comment #1

Jack South P.I. says ...

Great list Wells. Very expansive and well-rounded. My personal pick for Best of Decade is "The Lives of Others." No list without it can be trusted.

comment #2

coxcable says ...

Rock solid.

I wasn't a fan of Zodiac when I saw it, but I'll give the movie this... as an Osama Bin Laden metaphor, it's ingenious.

comment #3

bluefugue says ...

I'd have to give more thought to come up with a definite Best of the Decade choice, but the movie that keeps insisting upon itself in my mind at the moment is United 93. I think it's one of the most masterful pieces of direction since Goodfellas, and establishes Paul Greengrass in the front rank. It's a movie that filmmakers will study for years to come.

comment #4

drbob says ...

No Mulholland Dr? C'mon, if you're adventurous enough to put Dancer in the Dark up there, certainly you have to dig Mulholland Dr.

comment #5

Phatang! says ...

Of the top ten, only The Pianist deserves to be there. As for the other 25... Revolutionary Road, The Departed, Million Dollar Baby and Babel are simply terrible. And City of God and Children of Men are the two most overrated, empty movies of recent memory. But you do get credit for including Michael Clayton, Dancer In The Dark, and Ghost World.

comment #6

Nick X says ...

Not The New World? Interesting.

Wow, Phatang, "And City of God and Children of Men are the two most overrated, empty movies of recent memory"?

We certainly won't agree on much.

comment #7

Eloi Manning says ...

"City of God and Children of Men are the two most overrated, empty movies of recent memory."

'Overrated' is personal preference, but 'empty' a is fairly moronic thing to say regarding those two films.

comment #8

Mark says ...

Jeff, I thought that you, like me, loved Sexy Beast. That and Crouching Tiger from 2000 have aged much better than Amores Perros, IMO. Also thought you forgave Paddy's "Fe Fi Fo Fun" and would've included In America.

comment #9

Kristopher Tapley says ...

You realize there are films you haven't seen this year, right? Why not, you know, WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE THEM.

comment #10

DavidF says ...

Wow - I'm surprisingly in agreement with a lot of those, aside from a few I haven't seen.

Road to Perdition is the only one that really surprised me. I recently rewatched it (albeit in horrible pan and scan) and found it impressive but not a classic by any means.

Also a couple of interesting-but-not-insane choices like Changing Lanes and Man on Fire. Good mix of obvious and not-all-obvious and I'm 100% down with the extended Almost Famous.

comment #11

Kristopher Tapley says ...

And how is The Hurt Locker on your ordered list, but Up in the Air isn;t, yet you called the latter the best of the year recently?

comment #12

Mark says ...

I think/hope you meant Before Sunset, unless you're a bigger Brett Ratner fan than we knew.

comment #13

Jeffrey Wells says ...

Wells to Tapley: "So let's forego the whys and wherefores and understand that this is just a 10.5.09 moving-train assessment..." I think this sentence states fairly clearly that I understand it's not 12.31.09.

comment #14

Jeffrey Wells says ...

Holy shit...what was I thinking? Sexy Beast, of course! I have to change this around a bit. And yes, I forgot to put Up In The Air on the ordered list of 68,

comment #15

Eloi Manning says ...

Road to Perdition is a criminally underrated film. Credit to Wells for not falling onto the "Mendes is shit" bandwagon, populated with cooler-than-thou morons.

comment #16

Phatang! says ...

Stop being such a nag, Tapley.

comment #17

Circumvrent says ...

Great list. Disagree with some choices, but on the whole, ZODIAC may be the best start-to-finish film of the decade.

comment #18

Phatang! says ...

Eloi: Empty, as in all style, with nothing inside. Children Of Men is unremittingly self-important and boring. City Of God has the worst written dialogue of the decade, and is little more than a commercial for Brazilian street gangs (BUS 174, on the other hand, is a great film).

Where's "Capturing The Friedmans?"

comment #19

Ronald McFirbank says ...

Awfully spinach-y list. Not that a lot of these aren't very fine dramas, but honestly, who would look forward to a second viewing of In the Bedroom, of The Pianist, of Revolutionary Road? All films, if you got, you got the first time, and they lack the sensual, Kael-ite pleasures to reward multiple viewings. Did Pauline never live? Are movies still judged by the seriousness of their intentions rather than the electricity of their performances? Is genre still frowned upon as inferior to Important Messages About the Problems of Today, and comedy relegated to the children's table?

Talladega Nights. Casino Royale. Star Trek. Superbad. About a Boy. Eastern Promises. The Bourne Supremacy. The 40 Year-Old Virgin. Goodbye Lenin. The Host. Elf. Walk the Line. The Incredibles. Which list do you want to watch tonight? Which film do you think will have more to say about us in 50 years, The Incredibles or Traffic, About a Boy or The Quiet American?

comment #20

Mark says ...

Agreed Ronald that it's silly to comprise a best-of-decade list and completely omit Apatow. (And Bourne, btw.) Don't agree that The Pianist isn't rich or worthy of multiple viewings. I love it alone for being the only holocaust movie ever made to know how to successfully and organically conclude.

comment #21

rosengje says ...

It makes me really happy that you included Bad Santa.

For 2004 you have "After Sunset" listed. Does this refer to Richard Linklater's "Before Sunset" or the Colin Farrell movie "After the Sunset." The former is one of my all-time favorite film. The scene with Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke in the car is one of the only film sequences that can truly devastate me.

comment #22

Eloi Manning says ...

The decade really belonged to the return of successful, frequently R-rated comedy. Who were the biggest stars of the decade? Franchises dominated the blockbusters. Can Tobey Maguire really be considered one of the big stars of the 2000s? Not really: people would have seen Spider-Man with or without him. It was the Frat Pack and the Apatow crew.

High-quality comedies of the decade, many of which overlooked in people's lists:

Anchorman, Zoolander, Wedding Crashers, The 40 Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Funny People, Tropic Thunder, Old School, The Hangover, Role Models, I Love You Man, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Pineapple Express, Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, Superbad, Talladega Nights, Dodgeball, Napoleon Dynamite, School of Rock, Observe & Report, About A Boy, Bridget Jones's Diary, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Borat, Bruno, Step Brothers, Walk Hard, Meet the Parents, Starsky & Hutch...

Obviously some of the above are not good enough to be considered classics by any stretch, but I'd say many of them could be credibly considered as some of the decade's best. And certainly among the most rewatchable.

comment #23

Deathtongue_Groupie says ...

Personal anecdote that supports The Incredibles as a worthy of a slot in the top 25:

I was up Sunday night after the rest of the DTG household had gone to sleep. I decided to have a drink and watch something for awhile, but the problem was everything I thought of on the TiVo would have gotten me in trouble with Mrs. Groupie. The Incredibles had been on early when I had been channel surfing, so I pulled out the family DVD and put it in with the intention of just watching 20 minutes or so.

2 hours later....

Keep in mind, that's probably the fifth time I've seen the entire film.

As to Jeff's list, anyone else hold him to his goal of the top 25 by simply cutting free the last 12? Which I think is telling, because for all the sturm und drang over Che Pts I & II there it is as an almost afterthought at lonely #37.

comment #24

Ryansi51 says ...

He MUST mean BEFORE SUNSET. I really think it's top 5 for the decade for me- call me a hopeless romantic but it gets me every time.

comment #25

Mark Netter says ...

The Baader-Meinhoff Complex is the best film I've seen this year, ahead of The Hurt Locker and Gomorrah.

comment #26

Phatang! says ...

Of course he means BEFORE SUNSET. He just doesn't mean BEFORE SUNRISE, and he went a little too far in making the distinction.

comment #27

jesse says ...

OK, I don't know if I'm ready to do my own list and there was another thread for that, so I'll go with critiquing Jeff's:

Particularly Awesome Calls: Zodiac; Memento; Adaptation; Almost Famous; Ghost World; Napoleon Dynamite. There are other great movies on the list, too, but several of those I justmentioned are great movies that a lot of film geeks/snobs/what have you would never include, like Dynamite or Almost Famous, so I appreciate that. Oh, and I dig the inclusion of Dancer in the Dark; I wouldn't put it so high, but it feels like something that people sort of forgot about a few years later even though it's one of the decade's best musicals.

Overrated-by-Jeff-and-Others: The Pianist; United 93; Babel; The Motorcycle Diaries; In the Bedroom; Capote; Maria Full of Grace.

Most of these movies are at least okay, but yes, they have a spinachy, social-realism quality that makes me feel sleepy at the prospect of sitting through them again.

Great movies from this decade absent from Jeff's pool: Moulin Rouge; The Royal Tenenbaums; Brick; Anchorman; Superbad; The Squid and the Whale and/or Margot at the Wedding; The Dark Knight.

Movie I'm pretty sure he forgot about: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Maybe 25th Hour, too.

Big ol' WTF: Notes on a Scandal?!

Finally, I find it cute that Jeff digs the Gone in 60 Seconds remake so much, and I like it too, but if I'm going with action trash, I'd have to say the Jason Statham Transporter or Crank movies go there. I'm much more partial to Cage's work in Con Air or Face/Off.

comment #28

Jack South P.I. says ...

I'd vote for Incredibles and Quiet American. To each their own.

comment #29

115thDreamer says ...

Good list - I'd likely have "Zodiac" # 2 behind "No Country For Old Men" - I think I've seen each four times now. Glad you also included "Talk To Her", which I really love as well. And "United 93" is placed about right - masterful film. And mercy, anyone who hasn't seen "Sexy Beast", you simply must go out and rent it this instant.

comment #30

allstar397 says ...

Kind of an upset for Zodiac there at the top...but what an excellent film. Seriously, I can't understand why more people don't completely love that film like I (and obviously you) do.

comment #31

Billy Pilgrim says ...

I agree 100% with Zodiac being #1, it was absolutely brilliant. Completely worthy of the triple-dip (standard, deluxe, blu).

I would love to have seen my #2 film on the list though, which would be Shaun of the Dead. The screenplay alone is a masterpiece.

comment #32

TL says ...

Overrated-by-Jeff-and-Others: The Pianist; United 93; Babel; The Motorcycle Diaries; In the Bedroom; Capote; Maria Full of Grace.

Jesse, you and I are 100% on these. I didn't see U93, but the others I could totally live the rest of my life without.

comment #33

buckzollo says ...

Wells egregious oversight = Man on Fire with Denzel.
P.S. Jesse your mention of Margot at the Wedding as a best is so wrong, unless you mean among the BEST OF THE WORST (ever)!

comment #34

Phatang! says ...

Wait... after all that blather, CHE isn't even as good as WHALE RIDER?

comment #35

Phatang! says ...

Let's give Jesse the benefit of the doubt and assume he meant RACHEL GETTING MARRIED instead of MARGOT AT THE WEDDING.

I'm posting too much. Sorry!

comment #36

Kristopher Tapley says ...

Phatang!: Just, you know, asking for thoroughness.

comment #37

Mark says ...

Of course he meant Margot, since he paired it w/ Noah's Squid and the Whale, which actually should be in the 2005 list. Jesse also dogged Notes on a Scandal. Not sure what he hated more: the uncommonly sharp script, or the excellent acting.

comment #38

JackMP says ...

This isn't digging too far back, but I'd vouch for "A Serious Man." Even in spite of the fact it's been just a week since I've seen it, I've had delayed bits of laughter every day since. Definitely the Coen's 2nd best film of the decade (behind No Country, ahead of Man Who Wasn't There)

comment #39

ErrantElan says ...

"The Fog of War" is my choice for best film of the decade, with "The Lives of Others" pretty close behind.

Babel, The Pianist, Road to Perdition, and Children of Men are all genuinely bad films in my humble opinion - middlebrow films for mediocre intellects who think they're highbrow. Overrated, pretentious, self-important, portentous claptrap.

comment #40

buckzollo says ...

I know what Jesse meant. btw Squid & Whale was great, but Wells is talking Best.

comment #41

ErrantElan says ...

And I'm surprised Wells doesn't have Sideways in his top 30. I remember him really digging that one, as did I. That's definitely a top 5 for me, and for films like "Maria Full of Grace" or "Man on Wire" to be above it in a top 30 seems silly.

I mean, Man on Wire was adorable as all hell, but come on, man.

comment #42

reverent and free says ...

The Road to Perdition is a B movie in A-list clothes, just like Gladiator. Worthy for Conrad L. Hall's work and Newman's last big screen performance. Everything else about the film feels on autopilot, quite unlike Miller's Crossing.

Your not a fan of Lord of the Rings Jeff? Or Waking Life?

Among my favorite gems are a film called Himalaya, about a yak caravan. Also Rivers and Tides: the Art of Andy Goldsworthy, and a WWII documentary On Common Ground about American and German veterans of the Huertgen Forest being reunited. The documentary is a real tonic to the usual sentimental and nostalgic mythologizing of the "Greatest Generation", focusing as much on the lives of the old veterans and their families in the present as in the past, much more humanizing than seeing them narrate their experiences from some darkened study.

Jack Nicholson: I don't like About Schmidt quite as much as I did at the time, but I'll take it over Sideways any day. The Pledge deserves recognition for Jack's last non-vain, non-mugging performance, and for establishing Sean Penn as a major director (Into the Wild belongs on the list too).

comment #43

Chase Kahn says ...

Seeing as how it isn't my list, I'll refrain from picking it apart, I'm just a little surprised the "Che" is so far down the list...

I can't argue with "Zodiac" - truly one of the most overlooked, misjudged and misunderstood films of the last decade. The perception amongst "out of the loopers" is probably still that it's a serial killer/horror thriller, which is, after all, what Paramount was selling...

My Top 3 would all be from 2007, brilliant year and extremely deep. I wouldn't even put "Atonement" in my Top 5 of that year and I really loved that film.

comment #44

Gaydos says ...

Firbank: You're my new hero. When I write my treatise explaining why Hollywood's last gasp of quality creative filmmaking is almost exclusively its comedies, I will make sure you get the first copy. Please add "Role Models" to your list of smart, edgy American films that actually succeed at what they set out to do. In this case, make you larf.

However, Kael maketh one huge mistake which rendered her woefully unreliable: Euro genius does not inevitably equate to unwatchable pretension. I wants my "Wild Bunch" but I can't live without my "Stavisky." "Marienbad" is almost as funny as "Talladega Nights," but you gots to be in on the joke and she never was.

She was too busy building the shaky Kael edifice upon typical American xenophobia/fear of Euro intellectualism, exciting directorial developments in her Homeland and misplaced love of Brian DePalma.

comment #45

Chase Kahn says ...

@ Errant -- I would put "Children of Men" in my Top 10 of the decade and I don't consider it "highbrow". It's an exceptionally well-crafted and captured action film in my mind - and Clive Owen, before he started playing that role over and over again, was brilliant in it.

comment #46

Ronald McFirbank says ...

Nobody would say Kael was right all the time, or even half the time. But her emphasis on the sensual pleasure afforded by movies was key to overthrowing the middlebrow sensibility that equated worth with worthy subject matter. As she said, "Movies are so rarely great art that if you can't appreciate great trash, you have no business going." And part of that was having an instinctive reaction against giving a movie 20 extra points just for being subtitled.

I see a lot of earnest, impressive-one-time dramas on Jeff's list, and very few that I could flip on and enjoy at the drop of a hat just for the sly pleasures of this performance or that level of attention to the sensuality of a gorgeous performance (although it's been a lousy decade in terms of making goddesses out of female stars, von Sternberg must be rolling in his grave, Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises got more erotic screen time than all the Witherspoons, Zellwegers and Swanks put together).

comment #47

televisiontears says ...

I'm a bit surprised by the absence of Good Night and Good Luck.

comment #48

desario says ...

There's a decided preference for thrillers in Jeff's list.

comment #49

Bobby Cooper Superior says ...

The Kael-watchability idea is a good one. A best of a particular decade-list may not necessarily correlate with a best reviewed of the decade-list as time goes by and there is more time for reflection.

comment #50

Howlingman says ...

"Your not a fan of Lord of the Rings Jeff?"

-- Is this your first visit to HE, reverent and free?

Good list, Jeff. ZODIAC is at #2 on mine.

comment #51

Carl LaFong says ...

It's a strong list, and the omission of LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE is most heartening. What an incredibly overrated POS that flick was!

comment #52

lipranzer says ...

Interesting list, and I like most of them, except DANCER IN THE DARK (I hate Von Trier, though I like Bjork and the music in the film), BABEL (big disappointment, given how much I love Innaritu's previous films), and THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES (which I think is overrated), and I haven't seen AN EDUCATION yet, though I'm seeing it this Friday. And yes, I'm one of those granola heads that love IN THE BEDROOM, THE PIANIST, and CHILDREN OF MEN. I don't give a flying fuck about their "intentions" - I like them so much because, as I explained in an e-mail to Jeff many moons ago, I was incredibly moved by them. Call me an easy sell because of this if you want.

I disagree, however, with your labeling 2000 and 2004 the best years of the decade - along with 2008, I think they were my least favorite years. My nominations for strongest years of the decade are 2001, 2003, and 2007 - each of those years I had 11 titles on my top ten, and at least six or seven as honorable mention.

comment #53

jesse says ...

People mostly could tell that I meant Margot at the Wedding and not Rachel Getting Married, but I'd just like to clarify, Margot is a much, much better movie than the well-acted but stagy and occasionally tedious Rachel. Rachel Getting Married is like Margot at the Wedding without the balls to be funny or mean.

I will allow, that there are plenty of 2007 movies, let alone 00's movies overall, that I like (even) more than Margot at the Wedding: Darjeeling Limited, Ratatouille, Once (which I also thought JW loved and which I'd expect to see with his '07 finalists over The Orphanage), Grindhouse, and several of Jeff's actual picks like Jesse James and TWBB and No Country. But I also found Margot hilarious, vivid, heartbreaking, and an excellent companion piece to Squid that got an inexplicably chilly reception.

Mark, I had no idea anyone could care so much about Notes on a Scandal. The acting is fine, if a little bit overwrought. But what, precisely, is so good about the script? It's just a high-class stalker movie, really. Not an awful movie, but what exactly does it say or do that's particularly interesting?

comment #54

jmevans says ...

"zodiac" was so disappointing. i spent all that time in the theatre only to be told it was probably a specific person. just really unsatisfying.

"million dollar baby" fucking sucked. so did "babel".

"lost in translation" is my fav this decade.

comment #55

facls says ...

Very good list Jeff, but I''m surprised that Pan's Labyrinth is not on your list, or on any comment on this thread.

comment #56

Stringer Bell says ...

'Margot' lost me when JJL pooped in her pants. Who the fuck wants to see that?

I also thought it was arty, pretentious nonsense.

comment #57

Ghost072 says ...

Great list, but I'd throw Oldboy, The Diving Bell & the Butterfly and The Visitor in there, too, for an even 40.

comment #58

snoop says ...

I get that 2008 was a weak year, but you've got to at least have considered In Bruges right?

comment #59

HarryMoseby says ...

What the hell, I'll weigh in on two things about which I feel strongly: like some others here, Mulholland Dr. is a film I love almost without reservation, so I miss seeing it on this list.
Esp. when a space is taken up by Million Dollar Baby, a movie I can't imagine anyone having willingly watched more than once.

But that's just me.

comment #60

Stringer Bell says ...

Perdition warrants an inclusion because Newman was SO DAMN GOOD.

comment #61

J. Ho says ...

Looking over Jeff's list i realized this hasnt been a good decade for films at all. I don't have a single clear cut choice for film of the decade. Also...some of Jeff's choices are hilarious.. I mean...A Beautiful Mind?? Collateral? Road to Perdition?? And Downfall is not a great film at all. Neither is Traffic. Or Adaptation for that matter (certainly not #7 for this decade). And i second the hate for Children of Men. Vastly overrated.

My list (not finalized and in no order)

No Country For Old Men
Bad Boys II
The New World
Amores Perros
Michael Clayton
There Will Be Blood
The Departed
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Eastern Promises

I'd also nominate Steven Soderbergh's Solaris.

comment #62

Chase Kahn says ...

"Bad Boys II"

okay...

comment #63

J. Ho says ...

and Lost In Translation

comment #64

ErrantElan says ...

The Others. It was so long ago, I forgot it was this decade. As good as horror gets.

comment #65

Mark says ...

"My condolences! Poor, poor, pussy! Now can I have my wife back, please?" Marber was this decade's Mamet. Closer would likely make my Top 40 as well.

comment #66

J. Ho says ...

Bad Boys II is a great film. At least a great achievement of some sorts. Certainly a better pick than Jeff's typical mid life crisis action film choices (hilariously bad michael mann and tony scott films).

comment #67

Phatang! says ...

Remember the French thriller "Read My Lips?" That was pretty awesome. Also, the French doc. "To Be And To Have" about the school teacher.

Definitely "Mullholland" and probably "Brokeback."

comment #68

Ronald McFirbank says ...

"Great list, but I'd throw Oldboy"

I think Jeff doesn't see much or get Asian cinema. But Oldboy or Lady Vengeance would certainly be on my top films list for the decade, just for starters. As arty genre films, they certainly have more depth of feeling and moral heft than many of the arty thrillers on his list; Traffic or Michael Clayton are slick kids' stuff when it comes to using the thriller to probe personal and societal morality (though the latter, at least, would get Kael points as a sexily old school star vehicle, Clooney as Cary Grant up against Swinton as Joan Crawford).

comment #69

Colin says ...

No Requiem for a Dream?

comment #70

loyal says ...

great to see Bloody Sunday on your list, its on mine as well. As for Gone in 60 Seconds , I think everyone should be afforded a guilty pleasure pick (or two).

If I had to pick 10 per year:

2000

Almost Famous
American Psycho
Billy Elliot
Croupier
Gladiator
High Fidelity
The Patriot
Traffic
Unbreakable
You Can Count Of Me

2001

A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Bridget Jones's Diary
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Moulin Rouge
The Royal Tenenbaums
Series 7: The Contenders
Sexy Beast
Wet Hot American Summer
Zoolander

2002

About A Boy
Bloody Sunday
Bowling for Columbine
Chicago
Cinemania
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Minority Report
Punch Drunk Love
Signs
Y Tu Mama Tambien

2003

28 Days Later
American Splendor
Capturing the Friedmans
Finding Nemo
The Fog of War
KIll Bill Volume I
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Lost in La Mancha
Love Actually
School of Rock

2005

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Dawn of the Dead
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Fahrenheit 9/11
Garden State
The Incredibles
Kill Bill Volume 2
Sideways
Supersize Me
Team America: World Police

2005

Batman Begins
The Family Stone
Grizzly Man
King Kong
A History of Violence
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
Match Point
Munich
The New World
The Squid and the Whale

2006

Be Here To Love Me
Children of Men
Half Nelson
Little Miss Sunshine
The Prestige
The Science Of Sleep
Shortbus
Stranger Than Fiction
Unknown White Male
V For Vendetta

2007

Control
Eastern Promises
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
Into The Wild
Lake of Fire
Once
Ratatouille
Sicko
There Will Be Blood
Zoo

2008

The Dark Knight
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
Encounters At The End Of The World
Let The Right One In
Man On Wire
Milk
Surfwise
WALL-E
Vicky Christina Barcelona
Young@Heart

comment #71

Colin says ...

coxcable could you explain the Osama metaphor?

comment #72

backseatcritic says ...

In Bruges, definitely. Also Eastern promises, Old boy, The Prestige. Off the top of my head.

comment #73

Bob Violence says ...

As she said, "Movies are so rarely great art that if you can't appreciate great trash, you have no business going."

Well, yes, I suppose this is pretty good advice if one's viewing habits are as narrow and self-restricted as Kael's

comment #74

J. Ho says ...

The Good Shepherd should have made some of these beast of year lists. Donnie Darko, no matter how much you hate Richard Kelly, is also noticeably absent from lists here.

comment #75

BurmaShave says ...

I wrote you an email when I was 17 mystified by your love of TRAFFIC and I am only more mystified now. And that's a movie that has just not aged.

comment #76

Ronald McFirbank says ...

"Well, yes, I suppose this is pretty good advice if one's viewing habits are as narrow and self-restricted as Kael's"

Yeah, narrow, that's the first word that comes to mind about her when you're reading film critics of the 60s. Along with inhibited and academic.

comment #77

Ronald McFirbank says ...

There are certain times that the Oscars picked something slick and commercial over a much better, longer lasting work by a real auteur. Forrest Gump over Pulp Fiction... English Patient over Fargo... Dances With Wolves over Goodfellas...

And then there's picking Gladiator over Traffic.

comment #78

Abbey Normal says ...

Have yet to hear anyone mention these, all of which would be gimmes in my list:

Spirited Away
American Splendor
Slumdog Millionaire
The Triplets of Belleville
Best In Show
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Let the Right One In
Sweeney Todd

comment #79

Bob Violence says ...

Yeah, narrow, that's the first word that comes to mind about her when you're reading film critics of the 60s. Along with inhibited and academic.

I have no idea what you're talking about here, just about anyone at Film Culture or (pre-'68) Cahiers had vastly more catholic and adventurous viewing habits than Kael. They were also a decade or so ahead of her on the whole "appreciating great trash"/"worthy content doesn't equate to worthy filmmaking" thing so I don't know why you credit Kael for that.

comment #80

StoneFan1 says ...

2008
The Reader
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
In Bruges

2007
There Will Be Blood
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Zodiac

2006
Notes on a Scandal
Apocalypto
Black Book
Letters from Iwo Jima

2005
The New World
Cinderella Man
Match Point

2004
Alexander
The Terminal
Before Sunset

2003
Master and Commander : The Far Side of the World
Open Range

2002
The Pianist
Minority Report
Chicago
Road to Perdition
Talk to Her
Bloody Sunday
The Quiet American

2001
A.I. : Artificial Intelligence
Gosford Park
Black Hawk Down
The Lord of the Rings : The Fellowship of the Ring
Y Tu Mama Tambien

2000
The House of Mirth
Gladiator
The Princess and the Warrior
Tigerland

comment #81

mccool says ...

I'm shocked to find myself agreeing with 75% of this list .... considering I blame Jeff for some of my worst theater experiences (Touching the Void being one) after setting my expectations....

I would add a few to the best of the best list ... ... The Prestige, I'm Not Scared, 25th Hour, American Psycho, Oldboy, Kung Fu Hustle, Sex and Lucia, Why We Fight, The Fog of War,

In the place of A Beautiful Mind, Ghost World,The Royal Tenenbaums, Touching the Void, Man on Wire, Revolutionary Road, and a few others I would include: Anything Else, The Assassination of Richard Nixon, Blackhawk Down, The Contender, 28 Days Later, Dawn of the Dead (2004), Donnie Darko, The Door in the Floor, Ju-On, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Layer Cake, Letters from Iwo Jima, 'Lust, Caution,' Monster's Ball, Murderball, Napolean Dynamite, Notes on a Scandal, Old School, Poolhall Junkies, Primer, Running Scared, Team America, Tsotsi, Unbreakable, Volver, The Wind That Shakes the Barley

comment #82

Ghost072 says ...

Let me get this straight...Bad Boys II is a great film, but Children of Men is overrated? As Tommy Boy would say, "Okey dokey!"

comment #83

Gordon27 says ...

This list made me realize how much worse movies have gotten in the past decade. I used to be able to name 10 movies within a given year that I thought were worthy of a top 10; I'm having trouble with thinking of 10 from the second half of this decade.

comment #84

matt cousens says ...

Control, Team America, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, The Prestige...

comment #85

loyal says ...

Team America is the best thing to come out of 9/11.

comment #86

julieW says ...

Soderbergh lectured my class last month at AFI and showed the entire scene you have posted there from Zodiac..saying exactly what you said...best film of the last decade and a 'perfect scene'
Zodiac sticks in my mind much more for Fincher than CCBB....Zodiac is the film he should have won the oscar for..let alone he wasn't even nominated that year (or the film) but hey, he's no JASON REITMAN for Juno.

comment #87

coxcable says ...

Colin, Zodiac the film is essentially about a killer who popped up one year, did some horrendous stuff and quickly disappeared. The subject of the story is not so much the hunt for the killer but the fear he left in his wake. How it turned us into a culture of paranoids.

If the movie is saying anything it's that this is where we are now... in the few years after 9/11, most Americans were obsessed with Bin Laden, basically if and how he would return to kill again.

Bin Laden, like Zodiac, even releases a few scary messages every now and then to keep terror in our hearts.

comment #88

MickTravisMcGee says ...

Loyal, what's the second best thing?

By the way -- "Tao of Steve" ? Really? Really? Really? I want to kick that movie in its prosthetic stomach.

comment #89

Ronald McFirbank says ...

Well, Bob, two things about Kael. One, she wasn't part of the auteurist, "I love Edgar Ulmer because it's cheap and forgotten and only I see the Murnau in his lowrent B movie" crowd, so if you want to call having more mainstream tastes narrow, I guess she is narrow, next to those guys (and I am pretty much one of those guys, the obscurity cultists, so I know how they are, in their own way, very parochial in their catholicity).

The other is... sheesh, they were writing about Joseph H. Lewis for Film Obscurity Quarterly and she was writing about The Sound of Music for frickin' McCall's. (Until they fired her for it.) Little difference in impact on America's tastes there, don'tcha think?

comment #90

Ronald McFirbank says ...

"Soderbergh lectured my class last month at AFI and showed the entire scene you have posted there from Zodiac..saying exactly what you said...best film of the last decade and a 'perfect scene'"

I loved it because it's about half a beat away from being an SCTV sketch. Imagine John Candy as Arthur Leigh Allen, getting sweaty and nervous as Joe Flaherty and Dave Thomas grill him.

comment #91

Krillian says ...

MY BEST & WORST FILMS from 2000-2009

2009 Best so far
10. Adventureland
9. Inglourious Basterds
8. Coraline
7. Watchmen
6. Up
5. The Hangover
4. Star Trek
3. 500 Days of Summer
2. District 9
1. The Hurt Locker

2009 Worst so far
5. The Mutant Chronicles
4. Bride Wars
3. Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li
2. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
1. Miss March

2008 Best
10. Milk
9. American Teen
8. Iron Man
7. Bigger Stronger Faster
6. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
5. Slumdog Millionaire
4. Gran Torino
3. The Bank Job
2. Wall-E
1. The Dark Knight

2008 Worst
5. One Missed Call
4. Strange Wilderness
3. Hounddog
2. Meet the Spartans
1. Over Her Dead Body

2007 Best
10. Paprika
9. Hairspray
8. Persepolis
7. The Lookout
6. No End In Sight
5. American Gangster
4. Juno
3. The Lives of Others
2. Ratatouille
1. No Country for Old Men

2007 Worst
5. Code Name: The Cleaner
4. Pathfinder
3. September Dawn
2. Hostel Part II
1. Epic Movie

2006 Best
10. A Prairie Home Companion
9. Cars
8. Happy Feet
7. Thank You for Smoking
6. The Illusionist
5. Brick
4. United 93
3. Apocalypto
2. Deliver Us From Evil
1. The Departed

2006 Worst
5. BloodRayne
4. An American Haunting
3. Date Movie
2. The Grudge 2
1. Ultraviolet

2005 Best
10. Wedding Crashers
9. Walk the Line
8. Munich
7. Crash
6. Downfall
5. Good Night and Good Luck
4. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
3. Sin City
2. A History of Violence
1. Batman Begins

2005 Worst
5. Son of the Mask
4. Boogeyman
3. The Fog
2. Man of the House
1. Alone in the Dark

2004 Best
10. Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow
9. Million Dollar Baby
8. Ray
7. Spartan
6. Control Room
5. Hotel Rwanda
4. Super-Size Me
3. Collateral
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
1. The Incredibles

2004 Worst
5. Catwoman
4. Suspect Zero
3. Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights
2. Highwaymen
1. Alien vs. Predator

2003 Best
10. House of Sand & Fog
9. Mystic River
8. Master & Commander
7. Kill Bill Vol. 1
6. Freaky Friday
5. Pirates of the Caribbean
4. The Magdalene Sisters
3. Finding Nemo
2. Capturing the Friedmans
1. LOTR: The Return of the King

2003 Worst
5. Bad Boys II
4. House of 1000 Corpses
3. The Cat in the Hat
2. In the Cut
1. House of the Dead

2002 Best
10. The Pianist
9. Adaptation
8. Punch-Drunk Love
7. One Hour Photo
6. Narc
5. Igby Goes Down
4. Gangs of New York
3. Chicago
2. Minority Report
1. LOTR: The Two Towers

2002 Worst
5. Ghost Ship
4. Harvard Man
3. Slackers
2. Deuces Wild
1. Feardotcom

2001 Best
10. Series 7
9. The Man Who Wasn't There
8. Amores Perros
7. Moulin Rouge
6. The Others
5. The Royal Tenenbaums
4. Black Hawk Down
3. Amelie
2. Memento
1. LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring

2001 Worst
5. Thir13en Ghosts
4. Ghosts of Mars
3. The Forsaken
2. I Am Sam
1. Driven

2000 Best
10. Cast Away
9. Gladiator
8. Unbreakable
7. Chicken Run
6. Erin Brockovich
5. Almost Famous
4. Requiem for a Dream
3. Traffic
2. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
1. O Brother Where Art Thou?

2000 Worst
5. Battlefield Earth
4. The Skulls
3. Little Nicky
2. Lost Souls
1. Dungeons & Dragons

comment #92

boldnative says ...

Top 50

There Will Be Blood (2007)
Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind (2004)
Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001)
The Edukators (2004)
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
Children of Men (2006)
The Others (2001)
The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
The Proposition (2005)
Synecdoche, New York (2008)
The Lives of Others (2007)
Bowling For Columbine (2002)
Sideways (2004)
Old Joy (2006)
Elephant (2003)
The Princess and The Warrior (2000)
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
Mulholland Drive (2001)
I Heart Huckabees (2004)
The Squid and The Whale (2005)
The Orphanage (2007)
Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning (2004)
Death Proof (2007)
28 Days Later (2002)
The Dreamers (2003)
Dear Wendy (2005)
Jeepers Creepers (2001)
The Savages (2007)
Let The Right One In (2008)
Half Nelson (2006)
Baghead (2008)
Manderlay (2005)
Bug (2007)
25th Hour (2002)
Kill Bill pt 2 (2004)
Zodiac (2007)
Memento (2000)
Traffic (2000)
Adaptation (2002)
Michael Clayton (2007)
Man on Wire (2008)
You Can Count on Me (2000)
The Kid Stays in the PIcture (2002)
The Fog of War (2003)
The Rules of Attraction (2002)
Farenheit 9/11(2004)
The Departed (2006)
Dawn of the Dead (remake) (2004)
Final Destination (2000)
Primer (2004)

comment #93

dinther says ...

pretty good list. but where is waltz with bashir?

and children of men deserves the top slot for the sheer audacity of its vision. it reached farther, and risked more, than any film in the last 10 years and could have been laughable. instead it was a sweeping, extraordinary artistic and technical success.

comment #94

lipranzer says ...

My top ten lists and honorable mentions so far this decade:

2000
Almost Famous
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Traffic
Croupier
Requiem for a Dream
You Can Count on Me
The Cell
New Waterford Girl
The Claim
The Virgin Suicides
Honorable Mention: Before Night Falls, Erin Brockovich, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, High Fidelity, Wonder Boys

2001
In the Bedroom
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Memento
Lantana
(tie)Amelie and The Royal Tenenbaums
Ali
The Man who Wasn't There
Mulholland Drive
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Ghost World
Honorable Mention: Amores Perros, In the Mood for Love, Last Orders, Liam, Sexy Beast, Together (the Lukas Moodysson one), With a Friend Like Harry

2002
The Pianist
Punch Drunk Love
Y Tu Mama Tambien
Adaptation
Nine Queens
Rabbit Proof Fence
Bloody Sunday
Solaris
Gangs of New York
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Honorable Mention: Chicago, Das Experiment, Far From Heaven, Monsoon Wedding, 24 Hour Party People

2003
21 Grams
Mystic River
Dirty Pretty Things
Cold Mountain
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Lost in Translation
The Good Thief
In America
Kill Bill Vol. 1
(tie) Capturing the Friedmans and Elephant
Honorable Mention: American Splendor, The Barbarian Invasions, Dark Blue, Lilya-4-Ever, The Magdalene Sisters, Man on a Train, The Station Agent

2004
Before Sunset
Hotel Rwanda
Infernal Affairs
Kill Bill Vol. 2
The Aviator
Million Dollar Baby
Maria Full of Grace
Sideways
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Intermission
Honorable Mention: Birth, Collateral, House of Flying Daggers, The Incredibles, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

2005
Brokeback Mountain
Saraband
Capote
Kung Fu Hustle
The Constant Gardener
A History of Violence
Broken Flowers
Syriana
Good Morning Night
Munich
Honorable Mention: Duma, Good Night and Good Luck, Head On, The New World, The Squid and the Whale, Tell Them Who You Are, 2046

2006
Children of Men
The Good Shepherd
The Lives of Others
United 93
The Prestige
The Proposition
The Departed
The Queen
Brick
(tie) Deliver Us from Evil and L'Enfant
Honorable Mention: Come Early Morning, Dave Chappelle's Block Party, Half Nelson, A Prairie Home Companion, Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story

2007
There Will Be Blood
Black Book
Michael Clayton
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days
No Country for Old Men
(tie) Away From Her/The Savages
Once
No End in Sight
Zodiac
Honorable Mention: After the Wedding, The Bourne Ultimatum, I'm Not There, Into the Wild, Juno, A Mighty Heart, The Namesake, Things we Lost in the Fire

2008
Man on Wire
The Wrestler
The Edge of Heaven
The Visitor
I've Loved You So Long
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
Happy Go Lucky
Che (both parts)
Tell No One
Frost/Nixon
Honorable Mention: Boy A, The Dark Knight, Let the Right One In, Reprise, Standard Operating Procedure

comment #95

lipranzer says ...

Oh, and I've managed to avoid a lot of bad or mediocre movies this decade, but they'd have to be pretty damn bad to be worse than THE LIFE OF DAVID GALE.

comment #96

Clarence Sweetmeat says ...

Zodiak is the best movie of this decade, without a doubt. No other movie even comes close. There is not a wrong moment in this movie.

comment #97

Clarence Sweetmeat says ...

errr...Zodiac. Too much vino.

comment #98

Geoff says ...

I really do not get all of the love for Sexy Beast - I tried to like, really wanted to like it, but the film just left me cold. That heist in the third act was just ridiculous and just stopped the movie cold - it was like the underwater climax of Thunderball.

I have a weakness for British crime dramas and heist films - and I could rattle off a few that were better than Sexy Beast:

In Bruges

Inside Man - I know, I'm like the only one that loves that film, but I really dig it.

The Bank Job - just such a highly watchable movie and I think one of the most underrated films of recent years. I honestly think that if George Clooney or Brad Pitt were the stars, it would have been hailed as a modern classic. People just didn't know what to think, with Statham being the star, but he was just perfect.

And on these two blogs, am I the only one who really dug One Hour Photo? Just an amazingly shot film featuring a great performance by Robin Williams - between than at Insomnia, he really had an amazing 2002. Honestly, if Nolan chose to rehire him to play a Batman villian, I'm sure they would make it work and keep it from being too hammy.

comment #99

Pinko Punko says ...

Jeff,

I remember you loving Control- did I miss it on your list. Also, looking at 2007- it seems like that is you biggest year, with a huge chunk of the top 10.

comment #100

DoctorHu says ...

We Own The Night

comment #101

fitz-hume says ...

Agree on Fincher's Zodiac (director's cut) being the best of the decade. Pure brilliance.

comment #102

Gaydos says ...

McFirbank: Here's my years-ago opus on debunking the central foundation of the Kael myth:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117888921.htmlcategoryid=1236&cs=1&query=gaydos+kael+beatty+clyde+bullet

comment #103

drbob says ...

Geoff:

100% agree with you on both Sexy Beast and The Bank Job. With all the hype it got on release, I expected Sexy Beast to be on the same level of quality as The Limey. It was not.

The Bank Job on the other hand was a corking good heist drama, and Statham and Saffron Burrows were perfect. I especially liked how David Suchet (a truly despicable villain) got his comeuppance at the end of the film.

comment #104

jeffto says ...

For all the keystrokes expended on Brokeback, you'd think it would appear on the numbered list somewhere.

My problem with Children of Men was that I read the book.

comment #105

Jay T. says ...

I have to say, I think the Mendes trio of American Beauty, Road to Perdition and Revolutionary Road are all underrated. I realize American Beauty won best picture back in 1999/2000, but it's been so hated on in recent years in a way I can't quite understand that I do think it's become underrated.

Can't believe anyone would dare call City of God "empty."

comment #106

Jay T. says ...

Geoff - you're not alone, I too loved both Inside Man and The Bank Job. Extremely re-watchable.

comment #107

Guillaume says ...

My favourite films from the last decade:

2000:

Waking the dead (Keith Gordon)
The Insider (Michael Mann)
Jesus's son (Mclean)
Requiem for a dream (Aronofsky)
Unbreakable (Shyamalan)

2001:

Ali (Mann)
Almost famous (Crowe)
Avalon (Oshii)
L'emploi du temps/Time out (Cantet)
Fucking amal (Moodysson)
Ghost world (Zwigoff)

2002:

Bubba ho tep (Coscarelli)
The pianist (Polanski)

2003:

House of sand and fog (Perelman)

2004:

Collateral (Mann)
The Card Player (Argento)
The Cooler (Kramer)

2005:

Mysterious skin (Araki)

2006:

Libero (Kim Rossi Stuart)
Miami vice (Mann)

2007:

Mother of Tears (Argento)

2008:

in bruges (Macdonald)
the mist (Darabont)

2009:

Public enemies (Mann)

comment #108

MilkMan says ...

A Serious Man
Cache
Zodiac
The Intruder
Punch Drunk Love
An Injury to One
Bodysong
Birth
Irreversible
The Brown Bunny

comment #109

Colin says ...

The Fountain isn't appearing on many lists.

comment #110

scamanti says ...

Good info thanks for sharing with us.


Peace, Love, Unity and Respect.Lets Be a friendship on the net with around the world via internet.Lets be talk about lifestyle like Astaga.com lifestyle on the net.Kalau sempat berkunjunglah di laen waktu ke festival museum nusantara untuk sekedar melihat barang langka yang ada di museum.Luangkan juga waktu sejenak kalau tidak keberatan untuk berkunjung ke Astaga.com lifestyle on the net.


Best Regards,


========================================================

Astaga.com lifestyle on the net | Astaga.com lifestyle on the net | Festival Museum Nusantara on Tutorial Digital

comment #111

gaintwee says ...

I was given ten minutes of Carey Mulligan time late this morning. Three minutes of standing around and chit-chatting with her publicist and seven minutes of actual taping time. I don't want her playing girlfriends any more. She needs to be the star of the next few films, and it would be nice if she could speak with her natural British accent every so often. online Undergraduate Diploma AND Education school AND Online Aerospace Engineering degree AND social services degree AND economics degree

comment #112

winson says ...

health insurance quotes