Top Ten for 2000s

[Tom Lowe]

Here's my list for top ten films of the decade, in ascending order.

#10 - Der Untergang (2004) - Oliver Hirschbiegel

An intimate, unvarnished observation of what happens when a nightmarish dream collapses around a man. Bruno Ganz's performance as Hitler is among the best of the decade.

 

[Tom Lowe]

#9 - Spirited Away (2001) - Hayao Miyazaki

I stumbled into this film in 2001 after reading a very positive review by Roger Ebert. It was my introduction not only to famed director Hayao Miyazaki, but also to anime as a serious artform. The film won an Oscar for Best Animated Feature, but it should have won Best Picture.

Spirited Away is pure magic.

 

[Tom Lowe]

#8 - Cidade de Deus (2002) - Fernando Meirelles & Kátia Lund

I don't think filmmaking gets more pure than "City of God." Wow. The cameras are on the ground, in the mix, with essentially all amateur actors, in the slums of Rio. This is one of those films, like Goodfellas, that sucks you in immediately and spits you out at the end, sort of exhausted, but feeling like you have glimpsed a time and a place you would never have been aware of otherwise.

 

[Tom Lowe]

#7 - Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004) - Mamoru Oshii

Visually glorious, philosophically meditative, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence is the type of "action" movie Hollywood neither has the balls nor imagination to make. If you've never seen the film, watch this short HD clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qdc_Cfi1-k (and have a spatula ready to scrape your jaw off the floor).

 

[Tom Lowe]

#6 - Avatar (2009) - James Cameron

Looking back decades from now, I believe that Avatar will be considered among the great event films that changed motion-picture history - King Kong, Wizard of Oz, and Star Wars. Visually, Avatar makes The Lord of the Rings look like a badly staged high school play. Philosophically, spiritually, and politically, under what appears to be a glossy surface, deep waters run. Can a film like this change the way humans think about war and our relationships with technology and nature? Amazingly, I think the answer is Yes.

 

[Tom Lowe]

#5 - Yi Yi (2000) - Edward Yang

I almost feel this film should be higher on my list, because in many ways, Yi Yi is a perfect film. It is a masterpiece in every way that it is possible to be a masterpiece. I have never seen any film that more perfectly, beautifully, poignantly and humorously portrays the human condition. The word I keep coming back to is "master," because every stroke, every beat, every pause, every cue, every cut is clearly the work of a great cinematic master. The film packs a massive emotional wallop, but none of it is earned through plot devices or trickery. It begins to build from the first frame of the picture, steadily throughout, and by the end, you feel almost floored. Every ounce of the film's impact is earned, not fabricated.

 

[Tom Lowe]

#4 - Mulholland Drive (2001) - David Lynch

Muholland Drive is about as close as you can get to making a film that is a dream. It boasts easily the finest female performance of the decade by Naomi Watts, and showcases the best visual metaphor I've ever seen on film - Rebekah Del Rio's Llorando.

 

[Tom Lowe]

#3 - The Fountain (2006) - Darren Aronofsky

There are several things at work simultaneously in Darren Aronovsky's masterpiece The Fountain that will make it last forever among my favorite all-time films. Visually, the movie is stunning, thanks to DP Matthew Libatique, the art department, and a vfx team that used organic and microscopic photography to break the stale grip CGI had on science-fiction at the time. Clint Mansell contributed an original score for the film on an artistic level not seen since Hans Zimmer's work on The Thin Red Line, culminating with a tour-de-force piece called Death is the Road to Awe, which fueled a jaw-dropping, eye-melting, goosebump-inducing, breathless finale for Aronofsky's film. But the unsung hero in The Fountain is Hugh Jackman, who turned in one of the ballsiest performances this side of Brando. Devastating stuff. The level of trust between Aronofsky and Jackman is sort of unprecedented, from what I can see. Obviously, Aronofsky has the golden touch with actors, as his next film, The Wrestler, confirmed.

The Fountain is visual and spiritual poetry. I hope I meet Aronofsky some day, so I can thank him for having the guts to make this film, and to tell him how fuckin' awesome it is.

 

[Tom Lowe]

#2 - In the Mood for Love (2000) - Wong Kar-Wai

In the Mood For Love is about as flawless a film as you will ever find. Visually, it is nearly unmatched. The cinematography is on a level with Days of Heaven and Barry Lyndon, while the subtlety of the storytelling puts it in a league entirely its own. With this film, we find director Wong Kar-Wai at the height of his powers, at the same time Chris Doyle, Tony Leung, and Maggie Cheung are at the height of their own. The soundtrack and use of overcranking are mesmerizing. The film is ultimately about love, and dignity. The restraint of the characters is matched only by the restraint of the filmmaker. The result, pure perfection.

 

[Tom Lowe]

#1 - The New World (2005) - Terrence Malick

It is often discussed and pondered when "The Great American Novel" will finally be written. Decades and centuries have passed. And yet, in early 2006, very quietly, I believe that "The Great American Film" graced the screens of select multiplexes around the world, almost unnoticed. The New World is the story of America, of our founding. It is also the oldest story ever told, about man's relationship with nature. It is about the consequences of living a "false life" versus a real life.

In the late Sixties, Malick quit his job as a philosophy professor at MIT in order to join the first AFI Masters program for film. Why? It seemed an awful gamble, especially for someone as famously quiet, private and introverted as Malick (he has not granted an interview in decades and has been photographed less often than Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster). I think Malick recognized and was motivated by the fact that the next advances in philosophy and art would not be written nor painted, they would be filmed. Imagine a once-in-a-century philosophical mind, attempting to reconcile Tao Buddhism with Heideggerian ontology (as Heidegger himself was essentially attempting). Combine that with an ability to write poetry like Walt Whitman, create images like Monet, and edit them all together using a new cinematic language set to music at the level of Beethoven, Mozart and Wagner. This is what Malick represents, and it is extremely powerful.

Not only do I find The New World to be the best movie of this decade, I think it is the best movie ever made. Here we have Malick, working at the height of his powers, surrounded by collaborators like Lubezki, Horner, and Fisk, with a leading female who seems to have been fallen from the heavens just to play this role...

I could go on about this film for 10 pages. Suffice it to say, for those who've not paid close attention to The New World, or not seen the Extended Edition on Bluray.... what are you waiting for? Cinematic bliss and enlightenment await.

 

[Ace]

Tom, your list is nearly identical to mine. There are a couple on there that I havent seen so, its going to be a great weekend discovering some unseen masterpieces, thankyou.

There is only one scene from a film that gives me goosebumps just by remembering it, and that is the ending to The New World. The truth in it is highly moving.

EDIT: I should also add, what great review writing! Thoroughly enjoyed reading that.

 

[Roberto Lequeux]

My list would be starkly different, but #7 saves you in my eyes.

Happy new year Tom.

 

[Andrew Wilding]

It takes all kinds. My list is very very different (no Malick! Gasp! ; ) ) - but this was enjoyable none the less! Happy NYE.

 

[Tom Lowe]

Well let's see your lists, guys! :beer:

I didn't do this just to hear myself talk. I was hoping to inspire you guys to put your own lists up.

 

[Jeremy_Sawatzky]

thanks for sharing that tom, unfortuatly i havent seen alot of those movies, i should make a point of seein them. i dont have a top ten but rather a top three, bein inglorious bastards, star trek and avatar. i absolutly loved avatar seen it 4 times already and guna see it a couple more times. cheers

 

[Roberto Lequeux]

I would Tom but I find it hard to wrangle everything down into a short list. I am not trying to elevate myself, merely avoiding such a time consuming and gut twisting task, which would ultimately leave me unsatisfied before I decided I should go work on my own. I find it hard to put them in order. Different people, neither better. I cheer to you for compiling yours!

 

[albert rudnicki]

Tom
I like you a lot
You are a real romantic
and very talented cinematographer
All the best in 2010
It'll be a great year 1

Na zdrowie body

 

[Shawn Nelson]

hey thanks Tom! Strangely Ive only seen 3 of your top ten. Hopefully I can get around to the others

 

[Lucas Wilson]

hey thanks Tom! Strangely Ive only seen 3 of your top ten. Hopefully I can get around to the others

In case you guys haven't seen it - an *awesome* website where you can see many movies like this, and other classics that are not easily available...

www.theauteurs.com.

I had myself a Bunuel marathon a couple of night ago. Am still walking around twitching and muttering.

Lucas

 

[Tom Lowe]

In case you guys haven't seen it - an *awesome* website where you can see many movies like this, and other classics that are not easily available...

www.theauteurs.com.

I had myself a Bunuel marathon a couple of night ago. Am still walking around twitching and muttering.

Lucas

The Auteurs is awesome! Here is my account there: http://www.theauteurs.com/users/68720 Befriend me!