Last year, I joined the Atlanta Film Critics Circle. I voted in last year’s awards, and will do so again this year. This year is not just a normal year for the organization, however.
Earlier this year, before other publications had done their respective lists of the Best Films of the 21st Century, we had begun to discuss the idea of doing our own. We begin by submitting our personal list of our 25 Best Films of the last 25 years- following a strict release code, which is why some that would have made my list did not get submitted- and, from there, we then rated the Top 50 selections individually, and whichever 25 had the most “points,” made up our list.
You can read more about the list at our fantastic new website, an effort led by member Emma Loggins of FanBolt, and- if you click on the posters- you can read some of our individual thoughts on the movies.
Atlanta Film Critics Circle – 25 for 25 List
1. “The Lord of the Rings” (2001-2003; Directed by Peter Jackson)
2. “There Will Be Blood” (2007; Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson)
3. “No Country for Old Men” (2007; Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen)
4. “Parasite” (2019; Directed by Bong Joon Ho)
5. “Mulholland Drive” (2001; Directed by David Lynch)
6. “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015; Directed by George Miller)
7. “Inglorious Basterds” (2009; Directed by Quentin Tarantino)
8. “The Social Network” (2010; Directed by David Fincher)
9. “Moonlight” (2016; Directed by Barry Jenkins)
10. “Get Out” (2017; Directed by Jordan Peele)
11. “In the Mood for Love” (2000; Directed by Wong Kar-wai)
12. “Zodiac” (2007; Directed by David Fincher)
13. “The Dark Knight” (2008; Directed by Christopher Nolan)
14. “Pan’s Labyrinth” (2006; Directed by Guillermo Del Toro)
15. “Spirited Away” (2001; Directed by Hayao Miyazaki)
16. “Brokeback Mountain” (2005; Directed by Ang Lee)
17. “Oppenheimer” (2023; Directed by Christopher Nolan)
18. “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” (2004; Directed by Michel Gondry)
19. “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” (2019; Directed by Quentin Tarantino)
20. “The Departed” (2006; Directed by Martin Scorsese)
21. “American Psycho” (2000; Directed by Mary Harron)
22. “The Royal Tenenbaums” (2001; Directed by Wes Anderson)
23. “The Wolf of Wall Street” (2013; Directed by Martin Scorsese)
24. “Whiplash” (2014; Directed by Damian Chazelle)
25. “Arrival” (2016; Directed by Denis Villeneuve)
Whittling down a quarter century of cinema is no small task, whether you go down to 100 films or 25 films. While a good portion of this list was not on my personal list of 25 I submitted, there’s very few of these that don’t make a lot of sense to me in terms of their greatness, or cultural significance. Personally, it’s a bit surprising that the only film directed by a woman is “American Psycho”, but I get the allure it has as a cult classic, even if I didn’t like it. We’ve got significant and beloved foreign films, as well as popular successes from major filmmakers. Only three directors have multiple entries- Tarantino, Nolan and Scorsese- but none for Steven Spielberg or Pixar? As for why “The Lord of the Rings” was honored as a single entry, it’s because the trilogy was shot as a whole, even if it didn’t get released all at once. And not a single Marvel film doesn’t mean we didn’t like the franchise- it’s just that none of them had the collective juice to make the cut.
Below, I present my personal ballot. Because of the restrictions on the films needing to be a theatrical release, there were two films that would have made my Top 25 that I could not include. They are K/XI’s “Black Lake” and Princeton Holt’s “2050”. Both are films of vision and insight into humanity that use genre to tell unique stories of individuals at a crossroads in life. If you’ve paid attention over the years, you know how much I love them. Having said that, getting my own list down to 25 even without those films was a challenge, but I stand by every choice I made, and you’ll see how many of them made the final list.
Brian Skutle’s 25 for 25
1. “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” (2004; Directed by Michel Gondry)
2. “Cloud Atlas” (2012; Directed by Lana and Lily Wachowski and Tom Tykwer)
3. “The Lord of the Rings” (2001-2003; Directed by Peter Jackson)
4. “Spirited Away” (2001; Directed by Hayao Miyazaki)
5. “Mulholland Drive” (2001; Directed by David Lynch)
6. “There Will Be Blood” (2007; Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson)
7. “If Beale Street Could Talk” (2018; Directed by Barry Jenkins)
8. “Wall-E” (2008; Directed by Andrew Stanton)
9. “Arrival” (2016; Directed by Denis Villeneuve)
10. “Zodiac” (2007; Directed by David Fincher)
11. “A.I. Artificial Intelligence” (2001; Directed by Steven Spielberg)
12. “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon” (2000; Directed by Ang Lee)
13. “Parasite” (2019; Directed by Bong Joon Ho)
14. “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (2022; Directed by The Daniels)
15. “Pan’s Labyrinth” (2006; Directed by Guillermo Del Toro)
16. “A Hidden Life” (2019; Directed by Terrence Malick)
17. “Silence” (2016; Directed by Martin Scorsese)
18. “Perfect Days” (2023; Directed by Wim Wenders)
19. “The Fountain” (2006; Directed by Darren Aronofsky)
20. “Sound of Metal” (2019; Directed by Darius Marder)
21. “Oppenheimer” (2023; Directed by Christopher Nolan)
22. “Nickel Boys” (2024; Directed by RaMell Ross)
23. “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” (2017; Directed by Rian Johnson)
24. “Red Cliff” (2009; Directed by John Woo)
25. “Adaptation.” (2002; Directed by Spike Jonze)
Looking over my personal list, you can see that there are a lot of filmmakers on the AFCC list that I did not include on mine. In putting together my list, it was a delicate balance of movies I personally love with movies that are among the very best I have ever seen. I have more representation since 2020 than the list as a whole, and that is where the personal balance comes into play. There were a few of the films on my list that made the first round to the final 50 that were pleasantly surprising, as well as ones that did not that kind of surprised me. If you look at the films in my Top 15, especially, you’ll see some of the strongest overlap.
What do you think of our respective lists?
Thanks for listening,
Brian Skutle
www.sonic-cinema.com
