Below I've listed my top 10 of the last decade, 2000-2009, in alphabetical order. You'll notice there aren't any movies for 2009 listed -- my top ten of 2009 was posted a few days ago, and I think they're too fresh for me to decide where they fall compared to movies I've had time to live with for several years. Maybe in a few years some selections from 2009 will appear on the list, but for now I decided not to worry about it.
THE DARK KNIGHT (Christopher Nolan, 2008)
As I noted last year, DARK KNIGHT pulled off several tricks, not least of which was making a comic book movie into a non-comic book movie. It was also able to be surprising and suspenseful, which rarely happens with an established franchise where the audience goes in already knowing everything about the characters and story involved. Christopher Nolan is a master of misdirection, and aside from the great ensemble cast, the other thing that really makes DARK KNIGHT work is that it's able to pull the rug out from under the audience on a consistent basis while still remaining a crowd pleaser.
HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH (John Cameron Mitchell, 2001)This the alternatively comic and tragic tale of Hedwig, the victim of a botched sex change operation who escaped communist East Germany and rose to and fell from fame as the lead singer/songwriter of a U.S. rock band named after her "angry inch" -- all that's left of her manhood. The strength of the movie is that it's able to laugh at itself and take itself seriously at the same time, and it's a full portrait of a completely three dimensional character who we can sympathize and root for, but who is also allowed by the screenplay to be selfish and petty, which keeps her from being a total victim. And, the music is great. Aside from all her other problems, Hedwig is also convinced she will find her "other half" some day and be completed, both emotionally and physically. This view of love and relationships, that we were all originally "torn apart" at birth, and spend our lives trying to "force" ourselves back together, is both unique and seems to cut right to the way it feels when you're heartbroken or in love.
THE KING OF KONG: A FISTFUL OF QUARTERS (Seth Gordon, 2007)The documentary that's too good to be true -- the tale of an underdog battling an arrogant douche bag for the top spot on the high score list for Donkey Kong, an arcade game no one else has cared about for a quarter of a century. The people in this documentary are characters that you'd be hard-pressed to make up -- not just super villain Billy Mitchell (the afore mentioned arrogant douche bag) and mild-mannered Steve Wiebe, but also the whole rogues gallery of misfits and weirdos that orbit around the retro gaming world. The documentary is so good, it's the kind of thing Hollywood would probably want to remake as a fictionalized story -- only, I don't think they could top it. The way it plays out, the filmmakers couldn't have helped to fall ass backwards into a better story with better characters.
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (Peter Jackson, 2001)A lot of decade lists are listing the whole trilogy as one flick, but I'm not going to do that for two reasons: one, it's not one flick, it's three flicks. Two, I think FELLOWSHIP is clearly better than the other two. The whole thing is a monumental achievement, to be sure, adapating one of the most beloved (and complex, and wordy) fantasy novels of all time both faithfully and entertainingly, while also taking a unique stab at special effects. But, I think FELLOWSHIP works the best as a self contained film -- it has the clearest beginning, middle and end, and although it ends on a cliffhanger, it's an emotionally satisfying one. The image of Sam going out into the river to get Frodo, while the others escape, is one of the strongest in the series, as is Strider's last moment goodbye to Frodo, and two last stands: Gandalf's and Boromir's. The other movies were never able to top that drama, though I guess Helm's Deep in the second flick comes close. What a nerd I am.
ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW (Miranda July, 2005)This is probably the most 2000-ish movie of this list, a melding of performance art, comedy and quietly insightful drama about the way technology in modern society effects human relationships. Well, it's kind of about that. It's also just kind of about human relationships, in general -- people who want love but aren't sure how to get it or give it. The ensemble cast is wide, ranging from senior citizens to small children, but it's not a sprawling, overbearing epic like, say, MAGNOLIA -- it's quiet, quirky, cute and honest. A little weird, but let's be honest, you're a little weird, too.
PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2002)Speaking of weird -- that's the common complaint lodged against this movie. It's weird, it doesn't make sense, what's the point, all that stuff. The stuff I usually hear when people don't like movies, if it's not, "The acting was bad" or "There was no plot," it's, "It was weird." Well, I like that it's weird. It's about a weird guy, played by Adam Sandler, who has been brow beaten by his sisters his entire life until he's left as a barely functioning social misfit. Granted, he's able to run his own business, but every other social interaction seems to be such a strain on poor Sandler that he's constantly on the verge of snapping over the simplest things, usually resulting in a sudden, disturbing bout of violence. When there's finally a glimpse at a potential romantic relationship in his life, things change for Sandler's character, and when he has to deal with a criminal plot that's spiraling out of control, he says the line that should be the answer when people ask what this movie is about:
"I have a love in my life. It makes me stronger than anything you can imagine."
THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS (Wes Anderson, 2001)This is a great comedy. You can tell because you want to cry when it's over. Ebert always says he is more prone to cry in movies when something "good" happens than when something sad happens. I kind of agree, but I'd amend it a little to say I'm more prone to cry at a movie when the movie itself is "good" -- there's usually a moment in any great film where everything kind of clicks into place and you see what the director or writer or actors are getting at and you think, "Ah ha!" And that's where the tears come. Anyway, this is that kind of movie -- great ensemble cast, great screenplay, great art direction. Gene Hackman is irresistable as the estranged patriarch of a family of geniuses who have fallen on hard times. As he attempts to get back into their lives, and they all end up living under one roof again, a series of understated catharses play out until each character has finally grown up, in one way or another.
SUPERBAD (Greg Mottola, 2007)Possibly the greatest teen comedy of all time, the first half hour or so of SUPERBAD plays like the writers and director looked into my brain to see what kind of movie I'd like to see, and then put it on the screen. It's kind of uncanny. After that, the plot starts to kick in and the movie kind of goes into auto-pilot, but it redeems itself in the end and overall still stands as one of my favorite movie-going experiences of the decade. On the surface it's the tale of Jonah Hill and Michael Cera attempting to lose their virginity by using their nerdy pal (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) with a fake ID to wow a party full of hot chicks with a grippe of booze. But, it's also about the relationship between the three dudes as they're getting ready to go to college and how one feels abandoned while the other feels a little oppressed. It's an honest look at the way these friendships sometimes develop, with one dominant personality taking advantage of the other, more passive personality, showing that this give and take can happen while the friendship is still genuine.
WONDER BOYS (Curtis Hanson, 2000)I saw this movie at the perfect time in my life: I was on the verge of becoming a writing major in college, so a movie about a bunch of writing students and English professors was basically tailor made for me. It helps that it's also a great film -- funny and poignant, with a wonderful cast (Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, Robert Downey Jr, Frances McDormand and more). In fact, it is really time I watched this movie again -- for some reason it has eluded my DVD collection all this time, even though I saw it twice in one weekend when it hit theaters and several times on video and cable in the first part of the decade. Still, I can picture Michael Douglas wearing an old bath robe, going out onto the porch after a long night of partying to get the paper in the melting snow, and it makes me feel good.
THE WRESTLER (Darren Aronofsky, 2008)I wrote a lot about this movie last year, so let me make it quick: this is a great character study of a broken man who gets a shot at a quiet bit of redemption, and how he totally blows it. Mickey Rourke's performance is what everyone talked about last year, and I'm no different -- he's a genius. But, the supporting actresses are great as well and spoken of a little less often, so lets give it up for Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood. Aronofsky hasn't made a bad film yet, and screenwriter Robert D. Siegel went on to pen the almost-as-great BIG FAN this year, so I'm sure we can expect more greatness from both of them, and hopefully from Rourke, as we move into the next decade.
Like I said, if I were to make this list from the ground up it might turn out another way, so here's a bunch of runners up, including selections from 2009:
THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN
ALMOST FAMOUS
ANCHORMAN: THE LEGEND OF RON BURGUNDY
BATMAN BEGINS
CHILDREN OF MEN
CLERKS II
ELF
FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL
GHOST WORLD
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
IRON MAN
KILL BILL VOL 1
THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU
SPIDER-MAN 2
STAR TREK
ADVENTURELAND
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