Top 10 Most Forgotten Films of the 21st Century (so far)

Empire Magazine is fantastic and if you want to read the best coverage of all the latest movie news, reviews, star interviews and extraordinary features then you can do no better than checking out their monthly mag or weekly podcast. And true to form, they recently released a quality Top 100 Movies of the 21st Century list, voted for by both film critics and their readers. However, as you can imagine, quality is subjective and they can't please everyone, so there are lots of worthy films from the last 20 years that didn't make the cut; some more of a surprise than others - for example, no films directed by Steven Spielberg!

So, I thought I'd take a leaf out of the book of The Observer and BBC Radio 5 Live film critic, Mark Kermode (@KermodeMovie), and create my own list, with a difference. Each year, Kermode creates "The Kermode Awards", his own list of "Best" Awards winners based on the artists he feels were criminally overlooked by the American Film Academy (The Oscars) with one rule - his winners can't have been nominated in the same category at that year's Oscars. Now in a similar vein, I thought that I would create my own list of "Top 10 Films of the 21st Century" with the main rule being that they don't already feature in Empire's list.

As a deeper dive, I'm also going to give more weight to the films that I feel have been most overlooked by critics and audiences alike since their release in general. So, here it is, my list of the Top 10 Most Forgotten Films of the 21st Century (so far). Enjoy!

10. The Bourne Supremacy (2004) - dir. Paul Greengrass

The Bourne films re-invented the spy/action/thriller genre to the point where the entire Bond franchise needed to change it's style to keep up. The story of a seemingly ordinary guy (Matt Damon) trying to remember who he is and who made him this way is simple yet incredibly compelling with an excellent stylistic blue-print laid out in the first film "The Bourne Identity" and then taken to a whole other level by it's sequel "Supremacy". And that level is so brilliant, it's since spawned a whole sub-genre of gritty, real world action movies and sequences where the audience feels every punch as one man/women seemingly takes on the whole world (with a shaky-cam watching). But it seems this legacy, that includes a lot of straight to DVD/streaming service knock-offs, means that the original shining light that changed the game is now just lost in the mix. If you love John Wick, Atomic Blonde, Casino Royale, The Raid, Taken and others like it, please re-visit this movie and see how it set a new path for action cinema.

9. 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) - dir. Dan Trachtenberg

This is an excellent horror drama with a fairly simple set-up - a young women wakes up in a survival bunker and is told by the man who saved her that she can't leave because of an alien invasion taking place. It honestly kept my wife and I gripped from beginning to end. Themes of trust, prejudice, survival, abuse, sympathy, mercy and ultimately courage are explored in a brilliantly claustrophobic setting that keeps you on a knife edge all the way through until a few minutes from the end and for me, it is arguably as good as Jordan Peele's "Get Out" (2017), but for one issue. J.J Abrams produced this movie, and the story goes that he apparently tweaked the ending to fit it into his wider "Cloverfield" universe (following the massive success for his 2008 film) to help promote and create buzz around the film. It certainly did that, but it also led to a lot of confusion, with fans of the original sci-fi "Cloverfield" being confused by this claustrophobic human horror/drama and those who loved the film for what it was being confused by the last five minutes that seem to be from a completely different movie. A couple of years later, Abrams released another movie in the "Cloverfield" universe - "The Cloverfield Paradox" (2018) - that went straight to Netflix, hoping to achieve the same buzz and publicity, but instead it was panned by critics and audiences a like and seems to have now tarred "10 Cloverfield Lane" with a 'sell-out franchise' brush that it really doesn't deserve.

8. Jack Reacher (2012) - dir. Christopher McQuarrie

On it's own, "Jack Reacher" is a brilliant example of the classic mid-budget action/thriller genre film. Driven by a good script, strong plot and a mysterious hero at the centre of the story, it has great performances, solid action sequences and it should really receive much more love and attention than it gets. However, in a similar fashion to "10 Cloverfield Lane", the same prestige that got it green-lit and publicity to begin with - the hugely successful "Jack Reacher" novel series by Lee Child on which it was based - also became the significant baggage around the movie that ultimately dragged it down to obscurity. The main complaint being that Tom Cruise was playing the title character and blatantly didn't match any of Reacher's legendary physical attributes - 6ft 5 inches tall, weighing 210–250 pounds and having a 50-inch chest. Objectively watching the film, Cruise is perfect in the role of "Reacher" - deliberate, smart, physically imposing, tenacious - but angry fans couldn't get passed the superficial elements and despite a sequel in 2016, it now looks like a promising franchise of intelligent, high quality thrillers is now dead and waiting on a re-boot somewhere down the line.

7. Captain Phillips (2013) - dir. Paul Greengrass

Based on the harrowing true story of a civilian freight ship taken over by Somali pirates, "Captain Phillips" is a thrilling film with an incredible central performance from Tom Hanks who deserved an Oscar for the final scene alone. It was a very tough year with Matthew McConaughey winning for his performance in Dallas Buyers Club instead, and even though the film was nominated for Best Film and Best Supporting Actor (Barkhad Abdi brilliant in his debut role), it seems like this mid-budget thriller (that Hollywood so rarely makes anymore) has been lost in the shuffle over time. A powerful story of a real man, his brave crew and their sympathetic captors, told through masterclass film-making that has you gripped from beginning to end - if you're searching Netflix, iTunes, Amazon Prime or any other service looking for a good film to watch tonight, this is the one.

6. The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas (2008) - dir. Mark Herman

Based on the best-selling book of the same name, this is the story of a young boy whose father is a general in the Nazi German Army in World War Two and is assigned to oversee a Jewish concentration camp. However, the young boy is shielded from his Dad's work, so when he goes exploring and finds another boy his own age on the other side of a fence, he has no idea why he's there. All he knows, is that he's made a friend.

I'd never read the book and think I only saw this because it was my wife's turn to choose the movie that week - but this was genuinely one of the most powerful experiences I've ever had in a cinema. If you don't know the story, I wont spoil the end here, but lets just say I was pinned to my seat for the entire run of the credits. It's not a flashy film, there's no real mega-stars to draw attention, but it is an incredibly powerful and moving story that should definitely not be forgotten.

5. The Adjustment Bureau (2011) - dir. George Rolfi

If you're looking for an intelligent, high-concept thriller, then this should definitely be on your watchlist. Based on a short story by Philip K. Dick - the man who also inspired other sci-fi classics Total Recall, Blade Runner and Minority Report - this film explores ideas of fate and free will in a really dynamic way as 'agents of fate' work to keep David (Matt Damon) on his pre-destined path and away from the women he's falling in love with, Elise (Emily Blunt), who could destroy it all. If you're bored of mindless action movies but you're not in the mood for something as deep or serious as a murderous true-crime drama, then "The Adjustment Bureau" is the perfect middle ground, engaging, exciting and thoroughly entertaining.

4. Warrior (2011) - dir. Gavin O'Connor

Starring Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton and Nick Nolte, “Warrior” is an incredible film that is just as brutal emotionally as the MMA fight scenes are physically. Two brothers with an estranged alcoholic father are set on a collision course when they both enter a local MMA tournament for very different reasons. It’s a simple set-up, but the performances and direction make this something special. Hardy is well known for his physicality, but before Bane (“The Dark Knight Rises”), Mad Max or Venom he played this role of Tommy Conlon who from memory, barely speaks for the first half of the film, yet you learn so much about him and his emotional state just by the way he walks to/from the ring and his fighting style inside it. If you enjoy fight drama films like Rocky, Creed, The Fighter, Cinderella Man and others, then you should definitely take a look.

3. Collateral (2004) - dir. Michael Mann

You might have noticed a pattern in this list, where I seem to be drawn to the low-mid budget action thriller with an original or interesting premise at the centre. However, director Michael Mann takes this film to a whole other level with his innovative filming style (digital cameras before everyone used them) and against-type casting - Jamie Foxx as Max, an every man cab driver with a dream, and Tom Cruise as Vincent, a vicious but thoughtful bad guy assassin. "Collateral" is a simple story of an assassin who's in LA for one night and uses a cab driver to drive him from job to job, but the excitement and thrill doesn't all come from the action scenes where Cruise is working as an assassin, in fact, the key to the film is the interplay and relationship between Foxx and Cruise. As you can imagine, it doesn't all go as planned for Vincent and the tension and action escalates at pace in the final act, but the ending is so effective because of a strong script, great editing and the journey Vincent and Max have been on together over the last few hours. With the massive libraries of Netflix, Amazon Prime and other streaming services, this is a surprisingly hard movie to find, but it's well worth the effort when you do.

2. Catch Me If You Can (2002) - dir. Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg is a master film-maker and for me, he's the best director of all time. There are maybe only two others - Martin Scorsese and Ridley Scott - who have been at the top of the industry for as long and delivered just as many critically acclaimed and popular movies in the last 50 years. But for me, Spielberg reigns supreme, and "Catch Me If You Can" seems to be the perfect mix of everything he's excelled at in his career - entertainment, drama, family conflict, humour, thrills, great characters, great performances, high concept, true story, wonderful soundtrack, visual story telling, dynamic camera movement - and the whole thing was shot in just 52 days! Most movies take a lot longer than this to film and are no where near as good, which just proves again how good Spielberg really is.

The film stars Tom Hanks, Leonardo DiCaprio and Christopher Walken in a true story about 19 year old Frank Abagnale Jnr (DiCaprio) who successfully performed cons worth millions of dollars by posing as different officials all across America. It's a remarkable story that you can only believe because of two things - the fact it's all true and the amazing performances from every one of the cast, from it's stars to smaller players Martin Sheen and Amy Adams (excellent in arguably her breakout role). "Catch Me If You Can" might not be one of his best known, but it's incredibly entertaining and genuinely a master working at the height of his powers.

1. Gone In Sixty Seconds (2000) - dir. Dominic Sena

I know what you're thinking, this list has featured films by Spielberg, Greengrass, Mann and stars like Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise and Matt Damon - what is "Gone In Sixty Seconds" and how could it possibly top this list? Well, remember how I said that I’d give more weight to the films I thought had been most forgotten by critics and fans alike, this for me is the biggest! ”The Fast Saga” (as they’re now calling it) may be a 10 film mega franchise that’s grossed over $5 Billion worldwide, but a year before the first “The Fast and the Furious” film was released in 2001, “Sixty Seconds” paved the way. With stars Nicolas Cage, Robert Duvall, Angelina Jolie (a young Giovanni Ribisi) and the best car chase I’ve ever seen, this is the original and best film about fast cars and the importance of family! If you like “The Fast Saga” or any Nic Cage movie, you’ll love this!

Well, that's my top 10. Maybe you agree or think some of these are highly controversial; either way, I hope you've enjoyed this feature and I would love it if you could help spread the word with a social share below. You can also follow me @matthewrbuck on Instagram and Twitter for updates on all new stories. Take care!