In early October of this year, the International Film Society Critics Association (IFSCA), of which I am a voting member, released its list of the 100 best films of the century thus far. I had taken part in the voting, got the opportunity to write a few review-type blurbs for certain films, and I was really delighted to be able to take part in this process. Today, both for posterity’s sake (meaning for the purpose of preserving and presenting my writing for my site’s readers) and to widen the list’s reach, I want to share my very brief review blurbs for the films that I was selected to comment on, release my 10 film ballot, and navigate you to the list home over on the IFSCA WordPress site. Let’s get to it.
THE PROCESS
If memory serves, the list was originally only going to be a top 25 list, but when my fellow members and I submitted our ballots, it became clear that there were so many unique entries that it would make more sense to publish a longer 100-film long list. And so, the voting lasted a little bit longer and had a few more steps to it than I think was originally intended. Ultimately, like the New York Times list equivalent, the list creators decided that we should count the year 2000 as one of the years of the century, even though it isn’t technically a part of the 21st century. Furthermore, we opted not to include any entries from 2025 as the year is still ongoing and not everyone has had the chance to see every film.
QUICK NAVIGATION
- The IFSCA 100 Best Films of the 21st Century (So Far), #100 to #76
- The IFSCA 100 Best Films of the 21st Century (So Far), #75 to #51
- The IFSCA 100 Best Films of the 21st Century (So Far), #50 to #31
- The IFSCA 100 Best Films of the 21st Century (So Far), #30 to #11
- The IFSCA 100 Best Films of the 21st Century (So Far), #10 to #1
- Letterboxd list of the top 100
MY BALLOT
It made me very happy to be able to submit my ballot of 10 films. And, frankly, deciding on a list was a lot more difficult than I had imagined. I decided to go for 10 films that I would only list chronologically. Ultimately, I’m not sure if this would still be my list today. The funny thing is that when you love movies as much as I do, and as much as the other members of the association do, these lists can change every day. And as I was reading the list, which was ultimately assembled, I noticed so many films that, in retrospect, it kind of bothered me that I didn’t list myself. Maybe, if you’re lucky, I’ll do my own top 25 films of the century later this year or early next year. In the end, eight of the ten films I listed ended up on the top 100 list, with both The Hunt and You Were Never Really Here missing out.
MY REVIEW BLURBS
When the list had been compiled, they asked members of the critics’ association who would like to submit their writing for the list. Ultimately, like the list shows, quite a lot of people want to do that. Which, I guess, limited how many films each member was allowed to write for. Ultimately, I was selected to write about two films from my list, David Fincher‘s Zodiac and Martin Scorsese‘s Killers of the Flower Moon. Specifically, they told us to write approximately 100-word comments for each film we were selected to write about and were given fairly free rein as to what was meant to be in those comments or blurbs. Since I had reviewed Killers of the Flower Moon before, I opted for something that resembled my original review, or at least summarized the most essential parts of it, but, since I haven’t actually reviewed David Fincher’s Zodiac, I had to think of something entirely new for that, which I found to be a lot of fun. Perhaps, if you’re lucky, somewhere down the line, I’ll write a full review that incorporates this short review blurb that I wrote for this list. Below, you’ll find each blurb that I was tasked with writing.
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON:
“Martin Scorsese balances his focus between both the Osage Nation and those that circled them like wolves in his monumental neo-western historical epic, partly concerned with interrogating our understanding of US history. Its conclusion shows a level of self-awareness and reflection from the master filmmaker that indicates that he knows full well how dangerous it is for the wrong people to tell others’ stories. It insists that we reckon with the loss of life that has been cruelly swept under the rug of history, and, through a moment of self-insertion, Scorsese invites you to consider what part we all play.” – Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen’s IFSCA 100-word Review Blurb for Killers of the Flower Moon (#65).
ZODIAC:
“Eighteen years after its original release, David Fincher’s ZODIAC has stood the test of time and become a true crime classic. It is one of the most rewatchable thrillers of the century, and it successfully manages to find moments of both levity and pitch-black horror darkness that take your breath away or make your blood run cold. Perhaps no other film better captures the feeling among true crime obsessives that, even if something remains unsolved, on repeat viewings or through thorough investigation, you might be able to see through the veil and into the darkest depths of human nature.” – Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen’s IFSCA 100-word Review Blurb for Zodiac (#21).
– Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen.
I'm Jeffrey Rex 