But generally I'm fine with the list Tim posted.

I would actually give Two Towers edge in influence over The Pianist. Given that it's the first prominient appearence of Gollum and first film in trilogy with large-scale battle scences and siege scences which are now considered sort of golden standard for fantasy film.

Maybe it's the wrong mindset from me, but I don't want the Lord of the Rings trilogy ending up too close on the final list, because there's certainly a difference in acclaim between the three. I take your points regarding the influence of Two Towers, Tim, but Fellowship is arguably more influential because it was the first one: it was the movie that introduced the highly advanced special effects that Jackson had been working on for years, and even though the trilogy was shot at the same time, the release of the first movie made a huge impression on the film industry. On the other hand, Return of the King is just regarded as the biggest masterpiece of the trilogy, tying the most Oscar wins for a single film - which is an incredible achievement for a fantasy film. Two Towers is thus definitely the least of the three, as is kinda reflected by the number of Oscar nominations (13 for Fellowship, 6 for Two Towers and 11 for Return of the King), and this should be reflected on the final list.

By placing The Pianist at #2 here, we can create that space. As paul said, it was a return to form for Polanski and arguably his greatest film - certainly his greatest success - since Chinatown. It is still seen as one of the most impressive war films of the past 25 years, and a very popular one as well - it may have grossed only 120 million on its initial release, but it certainly has lasting popularity.

Yes, The Pianist probably have better credentials than I originaly envisioned. Still, I don't want us underrating Two Towers just because there were more significant LotR movies. Being in a middle sort of puts it in natural disadvantage plus it's all of 2000s cinema we are comparing it with, not just these two movies.

Actually, that's exactly my problem here. Is The Two Towers on its own really an overall greater film than The Pianist? Does it belong higher on an all-time list? To me it seems like it being the central part of the LotR trilogy is not a disadvantage for it at all but rather an advantage as I imagine it probably gets propelled up by people putting the entire trilogy on their year-end lists or just giving the entire trilogy a high rating because it is such a compelling work as a trilogy. Do I feel comfortable saying that The Two Towers on its own is a more important part of film history than The Pianist? Maybe you guys do. I certainly don't.

I think my point with Two Towers was that intuitively more people gonna have either the first or the last iteration of trilogy at the top so it's suffers in acclaim compared to them while being just as well-executed and not without influence specific to it. Can The Pianist be credited with particular influence?

I highly doubt it can.

OK, leave The Two Towers above The Pianist. Though I still don't buy that argument about any natural disadvantage.

Let's put it to a vote then.

Well, by the criteria The Two Towers clearly wins popularity, clearly wins influence and if it loses acclaim, it's at least not by much, so what's there to vote?

To 2001 then.

1. Fellowship
2. Spirited Away
3. Mulholland Dr.

I'm thinking SA has a greater advantage in popularity than MD does in acclaim.

LotR, as stated earlier, has influence points, plus solid acclaim and enormous popularity, so #1 feels right to me.

TSPDT

1. Mulholland Dr. - David Lynch
2. Spirited Away - Hayao Miyazaki
3. A.I. Artificial Intelligence - Steven Spielberg
4. Y tu mamá también - Alfonso Cuarón
5. The Royal Tenenbaums - Wes Anderson
6. Amélie - Jean-Pierre Jeunet
7. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Peter Jackson
8. Moulin Rouge! - Baz Luhrmann
9. The Piano Teacher - Michael Haneke
10. Donnie Darko - Richard Kelly
11. La ciénaga - Lucrecia Martel
12. Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner - Zacharias Kunuk
13. Ghost World - Terry Zwigoff
14. Waking Life - Richard Linklater
15. In Praise of Love - Jean-Luc Godard
16. Fat Girl - Catherine Breillat
17. What Time Is It There? - Tsai Ming-Liang
18. Time Out - Laurent Cantet
19. Trouble Every Day - Claire Denis
20. Millennium Mambo - Hou Hsiao-Hsien
21. In the Bedroom - Todd Field
22. Gosford Park - Robert Altman
23. The Devil's Backbone - Guillermo del Toro
24. Pulse - Kiyoshi Kurosawa
25. Shrek - Andrew Adamson & Vicky Jenson
26. Monsoon Wedding - Mira Nair
27. The Son's Room - Nanni Moretti
28. Lagaan: Once upon a Time in India - Ashutosh Gowariker
29. Black Hawk Down - Ridley Scott
30. I'm Going Home - Manoel de Oliveira
31. La libertad - Lisandro Alonso
32. The Man Who Wasn't There - Joel & Ethan Coen
33. The Others - Alejandro Amenábar
34. Zoolander - Ben Stiller
35. Hedwig and the Angry Inch - John Cameron Mitchell
36. Monsters, Inc. - Pete Docter
37. All About Lily Chou-Chou - Shunji Iwai
38. Lantana - Ray Lawrence
39. No Man's Land - Danis Tanovic
40. Ali - Michael Mann
41. Lovely & Amazing - Nicole Holofcener
42. The Lady and the Duke - Éric Rohmer
43. En construcción - José Luis Guerín
44. Session 9 - Brad Anderson
45. Ocean's Eleven - Steven Soderbergh
46. Late Marriage - Dover Kosashvili
47. The Deep End - Scott McGehee & David Siegel
48. Monster's Ball - Marc Forster
49. Va savoir - Jacques Rivette
50. The Mad Songs of Fernanda Hussein - John Gianvito
51. L.I.E. - Michael Cuesta
52. Sobibor, October 14, 1943, 4 p.m. - Claude Lanzmann
53. Visitor Q - Takashi Miike
54. A Beautiful Mind - Ron Howard
55. Domestic Violence - Frederick Wiseman
56. Millennium Actress - Satoshi Kon
57. Sex and Lucia - Julio Medem
58. Wet Hot American Summer - David Wain
59. startup.com - Chris Hegedus
60. Shaolin Soccer - Stephen Chow
61. Operai, contadini - Jean-Marie Straub & Danièle Huillet
62. Kandahar - Mohsen Makhmalbaf
63. The Ground - Robert Beavers
64. Profit & Nothing But! - Raoul Peck
65. The American Astronaut - Cory McAbee
66. Safe Conduct - Bertrand Tavernier
67. Ichi the Killer - Takashi Miike
68. Bridget Jones's Diary - Sharon Maguire
69. Thirteen Conversations About One Thing - Jill Sprecher
70. Where Does Your Hidden Smile Lie? - Pedro Costa
71. The Tailor of Panama - John Boorman
72. Read My Lips - Jacques Audiard
73. The Milk of Human Kindness - Dominique Cabrera
74. Father and Daughter - Michaël Dudok de Wit
75. Porto of My Childhood - Manoel de Oliveira
76. A Fine Day - Thomas Arslan
77. Tokyo Marigold - Jun Ichikawa
78. Dogtown and Z-Boys - Stacy Peralta
79. Warm Water Under a Red Brige - Shôhei Imamura
80. The Pledge - Sean Penn
81. From Hell - Albert & Allen Hughes
82. One Fine Spring Day - Hur Jin-Ho
83. The Believer - Henry Bean
84. Training Day - Antoine Fuqua

Films101

1. Y tu mamá también - Alfonso Cuarón
2. Mulholland Dr. - David Lynch
3. Spirited Away - Hayao Miyazaki
4. Amélie - Jean-Pierre Jeunet
5. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Peter Jackson
6. Moulin Rouge! - Baz Luhrmann
7. Lagaan: Once upon a Time in India - Ashutosh Gowariker
8. Shrek - Andrew Adamson & Vicky Jenson
9. Gosford Park - Robert Altman
10. No Man's Land - Danis Tanovic
11. Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner - Zacharias Kunuk
12. The Piano Teacher - Michael Haneke
13. Ghost World - Terry Zwigoff
14. The Son's Room - Nanni Moretti
15. In the Bedroom - Todd Field
16. Monsoon Wedding - Mira Nair
17. Lantana - Ray Lawrence
18. A Beautiful Mind - Ron Howard
19. A.I. Artificial Intelligence - Steven Spielberg
20. The Man Who Wasn't There - Joel & Ethan Coe
21. Donnie Darko - Richard Kelly
22. Kandahar - Mohsen Makhmalbaf
23. Nowhere in Africa - Caroline Link
24. Time Out - Laurent Cantet
25. Waking Life - Richard Linklater
26. Behind the Sun - Walter Salles
27. Last Orders - Fred Schepisi
27. The Royal Tenenbaums - Wes Anderson
29. Dogtown and Z-Boys - Stacy Peralta
30. What Time Is It There? - Tsai Ming-Liang
31. Ocean's Eleven - Steven Soderbergh
32. Monster's Ball - Marc Forster
33. The Others - Alejandro Amenábar
34. Read My Lips - Jacques Audiard
35. Monsters, Inc. - Pete Docter
36. Winged Migration - Jacques Perrin, Jacques Cluzaud & Michel Debats
37. Black Hawk Down - Ridley Scott
38. The Grey Zone - Tim Blake Nelson
39. Bridget Jones's Diary - Sharon Maguire
40. Baran - Majid Majidi
41. Fat Girl - Catherine Breillat
42. Lovely & Amazing - Nicole Holofcener
43. The Experiment - Oliver Hirschbiegel
44. The Pledge - Sean Penn
45. Storytelling - Todd Solondz
46. I'm Going Home - Manoel de Oliveira
47. Thirteen Conversations About One Thing - Jill Sprecher
48. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - Chris Columbus
49. Me Without You - Sandra Goldbacher
50. Bully - Larry Clark

RYM

1. Spirited Away - Hayao Miyazaki
2. Mulholland Dr. - David Lynch
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Peter Jackson
4. The Royal Tenenbaums - Wes Anderson
5. Donnie Darko - Richard Kelly
6. Amélie - Jean-Pierre Jeunet
7. What Time Is It There? - Tsai Ming-Liang
8. The Piano Teacher - Michael Haneke
9. The Man Who Wasn't There - Joel & Ethan Coen
10. Millennium Actress - Satoshi Kon
11. Monsters, Inc. - Pete Docter
12. Ghost World - Terry Zwigoff
13. Cat Soup - Tatsuo Satô
14. Children Underground - Edet Belzberg
15. Waking Life - Richard Linklater
16. All About Lily Chou-Chou - Shunji Iwai
17. Y tu mamá también - Alfonso Cuarón
18. Cowboy Bebop: The Movie - Shinichirô Watanabe
19. Hedwig and the Angry Inch - John Cameron Mitchell
20. Rivers and Tides - Thomas Riedelsheimer
21. In the Bedroom - Todd Field
22. No Man's Land - Danis Tanovic
23. Scratch - Doug Pray
24. Time Out - Laurent Cantet
25. Millennium Mambo - Hou Hsiao-Hsien
26. Dog Days - Ulrich Seidl
27. Elegy of a Voyage - Alexander Sokurov
28. La ciénaga - Lucrecia Martel
29. Waiting for Godot - Michael Lindsay-Hogg
30. A Place on Earth - Artur Aristakisyan
31. One Man Up - Paolo Sorrentino
32. Domestic Violence - Frederick Wiseman
33. En construcción - José Luis Guerín
34. Ichi the Killer - Takashi Miike
35. The Others - Alejandro Amenábar
36. Dream Work - Peter Tscherkassky
37. Training Day - Antoine Fuqua
38. Read My Lips - Jacques Audiard
39. Blue Spring - Toshiaki Toyoda
40. The Happiness of the Katakuris - Takashi Miike
41. Pulse - Kiyoshi Kurosawa
42. The Son's Room - Nanni Moretti
43. He Died with a Felafel in His Hand - Richard Lowenstein
44. To the Left of the Father - Luiz Fernando Carvalho
45. The Devil's Backbone - Guillermo del Toro
46. Distance - Hirokazu Koreeda
47. Address Unknown - Kim Ki-Duk
48. Shrek - Andrew Adamson & Vicky Jenson
49. Tape - Richard Linklater
50. Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures - Jan Harlan

Worldwide box office

1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - Chris Columbus
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Peter Jackson
3. Monsters, Inc. - Pete Docter
4. Shrek - Andrew Adamson & Vicky Jenson
5. Ocean's Eleven - Steven Soderbergh
6. Pearl Harbor - Michael Bay
7. The Mummy Returns - Stephen Sommers
8. Jurassic Park III - Joe Johnston
9. Planet of the Apes - Tim Burton
10. Hannibal - Ridley Scott
11. Rush Hour 2 - Brett Ratner
12. A Beautiful Mind - Ron Howard
13. American Pie 2 - J. B. Rogers
14. Bridget Jones's Diary - Sharon Maguire
15. Spirited Away - Hayao Miyazaki
16. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - Simon West
17. A.I. Artificial Intelligence - Steven Spielberg
18. The Others - Alejandro Amenábar
19. The Fast and the Furious - Rob Cohen
20. Vanilla Sky - Cameron Crowe
21. Cats & Dogs - Lawrence Guterman
22. Spy Kids - Robert Rodriguez
23. Atlantis: The Lost Empire - Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise
24. Moulin Rouge! - Baz Luhrmann
25. Dr. Dolittle 2 - Steve Carr
26. Amélie - Jean-Pierre Jeunet
27. Black Hawk Down - Ridley Scott
28. The Princess Diaries - Garry Marshall
29. America's Sweethearts - Joe Roth
30. The Mexican - Gore Verbinski
31. Swordfish - Dominic Sena
32. Spy Game - Tony Scott
33. Legally Blonde - Robert Luketic
34. Scary Movie 2 - Keenen Ivory Wayans
35. Shallow Hal - Bobby & Peter Farrelly
36. Save the Last Dance - Thomas Carter
37. A Knight's Tale - Brian Helgeland
38. The Score - Frank Oz
39. Along Came a Spider - Lee Tamahori
40. Training Day - Antoine Fuqua
41. Don't Say a Word - Gary Fleder
42. Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius - John A. Davis
43. Evolution - Ivan Reitman
44. I Am Sam - Jessie Nelson
45. Enemy at the Gates - Jean-Jacques Annaud
46. The Wedding Planner - Adam Shankman
47. Behind Enemy Lines - John Moore
48. Gosford Park - Robert Altman
49. Ali - Michael Mann
50. Rat Race - Jerry Zucker

IMDb (Number of ratings)

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Peter Jackson
2. A Beautiful Mind - Ron Howard
3. Monsters, Inc. - Pete Docter
4. Donnie Darko - Richard Kelly
5. Amélie - Jean-Pierre Jeunet
6. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - Chris Columbus
7. Spirited Away - Hayao Miyazaki
8. Shrek - Andrew Adamson & Vicky Jenson
9. Ocean's Eleven - Steven Soderbergh
10. Training Day - Antoine Fuqua
11. Black Hawk Down - Ridley Scott
12. The Fast and the Furious - Rob Cohen
13. The Others - Alejandro Amenábar
14. Pearl Harbor - Michael Bay
15. Mulholland Dr. - David Lynch
16. The Mummy Returns - Stephen Sommers
17. Jurassic Park III - Joe Johnston
18. A.I. Artificial Intelligence - Steven Spielberg
19. Moulin Rouge! - Baz Luhrmann
20. The Royal Tenenbaums - Wes Anderson
21. Hannibal - Ridley Scott
22. Vanilla Sky - Cameron Crowe
23. Zoolander - Ben Stiller
24. Enemy at the Gates - Jean-Jacques Annaud
25. American Pie 2 - J. B. Rogers
26. Blow - Ted Demme
27. Bridget Jones's Diary - Sharon Maguire
28. Planet of the Apes - Tim Burton
29. Rush Hour 2 - Brett Ratner
30. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - Simon West
31. Legally Blonde - Robert Luketic
32. Swordfish - Dominic Sena
33. K-PAX - Iain Softley
34. A Knight's Tale - Brian Helgeland
35. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back - Kevin Smith
36. Scary Movie 2 - Keenen Ivory Wayans
37. From Hell - Albert & Allen Hughes
38. Spy Game - Tony Scott
39. I Am Sam - Jessie Nelson
40. Shallow Hal - Bobby & Peter Farrelly
41. The Princess Diaries - Garry Marshall
42. The Score - Frank Oz
43. Evolution - Ivan Reitman
44. Y tu mamá también - Alfonso Cuarón
45. Ghost World - Terry Zwigoff
46. Jeepers Creepers - Victor Salva
47. Rat Race - Jerry Zucker
48. Spy Kids - Robert Rodriguez
49. Serendipity - Peter Chelsom
50. The Mexican - Gore Verbinski

Academy Awards

A Beautiful Mind - Ron Howard
Gosford Park - Robert Altman
In the Bedroom - Todd Field
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Peter Jackson
Moulin Rouge! - Baz Luhrmann

Animated

Shrek - Andrew Adamson & Vicky Jenson
Spirited Away - Hayao Miyazaki
Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius - John A. Davis
Monsters, Inc. - Pete Docter

Foreign

No Man's Land - Danis Tanovic
Nowhere in Africa - Caroline Link
Amélie - Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Elling - Petter Næss
Lagaan: Once upon a Time in India - Ashutosh Gowariker
Son of the Bride - Juan José Campanella
Zus & Zo - Paula van der Oest

Golden Globes

Drama

A Beautiful Mind - Ron Howard
In the Bedroom - Todd Field
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Man Who Wasn't There - Joel & Ethan Coen
Mulholland Dr. - David Lynch

Musical or Comedy

Moulin Rouge! - Baz Luhrmann
Bridget Jones's Diary - Sharon Maguire
Gosford Park - Robert Altman
Legally Blonde - Robert Luketic
Shrek - Andrew Adamson & Vicky Jenson

Foreign

No Man's Land - Danis Tanovic
Amélie - Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Behind the Sun - Walter Salles
Monsoon Wedding - Mira Nair
Nowhere in Africa - Caroline Link
Y tu mamá también - Alfonso Cuarón

BAFTA Awards

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Peter Jackson
Amélie - Jean-Pierre Jeunet
A Beautiful Mind - Ron Howard
Moulin Rouge! - Baz Luhrmann
Shrek - Andrew Adamson & Vicky Jenson

British

Gosford Park - Robert Altman
The Warrior - Asif Kapadia
Bridget Jones's Diary - Sharon Maguire
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - Chris Columbus
Iris - Richard Eyre
Me Without You - Sandra Goldbacher

Foreign

Amélie - Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Behind the Sun - Walter Salles
Monsoon Wedding - Mira Nair
The Piano Teacher - Michael Haneke
Spirited Away - Hayao Miyazaki
The Warrior - Asif Kapadia
Y tu mamá también - Alfonso Cuarón

Cannes

The Son's Room - Nanni Moretti

Venice

Monsoon Wedding - Mira Nair

Berlin

Intimacy - Patrice Chéreau
Spirited Away - Hayao Miazaki

Locarno

Off to the Revolution by a 2CV - Maurizio Sciarra

Not quite as strong as 2002 but still...

1. Spirited Away
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
3. Mulholland Dr.
4. Amélie
5. Y tu mamá también
6. A Beautiful Mind
7. A.I. Artificial Intelligence
8. Donnie Darko
9. Shrek
10. The Royal Tenenbaums
11. Moulin Rouge!
12. Ghost World
13. The Piano Teacher
14. In the Bedroom
15. Monsters, Inc.
16. The Others
17. Gosford Park
18. Ocean's Eleven
19. Black Hawk Down
20. The Devil's Backbone

21. Waking Life
22. Monsoon Wedding
23. Lagaan: Once upon a Time in India
24. Bridget Jones's Diary
25. No Man's Land
26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
27. Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner
28. The Man Who Wasn't There
29. Hedwig and the Angry Inch
30. Training Day
31. The Son's Room
32. Lantana
33. La ciénaga
34. Zoolander
35. Millennium Actress
36. Time Out
37. What Time Is It There?
38. The Deep End
39. Dogtown and Z-Boys
40. The Fast and the Furious
41. Monster's Ball
42. Millennium Mambo
43. I'm Going Home
44. Ali
45. Shaolin Soccer
46. Fat Girl
47. Kandahar
48. Pulse
49. Read My Lips
50. Legally Blonde
51. Winged Migration
52. All About Lily Chou-Chou
53. Behind the Sun
54. Ichi the Killer
55. Nowhere in Africa
56. Va savoir
57. Enemy at the Gates
58. In Praise of Love
59. The Experiment
60. The Pledge
61. Spy Kids
62. From Hell
63. L.I.E.
64. Dil Chahta Hai
65. Lovely & Amazing
66. Last Orders
67. Frailty
68. Spy Game
69. Wet Hot American Summer
70. Vanilla Sky
71. Thirteen Conversations About One Thing
72. Atlantis: The Lost Empire
73. Visitor Q
74. Session 9
75. My Sassy Girl
76. The Score
77. Rush Hour 2
78. Blow
79. The Grey Zone
80. Serendipity
81. The Princess Diaries
82. The Happiness of the Katakuris
83. Me Without You
84. Pearl Harbor
85. Joy Ride
86. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
87. Hannibal
88. The Tailor of Panama
89. A Knight's Tale
90. The Warrior
91. Planet of the Apes
92. I Am Sam

I don't think MD has an advantage in acclaim at all when compared to SA and I think it's much closer between TFotR and SA with MD as a clear third.

As I see it Chihiro wins acclaim, TFotR wins popularity, and influence is more or less a draw. I also don't think either of these wins is particularly huge. So, I could go either way with the top two.