I don't really fall into convention. And I don't think lists should be seen as anything more than ideas. With that in mind, here are, in my opinion, the 25 Greatest Movies of the Last Decade:
25- The Hurt Locker (2008)-Kathryn Bigelow
When it comes to American wars in modern times, this film basically says it all.
24- 007: Casino Royale (2006)- Martin Campbell A blonde Bond? Are you sure? Yes, said everyone emphatically within the five minutes of this movie. Rebooted the franchise, paid homage to it, and played with it, all while making us excited about 007 movies again!
23- Children of Men (2006)- Alfonso Cuaron Cuaron is a master at the long action take. There's at least one such scene in this film about a postapocalyptic future where women have mysteriously stopped conceiving that will be forever seared into your brain. Add the same where the cries of a newborn stop armies of men and you can see why this one belongs on the list.
22- Shaun of the Dead (2004)- Edgar Wright Edgar Wright took his little BBC series about two singles playing house for cheap rent and turned a snapshot of it into the greatest horror/comedy since Ghostbusters. Don't even pretend this hasn't been put in your basket of annual watches.
21- Pan's Labyrinth (2006)- Guillermo del Toro A world at war and what does this little girl do? Escapes into a world of her own, which in some ways is ever more terrifying. Is it real or is it all in her head? Who cares when the tears start to fall?
20- Up (2009)- Pete Docter Speaking of tears, anyone who made it through the first ten minutes of this film without bawling like a little girl has no soul.
19- Midnight in Paris (2011)-Woody Allen I had no idea what this movie was about before I started watching it, but it's become one of my favorites since then. If you haven't seen it, I won't spoil it for you, just sit back with a glass of wine and savor the Paris scene!
18- Moonrise Kingdom (2012)- Wes Anderson I haven't been much a fan of Anderson's work, as it consistently felt he was trying to relive Rushmore, and you just can't... however, something about this film managed to rise above all the other attempts and seems wholly unique and all its own, yet still very much with Anderson's whimsical touch.
17- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)- Michel Gondry When my 50 yo parents saw this, they thought it felt like a college film department final. Yes, the effects are practical and the story is a tad hipster, but the message is perfectly human and probably, yes, probably intended moreso for this generation than the last (we don't have drugs to fall back on in our search of truth).
16- No Country for Old Men (2007)-Joel & Ethan Coen Speaking of one generation to the next, this one really hones in the point that we are no longer living in the simple world our parents and grandparents came from (though, in that simple world, more people died in war than at any other time in history combined... personally, I think we're still in shock).
15- Toy Story 3 (2010)- Lee Unkrich This is absolutely my pic for best animated film of the past decade. To be a third sequel and still manage to eclipse two wonderful previous installments? Could you ask for a better way for this trilogy to end?
14- Black Swan (2010)-Darren Aronofsky Have you ever wanted something so badly that it split you in two on the inside? You can practically feel the celluloid stretching as this one nears its insane and utterly gripping climax.
13- The Departed (2006)-Martin Scorsese While Scorsese hasn't had a bad film this decade, he's certainly had a few that were merely good. This is by far the best of the bunch, and the crazier it gets, the more fun the craziness gets with repeated viewings. Not quite a Goodfellas, but certainly one he can hang his hat on.
12- The Prestige (2006)- Christopher Nolan Have you seen the youtube video that blends the audio from this film's trailer with the trailers for The Dark Knight Trilogy? What Nolan has done this decade with film is on a par with what Hitchcock did with it in the 50s/60s or what Orson Welles did in the early 40s. He's been the master. And what better genre than comic books and magic acts? What is film anyway? Nolan is this century's Georges Melies. Showing the implausible and unrealistic through a lens that allows you to believe.
11- Inglourious Basterds (2009)-Quentin Tarantino I hadn't thought all that much of anything Tarantino had done since Pulp Fiction. They were solid enough, but they all seemed like he was trying too hard. But here he let loose, told history to go pop one, and started his great Historical Revenge Fantasy/Comedies. I hope it's three films, but at the moment, he's only bothering with two.
10- Inception (2010)-Christopher Nolan The heist film of your dreams? Or coming to grips with the loss of a loved one? The metaphors in this movie are all over the map, but one thing's perfectly clear: it probably doesn't matter much to our hero whether the top falls or stays spinning.
9- Django Unchained (2012)- Quentin Tarantino There was something about this one that felt more lighthearted than the Inglourious Basterds, and for that reason alone, it made it more enjoyable to sit through. Perhaps because its indictments were so close to home, and how amazing of a job did Leonardo DiCaprio do in this role?
8- The Dark Knight (2008)-Christopher Nolan The Joker comes out of nowhere and seems made just for this magnum opus of a movie. Everyone keeps going behind everyone else's back, keeping things close to the chest, and when it comes right down to it, the one 'like a dog chasing cars' was the best prepared one of the bunch. And he wins too, even when he "doesn't".
7- The Dark Knight Rises (2012)- Christopher Nolan Seems mildly blasphemous to put this one over its predecessor, but what comic book fans have been all riled up about (the last ten minutes of the movie, or the idea of Bruce Wayne ever 'quiting'), I felt made this one the perfect ending to the trilogy. And what about Bane's mission isn't precisely the antithesis of Batman's? He does what he does out of love and Batman does what he does out of sorrow... who would've ever thought...
6- Silver Linings Playbook (2012)-David O Russell There was just something so magical about this "secret guy movie" as I like to think of it. Bradley Cooper turned in the performance of his life, and when Jennifer Lawrence retires, many many years from now, this will be the movie people really remember her for, not Katniss Everdeen. Has mediocrity ever been so blissfully enjoyed as that dance finale?
5- Gravity (2013)- Alfonso Cuaron Say what you will about what's possible and not possible... that's not what film is about. This explores the empty feeling one has when they lose someone and puts it not-so-metaphorically out in space, where in order to survive, you have to find away to crashland back to earth.
4- Grizzly Man (2005)- Werner Herzog This look at the deranged obsessive and his quest to know grizzly bears is most startling not for the recorded death of its subject, but how close you come to thinking he might be on to something.
3- There Will Be Blood (2007)- Paul Thomas Anderson Say what you will about Daniel Day-Lewis' amazing performance, but what makes this film as incredible as it is is this: it's American history, capitalism vs religion. Who do you think's won?
2- 12 Years a Slave (2013)- Steve McQueen- Comes closer to really portraying what slavery was probably like better than just about anything. Every performance is mesmerizing and gutwrenching. Just a simply breathtakingly amazing film.
1- United 93 (2006)- Paul Greengrass The first time I saw this film in theatres, my hands were gripping the seats, something that has never happened before or since. I was shaking after the movie ended. It's a controversial film, for sure, but I think it oughta be shown to highschool kids. I think its the seminal achievement of this decade in filmmaking.
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