It’s a daunting undertaking but The New York Times has put together a list of the 100 best films of the 21st Century and one blockbuster film chosen by actor Samara Weaving is likely to surprise you. To compile this list, NYT gathered selections from actors, directors, producers, and more throughout Hollywood.
The talented Samara Weaving, star of Ready or Not and The Babysitter, to name a few roles, provided her choices. They included Oscar contenders like 1917, The Social Network, and No Country for Old Men, as expected. However, her choice of one movie that grossed over a billion dollars was unexpected.
Samara Weaving Picked Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest As A Top Movie Of The Century
She Was The Only Person To Name This Film
The surprising pick from Samara Weaving was Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. This was an interesting choice because, while popular, the film actually wasn’t all that well received by critics. In fact, the second installment in the hit franchise sits at just 53% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a significant drop from the first movie.
Weaving’s selections were rather interesting overall. Along with the aforementioned Oscar bait that she named, Weaving also included Boiling Point (again, she was the only one to name this), the comedy Superbad, and the underseen Dogtooth. That’s actually just the kind of varied movie taste that works for this sort of list.
A handful of other movies come across as surprise selections. Though these didn’t make the top 100 because only one person picked them, films like Poor Things, Seven Psychopaths, BlackKklansman, and Sound of Metal, to name a few, deserve the love they got from these Hollywood names.
Interestingly, Dead Man’s Chest is the only Pirates of the Caribbean movie to be named by anyone among those who NYT spoke with, despite the fact that the first film is considered by most to be the best of the franchise. While an unlikely pick, it does hold merit when looking at certain factors.
Why Samara Weaving Was Right To Name Dead Man’s Chest
Pirates Of The Caribbean’s Success Is Valued In More Than Critical Reviews
A movie that received mixed reviews from critics is difficult to consider one of the best of its era. However, the success of a film goes beyond what the critics say, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest is proof of that. For starters, the cultural impact that it had was almost unmatched for its time.
Based only on a Disney World ride, Pirates of the Caribbean somehow became a phenomenon and while the first film set it on that course, it was the second that expanded the world, made it a franchise, and turned it into a global hit. Grossing more than $1 billion is no small feat.
Dead Man’s Chest helped create some of the most iconic characters in cinematic history.
Of course, it goes beyond box office success too. Dead Man’s Chest helped create some of the most iconic characters in cinematic history. On top of that, it helped revolutionize CGI thanks to characters like Davy Jones, whose effects hold up two decades later.
Even if Samara Weaving was the only person to name Pirates of the Caribbean one of the best movies of the 21st century, there are legitimate reasons to name it as such. It’s a special film for so many of its fans.
