Ten Best of the 00s
This decade almost past, I find I must compile a "10 Best" list for film. Problem is, I see a fraction of the amount that I once did. Been a very busy 10 years. I'm sure I've missed several things that might've possibly made the list. Also, for me to rank what I consider to be the ten best films of 2009 would especially be a challenge, seeing as that is about how many I actually viewed in the theater this year!
From 1997 on, I began to write down every film I watched. Before I started logging, I spent a month or so very carefully going through Leonard Maltin's annual almanac of film reviews, listing what I had seen in my lifetime. I'm sure I still missed some. Then, I noted each and every movie I would see from thereon. I had some spare time recently and read through this decade's list. Was it a stellar ten years for cinema? Not really. Many of my favorite auteurs were active, but did not necessarily create new masterworks. Martin Scorsese, for one, was fairly busy. What of THE AVIATOR, GANGS OF NEW YORK, THE DEPARTED? All potential classics, but all fell short of that. Good films, mind you, just not the same caliber of say, TAXI DRIVER or RAGING BULL (to say nothing of MEAN STREETS and GOODFELLAS). In fact, I think I might have to post a career thus far retrospective on this genius sometime.
For now, in no sort of order, here are the 10 films that I feel were the best of the decade:
1. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (2007) Joel and Ethan Coen have long been favorites of mine, creating both serious and more playful works, but this film really floored me. The Cormac McCarthy source material was promising enough, but the Coens chart their own poetic course, while remaining true to the author. This serpentine story of chance, aging, longevity, and perspective on all of those is a stunning entry on the writer/directors' already impressive resume. It was especially welcome after the missteps of INTOLERABLE CRUELTY and THE LADYKILLERS.
2. HOTEL RWANDA (2004) The Hutu/Tutsi conflict in Rwanda in the 1990s was another bloodstain on the pages of history books, a jaw dropping period of genocide that did not get as much mention or airtime on cable news as that of the low speed O.J. freeway chase. Director Terry George conversely takes a long and poignant look at this tragedy and a pair of men who, through their diplomatic and business skills (Nick Nolte as a U.N. rep, Don Cheadle as the manager of an upscale hotel in the Rwandan capital of Kingali), save over a thousand of the lives caught in the crossfire. Never telegraphed or stagy, this film examines humanity in the face of savagery, and the sometimes costly outcomes of such. A strong, unforgettable film experience.
3. THE DARK KNIGHT (2008): The Batman franchise got a favorable retooling when director Christopher Nolan assumed the helm earlier in the decade with BATMAN BEGINS. For the follow-up, he creates a stunning morality play that entirely dispenses with good guy/bad guy simplicity. Each character wrestles with personal demons and unimaginable choices. The allusions were thick with the political and the theological; the action and effects top drawer. A commandingly dark and exhilirating film, especially noteworthy for Heath Ledger's amazing turn as the Joker.
4. WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES (2000): What to say of this curious film, containing a mere 40 or so shots in nearly 2 and 1/2 hours? You may imagine that it allows you to really absorb the scenery, in this case, the utter blankness of it. Overcast skies, drab villages, dead oversized whales. Hungarian writer/director Bela Tarr's moveable art exhibit makes little attempt at a taut story framework but is very concerned with time. You'll feel every second of it, either to become hypnotized or infuriated.
I was transfixed.....
5. THE NEW WORLD (2005): When director Terence Malick has a film released, film student/lover, you re-arrange your schedule and attend. Period. His 4th film in 33 years, THE NEW WORLD spends its ample running time in 17th century Jamestown, Virginia. A famous expedition of this area, well documented in history books and animated Disney films alike, led to its ultimate settlement, and a variety of tribal and natural drama plays out. We follow Native American Pocahantas and Englishman John Smith over the years, the dynamics of their relationship, and that of the natural wonders around them, comprising the core of the film. I can't really describe this to any sort of satisfaction. As with Malick's other pieces, this is gorgeous, contemplative cinema. Not recommended for deficit attention spans.
6. ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (2004): From the mind of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman comes a distinctive, typically unique scenario that actually earns its pathos. A woman (Kate Winslet) torn apart and frustrated by her relationship with her boyfriend (Jim Carrey in his best role) decides to utilize the services of Lucuna, Inc., an organization that will erase something or someone from your mind. Joel, said bf, discovers this and then plans the same course of action. Funny what happens on the way to oblivion and the Never Was. Director Michel Gondry imaginatively realizes an imaginative story, the details of which are best discovered on your own. It's meditative, sad, and hopeful. And who hasn't at least once been a member of the "dining dead"??
7. MULHOLLAND DRIVE (2001): Originally conceived as an ABC-TV pilot, David Lynch's elegantly weird story involves actresses, interchangeable personas, and tiny elderly people who are screaming. You are firmly in the Lynch dreamscape, and like that of most of his films, it takes adjustment and more than a few viewings to get something that ressembles a clue. What a beautiful nightmare, though, his best since BLUE VELVET (though I loved the far less eccentric THE STRAIGHT STORY from '99 as well). Really great showcase for the actresses, too. Silencio.....
8. ZODIAC (2007): Based on a true life puzzle, David Fincher's superior, near epic drama details the obsessive efforts of lawmen and civilians alike to unravel the mystery of a serial killer in 1970s San Francisco. Another film based on the very same story was released a year earlier (THE ZODIAC), and the differences are as startling as Fincher's film is virtuoistic. This is great storytelling, meticulously stylish filmmaking, everything. Maybe the actors have forgiven their director's penchant for a Kubrickian amount of takes? If this is the result, perhaps sleep and breaks are overrated?
9. PAN'S LABYRINTH (2007): Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro writes and directs what is essentially a cinematic fairy tale, filled with elements of the ghoulish and wide-eyed wonder. What appears to simply be a Tim Burton styled nightmare is really a complex parable of no less than principality and faith. Our heroine, Ofelia, is a young girl trapped in 1940s Franconian Spain, following the country's Civil War. Guerillas still threaten the landscape, and mysterious faeries and fauns tantalize Ofelia with games and tests that will determine many fates. Del Toro has masterminded a lush, sometimes brutal tale that both enthralled and haunted me. One of the best of its year.
10. ABOUT SCHMIDT (2005): One of the best examinations of the uncertainty of aging I think I'd seen since HARRY & TONTO and GOING IN STYLE from the 1970s. Jack Nicholson is a retired actuary who decides to pilot his RV cross country to visit his daughter and her underachieving fiance. Writer/director Alexander Payne's surefooted odyssey takes Nicholson into the netherlands of life's third act with equal doses of hilarity and pathos. Rare to see a film handle both elements so beautifully. Also boasts another of the great "cry" finales (see also: THE ICE STORM).
Runners up?
ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER
GHOST DOG: THE WAY OF THE SAMAURAI
TRAFFIC
ALMOST FAMOUS
25th HOUR
THE PIANIST
MARIA FULL OF GRACE
CITY OF GOD
AMELIE
NINE QUEENS
BABEL
BROKEN FLOWERS
CAPOTE
A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
UP
SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK
28 GRAMS
SIDEWAYS
......
From 1997 on, I began to write down every film I watched. Before I started logging, I spent a month or so very carefully going through Leonard Maltin's annual almanac of film reviews, listing what I had seen in my lifetime. I'm sure I still missed some. Then, I noted each and every movie I would see from thereon. I had some spare time recently and read through this decade's list. Was it a stellar ten years for cinema? Not really. Many of my favorite auteurs were active, but did not necessarily create new masterworks. Martin Scorsese, for one, was fairly busy. What of THE AVIATOR, GANGS OF NEW YORK, THE DEPARTED? All potential classics, but all fell short of that. Good films, mind you, just not the same caliber of say, TAXI DRIVER or RAGING BULL (to say nothing of MEAN STREETS and GOODFELLAS). In fact, I think I might have to post a career thus far retrospective on this genius sometime.
For now, in no sort of order, here are the 10 films that I feel were the best of the decade:
1. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (2007) Joel and Ethan Coen have long been favorites of mine, creating both serious and more playful works, but this film really floored me. The Cormac McCarthy source material was promising enough, but the Coens chart their own poetic course, while remaining true to the author. This serpentine story of chance, aging, longevity, and perspective on all of those is a stunning entry on the writer/directors' already impressive resume. It was especially welcome after the missteps of INTOLERABLE CRUELTY and THE LADYKILLERS.
2. HOTEL RWANDA (2004) The Hutu/Tutsi conflict in Rwanda in the 1990s was another bloodstain on the pages of history books, a jaw dropping period of genocide that did not get as much mention or airtime on cable news as that of the low speed O.J. freeway chase. Director Terry George conversely takes a long and poignant look at this tragedy and a pair of men who, through their diplomatic and business skills (Nick Nolte as a U.N. rep, Don Cheadle as the manager of an upscale hotel in the Rwandan capital of Kingali), save over a thousand of the lives caught in the crossfire. Never telegraphed or stagy, this film examines humanity in the face of savagery, and the sometimes costly outcomes of such. A strong, unforgettable film experience.
3. THE DARK KNIGHT (2008): The Batman franchise got a favorable retooling when director Christopher Nolan assumed the helm earlier in the decade with BATMAN BEGINS. For the follow-up, he creates a stunning morality play that entirely dispenses with good guy/bad guy simplicity. Each character wrestles with personal demons and unimaginable choices. The allusions were thick with the political and the theological; the action and effects top drawer. A commandingly dark and exhilirating film, especially noteworthy for Heath Ledger's amazing turn as the Joker.
4. WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES (2000): What to say of this curious film, containing a mere 40 or so shots in nearly 2 and 1/2 hours? You may imagine that it allows you to really absorb the scenery, in this case, the utter blankness of it. Overcast skies, drab villages, dead oversized whales. Hungarian writer/director Bela Tarr's moveable art exhibit makes little attempt at a taut story framework but is very concerned with time. You'll feel every second of it, either to become hypnotized or infuriated.
I was transfixed.....
5. THE NEW WORLD (2005): When director Terence Malick has a film released, film student/lover, you re-arrange your schedule and attend. Period. His 4th film in 33 years, THE NEW WORLD spends its ample running time in 17th century Jamestown, Virginia. A famous expedition of this area, well documented in history books and animated Disney films alike, led to its ultimate settlement, and a variety of tribal and natural drama plays out. We follow Native American Pocahantas and Englishman John Smith over the years, the dynamics of their relationship, and that of the natural wonders around them, comprising the core of the film. I can't really describe this to any sort of satisfaction. As with Malick's other pieces, this is gorgeous, contemplative cinema. Not recommended for deficit attention spans.
6. ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (2004): From the mind of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman comes a distinctive, typically unique scenario that actually earns its pathos. A woman (Kate Winslet) torn apart and frustrated by her relationship with her boyfriend (Jim Carrey in his best role) decides to utilize the services of Lucuna, Inc., an organization that will erase something or someone from your mind. Joel, said bf, discovers this and then plans the same course of action. Funny what happens on the way to oblivion and the Never Was. Director Michel Gondry imaginatively realizes an imaginative story, the details of which are best discovered on your own. It's meditative, sad, and hopeful. And who hasn't at least once been a member of the "dining dead"??
7. MULHOLLAND DRIVE (2001): Originally conceived as an ABC-TV pilot, David Lynch's elegantly weird story involves actresses, interchangeable personas, and tiny elderly people who are screaming. You are firmly in the Lynch dreamscape, and like that of most of his films, it takes adjustment and more than a few viewings to get something that ressembles a clue. What a beautiful nightmare, though, his best since BLUE VELVET (though I loved the far less eccentric THE STRAIGHT STORY from '99 as well). Really great showcase for the actresses, too. Silencio.....
8. ZODIAC (2007): Based on a true life puzzle, David Fincher's superior, near epic drama details the obsessive efforts of lawmen and civilians alike to unravel the mystery of a serial killer in 1970s San Francisco. Another film based on the very same story was released a year earlier (THE ZODIAC), and the differences are as startling as Fincher's film is virtuoistic. This is great storytelling, meticulously stylish filmmaking, everything. Maybe the actors have forgiven their director's penchant for a Kubrickian amount of takes? If this is the result, perhaps sleep and breaks are overrated?
9. PAN'S LABYRINTH (2007): Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro writes and directs what is essentially a cinematic fairy tale, filled with elements of the ghoulish and wide-eyed wonder. What appears to simply be a Tim Burton styled nightmare is really a complex parable of no less than principality and faith. Our heroine, Ofelia, is a young girl trapped in 1940s Franconian Spain, following the country's Civil War. Guerillas still threaten the landscape, and mysterious faeries and fauns tantalize Ofelia with games and tests that will determine many fates. Del Toro has masterminded a lush, sometimes brutal tale that both enthralled and haunted me. One of the best of its year.
10. ABOUT SCHMIDT (2005): One of the best examinations of the uncertainty of aging I think I'd seen since HARRY & TONTO and GOING IN STYLE from the 1970s. Jack Nicholson is a retired actuary who decides to pilot his RV cross country to visit his daughter and her underachieving fiance. Writer/director Alexander Payne's surefooted odyssey takes Nicholson into the netherlands of life's third act with equal doses of hilarity and pathos. Rare to see a film handle both elements so beautifully. Also boasts another of the great "cry" finales (see also: THE ICE STORM).
Runners up?
ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER
GHOST DOG: THE WAY OF THE SAMAURAI
TRAFFIC
ALMOST FAMOUS
25th HOUR
THE PIANIST
MARIA FULL OF GRACE
CITY OF GOD
AMELIE
NINE QUEENS
BABEL
BROKEN FLOWERS
CAPOTE
A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
UP
SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK
28 GRAMS
SIDEWAYS
......
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