10 Comments
User's avatar
Nathaniel Roy's avatar

Great list, Dane!

Expand full comment
These Two Things's avatar

This is a really nice breakdown and a refreshing counterpoint to the top 100 - which is nice to absorb, but a bit overwhelming at the moment. Thank you for sharing this !

Expand full comment
Dane Benko's avatar

Yeah. I finally got to look at the top 100 list after I posted this, and it's fine. There's literally only two movies on it I think are not good movies, and 21 I haven't yet seen, but overall it's a fairly good way to be on top of most mainstream discourse about movies, and there even happens to be a lot of really good times to be had in them, but it doesn't feel as educational as e.g. the AFI 100 Years, 100 movies lost or the old stalwarts of They Shoot Pictures, Don't They or the Sight and Sound lists.

Expand full comment
These Two Things's avatar

Absolutely! Idk if it’s accurate or not but if I look at all-time top 100 lists alongside top 100 after 1/1/2000, it feels like I’m sensing the commercial/business (ROI) aspect of moviemaking that has become a larger and larger part of the industry. Maybe some of that is outside money coming in. I might be wrong.

Expand full comment
Swabreen Bakr's avatar

So insightful! Love this approach to analyzing how impactful some of the films on the NYT list truly were to the art of filmmaking.

Expand full comment
Ted Hope's avatar

Great essay. I'd love it if someone did a similar "Most Influential Films" exclusive for Arthouse/Ambitiously Authored cinema. Thanks.

Expand full comment
Dane Benko's avatar

Yeah I know. One thing that sort of sucks about a project like this is it reinforces the power of mass media to make mass impact. With NonDē I have a harder time parsing the difference between what influences me and what influences culture or the overall business.

It would probably start with 28 Days Later again though, as after that movie everyone I know ran out and bought HDV cams!

Expand full comment
Matt Cyr's avatar

Outstanding write up. Well done! Appreciate all the work here. This one made the print list— Substack essays I print out and file— to make notes, revisit later. 🙏

Expand full comment
Dane Benko's avatar

Cool, interesting process. Sadly easier than just using Substack search!

Expand full comment
Paris Cinema's avatar

Hey, I’ve started an account where I collect some out of context captions of great films in cinema history. Just wanted to share it with the cinephiles around here : https://substack.com/@pariscinema?r=1x6h4r&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=profile

Expand full comment