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The 21st Century's Most Acclaimed Films (250 titles)

The 250 most critically acclaimed movies made since 2000, calculated by TheyShootPictures.com using polls from thousands of critics.

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In the Mood for Love

- 1 - "Probably the most breathtakingly gorgeous film of the year, dizzy with a nose-against-the-glass romantic spirit that has been missing from the cinema forever." - Elvis Mitchell, New York Times

In the Mood for Love on DVD (2000)
Starring: Tony Leung, Ping Lam Siu, Chi-ang Chi
Director: Wong Kar-Wai
Certificate:
Watch now: Unavailable
Hong Kong, 1962. Mrs Chan (Maggie Cheung) and her husband rent a room in the same building as Chow Mo-Wan (Tony Leung) and his wife. After a while, and with their partners seemingly always away on business, Mr Chow and Mrs Chan become friends, their hesitant, considerate relationship making their ..read more »
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- 2 - "By surrendering any semblance of rationality to create a post-Freudian, pulp-fiction fever dream of a movie, Mr. Lynch ends up shooting the moon with Mulholland Drive." - Stephen Holden, New York Times

Mulholland Drive on DVD (2001)
Starring: Robert Forster, Justin Theroux, Dan Hedaya
Director: David Lynch
Certificate:
Watch now: Included in all packages with LOVEFiLM Instant
Along Mulholland Drive nothing is what it seems. In the unreal universe of Los Angeles, the city bares its schizophrenic nature, an uneasy blend of innocence and corruption, love and loneliness, beauty and depravity. A woman is left with amnesia following a car accident. An aspiring young actress ..read more »
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A One And A Two

- 3 - "One of the year's best: a rich, funny, enormously humane portrait of a middle-class Taipei family in the throes of romantic, economic and spiritual upheaval." - David Ansen, Newsweek

A One And A Two (2000)
Starring: Michael Tao, Adrian Lin, Elaine Jin
Director: Edward Yang
Certificate:
Edward Yang's award-winning film about events in the life of a middle-class Taipei family. On the day of his brother-in-law's wedding, software executive NJ Jian has a chance meeting with a former sweetheart and begins to wonder what might have been. Meanwhile, his daughter Ting-Ting makes friends ..read more »
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- 60
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Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

- 4 - "A complicated story that demands your full attention; Mr. Gondry unfolds it at a mind-bending pace. This alone makes it a hugely refreshing respite from ordinary multiplex fare." - David Sterritt, Christian Science Monitor

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind on DVD (2004)
Starring: Jim Carrey, Elijah Wood, Kate Winslet
Director: Michel Gondry
Certificate:
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Charlie Kaufman, writer of the cult film 'Being John Malkovich', returns with another mind-bendingly inventive and unconventional plotline, this time driving a tender romantic comedy. Jim Carrey stars as Joel, a shy oddball who is stunned to discover that his longterm girlfriend Clementine (Kate ..read more »
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- 70
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Spirited Away

- 5 - "Artful but not arty, Spirited Away is a handcrafted cartoon, as personal as an Utamaro painting, yet its breadth and heart give it an appeal that should touch American viewers of all ages." - Richard Corliss, Time

Spirited Away on DVD (2001)
Starring: Rumi Hiiragi, Koba Hayashi, Mari Natsuki
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Certificate:
Tale of the fanciful adventures of a ten-year-old girl named Chihiro, who discovers a secret world when she and her family get lost and venture through a hillside tunnel. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, Chihiro must fend for herself as she encounters strange spirits, assorted ..read more »
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There Will Be Blood

- 6 - "The film is above all a consummate work of art, one that transcends the historically fraught context of its making, and its pleasures are unapologetically aesthetic." - Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

There Will Be Blood on DVD (2007)
Starring: Russell Harvard, Ciarán Hinds, Kevin J. O'Connor
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Certificate:
Watch now: Included in all packages with LOVEFiLM Instant
A story about family, greed, religion, and oil, centered around a turn-of-the-century Texas prospector (Daniel Day-Lewis) in the early days of the business.
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Lost in Translation

- 7 - "Coppola handles her film with very pleasant economy, with a kind of warm precision. Her father, who was one of this picture's producers, can be as proud of her as we are grateful." - Stanley Kauffman, The New Republic

Lost in Translation on DVD (2003)
Starring: Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Giovanni Ribisi
Director: Sofia Coppola
Certificate:
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Winner of an Academy Award in 2003 for best original screenplay and three Golden Globe awards including best actor for Bill Murray, Sofia Coppola's poignant drama about Americans abroad stars Bill Murray as Bob Harris, a movie actor well past his prime who is in Tokyo to shoot a whiskey commercial. ..read more »
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Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

- 8 - "Ang Lee, a world-class director working at the top of his elegant form, has done something thrilling. For all the leaping action, it's the film's spirit that soars." - Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon on DVD (2000)
Starring: Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi
Director: Ang Lee
Certificate:
Watch now: Unavailable
Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) has been charged with bringing the Green Destiny, a legendary antique sword, to its new owner in the capital. But the sword is stolen by a mysterious black-clad thief whose martial arts expertise outshines even that of Shu Lien herself. Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun Fat) soon ..read more »
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- 70
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A History of Violence

- 9 - "This masterpiece, an art film deftly masquerading as a thriller, seems to celebrate small-town pastoralism and critique big-city violence, but this position turns out to be double-edged." - Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

A History of Violence (2005)
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, William Hurt
Director: David Cronenberg
Certificate:
A huge hit at the Cannes Film Festival, A History of Violence sees an average family thrusted into the spotlight after the father foils an attempted robbery on his diner...
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Talk To Her

- 10 - "One of Almodóvar's most challenging pictures, jumping around in time and sending a large gallery of characters through a wide variety of situations." - David Sterritt, Christian Science Monitor

Talk To Her on DVD (2002)
Starring: Geraldine Chaplin, Rosario Flores, Elena Anaya
Director: Pedro Almodovar
Certificate:
Following the success of his 1999 film, ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER, Spanish director Pedro Almodovar presents TALK TO HER. Driven by similar themes of fate, destiny, magic, and chance happenings, TALK TO HER is the tale of two men whose lives intertwine unpredictably. Benigno (Javier Camara) is a ..read more »
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- 70
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