Is older really better?

Ok, I have to vent. I was talking with someone today who said they didn't like my movie list. That is fine, you are totally allowed to have your own favorites, and I welcome comments about their favorites, and most times, I can understand where people come from, as I love cinema as a whole. The reason of this particular criticism was what got my goat, however. "The movies are too modern," he said.
Am I to believe all good movies have already been made, and have been made over 20 years ago? So, does that mean every movie made in the last 20 to 30 years was inferior? We are talking about a lot of great movies made in the last 20 years, but because they were made recently, they are just unable to be great? Why is that? Did they do something 20 years ago that was not able to be recreated now? Did they forget how to make movies at about the 25-year mark?
It is safe to say society has evolved over the past 20 years, I mean, do you remember computers back in the mid 80's? People did not know about cell phones, EBay, the Internet, and nobody Googled anything. So, it's safe to say, society has evolved, debate over. So, that being said, are we to say cinema has not evolved as well? And, if it has, has it evolved into something inferior? Can evolution be inferior? The tools directors have nowadays have evolved, but the spirit of the movie is the same.
Over the past 20 years, cinema has changed considerably with technology, the internet, and the desire of the audience. There have been many fads in cinema over its history, and the last 20 years have produced many of them, but, in the end, it's all the development of an art form and the tools that can create that art. That makes the art just as much art now, as it did back in the 30's and 40's.
The great movies stick out for the same reasons now, as they did many years ago. The reasons are great performances, a writer who can truly capture an audience and a director who can truly in vision something new, and especially a team who can use the tools and present something society wants to see. I believe that is done today, just as well, if not better than in years past.
There will always be people that like the classics because they are the classics, and that is fine. There is something about classic movies that takes people back to a more innocent time, but don't tell me they are the only good movies in cinema!