22 movies to watch in the 21st century

(2000) Gladiator – [R] Action/Adventure, 460.5 million USD
Based on Roman times, a once-powerful general has to become a common gladiator. The former emperor’s son is angry when he is forced to be the heir in accommodation of his father’s favorite general. The son kills his father and organizes the murders of the general’s family. The general is sold into slavery to be a trained gladiator, but his popularity threatens the throne.
Director: Ridley Scott
Stars: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nelson, Djimon Hounsou

(2001) A Beautiful Mind – [PG-13], Drama/Romance, 316.8 million USD
A live-action drama inspired by the events of John Forbes Nash Jr. and also partly based on the biography “Beautiful Mind” created by Sylvia Nascar. From the highest of fame to the lowest of deprivation, John Nash has been through it all. He is a mathematical genius. At the beginning of his career, he made an amazing discovery that raised him to international acclaim, but the attractive and arrogant Nash soon finds himself on a painful and heart-wrenching journey of self-discovery.
Director: Ron Howard
Stars: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Paul Bettany, Ed Harris, Josh Lucas, Adam Goldberg

(2002) Chicago – [PG-13] Musical/Crime, 1h 53m, 306.8 million USD
Nightclub star Velma (played by Catherine Zeta-Jones) kills her cheating husband. Billy Flynn (Richard Gere), Chicago’s slickest lawyer, is hired on the case to defend her. Roxie (Reneé Zellweger) also lands herself in prison and Flynn also is set to defend her, transforming her into a media fest of headlines. Velma or Roxie will not be outdone in their battle with each other and the public for fame and celebrity.
Director: Rob Marshall
Stars: John C. Reilly, Queen Latifah, Taye Diggs, Dominic West, Christine Baranski

(2003) Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – [PG-13] Fantasy/Adventure, 3h 30m, 1.146 Billion USD
This movie presents the final encounter between the forces of good and evil battling for power in Middle-earth. Hobbits Frodo and Sam reach Mordor in their quest to destroy the “one ring”. In the meantime, Aragon leads good forces against the evil army of Sauron at the stone city of Minas Tirith.
Director: Peter Jackson
Stars: Elijah Wood, Karl Urban, Sean Astin, Andy Serkis, John Noble, Ian McKellen

(2004) Crash – [R] Crime/Drama, 1hr 52m 98.4 Million USD
One movie has multiple stories connecting race, family, and gender in Los Angeles following the impact of 9/11.
Director: Paul Haggis
Stars: Sandra Bullock, Brendan, Fraser, Don Cheadle, Jennifer Esposito, Terance Dashon, Thandie Newton, Matt Dillon

(2005) Million Dollar Baby – [PG-13], Sport/Drama, 2h 12m, 216.8 million USD
Frankie Dunn is a veteran who is currently a boxing trainer who distances herself from people except for his old friend and accomplice Eddie “Scrap Iron”. When Maggie Fitzgerald, a transplant from working-class Missouri, arrives at Frankie’s gym seeking his skillfulness, he is hesitant to train her. Eventually, he gives in and the two form a bond that will forever change their lives.
Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman, Jay Baruchel, Mike Colter, Lucia Rijker, Anthony Mackie, Riki Lindhome

(2006) The Departed – [R], Crime/Drama, 2h 31m, 291.5 million USD
Billy Costigan is a South Boston cop who is assigned to go undercover to expose the organization of gangland chief Frank Costello. As Billy works to get the gangsters’ trust, a career criminal Colin Sullivan cracks the Police Department and reports its activities to his cartel bosses. When both groups find out they have a mole among them, both Billy and Collin have to figure out each other’s identities to save their own lives.
Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Vera Farmiga, Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg

(2007) No Country for Old Men – [R] Crime/Thriller, 2h 2 m, 171.6 million USD
While hunting, Llewelyn Moss accidentally finds himself observing the aftermath of a bloody drug deal. Although he knows he shouldn’t, he decides to take the money that was left behind. The hunter quickly becomes the prey when cruel killer Chigurh picks up his trail. Sheriff Bell is also looking for Moss, an aging deputy who constantly thinks about a changing world and his own dark secret, as he attempts to find and protect Moss.
Director: Ethan Coen & Joel Coen
Stars: Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Woody Harrelson, Kelly Macdonald

(2008) The Hurt Locker – [R] War/Action, 2h 11m, 49.2 million USD
After the death of their very respected Staff Sergeant in Iraq, Sergeant JT Stanborn and Specialist Owen Eldridge team up to find their Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit saddled with a contrasting team leader. Staff Sergeant is a hard-core, risk-taker who appears to thrive on war, but there’s no question about his special gift of defusing bombs.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Stars: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Mark Boel, Guy Pearce, David Morse, Brian
Geraghty

(2009) Slumdog Millionaire – [R] Romance/Drama, 2h, 378.1 million USD
Jamal Malik, an 18-year-old man, answers questions on the Indian Version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” as flashbacks show how he got there. Malik is a part of a group of young thieves. After he and his brother Salim’s mother dies, they are forced to survive on the streets of Mumbai. Salim accepts a life of crime, but Jamal barely makes it with
small jobs until he lands a job on a game show.
Director: Danny Boyle
Stars: Dev Patel, Frieda Pinto, Rubina Ali, Madhur Mittal, Irrfan Khan, Anil Kapoor

(2010) The King’s Speech – [PG-13], Drama/History, 1h 58m, 427.4 million USD
Albert, the Prince of England, must rise to the throne as King George VI, but he, unfortunately, has a speech impediment. Elizabeth knows the country will rely on her husband to communicate effectively, so she hires Lionel Logue, an Australian actor and speech therapist, to help him overcome his disability.
Director: Tom Hooper
Stars: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce, Jennifer Ehle

(2011) The Artist – [PG-13], Romance/Drama, 1h 40m, 133.4 million USD
Set in the 1920s, actor George Valentin is a bona fide matinee idol with many adoring fans. While working on his new upcoming film, he begins to fall in love with Peppy Miller and it appears she feels the same way. But George has a wife and he was hesitant to cheat on his wife with the alluring young co-star. The growing fame of sound in the movies begins to come between the potential lovers, as George´s career fades while Peppy’s career rises.
Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Stars: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, James Cromwell, John Goodman, Missi Pyle, Penelope Ann Miller

(2012) Argo – [R], Thriller/Drama, 2h, 232.3 million USD
On November 4, 1979, militants storm the U.S. embassy in Tehran, Iran, taking 66 American hostages. In the middle of the chaos, six hostages manage to escape and find refuge with the Canadian ambassador. Knowing that time before the American hostages were found or possibly killed was running out, extractor Tony Menedez’s plan was to disguise himself as a Hollywood producer searching for locations in Iran for the refugees to act as his film crew.
Director: Ben Affleck
Stars: Ben Affleck, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Clea DuVall, Bryan Cranston, Victor
Garber

(2013) 12 Years a Slave – [R], Drama/History, 2h 14m, 187.7 million USD
Years before the Civil War, a free black man from upstate New York, Solomon Northup, is kidnapped and sold into slavery in the South. Owned by a malicious and sinister owner, he also finds unexpected kindness, as he struggles to survive and preserve some of his dignity. Then, in the twelfth year of this horrific nightmare, a chance meeting with an activist from Canada changes Solomon’s life forever.
Director: Steve McQueen
Stars: Chiwetel Ejofor, Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyong´o, Brad Pitt, Paul Dano

(2014) Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance – [R], Drama/Comedy, 2h, 103.2 million USD
Riggan Thomson is a departed cinema superhero and is ascending an ambitious Broadway production that he hopes will revive new life into his significant career. Although it’s risky, he still rolls the dice on his project and hopes it proves that he is a true artist and not a tired old movie star. As opening night comes up, a castmate is injured and Riggan is forced to hire a replacement actor who is guaranteed to shake things up. Meanwhile, he must also deal with his daughter, ex-wife, and girlfriend.
Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Stars: Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis, Naomi Watts

(2015) Spotlight – [R], Drama/Indie Film, 2h 8m, 98.7 million USD
Set in 2001, editor Marty Baron of the Boston Globe assembles a team of journalists to look into a potential claim against John Geoghan, to overthrow the priest held for questioning about molesting more than 80 boys. Editor Walter “Robby” Robinson leads the group, reporters Michael Rezendes, Matt Carroll and Sacha Pfeiffer interview the victims and try to open hypersensitive documents. The reporters make it their mission to provide proof of a cover-up of sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church.
Director: Tom McCarthy
Stars: Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, Stanley Tucci,
John Slattery

(2016) Moonlight – [R], Drama/Indie Film, 1h 51m, 65.3 million USD
When a business trip ends all of a sudden, anxious Al Fountain, a middle-aged electrical engineer, made the decision to explore a lake that docks happy childhood memories. There he meets The Kid, a free spirit whose off-the-wall backwoods existence runs contrary to Fountain’s tightly wound presence, forcing him to live more loosely and be open to new experiences, including the meeting of the Dupre sisters, Floatie and Purlene.
Director: Barry Jenkins
Stars: Mahershala Ali, Trevante Rhodes, Ashton Sanders, André Holland, Naomie
Harris

(2017) The Shape of Water – [R], Romance/Fantasy, 2h 3m, 195.3 million USD
Elisa is a silenced and confined cleaning lady in a concealed, high-security government laboratory in 1962 Baltimore. After she discovers the lab´s confidential secret—a mythical, scaly creature from South America that lives in a water tank—Elisa starts to develop a unique bond with her new friend, she soon learns that it is indeed destiny and very survival lies in the hands of an adverse government agent and a marine biologist.
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Stars: Sally Hawkins, Doug Jones, Octavia Spencer, Richard Jenkins, Michael Shannon

(2018) Greenbook – [PG-13], Drama/Road, 2h 10m, 321.8 million USD
Dr. Don Shirley is a one-of-a-kind African-American pianist, who is about to commence on a concert tour in the Deep South in 1962. In need of protection and a driver, Shirley recruits Tony Lip, a vigorous talking bouncer with the background of an Italian-American community in the Bronx. Despite their differences, the two men develop an unforeseen bond while addressing racism and danger in a time of segregation.
Director: Peter Farrelly
Stars: Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Nick Vallelonga, Lunda Cardellini, Linda
Cardellini

(2019) Parasite – [R], Thriller/Drama, 2h 12m, 263.1 million USD
Selfishness and class discrimination intimidate the newly formed coordinated relationship between the wealthy Park family and the poverty-stricken Kim clan.
Director: Bong Joon-ho
Stars: Park Seon-Joon, Choi Woo-Shik, Park So-dam, Song Kang-Ho, Jung Ji-so, Lee Sun

(2020) Nomadland – [R], Drama/Western, 1h 48m, 39.5 million USD
After losing everything in the Great Recession, a woman in her sixties embarks on an adventure through the American West, living as a van resident modern-day nomad.
Director: Chloé Zhao
Stars: Frances McDormand, Gay DeForest, David Strathairn, Bob Wells, Linda May, Tay Strathairn

(2021) Coda – [PG-13], Drama/Romance, 1h 51m, 1.6 million USD
Ruby, from Gloucester, Massachusetts, is the only hearing person in her deaf family. At the age of 17, she works mornings before school to help her parents and brother keep their fishing family business running. But following her joining her high school’s choir club, Ruby finds herself intrigued by both her duet partner and her underlying passion for singing.
Director: Sian Heder
Stars: Emilia Jones, Troy Kotsur, Marlee Matlin, Eugenio Derbez, Daniel Durant, Amy Forsyth