Good morning. Here’s the latest news to start your Friday:
More news is below. But first, we share the top 100 movies of the century.
The best movies
Ten years ago last May, I found myself so thunderstruck by a movie that I’m pretty sure my mouth hung open for nearly its entire two-hour running time. The film was George Miller’s visceral vision “Mad Max: Fury Road,” which I’d easily rank as the greatest action movie of the last quarter-century. Turns out, so does Hollywood. At 11th place, “Mad Max: Fury Road” was the highest-ranking blockbuster on our exciting new list, The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century, compiled by polling more than 500 people in and around the film industry. Contributors included Oscar-winning directors like Pedro Almodóvar, Sofia Coppola, Guillermo del Toro and Barry Jenkins, and actors such as Tilda Swinton, Javier Bardem, Julianne Moore and Chiwetel Ejiofor. We even got a ballot from 98-year-old Mel Brooks. We have made many of those ballots available for your perusal — you can find them here. I loved learning that the “Call Me By Your Name” director Luca Guadagnino has expectedly arty tastes but also included the mostly forgotten John Carpenter sci-fi film “Ghosts of Mars” on his list. As for the top films, I had an early hunch that the biggest vote-getters would be David Lynch’s “Mulholland Drive” and Bong Joon Ho’s best-picture winner “Parasite,” though I confess I had them in the wrong order: In the end, “Parasite” prevailed, while Lynch’s film earned second place. The rest of the top 10 are: 3. “There Will Be Blood” 4. “In the Mood for Love” 5. “Moonlight” 6. “No Country For Old Men” 7. “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” 8. “Get Out” 9. “Spirited Away” 10. “The Social Network” Though the advent of streaming services has affected the way movies are made and watched over the last quarter-century, only one film from a streamer made the list: Netflix’s “Roma,” at No. 46. I think that’s a testament to just how profound the big-screen experience still feels. Our greatest cinematic memories, like the time my jaw dropped while watching “Fury Road,” are forged in the dark with a packed audience along for the ride. A few other things stood out about the full list:
Check out the entire list here. Times readers can also submit your own ballots, which we will eventually compile into another list. I’m interested to see just how dramatically your choices may differ from the tastes of Hollywood insiders. Here’s mine:
On Wednesday, President Trump threatened to sue The Times. He demanded an apology and a retraction for our coverage of an initial U.S. intelligence assessment saying the airstrikes against Iran had set back its nuclear program by just months. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth then gave a news conference yesterday lamenting what he described as The Times’s failure to report on the attack’s impact. Patrick Healy, who oversees Times newsroom standards, addresses those critiques. There are two problems here. First, the government keeps contradicting itself: Trump and Hegseth say the nuclear program was “obliterated,” but then they and Secretary of State Marco Rubio keep making statements that undermine their mission-accomplished narrative. Second, we published stories on topics Hegseth said we had ignored:
As for Trump’s threats, The Times’s deputy general counsel, David McCraw, replied to the president’s lawyers on Thursday by quoting Trump’s shifting statements and explaining what it is we do. “No retraction is needed. No apology will be forthcoming,” McCraw wrote. “We told the truth to the best of our ability. We will continue to do so.” More on Iran
President Trump wants the central bank to lower interest rates; the central bank won’t budge. Why do they have such a tense relationship? Evan Gorelick explains. A riddle: What’s “destructive,” “Too Late” and a “real dummy”? According to Trump, it’s Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The president has been angry with Powell, whom he appointed in his first term, for years, my colleague Colby Smith wrote. The root of their tiff? Interest rates. What’s an interest rate? It’s what a bank charges to let you borrow its money. When the Fed lowers the rate, people spend more. When it raises it, people save more. Trump’s take: The Fed should cut rates, which would juice spending across the economy and make it easier for the government to pay off its debt. Powell’s take: Powell says the central bank needs to wait and see how Trump’s policies — tariffs, deportations — play out before deciding to cut rates. “It’s just a question about being prudent and careful,” he said. The context: Trump can’t technically fire Powell. But his term expires in 11 months, and Trump has toyed with the idea of announcing an early replacement, The Wall Street Journal reported. For more
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These maps of New York from Michael Lange help explain how Mamdani won the mayoral primary election. Here’s a column by David Brooks on agreeing with Netanyahu. The Times Sale: Our best rate for readers of The Morning. Save now with our best offer on unlimited news and analysis as part of the complete Times experience: $1/week for your first year.
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