Our Top 20 Films of the 21st Century | Reacting to Tarantino's List [Podcast]
What makes a great movie stick?
Is it ambition, craft, emotional impact, or the simple fact that it refuses to leave your head once the credits roll?
In this episode of the Kinolime Podcast, John and Danny dive headfirst into one of cinema’s most irresistible debates: the best films of the 21st century.
Sparked by Quentin Tarantino’s recently released Top 20 list, a list filled with bold choices, unexpected omissions, and more than a few hot takes, the conversation quickly turns personal.
From sweeping epics and intimate character studies to comedies, international cinema, and films that completely reshaped how they think about storytelling,
John and Danny build their own Top 20 from the ground up. Along the way, they argue, call audibles, defend controversial picks, and wrestle with what “greatness” really means in a modern film landscape.
This is Part One of a two-part series. In Part Two, the spotlight shifts to you, the audience, as we open the debate and explore the films you think belong on the list.
Full Transcript: Kinolime Podcast Episode 29: Our Top 20 Films of the 21st Century | Reacting to Tarantino's List
Participants
John Schramm - Head of Development, Kinolime
Danny Murray - Creative Executive, Kinolime
Danny: That movie made me cry. It made me feel things I didn’t know were inside my dark soul. I love it.
John: Can’t really argue against it. I dare you to try.
Danny: Don’t people make good movies?
John: Okay, I’m gonna do a set of three.
Tarantino’s Top 20 list (and the Paul Dano detour)
John: This is the tallest camera I’ve ever seen. We’re making the big bucks here at Kinolime, we got a third studio camera. That tripod is nine feet high.
Danny: It’s really high.
John: Everybody, welcome to the Kinolime Podcast. As always, John Schramm. To my right, your left, Danny Murray.
John: We’ve got a really fun episode. This has been the topic around the company, and all over the internet: Tarantino just came out with his list of the top 20 movies of the 21st century. There are some wild takes here.
Danny: More importantly… he took an absolute dump on Paul Dano’s acting skills.
John: I’m gonna upset Paul Dano fans, sorry, Paul. You were great in Prisoners, The Girl Next Door, and Eternal Sunshine.
Danny: He’s naming his entire filmography.
John: I’m just saying I’m not a big fan. But the way Tarantino says it is hysterical, only he can do that.
Danny: Yeah, he’s amazing… and you guys are both wrong.
John: Tarantino or Dano?
Danny: Both. Dano was great in The Studio, and Swiss Army Man, and There Will Be Blood. Come on.
John: Okay, Paul, you’re amazing. God bless.
The Kinolime Top 20
John: We’re going to make our own list. Ron,our editor, is going to put Tarantino’s list on screen, and I’ll read it quickly.
John: Danny and I are going to go back and forth and build our top 20 movies of the 21st century, a list we actually love.
Danny: And we want you guys to chime in.
John: Hit the forums, Instagram, email us. Send us the movies you disagree with, or what you think should be on here. We’ll give you a shoutout, username, full name, whatever you want.
Danny: We’re just two film idiots. We probably missed something.
John: This is part one of a two-parter. Part two is the audience list, what you all think.
First reactions to Tarantino’s picks
Danny: Are we not talking about this terrible list at all? Are we running through it?
John: Look, there are wild takes. I know he and Eli Roth have a thing, Cabin Fever being top 20 is nuts. But credit where it’s due: he’s not picking “the expected.” He’s picking what he enjoyed.
Danny: Jackass is funny, but top 20?
John: Anything stand out to you as “what is going on”?
Danny: He has that line: “American films used to tell stories, and now they talk about situations.” And then his #1 is Black Hawk Down, which is… kind of just a situation.
John: Before we get to the list… Danny brought a new fashion today.
Danny: I’ve got a little reaction on my chin.
John: I can’t see anything.
Danny: If I ever see anything on someone’s face, I just stare at it. It’s like a reverse parachute.
John: It’s a parachute on your chin.
Danny: It’s a throwback. It’s 2020. It’s the new thing. I want to see people in Brooklyn wearing it.
Building Our Top Films of the 21st Century
#20 - The Beast
Danny: This is a movie I think about almost every day. It’s incredible. The Beast - George MacKay and Léa Seydoux. George MacKay is unbelievable in it.
John: It’s a great film. Really strong ideas.
Danny: We’re going to see no shortage of cliché, boring AI movies about humans struggling to find identity in our new techno-hellscape. This is one of the few that’s actually going to stick. I think people will look back at this as one of the defining ones.
John: If you haven’t seen it yet, definitely watch The Beast.
#19 - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
John: I’m going early 2000s here. When the rain starts coming down, that battle is one of the most epic sequences ever put on film. The scale, the set pieces… The Two Towers is my favorite Lord of the Rings movie.
Danny: Something I really appreciate in hindsight is how rare it is that you get one of the most beloved books of all time…
John: …and then actually make films that expand the world and stay faithful.
Danny: It might be the only time that’s ever really happened at that level.
#18 - Hot Fuzz
Danny: There are two comedies that live in the same space in my head, movies I put on when I just want to feel better. And the one I’m picking is Hot Fuzz.
John: I’m so glad you said that.
Danny: It might be the best comedy of the century.
John: Tarantino has Shaun of the Dead on his list, but Hot Fuzz is Edgar Wright’s best film by far.
Danny: If I see a “best movies of the century” list with superhero films on it but no Superbad or Hot Fuzz, I stop reading immediately.
#17 - Boyhood
John: When I first saw this, it completely blew me away. The sheer ambition of filming over all those years, watching Ethan Hawke age, watching the kids grow up, it’s incredible.
Danny: It’s literally the title. It’s just about boyhood.
John: For the ambition alone, it has to be on the list.
#16 - Tangerine
Danny: This movie completely changed how I think about writing and storytelling. Sean Baker knew he wanted to make a buddy comedy, knew the world he wanted to explore in LA, and then built the story with non-actors and first-time performers.
John: You’re a baby-man.
Danny: It just breathes. It’s funny, it’s beautiful, and it really shaped how I think about movies.
John: I would trash this pick, but it’s a deeply personal Danny pick, so you get it.
#15 - RRR
John: I’m just going to say it. RRR. It has to be on the list.
Danny: That’s an honorable mention for me.
John: Culturally, I’ve never seen so many Americans, who don’t usually watch foreign films, show up like that. Packed theaters in New York.
Danny: The scope blew me away.
John: One of the greatest character introductions ever. The guy hopping fences, taking on an entire army, you immediately understand him.
Danny: It’s an incredible story about male friendship.
#14 - Before Sunset
Danny: I’m putting the Before trilogy on my list.
John: You can’t, the first one’s from the ’90s.
Danny: Fine. Before Sunset, then.
John: Having lived in Paris, it hits hard. Shakespeare and Company, the walk through the city, it’s deeply personal.
Danny: Have you done the walk?
John: I’ve done the walk.
Danny: …With a girl?
John: Nah.
#13 - The Raid / The Raid 2
John: For action, I’m going with The Raid, probably The Raid 2. It’s the best action filmmaking of the 21st century.
Danny: Those movies literally inspired me and a friend to start a film club in high school.
John: The prison fight scene alone…
Danny: Unreal.
#12 - Le Havre
Danny: This one’s lesser-known, but everyone should see it. It’s about a migrant child trying not to get deported, and the entire town quietly rallies around him.
John: You’re calling the Finns cold again.
Danny: Dry humor, but every character is warm in this subtle, restrained way. It’s beautiful and very funny.
John: You’ve sold me.
#11 - The Passion of the Christ
John: Say what you want about Mel Gibson, but The Passion of the Christ was unbelievable at the time. The mystique, the cultural impact, the sheer intensity.
Danny: That’s actually one I agree with Tarantino on.
#10 - Bacurau
Danny: I was worried I was missing something, looking at lists, City of God crossed my mind. But Bacurau just hits every gear.
John: It completely changes how you relate to it every ten minutes.
Danny: Unbelievable characters, insane world-building. It stays with you.
#9 - Parasite
John: This one’s easy. Parasite. Technical perfection.
Danny: Acting, score, direction, structure, everything.
John: And one of the last great theatrical experiences before COVID shut everything down.
#8 - First Reformed
John: This one hurts to place.
Danny: I love pairing it with Bergman, tortured preacher double features.
John: It’s challenging in the best way.
#7 - Spirited Away
John: That movie made me cry, laugh, feel things I didn’t know were inside me.
Danny: I watched it on a tiny DVD screen in the back of a minivan during LA traffic, still incredible.
#6 - Sorry To Bother You
Danny: This was the most mind-blowing theatrical experience of my youth. It tackled taboo subjects in ways I’d never seen.
John: That’s a bold pick for number six.
Danny: Prove me wrong.
#5 - The Wailing
John: I called multiple audibles, but I’m going with The Wailing. It destroyed me.
Danny: You were like Peyton Manning at the line.
John: I trust my gut.
#4 - One Battle After Another
Danny: Best PTA film. Best American epic of the century.
John: I hate how right you are.
#3 - There Will Be Blood
John: I almost didn’t want to include it, but I had to. Daniel Day-Lewis alone earns it.
Danny: It’s unavoidable.
#2 - Twin Peaks: The Return
Danny: Eighteen hours. One cohesive work. Episode eight alone is more ambitious than most films.
John: If you know Danny, you knew this was coming.
#1 - No Country for Old Men
John: Faithful adaptation. The greatest antagonist of the century. No score. Pure tension.
Danny: I still can’t believe you put it over The Return.
John: I did.
Danny: Handmaiden nearly made my top 10. Have you seen A Prophet?
John: Not yet.
Danny: You’ve gotta watch it.
John: In Bruges.
Danny: So good. I almost put Banshees too.
John: Spider-Verse, especially the first one, some of the best storytelling I’ve seen in years.
Danny: Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Best ending you’ll ever see.
John: A Separation. The Lives of Others. City of God blew me away when it came out.
Danny: The Holdovers is my Christmas movie now.
John: The Piano Teacher, Haneke. Bleak, though.
Danny: My last two: Superbad… and honestly, maybe recency bias, but Flow is my favorite animated.
John: And I’ll end with The Departed. Hard to say if it’s his best, but it’s fantastic.
Wrap-up - “good movies still come out”
John: That’s our list. Thanks for suffering through this with us.
Danny: I don’t have much buyer’s remorse. I feel confident.
John: For all the “why don’t people make good movies anymore” talk, most of our picks are from the back half of the 2000s onward. It’s a nice reminder that great movies still come out.
Danny: If we did 1975–2000, it’d be harder. But yeah, we’re still making great movies.
John: Hit us up on the forum, Instagram, wherever this lives. Like, subscribe, all the things. Tell us what we missed.
Danny: I know someone’s going to come at me for In the Mood for Love. I still haven’t seen it. I’m sorry.
John: Thanks for tuning in. Danny Murray. John Schramm. See ya.
