Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001) – At first viewing, Mulholland Drive appears inaccessible. It is more structurally complex than many Lynch films, existing in two parallel worlds that sometimes overlap, each with shifting time frames. However, unlike his other films, he gives you clues to unlock the cryptogram, revealing a unified (but cyclical) narrative. When we had this at the County, I watched it five times or more.

Park Chan Wook’s Vengeance Trilogy – After directing Mr. Vengeance in 2002 and Oldboy in 2003, Park Chan Wook was asked by a reporter how he could make two films about vengeance without wearing out the theme. The director took offense and, although he hadn’t planned on doing so, declared that he was making a trilogy. All three films are impressive in their formal composition and psychological depth, and challenge the audience to sympathize with characters that are both victims and aggressors, looking beyond their actions to understand their motivation.
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) – A tale of amateur kidnappers, organ thieves, and revenge.
Old Boy (2003) – A man is held captive for 15 years, and isn’t told why. He’s released without explanation, and sets out to find his captor and take revenge.
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005) – A woman is sent to jail for murdering a child. A model prisoner, she is released on parole and hunts down the man that ruined her life.
Honorable Mention: Joint Security Area (2000) – This film tells the story of guards on both sides of the border between North and South Korea who develop an unexpected—not to mention illegal—friendship.

There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)—A welcome departure from the pseudo-serendipity of Magnolia (1999) and the excessively formalized Punch Drunk Love (2002), which focuses more on color coordinating than on storytelling. Anderson seems to have reached his full stride with There Will Be Blood. Using Upton Sinclair’s Oil! (1927) as a compelling foundation, this film portrays the greed, egomania, and paranoia of the most unfettered of capitalists: oil man Daniel Plainview. Daniel Day-Lewis’s pitch-perfect portrayal of Plainview is probably the best acting role of the decade. The cinematography is breathtaking and, to top it off, There Will Be Blood has excellent pacing that keeps you thoroughly engrossed for the entirety of its 158 minutes. This is due in large part to its soundtrack, best exemplified by Arvo Pärt’s Fratres (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj9TmlpSxx0).

The Science of Sleep (Michel Gondry, 2006) – A deeply personal film in which Michel Gondry relives a failed relationship (the film was even shot downstairs from his ex-girlfriend’s apartment). The protagonist, Stéphane, paints a critical portrait of Gondry as a young man. He is intensely creative, but his immaturity and his lack of grounding in reality get in the way of his work as an artist and his relationship with his neighbor Stephanie. The narrative has two main strands: a naturalistic portrayal of the rise and fall of their relationship, and the surreal world of Stéphane’s dreams and fantasies. Eventually these two strands become so intertwined that, like Stéphane, the audience can no longer discern between them. When this was played at the County, I watched it four times.
Honorable Mention: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) – This is an excellent film, but Charlie Kaufman’s Russian nesting doll approach to screenwriting gets complicated for the sake of complexity, rather than in service to the story. In this case, inducing a sense of alienation through structural means dilutes rather than augments the actor’s wonderful performances.

Dancer in the Dark (Lars von Trier 2000) – Dancer in the Dark is a fertile hybrid of Dogme 95 sparsity and high drama. Bjork, in the role of the protagonist, lends her considerable musical talents to the film. While von Trier obviously gets off on manipulating the emotions of his audience, he possesses a rare talent to push all the right buttons without misfiring. When saw this at the County, I came back the next day for the first show.
Honorable Mention: The Boss of it All (2006) – The owner of a small Danish company doesn’t like being the bearer of bad news, and has the entire office convinced that he has a superior, “the boss of it all,” to blame for all decisions that his employees don’t like. During business negotiations a gruff Icelander refuses to negotiate with the supposed subordinate, and demands to speak with the boss of it all. The owner, caught in his deception, hires a down-on-his-luck actor to play the boss, and hilarity ensues. The Boss of it All also points to the diversity of von Trier’s oeuvre; The Boss of it All and Antichrist (2009) are the polar extremes that bracket his works.

In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-Wai, 2000) – One of the great collaborations between director Wong Kar-Wai and cinematographer Christopher Doyle. In the Mood for Love is a meditation on interior space, and a tone poem evoking the Hong Kong of Wong Kar-Wai’s youth (notice that the camera sees from the height of a child). Listen to the theme here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0tMmsUEGOY

Amélie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001) – A major departure from Jeunet’s grotesque earlier work, which is also wonderful (The City of Lost Children, Delicatessen), Amélie is the story of a girl who can fix everybody’s problems but her own. She leads the audience to sympathize with all the characters despite their flaws. Perhaps the most charming and well-intentioned move of the decade.

City of God (Fernando Meirelles & Kátia Lund, 2002) – Equal parts grim and joyful, City of God is a well-balanced depiction of life in Brazil’s impoverished favelas. Based on the autobiography of a photojournalist, City of God contrasts the vibrancy of the slum community with the destructive paths that the residents must take to survive.

The Departed (Martin Scorsese, 2006) – One of the few remakes to be better than the original.

2 Days in Paris (Julie Delpy, 2007) – From writer, director, and star Julie Delpy (she even performs a song during the credits). This film has excellent character writing, and even minor characters possess great psychological depth. The couple at the center of the story avoid the dramatic extremes of most on-screen relationships, instead occupying the middle ground in which most couples actually exist. They’re comfortably acclimated, but are grated by one another’s faults. They’re in love (or something close to it), even though they kind of get a kick out of annoying one another. 2 Days in Paris also has a great sense of humor, with witty dialog and great situational comedy.

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (Sacha Baron Cohen, 2006) – An anthropological study of American ignorance. In my opinion, the funniest movie of the decade.

Tristram Shandy: A Cock & Bull Story (Michael Winterbottom, 2006) – They called it unfilmable, but Winterbottom proved them wrong. Actors play themselves playing roles in the film adaptation of Tristram Shandy. Absurd, innovative, and utterly hilarious.
Honorable Mention: The Road to Guantanamo (2006) – Winterbottom’s part documentary, part dramatization of three British citizens imprisoned by the US military for two years without evidence, deprived of their right to challenge their detention, and brutally tortured by the US government. The Road to Guantanamo is turns an unflinching eye to the war crimes committed by the Bush Administration.

Margot at the Wedding (Noah Baumbach, 2007) – As Tolstoy said, every unhappy families is unhappy in its own way, and Margot at the Wedding furthers Baumbach’s reputation as an astute observer familial discord.
Honorable Mention: Squid & the Whale (2005)

Talk To Her (Pedro Almodovar, 2002)
Honorable Mention: Bad Education (2004) and Volver (2006)

Grizzly Man (Werner Herzog, 2005) – Herzog stitches together a narrative from the digital remains of bear whisperer/amateur filmmaker/well meaning lunatic Timothy Treadwell, after Treadwell is eaten by one of his subjects. Perhaps the most intense documentary of the decade.

Atonement (Joe Wright, 2007) – Superbly shot, well written, and structurally complex. From sound mixing to cinematography, this film is solid from the first frame to the closing credits.
Honorable Mention: Pride & Prejudice (2005) – I detest costume dramas, but Joe Wright managed to win me over with Pride & Prejudice. Excellent cinematography throughout, with a number of impressive scenes with masterful camera work (ex. The minutes long tracking shot at the ball). Wright also introduces enough vulgar reality to overcome the traditionally sanitized representations of English nobility (the muddy courtyard, the hog running through the house, etc.). Instead of glorifying the landed gentry, Pride & Prejudice explores the emptiness of aristocratic society, whose rules and expectations form the primary obstacle keeping the couple apart. Unfortunately, they tacked on a gaggingly sentimental scene at the end of the American distribution.

New World (Terrence Malick, 2005) – Malick tells the story of Pocahontas from both the European and indigenous perspective. As always, Malick delivers stunning visuals. In my opinion, this is the most beautiful film of the decade.

The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2009) – The Hurt Locker is one of the few war stories that abstains from glorifying violence and jingoism. The soldiers are decent guys and are doing something inarguably positive (defusing bombs), but they’re constantly raising their guns on civilians, calling Muslims “Hajjis,” and generally disrespecting the people whose nation they’ve invaded. At the same time, the soldiers are genuinely fearful because enemies might be disguised as civilians. The whole film begs the question: Why are we in Iraq? (Also, I must say… I’m crossing my fingers for a Near Dark (1987)/Hurt Locker hybrid on the horizon…)

Diving Bell & the Butterfly (Julian Schnabel, 2007) – This innovative and visually stunning film was shot largely from the point of view of the paralyzed protagonist.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik, 2007) – This film is a refreshing portrayal of a tired subject. Dominik breathes new life into the genre by exchanging cardboard cutouts for complex characters. The acting is superb, and the characters possess an intelligence and psychological depth never seen in this genre. I especially appreciated Paul Schneider’s character Dick Liddil, a sly, well-spoken character that proves that even a cowboy can have a decent vocabulary.

Underappreciated Gems:
After the Wedding (2006)
Let the Right One In (2008)
Reprise (2006)
Mysterious Skin (2005)
A Peck on the Cheek (Mani Ratnam, 2002)
The Whackness (2008)
Head-on (2005)
My Winnipeg (Guy Madden, 2008)

Documentaries:
Jesus Camp (2006)
Crazy Love (2007)
Darwin’s Nightmare (2005)
The Fog of War (2003)
Manda Bala (2007)
Why We Fight (2005)
Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
Waltz with Bashir (2008)

I am not saying that I will never watch or I will not like an adaptation it just annoys me. Don’t get me wrong I love Jane Austen on the big screen and one of my top 10 is a book “Howl’s Moving Castle”. I could not cut it due to the fact that it was my very 1st film I saw at the County and I just plain love it! But my top ten needed to be original.

So… my top ten with the exception of “Howl’s” are all original, pure and true. Well… I have make a disclaimer about 2 films on the top ten because I know people are going to argue me. “Memento” was a short story written by the director’s brother and I just feel that does not fall into my “code” and “Vanilla Sky” was originally a Spanish film by the same writer and Penelope Cruz was in that one too… so it is still original to the writer and therefore still just a version 2. Also, like I said before, I do watch and actually like some adaptation and since the industry is saturated with them you WILL find adaptation on my “other films list”. However, for my top ten I had to get help from somewhere.

All the lists in alphabetical order – not love.

Cheers!

The Top Ten
Amelie — Darjeeling Limited — Donnie Darko
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind — Gladiator
Howl’s Moving Castle — Memento — The Royal Tenenbaums
The Station Agent — Vanilla Sky

Broke My Heart To Cut
I Heart Huckabees — Sunshine Cleaning — Wonder Boys

Just Oh So Good
Brick — The Chorus — Friends with Money
Garden State — Life as a House — Look at Me
Pan’s Labyrinth — Sideways — Slumdog Millionaire
The Village — Volver

Worth Mentioning
The Dark Knight — Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Kill Bill 1&2 — Match Point — Napoleon Dynamite
Saved — Sin City — Snatch
Wallace & Gromit in Three Amazing Adventures