The NYT Best Movies List Has Holes

How did these 10 movies not make the cut?

View in Browser  Monday, June 30, 2025 Who parsed through The New York Times's "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century" last week? If you missed it, NYT solicited the opinions of "more than 500 influential directors, actors and other notable names in Hollywood and around the world," to come up with the best films of the past 25 years. Rolling out in five parts, the selections prompted plenty of chatter in the film community… but surprisingly little contention. What's the fun in that?   Thankfully, longtime film critic Chris Nashawaty stormed into my inbox with the exact amount of nitpicking I was looking for. He had some great points: Not enough Spielberg, too many on-the-nose comedies, and one unforgivable snub of a particular Bond joint. Not long after NYT announced the final batch of films, Nashawaty sent his ten most glaring omissions my way. Check them out below, then let us know which of your favorites didn't make our list.  —Brady Langmann, senior entertainment editor   Plus: The best moisture-wicking underwear Senator Thom Tillis takes shots at Obamacare while defending Medicaid Hoka vs. Oofos: Who makes the best recovery shoe? The New York Times' Best Movies List Has Blind Spots How did these 10 movies not make the cut? List and polls are, by their very nature, a subjective sport. I mean, who can really say if The Sopranos is better than Breaking Bad, or if Exile on Main Street is greater than London Calling? And yet, these official pop-culture rankings just keep on coming. Why? Well, people love to argue, naturally. Provocation is the name of the game. No one knows this better than the good folks over at The New York Times, who have just published their latest invitation to bellyache with their big, splashy list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century." What remains after all of that is a solid—if slightly predictable—collection of films that leans more to the arthouse than multiplex. But it also feels a bit dutiful and orthodox. The lack of wild-card selections and deranged contrarian takes is a bit disappointing. From where we sit, there are some pretty glaring omissions and blind spots.  READ THE STORY Levi's early Prime Day deals are insanely good this year. You don't need to wait to get 501s at 30 percent off. Sarah Maberry curates some must-have pieces from Levi's that you can snag for a steal.  >> Who will be the next James Bond? There's a lot of men in Hollywood with a golden eye. Brady Langmann, Josh Rosenberg, and Eric Francisco break down the most likely candidates to get their license to kill. >> Call the Idaho Shooting What It Was: Terrorism In my town, they stole a march on the Fourth of July by shooting off the town fireworks during the last weekend in June. (I highly recommend fireworks over a river for patriotic thrills.) Elsewhere in our gasping, wheezing democratic republic, there were several spontaneous—if unfortunate—exercises in Second Amendment freedoms in advance of the national celebration.   In Idaho, two firefighters were called to address a  brush fire only to be killed in an ambush. This is a classic terrorist maneuver. Create a situation that requires the immediate involvement of first responders, and then shoot the ones that show up. The Provisional IRA had a fondness for this tactic, as did anti-choice murderer Eric Rudolph. This guy apparently wanted a more personal touch to his killing. So he used a gun, because America, that's why. By Charles P. Pierce What It Feels Like to Run a 100-Mile Race For the first four hours of the 2025 USATF 100-Mile Championships, I was just running along, happy as a clam. Nothing hurt. I didn't feel fatigued. But I knew that the next 30 miles of the race were going to get a little more intense. I was running a faster pace than I should've been, around seven minutes per mile, probably because I was competing against professional ultramarathoners who were trying to set records.   These races ebb and flow. Sometimes you feel great when someone else is at their low. Sometimes when you're at your low, someone else feels great. You never know when your low time is going to hit. That middle section, from about mile 30 to 60, was my time. The wind picked up, and I began to overheat. My pace tanked into the eight- or nine-minute range. I made sure to stop at the aid station, where friends supplied me with ice water for hydration and sugary gel packets, which are easier to digest than solid foods, to fuel me with carbs. I still had an entire half day of running to go, so I splashed the freezing-cold water on my face to lower my body temperature. As Told to Chris Hatler Follow Us Unsubscribe | Privacy Notice | CA Notice at Collection Esquire is a publication of Hearst Magazines. ©2025 Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This email was sent by Hearst Magazines, 300 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019-3779