What films would be your faves of the 21st century?

My friend and "Movies 101" partner Nathan Weinbender and I had a discussion that will be the essence of this Friday's show. It involves the New York Times story that ran under the title slightly pretentious headline "The 25 Best Films of the 25th Century."

Such lists are basically click bait, even those compiled by the likes of A.S. Scott and Manohla Dargis. But movie fans tend to fall for them, and Nathan and I are no different. Nathan, who is the movie and music editor for The Inlander, wrote about his own list in the most recent edition. So I thought I would respond with the list that I came up with, which is considerably different.

1. The Tree of Life (2011): Terrence Malick looks at a father, a mother and three sons. In the process, he explores the very meaning of life itself. 

2. There Will Be Blood (2007): Paul Thomas Anderson adapts the Upton Sinclair novel about a ruthless oil man (Daniel Day Lewis) who gets rich in early California.

3. Amores Perros (2000): Alejandro Gonzales Iñárritu overpowers the screen with three interlocking stories of life in contemporary Mexico.

4. Pan's Labyrinth (2006): Guillermo del Toro combines his love for creatures with the savagery of the Spanish Civil War to make a superbly crafted political statement.

5. Mulholland Drive (2001): David Lynch gives his trademark weirdness just enough of a straight storyline to make this mystery story one of his most intriguing achievements.

6. Dancer in the Dark (2000): Dogma co-founder Lars von Trier makes a musical that doubles as a powerful anti-death-penalty statement.  

7. Spirited Away (2001): Anime master Hayao Miyazaki won an Oscar for this film about a young girl who must find a way to save her parents. 

8. The Dark Knight (2008): With the aid of an Oscar-winning performance by the late Heath Ledger, Christopher Nolan crafted a superhero blockbuster for the ages.  

9. A Prophet (2009): French filmmaker Jacques Audiard follows a young man's evolution from newly jailed prisoner to a budding Michael Corleone. 

10. Before Midnight (2013): The third in a trilogy that includes "Before Sunrise" (1995) and "Before Sunset" (2004), Richard Linklater's studies the birth, growth and possible end of a relationship. 

Other films that made my also-ran list: And Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (2000), Wes Anderson's "The Royal Tennenbaums (2001), Gasper Noé's "Irreversible" (2002), Pedro Almódover's "Talk to Her" (2002), Alfonso Cuarón's "Children of Men" (2006), Richard's Stanton's Pixar production "Wall-E" (2008), Woody Allen's "Blue Jasmine" (2013), Richard Linklater's "Boyhood" (2014), Alejandro Gonzales Iñárritu's "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)" (2014), Andrey Zvyagintsev's "Leviathan" (2014), Alejandro Gonzales Iñárritu's "The Revenant" (2015), László Nemes' "Son of Saul" (2015), Sean Baker's "Tangerine" (2015) and Barry Jenkins' "Moonlight."

Any way you look at it, there are some pretty good films in all the lists … though to be honest, neither Nathan nor I have seen all the film listed by the NYT critics. So, clearly, we have to get busy.