Films of the Decade ('00s) (1 Viewer)

[mattCR]

Well, the decade is coming to a close. While normally there is a post for "Best of the Year" I thought I'd throw out one: what were the best ten films of the decade?

My short list:

1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
3. The Incredibles
4. Children of Men
5. Almost Famous
6. Lord of the Rings, FOTR (I prefer this to all TT/ROTK though both are good films)
7. Up!
8. Being John Malcovich
9. The Departed
10. Ratatouille

My list may move around a bit, though unless something crazy happens, 1/2/3 are pretty assured of their spots. I love "Up!" and might put it higher, sometimes films grow on me.

Just to kick it off

 

[Chris Atkins]

Films that come to mind as my favorites of this decade:

The Fountain
LOTR: FOTR EE
Munich
There Will Be Blood
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Pan's Labyrinth
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
The Dark Knight
The Lives of Others
The New World
United 93
Superman Returns
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Gran Torino
Ratatouille
Gladiator

 

[Paul_Scott]

In alphabetical order

Almost Famous
Amelie
Atonement
Batman Begins
Casino Royale
The Departed
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
Ghost World
Hulk (Ang Lee)
LOTR (I don't have much use for exposition without resolution or vice versa, so I classify this as one piece)
Memento
Million Dollar Baby
The New World
Pan's Labyrinth
Pirates Of The Caribbean: Curse Of The Black Pearl
Spider-man 2
V For Vendetta
Watchmen
The Wrestler
X-Men
Zodiac


Originally I tried to shy away from including so many pop/comic/fantasy movies in the list- but then the more I thought about it, the more I realized how exceptionally strong a lot of these were this decade. Even when you compare one as weak as X-men 3 to something like Superman 3 or the Schumacher Batmans, you see just how good a decade this was for that kind of material.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Performing a google search to get a feel for what was released in the past decade, I realize that there are so many quality works that I still haven't experienced. Of what I have seen though I would list these as some of my personal picks for best of the decade (in no particular order):

There Will Be Blood
Mulholland Dr.
The New World
Oldboy
Last Life in the Universe
City of God
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Children of Men
United 93
In the Mood For Love

- Walter.

 

[TerryRL]

My faves of the last ten years...

(listed alphabetically)
-"300"
-"Avatar"
-"Batman Begins"
-"Black Hawk Down"
-"Children of Men"
-"The Dark Knight"
-"Gladiator"
-"Harry Potter" (series)
-"Hero"
-"A History of Violence"
-"The Incredibles"
-"Inglourious Basterds"
-"King Kong"
-"The Lord of the Rings" (Trilogy)
-"Pan's Labyrinth"
-"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End"
-"Spider-Man 2"
-"Star Trek"
-"Star Wars" (Episodes II and III)
-"X2: X-Men United"

 

[Chuck Mayer]

matt, you beat me to it. But you are nicer than me. I was going to require a brief bit about each film chosen, and each movie is a movie. No "LOTR counts as one" for me. I paid three times, so it is three movies.

I've been working long and hard on my list. So I'll be including it soon. Most of my films have already been mentioned. I'm not sure about the order (or any order), but The New World is easily my film of the decade. More later.

 

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Shrek
Moulin Rouge
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Spider Man
The Others

Chicago
Brokeback Mountain
UP
Pirates of the Caribbean
The Polar Express
The Passion of the Christ
The Dark Knight

Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith
The Incredibles

Finding Nemo
Harry Potter Series

....These are the films that I think will be remembered for years to come, and will come to define this decade.

 

[teapot2001]

In no particular order:

-The New World
-Speed Racer
-In the Mood for Love
-Mulholland Dr
-Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring
-LOTR: FOTR
-Almost Famous
-Yi Yi
-No Country for Old Men
-Talk to Her

 

[Pete-D]

Kill Bill Vol. 1/2
The Two Towers
Fellowship of the Ring
The Dark Knight
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Royal Tenenbaums
Grindhouse
Almost Famous
Ratatouile
The Watchmen
Batman Begins
The Illusionist
Catch Me If You Can

Were some of my favorites from the last 10 years.

 

[Jim_K]

My top dozen in alphabetical order


Black Hawk Down (2001)

Children of Men (2006)

The Dark Knight (2008)

The Departed (2006)

The Incredibles (2004)

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 & 2 (2003-2004)

The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003)

Memento (2000)

No Country for Old Men (2007)

Sin City (2005)

Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Spirited Away (2001)

 

[Aaron Cooke]

Not in any really firm order although Mulholland is probably my #1

Mulholland Dr.
Memento
LOTR - FOTR
POTC 1
O Brother Where Art Thou?
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Fountain
Synecdoche, NY
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Children of Men

 

[TravisR]

I'm sure I forgot tons of movies but here's my list of favorite movies from this decade (in alphabetical order):

Almost Famous
Death Proof
Mulholland Dr.
Munich
Mystic River
Star Wars: Episode II- Attack Of The Clones
Star Wars: Episode III- Revenge Of The Sith
There Will Be Blood
Wall-E
Zodiac

Runners-up (alphabetical): Adaptation, Avatar, Cabin Fever, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, Funny People, Ghost World, Gone Baby Gone, Grindhouse, Hostel Part II, The Incredibles, Inglourious Basterds, Kill Bill Volume One, Kill Bill: Volume Two, King Kong (2005), Knocked Up, May, Memento, Monsters, Inc., No Country For Old Men, Punch Drunk Love, Ratatouille, Sin City, Up and The Wrestler.

 

[Cory S.]

[*] Had to see Avatar before I made the list but here it is:

Top Films of the Decade (2000-2009)

1. Requiem for a Dream
2. Zodiac Director’s Cut
3. Memento
4. The Fountain
5. The New World
6. The Dark Knight
7. The Passion of the Christ
8. United 93
9. Minority Report
10. The Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition

Honorable Mentions of the Decade (2000-2009) Pan’s Labyrinth Pixar’s Wall E/The Incredibles/Up A.I. Artificial Intelligence There Will Be Blood Kingdom of Heaven Director’s Cut Children of Men Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith Revolutionary Road Munich

 

[Michael Costa]

Top Films 2000-2009

1. Amelie
2. The Dark Knight
3. Memento
4. Lord of the Rings Trilogy
5. Before Sunset
6. Sin City
7. Pan's Labyrinth
8. Children of Men
9. Talk To Her
10. Minority Report

Also: Requiem For A Dream, Donnie Darko, Ghost World, Mulholland Drive, Bloody Sunday, Finding Nemo, Irreversible, Whale Rider, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Garden State, The Incredibles, The Departed, Once, Casino Royale, Spider-Man 2, Spirited Away, Good Bye Lenin

 

[Simon Massey]

1. Moulin Rouge
2. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
3. AI - Artificial Intelligence
4. City of God
5. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
6. Star Wars Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
7. The Dark Knight
8. The Incredibles
9. The Devil’s Backbone
10. The Hurt Locker Tough to pick 10

 

[Jeremiah]

Memento
Mulholland Dr.
City Of God
Pans Labrynth
The Prestige
The Departed

There Will Be Blood

X2

Spiderman 2

FOTR


There are more but these are the main ones that I will watch anytime they are on.

 

[mattCR]

Slate has now indexed most of the online rundowns of best of the decade. So, in case you're struggling to remember films that might be in contention, it's a good look.

http://www.slate.com/id/2238714/

 

[JonZ]

Requiem For A Dream
Memento
The Dark Knight
Pans Labyrinth
Downfall
Zodiac
No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood
The Incredibles
Wall E


Honroable Mention:
The New World
Far From Heaven
Black Hawk Down
Castaway
The Pianist
Maria Full OF Grace
United 93
Million Dollar Baby
Munich
The Departed
Match Point
Before The Devil Knows You're Dead
The Road
Batman Begins
Spiderman2
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Kingdom Of Heaven Dir Cut
The Fountain
Watchmen Dir Cut
Children Of Men
Assassination Of Jessie James.....
Gangs Of New York



Overall A pretty great decade for movies.

 

[Claire Panke]

I can't pick just ten so I'm not gonna.

The following are all outstanding films, but they're in my Top 30 because they were the movies that I loved the most in the past decade. There aren't many blockbusters below since I find most multiplex fare exceedingly boring but there are many mainstream movies included along with the indie and foreign films. Some of these, unless you have access to a source for foreign films, may never have been on your radar, but they are all available from Netflix. I saw everyone of these on this list at least twice in an actual movie theater upon initial release.

I'd like to mention one oustanding film from the naughties that was not shown in theaters, Spike Lee's searing When The Levees Broke, which was a doc made for HBO. I didn't include docs on this list although there are a bunch of fine ones from the decade, including The Fog Of War et al.

I didn't include films from 2009 because I need to revisit them. I think The Hurt Locker will probably join my best of the decade list upon second viewing, and I also enjoyed Bright Star, An Education, Star Trek, Coraline, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moon, A Serious Man and Me & Mr. Wells. I haven't yet seen Summer Hours or The Last Station. And I'm embarrassed to admit I missed The Assasination Of The Outlaw Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford last year - I will remedy that soon in the new year.

All told, a fine decade for the flickers, even a good "year" for the movies.

In alphabetical order"

24 Hour Party People (2002)
4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days (2007)
After The Wedding (2006)
Amores Perros (2000)
Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001)
Children of Men (2006)
The Devil's Backbone (2001)
The Death Of Mr. Lazarescu (2005)
The Diving Bell & The Butterfly (2007)
Gosford Park (2001)
The Incredibles (2004)
Inside Man (2006)
In The Mood For Love (2000)
High Fidelity (2000)
The Hurt Locker (2009)
Kitchen Stories (2003)
Let The Right One In 2008)
The Lives Of Others (2006)
Lilya 4-ever (2002)
Master & Commander, The Far Side Of The World (2003)
Moolaade (2004)
Mulholland Drive (2001)
No Country For Old Men (2007)
Open Hearts
Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
The Piano Teacher (2001)
The Return (2006)
Secretary (2002)
Spirited Away (2001)
Talk To Her (2002)
Yi Yi (2000)

Honorable Mention:

Cache, This Is England, Open Hearts, Brokeback Mountain, A History Of Violence, The Road To Perdition, The Departed, Requiem For A Dream, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Oh Brother Where Art Thou, Almost Famous, Maria Full Of Grace, Memento, Donnie Darko, Sexy Beast, Last Orders, Innocence (2001), Finding Nemo, Once, Bloody Sunday, Lost In Translation, Code 46, Zodiac, Lord Of The Rings-Fellowship Of The Ring, Osama, Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban, AI, 25th Hour, Morvern Callar, Hot Fuzz, 28 Days Later, Vera Drake

 

[Sandro]

1. Pan’s Labyrinth
2. Mulholland Drive
3. 25th Hour
4. Incredibles
5. Audition
6. Shadow of the Vampire
7. Ghost World
8. We Own the Night
9. Triad Election
10. 21 Grams