25 From 25: A Quarter Century of Great Movies—Part 4 of 5

As hard as it might be to believe, the 21st century will soon be 25 percent over.

Julius Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) inspects a test-run atomic bomb, in "Oppenheimer." Universal Pictures

During the last week of every month through this November, I will be listing my 25 favorite movies of the last 25 years (five per month, listed in chronological order).

Pound for pound, the fourth installment of this list is collectively the strongest. Also, this set contains the sole Western and only sequel on the list.

‘Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood’ (2019)

(L–R) Brad Pitt, Leonardo Di Caprio, and Margot Robbie at an event for “Once Upon on Time in Hollywood.” Andrew Cooper/Sony Pictures Entertainment

The ninth and most recent effort from filmmaker Quentin Tarantino is also his personal favorite. This is saying a great deal considering the quality of his entire catalogue. Taking place over at least six months in 1969, this epic employs essentially the same narrative blueprint of Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds,” the movie he considers to be his masterpiece.

The main plot centers on TV actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his best friend-stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) as the former faces the end of his career.

The first subplot includes the day-to-day events of various members of the Charles Manson cult. The final story thread follows actress Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) in a mostly dialogue-free performance.

The last 15 minutes finds all the principals ending up at the same location and this is where the fable-revisionist history portion of the story kicks in. Without giving anything whatsoever away, Tarantino’s movie delivers an ending, ripe with hope and uplift, even if only imagined.

‘Eternal Spring’ (2022)

A scene from "Eternal Spring." Lofty Sky Entertainment

This brilliantly conceived feature from Canadian writer-director-co-producer Jason Loftus combines animation with present-day interviews and stock footage with a documentary-style presentation.

The primary focus of the film is “Falun Gong,” a Chinese-based spiritual practice that combines meditation and qigong exercises. Founded in 1992 by Li Hongzhi, Falun Gong’s moral philosophy is centered on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance.

Initially endorsed by the Communist Chinese Party (CCP), the practice soon became the target of the CCP due to the swelling membership (estimated at the time to be over 70 million) and the misperceived threat to the status quo.

“Eternal Spring” is based mostly in Changchun, the capital and largest city in the northeastern province of Jilin. The literal English translation of Changchun (长春) is “eternal spring.”

‘Top Gun: Maverick’ (2022)

Penny Benjamin (Jennifer Connelly) and Pete Mitchell (Tom Cruise), in "Top Gun: Maverick." Paramount Pictures

With this film, producer and leading man Tom Cruise literally rescued the brick-and-mortar movie theater industry. Bravely resisting Paramount’s insistence to stream, the movie at the height of the COVID-19 era, Cruise stuck to his instincts and flatly refused.

This high-stakes gamble paid off in spades as the movie (far better than the 1986 original that spawned it) crushed it at the box office while making patriotism cooler than it had been since the days of John Wayne, James Cagney, and James Stewart.

‘Corsicana’ (2022)

Sam Tanner (Jason Johnson, L) and Reeves (Isaiah Washington), in "Corsicana." Rose Dover Entertainment

Co-writer, first-time director, and leading man Isaiah Washington breathed new life into the old-school American Western with this revisionist history throwback. As U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves, Washington deftly captures the same type of quiet confidence and understated outsider machismo of Clint Eastwood in “Unforgiven,” “Pale Rider,” and the Sergio Leone “The Man with No Name” trilogy.

Washington the director takes it a step further by depicting truly brutal violence with careful blocking, innuendo, and off-screen implication. Rarely has such a graphic story been made with such little visual bloodshed while being the product of a freshman filmmaker. “Corsicana” is as stunning a director’s debut as I have ever witnessed.

‘Oppenheimer’ (2023)

J.R. Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) views the atomic explosion, in “Oppenheimer.” Universal Pictures

From where I’m sitting, Christopher Nolan’s sprawling historical epic covering the creation of the atomic bomb is by far the best movie of this young century. Cillian Murphy stars as the title character, a socially-awkward scientist hired by Leslie Groves (Matt Damon), an officer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to design and manufacture the ultimate doomsday weapon.

As with “Inception” (included in the second set of this series), Nolan, also the screenwriter, presents the narrative out-of-sequence. As the movie covers a nearly 40-year time frame and includes well over 50 speaking parts, this type of presentation practically invites viewer confusion, but that never happens.

Granted, this isn’t a movie one can watch casually. If you blink at the wrong time, you’ll miss something. On the other hand, it makes multiple viewings a desired pleasure and not a chore. I’ve seen it a dozen times and discovered something I hadn’t previously noticed with every view.

Nominated for 13 Academy Awards and the winner of seven (including Best Picture, Director, Lead Actor (Murphy), and Supporting Actor (Robert Downey Jr.), the movie also took in close to $1 billion at the worldwide box office. Only “Titanic” and “The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King” have won more Oscars while making more money.

Please be sure to check back in November for the fifth and final set of 25 great 21st-century titles.

All titles except “Corsicana” are available on physical home video. For streaming options, visit JustWatch.com.

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