Top Ten for 2000s

[Roberto Lequeux]

Come on now!! :nonod:

+1

Wouldn't make my list. I am glad to see others enjoyed it more than I did.

 

[Stephen Lovett]

It's always fun.

It's always fun.

Thank you Tom,

I love these kind of threads.

Particularly when the list is quite close to what I'd have put together.

It virtually guarantees that if there is something on the list that I haven't seen, then I'm in for a treat.

Perhaps it's just to much time on the road alone, but I too found Lost in Translation moving, evocative and beautiful. It's one of those films like the others listed below that if I happen upon, I always find time to finish watching.

I haven't seen Yi Yi or Ghost in the shell, so let me offer these up for consideration:

Gladiator
Goodfellas
Man on Fire
Million Dollar Baby
Requiem for a Dream
Road to Perdition
The Station Agent
Unbreakable

Happy new year all,

Steve

 

[Roberto Lequeux]

The Good Shepherd
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0343737/

 

[Gavin Greenwalt]

Of the films on your list that I've seen (Still haven't seen A New World. You've hyped it up so much for me I never am in the perfect mood to see the greatest movie ever made. ;D) I have no disagreements except for Spirited Away which I liked but wasn't top 10 material for me.

In no particular order my list which is mostly me just throwing up my arms and randomly picking 10 great films: (*s being the exceptions-- unquestionable items on my list)

*LOTR
*Munich
Ratatoulli
*Amelie
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Only seen it once, so it might not hold up to multiple viewings.)
*Avatar
Letters From Iwo Jima
Requiem for a Dream (although a bit exploitative)
Zoolander (I think I've seen that movie a bazillion times.)
Star Trek (I can easily put this in my top 10 as long as my brain is firmly in its off position)

and my runner ups:
Mulholland Drive
Coraline
Moon
District 9
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Constant Gardner
City of God
The Fountain
Pan's Labyrinth
Children of Men
Gladiator
Sin City (For fundamentally changing the scope of a live action film aesthetically.)


For further reading there was the Top 5 of the 2000s thread: http://reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?t=30632
Lastly, does anyone else feel like TV should be mixed in there now? I would put episodes of some shows on par with the best films on this list. I feel like TV has become as cinematic as film as of late and the distinction between the two blurring.

 

[Emyr R. E. Pugh]

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.

 

[Djordje]

#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.

Only one thing-move The new world"on the second place and put this one in the first place.

OSTROV (ISLAND) 2006

 

[Meryem Ersoz]

I think that I like the way that Tom writes about Malick's films better than Malick's films...

it's cool that you're always searching for what is sacred in cinema....

I'll see your Malick and raise you a Herzog...for filmmakers who use surface spectacles to dig beyond the surface...

 

[Omar Saad]

Ok, I'm a little late to this thread but this is the first free moment I've had in the new year. Tom great thread! I've never really given anime a chance so naturally I've never seen the two on your list... but your description of each has intrigued me enough to check them out. The only others on your list that I haven't seen are Yi Yi and In the Mood for Love. Both of which I will watch soon.

I'd been considering the question of what films meant the most to me over the past 10 years, for at least past month or so. While I thought that this would be a relatively cut and dry process, Roberto L is absolutely correct, it is a difficult and gut-wrenching task. Almost like editing... you may love a film only to have no room left for it on your top 10... or even your honorable mention list. Anyhow here is my list, in no particular order...

The Top 10 Films of the Decade

Requiem for a Dream (2000)
Darren Aronofsky

Sexy Beast (2000)
Jonathan Glazer

Little Children (2006)
Todd Field

Lost in Translation (2003)
Sofia Coppola

Closer (2004)
Mike Nichols

Punch Drunk Love (2002)
P.T. Anderson

25th Hour (2002)
Spike Lee

Into the Wild (2007)
Sean Penn

Birth (2004)
Jonathan Glazer

Zodiac (2007)
David Fincher

Honorable Mention (almost all of these were in my top ten until I began to recall other movies that knocked them out)

Y tu mamá también
Oldboy
Children of Men
The Two Towers
Munich
Match Point
Traffic
No Country for Old Men
Blow
I Heart Huckabees
Sideways
The Others
Vanilla Sky
Storytelling
The Royal Tenenbaums
CQ
Amelie
Flags of our Fathers
Almost Famous
Wonder Boys
History of Violence
Ichi the Killer
Waking Life

Oftentimes we get caught up in only recognizing “serious” films, however, silly as they are, I don’t think that I received as much pure joy or watched any films quite as much as these three…

Anchorman, The 40 Year Old Virgin, and Wedding Crashers

The Top 5 Moments in Cinema for the Decade
I recall seeing an interview with Martin Scorsese back when I was in college. It may have been for a documentary on Sam Fuller, I'm not sure. Anyhow, he was discussing what the characteristics were of the films that he loved. He said something that always stuck with me... he mentioned that his favorite films always had at least several unforgettable moments within them (paraphrasing). Furthermore, that he himself always strived to have moments within his films that the audience would remember long after other details of the movie had faded away. So with that in mind, here are my top 5 moments in cinema for the decade...

5. The Oldboy hallway fight scene.

If you’ve seen it then I don’t need to say anything more. If you haven’t… well then click the link!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wha0brbb_44&feature=related

4. Benjamin explaining all of the things that had to go just right in order for Daisy to be hit by the taxi, in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

In my opinion, this is one of the best examples in recent memory of great writing, directing, and editing, all complementing each other to create an indelible scene.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTDs0lvFuMc

3. The one shot scene where the terrorists attack the fiat in Children of Men.

A perfect example of pushing the envelope in terms of the technical aspects of filmmaking, in service of the story, and resulting in the most tense scene that I can recall in recent memory.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=en16i8BY4hI

2. Bill the Butcher revealing what makes him tick… and how he lost his eye in Gangs of New York.

By far not one of my favorite Scorsese movies, but this scene forever seared itself into my mind. Daniel Day Lewis is incredible.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY2tbeP_K1M

1. I think that this could be one of the all time cinematic moments. Certainly, in the context of all that we had just seen, and all that was to come, the Sophie and Bill conversation at the end of Kill Bill Vol. 1 is, for me at least, perfect filmmaking.

Crosscut against the Bride’s revenge against Sophie and ending in that final revelation as the music crescendos. (Note on the clip… it’s the best one I could find on youtube, start at around the 3 minute mark).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzTu5y9SS2I

Once again great thread everyone! I'd love to hear other people's opinions. Anyhow thanks for indulging me and happy new year to all!


Omar

 

[Andrew Wilding]

Here is my tentative list, in no order. Ill write some mini reviews with grabs later, maybe.

Diving Bell and the Butterfly
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood
The Embalmer
The Pianist
Michael Clayton
Royal Tenenbaums
Burn After Reading (or The Man Who Wasn't There)
Children Of Men
Being John Malkovich

La Vie En Rose, Old Boy, Revanche, Let the Right One In, Synechdoche NY, City Of God, Sexy Beast, Gamorrah and many others i'm doubtless forgetting make choosing only ten quite difficult...

 

[Frank Weeks]

This is a great and enlightening thread. So many movies to search out.

Thank you, Frank. If I've never mentioned it before, I think you are great contributor here.

Thanks for the kind words. I get so must more than I give. Love this forum.

 

[Anson Fogel]

Tom, you need to watch Revanche

Tom, you need to watch Revanche

If you have not already. Your sensibility for place and light is well suited to a deep love for this film. Have you seen it?

 

[Ketch Rossi]

Ha ha same here Tom, even so The Fountain really friked me out, and had to see it 3 times to really get in to it!

 

[Pietro Impagliazzo]

Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone.

Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone.

In 2000 I was in 5th grade...

I entered film school in 2007...

However one film marked me and it's the ONLY one that comes to my mind whenever someone asks me what's my favorite film or what's the perfect film for me.

And it's OLDBOY. Such a visually compelling way to tell such a dark story!

 

[Pietro Impagliazzo]

Praising Tom's list...

Praising Tom's list...

#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.

Daunting story.

#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.

One of Brazil's finest!

#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.

I felt like I was in heaven while watching it.

 

[Tim Hole]

Tom Tom Tom...a man of superior taste.

I can't endorse the list enough. I would say most of those would already be on my list, apart from Avatar, a feat though it was.

Others to add:

Lilya-4-Ever - Lukas Moodysson (Oksana was incredible as Lilya, the film is astounding. She was also superb in her two minute appearance in the end of Bourne Supremacy as the Nesky girl Bourne visits in Russia). Also think the Bourne films should be given props for bringing a new flavour of action into the mix.

The Return - Andrei Zvyagintsev (want to see a perfectly crafted film almost completely devoid of exposition. We are taken on a journey with two boys and their father. Faultless cinema.

The Lives of Others - Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (again just fantastically executed)

The Road - John Hillcoat (Havent seen a film for so long that made me scared every second of the journey. Mental journey)

House of fools - Andrey Konchalovskiy.

Sin City - It plays to my noir fetish.

Devils Backbone/Pans Labyrinth - Del Toro

Amores Perros - Amazingly crafted, multi-threaded narrative film. Had fantastic energy.

Bombon: El Perro - I absolutely fell in love with this film when I saw it and it has never really left me. Just simply beautiful.

The White Ribbon & Cache(Hidden) - Haneke at his best.

Y tu mama tambien - Cuaron's best film to date and what a film.

The saddest music in the world - Guy Maddin

La Antena - Esteban Sapir (Heavy handed but beautifully done nonetheless)


Also two films I have a big soft spot for: High Fidelity and Wonder Boys. They make me glow because they deal so wonderfully with two facets of my personality Music and vinyl collections, being a writer.

There will be more when I think of them

 

[Andrew Wilding]

Here is my tentative list, in no order. Ill write some mini reviews with grabs later, maybe.

Diving Bell and the Butterfly
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood
The Embalmer
The Pianist
Michael Clayton
Royal Tenenbaums
Burn After Reading (or The Man Who Wasn't There)
Children Of Men
Being John Malkovich

La Vie En Rose, Old Boy, Revanche, Let the Right One In, Synechdoche NY, City Of God, Sexy Beast, Gamorrah and many others i'm doubtless forgetting make choosing only ten quite difficult...

I feel compelled to add a film that I saw only a week ago - One of the most amazing things I have ever seen.

You, The Living (2007)

As far as I'm concerned, the director, Roy Andersson, belongs up there with the likes of Fellini and Bergman.

 

[Subhadip Sen]

I know I am (very) late the party, but you have a very interesting list, Tom. I love some of your picks, and I really don't some others, but loved reading it anyway.

I don't really have a solid list, but here's a rough one:

I know my #1 and #2.
1. Yi yi
2. Syndromes and a Century

The rest not in order:

Tropical Malady
The Ugly Swans
The White Ribbon
Werckmeister Harmonies
Still Life
Mulholland Drive
The Weeping Meadow
Nobody Knows
Three Times
Love Exposure
The Lord of the Rings

Oh, I think that's 13. I just listed the first few films that came to mind! There are so many great films from the 2000s! Filmmaker of the decade is, far and away, Apichatpong "Joe" Weerasethakul. A Letter to Uncle Boonmee is my all-time favourite short film, and Phantoms of Nabua is probably #2 of the decade. All his features from the 2000s could be in my top 10 on a given day. Uncle Boonmee has been the most anticipated film of my life. And I have no idea when I get to see it!

 

[Tom Lowe]

I have a copy of LOVE EXPOSURE right here. I have been waiting for the right time to watch it! :laugh:

 

[Subhadip Sen]

I have a copy of LOVE EXPOSURE right here. I have been waiting for the right time to watch it! :laugh:

It is a real blast! The most entertaining film of the decade. Four hours fly by in what seems less than an hour of a top Hollywood blockbuster. Personally, I found the last hour quite awkward, but that may have been the point. The first hour or so... It's probably the most fun you could have with a movie.

 

[Pascal Scheffers]

The Fountain... I think I must watch it again. I don't think I got it in one go. I've never seen *anything* like it before, though.

If this were a democracy, I'd have to second Okuribito as a top 10 member. Anyone who hasn't seen it yet should take the time.

I think I'll be opening a new browser window now. Fill my Amazon basket with some of the movies mentioned here. Thank you Tom! And thank you all.