Top Ten for 2000s

[Andrew Rieger]

Mulholland Drive (2001) – David Lynch

As Tom.

The Man from Earth (2007) – Richard Schenkman

Shot on a DVX100, it doesn’t have much going for it visually, which is a real pity as this is one of the most interesting films of the decade.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) – Michel Gondry

The Limits of Control (2009) – Jim Jarmusch

Chris Doyle’s gorgeous cinematography combined with typical Jarmusch quirkiness and Isaach De Bankolé’s fantastically dead-pan acting.

No Country for Old Men (2007) – Ethan Coen and Joel Coen

Anton Chigurh.

The Wrestler (2008) – Darren Aronofsky

Darren Aronofsky at his best and probably most accessible.

Sexy Beast (2000) – Jonathan Glazer

Ben Kingsley’s finest hour.

This is England (2006) – Shane Meadows

Growing up in Thatcher’s Britain never looked so good.

Khadak (2006) – Peter Brosens and Jessica Hope Woodworth

Shamanism, mining, the end of nomadism, corruption, identity, belonging, man’s relationship with the environment, and on and on. Without a doubt the best Mongolian-language film ever made.

Donnie Darko (2001) – Richard Kelly

I can honestly say that since seeing Donnie Darko in a UK cinema a year after its US release in 2001, I’ve thought about this film more than any other in the last decade. Richard Kelly’s use of what for lack of a better word I’d call ‘visual footing’ continues to astound me and the film constantly yields new things on each viewing.

A fan of the Limits of Control? That film put me to sleep, at 2 in the afternoon after having woken up from a nap and downing a can of red bull!

 

[Subhadip Sen]

I am a fan of The Limits of Control as well. Incredible mood and visual rhythms. Chis Doyle is a master! And I love Jarmusch's deadpan humour and existential puzzles as well.

 

[Kemalettin Sert]

@Andrew Rieger
tarkovsky movies are better to sleep to than others..always

My favorites

There Will Be Blood

Memories of Murder (aka "Salinui chueok")

The Man From Earth

Moon

The New World

EPIC!

The Assassination of Jesse James

Top Notch Cinematography by my fav DP Sir Deakins

The Prestige

Nolan's best work.

Snatch

500 Days of Summer

know its odd but i love this movie soo much


A Bittersweet Life

Signs,Oldboy,Gerry,Dead Man's Shoes and list goes on

 

[Pascal Scheffers]

The really nice part about this thread is that I just picked & added 9 movies to my amazon cart and the grand total shows a staggering 50GBP. Add another 10 for Maliewicz & Mullen's Cinematography book and I'm all set for late summer '10.

 

[Martin Weiss]

Fantastic thread.

I'll add some "honorable mentions"

Lebanon (2009) - Life inside a tank during the Lebanon War. Claustrophobic and beautifully shot.

300 (2006) - oh, what visuals.

Atonement (2007)

Once (2006) - proof that story and acting is paramount over a big budget (or a lit set)

Das Leben der Anderen (2006) - life inside the GDR

Der Untergang (2004) - Hitler portrait as the weakling he really was

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Being John Malkovich (1999, but I saw it first in 2002) - What an amazing idea for a script, beautifully executed

Lars and the Real Girl (2007) - a very different type of film, watch it on a calm evening. Great, understandable characters

The Pianist (2002) - Great performance

There Will Be Blood (2007) - Just like with "300" I don't really like violent films, but boy, what great visuals.

Inglourious Basterds (2009) - Not a great fan of Tarantino, but this is his masterpiece. And as every German, I just loved the ending. No doubts as to what happened to Hitler... Deserved Oscar for Christoph Waltz.

Memento (2000) - Great story, low budget. I love films that play with time. (And as many have noted, Inception is Memento with a huge budget.)

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) - Great story, full with irony, fantastic performances, superb soundtrack, flawless lighting.

Little Miss Sunshine (2006) - lovely

Syriana (2005) - a very timely, political movie about Oil, the Arabs and corruption.

Double Whammy (2001) - "In your face". I just love DiCillos humor. Low budget comedy with a twist.

Chocolat (2000) - Yummy. A film one can watch with his wife. Great imagery.

Casino Royale (2005) - Can't have a list without the best Bond in the last decade. Finally a believable, vulnerable Bond that is actually a person.

Elling (2001) - The first film my wife worked on and the second Oscar Nomination for Norway ever. Lovely, vulnerable, believable characters.

Sideways (2004) - lovely mood set around the wine fields of California. Makes me wanna move there.

The Pink Panther (2006) - The funniest Panther since Peter Sellers.

America's Sweethearts (2001) - For an evening where you just need a funny, funny movie.

Good Bye, Lenin! (2003) - a tragic-comedy set in the crumbling GDR.

Bruce Almighty (2003) - Jim Carrey at his best. "Oh smite me you mighty smitor".

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007) - tough film, great narrative, great cast

 

[PaulClements]

I couldn't think of anything other than what's been posted here already (Although I get that nagging feeling something's being forgotten like when you go on holiday!). So I went to IMDB to see their top 250 to see if anything jumped out and thought this might be interesting to others too. These are the films in the top 100 that were made last decade. It's interesting that there isn't one in the top 10 and only 21 in the whole 100. Make of it what you will!

12. 8.8 The Dark Knight (2008)
13. 8.8 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
19. 8.7 City of God (2002)
20. 8.7 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
29. 8.6 Memento (2000)
30. 8.6 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
47. 8.5 Amelie (2001)
48. 8.5 WALL·E (2008)
52. 8.4 The Departed (2006)
53. 8.4 The Pianist (2002)
57. 8.4 Spirited Away (2001)
58. 8.4 The Lives of Others (2006)
62. 8.4 Requiem for a Dream (2000)
70. 8.4 Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
72. 8.3 The Prestige (2006)
77. 8.3 Inglourious Basterds (2009)
81. 8.3 Downfall (2004)
84. 8.3 Up (2009)
93. 8.3 Gran Torino (2008)
96. 8.3 Gladiator (2000)
97. 8.3 Sin City (2005)

 

[Richard Foster]

It's interesting to see all of our varied opinions. I agree with many but let me add my own thoughts on the best films of the past decade, in no particular order.

Hero
Crash
Gladiator
Gran Torino
The Notebook
Thank You For Smoking
High Fidelity
Traffic
Almost Famous
Master and Commander
Bourne Identitiy
Hotel Rhwanda
Cache
Memento
Wall-E
Second Hand Lions
Moon
The Illusionist

These are varied and each have their strengths. Picking the absolute best is always a matter of mood and taste.

 

[Pietro Impagliazzo]

There Will Be Blood

Moon

'There Will Be Blood' is a masterpiece! Not one single composition that doesn't make you wonder about how carefully it was conceived and shot.

I watched 'Moon' without knowing who did the score for it... I loved it! Such a great mood. Then I saw it was Clint Mansell, had to be him.

 

[Andrew Rieger]

Well it is time I put up my top ten of the 2000's. Here are the top 10.

1. There Will Be Blood

This is the greatest movie of the past decade. The Burning rig scene will be remembered as one of the best scenes in film history.

Burning Rig Scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9Q1vM2vPIk&feature=related

2. Children of Men

This film ranks up there with 2001 and Blade Runner if you are into Scifi. This film is a masterpiece.

great fan made trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-he1KXxK2E

3. Mystic River

A beautiful and haunting film that stays with you. This is Clint's best film to date.

"the scene": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BhoAlF0xpg

4. The Fall

If there was such a thing a cinematography pornography, this would be it.

Stunning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhARR-zmTCE&feature=related

5. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

One of the most beautiful and well acted films ever made. It is a shame this did not get a best picture nomination.

The Assassination: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPIivI1K6f0

6. The Man Who Wasn't There

If you are a fan of the brothers, this is required viewing.

7. Master and Commander

This film has it all... great acting, beautiful cinematography, gripping action and a stellar script. Another criminally underrated film.

8. The Royal Tenenbaums

One of the most memorable film of the past decade. Anderson at his finest.

9. Memento

The original mindbender from Nolan. Still his best work in my opinion.

10. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Stunning, that word pretty much sums this film up.

 

[Subhadip Sen]

Great stuff, Andrew. Barring Mystic River, I love all of those films. Children of Men could be in my top 10 just as well. The Ugly Swans is still my favourite sci-fi film of the decade. Since you are a fan of Tarkovsky (judging by the sig), check it out if you haven't already.

 

[scott william]

From titles I own on DVD only.

10) Welcome (french film)
9) Into the wild
8) The wind that shakes the barley
7) You can count on me
6) The squid and the whale
5) There will be blood
4) Mystic river
3) Animal Kingdom (Aussie film)
2) JCVD (I knew he had it in him)
1) Secrets and lies

Some others

Collateral
Match point
The Wackness
The Puffy chair
Noise (aussie film)
And almost everything else mentioned in this thread

 

[Tim Hole]

Obviously I respects your opinions, and as a massive 'true scifi' fan and general dystopia, I find it hard to get onboard with Children of Men being a masterpiece. The production value was excellent, directorial style etc...but for me thats where it ends. At times it was superb, but it turned an insightful book into a laughable walking talking cliche. The dialogue was unbelievably bad...but then I think Clive Owen is a ridiculously bad actor, so I'm biased.

 

[rod bradley]

There are many wonderful films mentioned here. I would especially second There Will Be Blood, YiYi as specially enduring. And it is encouraging to see so much appreciation of originality and genuine quality. (I’m a big fan of the C brothers as well.)

I am not very good at best, and find the artifice of the ten best lists utilitarian and of course good for promotion of what is a popular form, and there’s obviously many ways to interpret “best” -- but while not claiming best, I think the films I mention, have lasting merit and enrich, engage, and entertain.

This has been second rich decade in Iranian cinema following the very rich 1990’s To mention a few:

The Sorrow of Sparrows
Baran
Turtles Can Fly
Kandahar
Blackboards (youngest filmmaker with a feature at Cannes, she was, well this is publicity bullshit, but it is a very original and interesting film)
The Color of Paradise (opps 1999, but I think it got here in 2000)

(anyway, great films transcend their decade of birth)

A couple of favorites of mine from China:

Still Life
The World

And from Taiwan:

What time is it there?

(his earlier 90s film very interesting)


To me Lust, Caution was quite under-rated (and Brokeback Mountain a bit over-rated for well-intentioned sentimental reasons).

Off the beaten path:

Vodka Lemon

It's a rich and varied and wondrous world out there -- and it's a wonderful thing Red is putting tools into the hands of many who would never have a shot at using this medium a chance in many parts of the world.