The list below consists of each year’s Academy Awards best picture nominees and the top 10 grossing movies. That provides a good balance of critical and commercial popularity.

It is surprising how many of the older movies in this list still seem fresh and warrant second viewing. When launch Netflix, it is always the Watch It Again section that seems to have all the best movies. There is  a handful of more recent movies I intend to watch, but most of the ones I haven’t seen are not ones I intend to seek out.

Titles in bold are the ones I have seen.

2000

• Gladiator
• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
• Traffic
• What Women Want
• Meet the Parents
• Chocolat
• Erin Brockovich
• Mission: Impossible II
• Cast Away
• Dinosaur
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas
• The Perfect Storm
• X-Men
• What Lies Beneath

2001

• A Beautiful Mind
• Monsters, Inc.
• Ocean’s Eleven
• Gosford Park
• In the Bedroom
• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
• Moulin Rouge
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
• Shrek
• Pearl Harbor
• The Mummy Returns
• Jurassic Park III
• Planet of the Apes
• Hannibal

2002

• Spider-Man
• Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
• Men in Black II
• Die Another Day
• Minority Report
• Chicago
• Gangs of New York
• The Hours
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
• The Pianist
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Signs
• Ice Age
• My Big Fat Greek Wedding

2003

• Finding Nemo
• The Matrix Reloaded
• The Matrix Revolutions
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
• Lost in Translation
• Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
• Mystic River
• Seabiscuit
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
• Bruce Almighty
• The Last Samurai
• Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
• X2
• Bad Boys II

2004

• The Incredibles
• Ocean’s Twelve
• Million Dollar Baby
• The Aviator
• Finding Neverland
• Ray
• Sideways
• Shrek 2
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Spider-Man 2
• The Passion of the Christ
• The Day After Tomorrow
• Meet the Fockers
• Troy
• Shark Tale

2005

• Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
• Crash
• Brokeback Mountain
• Capote
• Good Night, and Good Luck
• Munich
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
• War of the Worlds
• King Kong
• Madagascar
• Mr. and Mrs. Smith
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• Batman Begins
• Hitch

2006

• Little Miss Sunshine
• Casino Royale
• Cars
• The Departed
• Babel
• Letters from Iwo Jima
• The Queen
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
• The Da Vinci Code
• Ice Age: The Meltdown
• Night at the Museum
• X-Men: The Last Stand
• Mission: Impossible III
• Superman Returns
• Happy Feet

2007

• No Country for Old Men
• Juno
• Ratatouille
• I Am Legend
• Atonement
• Michael Clayton
• There Will Be Blood
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Spider-Man 3
• Shrek the Third
• Transformers
• The Simpsons Movie
• National Treasure: Book of Secrets
• 300

2008

• The Dark Knight
• Quantum of Solace
• WALL-E
• Slumdog Millionaire
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Frost/Nixon
• Milk
• The Reader
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
• Kung Fu Panda
• Hancock
• Mamma Mia!
• Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
• Iron Man
• The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

2009

• The Hurt Locker
• Avatar
• The Blind Side
• District 9
• An Education
• Inglourious Basterds
• Precious
• A Serious Man
• Up
• Up in the Air
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
• Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
• 2012
• The Twilight Saga: New Moon
• Sherlock Holmes
• Angels & Demons
• The Hangover

2010

• The Social Network
• Toy Story 3
• The Kings’ Speech
• 127 Hours
• Black Swan
• The Fighter
• Inception
• The Kids Are All Right
• True Grit
• Winter’s Bone
• Alice in Wonderland
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
• Shrek Forever After
• The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
• Iron Man 2
• Tangled
• Despicable Me
• How to Train Your Dragon

2011

• The Artist
• The Descendants
• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
• The Help
• Hugo
• Midnight in Paris
• Moneyball
• The Tree of Life
• War Horse
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
• The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1
• Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol
• Kung Fu Panda 2
• Fast Five
• The Hangover Part II
• The Smurfs
• Cars 2

2012

• Skyfall
• Argo
• Amour
• Beasts of the Southern WIld
• Django Unchained
• Les Misérables
• Life of Pi
• Lincoln
• Silver Linings Playbook
• Zero Dark Thirty
• The Avengers
• The Dark Knight Rises
• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
• Ice Age: Continental Drift
• The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2
• The Amazing Spider-Man
• Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted
• The Hunger Games
• Men in Black 3

2013

• Monsters University
• 12 Years a Slave
• American Hustle
• Captain Phillips
• Dallas Buyers Club
• Gravity
• Her
• Nebraska
• Philomena
• The Wolf of Wall Street
• Frozen
• Iron Man 3
• Despicable Me 2
• The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
• The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
• Fast & Furious 6
• Man of Steel
• Thor: The Dark World

2014

• Birdman
• American Sniper
• Boyhood
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• The Imitation Game
• Selma
• The Theory of Everything
• Whiplash
• Transformers: Age of Extinction
• The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
• Guardians of the Galaxy
• Maleficent
• The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1
• X-Men: Days of Future Past
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier
• The Amazing Spider-Man 2
• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
• Interstellar