100 of the Best Films of the last 20 years
in alphabetical order
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100 titles
- DirectorFrançois OzonStarsValeria Bruni TedeschiStéphane FreissFrançoise FabianFive stages in the romance between a woman and a man.
- DirectorClaire DenisStarsAlex DescasMati DiopNicole DoguéThe relationship between a father and daughter is complicated by the arrival of a handsome young man.
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiZiyi ZhangFaye WongSeveral women enter a science fiction author's life over the course of a few years, after the author has lost the woman he considers his one true love.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsHaley Joel OsmentJude LawFrances O'ConnorA highly advanced robotic boy longs to become "real" so that he can regain the love of his human mother.
- DirectorJane CampionStarsKerry FoxAlexia KeoghKaren FergussonJanet Frame was a brilliant child who, as a teen, was misdiagnosed with schizophrenia. Explore Janet's discovery of the world and her life in Europe as her books are published to acclaim.
- DirectorSamira MakhmalbafStarsMassoumeh NaderiZahra NaderiGhorban Ali NaderiAfter twelve years of imprisonment by their own parents, two sisters are finally released by social workers to face the outside world for the first time.
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsBrigitte LinMaggie CheungLeslie CheungA broken-hearted hit man moves to the desert where he finds skilled swordsmen to carry out his contract killings.
- DirectorSarah PolleyStarsJulie ChristieMichael MurphyGordon PinsentA man coping with the institutionalization of his wife because of Alzheimer's disease faces an epiphany when she transfers her affections to another man, Aubrey, a wheelchair-bound mute who also is a patient at the nursing home.
- DirectorCarlos ReygadasStarsMarcos HernándezAnapola MushkadizBertha RuizMarcos lusts after his boss's promiscuous daughter, but after botching an extortion scheme, he becomes wracked with guilt.
- DirectorJacques RivetteStarsMichel PiccoliJane BirkinEmmanuelle BéartThe former famous painter Frenhofer revisits an abandoned project using the girlfriend of a young visiting artist. Questions about truth, life, and artistic limits are explored.
- DirectorClaire DenisStarsDenis LavantMichel SuborGrégoire ColinAn ex-Foreign Legion officer recalls his once-glorious life of leading troops in Djibouti.
- DirectorRichard LinklaterStarsEthan HawkeJulie DelpyVernon DobtcheffNine years after Jesse and Celine first met, they encounter each other again on the French leg of Jesse's book tour.
- DirectorSpike JonzeStarsJohn CusackCameron DiazCatherine KeenerA puppeteer discovers a portal that leads literally into the head of movie star John Malkovich.
- DirectorNeil JordanStarsCillian MurphyMorgan JonesEva BirthistleIn the 1970s, a young trans woman, Patrick "Kitten" Braden, comes of age by leaving her Irish town for London, in part to look for her mother and in part because her gender identity is beyond the town's understanding.
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsEmily WatsonStellan SkarsgårdKatrin CartlidgeOilman Jan is paralyzed in an accident. His wife, who prayed for his return, feels guilty; even more, when Jan urges her to have sex with another.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsClint EastwoodMeryl StreepAnnie CorleyPhotographer Robert Kincaid wanders into the life of housewife Francesca Johnson for four days in the 1960s.
- DirectorEdward YangStarsChang ChenLisa YangKuo-Chu ChangBased on a true story, primarily on a conflict between two youth gangs, a 14-year-old boy's girlfriend conflicts with the head of one gang for an unclear reason, until finally the conflict comes to a violent climax.
- DirectorJane CampionStarsAbbie CornishBen WhishawPaul SchneiderThe three-year romance between 19th-century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne near the end of his life.
- DirectorJulián HernándezStarsMiguel Ángel HoppeFernando ArroyoAlejandro RojoTwo students, Gerardo and Jonas, are in love. However, Jonas becomes obsessed with another boy, which leads to Gerardo moving into arms of Sergio.
- DirectorNanni MorettiStarsNanni MorettiRenato CarpentieriAntonio NeiwillerDirector Nanni Moretti takes a mordant look at Italian life through three disparate journeys, presented as the chapters of an open diary.
- StarsEdgar RamírezAlexander ScheerFadi Abi SamraThe story of Venezuelan revolutionary Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, who founded a worldwide terrorist organization and raided the 1975 OPEC meeting.
- DirectorJean-Pierre DardenneLuc DardenneStarsJérémie RenierDéborah FrançoisJérémie SegardBruno and Sonia, a young couple living off her benefit and the thefts committed by his gang, have a new source of money: their newborn son.
- DirectorManoel de OliveiraStarsCatherine DeneuveJohn MalkovichLuís Miguel CintraThe journey of Michael Padovic, an American professor who arrives with his wife, Helene, at a Portuguese convent where he expects to find the documents needed to prove his theory: Shakespeare was born in Spain; not in England.
- DirectorArnaud DesplechinStarsCatherine DeneuveJean-Paul RoussillonMathieu AmalricThe troubled Vuillard family is no stranger to illness, grief, and banishment, but when their matriarch requires a bone-marrow transplant, the estranged clan reunites just in time for Christmas.
- DirectorJafar PanahiStarsHossain EmadeddinKamyar SheisiAzita RayejiAn Iranian pizza delivery man sees the worst of corruption and social unbalance in his city and is driven to crime.
- DirectorWes AndersonStarsOwen WilsonAdrien BrodyJason SchwartzmanA year after their father's funeral, three brothers travel across India by train in an attempt to bond with each other.
- DirectorArturo RipsteinStarsRegina OrozcoDaniel Giménez CachoSherlynThe life of a man who preys on unsuspecting women for a living is changed when he finds an accomplice in the woman who loves and controls him.
- DirectorOlivier AssayasStarsEmmanuelle BéartCharles BerlingIsabelle HuppertIn late nineteenth century Charante, Protestant minister Jean Barnery causes local disquiet when he arranges a separation from his obsessive wife - and more talk when he decides to take her back. By this time he has been drawn to Pauline, niece of a Cognac distiller, and this precipitates him divorcing his wife, settling on her and his daughter the shares he owns in his family's porcelain factory. He resigns the ministry, marries Pauline, and moves to Switzerland and a tranquil life. On the death of his father he agrees to return home to save the factory, knowing the problems it will bring will change his life completely. So it proves, with service in the Great War having a further profound impact on him and those around him.
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsNicole KidmanPaul BettanyLauren BacallA woman on the run from the mob is reluctantly accepted in a small Colorado community in exchange for labor, but when a search visits the town she finds out that their support has a price.
- DirectorKrzysztof KieslowskiStarsIrène JacobWladyslaw KowalskiHalina GryglaszewskaTwo parallel stories about two identical women; one living in Poland, the other in France. They don't know each other, but their lives are nevertheless profoundly connected.
- DirectorDerek JarmanStarsSteven WaddingtonKevin CollinsAndrew TiernanIn this Derek Jarman version of Christopher Marlowe's Elizabethan drama, in modern costumes and settings, Plantagenet king Edward II hands the power-craving nobility the perfect excuse by taking as lover besides his diplomatic wife, the French princess Isabel, not an acceptable lady at court but the ambitious Piers Gaveston, who uses his favor in bed even to wield political influence - the stage is set for a palace revolt which sends the gay pair from the throne to a terminal torture dungeon.
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsJohnny DeppMartin LandauSarah Jessica ParkerAmbitious but troubled movie director Edward D. Wood Jr. tries his best to fulfill his dreams despite his lack of talent.
- DirectorMichel GondryStarsJim CarreyKate WinsletTom WilkinsonWhen their relationship turns sour, a couple undergoes a medical procedure to have each other erased from their memories forever.
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsLeon LaiMichelle ReisTakeshi KaneshiroThis Hong Kong-set crime drama follows the lives of a hitman, hoping to get out of the business, and his elusive female partner.
- DirectorTodd HaynesStarsJulianne MooreDennis QuaidDennis HaysbertIn 1950s Connecticut, a flustered housewife faces a marital crisis and mounting racial tensions in the outside world.
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsRebecca RomijnAntonio BanderasPeter CoyoteA woman tries to straighten out her life, even as her past as a con-woman comes back to haunt her.
- DirectorHsiao-Hsien HouStarsJuliette BinocheHippolyte GirardotSimon IteanuA little boy and his baby-sitter inhabit the same imaginary world: through their adventures they are followed by a strange red balloon.
- DirectorHsiao-Hsien HouStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiMichiko HadaMichelle ReisIn the "flower houses" (upscale brothels) of Shanghai, various interweaving stories of love, loyalty, and deceit play out subtly.
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardStarsMadeleine AssasGhalya LacroixBérangère AllauxJean-Luc Godard's densely packed rumination on the need to create order and beauty in a world ruled by chaos is divided into four distinct but tangentially related stories, including the attempts by a young group of idealists to stage a play in war-torn Sarajevo and an elderly director's efforts to complete his film.
- DirectorIra SachsStarsDina KorzunRip TornAndrew Lawrence HendersonA Russian woman living in Memphis with a much older rock-'n'-roll legend experiences a personal awakening when her husband's estranged son comes to visit.
- DirectorClaire DenisStarsValérie LemercierVincent LindonHélène de Saint-PèreIt's Friday night--she's moving in with her boyfriend tomorrow--so she goes out, but gets stuck in traffic--where she meets a handsome stranger.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsEwan McGregorPierce BrosnanOlivia WilliamsA ghost writer, hired to complete the memoirs of a former British Prime Minister, uncovers secrets that put his own life in jeopardy.
- DirectorTsai Ming-liangStarsKang-sheng LeeShiang-chyi ChenKiyonobu MitamuraOn a dark, wet night a historic and regal Chinese cinema sees its final film. Together with a small handful of souls they bid "Goodbye, Dragon Inn".
- DirectorHsiao-Hsien HouStarsJieh-Wen KingKuei-Ying HsuAnnie Shizuka InohA glimpse at the lives of two petty criminals in Taipei.
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsLeslie CheungTony Leung Chiu-waiChang ChenA couple take a trip to Argentina but both men find their lives drifting apart in opposite directions.
- DirectorLucrecia MartelStarsMaría OnettoClaudia CanteroCésar BordónAfter hitting something with her car, a bourgeois Argentine woman's life slowly descends into paranoia and isolation, as she fears she may have killed someone.
- DirectorTerence DaviesStarsGillian AndersonDan AykroydEleanor BronA woman risks losing her chance of happiness with the only man she has ever loved.
- DirectorLuca GuadagninoStarsTilda SwintonFlavio ParentiEdoardo GabbrielliniEmma left Russia to live with her husband in Italy. Now a member of a powerful industrial family, she is the respected mother of three, but feels unfulfilled. One day, Antonio, a talented chef and her son's friend, makes her senses kindle.
- DirectorTodd HaynesStarsChristian BaleCate BlanchettHeath LedgerRuminations on the life of Bob Dylan, where six characters embody a different aspect of the musician's life and work.
- DirectorHsiao-Hsien HouStarsTien-Lu LiGiong LimKuei-Chung ChengPuppeteer Li Tian-lu tells his life story, and through it, the story of Taiwan in the first half of the 20th century.
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiMaggie CheungSiu Ping-LamTwo neighbors form a strong bond after both suspect extramarital activities of their spouses. However, they agree to keep their bond platonic so as not to commit similar wrongs.
- DirectorClaire DenisStarsMichel SuborGrégoire ColinYekaterina GolubevaAn emotionally cold man leaves the safety of his Alpine home to seek a heart transplant and an estranged son.
- DirectorJacques RivetteStarsSandrine BonnaireAndré MarconJean-Louis RichardFilm about the later life of Joan Of Arc including her trial and execution.
- DirectorOlivier AssayasStarsMathieu AmalricVirginie LedoyenFrançois CluzetA story about the transition from late youth to early maturity, the film follows several friends and lovers as they come to make decisions on how to live their lives--getting a job more in harmony with ones ideals, committing to a lover, giving up a lover that no longer loves you: a film about grown-ups growing up.
- DirectorSofia CoppolaStarsBill MurrayScarlett JohanssonGiovanni RibisiA faded movie star and a neglected young woman form an unlikely bond after crossing paths in Tokyo.
- DirectorNoah BaumbachStarsNicole KidmanJennifer Jason LeighFlora CrossMargot and her son Claude decide to visit her sister Pauline after she announces that she is marrying less-than-impressive Malcolm.
- DirectorAki KaurismäkiStarsKati OutinenElina SaloEsko NikkariA woman's terribly dull life is upended by a one-night stand pregnancy, causing her to seek retribution.
- DirectorHsiao-Hsien HouStarsShu QiJack KaoChun-hao TuanThe ethereally beautiful Vicky recalls her romances with Hao Hao and Jack in the neon-lit clubs of Taipei.
- DirectorAleksandr SokurovStarsAleksei AnanishnovGudrun GeyerA man goes for a walk through the countryside with his dying mother.
- DirectorAlan RudolphStarsJennifer Jason LeighCampbell ScottMatthew BroderickDorothy Parker remembers the heyday of the Algonquin Round Table, a circle of friends whose barbed wit, like hers, was fueled by alcohol and flirted with despair.
- DirectorGus Van SantStarsRiver PhoenixKeanu ReevesJames RussoTwo best friends living on the streets of Portland as hustlers embark on a journey of self discovery and find their relationship stumbling along the way.
- DirectorGuy MaddinStarsDarcy FehrAnn SavageLouis NeginFact, fantasy and memory are woven seamlessly together in this portrait of film-maker Guy Maddin's home town of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
- DirectorMike LeighStarsDavid ThewlisLesley SharpKatrin CartlidgeAn unemployed Mancunian vents his rage on unsuspecting strangers as he embarks on a nocturnal London odyssey.
- DirectorClaire DenisStarsGrégoire ColinAlice HouriJacques NolotA brother and sister reunite after time apart. But the sister is pregnant, which could either bring the siblings together or tear them apart.
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsColin FarrellQ'orianka KilcherChristopher PlummerThe story of the English exploration of Virginia, and of the changing world and loves of Pocahontas.
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsGuilaine LondezThomas LangmannFrançois NégretJack and Julie live in a bare flat in Paris. At night, Jack drives a taxi while Julie wanders around the city, and in the day they make love. One day Julie meets Joseph, the daytime driver of the taxi, and soon Julie is spending her nights with Joseph and her days with Jack.
- DirectorKelly ReichardtStarsDaniel LondonWill OldhamTanya SmithTwo old pals reunite for a camping trip in Oregon's Cascade Mountains.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsKevin CostnerClint EastwoodLaura DernA kidnapped boy strikes up a friendship with his captor, an escaped convict on the run from the law, while the search for him continues.
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsIsabelle HuppertAnnie GirardotBenoît MagimelA young man romantically pursues his masochistic piano teacher.
- DirectorZhangke JiaStarsHongwei WangTao ZhaoLiang JingdongA theatre troupe from rural Fenyang struggles under the decline of communism and rise of popular culture in China in the 1980s.
- DirectorJane CampionStarsNicole KidmanJohn MalkovichBarbara HersheyAn American girl inherits a fortune and falls into a misguided relationship with a gentleman confidence artist whose true nature, including a barbed and covetous disposition, turns her life into a nightmare.
- DirectorJean-Pierre DardenneLuc DardenneStarsJérémie RenierOlivier GourmetAssita OuedraogoRoger uses his son Igor to ruthlessly traffic and exploit undocumented immigrants. When one of the immigrants is killed, Igor is guilt-ridden and wants to care for the dead man's family against his father's orders.
- DirectorTerence DaviesStarsLeigh McCormackMarjorie YatesAnthony WatsonA lyrical reverie about a young Liverpool boy coming of age in the 1950s among his loving family and the austere Catholic Church as he enters the rigors of school, nurtures a bedazzled love of the movies and longs for companionship.
- DirectorPaul Thomas AndersonStarsAdam SandlerEmily WatsonPhilip Seymour HoffmanSocially frustrated Barry Egan calls a phone-sex line to curb his loneliness. Little does he know it will land him in deep trouble and will jeopardize his burgeoning romance with the mysterious Lena.
- DirectorPhilippe GarrelStarsLouis GarrelClotilde HesmeJulien Lucas1968 and 1969 in Paris during and after the student and trade-union revolt. 20-year-old François is a poet dodging military service. He takes to the barricades, but won't throw a Molotov cocktail at the police. He smokes opium and talks about revolution with his friend Antoine, who has an inheritance and a flat where François can stay. François meets Lilie, a sculptor who works at a foundry to support herself, and they fall in love. A year passes; François continues to write, talk, smoke, and be with Lilie. Opportunities come to Lilie: what will she and François do?
- DirectorJean-Pierre DardenneLuc DardenneStarsÉmilie DequenneFabrizio RongioneAnne YernauxYoung and impulsive Rosetta lives with her alcoholic mother and, moved by despair, she will do anything to maintain a job.
- DirectorAleksandr SokurovStarsSergey DreydenMariya KuznetsovaLeonid MozgovoyA 19th century French aristocrat, notorious for his scathing memoirs about life in Russia, travels through the Russian State Hermitage Museum and encounters historical figures from the last 200+ years.
- DirectorTodd HaynesStarsJulianne MooreXander BerkeleyDean NorrisAn affluent and unexceptional homemaker in the suburbs develops multiple chemical sensitivity.
- DirectorBéla TarrStarsMihály VigPutyi HorváthLászló feLugossyOn the eve of a large payment, residents of a collapsing collective farm see their plans turn into desolation when they discover that Irimiás, a former co-worker who they thought was dead, is returning to the community.
- DirectorEthan CoenJoel CoenStarsMichael StuhlbargRichard KindSari LennickLarry Gopnik, a Midwestern physics teacher, watches his life unravel over multiple sudden incidents. Though seeking meaning and answers amidst his turmoils, he seems to keep sinking.
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsAndie MacDowellJulianne MooreTim RobbinsThe day-to-day lives of several suburban Los Angeles residents.
- DirectorCarlos ReygadasStarsCornelio WallMiriam ToewsMaria PankratzIn a Mennonite community in Mexico, a father's faith is tested when he falls in love with a new woman.
- DirectorOlivier AssayasStarsJuliette BinocheCharles BerlingJérémie RenierTwo brothers and a sister witness the disappearance of their childhood memories when they must relinquish the family belongings to ensure their deceased mother's succession.
- DirectorAbbas KiarostamiStarsHomayoun ErshadiAbdolhosein BagheriAfshin Khorshid BakhtiariAn Iranian man drives his car in search of someone who will quietly bury him under a cherry tree after he commits suicide.
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsJim CaviezelSean PennNick NolteAdaptation of James Jones' autobiographical 1962 novel, focusing on the conflict at Guadalcanal during the second World War.
- DirectorAbbas KiarostamiStarsMohamad Ali KeshavarzFarhad KheradmandZarifeh ShivaA depiction of the off-screen relationship between the actors who play the newlyweds in the film And Life Goes On (1992).
- DirectorRaúl RuizStarsCatherine DeneuveEmmanuelle BéartVincent PerezA lush, elegant epic taking us on a time-swirling trip down the infinitely complex labyrinth that is Marcel Proust's memory lane.
- DirectorMike LeighStarsJim BroadbentAllan CordunerDexter FletcherSet in the 1880s, the story of how, during a creative dry spell, the partnership of the legendary musical/theatrical writers Gilbert and Sullivan almost dissolves, before they turn it all around and write the Mikado.
- DirectorSylvain ChometStarsMichèle CaucheteuxJean-Claude DondaMichel RobinWhen her grandson is kidnapped during the Tour de France, Madame Souza and her beloved pooch Bruno team up with the Belleville Sisters--an aged song-and-dance team from the days of Fred Astaire--to rescue him.
- DirectorMaurice PialatStarsJacques DutroncAlexandra LondonBernard Le CoqThe final sixty-seven days of Van Gogh's life are examined.
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsWallace ShawnPhoebe BrandGeorge GaynesNew York actors rehearse Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya" in a dilapidated theatre.
- DirectorKelly ReichardtStarsMichelle WilliamsLucyDavid KoppellOver the summer, a series of unfortunate happenings triggers a financial crisis for a young woman and she soon finds her life falling apart.
- DirectorBéla TarrÁgnes HranitzkyStarsLars RudolphPeter FitzHanna SchygullaA naive young man witnesses an escalation of violence in his small hometown following the arrival of a mysterious circus attraction.
- DirectorTsai Ming-liangStarsKang-sheng LeeShiang-chyi ChenYi-ching LuA watch salesman meets a young woman soon leaving for Paris and becomes infatuated, so he begins to change all the clocks in Taipei to Paris time.
- DirectorClaire DenisStarsIsabelle HuppertChristopher LambertIsaach De BankoléAmidst turmoil and racial conflict in a Francophone African state, a white French woman fights for her coffee crop, her family and ultimately for her life.
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsAndré DussollierSabine AzémaAnne ConsignyA quirky woman who spends her free time as a pilot has her purse stolen; when a mysterious man finds her wallet, they embark on a peculiar romance.
- DirectorAndré TéchinéStarsÉlodie BouchezGaël MorelStéphane RideauThe fates of two partners are divided.
- DirectorAbbas KiarostamiStarsBehzad DoraniNoghre AsadiRoushan Karam ElmiIrreverent city engineer Behzad comes to a rural village in Iran to keep vigil for a dying relative. In the meanwhile the film follows his efforts to fit in with the local community and how he changes his own attitudes as a result.
- DirectorStanley KwanStarsMaggie CheungHan ChinTony Ka Fai LeungBiopic of 1930s Chinese actress Lingyu Ruan.
- DirectorEdward YangStarsNien-Jen WuElaine JinIssei OgataEach member of a middle-class Taipei family seeks to reconcile past and present relationships within their daily lives.