Quentin Tarantino and Christopher Nolan are unquestionably two of the greatest living film directors, whose finest work has made modern cinema what it is today. However, there does seem to be an obsession with the singular brilliance of these two filmmakers disproportionate to their cinematic output, as the recent New York Times poll for the 21st century’s best movies reflects.

Five of Christopher Nolan’s best movies make the final list of 100, but if we’re truly honest with ourselves, we must admit that at least two of these movies – Oppenheimer and Interstellar – don’t belong there. Meanwhile, the list’s ranking of Quentin Tarantino’s extravagantly cast war movie Inglourious Basterds as the 14th best movie of this century is shockingly misguided.

To make matters worse, Tarantino’s mixed bag of a martial arts film Kill Bill: Volume 1 makes an appearance on the list, making a mockery of the entire poll. Even the movie’s most ardent admirers would have to accept that it’s far from the 61st best theatrical release of the past 25 years.

Instead of Christopher Nolan and Quentin Tarantino taking up eight places in this list between them, it would have been nice to see some of the all-time great and generationally significant directors who unfairly missed out appear at least once. Nolan and Tarantino are masters of their craft, but so are the eight directors I make a case for below.

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Christopher Nolan & Quentin Tarantino Are Both Over-Represented In The NYT Top 100 List

Some Of The 8 Entries They Have Between Them Shouldn’t Be There

The New York Times poll got Christopher Nolan’s best movie of the 21st century spot on by placing The Dark Knight above his other works in its results. But the list goes too far in featuring more Nolan movies than any other 21st century director, when there are several other filmmakers more worthy of this honor.

Including Oppenheimer and Interstellar as entries in the best 100 movies of the 21st century, in particular, is a highly contentious decision. Both of these films are laudable works of art, but neither is generally considered anywhere near the century’s top 100 outside of this New York Times poll.

The poll also gets it right in naming Inglourious Basterds Quentin Tarantino’s best movie of the 21st century. But placing the movie at number 14 in its list, above the likes of City of God, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Boyhood, Arrival, Lost in Translation, and Pan’s Labyrinth, seems utterly absurd.

At most, Tarantino should have two films in the 100, and neither of them should be in the top 50. It’s arguable that Inglourious Basterds features one of the greatest performances by an actor in the past 25 years – Christoph Waltz’s portrayal of SS Colonel Hans Landa – but one performance doesn’t make a masterpiece.

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Plenty Of Worthy Directors Were Strangely Ignored

Dozens Of The 21st Century’s Greatest Movies Have Been Omitted As A Result

Quentin Tarantino and Christopher Nolan taking up eight places in The New York Times’ “100 Best Movies of the 21st Century” isn’t just an overestimation of their cinematic output over the past 25 years. It’s an affront to the dozens of directors whose works of pure genius were strangely ignored in the poll results.

Filmmakers who can feel especially aggrieved include Danny Boyle, who directed 28 Days Later, Slumdog Millionaire, and Sunshine. Then there’s Edgar Wright, the director responsible for Shaun of the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and Baby Driver.

The list has no place for Ari Aster’s movies, either, despite his works Hereditary and Midsommar helping to usher in a new golden age for horror. There’s also no place for Chloé Zhao’s first three directorial feature films, including for the Best Picture winner at the 2021 Oscars, Nomadland.

The legendary Ken Loach, whose movies have completely changed the way we look at life, might have won the Palme D’Or for both The Wind That Shakes the Barley and I, Daniel Blake, but apparently neither film is among the century’s top 100. Argentine director Lucrecia Martel could have had two profoundly thought-provoking inclusions, but didn’t get a look-in.

What’s more, it beggars belief that none of Lynne Ramsey’s Morvern Callar and We Need to Talk About Kevin, or Alejandro Iñárritu Amores perros or Birdman, made the list. In addition to the above eight directors, whose work was wholly omitted from The New York Times’ 100, there’s an entire roll call of other worthy filmmakers notable by their absence.

There was space for eight Christopher Nolan and Quentin Tarantino films. But no room whatsoever for Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Pedro Costa, Martin McDonagh, Claire Denis, Kenneth Lonergan, Baz Luhrmann, David Cronenberg, or Béla Tarr.

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The NYT Top 100 List Shows A Preference For Certain Directors Over Others

Tarantino & Nolan’s Movies Have Taken The Place Of Other Directors Who Deserve More Recognition

There are plenty of movies which should have been included in the New York Times list that weren’t, but it’s only natural that certain controversial omissions happen with so few places up for grabs. Of course, all best film lists are ultimately a matter of taste, and it’s impossible to argue conclusively for or against one movie or another.

Nevertheless, it’s the clear overall preference for certain movie directors over others in this list’s top 100 entries that’s most frustrating. It doesn’t seem right that none of the directors listed in the previous section of this article feature in the list at all, while two wildly popular Hollywood directors are disproportionately represented in the form of several overrated movies.

Christopher Nolan and Quentin Tarantino were always going to get their dues in this list, one way or another. But some of their entries are surplus to requirements, in lieu of other superior works of cinema being given the recognition they actually need and deserve.