Internet saturation, IMDb buzz, an expanding number of critics & bloggers, downloading left and right, watching movies on your two-inch smart phone screen, a fascination with everything retro, 'indie' films and the takeover of indie studios, the complete and utter death of genre (or so we like to think), the rise of the new comic-book movie, the Romanian new wave, terrorism, the American religious right, global economic chaos, nihilism and hope.
I think it's rather illuminating to see what people have taken into consideration for this decade. Yes, the decade technically started on January 1, 2001. But by most film geeks' accounts, we're counting the year 2000 in our lists, and ending with 2009. We don't care - it's time for another list!
An interesting tid-bit: not a single film in the past decade topped the box office for more than 3 weeks. Crazy, eh? Looks like Avatar may buckle this trend, but the 2000s were a decade where almost every Hollywood film made most of its money on opening weekend, followed by a sharp decline. Evidence of product quality? Or evidence of a market dominated by short attention spans and young audiences simply going to the theatre every weekend, not caring what they see? I for one am quite glad to have spent most of my theatre experiences at the Princess Cinemas or in the classroom. I simply can't afford dropping 20 bucks every time I want to see a film -- and why would I care to see most of the stuff at the multiplex, anyway? Yes, the 2000s were also a time where if you wanted to see quality films, you had better skip the multiplex entirely. Metacritic's review of the decade and their top 100 rated films reveals a list dominated by smaller, art-house fare:
"a large portion of that Top 100 is occupied by foreign films and less-publicized art house films --films that played in few thatres (especially outside of Los Angeles and New York). A full 43% of the films listed [...] are foreign-language films, and many of those that are in English are obscure gems..."
Apparently, only two films of the top 100 are in the top ten box-office hits of the decade, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Audiences simply ate up, by most critical accounts, utter duds. Sequels, remakes, reboots, cliché after cliché. To make bucketloads of money, you gotta appeal to the lowest common denominator. *le sigh*
And now, my list. I'll start with my Top 50 of the decade, followed by my top selections for each year. Let's keep in mind that I'm a white gay boy from Canadian middle-class suburbia when looking at these choices: relatively limited access, a bias towards English language films, and a penchant for dramas.
TOP FIFTY OF THE DECADE
2000-2009
1. Children of Men (Alfonso Cuaron, 2006)
2. The Lord of the Rings (Peter Jackson, 2001-2003)
3. Capote (Bennett Miller, 2005)
4. Moulin Rouge! (Baz Luhrmann, 200
5. No Country for Old Men (Joel & Ethan Coen, 2007)
6. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
7. Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005
8. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009)
9. C.R.A.Z.Y. (Jean-Marc Valée, 2005)
10. WALL-E (Andrew Stanton, 2008)
11. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-Wai, 2000)
12. Caché (Michael Haneke, 2005)
13. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000)
14. Finding Nemo (Andrew Stanton, 2003)
15. Kill Bill (Quentin Tarantino, 2003-2004
16. The Hours (Stephen Daldry, 2002)
17. Paranoid Park (Gus Van Sant, 2008)
18. Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2000)
19. Vera Drake (Mike Leigh, 2003)
20. Dancer in the Dark (Lars von Trier, 2000)
21. Munich (Steven Spielberg, 2005)
22. Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring (Ki-duk Kim, 2003)
23. The Queen (Stephen Frears, 2006)
24. About Schmidt (Alexander Payne, 2002)
25. Lost in Translation (Sofia Copolla, 2003)
26. Chicago (Rob Marshall, 2002)
27. A History of Violence (David Cronenberg, 2005)
28. Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)
29. Once (John Carney, 2006)
30. The Last King of Scotland (Kevin Macdonald, 2006)
31. Flight of the Red Balloon (Hou Hsiao-Hsien, 2007)
32. Little Children
33. Y Tu Mamá También (Alfonso Cuaron, 2001)
34. Milk (Gus Van Sant, 2008)
35. Far From Heaven (Todd Haynes, 2002)
36. Happy-Go-Lucky (Mike Leigh, 2008)
37. Hero (Zhang Yimou, 2002)
38. Bowling for Columbine (Michael Moore, 2002)
39. Hunger (Steve McQueen, 2008)
40. Atonement (Joe Wright, 2007)
41. The Diving Bell & the Butterfly (Julian Schnabel, 2007)
42. The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006)
43. Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (Marc Rothemond, 2005)
44. Little Miss Sunshine (Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris, 2006)
45. Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, 2006)
46. The Constant Gardener (Fernando Meirelles, 2005)
47. The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2009)
48. Sweeney Todd (Tim Burton, 2007)
49. Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman, 2008)
50. Sideways (Alexander Payne, 2004)
And how'bout a run-down of each year? What barely missed the Top 50? What would make it in on another day?
2000
In the Mood for Love / Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon / Dancer in the Dark / Traffic / The Emperor's New Groove / Memento / Erin Brockovich / Before Night Falls / O Brother, Where Art Thou?
2001
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring / Moulin Rouge / Mulholland Dr. / Spirited Away / Y Tu Mamá También / Donnie Darko / Waking Life / Amélie / Hedwig and the Angry Inch
2002
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers / The Hours / About Schmidt / Chicago / Far From Heaven / Punch Drunk Love / Adaptation. / The Pianist / Bowling for Columbine
2003
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King / Finding Nemo / Lost in Translation / Kill Bill vol. 1 / 28 Days Later / The Triplets of Belleville / Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... And Spring / The Saddest Music in the World
2004: Sideways / Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind / Kill Bill vol. 2 / Downfall / Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban / The Incredibles / The Aviator / Kinsey / Fahrenheit 9/11 / I Heart Huckabees / Spider-Man 2 / Shaun of the Dead
2005: Capote / Brokeback Mountain / Munich / C.R.A.Z.Y. / Caché / A History of Violence / The Constant Gardener / King Kong / Match Point / Syriana / Hostel
2006: Children of Men / The Queen / The Last King of Scotland / Little Children / The Lives of Others / Volver / Little Miss Sunshine / Pan's Labyrinth / Babel / Borat / Away From Her / Apocalypto
2007: No Country for Old Men / There Will Be Blood / The Diving Bell & the Butterfly / Atonement / Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street / Once / Flight of the Red Balloon / I'm Not There / The Bourne Ultimatum / Into the Wild / Grindhouse / Persepolis / Ratatouille / Before the Devil Knows You're Dead / Michael Clayton / The Savages / No End in Sight / Hairspray
2008: WALL-E / Milk / Synecdoche, New York / Paranoid Park / Let the Right One In / Hunger / Happy-Go-Lucky / Waltz With Bashir / Rachel Getting Married / Slumdog Millionaire
2009: Inglourious Basterds / The Hurt Locker / District 9 / (500) Days of Summer / Up / Up in the Air / An Education
So what's probably missing from this list? I need to catch up on my Michael Haneke, for example; the Romanian new wave (admittedly, I've seen none); documentaries (The Beaches of Agnes, Grizzly Man, The Fog of War and Man on Wire come to mind); Yi Yi, Talk to Her, Ghost World, The Squid and the Whale, 2046, United 93, Dogville, In the Bedroom, Kings & Queen, 35 Shots of Rum, Wendy and Lucy, Russian Ark, Amores Perros, The Assassination of Jesse James, Oldboy, My Winnipeg, L'Enfant, The Class, Moolaadé...
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