Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Chrisicisms

Home
Religious Music & Entertainment
The BBC 100 Greatest Films list presents a learning opportunity

The BBC 100 Greatest Films list presents a learning opportunity

Last updated on: August 24, 2016 at 7:00 pm by Chris Williams

The BBC 100 Greatest Films list presents a learning opportunity 2016-08-24T09:53:03-05:00 Chris Williams

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

“Mulholland Drive”

I love lists.

I know that’s not the critically correct thing to say — most critics go to great pains to say how much they hate compiling lists and how ranking art is futile, even as they regularly churn out their own best-of lists each year. And, of course, they’re right. Ranking art as “best” is silly. In any given year, there are great comedies, moving dramas, superb genre pieces and whimsical animated experiments. How do you determine which of those has more value than the other?

But “best-of” lists are fun for discussion, and I think it’s fascinating to peek at critics’ personal lists to see their favorite films each year. Earlier this year, the BBC polled 177 critics from around the world to determine the best films of the 21st century so far. The list was released this week and is available online. Here are the top 10:

No Country for Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007)

A Separation (Asghar Farhadi, 2011)

Yi Yi: A One and a Two (Edward Yang, 2000)

The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)

Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014)

Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001)

There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)

In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai, 2000)

Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)

It’s a great list, and I’ve had fun looking at some critics’ own personal lists (which are on the site as well). Many of those films in the top 10 alone are films I love, some of which I count among my favorite films of all time. And, as with any list, there’s controversy. No Dardenne brothers, which (rightfully) infuriates some. I would have easily switched out Paul Thomas Anderson’s “The Master” and “Inherent Vice” for “Punch-Drunk Love” and “Magnolia,” and while I am happy to see “A.I. Artificial Intelligence” regarded as a Spielberg masterpiece, the list ignores him otherwise, when some of his best work has been done in the past 16 years (“Minority Report,” “War of the Worlds” and “Lincoln” are among his best films). There’s a poor representation for comedy, and I have no idea how the fine-but-slight “Brooklyn” got on there. But that’s the fun of lists — the opportunity to argue about what they got right and what they got wrong.

Does the list matter in the end? On one hand, no. You’re still going to love the films you love, and we’ll still argue about them for years. If we can’t agree about whether “Vertigo” or “Rear Window” is the better Hitchcock (although the answer is “Rear Window”), we’re not going to agree on the best PTA. That’s the fun of talking film. We argue, we revisit, we reassess and we don’t really come to a consensus. On the other hand, yes, it counts. In this day, any idiot with access to a computer can be a film critic (hi!). But the critics surveyed for this are the cream of the crop; the noted experts around the world. And this tally, based on their votes, is a way of establishing a canon of essential films for this century. These are the films to pay attention to if you love cinema. They’re the films that critics believe will remain in conversation for the next few decades. Some will switch spots, some will disappear, others will take their place. But this, right now, is the list of films that film experts say you should know.

And looking at it, I have a lot of work to do. In the top 10 alone, I’ve only seen half of the movies. On the entire list, I’ve seen 58. There’s a lot of catching up to do.

This list comes at an interesting time for me. In two weeks, I’m going to begin graduate school. I’m going back to get my master’s in communication with an emphasis in media studies in order to make me a better writer, critic and cultural commentator. That’s obviously going to take up a great deal of time, especially since I’m doing it in addition to my full-time job, some side work my wife and I are doing, and with two young kids at home. In order to make the time, I’m going to be pulling back on current release film reviews. I’ve stopped doing one of the podcasts I’ve been hosting and, for the first time in nine years, I’m not participating with the Detroit Film Critics Society. I just know that I don’t have the time to devote to voting, catching up with screeners and attending screenings without sacrificing family time.

But one or two films a month? Yeah, I can swing that.

So, you’re going to see a bit of a change here in the coming months. My posts will probably pull back to two a week. There’s probably going to be less discussion of new films (although I’ll write about what I see) and more discussion of older ones, television programs, and more theology and culture talk. And one part of that discussion will be my attempt to go through the BBC’s list from beginning to end, looking at all 100+ films (there were several ties at the end) from number 1 to number 100. We’ll start at the top with “Mulholland Drive,” which I’ve never seen, and work our way down (basically, this allows me to put off watching “Requiem for a Dream” again for a long time). I don’t know how regularly they post, how long each post will be or how long this will take. My guess is it’s going to take the length of my master’s program, and the postings and lengths will vary. But that will keep things interesting.

This should all start in September. For now, we’re moving like regular through August. I have a review of a film I really dug hitting on Friday, and we’ll wrap up the month next week! Thanks for reading, and I look forward to this new shift coming!

Chris Williams

Previous Post

August 23, 2016

Jesus VR, the Ark Encounter and fetishizing authenticity

Next Post

August 26, 2016 Review: Don't Breathe

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category christmas Culture humor interviews Lists long reads movies we need news Podcasts Reviews story of God Uncategorized Weekend Read

Select a Month October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What was the first miracle Jesus performed according to John's Gospel?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Walking on water Raising Lazarus Feeding the 5000 Turning water into wine