Welcome to the Century Project!
March 6, 2020
By Luke Bonanno
Whether you're among the ones who enjoyed it or among the many who have yet to encounter it, putting together a list of my top 100 films of the first half of the 2010s was both one of the most exhausting and creatively fulfilling things I've done as a film critic. Within a couple of years of that January 2015 feature, I was already thinking about a follow-up project. The obvious route to take would be a Top 100 Films of the Decade or perhaps just another Top 100 Films of the second half of the decade. But I decided to go bigger and come up with the Top 200 Films of the 2000s so far. To do that, I revisited every one of the films that cracked this list over the past sixteen months (many of them, multiple times) plus around a thousand others that were on the bubble or I had never seen before. It seemed like a perfect excuse to rewatch some new favorites and address some glaring blind spots (particularly the kind of movies -- foreign films and documentaries -- that are easy to miss). This project reflects on the past twenty years of cinema, which happen to correspond with my first twenty years of adulthood. I started the site that evolved into this one at the beginning of 2001, so as this feature posts, I'm now in my twentieth year in this business.
I have poured all this time and effort into this project in the hopes that over the next two hundred weekdays, you will join for me a celebration of a number of films you already love, a reconsideration of a few you might not like, and the discovery of many you still have yet to see. You can expect brand new short essays, carefully-selected film stills, downloadable screenplays, posters, GIFs, fun facts, graphics, song recommendations, trailers, film clips, and an assortment of video montages.
Putting this project together was a massive undertaking that took over one full year of my time, with literally thousands of hours devoted to watching alone, plus thousands more going to reflection, research, and putting it all together. I hope you'll agree with me that this time was well-spent and to that extent, I do need your help.
I hate ads as much as anyone. That is why I've never once run pop-up, pop-under, or pop-over advertising, or anything intrusive for that matter. Unfortunately, many readers won't even know that due to the prevalence of ad blockers, an understandable response to the often appalling advertising that runs rampant elsewhere on the Internet.
For the year-plus I dedicated to this project, the site actually cost more to run than it was making through increasingly blocked ads and a sharp decrease in affiliate link referrals, reflective of both the general decline in physical media sales and the lack of time left for me to cover new discs.
Running this site has always been a labor of love, driven by passion, not money. That is why I've maintained a high standard of writing and avoided pandering, puff pieces, and click bait. I take pride in that and hope you do as well, knowing that so few online outlets carry such a respect for their readers. Alas, these principles do not pay the bills or provide food and shelter.
In light of that, I'm trying something different for this countdown. No ads at all, just a tiny subscription fee (starting at $3 a month). Considering the thousands of hours that went into this project, I don't think I'm asking a lot. In addition, every month, one subscriber will win one of the month's featured movies -- the film they pick on their preferred format (Blu-ray, DVD, or 4K Ultra HD). You can enter this monthly giveaway every single day. If you feel this content, and the other I've produced over the past nineteen-plus years, is worth more than that, the Gold Tier ($6 a month) will get you a few more perks, including a guaranteed one of the Top 200 Movies on the format of your choosing at the conclusion of the countdown plus access to all the documents used to compile the list revealing how it evolved. If you're feeling particularly generous, I don't believe there is anything stopping you from pledging even more and at the Platinum Tier ($10 a month), I'll put together a personalized video for you thanking you for your support.
I would love nothing more than to continue to share my love of movies with you in the same independent, uncompromised manner I have since 2001. Thank you for any support you can provide.
