Well, I've been delayed in continuing my list of favorite films from the aughts, by a cold, work, school and general life stuff. No excuse, I know. But, unless I'm at some point getting paid to do this, I don't want to make it a painful thing to keep up with. If this is the first you've seen of THE LIST (muahahahahaha, my "evil genius" laugh doesn't translate to blog well), you're lucky, because this is the first it's been compiled in one place and in it's completion.
The decade has officially been over for a few weeks. You may or may not have seen the entry here on the
aughts fifty must see horror films. I posted it a little early, somewhat ahead of the year's end, but I wanted to get out in front of what I assumed (and was correct) would be a deluge of "best" lists, and I thought it might get some discussion going about some of those films.
By the time I thought of doing a list of films for the decade, not simply from one genre (though I kind of broke the rules a little in my horror list), the holiday season was already here and I knew I wouldn't have time before years end. Since it's been such an incredible decade for film, I found a list of fifty wasn't going to cut it, so this one will be seventy five.
I've been perusing some of the other lists which have been published, in print or online and I got to thinking I'd still like to do it. If nothing else, it's fun (I know, sitting around, typing, thinking and writing short reviews being fun makes me a complete geek, I'm fine with it). Maybe I'll throw a few films at some of you that you haven't heard of before or that you have heard of, but haven't given a shot yet, and it'll give you something to pick up next time you're wandering passed a Red Box or at home trying to figure out what should go on your Netflix queue next.
Before I get started on the list proper, there are a few things I should say up front. Again, as with the horror list, I'm not necessarily saying these are the best films of the decade, but the one's I've seen, that I enjoyed the most or thought for some reason they really brought something to the film community as a whole. They may not be technically perfect or wonderful, some of them may even be kind of a mess technically, but I'll at least attempt to explain what it is that makes them worth seeing.
The only films in a specific place on the list are the top ten [Note: I actually decided number 69, specifically belonged where it is]. I can't even commit enough to say they are in the order I would say is the order of preference. I put them in the top ten because I felt they are my favorite ten films of the decade. The only film which is absolutely in it's specific numeric spot, because I can honestly say it is my favorite film of the last ten years, is the film in the number 1 spot. Ten through fifty are on the list in no particular order, specifically because I'm confident that if you asked me for the same list in three weeks, all of those films would be on the list, but they may occupy different positions, depending on the order I remembered them, and even if you asked me to rank them in order of preference, it might depend on my state of mind. I've done my best to insure these films have all been released in the decade from 2000 to the close of 2009. If any of the foreign films were released prior to 2000 in their country of origin, and after here in the States, I'm including them as it would have been in this decade we got to see them, and they couldn't have been included previously.
It's taken me a few months to get this list compiled and then actually written, and that puts me pretty far behind the curve, I know. If I got paid for doing this, it would be a different story, but since I'm doing it because I love to do it, I'm making the rules.
With that, why don't we get started...
75)
A History Of Violence-
Viggo Mortenson and
David Cronenberg have worked together twice in the last decade, producing two great films. This was the first of those collaborations. Based on a graphic novel, it's a story about the degree to which a life that includes violence on a regular basis is one that can be left behind, but is one which never leaves you. Cronenberg is still making horror films, in a way. Now, they're about what's lurking inside of us instead of what's trying to invade us. Viggo Mortenson is typically excellent, and there couldn't be a better actor to play opposite him than
Ed Harris. When Ed Harris character strolls into the diner of owner Mortenson, calling him by a different name and claiming they used to be associates, things start moving toward an inevitable and awesome conclusion. It's great film making, and in the decade when comic book/graphic novel adaptations ruled the screens, this is the most adult, and least fantastic. This is the kind of film Cronenberg was born to make.
74)
Martyrs- If you read the list of
my favorite horror films of the decade, you saw this on there. If you've had the previous entries on this blog, you've read
the full review I posted. I couldn't leave it off of the list of my favorite films of the decade. Relentless, hard-core, intense and written and filmed specifically to subvert the audience expectations of the genre's conventions, this movie is like a big heavy French boot stomping your face. Personally, I enjoy that kind of experience in a film. You might not. Beyond the shadow of any doubt, this film is not for everyone. But it is so well done, such a leap beyond it's peers, and though violent, and disturbing, is still more intelligent than the majority of films released the same year, and probably the decade. A meditation on the nature of suffering as iconography and the depths of obsession, it breaks the rules of film, good taste, and the genre with a gleefully considered abandon. It burns. This is one of the most ferocious films I've ever seen, and if you can stomach it, it's worth seeing.
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73)
High Fidelity- If you've seen this film, you know why it's on this list, and the fact that I'm in the midst of compiling a list probably signals in some part of why it's on the list.
John Cusack plays a character trying to figure out why he's hit such rocky waters in the oceans of life and love by recounting his top five break ups and trying to figure out how, exactly, they became break ups. He is also the owner/operator of a record store, specializing in vinyl. A music snob, with a flair for failing spectacularly in relationships, and compiling obsessive lists of his favorite things, of all varieties. How could I not love this movie? Well, if it were poorly written, directed, performed and a worthless navel gazing exercise, that's how. But it is the opposite of all of those things. This is a damn good movie, with a resolution that is probably more real in it's portrayal of relationships than any of those damned rom-com's.
72)
Unbreakable- Although I appreciate the fact that
The Sixth Sense was a phenomenon, and that it was a good movie, it doesn't quite compare to this.
M. Night Shymalan out did himself with this film, literally, if you consider everything that he's done since. This ode to the comic book and the idea of the super hero origin story is a better version of that story than any of other comic book films have been able to produce (with the possible exception of
Iron Man). This is straight forward film making with tension, emotion, strong characters and great performances. For those of us suspecting his performance in
The Sixth Sense might have been a complete fluke,
Bruce Willis turns in an even better performance here, and proves he can actually be a credible dramatic actor.
Samuel L. Jackson is awesome here, giving a weirdly heart breaking and menacing performance, in the time before he basically started playing nothing but over the top.
71)
Adaptation- If anything can be taken from the films he's written in the last decade, it's that
Charlie Kauffman does fit that old stereotype of weird genius. With
Adaptation, he wrote a screenplay about himself having trouble trying to write the screenplay he's writing, which is actually supposed to be based on a book. If that doesn't really makes sense to you on first read, you should see the movie, because he actually makes it make sense. Not only that, but it's beautifully directed, and acted. This is probably the last thing I saw
Nicholas Cage in that didn't make me want to set something small and furry on fire and set it on his door step. There's a film in here about the nature of creativity, a film about being a good hearted, clumsy, insecure guy in a world which only notices the brash and arrogant, and over coming writers block. It's entertaining, engaging and smart.
Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman were born to work together.
70)
Iron Man- Yes. That's right. I'm including
Iron Man in my list of the decade's best. It was certainly one of the most enjoyable, all around.
Robert Downey Jr. is Tony Stark. In every way. This is one of the more well written and conceived of the super hero origin stories, and it's going to be fun to see where director
Jon Favreau and company take the series in the future. They managed to make
Gwyneth Paltrow downright hot, and even managed to make you give a damn about the relationship between her Pepper Potts and Tony Stark.
Iron Man was just too much fun to leave off the list. Although it lacks some of the thematic elements of some of it's peers, it was a much more purely entertaining film than most of them. (Psst, hey, you, yeah you idiots! Yeah I'm talking to you guys who made
Daredevil, Fantastic Four 1+2, and
Ghost Rider, you morons. Lesson one in how to adapt comics to film successfully is right here. It's called caring about your characters.)
69)
The Devil's Rejects- Yes. This film is #69 for a reason. Because it's perverted and in bad taste, and it's also extremely well done. This is another one which made the list of horror films for the decade. It's a hard assed, mean film about hard assed, mean, disgusting people, doing hard assed mean, disgusting people doing hard assed, mean, disgusting shit. Needless to say, it's not for everyone. But, if you have any taste for the revenge flicks that are throwbacks to the days of seventies exploitation, but with studio level production quality, this is for you. All that being said,
Rob Zombie actually manages to make this little slice of insanity compelling, thought provoking and engaging, which is why it's so disgusting and disturbing. If you weren't engaged and didn't find it compelling it would come across as not much different than any entry in the
Friday The 13th series. But it is so much more than those even inspired to be.
68)
Juno - There are probably some people out there rolling their eyes right now. I know there's been a backlash to the success, critically and financially, that
Juno has found. I get that, because, no, it isn't the greatest thing since sliced bread, but it is still extremely well written, performed and directed. This is where most of the world discovered
Ellen Page. She's a bonafide movie star now, with good reason.
Micheal Cera was also catapulted into the upper echelon of Hollywood stardom as well. And, yes, many of you are right, teenagers don't talk like this. Most people don't talk like this, but that's not what makes
Juno a good movie. It deftly portrays how people feel and how they think about each other and look at each other. It shows what it's like to be a confused teenager trying to make sense of where you're going and respects what the people courageous enough to love you when you make mistakes are actually like. For that, it deserves to be on this list. The majority of films don't respect anyone that much, especially the audience.
67)
Zodiac-
David Fincher deftly and beautifully directs what might be my favorite ensemble cast toward the first film dealing with a serial killer to actually be about the nature of our obsession with serial killers as well. Criticisms of it's length and speed have been leveled at it since it's release, but like one of films later on this list, that's part of what it's actually about and that experience of slow, methodical waiting is designed to be part of the story. You don't like that? You're not supposed to. That's the point, no one likes that kind of tense, waiting for some kind of unknown revelation. If you don't find some relief from it, it's the kind of thing which eats you up and envelopes your entire life. If you try to attack it head on, you end up destroying your life in the service of it. This film is more about the people chasing the Zodiac killer than it is about the Zodiac. It has to be that way, because no one has proven who the Zodiac was, after all these years.
66)
Murderball - You will walk away with a completely different perspective on people who's handicap results in them being wheelchair bound. And not in the weepy, syrupy, earnest way that is boring and annoying. This is just a really great documentary about what is basically wheel chair rugby. Centering on the rivalry between the U.S and Canadian teams during the 2004 Paralytic Games (the Olympics equivalent), this is just great fun, inspiring stuff. If you're looking for an adrenaline filled, action packed extravaganza, you don't need to see the latest studio blockbuster. You do need to see
Murderball. Yeah, they're in wheelchairs, but I dare you to go tell one of these guys he's not an athlete. If you've seen this film, we both know you wouldn't dare. These guys make the entire "extreme sports" community seem quaint. Awesome film.
65)
Appaloosa- There are occasionally films about the friendships between men. Most of them are actually films for women or that only women end up seeing. It's the rarest of films which deals realistically with the friendships between men, and which men will actually enjoy. Sure, there are plenty of cookie cutter buddy movies out there, but they're basically a series of explosions with a script as an excuse to string them together. Don't get me wrong, that can be very entertaining, but
Appaloosa is much more than that. A successful, suspenseful western, a successful film about doomed romance, and a successful film about male friendship.
Appaloosa succeeds in being all of these things.
Viggo Mortenson and
Ed Harris are great together and perfectly portray two men who've been friends long enough that very little ever actually has to be said, unless it
HAS TO BE SAID. With
Jeremy Irons as the wonderfully slimy villain and
Renee Zellweger as the woman who might or might not be trustworthy, it's a great film.
64)
The Others- This is a classic haunted house story in many ways, except where it's not. But it is a wonderfully suspenseful, creepy ghost story with great performances from the entire cast. This is a really fun ride, with one of the better "twist" endings that have been extremely popular this decade.
Nicole Kidman is perfect as severe, neurotic mother Grace and
Fionnula Flanagan is wonderful as the new housekeeper/nanny who seems to know a little more than she's letting on. I figured it out before it ended, but it was well worth watching, repeatedly, anyway. IF only for the performances and to see how well director
Alejandro Amenabar built so much tension with little to nothing. It was unfortunately released after
The Sixth Sense, a film it's often compared to, because I honestly think this is a vastly superior film.
63)
The Fountain- I know some folks find this film to be the height of pretentious film making. I can understand that. I can also appreciate it when a director, and some major movie stars, take some pretty big chances by making in a film like this.
Darren Aaronofsky threads the needle with three stories about love, death, fear, loneliness, and the yearning to touch something infinite, that are all really one story. It's another film that might not exactly be for everyone, but it is damn good. It's also a new way to approach these ideas on film. The description I just gave could have easily been for some heavy handed, hackneyed, brainless romantic comedy with aspirations of being artistic. This is artistic, beautiful, well written, and probably the best work either
Rachel Weisz or
Hugh Jackman have ever done. A supporting role by
Ellen Burstyn was a welcomed surprise in the beginning of the film. The literate nature of this film was a much bigger and even more welcome surprise by the end. Film can be and say beautiful and true things about us, and this is a great example.
62)
United 93- I have to be honest here. I've only seen this film once. That's why I'm including it on this list though. It was well done enough to make me feel like I really don't need to put myself through that again. If you're not familiar with it,
United 93 is the dramatization of what we understand to have happened on United flight number 93, on September 11th 2001. United 93 is the plane that didn't make it to it's destination, but crashed in rural Pennsylvania.
Paul Greengrass took an unknown cast and crafted a film so tense and so full of detailed reality with a photographic approach that so deeply suggests documentary style "see it as it's happening" that unnerving doesn't even begin to describe it. Fiction is one thing, I can deal with hell and death and horror in fiction. But all the while the subtle knowledge that this is only so much fiction, that the chances are better than not the plane didn't make it's destination because the passengers did something truly heroic, and what they sacrificed eats at you. It's never sensational, which is what makes it superior to so many films which deal with real horrific events. Jarring.
61)
Chopper- Another true life story, sort of. I say sort of because it's a film based on the book written by Mark Brandon "Chopper" Reed, from prison, about his life. So, I'm assuming some of it is actually true. I'm also assuming some of it is not. I have no idea which is which though, and all of it is completely bug nuts insane and engrossing. This is the film that put
Eric Bana on the radar here in the U.S. The guy has made some unfortunate choices in films, because if you see this, there's no doubt about the degree of talent he has. Think
Taxi Driver or
Raging Bull. Insanely entertaining, disturbing, harrowing, hilarious, you will not be able to take your eyes off of this thing ten minutes into it. Few films in history have succeeded this well at making their protagonist someone who is equal parts psychopath and still, through it all, someone you feel you're empathizing with. A friend hounded me to see this film for months, and I'm so glad he did.
60)
Battle Royale- Japan is experiencing a population problem in a not so distant future. They pass the "Battle Royale" act. We follow a class of ninth graders as they are taken to an island and forced to fight to the death. The only way anyone gets off the island is when everyone else is dead. That sounds simplistic. It's something easy to grasp, high concept as they call it. The film itself is an operatic indulgence of the most insanely cartoon violence. It's also extremely well made. A fun ride from start to finish,
Battle Royale is really about the film makers playing with your expectations and watching what it would probably be like if Survivor involved samurai swords, machine guns and hormonic teenagers. This decade has brought us some great films from the Japanese (and some unfortunate remakes on our part), and if in the next decade, we continue to get films from Japan which are able to achieve their goals as well as this one did, it'll make for lots of great viewing.
59)
Sin City- Again, there's been a backlash since this was released and reached dizzying popularity, but my first viewing of
Sin City in theaters was giggle inducing. And I mean giggle like a little kid because it was beautiful and over the top neo-noir style was just plain entertaining. It wasn't deep and heavy and thought provoking. It was laughter and testosterone inducing, in ways so much cooler than so many of the crappy action movies this decade only dreamed of ever being. This was straight up, no chaser, entertainment, and if you truly enjoy entertainment that has no message, nothing to say at all behind it, you can't complain about how dark and violent this is, because it didn't care enough to consider how dark and violent it was. It was just fun, weird, beautiful, sexy, violent, bloody, and in your face.
Mickey Rourke as Marv is one of the great tough guy appearances in film history, taken to the extreme. And yes, I included the
Jessica Alba movie poster because there were many women with less clothes on in film this decade, but few of them were as hot as she was in this.
58)
Inglorious Basterds- I was in high school, Valley Central High School (yes, seriously, that really is the name) in Montgomery, New York when
Pulp Fiction was released, and when I saw it I knew I had not only seen something the likes of which I'd never seen before, I knew I wouldn't see movies the same way after. I'd spent a good deal of the years prior digging up every horror, cult, fantasy, and exploitation film I could get my hands on, so it wasn't the graphic nature of the film that threw me, it was the pure, unadulterated joy of style. American cinema has a pre-
Tarantino era, and a post Tarantino era. Whether you like it or not, you cant deny that. This is his most accomplished film yet, patient, intense, intelligent, subversive, sly (in ways most people never even catch), brilliantly written, and the best performances he's gotten yet. Some people are calling this his masterpiece. I'm betting the best is still yet to come.
Christoph Waltz gave a performance which horrified me more than any masked killer ever has.
Brad Pitt got to play a comic book war hero with all the guts and gusto he could muster, which were considerable. In the end, it awesomely entertaining, and if you actually slow down and think about it, had a lot more to it than we normally expect from a Tarantino film. Every time a movie concerns itself with a movie in it's story, there's more to it than just meets the eye. Every time, especially with someone who loves movies as much as Quentin Tarantino.
57)
American Psycho- A scalpel sharp, cuttingly insightful satire about the American male ego in modern times, this film was as viciously attacked as the victims of
Christian Bale's character. Putting Bale front and center, director
Mary Harron helped give us one of the decades biggest talents while adapting a novel that everyone (including myself) believed was unfilmable. To be more precise, no one believed you could make a film that was even just kind of, basically, sort of entertaining and somewhere in the ballpark of the books messages and ideas. We were lucky to be wrong, because it ended up being what is among the best satires of the decade, and probably in American film history (yeah, that's what I said!). The graphic nature of the violence is matched only by the absolute absurdity of the character's drive for prestige, success, recognition and domination. Why say more?
56)
Mulholland Dr.- I'm not even going to begin to lie to you and say I can completely understand this bizarre masterpiece by
David Lynch. You might ask how I can call it a masterpiece if I don't completely understand what it means, and that would be a worthy question. This film, as an experience, from beginning to end, completely engrosses me. I've seen it five or six times at least, and every single time, even though I know I don't completely understand it and have admitted I'm just having fun trying at this point, its completely and totally engrosses me (and not just for the
Naomi Watts/
Laura Haring make out session, you pervs). The impressive thing about it is the degree of emotion it elicits from me, every single time I see it, even though I don't completely get it. Every David Lynch film I've seen has, with the possible exception of
Wild At Heart. I haven't seen
Inland Empire either, which I've heard from other Lynch fans is completely unwatchable. I can watch this just about any time, and again soon after. Often times after I've had time to digest a film, even if I really like it, some of the luster wears off, and I have to be in the right mood to pop it back in. The right mood for this is always.
55)
Brick- This is neo-noir at it's best, and amazingly enough, set in a high school. Director
Rian Johnson decided he wanted to make a noir detective film like films of the forties when the genre was created. But, he knew the genre had become such a conventional thread in our understanding of film, that it always seemed old. So, he decided to set it in a high school, because not only have we never seen that before, but we'd forget it was a noir, and stop worrying about how conventional it was long enough to get lost in the story and the world he was building, and he was completely correct. This is a great debut by Johnson, and he helped give
Joseph Gordon Levitt's career a push with this taught, tension filled little mystery.
Lukas Haas shows up in a bizarre role, which he is also great in and
Nora Zehetner broke out with a great turn as the woman who's motives you're never quite sure of. If the noir dialogue doesn't completely throw you off, you should have a blast with this.
54)
Black Hawk Down- There are probably two types of film I'm hardest on when it comes to criticism, this kind of true life military film, and romantic comedies. I am as specifically hard on those films because each is dealing with choices that have been a part of and continue to actually shape and alter human history. Super hero's don't exist, never have, never will. Paint with broad strokes, I can handle it. But, make a film about an actual event in military history, and you better get it right. Be Truthful. That's why this film makes the list.
Ridley Scott has made a few films which were not at the top of his abilities, but this isn't one. This is a really great film, with an eye toward following the soldiers and trying to express as much of their experience as possible without politics or judgment. Harrowing, intelligent and heartfelt in a way that isn't fawning and emotional froth, or the empty idol worship of affected patriotism. Scott has enough respect for the material to be straightforward with it and it's a really strong film for it.
53)
The Watchmen- The unfilmable graphic novel of the last century made it to theaters in the first decade of the new century, and with great success, all around. Is this a perfect film? No. Is it a perfect adaptation? No. It's entertaining as all hell though, and it's as close in tone, atmosphere and content as you could ever get to the graphic novel. The graphic novel was brilliant (which I know you've all heard already), so the film is intelligent, literate, sometimes disturbing, sometimes touching.
Zack Snyder gave us what was possibly the best of the dirge of remakes in
Dawn Of The Dead, and then followed it up with the hugely successful
300. He could have done anything, and instead of running away from a tough project and leaving it for someone who cared less to screw it up, he did an incredible job of bringing this film to it's finish.
Jackie Earle Haley's Rorschach was a menacing delight,
Patrick Wilson as Dan/Night Owl, and
Billy Crudup as Dr. Manhattan were incredible. I enjoy this every time.
52)
The Machine Girl - This is absolute and total nonsense, in the best way possible. Do you SEE that poster? If so, you can generally understand what you can expect from this righteously raucous piece of trash. This is the kind Asian cinema I am gleefully anticipating never being remade in the U.S. We would just screw this up completely with pretentious attempts at moralistic overtones. This is brain candy, a sugar mainline, at it's best. There is no redeeming value to this, other than the purity of it's desire to entertain. It's not trying to say anything. It's not trying to be serious. It's not trying to do anything but make you say, "HOLY SHIT! DID I JUST SEE THAT?" And it succeeds wonderfully on many occasions. This is the kind of cult film which will be a cult film, more or less, for thirty years, until the Aughts become retro style and the cult films and music from this era become cool again. Then, all of the too cool for school kids and twenty somethings will be rocking
Machine Girl T-shirts. If you have children, and you know me, you will have to prevent me from showing them this movie. BAD ASSERY!!!
51)
Monster- A good deal was made of
Charlize Theron's transformation from bombshell to haggard mess when this film was released. It's nice to be able to note that nearly the same amount of press was given to both her performance and the film itself. She was outstanding as female serial killer Aileen Wuornos, as was
Christina Ricci as Selby Wall. The film itself is hard to watch for many, many reasons, but most of them are due to the emotional foundation the film builds. Writer/director
Patty Jenkins somehow took some very hard, very disturbing material and a person who could so easily have been a caricature, and turned it into a film that although it is very hard and very disturbing, gives you the feeling you're getting a glimpse into how the most horribly broken people make the most terrible decisions in just trying to find their way.
Monster is a very well made film with great performances about an extremely interesting note in American history. If that's not enough to like about it, it's worth mentioning that it's something completely unusual in the canon of films about serial killers.
50)
Gone Baby Gone -
Ben Affleck has been in a number of movies. Some of them have been very good (
Chasing Amy), some of them have been very, very bad (
Reindeer Games). This is the first film he directed, and it was very, very good. This is a neo-noir set in a Boston neighborhood, surrounding the mystery of young girl who has disappeared.
Casey Affleck takes the lead role, and stands toe to toe with some of the best working actors in Hollywood, and what plays out is a story about corruption, the politics of community and just how much in life is not black and white, but is instead varying shades of gray. Ben Affleck directs this film with more confidence than many career directors and deftly handles material that is sometimes extremely discomforting, sometimes perfectly subtle, but always engrossing and enthralling. Casey Affleck is surrounded by
Morgan Freeman,
Ed Harris,
Michelle Monaghan,
Amy Madigan and
John Ashton, each of whom are as good in this as they've ever been. The thing I really like about this film is that it took me to a place that was not only unexpected, one in which the right thing to do was completely unclear.
49)
Mystic River- This late in his career,
Clint Eastwood a bunch of extremely good films and he has made two classic films. In the '90's,
Unforgiven deconstructed the western, and the kind of icon Eastwood had spent a career embodying, and created an affecting, intelligent, poignant meditation on violence and friendship. It's one of my all time favorite films. In the Aughts, he gave us
Mystic River another emotionally charged, heartbreaking, intelligent and nearly perfectly done film. This time his eye was focused on ideas surround community, friendship, and angers consuming power. There isn't a bad performance in this film, at all.
Sean Penn,
Tim Robbins,
Lawrence Fishburne,
Kevin Bacon,
Marcia Gay Harden, and
Laura Linney completely blow this material out of the water. Clint Eastwood went from being an on screen icon to one of the great directors of our time. This is the kind of film that in most other hands would have ended up being maudlin, annoying crap. Eastwood makes it subtle and hard hitting at the same time, emotionally stirring and intellectually strong at the same time. Don't miss it.
48)
Memento- There has come to be a kind of sport among movie fans in hating
Memento. This is the kind of puzzle of a film which is just an absolute joy to me. One of the beautiful things about this film is that it's a story which could never have been as successful in any other form of media. As a book, as a television show, anything else, it never would have worked was well as it does as a film. If you've never seen
Memento, you're doing yourself a disservice. Part film noir, part strange puzzle mystery, part love story, it is such a rare thing for a film to be both a great piece of entertainment and a great piece of art and this does it so perfectly.
Christopher Nolan would go on to direct
Batman Begins,
The Dark Knight,
The Prestige, and of course this years blockbuster,
Inception. The man is going to be considered one of the great film makers of all time. That might seem a little hyperbolic, but if you've seen all four of these films, you'll know that the worst of them is vastly better than the majority of films released in any given year.
Joe Pantoliano,
Guy Pearce and
Carie Anne Moss are awesome. Nothing is what it seems in this film and it's an incredible example of skill that keeps so many different plates in the air as we trying to figure out what
is happening or has happened.
47)
Slumdog Millionaire- I often have a hard time with "feel good" movies, because I just never have the feeling that anything is ever actually at stake. I know it's going to be a happy ending. I know it's going to be feel good. There's almost no tension. None of that was true in
Slumdog Millionaire when I watched it. I honestly didn't know if it was going to be a happy ending. I honestly didn't know if I was going to feel good about it. I so badly wanted to see everything turn out well for these characters, which for me is unusual. I am normally watching a movie and I want it to keep it's integrity. This time, I so badly wanted it all to turn out well.
Danny Boyle, another director with a few films on my list, has proven his talent for taking material that has some darkness and some edge to it and making it deeply real and deeply human. This strange romp through some of the worst of what Indian life has to offer, is at the same time, one of the most hopeful, optimistic, romantic and uplifting films of the decade. In the end, it feels like a celebration of all the things beautiful about being human, while not being the kind of annoying syrup that ignores all that is ugly. It is a profoundly beautiful, truthful and enjoyable film.
46)
Donnie Darko- I did not have the good fortune to see
Donnie Darko in theaters. The last good thing I found specifically as a result of reading Fangoria was
Donnie Darko, I picked this up on the day it was released on DVD because I'd read a number of enthusiastic reviews, but none more convincing than the Fango review. That night I sat down with a plate of spaghetti and a beer. One beer, one plate of spaghetti and one viewing later, I immediately started watching the movie again. For those of you who don't know me, let me clue you in. At the time, the idea of my having only one plate of spaghetti and one beer in ninety minutes, when more were available NEVER, EVER happened. EVER. I didn't want to pause the film or get up and walk away for one second. I watched the film each night for the next four or five days. It is so many things, and so dense and interestingly strange, tangled and puzzling that it's a great mystery to try and unravel. Beyond that, it's got an incredible script and cast, with characters that seemed incredibly real to me in many ways. I fully realize that the logic of the science fiction aspect of the film might not hold up. I can't be completely sure that I'm just not intelligent enough to put it all together. I do know, I have repeatedly enjoyed spending time with these characters in this world, and looking at some sublimely beautiful images. And there's Frank. Frank is one of my favorite costumes and masks in all the films I've seen. There's concept art of Frank on the DVD that I'm still toying with getting as a tattoo. This is indie film making at it's most ambitious and artistically successful.
45)
Inside- If you read my list of horror films, it's no shock that I love this film with a deep abiding passion. This is a hard film with graphic violence, gore and horrific themes, ideas and images. I won't for one second try to convince anyone that any of that is not true. In fact, I kind of revel in it. With all of that being true, this is still great film making. It's one thing to be shocking. It's something entirely different to be genuinely unsettling and disturbing and this film is. But, it's still extremely smart. Everything is here for a reason, it is efficient, and effective as a freight train moving at sixty miles per hour. It churns along, hammering away at the viewer with relentless horror and suspense. I so badly don't want to spoil what this film is about and what it gets down to that it's almost hard to talk about. My girlfriend lent my DVD copy to a friend at work, who couldn't finish watching it. It's unrelentingly brutal and it's effective enough to have produced that result on a number of occasions, from what I've heard directly and read in different pieces about it. Whether or not you like horror films, a film that can elicit that strong a reaction from people has to be doing things right. I've seen films which were trying to be more disturbing and unsettling than this film, and thematically probably were, but because the execution was so poor, they fail utterly. If nothing else, you have to consider the idea that the film making technique has to be top notch to freak people out that thoroughly.
44)
The Royal Tenenbaums - Before Wes Anderson's style of film making started to get a little over used (by both him and his imitators),
The Royal Tenenbaums was released to both critical and audience praise. This is the film most responsible for the existence of
Wes Anderson imitators who have helped to make this style of storytelling and film making seem overused and dull now. Another part of that same truth is that this is the best it's been.
The Royal Tenenbaums succeeds in bringing to film the odd sensation of seeing the inner workings of a family other than your own, with it's immediate familiarity of emotion, and complete disconnection from the ritual and tradition you're accustomed to in your own family. By placing all of that in this cast of decidedly odd characters, with a hilarious script and one of the best casts of the decade, it becomes something that transcends the tropes of "the slightly odd, but well meaning family" variety of comedy. It's also a film that really loves it's characters, both because of and in spite of their eccentricities and downright weirdness. This is one of those films that I'm always a little giddy to find when I'm flipping through the channels. It's like stumbling across some piece of clothing or other valuable you hadn't yet realized you misplaced, and you're then happy you didn't lose it. If as many films that try to achieve what this one does were actually able to, this list would have been populated by many more comedies.
43)
Best In Show- I have to confess that I haven't seen
A Mighty Wind yet, but for my money, the best of the
Christopher Guest comedies concerns itself following a group of people who are contestants in the fictional Mayflower Club Dog Show. Without doubt, there a few of the funniest lines and scenes from any movie I've ever seen in this film.
Fred Willard as the broadcaster giving commentary is ridiculously hilarious. It's mind boggling to consider that most of this movie is improvised. The film follows couples as they bring their dogs to show, and each of couple has at least one scene that just absolutely kills it.
Parker Posey,
Eugene Levy,
Catherine O'Hara,
Michael Mckean and
John Micheal Higgins all create some of the funniest characters of their careers. This is going to be a film that goes right next to the likes of
Airplane, and
Dr. Strangelove as consistently delivering the goods in the laughter department. If you haven't seen it, there's also some great stuff on the DVD's deleted scenes that is hilarious. Christopher Guest as the not all too bright Harlan Pepper, from Pinenut, North Carolina, the owner of a tackle store, showing his Bloodhound, Hubert, has some incredibly funny material in the deleted scenes.
[Note to the reader: I'm cheating. I know that both Memento and Best In Show were released in 2000, technically making them part of the decade prior to the Aughts. But since both of them were limited release films that didn't really build a fan base until after 2001, I'm including them here. Apparently, Unbreakable was also released in 2000. I need to check the release dates before I compile a list next time. I'm thinking of an "also ran" list as well, and I'll find three more that actually are from the correct time period to add there.]
42)
Training Day- I can hear the doors hitting the movie snobs in the rear end as I type this. This one hasn't made many other "Best Of" lists, and it's not embraced by either the critical community or the geek community for the most part. It's a little too talky, Hollywood, star vehicle for the geek crowd to have really grabbed on to it, and it's a little too pulp, but not avante garde pulp enough for the critical community to champion it. I love it. I think it's possibly Denzel's best performance, and as a whole the movie is just fun as hell to watch. I love the fact that you don't really understand exactly how wrong and evil
Denzel's Alonzo is until three quarters of the way through the film. You get just enough to know things are not above ground with him, and then when you think you've seen his worst, it gets that much worse. I love this script, and all of the performances.
Ethan Hawke is great here, standing toe to toe with one of the great actors of his generation, and there's a full supporting cast that's great. Dr. Dre even shows up as one of the crew of crooked cops.
Eva Mendes naked booty got famous here, and
Cliff Curtis is absolutely awesome as Smiley. Alonzo is SSSSSOOOOO EVIL, and Denzel is such a blast to watch being so, so, so bad. I love this movie.
41)
Gladiator - Popcorn perfection.
Gladiator brought the classic Hollywood sword and sandals epic into the modern era, and became one of the great examples of how good popcorn movies are made. This is not ground breaking territory. We've seen stories exactly like this one five million times. We've seen guys with swords duke it out to the death at least that many times as well. We hadn't seen
Russell Crowe doing it, and we hadn't seen Russell Crowe
FIGHTING A TIGER!!!! Now it doesn't sound as awesome, because it's old news, but it was seriously awe inspiring in the theater, and I still get the giggles when I see it. We'd never seen all of that directed by
Ridley Scott. Then, there's
Joaquin Pheonix as Commodus. Joaquin is probably a perfectly nice guy, but he is so creepily weird and unbalanced in this film, it's hard to believe there could be anything resembling a normal human being in there. The great
Richard Harris adds so much in so little time with his last role as Marcus Aurelius, and the same is true of
Oliver Reed in his last role. This is also the film that introduced audiences to
Connie Nielson and
Spencer Treat Clark. The design and photography are gorgeous, the story is solid and the performances are all great. The Hollywood studios wouldn't get so maligned if more of their big budget mass appeal films were as well done and were as enthralling as this is. I have the two disc, theatrical and director's cut edition of the DVD. But this is the kind of film Blu Ray was made for, and one of the rare occasions I might actually buy the Blu Ray just to have it in Hi Def.
40)
Lost In Translation- In 1999,
The Virgin Suicides put
Sofia Coppola on the map as more than just the daughter of a famous auteur. It certainly suggested she had some talent of her own. With
Lost In Translation she proved there was more than just a suggestion, but a well of real talent. Casting
Bill Murray as the American movie star on a media tour in Japan and
Scarlett Johannson as the newly wed wife of a rock photographer who strike up an unusual friendship amidst the boredom of trying not to be seem lost in a completely foreign place, this film is a real rarity. Class. It's one word, and it really sums this film up. It never degenerates into the tired ass "forbidden love/lust/sex triangle" type of mess, and it's so much more effective, honest, intelligent and heart felt than any of those films can even dream of being. I love this movie specifically because it gives it's audience and it's characters the credit to believe they're mature enough and intelligent enough to understand what's going on without using a bunch of terrible exposition scenes and dialogue to get the idea across. I have faith Sofia Coppola has more great films in her and
Lost In Translation is the foundation for that faith.
39)
Almost Famous -
Cameron Crowe's semi-autobiographical love letter to rock and roll, and growing up, is one of the great love stories in the history of American film, and is one of the great music movies in the history of the genre. It's not just a love letter to rock and roll, it's also a pretty sincere commentary on our relationship with fame. Some people can't get on board with the earnest emotionality of Crowe's films, and I can understand and respect that. I rarely appreciate that degree of unfettered emotionality in film, but I can't deny Crowe's sincerity, and better I can't just write it off as the crass manipulation which it's usually a product of. Patrick Fugit is great as William Miller, giving the film the kind of emotional and moral anchor that makes this something more than just a glamorization of the "fondly remembered past".
Frances Mcdormand gets the opportunity to play a mother with the kind of relationship to her son that is very real, extremely unusual on film, and makes everyone wish their mother tried as hard to walk that line between responsible authority and trusting parent, who may not understand the way her son is growing up, but understands it is time for him to start. Awesomely heartbreaking.
38)
Audition- Technically,
Audition was released in Japan in 1999, but it didn't make it to us until 2001, so I'm including it on the list.
Takashi Miike is the reigning auteur lunatic of Japanese cinema. He's made a career of taking film genre's and tropes and mixing them together in new, engaging, enthralling and often disturbing ways. His films are often bizarrely surreal and of the same kind of pure, joyously energetic vibe that's characterized much of
Sam Raimi's work.
Audition is a more understated, slow burn than his other films, but it's worth every second. Miike's take on the ideas in films like
Fatal Attraction and
Basic Instinct is unusual, brilliant, and haunting. The narrative could be told a thousand different ways, and has been, but Miike's version is so purely cinematic that it's hard to imagine it in any other form.
37)
Bad Santa- I have to admit, one of the reasons I've fallen so deeply in love with
Bad Santa is that I so desperately spent my teens thinking (and occasionally saying and doing) the things which make
Billy Bob Thornton's character Willy, so extremely appalling and compulsively watchable. The big difference is that in a movie, it's funny. In real life, not so much. Either way, I'm not sure I can think of a film which as perfectly strikes a balance between cynicism and sweetness, and is so unrelentingly vulgar at the same time. As pathetic, disgusting, vulgar, and horrible as the character is, and as blatantly unapologetic about it as he is, he's not even in the same ball park as the films antagonists, and in that kind of sly way I really appreciate the reality of the character and the film. He's ugly, and pathetic, and disgusting, and the people around him who are much more adept at "keeping it together" (with the exception of the beautiful and talented
Lauren Graham and
Brett Kelly as Thurman Merman, the kid) are hard, calculated, greedily hateful con men. Willy is a con man by trade, but not in essence. Although it does portray him as being comical, it's a kind of pathetically inept and stupid comedy that as a whole presents a more realistic picture of alcoholism and it's self destructive degeneration than most of the teary, serious drama's on the subject could ever even consider.
36)
28 Days Later - Though the debate about whether or not this is a zombie film is a hot one in the horror community, there's very little debate about whether or not it's awesome. Nine out of ten film enthusiasts agree that this movie kicks ass.
Danny Boyle's infection opus is equal parts terrifying horror film, subtle, smart social commentary, and honest articulation of the need for family and community, and the dangers of not choosing one wisely. The early scenes of
Cillian Murphy's, Jim, wandering around the streets of a completely abandoned London are among the more disconcerting images I've ever seen in my life. Having spent a good deal of my life in and around cities, either to live or play, the sight of streets that deserted, in full daylight, was truly unnerving. And then, we start to find out why, and that is as unnerving in itself. Whether or not you look at this film as a meditation of much deeper, more complex themes or you see this as just a great fright film, you're not losing anything or missing anything. When films are as well made as this one is, it doesn't really matter whether or not you choose to delve into the deeper ideas or you just love the ride. Horror films aren't supposed to be this good, and I love the fact that I can suggest this film to anyone, even if they've got a preconceived distaste for the genre. That puts it alongside greats like
The Shining.
35)
Identity - Director James Mangold would go on to much bigger success and acclaim for
Walk the Line (when you've got Johnny Cash as your subject, and
Joaquin Phoenix as your star you can't really lose). This taught little exercise in taking the psychological thriller to the furthest logical conclusion the name suggests is great film making. After a while, when you've seen enough movies, you're rarely surprised. I was extremely surprised by this film, not only in the sense of not having known where it was going ahead of time, but by it's sheer quality. I caught this here in Richmond at our old movie house The Byrd Theater, which shows second run films cheap. I was completely caught off guard by the films level of technique in storytelling, cinematography, and the acting.
John Cusack headlines a great ensemble cast. Finding himself stuck in a roadside motel in the middle of nowhere, with a bunch of strangers, Cusack is the calm and collected character trying to figure out why people keep turning up dead, and who's responsible. It gets weirder than I anticipated, and it's just a lot of fun. With great performances by
Rebecca DeMornay,
Ray Liotta,
John Hawkes,
Amanda Peet,
Alfred Molina,
Pruitt Taylor Vince,
Clea Duvall,
John C. Mcginley, and even
Jake Busey, this little thriller packs a punch and at the same time pays wonderful homage to the noir films of classic Hollywood.
34)
The Incredibles- In the last decade, Pixar has more or less been the singular influence on the rebirth of the animated feature as more than just a cash grab for the family dollar. They've reestablished the idea that animation can make great films, and even art, in the popular consciousness.
The Incredibles is certainly not an art film, but it is a great film, and one of the best action films of it's decade. Director
Brad Bird displays a sense of the most energetic and enjoyable aspects of cinematography and the unusual ability to keep all of that energy and fun weighted with strong character development and an attention to detail. Clocking in five minutes shy of the two hour mark, the film leaves you begging for more. This isn't a new story or even a new idea, but it is as good as this story or idea has ever been told. In the decade which brought the comic book superhero out of the geek closet, and fully into the mainstream, with some really great film making,
The Incredibles, Spider-Man 1 and 2, and The Dark Knight proved not only that a super hero movie could be extremely well made, with top notch casting and good writing, but that one super hero movie is not necessarily the same as the next. Up to now, we've looked at comic book and super hero films as a monolithic genre in which each film is more or less an extention of the last. The Incredibles gave us a family friendly, but still intelligent and heart warming story that was exciting and had a few good dashes of humor for good measure. If Pixar is succesful in continuing to make films which are as high in quality as they have been so far, they will become not only a powerhouse studio, but one of the great production houses of all time.
specifically to the list. I've added all of the films in the formats in which they are available. Some of them are not available on Blu-Ray just yet, but the DVD's are there, and I've included options at different price points. If there are "Special Editions," I've included those as well as single disc editions. The only versions of any of these films that you won't find in my Amazon store are the full screen editions. If I widescreen is available, that's what I've added. I have a principled dislike for full screen editions of films, because they drastically change the image as it was meant to be presented.
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58) Inglorious Basterds- I was in high school, Valley Central High School (yes, seriously, that really is the name) in Montgomery, New York when Pulp Fiction was released, and when I saw it I knew I had not only seen something the likes of which I'd never seen before, I knew I wouldn't see movies the same way after. I'd spent a good deal of the years prior digging up every horror, cult, fantasy, and exploitation film I could get my hands on, so it wasn't the graphic nature of the film that threw me, it was the pure, unadulterated joy of style. American cinema has a pre-Tarantino era, and a post Tarantino era. Whether you like it or not, you cant deny that. This is his most accomplished film yet, patient, intense, intelligent, subversive, sly (in ways most people never even catch), brilliantly written, and the best performances he's gotten yet. Some people are calling this his masterpiece. I'm betting the best is still yet to come. Christoph Waltz gave a performance which horrified me more than any masked killer ever has. Brad Pitt got to play a comic book war hero with all the guts and gusto he could muster, which were considerable. In the end, it awesomely entertaining, and if you actually slow down and think about it, had a lot more to it than we normally expect from a Tarantino film. Every time a movie concerns itself with a movie in it's story, there's more to it than just meets the eye. Every time, especially with someone who loves movies as much as Quentin Tarantino.
57) American Psycho- A scalpel sharp, cuttingly insightful satire about the American male ego in modern times, this film was as viciously attacked as the victims of Christian Bale's character. Putting Bale front and center, director Mary Harron helped give us one of the decades biggest talents while adapting a novel that everyone (including myself) believed was unfilmable. To be more precise, no one believed you could make a film that was even just kind of, basically, sort of entertaining and somewhere in the ballpark of the books messages and ideas. We were lucky to be wrong, because it ended up being what is among the best satires of the decade, and probably in American film history (yeah, that's what I said!). The graphic nature of the violence is matched only by the absolute absurdity of the character's drive for prestige, success, recognition and domination. Why say more?
56) Mulholland Dr.- I'm not even going to begin to lie to you and say I can completely understand this bizarre masterpiece by David Lynch. You might ask how I can call it a masterpiece if I don't completely understand what it means, and that would be a worthy question. This film, as an experience, from beginning to end, completely engrosses me. I've seen it five or six times at least, and every single time, even though I know I don't completely understand it and have admitted I'm just having fun trying at this point, its completely and totally engrosses me (and not just for the Naomi Watts/Laura Haring make out session, you pervs). The impressive thing about it is the degree of emotion it elicits from me, every single time I see it, even though I don't completely get it. Every David Lynch film I've seen has, with the possible exception of Wild At Heart. I haven't seen Inland Empire either, which I've heard from other Lynch fans is completely unwatchable. I can watch this just about any time, and again soon after. Often times after I've had time to digest a film, even if I really like it, some of the luster wears off, and I have to be in the right mood to pop it back in. The right mood for this is always.
55) Brick- This is neo-noir at it's best, and amazingly enough, set in a high school. Director Rian Johnson decided he wanted to make a noir detective film like films of the forties when the genre was created. But, he knew the genre had become such a conventional thread in our understanding of film, that it always seemed old. So, he decided to set it in a high school, because not only have we never seen that before, but we'd forget it was a noir, and stop worrying about how conventional it was long enough to get lost in the story and the world he was building, and he was completely correct. This is a great debut by Johnson, and he helped give Joseph Gordon Levitt's career a push with this taught, tension filled little mystery. Lukas Haas shows up in a bizarre role, which he is also great in and Nora Zehetner broke out with a great turn as the woman who's motives you're never quite sure of. If the noir dialogue doesn't completely throw you off, you should have a blast with this.
54) Black Hawk Down- There are probably two types of film I'm hardest on when it comes to criticism, this kind of true life military film, and romantic comedies. I am as specifically hard on those films because each is dealing with choices that have been a part of and continue to actually shape and alter human history. Super hero's don't exist, never have, never will. Paint with broad strokes, I can handle it. But, make a film about an actual event in military history, and you better get it right. Be Truthful. That's why this film makes the list. Ridley Scott has made a few films which were not at the top of his abilities, but this isn't one. This is a really great film, with an eye toward following the soldiers and trying to express as much of their experience as possible without politics or judgment. Harrowing, intelligent and heartfelt in a way that isn't fawning and emotional froth, or the empty idol worship of affected patriotism. Scott has enough respect for the material to be straightforward with it and it's a really strong film for it.
53) The Watchmen- The unfilmable graphic novel of the last century made it to theaters in the first decade of the new century, and with great success, all around. Is this a perfect film? No. Is it a perfect adaptation? No. It's entertaining as all hell though, and it's as close in tone, atmosphere and content as you could ever get to the graphic novel. The graphic novel was brilliant (which I know you've all heard already), so the film is intelligent, literate, sometimes disturbing, sometimes touching. Zack Snyder gave us what was possibly the best of the dirge of remakes in Dawn Of The Dead, and then followed it up with the hugely successful 300. He could have done anything, and instead of running away from a tough project and leaving it for someone who cared less to screw it up, he did an incredible job of bringing this film to it's finish. Jackie Earle Haley's Rorschach was a menacing delight, Patrick Wilson as Dan/Night Owl, and Billy Crudup as Dr. Manhattan were incredible. I enjoy this every time.
52) The Machine Girl - This is absolute and total nonsense, in the best way possible. Do you SEE that poster? If so, you can generally understand what you can expect from this righteously raucous piece of trash. This is the kind Asian cinema I am gleefully anticipating never being remade in the U.S. We would just screw this up completely with pretentious attempts at moralistic overtones. This is brain candy, a sugar mainline, at it's best. There is no redeeming value to this, other than the purity of it's desire to entertain. It's not trying to say anything. It's not trying to be serious. It's not trying to do anything but make you say, "HOLY SHIT! DID I JUST SEE THAT?" And it succeeds wonderfully on many occasions. This is the kind of cult film which will be a cult film, more or less, for thirty years, until the Aughts become retro style and the cult films and music from this era become cool again. Then, all of the too cool for school kids and twenty somethings will be rocking Machine Girl T-shirts. If you have children, and you know me, you will have to prevent me from showing them this movie. BAD ASSERY!!!
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