As Movies Get Progressively Worse, Name Some Films That Restore Your Faith In Them

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The more older movies I watch, the more I yearn for that golden era of filmmaking. I'm not completely dismissing films today, as the title of this thread suggests, just merely expressing my love and appreciation for films from a time when they were made with heart (and brains). What are some newer films that you consider worthy of being called among the best of all time?

War films seem more like a relic today, mainly because the ones that get made aren't very good (Valkyrie, anyone?). It's a genre that has survived because of the fondness some filmmakers still have for this type of film. My vote for best contemporary war film go the following films:

Allied
Anthropoid
Downfall. This one deserves special mention. It's an enthralling piece of historical reconstruction and one of the best portrayals of Hitler ever filmed.
Bridge Of Spies.

I love the post-apocalyptic genre but this type of film is rarely made anymore and many of the "classic" ones fall into the cheezy Z grade category. In the last 10 or so years some really bold apocalyptic films were made that deserve a place on any best-of list. They are

Blindness
The Book of Eli
The Road
Children of Men
Snowpiercer. Another 'special mention'. Quite possibly the most original and thought-provoking film I've seen in a LONG time.


Clint Eastwood's best film after The Unforgiven is Million Dollar Baby. I haven't enjoyed any of Eastwood's films as much as I enjoyed this one.

Say what you will about Mel Gibson - he is a tremendously gifted filmmaker, as evidenced by Passion of the Christ and Apocalypto. The decision to film these two in Ancient (and dead) languages was very bold and just made the films that much more of a masterpiece.

Cloud Atlas. I still don't know what it's about - all I know is the more I watch it, the more I love it

Blue Is the Warmest Color. An unconventional love story that is as profound as any film you're likely to ever see. Packs an emotional punch that's so rare these days.

12 Years A Slave. Movies about slavery have never really been seriously tackled but that was remedied with this gut punch of a movie.

In the survival genre, which has always been more of a guilty pleasure, movies like All Is Lost and The Grey are the best of the bunch. Just riveting. Special mention goes to The Revenant.

If you suffer from claustrophobia, no film will make you squirm more than The Descent. This was a solid piece of genre filmmaking.

You don't have to love the Fantasy genre to enjoy the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It's the kind of film experience you have to "prepare" yourself for

Movies set in Space are not everyone's cup of tea but most everyone will probably really enjoy films like Gravity and Moon. I expect there to be lots of imitators of both films in the coming years.

So, which films would make YOUR all-time best?

*Please note that this list, obviously, won't include movies I haven't seen yet and there are quite a few I haven't had the chance to watch yet.