10 Modern Movies That Will Be Viewed As Classics In Years To Come

4. The Master (2012)

Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the greatest filmmakers on the planet. With Boogie Nights, Magnolia and There Will Be Blood, he created three sprawling American epics, and with Punch-Drunk Love he made an Adam Sandler rom-com watchable. The Master was a bit more divisive - though it largely received critical acclaim, the film baffled audiences and failed to garner a Best Picture nom at the Oscars. This was supposed to be the L. Ron Hubbard origins story, a thinly-veiled document of the beginnings of Scientology, with the mighty Philip Seymour Hoffman playing Hubbard stand-in Lancaster Dodd. What it actually was was much different. A rambling, frequently strange movie about an alcoholic, manic-depressive drifter, played by Joaquin Phoenix, navigating his way through post-WWII America and eventually coming under the influence of Hoffman's Dodd, an egotistical mystic slowly forming his own cult - that's what audiences actually got. This film was unexpected, but a visual and musical treat regardless (Jonny Greenwood's score is almost as good as his work on There Will Be Blood), featuring two actors pushing each other to give their finest individual performances. The relationship between Dodd and Phoenix's Freddie Quell is oddly touching, and the film depicts depression and PTSD in a way no other film has. It's messy, but it's a gorgeous mess, and Phoenix and the late Hoffman here raise the bar for screen acting.