Monday, March 22, 2010

Top 10 Films of the Decade (2000's)

It seems that everybody and their mother is doing a "Top 10 of the Decade" list for their passion/obsession. And quite frankly, I want to as well. Anyone who knows me knows my love is movies. I love watching movies, talking movies, going to the movies, and yes, even making movies (even if my films don't make sense right now, consider yourselves lucky, YouTubers). So, I decided to pull together a list of my top 10 films of the decade. This decade being the 00's or the "Oughts" or "Noughties", however you say it, you know what I mean.

Now, look, I obviously haven't seen every movie this decade, and I haven't even seen a lot of the critically acclaimed films this decade, so my list will probably be controversial to some. But bear in mind, these are just opinions, my opinions. If you disagree, then you have every right to. You're not wrong, and I'm not wrong, we just have different tastes, that's all. No harm , no foul.

So with that out of the way, let's get started.

10.) Star Wars Ep. III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
No, it's no Empire Strikes Back. It's not even Return of the Jedi. What it is is the closest the prequels have come to capturing the magic of the original films. Yes, there are cheesy moments, yes, the acting is not that great, yes Darth Vader is not as menacing as he once was. But to me, none of that matters when the rest of the film is just so solid. It, unlike The Phantom Menace, has a leg to stand on in terms of how it's put together. Unlike Attack of the Clones, it has some real, real emotional weight. Not to mention, it has the Yoda vs. Palpatine lightsaber duel, which is one of the most underrated action sequences ever. Here, we have the two juggernauts of the Star Wars universe--the master of all Jedi and master of all Sith--duking it out and hardly anyone talks about it. A real shame.

9.) The Incredibles (2004)
If The Iron Giant had been released one year later, it would be in this spot. Instead, we have Brad Bird's second greatest achievement. There's not much to be said on this one. Just one of Pixar's best and really stands up to repeat viewings. If you haven't seen it, you're a bad person.

8.) Cloverfield (2008)
This is where the real controversy starts for my list. What Cloverfield did, that no other movie this decade did, is bring the giant monster movie back to the domestic front. Or at least it tried to. It's a tightly knit, well-crafted monster flick with an interesting story and some genuine scares. And made in the post-9/11 climate, it has more thematic weight than one would expect. If The Blair Witch Project (which I haven't seen, BTW) is an example of horror films brought to the modern area, then Cloverfield is the same with monster movies. Fanboys can moan all they want about not having enough monster, but they're missing the point. The point isn't to have a monster-fest. The point is to make a good movie, which happens to have a 300-foot sea monster as its villain. And it succeeds at it.

7.) District 9 (2009)
I love this movie. Simply love, love, love, love, love, love, LOVE this movie. I honestly don't care what naysayers think. In my eyes, this movie is perfect. The characters, story, messages, and the world it creates are all beautiful and yet unnerving. It asks some tough questions about humanity and what we're capable of in terms of both cruelty and kindness. It paints a picture of a world that is very dark and cynical, very grimy and dirty. It even, at times, creates a sense of irony through minorities being the biggest supporters of racism. All this while also being a kick-ass, balls-to-the-wall sci-fi action piece that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Great effects, great story, great acting, and a unique blend of documentary style with traditional narrative style all make District 9 an easy pick for number 7.

6.) The Host (2006)
Another monster flick. I've got a few of those on here. But this one is quite different. It's not really trying to say much of anything, it's not all that groundbreaking, it's just really, really well made. It's a classical monster movie with a strong human story, good acting, and solid effects. Just further proof that Asia has a much better grip on giant monsters than we do.

5.) King Kong (2005)
I'll get the elephant out of the room now and just say: I don't care about the length. I kind of like longer movies, they let me spend more time in the movie's world, more time with the characters, and more time to let the story develop. That said, I also think there are bits of this that could be cut, just to make it more accessible to Joe Shmoe movie-goer. But putting the length aside of a minute, we can see the real reason this movie succeeds: this is how you remake a classic. Change enough to make it enjoyable for the fans of the original but keep enough the same so that newbies can get relatively the same story and experience. And if you can do all that while maintaining a good grip on your effects, actors, and storytelling, then you have class A remake on your hands.

4.) Coraline (2009)
As much as I loved Fantastic Mr. Fox, I feel Coraline is a bigger achievement in the long run. I also find it ironic that it took a "Not Tim Burton" to recapture the magic of 1990's Tim Burton. Beautifully shot and animated, smartly written, and with some really stellar voice acting, Coraline is arguably one of the best animated films of all time. Plus, how can you wrong with Keith David?

3.) Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)
How could there not be a Godzilla movie on my list? Seriously, though: this is as good as it gets for the millennium series. A very, very Japanese movie with top-notch effects of its kind, solid acting, and a very good story that perfectly blends science fiction with fantasy. Not only that, but it's the first film since the original, really, to do something new and interesting with the character of Godzilla. Making him the embodiment of the angry souls of Japan's war dead was a both unique and befitting move for director Shusuke Kaneko, and proves that there is life still left in the old radioactive dinosaur.

2.) Futurama: Bender's Game (2008)
Yeah, maybe it's cheating to include a direct to video release, but by dammit, I loved this little flick. By far, the best of the four Futurama movies and honestly, the best comedy of this decade for me. An absolute riot from start to finish, along with an actual story and some nice character moments. There's no way I can properly explain everything that's awesome and hilarious about this movie without doing a commentary, so I'll just say go watch it. Now. The Hypnotoad commands you.

1.) The Dark Knight (2008)
Yeah, I went with the most obvious choice ever. So sue me. It's great. Really, what can I say that hasn't been said already?
It's a comic book movie, it's a crime drama. It's a detective story, it's a psychological character study. It's the story of a noble politician's fall from grace, it's the story of a madman on the loose. It's deep, it's profound, it's smart, it's gripping, it's all of these things. And it's all of these things while also being a mainstream summer blockbuster with the honor of third highest grossing movie of all time. When I first saw The Dark Knight, I literally could not move for about five seconds after it was over. And I couldn't think about things properly until at least 30 minutes after it was over. I had my mind blown. Plain and simple. Not just the best movie of the decade, but one of the best films of all time. You can have your hard-ons for No Country For Old Men and Slumdog Millionaire all you want, but when push comes to shove, there is only The Dark Knight.

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