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: |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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 Should The Bear Call It Quits? |
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In 2023, my New Year's resolution was to eat everything. People ventured outdoors more often after pandemic restrictions eased, and I thankfully didn't lose my sense of taste to the virus. So, I decided that I would look at the world with fresh eyes (or, well, with a fresh palette). If there was any delicacy I hadn't tried yet, or any food I was hesitant to explore, then that was the year to expand my taste buds. Some people aim to lose weight. I wanted to pack them on. I'm not sure how I stumbled upon the idea. I was a picky eater as a child, though my parents could tell stories for hours about how I used to eat shrimp like it was candy. It's possible that the pandemic lit a fire under my ass to experience everything right now before it's too late. But at the same time, I think the idea stemmed from watching The Bear that summer. There's something incredibly inspiring and magical about a show that hits the ball clear out of the park in its first season. We've seen a few recently—Severance, The Pitt, Shōgun, Squid Game, The Last of Us. Much like The Bear's first season, these electric shows just simply understood their material, their tone, their vision, and hit the ground running like Tom Cruise in a Mission: Impossible film. The Bear not only struck gold on a cast including Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and more, but the show's dramatization of stressful high-end restaurants hit home with a lot of professional chefs in the audience. (Much like how The Pitt resonated with healthcare workers). Hell, The Bear had me feeling so amped that I was dining in restaurants that served cow brains and fried chicken beaks for god's sake. But read a headline nowadays about any one of the shows listed above (save for The Pitt and Severance), and you won't find much magic left. Even for a popular show's second or third season, many fans and critics alike are already finding themselves tired. (Save for Succession, which only got even better in season 2, if you ask me!). Take this past Wednesday night, for example. When The Bear season 4 premiered, most of the immediate reaction consisted of viewers questioning if it should have ended last season, or even outright dreading future installments entirely. After The Bear broke nearly every Emmy nomination record known to man last year, that's not a good sign. Shows such as The Sopranos, Mad Men, and Succession used to run for five to six seasons before calling it quits, with fans applauding louder and louder with each new round of episodes. Daytime soaps? Those audiences last generations. But in today's streaming wars, even critically acclaimed dramas seem to overstay their welcome after just two or three seasons. So, what is the longevity of a TV show today? Part of the frustration lies with the streamers themselves. Most spin-offs and prequels elicit groans more than cheers. Just this week, Squid Game season 3 ended with an absolutely batshit cameo that likely teases an English-language spin-off we certainly don't need. Even films like From the World of John Wick: Ballerina felt dead on arrival. (Maybe a better title would have helped!). But you never want to see a show with such powerful momentum as The Bear slow the plot down in season 4 just because the higher-ups assume they can stretch out their unparalleled success for two or three more seasons. From what I gather of The Bear season 4 premiere, the show wrapped up season 3's dramatic cliff-hanger and moved on just a little too smoothly for a series about losing your goddamn mind in the kitchen. The modern audience is not without fault either. This is the swipe-left and leave him on read era, after all. Season 4? Not in this economy. I have my own trauma to sort through. If I left a party and saw Carmy absolutely going through it in the corner all night, I would hope someone would help that man seek out professional help a lot faster than season 4. Thankfully, from what our senior entertainment editor Brady Langmann wrote of the finale, it sounds like he's on his way there… eventually. How are you feeling about The Bear season 4 so far? And how long is too long for a TV show nowadays? Write me your thoughts at josh.rosenberg@hearst.com and we can talk about it when we discuss The Bear's season 4 finale right here next Monday. |
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Thank you to everyone who read my Steven Spielberg send-up last week—especially to the reader who let me know about their soft spot for Empire of the Sun. "I loved stories and was already a movie fan by my teen years, having grown up watching everything I could," they wrote. "E.T., Jaws, and Raiders were on regular rotation. One viewing of Empire forever changed how I watched movies." Beautiful. – B.L.
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The Continuing Adventures of the Esquire Entertainment Desk |
The 2025 NBA Draft class had a hell of a night on Wednesday. We shot 24 of the night's 30 first-round picks on the red carpet at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, including Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper, VJ Edgecombe, Ace Bailey, and more. Take a look here. >> We talked to M3GAN herself about her new sequel, M3GAN 2.0. Last time, things didn't work out so well for our writer, Brady Langmann. Now that M3GAN's trying out the superhero role, maybe Langmann can survive another round with the deadly AI doll. >> Lee Pace told us all about Foundation season 3. Pace plays not one, not two, but at least four clones of the galactic emperor in the Apple TV+ sci-fi series. "It is, frankly, the biggest thing I've ever been a part of," he says. Read the interview by Eric Francisco. >> |
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Lee Pace in Foundation season 3 / Apple TV+ |
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The Cliff-Hanger's Winners and Losers of the Week |
Winner: Denis Villeneuve The Dune director nabbed the coveted job as the next James Bond director this week. If it's anything like his sci-fi films, we might see James Bond ride a sandworm in the desert by this time next year. Loser: My Eyeballs The Bear season 4, Squid Game season 3, F1: The Movie, M3GAN 2.0, Ironheart, and Love Island USA season 7 are all on my watchlist this weekend. Hard to complain when you watch TV for work, but that's a lot of TV, folks! Winner: Kerry Condon According to Eric Francisco, Kerry Condon's character in F1 is the heart of the film. "Condon drives the movie's forward motion," he writes, "allowing her to feel like a real human being in a film inundated with caricatures of arrogant masculinity." Go Kerry! I loved her in Banshees of Inisherin. Loser: The New Golden Bachelor Gerry Turner didn't exactly leave The Golden Bachelor with grace. This week, it seems like the spin-off's second lead is angering fans before the show even starts. Mel Owens, a 66-year-old former NFL player who is handing out the roses this season, reportedly told producers that he won't date any women on the show who are over 60. "I said, 'If they're 60 or over, I'm cutting them," Owens said. Yikes! Winner: Brandon Sklenar The 1923 actor celebrated his 35th birthday this weekend, following a trip to Milan Fashion Week to attend the Ralph Lauren 2026 Spring Purple Label show. I phoned Sklenar when he returned home to Los Angeles, and he told me all about his exciting new action film, F.A.S.T., with Taylor Sheridan. |
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