I seldom watch movies these days — “these days” being the last quarter-century — that for me to compile a list of “Best Movies Of Recent Times” would be a hopeless proposition.
However, Breitbart’s John Nolte is a movie buff, and as I generally agree with his opinions about those few movies I have seen, it’s worth pointing to his “Best 53 Movies” lists:
I don’t agree with his choice for #1 — fine movie though it was — but it’s a good list nevertheless.
The only glaring omission I could see (inexplicably, it didn’t even make Nolte’s list of finalists) was 2009’s wonderful Taking Chance, in which Kevin Bacon (finally) gave a really good performance.
Have at it — and if (like me) you haven’t seen many of Nolte’s 53 movies, it should give you a decent reference list to look up on the various streaming channels.
Interesting list. Too bad it’s not a simple list and instead divided up into (I need more clicks) segments.
That’s not your fault, Kim, but man it makes my ass tired to always have to work around that kind of thing to see something that I think is probably interesting. My crap tolerance is so low that most stuff structured like that gets one click and out. I’ll make an exception for Nolte, I guess.
I could put the list here in numerical order, if anyone thinks that’s a good idea.
Later … it turns out that I have seen about 30 of them, with a few more on the list for when they get to cheap cable. I really disagree with about a dozen of his choices and would replace them with a few others … Sicario, for example.
I’ve only seen a few “perfect” movies in my 57.5 years. “Perfect” means great casting, great music, great dialog, tight pacing, and a plot that hints at being epic without beating you over the head with it. They include The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Casablanca (1942), Star Wars (1977), Pulp Fiction (1994), and—the one film from the 21st Century so far that I think meets that definition: Rogue One (2016).
That said, this is a useful enough list that I think I will make a point of watching the films in Nolte’s top 10 that I haven’t seen yet; and there are others further down the list that look intriguing enough that I will also investigate them. Thanks for bringing this list to our attention, Kim!
“The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is not only the best movie of the 21st century (so far), it is also one of the best of all time.”
============
Hopefully the most pathetic verbage I’ll read today.
But you know what?
In light of the “21st century” part, he’s probably right, and that’s the most pathetic part of all.
They just can’t make a good movie any more and the reasons are simple, expectation, and delivery.
A good story, delivered by good actors, manipulated with good directing, and perceived by good filming and editing. Seems like all movies any more are lacking in the very first requirement and rely on 5 second duration edits to pull it off but ultimately fails. Good movies can no longer be produced and nobody expects them too. I will never again pay money for video that is not good.
I am old and I am grumpy and that’s probably why I have seen maybe less than half the movies listed. I don’t like the super dark movies with comic book people doing stupid stuff and I really don’t care for violence for its own sake.
Having said all that, my favorite of course is ‘Gran Torino’ which makes sense to me and it was damn good movie.
It is amazing to me how many of these movies I have not seen.
Of the few I have seen, I agree they were a joy to watch. Except one:
Grizzly Man! That is one movie that should never have been made.
I’ve only seen a handful of movies on this list. Singling out just one, since I’d read the book first. Black Hawk Down was lacking critical information presented in the book. I was disappointed in this movie.
X 1,000,000 on Taking Chance
Phenomenal movie.
That “Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood” even made the list … much less the top 5 … is all I need to know about his judgement in films.
70 minutes in I was still wondering “… when does the real film start?”
I’ve seen a lot of them, but had never even heard of “Logan Lucky” which came in at number five on his list. Available on Amazon Prime, so SWMBO and I sat down and watched it last night. It’s a cute little heist movie, but fifth best movie of the past twenty years ? Nigga, please. I still owe her a trip to “Little Women” after getting seriously burned by a critic on “Uncut Gems” week before last. I don’t know if I’m going to “1917” by myself or not, but going I am.
Nolte is for sure a movie buff. Listing The Mule prompted me to get and watch it. First half+ was OK but man Eastwood really tells the tale in the second half of the movie. Great flick? Almost.