As the first decade of the 2000s winds to a close, it is time to compile a “Best of the Decade” movie list. What films were your favorites of the past ten years? Use the comments section below to add your list.
But how to remember what films even played over the last decade? Well, you can start by reviewing a few other lists that we’ve linked below. That will get your brain turning. Don’t agonize over making the choices – just go with your gut or comment on the lists below.
Just remember, it’s more “favorites” than “best.”
- Top 20 films of each year compiled by Metacritic
- TimesonLine 100 best of the decade
- PasteMag 50 best of the decade
- AV Club (The Onion) best of the decade
- NYTimes blog
TOP TEN LIST OF JOHN TONER, Director of the County and Ambler Theaters.
Favorite movies of the decade, right? It’s far easier to pick “favorites” than “best.” And it would be even easier to pick a top 50, but that’s not the assignment. So, after the first ten take their bow, I’ll come back with a bunch more. Many of which could have been on the primo list, but weren’t for some arbitrary reason. I also have a horrible feeling that I’m completely forgetting a whole year or two of great films, so I reserve the right to add to this list at any time!
TOP TEN (2000-2009). In the order that I thought of them, coming right at you, no apologies, no regrets, no refunds:
MULHOLLAND DR. (2001)(David Lynch) &
GOSFORD PARK (2001) (Robert Altman).
Two masters with career toppers in 2001. The last good film from either, I might also add. I doubt that Lynch has another good one in him and Altman, well, you know, it’s… unlikely. Mulholland Dr. has uncharacteristic restraint, which only heightens the wild abandon of the third act. Gosford is Altman at his best, working on many levels with a big cast and a wonderful script.
ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (2004) (d:Michel Gondry, w:Charlie Kaufman). A funny, delightful, endlessly inventive film. As well scripted as Malkovich, but with more emotional depth.
AMELIE (2001) (Jean-Pierre Jeunet). Another whimsical, fun film with a warm heart. Audrey Tatou cannot be topped. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh… it’s magic.
MATCH POINT (2005) (Woody Allen). Huh, Woody Allen in the top ten, are you crazy? Maybe, but the move to England and the dark, nasty script make this a last hoorah. (The third of my first five – what? Is this a charity blog or something?). He should stick with nasty – funny’s not working anymore.
21 GRAMS (2003) (d: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, w: Guillermo Arriaga). This is either a powerful emotional roller coaster, chopped into pieces and reassembled with amazing style or an overwrought soap opera. Or both. I was stunned and rocked. It is not unmanly to shed a tear while watching a film – sobbing, on the other hand, is.
GHOST WORLD (2001) (d: Terry Zwigoff, w:Daniel Clowes). This one had me hooked from the opening Indian music video. A nice Steve Buscemi role and the only good one from Scarlett Johansson (because she doesn’t act!)
ABOUT SCHMIDT (2002) (Alexander Payne). This ode to middle America is not satire. It is real and affectionate, sad and beautiful. And funny. Jack actually does not smirk once in the entire film. I kid you not! And the letters to Ndugu are a window to a man’s soul. No, I’m not joking.
HAPPY-GO-LUCKY (2008) (Mike Leigh). Sally Hawkins gives an amazing performance. It’s easy to do glum and sullen. But ridiculously happy? What a concept. And Leigh’s earlier Vera Drake (2004) tweren’t bad, either.
A SERIOUS MAN (2009) (Coen Brothers). This is right up there with Fargo as the best Coens film ever. The film has an emotional and moral core in addition to the satire and visual style. Just like Fargo. And there’s a bunch of Jefferson Airplane, too? What more do you want?
THE BEST OF THE REST. OK, that was my top ten. Favorites. I told you that I was going to give it to you straight. No tinkering to make it look all pretty. No balance. No what will the neighbors think? No, oh dear, how will it affect my cineaste street cred? Yes, it may say more about me than anything. The list is so, you know, what is the term I want? White bread? What? Who’s calling my list “white bread?” And so what if it is? So what? So blinking what!!?
Woo! Exhale… Now, here’s a bunch more films that I liked a lot. Maybe that first list was just my “joke list” and this is my real list. Yeah, hahaha, that’s right. Gotcha! Here’s my REAL best of the decade:
Since we ended the decade with the Coens, I’ll go back to the start of the decade for their fine THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE (2001), which is a beautiful ode to b&w noir. And the title reminds me of THE MAN WITHOUT A PAST (2002), a Finnish deadpan delight from the incomparable Aki Kaurismaki, which was only surpassed by his 2006 LIGHTS IN THE DUSK, both of which deserve to be on the list.
And if we’re talking about Aki Kaurismaki, how about his American counterpart, Jim Jarmusch? Maybe BROKEN FLOWERS (2005) with Bill Murray? Maybe, maybe. (Maybe not.) Murray was better in LOST IN TRANSLATION (2003) (Sofia Coppola), wasn’t he? Yes, of course he was.
And Werner Herzog? He had two very fine docs with GRIZZLY MAN (2005) and ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD (2007), both of which had surprises and insights.
And then we have our little foreign language ghetto (ok, I admit I said that just to make you cineastes mad. Hahahaha.): PAN’S LABYRINTH(2006) (Guillermo del Toro) was very close to being on my top ten – a really amazing mix of harsh reality and fascinating fantasy. CACHE(2005) was good, despite the fact that I hate, hate, hate every thing else that Michael Haneke has ever done. The fact that he is such a highly regarded director is a sure sign of the decadence and decline of Europe. TELL NO ONE (2006)(Guillaume Canet) was a fine little thriller and THE NAMESAKE (2006)(Mira Nair) was really good, too. And how can you not have the excellent THE LIVES OF OTHERS (2006), if only to include the best name of any director, any time, any place: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. Bingo! Why exactly wasn’t Lives in the top ten?
David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen teamed up for two good films: A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE (2005) and EASTERN PROMISES (2007). And I really liked Sean Penn’s INTO THE WILD (2007), as well.
THERE WILL BE BLOOD (2007)(Paul Thomas Anderson) is a really interesting case. The first three quarters was one of the best films I’ve ever seen. For the first hour I was thinking: this is a masterpiece, this may be on my top ten of all time. Then the final act is one of the worst pieces of trash I’ve ever witnessed. Ever! How is that possible? To ruin, absolutely ruin, a near masterpiece with an ending that makes you question everything that came before it? It makes me really mad, just to think about it!
I’ve also got to mention THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS (2001) (Wes Anderson) and FRIENDS WITH MONEY (2006)(Nicole Holofcener).
Bringing up the rear are two excellent lawyer films: FRACTURE (2007) (Gregory Hoblit) and MICHAEL CLAYTON (2007)(Tony Gilroy). (And, yes, I used to be one, too.) And finally, there is the true genius of Werner Herzog’s BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS(2009) And why exactly is it “Port of Call”? Some mysteries will remain ever so.
Yo. That’s all, folks! Feel free to comment. There’s no cover charge. And add your own top ten. Please!
Here goes…
1) Terrence Malick – The New World
2) The Dardennes Brothers – Le Fils
3) Todd Haynes – Far From Heaven
4) Jafar Panahi – Crimson Gold
5) Tsai Ming Liang – What Time Is It There?
6) Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood
7) Steve McQueen – Hunger
8) Lucrecia Martel – La Nina Santa
9) David Cronenberg – Eastern Promises
10) Apichatpong Weerasethakul – Tropical Malady
Honourable mentions: Che, Uzak, Punch Drunk Love, Wall-E, Flight of the Red Balloon, Ten, Werckmeister Harmonies, Junebug, Superbad, A Scanner Darkly, Mulholland Drive, My Architect, A History of Violence, Lost in Translation, Ilklimer, Inland Empire, Borat, Flags of our Fathers.
Biggest disappointments: Broken Flowers, The Royal Tenenbaums, Gangs of New York, King Kong, Andy Warhol Season at the BFI, the fact that Atom Egoyan has yet to produce a worthwhile picture during my life as a film-goer, my own ignorance of documentaries, any film that Tries To Make Sense Of The War On Terror (Syriana, Redacted, Rendition, The Kingdom, etc.), no funny mainstream comedies, Johnny Depp becoming a poor man’s Russell Brand, the pitiful official attitude towards film as an art form in Britain, Chris Cooper continuing not to win every acting award going, Parker Posey not returning my calls, Synechdoche, New York, Control, Zooey Deschanel marrying that eejit from Death Cab. I could go on.
Reasons to be cheerful: the fact that film criticism still has plenty of decent high-profile practitioners, the faltering but promising return of Francis Ford Coppola.
Hi. I’m Shane, one of the managers of The Ambler Theater. Here’s my Top 10 (with obligatory cheating by doing honorable mentions).
1 – City of God – one of the most amazing, kinetic and exhilarating films I’ve ever seen, and a mainstay in my Top 5 of all time. And yet, I have absolutely no interest in watching the sort-of sequel City of Men. Go figure.
2 – The Royal Tenenbaums – I still say Rushmore (which came out too early for this list) is better, but only by a hair. This is Wes Anderson’s most Wes Anderson-y movie to date, and demonstrated his talent for carefully walking the line between comedy and tragedy.
3 – Amelie – This might have been cloying in nearly anyone else’s hands, but Jeunet is too wicked to make Pollyanna. Yann Tiersen’s score is one of my favorites.
4 – The Fall – I still don’t get the lack of love for Tarsem’s amazing film. It’s absolutely stunning to look at (the opening credit sequence may be my favorite of all time), and I enjoyed the story’s meta take on storytelling immensely.
5 – There Will Be Blood – There will be weirdness too. I don’t always love P.T. Anderson, but his unmistakable touch is all over this. It does go off the rails towards the end, but I love some good off-the-rails action now and again. (Also see: Sunshine)
6 – Pan’s Labyrinth – Fairy tales for adults are tough to pull off, but Guillermo del Toro made a haunting and beautiful one for the ages.
7 – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – This has an emotional kick that blindsided me. Michel Gondry + Charlie Kaufman = kooky fun, right? But man, what an unexpectedly potent look at love and loss.
8 – Kiss Kiss Bang Bang – Funniest movie of the decade, hands down. Sure, there’s a story of some sort, but it’s all just an excuse to have Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer exchange consistently hilarious bon mots courtesy of writer/director Shane Black.
9 – Lost in Translation – I’m a Sophia Coppola fan. I’m not ashamed to admit it. Plus, I love Bill Murray and this may be his finest moment. Let’s all go sing a Roxy Music song now.
10 – Memento – Christopher and Jonathan Nolan have a lot of fun messing with story structure and their glee is contagious. Always a pleasure to watch and revisit.
Just missed:
Shaun of the Dead
Y Tu Mama Tambien
Inglourious Basterds
You Can Count on Me
Donnie Darko
Assassination of Jesse James…
About a Boy
Children of Men
Amores Perros
Jarhead
Guilty pleasures (I guess…)
Rules of Attraction
Running Scared (no, not the Gregory Hines one)
Hedwig and the Angry Inch/Shortbus
Ugh, SoFia Coppola. Apparently I’m not such a big fan after all…
RE SHANE’S TOP TEN:
Hmmm. A pretty good Top Ten from Shane. Pretty darn good in fact. It’s the “near misses” that make you question his judgment, though. We’ll overlook Basterds as a Tarantino fetish and Shaun as a “young person” thing, but About a Boy and Jarhead? What was he thinking/smoking? About a Boy as maybe best of the decade? Of ten full years? Wow. And don’t think we didn’t notice that he tried to slip in “Shortbus” by tacking it on at the very end. I didn’t realize that anyone had actually seen that film. I stand corrected.
Inglourious Basterds’ 88%, Shaun of the Dead’s 91%, and About a Boy’s 93% respective fresh ratings suggest to me that I am on the correct side of critical opinion here. I am neither a Tarantino fetishist nor all that young. And I guess we all have different things that move us – some of us seemingly prefer hammy overacting from the likes of Sean Penn and Naomi Watts in a contrived bit of schmaltz, while others of us appear to think that Jack Nicholson wandering around Nebraska looking terrible in a Winnebago is revelatory. About a Boy is witty and a little dark, with a great script that I think actually improves upon its also-great Nick Hornby source material, and a career-best performance from Hugh Grant. It takes diff’rent strokes to move the world, yes it does.
And Jarhead was originally in my “guilty pleasures” section, but I moved it up. I just recently re-watched it, and I was amazed again at how it both stays true to the real-life account that inspired it, and still remains so stylish and beautiful, with some haunting images that I still think about years later. Whereas with something like Fracture, to choose a movie completely at random, the only thing that haunts me is the ghost of 10 bucks that I wasted watching Anthony Hopkins put balls in a desk toy and get arrested in the single dumbest “twist” since The Village.
Crash, y’all!! Where’s Crash??????
RE SHANE’S DEFENSE OF HIS TOP TEN.
Defense or defensive? You be the judge.
Maybe I was too quick to judge Shane’s list. After all, Hugh Grant’s performance in About a Boy is better than his current Did You Hear About the Morgans. And Jarhead does make the most creative use of profanity since The Last Detail.
On the other hand, I must take exception to the wholly unwarranted attack on Fracture, an exceptionally fine film. First of all, it’s SIR Anthony Hopkins! Second, those “balls in a desk toy,” as he so smugly puts it, are a metaphor. Yes, ARE a metaphor. (And did he notice that one of the balls falls off the track in one scene? Yes? Get it? Isn’t it clear?) Finally, the ending. Well, I’ll acknowledge that the loophole in double jeopardy that allows Hopkins’ character to be retried for murder (since he was acquitted only of “attempted” murder) is not, uh, you know, “actual law,” if you will, but it is cool and very clever, and haven’t you ever heard of poetic license?
I’m not even going to reply to the low blows directed to our very finest actors. I’m speaking about Sean Penn and Jack Nicolson, of course. Can you say: “An American Olivier and Gielgud?” And you don’t need to mope around like some Hamlet-type to know that’s “spot on.”
I rest my case.
And I’m going to re-open the case, citing some ridiculous rule I just made up – look at me, I’m Gregory Hoblit! And, no, I didn’t miss the metaphorical nature of the balls; Fracture is not the subtlest of movies. In fact, the audience was hit over the head so hard with the metaphor, that I bet people in adjacent theaters were complaining of headaches. *Dogs* were nudging each other when that ball fell off the track.
I don’t have anything against Penn or Nicholson, but they are certainly capable of turning in embarrassing performances. For instance, Penn’s performance in Mystic River is HORRIBLE. I know The Academy gave him an Oscar for it, but it’s the same Academy that gave Renee Zellweger one for Cold Mountain too. Clearly, their overacting-dar is on the fritz. And I think Nicholson sleepwalks through roles a lot these days, but he gave a decent performance in About Schmidt. I dislike that movie quite a bit, but I suspect that has more to do with the way it left me feeling (is throwing up from misery a thing?) and less to do with the quality of the movie, so I’m going to retract my criticism of it. No such luck for 21 Grams, however.
And are you really criticizing Shortbus because it was largely unseen? Is that how we’re gauging the quality of films now? I’m glad that Transformers 2 is the best movie of the year!
ACCEPTING SHANE’S MEA CULPA.
Thank you, Shane. I accept your last entry as a complete apology and retraction of your previous “comments.”
With regard to Shortbus, in light of the fact that this is a “family blog,” I cannot address that subject further at this time.
I look forward to your future entries on this site. Your film observations show enthusiasm and a great deal of… potential.
Time always seems to be an issue with me, and after writing to a blog is akin to writing grant applications – look lovely when they are done, but the creation is agony. So here is my list, which reminded me that the 1980s was devoid of substantive music, the “oughts” seems to have large gaps in films worth noting.
Not in any particular order:
1) Memento
2) A Serious Man
3) The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
4) Juno
5) Amelie
6) Spirited Away
7) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
8) About Schmidt
9) Lost in Translation, and
10)Pan’s Labyrinth
All the films listed gave me a new experience, or look at the art of story telling.
May 2010-2019 continue to provide us with wonderful storytelling.
I enjoyed your listing. You can go on my blogsite to see my picks and read my rationale for my listing next week at dearmoviegoer.com
My 10 Favorite Films of the Decade (and Then Some)
1. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003)
2. Ratatouille (2007)
3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
4. Mystic River (2003)
5. Traffic (2000)
6. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
7. Crash (2005)
8. Brokeback Mountain (2005)
9. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
10. Juno (2007)
The other 15 runner-ups include: Almost Famous (2000), Up (2009), American Gangster (2007), No Country For Old Men (2007), (500) Days of Summer (2009), Gosford Park (2001), Milk (2008), Amelie (2001), The Hours (2002), The Queen (2006), City of God (2003), Memento (2000), Pan Labyrinth (2006), Finding Nemo (2003), and Slumdog Millionaire (2008).
I’m glad you are listing the 10 best of the decade, rather than 2009. I’m finding it hard to find a 10 best this year.
What I think were the 10 best in the decade, in no particular order:
The Lives of Others
Pan’s Labyrinth
The Lord of the Rings, which I regard as one fabulous 12-hour movie
The Orphanage
House of Flying Daggers
The Triplets of Belleville
Persepolis
Transsiberian
No Country for Old Men
Spirited Away
Gosford Park
OK, so that’s 11. And a big tie for number 12: My Architect, The Rape of Europa, An Inconvenient Truth, Volver, The Queen (a performance by Helen Mirren so good that at times I forgot it wasn’t the real queen on the screen), The Illusionist, The Fall, Cache, A Very Long Engagement, Man on a Train.
I’m sure the minute I post this I will think of others worthy of “number 12″.
My list for my favorite of the decade. No particular order. Here it is.
1) Band Of Brothers (Yeah I know its a mini series, but its the best thing made in this medium of the 00s and I couldn’t exclude it)
2) City Of God
3) The Pianist
4) The Departed
5) Mystic River
6) The Dark Knight
7) Motorcycle Diaries
8) Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle
9) Amelie
10) The Aviator
Honorable Mentions Are Listed Below
- Thin Red Line
- Match Point
- In Bruges
- Layer Cake
- Talk to Her
- Fellowship Of The Ring
- Shaun Of The Dead
I have to agree with Tim regarding the quality and value of Band of Brothers. I suspect with the changes in film distribution that in the next decade we will be voting on films viewed on our cell-phones.
I guess that as the Director of Special Film Programs for the Ambler and the County Theaters I should have more refined taste than to choose two comic book films for my Top Ten of the decade, but it would be lacking not to mention comic book movies. They were the cornerstone to Hollywood’s success and it would be tough to look back at this 10-year chunk without acknowledging their sway. The two that made my list far exceeded the rest of their blockbuster brethern and, while opposite sides of the same coin, they represent the peak of the genre’s potential.
THE INCREDIBLES is easily my favorite of the Pixar films (another trend of the aughts) and it would be lying to say that I was not geeking out while watching it again in 35mm this past weekend. In an era where the Superman ethos seems to be dead and buried, this film has found a way to rekindle its spirit. While I may take some guff for picking a kids film, I stand behind my choice. That and the Dash sequence is one of the best CGI showoff scenes.
THE DARK KNIGHT is the obvious other comic genre trophy winner. To take a genre which feeds off spandex and cheep thrills and flip it on end, plumbing the depth of morality and lawlessness, make it a masterstroke. While not perfect, it takes balls to take a multi-million dollar franchise and use it to explore anarchy, vigilantism, and justice – and have it succeed.
I really should provide as detailed a rationale for the rest of my choices, but I just felt defensive about my superhero picks and had to preemtively defend them. The rest are in alphabetical order with just some minor thoughts about why I picked them.
Adaptation – Total sucker for movies about movies and the way that this one takes that sharp turn at the end, so knowingly, makes me watch it at least once a year.
Atonement – It takes an incredible director to make stepping in and out of fiction so seamless. I could not stop thinking about this film and its implications for weeks after. (Does a fictionally happy ending right a grim reality…hmmm I guess this has more in common with Adaptation than I thought.)
Children of Men – The final battle scene blew me away. Nuff said.
Downfall – Perhaps the greatest war movie I have ever scene. Totally unflinching, frightening, and grimly depressing.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – Gondry’s brilliant direction of this whimsically sad look at a relationship being dis-remembered is a flawless realization of the best screenplay of the decade.
The Lives of Others – There are not many films that showcase the power of art like this one, and precious few that have the conviction of redemption as well.
Lost in Translation – Pitch perfect Bill Murray.
There Will Be Blood – While I am not sure I could ever sit through it again, DDL’s performance and PTA’s unrelenting direction all backed with Jonny Greenwood’s piercing score make it a frighteningly powerful couple hours.
Films that just missed the cut:
- In Bruges
- Mullholand Drive
- Talk To Her
- Kill Bill (Parts I & II)
- Kontroll
- Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
- Brick
- Once
- Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story
I would also be remiss to highlight out the best soundtracks of the decade. These I felt comfortable ranking.
1. The Lord of the Rings (Howard Shore)
2. Amelie (Yann Tiersen)
3. There Will Be Blood (Jonny Greenwood)
4. The Dark Knight (JAmes Newtown Howard and Hans Zimmer)
5. Atonement (Dario Marianelli)
6. Babel (Gustavo Santaolalla)
7. Brick (Nathan Johnson)
8. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (John Williams)
9. Sprited Away (Joe Hisaishi)
10. Far From Heaven (Elmer Bernstein)
As 2010 approaches, I see almost everyone making their “Top Ten Films of the Decade” lists. I’m having enough trouble deciding what my top ten of 2009 are, so at the moment, I don’t have plans to put together my top ten films of the decade. However, as a lover of film music, I decided it would be fun to put together a list of my top ten film scores of the past decade. Keep in mind, I’m talking about film scores, so I won’t be including films that have simply compiled good soundtracks, such as Garden Stateor Cars. But without further ado, I give you my top ten film score of the decade, starting with my tenth favorite and ending with my number one:
#10: The Village by James Newton Howard
While The Village’s third act may fall flat, James Newton Howard’s beautifully crafted score stays consistent throughout. Howard’s score ranges from suspense to sadness, but the most powerful sections are the latter, featuring beautiful violin solo melodies with light accompaniment. The score’s repetitiveness keeps it from being higher on my list, but it’s definitely still worthy of its #10 spot.
#9: Up by Michael Giacchino
The most impressive accomplishment of Up’s score is its four minute montage sequence that had us all weeping our eyes out. During the montage, the music is the only thing accompanying the visuals. Giacchino swings between emotions quickly, yet in a way that doesn’t feel disruptive. Apart from these tender, emotional moments, Up’s music boasts a fun throw-back to adventure scores from the 1930s. All in all, Giacchino successfully balances his score between both the film’s tender moments and its fun, action-adventure sequences.
#8: The Dark Knight by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard
I’m a bit of a soundtrack geek, so when I buy a ticket for the latest summer blockbuster, I always check out who wrote the score before entering the theater. Now what could get me more excited than having one of my favorite composers on board for the soundtrack? How about two of my favorite composers on board for the soundtrack. Hans Zimmer and James Newtown Howard definitely deliver on their follow-up to Batman Begins, improving everything I already loved about the first score. Dark Knight’s score pulls you into the film, ramping up the excitement and intensity of each scene.
#7: Ponyo by Joe Hisaishi
Ponyo’s score perfectly captures the tone of the film. In some tracks, every note is like a capsule of concentrated fun that explodes upon hitting your ear. But perhaps the most memorable part of Ponyo’s score is the triumphant trumpet fanfare that accompanies the images of Ponyo running after Sōsuke across the enormous fish waves.
#6: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by John Williams
What would any “best scores” list be without an appearance from the masterful John Williams? While I enjoy the first two Potter soundtracks, they feel a bit bland to me. Azkaban, on the other hand, shows some real personality, while still holding that John Williams feel that we all know and love so much.
#5: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest by Hans Zimmer
I find it ironic that one of my least favorite films of the decade sported one of my favorite scores. Zimmer improves upon the original score in every way, re-imagining old themes and adding plenty of new ones.
#4: Monsters Inc. by Randy Newman
For me, there’s two types of Pixar movies: one’s that Randy Newman scored and one’s that Randy Newman didn’t score. I don’t have anything against non-Randy scored Pixar flicks, but there sure is a whole lot of difference in the tone. The score for Monsters Inc. blends charm with jazz and reminds listeners why they love watching the classic Pixar movies.
#3: Dinosaur by James Newton Howard
I’ve loved this score since the very first time I saw the trailer in theaters. Beautiful, epic, and triumphant, James Newton Howard really hits it out of the park on this one.
#2: Lord of the Rings by Howard Shore
Whether or not you like the films, the sheer magnitude of converting the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy to film is unarguably one of the biggest accomplishments in film this past decade. I’m awarding my #2 spot to the whole trilogy because the entire work fits together so well. Motifs for Gondor tease us in Fellowship, only to be fully exposed during Return of the King. Every minute detail of Shore’s masterpiece is thought through and executed beautifully, fitting perfectly with the images on screen. When listening apart from the film, every track instantly transports its listener to the world of Middle Earth, from the Plains of Rohan to Khazad-dûm, from the heart of the Shire to the depths of Mount Doom.
#1: Howl’s Moving Castle by Joe Hisaishi
Sometimes I wish every film score was composed by Joe Hisaishi. Memorable themes, beautiful orchestration – every second of Hisaishi’s score to Howl’s is breathtaking. For many films, if you listen to the score separate from the film, you still feel that you’re listening to “movie music.” Hisaishi sets himself apart in that his music feels less “film-scoreish” and more like a masterpiece of classical music. Every time I listen to Howl’s I still can’t believe that the music was composed for the sole purpose of accompanying an animated film – truly remarkable work.
I’m Matt Keller, and I’m an employee of the County Theater. These are my 10 favorite films of the last decade:
(Sorry if it’s a bit long winded…I love these movies!)
-THERE WILL BE BLOOD
Directed By Paul Thomas Anderson
Like Raging Bull, it lost Best Picture to another great film –No Country For Old Men. Not that Best Picture really means anything (we all remember Chicago….), but I use the comparison because like Raging Bull it is an inherently American tale that will be remembered and studied for years to come. A transcendent performance by Daniel Day-Lewis and mesmerizing direction by PTA make this an unforgettable experience. I paid Regal prices to see this in theaters 4 times!
-CHILDREN OF MEN
Directed By Alfonso Cuaron
Great acting: Check!
Great story: Check!
Great direction: Check!
Great Cinematography: Check!!!!!!
What more could you ask for??
- NEIL YOUNG: HEART OF GOLD
Directed By Jonathan Demme
A truly inspired performance featuring the whole “Prairie Wind” album and plenty of classics. Soul-bearing from Neil Young, one of the great songwriters of the last 30 years. Demme reveals that Young nearly died from a brain aneurism early in the year, making this a cathartic, very moving film.
-ASSASINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD
Directed By Andrew Dominik
Assasination…confronts you in the same way that its main character, Jesse James, confronts his foes. Slowly, Thoughtfully, and with the expectation that you knew the score the moment he walked into the room. A carefully crafted, humble look at a man who looms large in American Folklore to this day. Roger Deakins out does himself in this beautifully photographed film, also great performances all around.
-CASSANDRA’S DREAM
Directed By Woody Allen
Made shortly after the disappointing Scoop, and the fantastic Match Point, Cassandra’s Dream seemed to sneak by under the radar. Absolutely amazing performances from Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor and a haunting, foreshadowing score from Phillip Glass carry Allen’s great script to its gripping conclusion.
-ALI
Directed By Michael Mann
Michael Mann brings his knack for the ethereal to this story about the controversial boxer Muhammad Ali. Unlike many biographical stories that try to span an entire career, Mann instead tries to focus on the finite details of Ali’s biggest moments. He frames the tale of Ali with some serious commentary on the tension and change that was going on at the time of his rise to prominence.
- THE NEW WORLD
Directed by Terrance Malick
The master of poetry in motion only releases a movie every decade…and he would probably make my list for each decade that happens. A big, beautiful movie that at its core is a small, soul searching story.
-THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU
Directed By Wes Anderson
For me, this is the movie Wes Anderson was born to make.
-BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD
Directed By Sidney Lumet
Sydney Lumet has made some clunkers along the way to becoming one of America’s finest directors, but he does not disappoint with this tale about a family gone terribly wrong. Lumet proves his knack for getting great performances with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marissa Tomei, and Albert Finney all at the top of their game. Featuring a great score from Carter Burwell to boot.
-NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
Directed By The Coen Brothers
First of all, I believe its made about as well as you can make a film. Great story, acting, cinematography and direction. What really stands of for me though is that it’s The Coen Brothers…but they left that ‘Coen Brothers’ tone at home for the most part. To me that makes a great film maker(s), understanding when a story is so good it simply needs to be made with as much care and attention to detail as is humanly possible.
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Death Proof, Amores Perros, Che, Royal Tenenbaums, 25th Hour, Brick, Diving Bell & The Butterfly, Little Children, Cache, Eastern Promises, Tell No One, Punch Drunk Love, Lost In Translation
1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2. Memento
3. The Royal Tenenbaums
4. No Direction Home
5. Little Miss Sunshine
6. No Country for Old Men
7. Best in Show
8. In America
9. Tell No One
10.High Fidelity
FAVORITE FILMS OF THE DECADE (not in order of preference)
HonestIy, I could do a dozen of these. I could do them by theme, by favorite shots, favorite scores, etc. But I’ve decided simply to build a rounded portrait of exceptional world cinema because even though the presence and reach of foreign film in the states is becoming more and more accessible each day (thank god!!) its still go a ways to go. Bear with me, I’m thorough and these films all deserve the time ☺
1. KABEI: OUR MOTHER (Yoji Yamada, Japan 2008)
- For 133 min I was a member of the Nogami family. I laughed, smiled, worried, and cried with them. I inhabited the rooms of their house, I ate dinner at their table. I was wholly taken into their lives. This film is as sensitive a transposition as I’ve ever known in cinema. Maybe I just saw it when I was most receptive.
KABEI tells the story of the Nogami family in the years leading up to and during WWII. After Shigeru, the patriarch, is imprisoned for the “incendiary” content of his writing, Kabei (the children’s pet name for his wife, their mother) must carry the family (two daughters) on her own. Toru, a former student of Shigeru’s pays respects to his sensei and becomes a devoted helpful friend to the Nogami’s, developing a deep but secretive affection for Kabei… and her for him. A complex range of Japanese attitudes, in conflict and acquiescence to custom and policy, builds a grand portrait of wartime humanity.
Yoji Yamada is a man of considerable acclaim in Japan, having directed the 36 installments of the Tora-san film series, and most recently reached international acclaim for his Samurai Trilogy (Including the Oscar nominated Twilight Samurai). If there were a living director that one could call intrinsically Japanese; meaning that they can tell a story in the way only a Japanese person could tell it (despite the ubiquity of cross cultural information rendered by the 20th century), it is Yoji Yamada… but perhaps only because his subjects are Japanese. Perhaps his prevailing sensitivity, hints of sentimentality, gentle maturity, and observance of the everyday (all of which bring Ozu to mind) could benefit most any cultural context. After all, where does one culture begin and the other end? (its a trick question, culture, like time, is fluid!)
2. BABEL (Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu , Mexico 2006)
**BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCES OF THE DECADE!** (Rinko Kikuchi and Adriana Barraza)
-A sprawling, razing, profound, and accomplished film. Innaritu crafts an arresting proof by contradiction; by exploring the realities of emotional distance through a structural fragmentation, with narrative threads scattered across four continents, BABEL reveals the spontaneous but inevitable weave of causality and sheer humanity that connects us. BABEL reaches a new height in all aspects of cinema, most important being the global scale of its exploration. BABEL is powerful and humbling enough even to dissolve the celebrity of Brad Pitt. (One of the best scores of the decade.)
3. THREE TIMES (Hou Hsiao-hsien, Taiwan 2005)
-The leading exponent and export of the Tawian New Cinema movement, Hou Hsiao-Hsien (Millenium Mambo,) is one of the most talented filmmakers working today, and yet he is almost entirely relegated to the festival circuit in the US. THREE TIMES explores three pairs of lovers (played by the same principal actors) in three different time periods of Taiwanese history (1966, 1911, 2005). Each couple incurs obstacles toward intimacy; ranging from practical circumstance, social constraint, and the aching indecision of modern freedoms. Like all of his works, Three Times moves with a breathlessness, a remarkable stillness that allows one to enter completely into its spaces and moments. The film is also ravishing to behold.
4. TALK TO HER………………….(Pedro Almodovar, Spain 2002)
-Almodovar at his absolute height! Unforgettable characters, and an affecting complex morality. Godard famously said that “Nicholas Ray IS Cinema.” For me, in my own time, it is Almodovar who uses cinema to its extent.
5. BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN……….(Ang Lee, USA 2005)
- Lee elicits great sympathy through this story rather than simplistic pity, an oft confused discrepancy. Sympathy is earned through nuance, authenticity, honesty, and complexity, whereas pity manipulates through broad, forceful strokes that lack in enriching ambiguity. Jack and Ennis are, in the most helpless and human way, sparking a friction against their context, their time and place, their upbringing. Both of them are equally products of their environments, by degrees wanting to fulfill the tenets of what they understand as being a normal American life and to accept the limits of their potential (Ennis more than Jack). But both of them is charged by a desire (a desire that is only able to reveal itself to them after the isolation and utterly basic existence on Brokeback has worn down their conditioning) that conflicts with their upbringing and especially with the social progress of 1960’s small-town southern US. What makes this story so notable, besides the near primordial and tactile manner in which Lee explores what is truly an existential dilemma, besides the formal excellence of its execution, besides its revelatory lead performance, is that the practical and damaging consequences of Jack and Ennis’ decisions; their increasing waywardness in regards to their families, the damage Ennis does to Jack through his prevailing fear and confliction of learned and intrinsic values regarding their love, and the literal danger they bear in expressing that love in a repressive conservative social arena, are a constant element, a predominating topic in their dialogues and behaviors. Lee creates characters subject to expectation that are fully culpable for their inadequacies, their failures, their anxieties, and broken promises. Because of this complexity, not one stroke of this film speaks “woe is me.”
BROKEBACK calls from the recesses of the “pure self,” the immediate and visceral self, which verges against our means, circumstances, and loyalties always. This vergence rises between the intrinsic and the learned, the inborn and the imposed, the internal (desire) and the exteriorized architectures of society (morals, values, trends, economy, etc). It is in this ultimately primal struggle that BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN is wholly universal. This basic struggle is highlighted, and given a renewed significance by virtue of being a mainstream product involving a homosexual relationship. That slight but impactful irregularity calls attention once again to extremely important and relatable aspects of the human condition.
6. MULHOLLAND DR. (David Lynch, USA 2002)
-Speaking mostly of his recent three films, David Lynch is a weaver of dreams. He understands their modes, their spontaneity, their density of details, and their refracted qualities of space, time, and superimposition, like no other artistic mind. Lynch has also chosen the greatest medium possible through which to explore these anxious, passionate, and frustrated subconscious realms, which he can emulate in an absolutely singular fashion. They are remarkably full experiences, and they can remain just that, an experience, but their bevy of details, layers, and interlaced instruction are far too much to neglect. Whether you want to or not, your mind will draw lines in the constellation he has scattered between frame one and frame last. Mulholland Dr. was my first Lynchian experience. I had no idea what I was getting into, and afterwards… had no idea what I had gotten into. I saw it again the next day, and every subsequent time it’s played at the County Theater. It is absorbed into me. I consider my relationship to this film, and how it enlivens my mind to this day, my greatest cinematic love affair. (Another standout score!)
7. SPARROW…………………….(Johnny To, Hong Kong 2008)
- Veteran Hong Kong action auteur Johnny To (Election, Triad Election) creates a vibrant love letter to a rapidly changing Hong Kong, to fraternal loyalty, and unabashedly to the vibrant Hollywood films of 1950’s and 60’s. Sparrow traces a small gang of master pickpockets who eke out their living in an old quarter of Hong Kong. Their unity, however, is disrupted when a mysterious woman enters their lives and threads them into her own dilemma. SPARROW is as close as you can get to a musical without singing, and boasts a cleanly specific, choreographed vision (as is typical with the director). Johnny To has crafted a film that rejoices in its movements, framings, and moods, which owe as much to Charlie Chaplin as they do The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. The final pickpocket showdown (slow motion, in the rain, at night… with umbrellas!)…MAGIC! (boasts a bright, energetic, and brilliant score!)
8. SAMARITAN GIRL………………(Kim Ki Duk, South Korea 2004)
**BEST FILMMAKER OF THE DECADE!**
“Hoping to save enough money to travel through “Europe, teenagers Yeo-jin (Ji-min Kwak) and Jae-young (Min-jeong Seo) enter into a risky trade: Jae-young becomes a prostitute, and Yeo-jin manages their business. After Jae-young is killed, Yeo-jin assumes the role of sex worker to keep their clients happy. But Yeo-jin’s father (Eol Lee) discovers his daughter’s secret, setting off a chain of events that bring father and daughter to a crossroads.”
Kim Ki Duk is an architect of coarse emotional unravellings, and I recommend any and all of his films. He is a keen observer of small yet resonant gestures and is spare on words. His films become universal this way. As inclement as they may seem, they contain undeniable familiarity. He has a unique understanding of the friction caused when emotion penetrates into the physical realm, when what we want is outside of our reach, and what it means when words are too obcsure to explain our desires. Actions speak louder than words. (Kim won best director at the Berlin International Film Festival for this film)
9. THE NEW WORLD …………….Terence Malick (USA 2005)
**BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY OF THE DECADE** well, this or Assassination of Jesse James.
- THE NEW WORLD is a story written on the truth of a dream, one that leaves the trace of soil and breath upon the acres of our skin, that wets with its rains, soaks into the heart, and then warms with the beat of its rays, saying “I will find joy in all I see.” Never has a film so entered into me as though through my fingertips or my lungs, so subverted my orientation as though a transposition by its wholeness and grace and movement. I am transformed by the wistful yet rejoicing remembrance, the poem of textures, of senses, of thoughts, and of conflicts that is THE NEW WORLD! And lets face it, any time Emmanuel Lubezki touches a camera he should be handed an Oscar.
10. LOVE EXPOSURE……………Sion Sono (Japan 2009)
**BEST FILM OF THE DECADE!!!**
-Synopsis… because it’s a little complicated… and you’ve probably never heard of this film.
“Having grown up in a devout Christian family, Yu (Takahiro Nishijima) has always been a well-behaved kid. After his mother dies, his priest father is seduced by a woman who breaks his heart, causing him to torment Yu by forcing him to confess his sins on a daily basis. Of course, being a fairly normal kid, Yu has no legitimate sins to confess. To appease his increasingly demanding father, Yu is determined to become a true sinner, eventually training to become an expert at sneak upskirt photography. Pornography being the one sin no priest can overlook, Yu gets the attention he s been so desperately seeking from his dad. One day while hanging out with his fellow sinner pals but dressed like Sasori as punishment for being on the losing end of a bet Yu meets a beautiful girl named Yoko (Hikari Mitsushima). Their first meeting is a glorious one, beginning with an all-out street brawl and ending with a kiss. There are only two problems: she thinks he s a woman and a devious cult leader named Aya (Sakura Ando) is carefully manipulating both of their lives.”
Little can be said of this film before it is seen. It is a singular, varied and unmitigatedly hilarious experience. And even after seeing it, words seem to fall radically short; though “revelatory” “ambitious” “epic” spring to mind first. LOVE EXPOSURE is a cinematic experience imbued with such vibrancy, complexity, spasticity, absurdity, honesty, and observance; that one cant help but feel revived of life afterward. Though writer / director Shion Sono (Suicide Club) builds so many ideas, threads, and tones, what resonates deepest is its feelings; heartfelt, ironically innocent (considering some of its rather coarse specific content), and utterly full! Though lasting 4 hours, each frame is brimming with a vital energy that defies its duration, and is somehow able to remain startlingly intimate in defiance of its grandeur. As was said at the introduction of this film on its NY premier… “it’s the shortest 4 hour film I’ve ever seen.” It goes by in a flash!
Honorable Mentoion:
-Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola 2003)- don’t know how this isn’t in my top 10!
-Inglorious Basterds (Tarantino 2009)
-Brick (Rian Johnson 2005) – Totally agree about the score Chris.
-Atonement (Joe Wright 2007)
-21 Grams (Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu, 2003)
-Assassination of Jesse James… (Andrew Dominik 2007)
-The Wind that Shakes the Barley (Ken Loach 2006),
-Lust Caution (Ang Lee, 2007),
-Autumn Ball (Veiko Ounpuu 2007, Estonia),
-A Bittersweet Life (Kim Ji-woon 2006, South Korea),
-3-Iron (Kim Ki-Duk, 2005 South Korea),
-The Dreamers (Bernardo Bertolucci, 2003),
-CHE (Steven Sodorbourg 2008, USA),
-The Hidden Blade (Yoji Yamada, 2004)
And WES ANDERSON. All of him’s moovies:) (2000-2009)
And now for three films I don’t know how I forgot because they really belong in my top 11, rather than my mega-tie “12.” All three didn’t get nearly the attention they deserve.
The White Countess, a memorable performance by Natasha Richardson (I’m not sure if it’s her last), acting with her mother and sister as Russian emigrees in 1930s China.
Curse of the Golden Flower, breathtaking cinematograpy in a film about a palace revolt in ancient China.
Chenni Kum, a British-Indian film from a few years ago that didn’t get a US distributor and I was lucky enough to see by chance at a theater that virtually never gets art films. I’m still hoping it will get belated recognition. It’s well worth searching out on DVD.
And two more in the growing “12″ group: Lost in La Mancha and Mostly Martha.
Hey Folks I would like to acknowledge a mistake in my honorable mentions selections. I have selected the Thin Red Line as one of my picks and although it is a fantastic film it was made in 1998 and therefore does not qualify. Sorry to those whose film reels got in a twist over it.
Although it was a sleeper, the film managed to garner an Oscar nomination for Richard Jenkins. “The Visitor” is a top-notch character study within a contemporary storyline. It almost made me go out and buy a djembe.
Another superb acting performance was Bruno Ganz in “Downfall”. Certainly one of my top 10 films. I was so engrossed in the temper tantrum scene with his generals that I had to watch it again to read the subtitles.
My choice for top documentary in “Crude”. Once you see it you’ll be hard-pressed to buy gasoline at a Chevron station.
Totally agree about Ganz Brian. Between ‘Downfall’ and ‘Band of Brothers,’ you and Tim have got me thinking about WWII.
In that vain, I cant say enough about “Ken Burn’s THE WAR.” Though made for television and episodic, it is most certainly a film. Enormous in scope, thorough but captivating in its historical detail, an unfathomable feat of editing, garnering a fair and fantastic range of perspective (unafraid to highlight the US’s own missteps and poor wartime practices). THE WAR is historical yet radically personal. While a documentary of mostly archival materials, it feels more tactile, visceral, if not elemental, to me than even a film like Saving Private Ryan. Perhaps that is a quality earned through its combination of mediums, modes of storytelling, and the artistic processes involved in drawing a vast narrative with existing and new materials; the amalgam of which feels potently direct, and is given ample space to accumulate its affect across a 15hour feature. THE WAR also strikes me as a technical milestone for editing and sound design.
I listed the following without rank. It was hard to chose only ten, but here they are …
Brokeback Mountain
El Alamein
Hotel Rwanda
In the Mood For Love
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
No Country For Old Man
Sideways
The Diving Bell And The Butterfly
The Sea Inside
Vera Drake
and DANCER IN THE DARK!!!!! How the heck did if forget it?! The film that stopped my heart. made in 2000, just made the cut.
Oh no! Somehow I forgot Me and You and Everyone We Know, which would have edged out Memento for the #10 slot. My apologies, Miranda. Now please make another film!
Hello Internet,
My name is Steve Arnold and I’m a manager at the County and Ambler theater. Here’s my favs. I pretty much based these on how many times I said “Best Film Ever…” after seeing them the first time.
1.) There Will Be Blood
2.) Ghost World
3.) Diving Bell & the Butterfly
4.) The Fountain
5.) The Life Aquatic: With Steve Zissou
6.) Spirited Away
7.) Reprise
8.) Me, You & Everyone We Know
9.) Dancer in the Dark
10.) Adaptation
*****************************
11.) Synechdoce, NY
12.) Triplets of Bellville
13.) Old Boy
14.) Eternal Sunshine…
15.) Ratatouille
16.) Lars and the Real Girl
17.) The Prestige
18.) Little Children
19.) The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
20.) The Proposition
21.) Death Proof
22.) Persepolis
23.) Waltz With Bashir
24.) District 9
25.) Where the Wild Things Are
Someone just asked today if we were getting Triplets of Belleville. I broke the news gently to her that it was not 2003 anymore, but she was surprised and delighted that she could get it on video!
I’ve been promising John to add my list for weeks, so I finally got down to it. Given the fact that I’ve seen literally thousands of movies in the last 10 years (I don’t miss many), it was not an easy task. But once I got rolling, it really flowed.
So here we go, not in any order:
1) THE LADYKILLERS. It’s hard picking the best Coens Brothers film of the decade, but this one really shines. Tom Cruise was originally cast as the lead, but dropped out for Tom Hanks. That concerned me going in, but it was still awesome.
2) MAD HOT BALLROOM. The aughts were a great time for docs and this one was incredible. About inner city kids who compete in ballroom dancing. Inspirational and a great film, too. (Young at Heart was another great doc.)
3) BRIDESHEAD REVISITED. I have a soft spot for the “Merchant Ivory” films and this was the best of the bunch. (And it was a real bonus seeing Jeremy Irons back, this time in the Alec Guiness role.)
4) KILL BILL, VOL 2. Jackie Brown is my favorite Tarentino film, but the long wait and the anticipation for his next film – the first Kill Bill – totally ruined that one for me. But by Vol 2, I was totally into it, again. Go figure.
5) MONSIEUR IBRAHIM. This was my top foreign language film. Omer Sharif is always incredible.
6) DEATH AT A FUNERAL. Top comedy of the decade. Can’t wait for the American remake this year.
7) RIGHTEOUS KILL and 88 MINUTES. Yes, these are two separate movies, but I’m counting them as one (it’s my list, ok?). I love Al Pacino, who is awesome in both and DeNiro is at near Raging Bull level in Righteous Kill. This is a dream double bill. (Pacino kicks butt in Oceans 12, as well.)
8) GARDEN STATE. This choice may surprise some people, but I thought it was really authentic and real.
9) OLD DOGS. I admit that this one is a guilty pleasure, but Robin Williams always rocks the house. (Man of the Year was a near miss for the list.)
And, finally, the best of the decade:
10) BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM. This is a really beautiful film. If more people saw it, the world would be a better place.
There were lots of runner ups. Some of the best: Cat in the Hat (best kids film), Brokeback Mountain, Lars and the Real Girl, Kinsey, Auto Focus, The Notorious Betty Page, Bruno, and Lust,Caution.
Hey, everyone. I’m KC, a staff member at the Ambler Theater and here is my top ten, in a countdown-type order. You can find this list as well as other features and reviews on appleboxfilm.com — shameless plug for my website, I know.
10. In Bruges – dir. Martin McDonagh
When I first saw McDonagh’s Academy Award-winning short “Six Shooter” I was blown away. A few years later, McDonagh’s first feature-length film “In Bruges” hit cinemas it did the same — despite it’s misguided trailer. It somehow manages to blend death and comedy together into a remarkable film. “In Bruges” is dark, witty and reminds us that Colin Farrell is actually a pretty decent actor.
9. Traffic – dir. Steven Soderbergh
Soderbergh is very hit or miss in my opinion, but “Traffic” is a modern epic about the war on drugs that encompasses great performances — see Clifton Collins Jr. as Francisco Flores — and somewhat subtle but effective visuals.
8. Snatch – dir. Guy Ritchie
Ritchie’s first film “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” created something new but “Snatch” perfected it. The ridiculous, intertwining plot makes it fun, but the outstanding performances and gritty visual style makes it the film that it is.
7. Amélie – dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Style, style, style, Audrey Tatou and more style. “Amélie” is beautiful, heartwarming and, yes, cute. That’s all I need.
6. 28 Days Later – dir. Danny Boyle
Cillian Murphy has the necessary elements to become a big name and his performance in Danny Boyle’s “28 Days Later” is a prime example. The small zombie flick is more than just another addition to the horror genre. The digital filmmaking and pulse-racing score give it a dirty, lasting effect that has yet to be matched.
5. Adaptation. – dir. Spike Jonze
Another brilliant script by the mind-bending Charlie Kaufman, the last great performance by Nicolas Cage and the additions of Streep and Cooper create a relentless mash between film and reality.
4. No Country for Old Men – dir. Joel & Ethan Coen
If the Coen brothers weren’t enough to put “No Country” into my top ten, the cinematography, halting suspense and performance of Javier Bardem helped secure its spot.
3. Shaun of the Dead – dir. Edgar Wright
It’s hard to choose between “Shaun of the Dead” or the followup “Hot Fuzz,” but the way Edgar Wright mixed classic horror elements with the outrageous shenanigans of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, makes it an instant genre-breaking gem.
2. The Royal Tenenbaums – dir. Wes Anderson
The quintessential Wes Anderson piece in my mind, “Tenenbaums” is endearingly dysfunctional and stylized. Every character, line of dialogue, piece of scenery and placement of music in the warped world of the Tenenbaum family is why I love filmmaking.
1. There Will Be Blood – dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
“There Will Be Blood” is a modern masterpiece — from the opening sequence of calming silence, to the brilliance that is Daniel Day-Lewis, to the perfectly placed score by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood. Every little detail comes together to create what I consider a work of genius.
Nick O’Toole here, staff member of the Ambler Theater. Well here it goes — you can also find my list at appleboxfilm.com.
10. Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN – DIRECTED BY ALFONSO CUARÓN
With scenes and dialogue so unsettling and explicit, it was a clear choice to round out the top ten.
9. JUNO – DIRECTED BY JASON REITMAN
I know it’s one of those movies that wore people out and a lot of people love to hate it but I’m not one of them.
8. SQUID AND THE WHALE – DIRECTED BY NOAH BAUMBACH
Noah Baumbach delivers another extremely awkward and, even though I hate this phrase, dysfunctional family film.
7. THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU – DIRECTED BY WES ANDERSON
Ridiculous dialogue that makes me laugh throughout and a surreal underwater world lands “The Life Aqautic” on this list. The submarine scene at the end is also one of my favorite scenes in modern day cinema.
6. ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND – DIRECTED BY MICHEL GONDRY
One of those movies I wish I could have written. It’s also clearly the best performance Jim Carrey will ever deliver.
5. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN – DIRECTED BY JOEL & ETHAN COEN
If I can be inarticulate for a second, this movie is just badass. The Coen brothers at their usual best.
4. SCIENCE OF SLEEP – DIRECTED BY MICHEL GONDRY
Fitting to the story, this movie is like a dream that I want to have over and over again.
3. ADAPTATION. – DIRECTED BY SPIKE JONZE
If there’s one way to follow up “Being John Malkovich,” it’s “Adaptation.”
2. WONDER BOYS – DIRECTED BY CURTIS HANSON
A great adaptation of a top notch book. Brilliant casting and a uniquely smooth performance from Robert Downey Jr.
1. THERE WILL BE BLOOD – DIRECTED BY PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON
Not only the best movie of the decade, it’s also one of the best movies ever made.
1. Lord of the Rings
2. Lord of the Rings
3. Lord of the Rings
4. mirrormask
5. Persepolis
6. Triplets of Belleville
7. ….lord of the rings appendix
8. Kinky boots! holla. just kidding. this probably isn’t in my top ten.but i did see it twice at the ambler theater!
9. about a boy (because my mom makes us watch it every year…multiple times. and we still think it’s awesome. I got cho back, shane jenkins!)
10. some other movies i’m probably forgetting. like NARNIAAAA
11. my own 5 minute film featuring jon dumoff. classic.
ok. bye
1. The Pianist
2. Brokeback Mountain
3. City of God
4. Spring Summer Fall Winter…Spring
5. Water
6. Wall-E
7. Almost Famous
8. 4 Months 3 Weeks 2 Days
9. There Will Be Blood
10. Trouble the Water
Kudos on SPRING SUMMER, and 4 WEEKS… Both brilliant. 4 WEEKS is the kind of film that will never leave me
RESTORING SOME SANITY
I’ve quietly watched these lists and I’ve finally lost my patience. Some order and reason need to be restored!
First, let me ask you a question. Hypothetically. What would you say about a person, if they drafted the following Top Ten list?
1. About Schmidt (John )
2. About a Boy (Shane AND Laura)
3. Downfall (Chris)
4. The Village (Jon)
5. Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (Matt)
6. High Fidelity (Ken)
7. Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (Tim)
8. Snatch (KC)
9. The Science of Sleep (Nick)
10. The Fountain (Steve)
You’d probably question that person’s judgment, wouldn’t you? Regrettably, that compilation is from the Renew “brain trust.” Wow. Shakes your confidence a little, doesn’t it? As far as I can tell, the only person who seems to know what they’re talking about is Jim S.
A couple of side notes. To Jonathan and Aaron: where the hell is Chantal Akerman on your lists? Shameful, just shameful. And astute pick that everyone else forgot: Wonder Boys (Nick).
OK, people, enough said. Get it together.
Mr. Noir,
I too voted for “About Schmidt”, therefore cannot get away “scott free”
I was taking about a different Jim S. James Slinghoffer.
Sorry. Do not see his entry above. Will take your word for it :)
Creating this list was painful for me. I am one of those people that tries to find the good in everything. There are a lot of films that may not have been perfect but touch my heartstrings in some way or another – through a great story, an amazing soundtrack etc. But I feel pretty confident in my top 10. To help me narrow it down I had to go back to my true feelings about film. Adaptations straight up ANGER me. There is so much talent out there why do you need to make a best seller a movie? Cause it sells? How corporate. Where is the art and the talent? Where is the trust? Go out on a limb, make room for some real talent and give someone a chance!
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
1. Synecdoche, New York
2. Irreversible
3. Shoot ‘Em Up
4. Cloverfield
5. Punch-Drunk Love
6. Inland Empire
7. The Matrix Reloaded
8. The Host
9. A Serious Man
10. Dogville
No Country for Old Men – ooo, that left a mark!
In America – Very moving film. Grippping personal story.
Adaptation – I like quirky, and the acting is superb.
Mystic River – Clint made at least three movies I considered for this list. This was my favorite.
Chicago – Gotta dance! Best musical in decades.
Best in Show – Rolling on the floor laughing. Everybody in the cast hits a high note.
In Bruges – Beautiful film and great story.
Almost Famous – Took me back convincingly.
Crash – Best ensemble piece of the decade.
Fog of War – Disturbing how things could have been different.
Here are some of my favorites of the last decade. I couldn’t limit myself to ten.
Sugar – 2008 – Life is sweet and it takes odd turns. Find your own route to happiness
Traffic – 2000 – As entertaining as The Godfather, almost
2046 – 2004 – Beautiful, glamorous, tragic, strange and unique
The Lives of Others – 2006 – People really lived like this? A peek behind the Iron Curtain
House of Flying Daggers – 2004 – Fights in all kinds of forests. Unbelievably fun
The Host – 2006 – Superior monster, superior movie
Ali – 2001 – My boyhood hero and now I know why
There Will Be Blood – 2007 – Audacious epic Americana with a huh? ending
United ’93 – 2006 – You know how it ends. Outstanding filmmaking.
The Wrestler – 2008 – The word I’m looking for is “gritty”
Ocean’s Eleven – 2001 – Pass the popcorn!
No Country for Old Men – 2007 – Visual storytelling at its finest
The Queen – 2006 – Made me sympathize with the Queen of England, a neat trick
Volver – 2006 – Great storytelling Almdovar-style
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – 2004 – A personal style, a unique vision, a breathtaking picture
The Others – 2001 – Creepy island house!
Best Films of the Decade:
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)