Η δημοσκόπηση του BBC Culture ζήτησε από 177 διακεκριμένους κριτικούς κινηματογράφου από 36 χώρες να κατονομάσουν τις καλύτερες ταινίες του 21ου αιώνα.
Στην κορυφή βρέθηκε το "Mulholland Drive", το σουρεαλιστικό αριστούργημα του David Lynch, το οποίο ακόμα και για τους πιο ένθερμους οπαδούς του δεν παύει να είναι μια εξωφρενικά περίπλοκη ταινία που η αποκωδικοποίησή της είναι παζλ.
Ωστόσο οι πιο δημοφιλείς σκηνοθέτες στη λίστα, όλοι με τρεις ταινίες, ήταν οι Wes Anderson, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Christopher Nolan, Michael Haneke, Paul Thomas Anderson και Joel και Ethan Coen.
Ενδιαφέρον έχει επίσης το γεγονός πως δημοφιλέστερη χρονιά στη λίστα αναδείχθηκε το 2012, με 10 ταινίες στο top 100.
Η λίστα των 100 κινηματογραφικών αριστουργημάτων του 21ου αιώνα:
Top 100
1 Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)
2 In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai, 2000)
3 There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
4 Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001)
5 Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014)
6 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
7 The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011)
8 Yi Yi: A One and a Two (Edward Yang, 2000)
9 A Separation (Asghar Farhadi, 2011)
10 Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2013)
10 No Country For Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007)
12 Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón, 2006)
12 Zodiac (David Fincher, 2007)
14 The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer, 2012)
15 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days (Cristian Mungiu, 2007)
16 Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
17 Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo Del Toro, 2006)
18 The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke, 2009)
19 Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller, 2015)
20 Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman, 2008)
21 The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014)
22 Caché (Michael Haneke, 2005)
22 Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003)
24 The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
25 Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2001)
26 25th Hour (Spike Lee, 2002)
27 The Social Network (David Fincher, 2010)
28 Talk to Her (Pedro Almodóvar, 2002)
29. WALL-E (Andrew Stanton, 2008)
30. Oldboy (Park Chan-wook, 2003)
31 Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011)
32 The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006)
33 Son of Saul (László Nemes, 2015)
33 The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)
35 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000)
36 Timbuktu (Abderrahmane Sissako, 2014)
37 Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2010)
38 City of God (Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, 2002)
39 The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005)
39 Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005)
41 Inside Out (Pete Docter and Ronnie Del Carmen, 2015)
42 12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen, 2013)
42 Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
42 Melancholia (Lars von Trier, 2011)
45 Blue Is the Warmest Color (Abdellatif Kechiche, 2013)
45 Certified Copy (Abbas Kiarostami, 2010)
45 Leviathan (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2014)
48 Brooklyn (John Crowley, 2015)
49 Goodbye to Language (Jean-Luc Godard, 2014)
49. Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010)
49 The Assassin (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 2015)
52 Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2004)
53 Ida (Pawel Pawlikowski, 2013)
53 Moulin Rouge! (Baz Luhrmann, 2001)
53 Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011)
56 Werckmeister Harmonies (Bela Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky, 2000)
56 Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow, 2012)
58 A History of Violence (David Cronenberg, 2005)
58 Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino and Eli Roth, 2009)
58 Moolaadé (Ousmane Sembene, 2004)
58 Syndromes and a Century (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2006)
58 Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013)
63 Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold, 2009)
63 The Great Beauty (Paolo Sorrentino, 2013)
63 The Turin Horse (Bela Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky, 2011)
66 Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring (Kim Ki-duk, 2003)
66 The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2008)
68 Carol (Todd Haynes, 2015)
68 The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001)
70 Stories We Tell (Sarah Polley, 2012)
70 Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
72 Before Sunset (Richard Linklater, 2004)
72 Only Lovers Left Alive (Jim Jarmusch, 2013)
74 Spring Breakers (Harmony Korine, 2012)
75 Dogville (Lars von Trier, 2003)
75 Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2014)
75 The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Julian Schnabel, 2007)
78 Almost Famous (Cameron Crowe, 2000)
78 The Return (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2003)
78 The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese, 2013)
81 A Prophet (Jacques Audiard, 2009)
81 A Serious Man (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2009)
81 A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg, 2001)
81 Her (Spike Jonze, 2013)
81 Shame (Steve McQueen, 2011)
86 Amélie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001)
86 Far From Heaven (Todd Haynes, 2002)
88 Spotlight (Tom McCarthy, 2015)
89 The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel, 2008)
90 Finding Nemo (Andrew Stanton, 2003)
90 Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008)
90 Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
90 Ratatouille (Brad Bird and Jan Pinkava, 2007)
90 The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik, 2007)
90 The Pianist (Roman Polanski, 2002)
90 The Secret in Their Eyes (Juan José Campanella, 2009)
97 Ten (Abbas Kiarostami, 2002)
97 The Gleaners and I (Agnès Varda, 2000)
97 White Material (Claire Denis, 2009)
100 Carlos (Olivier Assayas, 2010)
100 Requiem for a Dream (Darren Aronofsky, 2000)
100 Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade, 2016)
