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.

[Moviefan2k4]

One of my picks would easily be Captain America: The First Avenger, if for no other reason than to show a 1940s superhero film can be treated seriously. I'd also credit it with reaffirming the notion, that patriotism's nothing to be ashamed of.

Another pick would be The Passion of the Christ, which holds true to the Gospels with very few major deviations. Not only is it an expertly-crafted film, but its success in theaters proved audiences still crave faith-based movies; they're just tired of poorly-made ones.

[Foggy]

Definitely agree with Boyhood, There Will Be Blood and 12 Years a Slave. All of them challenge film form in unique ways. I like all your choices.

I'll add:

It's Such a Beautiful Day

The way Hertzfeldt presents his study on depression and mental illness, along with terminal illness, distorts the perception of audience presence, presented by third person narrator, but also like a self-reflection, distorting the time and space to create a paradoxical experience that engages emotionally, bringing humour and levity that only one would find in such a pessimistic mindset.

[zorbonaut]

Originally Posted by Moviefan2k4

One of my picks would easily be Captain America: The First Avenger, if for no other reason than to show a 1940s superhero film can be treated seriously. I'd also credit it with reaffirming the notion, that patriotism's nothing to be ashamed of.

Another pick would be The Passion of the Christ, which holds true to the Gospels with very few major deviations. Not only is it an expertly-crafted film, but its success in theaters proved audiences still crave faith-based movies; they're just tired of poorly-made ones.

I would definitely agree that The Passion of the Christ should be on the list for consideration.

[LinkMaster64]

Deadpool - For the simple reason to show a superhero film can be made correctly.

[zorbonaut]

Originally Posted by Foggy

Definitely agree with Boyhood, There Will Be Blood and 12 Years a Slave. All of them challenge film form in unique ways. I like all your choices.

I'll add:

It's Such a Beautiful Day

The way Hertzfeldt presents his study on depression and mental illness, along with terminal illness, distorts the perception of audience presence, presented by third person narrator, but also like a self-reflection, distorting the time and space to create a paradoxical experience that engages emotionally, bringing humour and levity that only one would find in such a pessimistic mindset.

I have not seen this one yet but I will be adding it to my list for sure.

[blonde_devil]

This is a tough one as there are a lot of "classics" that don't age well and are not looked at the same way in 10 years. I agree with Dark Knight, I think Interstellar should be on there too. It is slightly outside your timeframe (2000) but I think Oh Brother Where Art Thou should be too as it is a great film and a wonderful example of how you can take classic literature and modernize it for today's audience without making it clichéd (I am thinking of the 101 versions of Romeo and Juliet that suck).

[zorbonaut]

Originally Posted by blonde_devil

This is a tough one as there are a lot of "classics" that don't age well and are not looked at the same way in 10 years. I agree with Dark Knight, I think Interstellar should be on there too. It is slightly outside your timeframe (2000) but I think Oh Brother Where Art Thou should be too as it is a great film and a wonderful example of how you can take classic literature and modernize it for today's audience without making it clichéd (I am thinking of the 101 versions of Romeo and Juliet that suck).

I love Interstellar and Inception and debated putting them both on my list but in the end excluded them. These are the perfect example of films that would make my top 25 all time titles but I did not include them for "Canonization".

Oh Brother would have definitely made my list along with a few others in 2000 but being that the century did not start until 2001, I had to exclude as well.

[Doctor Jack]

Everything else trails behind it.

[Rodney-2187]

Oldboy
No Country For Old Men

[L.J.]

Agree with The Passion of the Christ and Boyhood. Some others.
LOTR
Whiplash
Love and Other Drugs
Drive
Prisoners

If it counts The Witch.

[Coenskubrick]

Lord of the Rings
Interstellar
No Country for Old Men
Donnie Darko
Gravity
Nightcrawler
Mad Max
The Social Network
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Of course really I think all my favourites should (except the ones which were nothing special but I liked anyway), but I guess I'm trying to balance that with what I think WILL be remembered.

[Buscemi]

Some titles that I feel have an importance but could a matter of debate:

Borat - made guerrilla-style filmmaking mainstream.
Bridesmaids - made female-led raunchy movies in vogue again after The Sweetest Thing killed them off nine years earlier.
The Grand Budapest Hotel - inventive use of multiple aspect ratios.
Hulk - without it, we probably wouldn't have The Dark Knight Saga.
I'm Still Here - if Andy Kaufman's still alive, his name is Joaquin Phoenix.
Inland Empire - perhaps the last high-profile experimental film.
The Master - made 65mm film production a thing again.
The School of Rock - not a great movie by any means but did manage to kill off one theme (inspirational teachers) and create a new one (cynical teacher failed by the system) in the process.
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow - the first green-screen movie.
Taken - officially put the "piracy will kill the multiplex" complaints to rest with its box office success long after being leaked.
Time Code - a major studio film without a traditional narrative (projectionists could create their own versions of the film by mixing up the reels as they pleased)
Trash Humpers - an authentic presentation of the new VHS culture (unlike other found footage VHS-themed films, which were shot digitally).
28 Days Later - though Attack of the Clones came first on the innovation front, this was the film that showed a digitally-shot film could be made without a huge budget and find mainstream acceptance.
Waking Life - made rotoscoping an acceptable animation practice again.

[Talleyrand]

I hesitate to reply to this because I feel that the "canon" can only be realized decades later but here goes:

Traffic
Mulholland Drive
Downfall
Inland Empire
The Lives of Others
There Will Be Blood
Ingloriuous Basterds
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
I Saw the Devil
Killing Them Softly
The Counselor

[LinkMaster64]

Originally Posted by Buscemi

Some titles that I feel have an importance but could a matter of debate:

Borat - made guerrilla-style filmmaking mainstream.
Bridesmaids - made female-led raunchy movies in vogue again after The Sweetest Thing killed them off nine years earlier.
The Grand Budapest Hotel - inventive use of multiple aspect ratios.
Hulk - without it, we probably wouldn't have The Dark Knight Saga.
I'm Still Here - if Andy Kaufman's still alive, his name is Joaquin Phoenix.
Inland Empire - perhaps the last high-profile experimental film.
The Master - made 65mm film production a thing again.
The School of Rock - not a great movie by any means but did manage to kill off one theme (inspirational teachers) and create a new one (cynical teacher failed by the system) in the process.
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow - the first green-screen movie.
Taken - officially put the "piracy will kill the multiplex" complaints to rest with its box office success long after being leaked.
Time Code - a major studio film without a traditional narrative (projectionists could create their own versions of the film by mixing up the reels as they pleased)
Trash Humpers - an authentic presentation of the new VHS culture (unlike other found footage VHS-themed films, which were shot digitally).
28 Days Later - though Attack of the Clones came first, this was the film that showed a digitally-shot film could be made without a huge budget and find mainstream acceptance.
Waking Life - made rotoscoping an acceptable animation practice again.

I'm interested in hearing more of this.

[Coenskubrick]

Originally Posted by LinkMaster64

I'm interested in hearing more of this.

Hulk - without it, we probably wouldn't have The Dark Knight Saga.

[MrBlonde]

The Witch just to make everyone angry.

[Astro Zombie]

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

[Coenskubrick]

Oh and no doubt Star Wars Episode VII

[Buscemi]

Originally Posted by LinkMaster64

I'm interested in hearing more of this.

It's a thinking man's comic book adaptation. While audiences came in expecting another Spider-Man (and as a result, Marvel has chosen not to dig deeper in their film projects), Ang Lee decided to make a film about the human condition and the difficulties of being a superhero. And while this was getting produced, it was unknown what the future of the Batman franchise was going to be (Was it going to be Batman: Year One? Batman Triumphant? Was Batman and Robin such a disaster that it tainted the franchise?).

Shortly after Hulk proved to be a box office disappointment, the future of Batman was decided on with Christopher Nolan and the end result was Batman Begins, another film about the human condition and the difficulties of being a superhero. Opening weekend was a bit of disappointment but it soon began to build and this time, the concept clicked with audiences.

What I'm saying is that Batman Begins and its follow-ups needed a blueprint. And it wasn't just Nolan's previous body of work and the graphic novels that laid the groundwork. Ang Lee's film helped out (and his 2005 was pretty good too, filming the work that would earn him his first Oscar).