I disagree that the 40s were a weak decade, but this isn’t that thread.
Another movie that would consider serious consideration is the oft-maligned Elephant. I really respect this film. And I respect Gus Van Sant because, even though he can create some horrendous films he at least tries different things. To be honest, I emphasize with a guy who thinks “Hey, let’s make a movie which is largely a bunch of tracking shots, let’s see how that turns out” or “I wonder if it’s possible to do a shot-by-shot remake of a classic and have it be any good?”… and then does it, and puts it out there for us to critique. More directors need to have his courage to experiment.
I love, for very different reasons, these wonderful movies:
The Incredibles
Memento
Iron Man
Pride & Prejudice
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Hot Fuzz
Master and Commander
The Queen
Slumdog Millionaire
I think the following are all superb films in their own right, and picking out the ten best would be hard for me.
Pan’s Labyrinth
City of God
Lost in Translation
The Vengeance Trilogy (especially Oldboy)
The Pianist
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
There Will Be Blood
No Country For Old Men
Slumdog Millionaire
Let the Right One In
Brokeback Mountain
Donnie Darko
The Lives of Others
Children of Men
Dancer in the Dark
Requiem for a Dream
The Wrestler
The Royal Tenenbaums
The Lord of the Rings
Walk the Line
Closer
Capote
Elephant
House of Sand and Fog
Maria Full of Grace
Match Point
Milk
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Inside I’m Dancing
The Hours
I haven’t seen it mentioned yet, but I’ve grown to be a big fan of Ocean’s Eleven. I read one review (may have been Ebert) that liked it, but kinda wondered why a director like Steven Soderbergh was slumming by doing a heist film. I don’t see it that way. In fact, the best parts of it aren’t the heist. It’s just great fun to see those people interact, and play off each other. By the end, I almost didn’t care if they got the money or not.
I haven’t seen either sequel, and I’ve heard less than stellar things about Twelve.
2001
The Fellowship of the Ring
Ocean’s Eleven (Astonishingly good ensemble movie)
The Princess Diaries (Predictable but Hathaway’s performance is excellent)
Moulin Rouge! (If only for MacGregor’s medley in the elephant)
A Knight’s Tale (Again, well made and great music)
2002
Spider-Man
The Bourne Identity (Though I saw this for the first time in 2008)
2003
Master and Commander (Apparently the only one of the top 50 I managed to see)
2004
The Incredibles
Kill Bill
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2005
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Mr & Mrs Smith
2006
Casino Royale (Could have been a bit shorter but still a great one)
Children of Men
2007
Enchanted (Amazing Movie. Simply Amazing.)
Nancy Drew (No one will agree with me on this but the script was spot on and the performance of the lead, who’s name escapes me, was just what was needed.)
2008
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Cloverfield (A stunt, but an entertaining one)
2009
Watchmen (Apparently the only one on the list I’ve seen this year)
Kids, man, they take a lot of time. Y’all are lucky I didn’t end up listing ‘Snow Dogs’ or something.
Only one mention for The Wredtler? What the hell do you guys want in a movie?
Not a cop-out in the whole thing, and Mickey Rourke should stop now.
Peace,
mangeorge
A lot of the best have been mentioned, but I’d like to add one:
O Brother Where Art Thou - despite some serious competition, it’s still my favorite Coen Brothers film. No other movie this decade makes me feel as happy as this one.
No Country for Old Men
O Brother Where Art Thou - this one was magical
Gosford Park
Lost in Translation
Thank You For Smoking - I laughed from beginning to end both times I saw this movie!
Revenge of the Sith - sure, it’s Star Wars, but it’s great Star Wars! Incredible images.
Of the list 3 are cartoons, 1 is a documentary, 1 is a big summer blockbuster and 3 are non-english language films, from a pool of 13. Seems balanced enough, though I probably should make a bigger effort to watch non-american movies. Both Pan’s Labyrinth and The Bell and the Butterfly sound like they could end up in my list, but I haven’t watched them yet. It’s funny that in thinking about the list visual impressions were so important to me in the selection process. The main exception I think was Thank You For Smoking, whose humor, and so its appeal, was almost wholly verbal. Even The Fog of War was often a pleasure just to look at. I don’t think of myself as a very visual person but a film’s looks is clearly one of my main criteria in the appreciation of it. The Departed was a tough call but didn’t make it, mostly, I think, because even though I enjoyed it a lot and respected deeply the craft of all involved, I couldn’t picture any of it clearly in my head. On the other hand, Metropolis, an anime from 2002, and “Captain Sky and the World of Tomorrow” almost made the list just because parts of them were so gorgeous.
> I’ll echo the other comments: this has been a pretty lousy decade for movies. It
> seems to me like we go in 20 years cycles: the 1930s, 1950s, 1970s, and 1990s
> were probably the best decades for movies, while the 1940s, 1960s, 1980s,
> and this decade have been noticeably weaker.
>
> Exceptions to every rule, of course, but there does seem to be a generational
> pattern. . .
I think there would be more of a consensus on the best periods for American movies being centered on the early 1940’s and on the mid-1970’s. These periods are a decade (more or less) long, so the first period goes from the late 1930’s through the mid-1940’s and the second period goes from the late 1960’s to the early 1980’s. (Here’s a general rule: Any attempt to define periods by the calendar decades is misguided. Here’s a second general rule: Any attempt to tie things to generations is also misguided.) This only applies to American films. The 1950’s and 1960’s were pretty good for non-American films. So it’s more like a 35-year cycle, which may be closer to a generation anyway. The problem is that you can’t generalize about a cyclic pattern from observing just one cycle. We should be seeing a time of great American films about now, and I don’t see evidence of that.
Spirited Away (I prefer Totoro, but Spirited is very fine.)
Oh Brother Where Art Thou (This has been on rotation on CMT --Country TV-- and repeated watchings have moved it up next to Fargo and Miller’s Crossing.)
Big Fish (Ebert thinks it doesn’t show how truly obnoxious a man like the protagonist is in real life. I don’t care; Burton’s best. )
Memento (I didn’t love it, but it’s unique.)
The KIll Bills (They do stick in your mind.)
The Incredibles (My favorite animated movie. The bits of legitimate “conservative” philosophy made it better, even though I’m a left-wing guy.)
Juno (After the pharmacy scene the plot and dialog sparkle.)
Pirates of the Caribbean (The first one was first class entertainment.)
A Mighty Wind (I love the Christopher Guest pseudodocs.)
The Queen (I don’t care about royalty, and only watched it because I knew, based on the reviews, that it would be good…and yeah, it was good.)
The Prestige?
Little Miss Sunshine?
Waitress? (This seemed like a more formulaic twin of Juno, but there’s some substance in it.)
Syriana?
Yes, on gladtobeblazed list. That was the mention I referred to.
I just saw it last night. Still mulling it over. ** Rourke’s** depiction of a lifelong loser was brilliant.
It is remarkable that one of the most innovative films of 1999, The Blair Witch Project had no lasting impact at all. And not for lack of trying. Perhaps the most perfect example of something that works exactly once ever.
