The 50 Most Underappreciated Movies of the 21st Century. I’ve only seen a few of these; I’ve added a bunch to my to-see list. Any particular faves? Or additions to the list?
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Love to see Fantastic Mr. Fox on this one. Haven't seen most of these. Time to get to work!
Ah! I downplayed this movie in another comment, but hadn't seen your comment. We watched it with our kids, and we all enjoyed it, but I think we just had a hard time getting onto it's wavelength.
In addition to one of my favorites on this list, this is now my 13-year-old's favorite movie ever. As there are a few others on this list I love that he would dismiss as "dad movies," (Master and Commander, and Tinker, Tailor are patient and sublime genre masterpieces), I find special pleasure in a film that works in multiple generations.
I watched Tinker Tailor a few months ago for the first time since it came out and loved it.
Ah and see I couldn't get into Tinker Tailor at all.
Wow, my movie watching has really dropped off - I've only seen two movies on that list. However, if you haven't seen it, Man from U.N.C.L.E is great. I saw it in the movie theater with my wife, and we were seemingly the only people who recognized that it was supposed to be funny, which made it even funnier.
Fantastic Mr Fox was... fine.
Master and Commander, one of my favorites!
This movie got me into the books, which remain one of the great reading pleasures of my adult life.
I’ve seen 9 of these, and even the ones I didn’t personally love were moving, memorable, or arresting in ways that get under the skin. A great list and I’m looking forward to seeking out the others
Same here! There are a few movies I didn't like but ended up thinking about a bunch, a few movies I really love, and a lot I haven't seen, which is probably exactly what you want out of a list of under-appreciated movies. A great list to pick from when you're in a certain kind of mood.
Control is a must see.
Oh, you know what movie could be on this list? Caché. I'm not sure it's underrated exactly, but more people should know about it.
Aw man, absolutely!
Only Lovers Left Alive is an incredible film. As is 25th Hour. Can’t wait to work my way through this list.
Tinker tailor soldier spy is very good: whether it is as good as the ~1980 BBC series I do not know. It would be hard.
Only lovers left alive: Jimmy Page turns out to be a vampire: who knew? Do not watch if you are liable to GAS for cult guitars or amps.
The BBC miniseries is better. The story needs a miniseries length, and as good as Gary Oldman is, the miniseries has Alec Guinness.
Two movies on this list I love, love, love: A Very Long Engagement & The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
I watched Orlando (1992) many times in the late 90s, and rewatched it again just last week. Wondered if I still found it as delightful now as I did then, and it was somehow even BETTER.
The overarching topic of gender and its fluidity is more current and significant than ever, the fourth wall breaks and occasional trope-y sections are just under the excessive line and still delightful, and the costumes and staging seem nearly impossible to replicate in this age of green screenary.
Tilda Swinton seemed designed specifically for this role, and Sally Potter is a genius. And Jimmy Somerville...don't get me started. What a BOP.
I am still waiting and hoping that a small part of the world will one day join me in my love of Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar.
Putting in a plug for Wolfwalkers! This Irish animation studio does marvelous things, bending storytelling and imagery and cultural legacylike Miayzaki, but something totally different. Song of the Sea is my favorite, and Secret of the Kells was their break out, but Wolfwalkers is also the kind of cartoon with grown up themes that’s absolutely worth the time
Absolutely adore this movie!! My kids too. We love the theme song by Aurora as well.
Yes, it’s a truly magical movie, thoroughly enjoyed it. 😍 If I recall correctly, the soundtrack was great as well.
Don't sleep on Bright Star. I'll watch Ben Whishaw in anything (including as young Keith Richards in a quite-bad Brian Jones biopic), but he's wonderful as Keats.
And I just saw 20th Century Women recently, thought it was really great.
I watched The Skeleton Key like 20 years ago at a sleepover and I still think about it sometimes! It so mind bending and terrifying all while in a beautiful location with Southern people. Scary!
Jason, thanks for posting this. I’ve only seen a handful of these, so good inspiration to expand my cinematic horizon. :)
Did anyone else notice the alphabetization of this list? The articles “a” and “the” are not being ignored. In other words, “A Very Long Engagement” appears just before “American Splendor,” and “Talk to Me” appears just before one of my all-time favorite movies, “The Beat that My Heart Skipped.” Fun fact: In the library world, we code those articles as “non-filing characters.”
Don't sleep on Peterloo. It's an outlier for Mike Leigh, who is better known for his improvised character studies (Hard Truths, Secrets & Lies) than for these ensemble historical pieces (Topsy-Turvy might be close-but-not-really). But I can independently confirm: I never heard of it before I watched it, not once, and it's a knockout. I've thought about it regularly since.
Monkeybone has got to be a troll entry though, right?
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