Angel Dust on 4/12/2009 at 10:47

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I see the top albums thread is already started but since I'm a massive film buff I thought I'd kick off this one.

20. No Country For Old Men - While upon repeated viewings I have come to feel that this film isn't really much more than a chase film, it's a goddamn perfectly executed AAA+++ chase film, with the most memorable villian of the decade.
19. Sexy Beast - Ben Kingsley's explosive performance got my attention initially but it's Ray Winstone sympathetic Ray and his, surprisingly sweetly handled, relationship with his wife that make me keep coming back to this stylish, every so slightly surreal, genre exercise.
18. Lord Of The Rings Trilogy - Maybe it's a bit of cheat to include all the films together but I really can't think of them seperately. None of the films are perfect but they overcome their flaws by being ridiculously entertaining and genuinely moving spectacles and taken as a whole they represent a truly staggering achievement.
17. Memento - Christopher Nolan may now be more known as the director of reinvigorated Batman series but it's this ingeniously fractured film noir that remains his high-water mark. Also, why the hell is Guy Pearce not a bigger star?
16. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit - Having been a major fan of the short films I was eagerly awaiting this lovable duo's first feature length adventure and I was not disappointed. Very funny and even more endearing, with rollicking action sequences (Nick Park is seriously one of the best action directors in film today), Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is a pure joy.
15. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days - The most depressing film of the decade, this 'Romanian abortion story' (as it was known around the film circuits at the time) is also an unforgettable film experience. Intensely filmed with an absolute focus on realism and brilliant performances from the two female leads and Vlad Ivanov as the truly chilling Mr. Bebe.
14. Grizzly Man - Werner Herzog's documentary work is without equal and he found a great subject here. A funny, moving and wholly absorbing look at a rather disturbed individual, framed with typical objectivity by Herzog and with plenty of stunning images courtesy of the late Mr Treadwell himself.
13. The Squid & The Whale - Laura Linney, who had one hell of a decade, and the underused Jeff Daniels give two pitch perfect performances as 'intellectuals behaving badly' in this painfully honest, as well as painfully funny, look at divorce.
12. Volver- Pedro Almodovar had a brilliant decade with films like Talk To Her and Bad Education but this was the pick of the bunch. It's the perfect distillation of his trademark vibrantly filmed and acted female-centric melodramas and Penelope Cruz has never been better.
11. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Who would have thought that a Kaufman penned script starring Jim Carrey as a guy attempting to completely wipe his memory of a bitter break up would be the most romantic film of the decade? Well it is and Carrey and Kate Winslet, both playing against type, are wonderful in this inventively plotted and filmed story.
10. A Scanner Darkly - Finally, someone gets a Philip K. Dick story right! It captures all the paranoia, warped reality, sadness and humour of the novel, as well as also being a little bit of a welcome return to Slacker, Dazed and Confused territory for Richard Linklater and a perfect vehicle for the visual style he pioneered in Waking Life.
9. The Class - This semi-autobiographical film about a literature teacher's struggles in an inner city school is a refreshingly honest and authentic take on the 'high school teacher film'. There are no stirring speeches or weepy farewells, just an imperfect teacher and his unruly, yet likeable, students trying to meet in the middle.
8. Zodiac - A film critic friend of mine calls this the 'The “Citizen Kane” of serial killer movies' and I think that pretty much sums it up. A meticulously paced and complex film that completely sucks you in and also marks the high-point of David Fincher's career.
7. Up - Pixar have had an absolute stellar run this decade and Up is their greatest achievement yet. It tells a simple, universal story but with such poignance, beauty and humour and not many films can have me on the verge of tears in the opening act.
6. Capturing the Friedmans - This documentary intimately, thanks to a ton of home video footage, depicts the disintegration of a family amid accusations of pedophila. It's a fascinating examination of the elusiveness of truth as well as a gripping mystery and character study.
5. Inland Empire - A divisive film, even more so than usual for a Lynch film, I personally feel it's what his previous films have been building up to. A true nightmare and I found myself to be so seduced by its rhythms that I couldn't think straight for a few hours afterwards.
4. Yi Yi - Chronicling a couple of weeks in the life of a middle-class Taiwanese family, this extraordinarily rich film is one of the most well observed depictions of, well, life that I've ever seen. Seen through 3 generations, it perfectly captures the joys, heartbreaks and challenges of living in the modern world.
3. Waltz With Bashir - This hallucinatory, animated documentary about the Sabra and Shatila massacre feels like a feverish dream and is a harrowing experience but also a very compelling and affecting one too, with the best score (a mixture of minimalist electronic music, pop songs and classical music) of the decade.
2. The Lives Of Others - The Academy Awards showed rare nouse when they awarded best foreign film to this over the popular Pan's Labyrinth (don't get me wrong, that was a fine film too). It works equally well as a tightly plotted political/spy thriller and as a truly moving human drama. An almost flawless film.
1. There Will Be Blood - Daniel Day-Lewis's amazing performance, that is equal parts theatrical bombast and method nuance, got most of the accolades but the film that contains it is even more magnificent. Big, bloody, dark and totally uncompromising, this film certainly isn't for everyone but the more I watch it the more I love it.

Well that's my list currently but god knows I've more than likely forgotten tons of great films and therefore the list is subject to change! Go ahead and tell me what I missed, got wrong etc :thumb:

Scots Taffer on 4/12/2009 at 15:17

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Thanks for posting this, Angel Dust, I didn't want to be responsible for two "best of ___" movie threads. :D

As for my list, contemplating... but I sincerely doubt there's anything in the next few weeks that'll be released that'll challenge my beloved top 20 or so.

I'll spoil the biggest surprise, Number 1 with a bullet: Van Wilder: Party Liaison

henke on 4/12/2009 at 18:51

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Yeah, favourite films are about more than just how good the film is. You need time to digest a film, and repeat-watchings to make it a favourite. Waiting another month is pointless, you'd need at least a year to fairly judge the 2009 stuff against the rest of the decade. Well, I would anyway. But fuck that, these lists are as much about finding out about all the cool stuff you missed over the year/decade as they are about showing off your impeccable taste. :cool:

This is gonna be a tricky one, I'm looking through my DVD collection and it looks like almost all my favourite movies are from '98 or '99. Magnolia, The Matrix, Fight Club, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Big Lebowski, Human Traffic, Rounders, High Fidellity. Wtf? Didn't realise 98-99 was such a great time for movies till just now. Anyway, 20 is way too many, I'll do 10.

10. Walk Hard (2007)
Besides the Wright/Pegg/Frost trio, these guys did the best parody of the decade. So goddamn funny and quotable.

09. The Dark Knight (2008)
Still haven't made my mind up if it's better than Batman Returns though.

08. Hustle & Flow (2005)
The plot-line is pretty much the typical rags to riches stuff of a million sports and music movies(montage and all), but what elevates this film are the fantastic performances and great character development. And the scenes where they make music are a pure joy to watch.

07. Snatch (2000)
Cool dudes, cool actionscenes and cool music. What's not to like?

06. Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
You can keep your milkshake-drizzling madmen, to me Punch-Drunk Love was the best P.T. Anderson film of the decade.

05. Science of Sleep (2006)
Same thing here, Eternal Sunshine is good and all but it's not as rewatchable and fun and warm as this one.

04. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Just when the Scary/Epic/Teen Movies had started to make us dread that parodies were doomed to be obvious jokes flung at the easiest of targets, three guys from England came along and reminded everyone how it should be done. With real love for the genres and movies they parodied, these guys were able to disect what made zombie movies great in the first place and turn that knowledge into brilliant parody AND a great zombie movie in it's own right. I do believe that their films were a big influence on Tarantio's Inglorious Basterds as well.

03. Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003)
I still need to rewatch Inglorious Basterds a few times, maybe in a year it'll be my fave Tarantino flick of the decade but for now it's this one.

02. Lost in Translation (2003)
The top two films on this list I've watched at least 10 times each and they both have great nighttime party/after-party scenes. For my money Sofia Coppola and Curtis Hanson could as well devote the rest of their careers making films that take place in those magical hours between 12 and 5 on a Saturday night when you're drunk off your ass. They're very good at that. :)

01. Wonder Boys (2000)
Michael Douglas and Robert Downey Jr. are great in this. Toby Maguire is the most likeable he's been in any film, ever. The soundtrack is awesome and the song "Things Have Changed" that Dylan wrote for this film is one of my fave Dylan songs.

And the dialogue is great.

Terry(Downey): It's just, those people look at me like I don't work there anymore. I dunno, guess I just don't fit in with the new company profile.
Tripp(Douglas): Which is...?
Terry(Downey): Competence.

Gingerbread Man on 4/12/2009 at 19:26

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oh shit I never heard "noughties" before

That's so awful it's bound to stick, isn't it? :(

nicked on 4/12/2009 at 19:48

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You made it to nearly 2010 without ever hearing the term "noughties"? You lucky, lucky man. Or maybe it's just a British thing...?