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

[Lou Sytsma]

Great to see Pan's Labyrinth on so many lists.

Easily my number 1 film of the last decade.

 

[Claire Panke]

Originally Posted by Lou Sytsma

Great to see Pan's Labyrinth on so many lists.

Easily my number 1 film of the last decade.

Yes, isn't it? Very nice to see Pan and Children of Men, my two faorite films of 2006 (a very good year BTW). Someone else loves Devil's Backbone - yay!

Kinda sad to see no love for Master & Commander though, and apparently no one knows Susanne Bier's fine work.

 

[mattCR]

Almost a revision but "The Road" gets an honorable mention...

 

[Hanson]

1999 was an amazing year for movies, one of the few years that I had to actually pare down my favorite movies into a top ten list. I really thought 1999 was an appetizer for the century to come, but the main course turned out to be an underwhelming buffet of sequels, reboots, and TV/Videogame properties turned into CGI productions. I struggled with a top ten for the Aughts, and many of the films that came to mind were actually from 1999 -- if I could have included 1999 films, The Matrix, Election, Being John Malkovich, Fight Club, and South Park would have taken half the spots.

1) There Will Be Blood - Daniel Day Lewis' performance here is scenery chewing brilliance. You could argue that he was just as good in Gangs of New York, but that movie didn't quite work. This movie is tremendous.

2) Inglourious Basterds - Tarantino's best since Pulp Fiction.

3) Lord of the Rings Trilogy - Self-explanatory

4) Kung Fu Hustle - The most fun movie ride of the decade

5) Slumdog Millionaire - An absolutely perfect movie

6) I Heart Huckabees - Part of me feels snobby for laughing so hard at this movie, but this is an unexpectedly hilarious comedy

7) Punch Drunk Love - PT Anderson's second great (and totally underrated) film of the decade. I knew it wasn't going to be your typical Adam Sandler comedy, but this is easily the best performance of his career. I don't know what people were expecting, but this is one of the best love stories of the decade.

8) 300 - The best action flick of the decade. Many people are enamored with the realistic eye-candy of Avatar, but the stylish visuals in 300 (and Sin City) really catch my eye. Beautiful artifice.

9) Infernal Affairs - The reason The Departed isn't on my list is because I saw this Hong Kong precursor first. And I liked it much, much better.

10) Minority Report - Sure, there's a huge plot hole that screws up the ending, but as a piece of futurism, it's incredibly well realized and feels organic. All the little myriad details of life in 2054 flesh out the movie.

Next ten (in no particular order):

Before Sunset
City of God
Borat
24 Hour Party People
Donnie Darko
Once
Knocked Up
The Prestige
The Ring
X2

And the 5 most overrated movies of the decade (not the worst movies, but rather the movies that were heaped with the most undeserved praise):

5) Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon - All of the things I love about wire-fu flicks were taken out of this boring "action" movie. Even the fight scenes are slow. The story and script were about as sensical and emotional as your average wire-fu flick, so why did Ang Lee bother trying to stage the scenes like it was a real drama?

4) Little Miss Sunshine - I can select a random 4 episodes of Wings that would have better character development and story. That it would be funnier goes without saying. What a terrible script and story -- I remember wanting to punch the screenwriter in the face after seeing this dungpile.

3) Memento - Wow - it's backwards. For no good reason. There isn't really any link bewteen one jump back and the other, the telltale sign of a medicore movie that required an editing trick to distinguish itself from the pack. Seinfeld did the backwards storytelling much, much better and with purpose. Memento was just a gimmick. Oh, and the ending made no sense. Isn't he incapable of remembering ANYTHING?

2) Juno - I just hated the characters and dialog so much. If Jason Reitman hadn't directed this movie, it would have been a direct to video disaster. Diablo Cody should give her Oscar to Reitman because she sure as hell didn't deserve it. If you really like oddball characters and dialog, Napolean Dynamite is an infinitely better movie.

1) The Dark Knight - Overly long with a comical Batman voice from Bale that made him sound like sports talk host Scott Ferrall, TDK is really noisy for a film that pretends to have some intellectual heft. The whole "rises above the genre" trappings are a fraud -- this isn't any better than the Burton Batman with regards to story or character, it just trades four colored set design for a monotone palette to signify gravitas. Heath Ledger does a good job here and there being a crazy guy, but the character, like the movie, makes no sense. For those scoring at home, that's two Christopher Nolan films on this top 5 list.

 

[Marshall Alsup]

As I looked over other peoples lists I realize I have yet to watch so man wonderful films. Of those that I have seen, here are my 10 favorite of the decade, in order.


1. Children of Men - This movie is pure win. Its amazing in every way. I watch it ever few months and I still get emotional during the final 10 minutes. Amazing film.



2. Inglourious Basterds - Missed this in the theater. The trailers didn't look that great but all my friends seemed to like it. Just got around to watching it last week and was blown away. I loved the acting and the cinematography, but really, the tension in the bar scene and the farm house scene was just insane. I really regret not seeing this on the big screen, how could I have doubted Quentin?



3. LotR(EE) - I am a huge fan of the novels and I love the movies even more. They really capture this wonderful story in just the right way. The films aren't perfect, but there is so much good in them that the little annoyances just float away. Really great casting and the cinematography is outstanding. Yes, I consider them one film, but if I had to choose, FotR is the best of the 3.



4. Syriana - This movie was quite a surprise. I enjoyed it thoroughly the first time I saw it and my friends and I couldn't stop talking about its story. A couple weeks later I saw it again and it really came together. I think its fantastic, and interesting, and I felt engaged. I think this movie is severely underrated.



5. Master & Commander - I love this film. The chemistry between the captain and doctor is wonderful. The sense of exploration is palpable. The high seas adventure is a lot of fun. This movie just works on so many levels.



6. The Departed - Very intense and fun film. I loved the music. I enjoyed all the twists the story took. Fantastic casting. Alec Baldwin was really funny here too.



7. Gangs of New York - Hard to choose between this one and the Departed! Gangs really pulled me in. Every time I watch it I feel so wrapped up in the goings on. Its very atmospheric. Bill the Butcher is one of the best villians in film and Daniel Day Lewis gives his finest performance in my opinion.



8. 28 Days Later - My favorite horror movie of recent time. This move is so intense its exhilarating. I'm on the edge of my seat from the moment he wakes up. I loved the 2nd one too. I hope they may another sequel.



9. Slumdog Millionaire - Fantastic story. I love how the plot progresses. Very fun to watch feel-good movie. I'm glad it ended the way it did.



10. Kill Bill - Rarely is a movie so fun. Watching this was pure glee the first time. Tarentino is such an amazing director. I love all the various characters in this one, and the ending is fantastic.

 

[Brian.L]

Well, I'll give it a shot...here's what I can remember...

1. Sideways
2. Adaptation
3. Children of Men
4. Lord of the Rings Trilogy
5. United 93
6. Oldboy
7. Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story
8. Memento
9. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
10. Lost in Translation
11. The Squid and the Whale
12. NARC
13. The Incredibles,
14. Capturing the Freidmans
15. Traffic
16. The 40 Year Old Virgin
17. Shaun of the Dead
18. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days
19. Persepolis
20. High Fidelity
21. Control Room
22. Superbad
23. Syriana
24. The Pianist
25. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
26. Before Sunset
27. The Dark Knight
28. Synecdoche, New York
29. The Wrestler
30. No Country For Old Men

A whole bunch of honorable mentions: Made, Wall-E, The Bourne Supremacy (& Ultimatum), Pan's Labyrinth, In the Bedroom, Knocked Up, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, In the Loop, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, District 9, In Bruges, The Wind that Shakes the Barley, The Departed, Michael Clayton, Let the Right One In, Amores Perros, The Fog of War, Gone Baby Gone, Spiderman 2, The Fall, City of God, Spellbound, Inglorious Basterds, Shattered Glass, The Class (Entre Les Murs)

 

[Rob Willey]

Chronologically:

Sunshine (2000)
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
Moulin Rouge (2001)
Spirited Away (2002)
City of God (2003)
Hero (2004)
Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005)
Why We Fight (2006)
V For Vendetta (2006)
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)

 

[Holadem]

[COLOR= rgb(24, 24, 24)]Great lists people. I did notice a curious thing: Irreversible is largely missing, not just here, but from just about every "Top of the Decade" list I've seen. I say "missing" because although it's not a favorite of mine, by I remember it figuring is a LOT of top 10 lists of whatever year it came out. And then it just dropped off the radar! Kinda understandable though.

--
H[/COLOR]

 

[EricW]

my ten:

Almost Famous (2000)
Best In Show (2000)
Black Hawk Down (2001)
City of God (2002)
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000)
Inside Man (2006)
The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Spartan (2004)
Zodiac (2007)

 

[Heinz W]

Don't know about "best", but these are ten of my favorites:

Almost Famous
LOTR
AI - Artificial Intelligence
Master and Commander TFSOTW (heard a sequel is rumored!)
The Incredibles
Kill Bill
Gladiator
Star Trek
Shaun of the Dead
Iron Man

 

[TommyT]

I think my pick for the best film of the decade would be Children of Men. Had everything I look for in a movie: great acting, great story, action, violence, chases, humor, suspense, tension, apocalyptic overtones, excellent cinematography & great direction by Alfonso Cuaron.

Now, my 10, in no particular order:

Pan's Labyrinth - I sat in the theatre absolutely transfixed - no film'd done that to me in years.

Memento - the overarching theme of tension is it's greatest asset.

Amores Perros - 1st film by Inarritu I saw & it got me hooked on his stuff.

Gangs of NY - Scorsese's best film of the decade. I'll get blitzed for saying it, but I did NOT like The Departed. This one's better in terms of it being an epic period piece & an incredible character created by Daniel Day Lewis.

Shaun of the Dead - no other film made me laugh harder in the 00s.

Casino Royale - Bond came back in a big way & they didn't have to overproduce the film like they did w/Die Another Day.

There Will Be Blood - I think most of it's detractors thought that DDL carried the film. NOT so. He's the most memorable thing about it, of course, but once you see it a few times you realize just how enthralling the story is.

Che (Pts 1 & 2) - I had the good fortune to see this in Manhattan just over a year ago & it was well worth 4.5 hrs. Del Toro is excellent & the look of it was just incredible.

Inglourious Basterds - one of the best finales of any film I've ever seen & the story's just a lot of fun.

The Pianist - I don't think there was a better example of isolation & survival.

A few out of the top 10 but w/some notes:

Downfall (Der Untergang) - SEE THIS ONE. You won't believe how Hitler is portrayed.

Sunshine - had the good fortune to see it locally & we were switched over to the bigger theatre, the one w/the better sound system (no one showed up for the other film screening that night). It was a great sonic assault on the senses!!

Spartan - sadly, this was neglected & it's one of Val Kilmer's best characters. Also, watching him act out a David Mamet script/character was great! Can't figure out w/it's so unknown.

Runners up: Fahrenheit 9/11, The Grey Zone, Traffic, Gladiator, Amelie, Slumdog Millionaire, Tropic Thunder, Grindhouse (mainly Planet Terror).