MUST SEE FILMS OF THE 21ST CENTURY

I decided to write this article to prove that I don't look at the date of a film to determine whether it is good or not. Beginning around the year 2000, CGI became the dominant driving force behind cinema and that is what has caused it's downward spiral. Movies no longer focused on acting, writing, directing, locations, set design or practical special effects, it was all about showing off the power of the computer. We have seen real movie houses and their nitrate stocks disappear and be replaced by computer programmed films. We would then see real movies that no longer looked like films from our past, but instead looked like a game for the latest Playstation device. Granted not every film was awash in CGI, but even ones you expect to never have CGI like a gory horror movie or a drama managed to sneak in just a few computer generated things. Now the first couple of years in the 2000's looked promising with some independent filmmakers turning out a masterpiece here and there. In my opinion what put the final nail in the coffin of cinema was Avatar. One of the most overrated films in history, people showed up in droves to see this computerized sci-fi drama. It made over a billion dollars and didn't have to use any real special effects. When other people in the industry saw this, 95% of them decided to follow suit. I always thought this was odd as granted Avatar made back 4 times it's budget which is great, but there were independent science fiction films made in the past that made back 100s of times their budget and didn't have to spend $300 million to do it. After Avatar, cinema became strictly corporate and even the indies starting selling their souls to the highest bidder.
   Obviously cinema of the 21st century had some good moments as well, otherwise I wouldn't be writing this. Christopher Nolan and Danny Boyle made some decent films. Nazi zombies made a comeback. Asian countries like Japan, Thailand and Pakistan were putting out some truly terrifying horror. There were a couple of good found footage films and Bill Murray became the most versatile actor we'd ever seen. However, other bad things were happening. Hollywood had become devoid of ideas and had to rely on an endless stream of remakes, updates and sequels. Truely talented stars were replaced by flavors of the month whom nobody had ever heard of. Actors who once headlined films could be found in your straight to DVD movies which by the way, are typically way better than the stuff you see in theaters. Within the last 2 decades I could probably name 30 movies that are really great and most if not all of them would be within the first 5 or 6 years of the new century. After 2010 forget it! Sure there was Black Swan and maybe 1 or 2 others, but I wouldn't call any of these movies a "must see". I used to allow my friends to drag me to see new movies in exchange for them watching an old film with me. Every time without exception we all enjoyed the older film over the one we had just watched in the theater. After 2014 I stopped letting them do this because I hadn't seen a decent film at the local cinema in years, yet my friends still want to watch classic Universal horror or wacky 80s comedies with me. I could honestly write a book on why 95% of the movies that came out after 1999 suck, but I don't think people enjoy reading negative books. Therefore I give you a positive spin on the last two decades of film but I assure you folks, the worst is yet to come...

Honorable Mentions That Almost Made The List:
High Fidelity (2000)
Ju-On The Grudge (2002)
Dead Snow (2009)
Auto Focus (2002)
The Departed (2006)


5. Looking For Comedy In The Muslim World (2005)

I have no idea why this film was dismissed by fans and critics. Perhaps people were expecting a rollicking comedy and were upset when they got this thinking man's comedy. Trust me, there are plenty of moments that will make you laugh out loud...I mean it's Albert Brooks for Christ's sake! Also look for Sheetal Sheth turning in a brilliant performance as Brooks' assistant. This film has such an original concept and it works almost as an olive branch between Christians, Jews, Hindis and Muslims.

4. The Wicksboro Incident (2003)

I discovered this independent gem 10 years after it was first released. Because of the unknown actors, the confusing filming and the documentary style, this creepy story feels very real and makes you believe that your government certainly could do what's portrayed in this movie if they haven't already. Not a ton of real terrifying scenes, but the lulls just allow the tension to build up and the normality of the main players makes you root for them to show what the "evil government" is hiding.

3. Lord Of War (2005)

Without a doubt the best performance Nicholas Cage has given since Leaving Las Vegas. Jared Leto and Ethan Hawke are also in many scenes and big surprise they turn out great performances as well. This is the history of Yuri Orlov, gun runner who does deals all over the world. We realize to an extent that he is one of the many "bad guys" in this film yet the script and the great acting makes you hope he never gets caught. If Cage would have always acted at this level his version of The Wicker Man would have been a masterpiece instead of an embarrassment.

2. [REC] (2007)

I remember sitting there watching the first 15 minutes of this and thinking "what is all the hype about"? Then they got to the apartment complex and holy crap! The violence, the blood, the terror never lets up after that. Granted the storyline itself is a mess of zombie, infection and demonic possession movies, but it is so real and so scary that there really aren't any other horror films in the last 30 years that can compete with it. There would be many sequels that helped tell the confusing story, but all you need to see is the original. [REC] actually happens to be the second found footage film on this list in part because this genre of film looked more like the grindhouse films that us true horror fans loved instead of the polished turds Hollywood was making at the time.

1. Chopper (2000)

In my opinion the greatest film of the 21st century! The Brits were still trying to do amazing cinema and their Aussie counterparts were no different. I saw this film not knowing that this "Chopper" character was a real guy. I had no idea who Eric Bana was I just knew the lead actor was one of the most convincing and emotional actors I had seen in a long time. You'll be disturbed yet cheering for Chopper as he drinks, screws, snorts, beats and shoots his way through south east Australia. Don't feel bad because this happened in real life as well. Chopper was loved by prison guards, the media and many of Melbourne's citizens who found his mannerisms simply charming.