What would you add to the modern day "Film Canon"(Last 15 Years) ?

[zorbonaut]

I just got done revisiting an article from Film Comment by Paul Schrader in 2006 regarding Film Canon.

It got me thinking: What films made in this century (2001-2016) should become part of the definitive historical "Film Canon".

When I am referring to "Film Canon", I mean a film that has some sort of major historical, social or artistic impact. One key point about potential "Film Canon" is that they should transcend personal taste and popularity. This doesn't mean that a popular film should not make the list, it just means that a film should not make the list solely because of it's cultural popularity.

Several on my own list I did not personally care for but I think they are deserving to be on the list regardless of my own personal feelings.

These first few films are ones that I would put in as definitive titles for the Canon:

Boyhood

The sheer significance of a project that would take 12 years to film. The fact that Boyhood still exhibits cohesion is an amazing testament to Richard Linklater.

WALL·E

This animated feature film is so topical and is unique from the sense that there is such little dialogue.

Jeffery Wells said it best when he said "... WALL*E's reliance on 85% visual, mostly dialogue-free storytelling (which makes it a kind of silent film) recalls the artistry of Charles Chaplin, Harry Langdon, Jacques Tati and other others whose style of performance art has been dormant for so many decades. It lives again. WALL*E is a masterpiece of its type..."

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

This series of films was the re-birth of the Epic film in many ways. It holds so much significance for so many people. It is even used in church sermons to illustrate good vs evil. Peter Jackson created a world that many could only imagine before.

City of God

I think Mark Caro from the Chicago Tribune sums it up the best:

"A visual and aural feast that combines elements of classic gangster melodramas, crime epics such as "The Godfather" and playful non-linear narratives such as "Amores Perros," City of God explores a deadly culture while feeling more alive than anything that's hit the big screen in years"

The Dark Knight

Love him or hate him, Christopher Nolan was able to take the superhero film and make it more than just a popcorn summer flick. The fact that an actor would ever win an Oscar for a performance in this genre of film is a testament to how impactful this film was.

Tree of Life

This film is probably one of the more divisive films on my list. Roger Ebert said, "The only other film I've seen with this boldness of vision is Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey," and it lacked Malick's fierce evocation of human feeling."

Amélie

Zoe Bond: "It’s an example of what great filmmaking is: it’s whimsical and honest, it’s pure escapism, and yet at the same time, it’s something we can all relate to. The French invented cinema, and here, Jean Pierre-Jeunet is showing us how it’s done.

Amelie isn’t just a film, its art, portraying human feelings and senses in the best and purest way possible. It’s every emotion bound by magic into a spellbinding, rich film. Quite simply, it’s beautiful."

There Will Be Blood

Boston Globe Wesley Morris: "There Will Be Blood" is anti-state of the art. It's the work of an analog filmmaker railing against an increasingly digitized world. In that sense, the movie is idiosyncratic, too: vintage visionary stuff."

12 Years a Slave

New York Daily News Joe Neumaier: "McQueen has made a film comparable to “Schindler's List” - art that may be hard to watch, but which is an essential look at man's inhumanity to man. It is wrenching, but 12 Years a Slave earns its tears in a way few films ever do."

Under The Skin

Matt Zoller Seitz: "A brilliant science fiction movie - more of an "experience" than a traditional story, with plenty to say about gender roles, sexism and the power of lust? "

Here is the full list of films that I would consider for "Canonization". I'm sure there are films that I am missing for consideration but it is what I could come up with.


Stories We Tell
The Royal Tenenbaums
28 Days Later
Enemy
Slumdog Millionaire
The Hunt
Man on Wire
Lost in Translation
Mad Max: Fury Road
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Pan's Labyrinth
No Country for Old Men
The Master
Mulholland Drive
United 93
Django Unchained
Zodiac
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
A Separation
Ratatouille
Birdman
The Ring
The Master
Selma
Safety Not Guaranteed
Wreck-it-Ralph
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
Her
To the Wonder
The Social Network
Children of Men
Big Fish
Life in a Day
Lincoln
Midnight in Paris
Babel
Dogtooth
Gravity
Finding Nemo
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Punch-Drunk Love
The Illusionist (2010) (animated)
Once
Fruitvale Station
Melancholia
Toy Story 3


After giving it much thought, added Under The Skin to my definitive list after I initially posted. The rest are still up for debate in my mind.