glow and Burning both depict isolation, loneliness and alienation in very special ways. I’m surprised there’s not more love for Makotos films in the US. Maybe just not in film social media. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2025, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-times-readers-100-top-movies-of-the-21st-century/1020441/90 "2025-07-06T00:15:16Z")
If we combine all the Lord of the Rings movies into one, it would be my number 1 without a doubt. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2025, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-times-readers-100-top-movies-of-the-21st-century/1020441/91 "2025-07-06T06:49:24Z")
Ones I didn’t see on the list that are in my top 100: Sideways Kung Fu Hustle The Lives of Others 12 Years a Slave Inside Out Roma Joker Dunkirk Poor Things Manchester by the Sea Ex Machina District 9 Let the Right One In Children of Men Once Notes on a Scandal The Triplets of Belleville ---
**Author:** ![sohvan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sohvan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sohvan)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2025, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-times-readers-100-top-movies-of-the-21st-century/1020441/92 "2025-07-06T07:05:40Z")
I’d add these: Gravity Ex Machina The Martian Man from Earth Edge of Tomorrow Puss in Boots: The Last Wish [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-times-readers-100-top-movies-of-the-21st-century/1020441.md?page=4)