So what if this is a year late almost. It's almost Halloween and I've been watching and re-watching a shit ton of horror films. I figured this needed to be done because the last decade was a pretty solid decade for this, one of my favorite genres. Maybe I'm lame and too obsessed with lists but oh well. Here goes...
1. Zodiac: Alright, this may be breaking the rules a little bit because this masterpiece is hard to categorize into one genre and if it had to be put into one it would probably be thriller. Who cares. I have never seen a more frightening film in my life. Also, it is a movie about a real slasher right? And don't tell me the couple getting hacked and fucked with to death by the Zodiac in his goth version of KKK outfit in broad daylight isn't one of the best movie kills of all time! This isn't just my favorite horror film of the last decade but one of my favorite films period. Fincher did something amazing here - cramming so much in by building tension and suspense like nobody's business, capturing the mood and time of 1970's San Francisco/Northern California (which is as much a character in Zodiac as Robert Graysmith), meditating on the nature and relevance of obsession all while maintaining the very dark and amazing visual stylings and bravura camerawork we have come to expect from Fincher. As close to a perfect film if there ever was.
2. Shaun of the Dead: A horror comedy that succeeds at both. Wright ranks equally up there with his forebears Raimi and Jackson. Just an endlessly watchable film that leaves me with the biggest grin and sense of satisfaction possible.
3. Drag Me to Hell: Speaking of Sam Raimi, I have to add this triumphant return to horror as one of the best. Timely, over-the-top in all the best ways, and exceedingly frightening and gross all the while being PG-13. What more could you want from horror movies? Raimi met the insanely high expectations he set for himself with the Evil Deads.
4. Let the Right One In: I've written and talked at length about this film as many other people have. It's interesting now that I just watched Matt Reeve's remake, which I may like just as much, but still does not detract from the beauty and uniqueness of Alfredson's original. Poetic, dark, fucked-up, gory and beautiful with one of the most gratifying endings in horror history. The best vampire film this side of Martin and an easy top 5 for me.
5. 28 Days Later: Yea, I know, another expected pick but oh well. This film deserves to be in everyone's best of the decade lists. Boyle created a new addition to the zombie canon with this. Also, I was a sissy in the early parts of this decade and did not watch horror. I changed my mind about the whole genre after seeing this. A truly scary and grim vision of the apocalypse and a refreshing new approach on the subgenre with an intense narrative pull.
6. Grindhouse:This is a no-brainer. The best time I had at a theater the whole last decade was my first
viewing of Grindhouse at Midnight. I go back and forth which film I like better but both deliver on all levels. Thank the cinema gods for Tarantino and Rodgriguez.
7. Hostel Part 2: Eli Roth is the best new horror director we have. It was difficult for me to pick just one of his movies for this list. I loved Cabin Fever and the first Hostel, but if I have to pick a favorite I pick this sequel. Not only does Hostel 2 up the ante on the most creative and brutal ways to kill someone and boasts another all-time great horror ending, but I think serves as an even better political commentary than its predecessor. While both continue the themes of extreme violence, torture and paranoia for Americans in the post 9/11 era that gave us Bush's two wars, Homeland Security, Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, this film also portrays the new global capitalists as too wealthy, leisurely and at their most sadistic. On top of all that, Roth is masterful delivering scares by building tension and suspense instead of just shocks (which he delivers in the best way too).
8. The Host: Who would've thought the 00's would see a resurgence of monster movies? The Host is easily the best of a solid bunch that includes Cloverfield. I could not have been more stoked after seeing this movie for the first time. A smart, humorous, action-packed, radiation-bred monster packed, all-around great film. With this, Memories of Murder and Mother under his belt, Bong Joon-Ho has surpassed the great Park Chan-wook as Korea's greatest director.
9. Dawn of the Dead (2004): This movie's only real flaw is its title and calling itself a remake. While this film is obviously taking a lot from Romero's original, Snyder's film barely feels like remake. Instead it is an intense, modern vision of the zombie apocalypse that totally delivers on the scares. It has one of the greatest opening scenes ever too. This was a great decade for zombies and it looks like this resurgence is spilling over into the new decade as well and if we keep getting films even close to Dawn of the Dead then I heartily embrace the trend.
10. The Mist: Last, but definitely not least. I actually just watched this yesterday and was blown away. There is so much to this film I don't know where to begin in writing just a short blurb. The Mist is probably one of the best parables for our social and political times - both for the Bush era when it came out and I think it hits home now in the Obama era in reference to the Tea Party. People are scared and desperate and it lends itself to an irrational religious fanatic, portrayed amazingly and delightfully villainous by Marcia Gay Harden. The more rational-minded, and dare I say progressive, people, feel increasingly more angered and frightened with the humans they are surrounded with than the monsters and apocalypse that is occurring outside. This film is gripping and tense at every step. You get very attached to the characters - Thomas Jane and the whole cast do a great job here (how often do you get to compliment the acting in horror?). The ending is as haunting, depressing and darkly beautiful vision of the post-apocalypse as I have seen and it has given me total faith and even more excitement for Darabont's ability to handle the Walking Dead's transfer to television. Also, how sick are the monsters in this? That came out of left field for me.
Ok, I've been working too hard at compiling this list. It's been very difficult to rank all of these amazing films. So just read it like this, the beginning is about as close to ranking these films in order as I can then it just descends into my free-associative insertion of the films that I think were the best of this decade. This was a wonderful decade for cinema and is about as close to the 1970's as we've gotten. It also has special importance to me as this was my first decade watching movies as a cinephile. Literally, before I befriended Alex Fu in early 2001, I had no knowledge of film and very little concern. The only films I truly loved (and still do) were Star Wars, Indiana Jones, X-Men, Disney etc. I wasn't allowed to see PG-13 movies until I was 13 and certainly could not see R. Along the way I met others who had an impact in mentoring on film from my parent's friend Harry, to my girlfriend Katie to Quentin Tarantino in his interviews and commentary on dvds. But it was my dear friend Alex changed all that in one day by screening a Kevin Smith retrospective in his room. After seeing Clerks for the first time there was no looking back. So for me as a conscious movie-goer, the decade began with Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, which Hell Yea, I included on this list. But, I digress.
Anyways, what an amazing initiating decade for me and film. I will go into more detail in future blogs as I highlight movies and directors from this list that may have gone underappreciated or just moved me the most. But when I think of the sheer amount of amazing output this decade it baffles me that some sites/critics will have a disclaimer in their best of the decade lists about how this decade was only ok and didn't really push film forward (as they go on to name 100 films from this decade they loved). Really? This was a decade where masterful, challenging films like The Dark Knight and Inglourious Basterds and all the Pixar films were blockbusters! Spielberg had his best decade since the 1970's producing 4 instant classics and an Indiana Jones that I still contend was a lot of fun (and I still haven't seen War of the Worlds which is supposed to be good as well). Other prominent directors from the movie-brat generation made films that grace my list as well namely, Scorsese, De Palma, Lucas and Altman.
But it wasn't just the old guys dominating the decade. A plethora of our generation of directors either new to this decade or hailing from the 90's did amazing work that definitely pushed the medium forward. Just think of the work done by Tarantino, Nolan, P.T. Anderson, Coen Brothers, Jackson, Apatow, Wes Anderson, Charlie Kauffman, Linklater, Fincher, Raimi, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, David Gordon Green, Aronofsky, Mann, Wright, Park Chan-Wook, Singer, Cuaron, Del Toro, Cameron, Spike Lee, Ang Lee, Jarmusch and many more. The future of film is very bright indeed. Anyways, here goes:
1.Inglourious Basterds
2.The Dark Knight
3.There Will Be Blood
4.No Country for Old Men
5.The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
6.The Departed
7.Eternal Sunshine on the Spotless Mind
8.Royal Tenenbaums
9.25th Hour
10.All of Michael Moore’s films this decade
11.George Washington
12.Zodiac
13.Almost Famous
14.Knocked Up
15.Pan’s Labrynth
16.Clerks 2
17.The Wrestler
18.X2: X-Men United
19.28 Days Later
20.Shaun of the Dead
21.Punch Drunk Love
22.Adaptation
23.Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2
24.40 Year Old Virgin
25.Minority Report
26.A.I.
27.Catch Me if You Can
28.Let the Right One In
29.Half Nelson
30.Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
31.Pixar Films of the Decade ( Up, Ratatouille, Wall-E, Monsters, Inc., Incredibles, Finding Nemo)
32.Up in the Air
33.An Education
34.Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai
35.Grindhouse
36.Before Sunset
37.Children of Men
38.Brokeback Mountain
39.Revenge of the Sith
40.Spiderman 2
41.Wedding Crashers
42.The Hurt Locker
43.The New World
44.Drag Me To Hell
45.Superman Returns
46.Superbad
47.Oldboy
48.Cabin Fever
49.Watchmen
50.Milk
51.Waking Life
52.Revolutionary Road
53.Wind that Shakes the Barley
54.Grizzly Man
55.Hot Fuzz
56.A Serious Man
57.I Heart Huckabees
58.Hostel
59.The Prestige
60.Audition
61.American Psycho
62.Ali
63.Chappelle’s Block Party
64.Mean Girls
65.Femme Fatale
66.Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
67.Ghost World
68.Lars and the Real Girl
69.Hellboy 2
70.Undertow
71.All the Real Girls
72.Snow Angels
73.Pineapple Express
74.Gangs of New York
75.School of Rock
76.Miami Vice
77.Avatar
78.Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle
79.Me and Orson Welles
80.Funny People
81.Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
82.High Fidelity
83.Burn After Reading
84.Observe and Report
85.Trick R’ Treat
86.Fantastic Mr. Fox
87.Spirited Away
88.Y Tu Mama Tambien
89.Lars and the Real Girl
90.Moon
91.The Descent
92.Sugar
93.Lady Vengeance
94.O Brother Where Art Thou?
95.The Life Aquatic
96.The Incredible Hulk
97.Iron Man
98.Black Dynamite
99.Amores Perros
100.Little Miss Sunshine
101.Gosford Park
102. Sin City
103. Eastern Promises
Friday, January 1, 2010
may need some more reflecting, but probably the best year in film of this decade. It was hard to limit this to 20... some movies like House of the Devil, Zombieland, Thirst, The Hangover, Extract, Star Trek, The Informant are definitely close runner ups. I still haven't seen Parnassus, Antichrist or Sherlock Holmes but I feel pretty secure in this list.
1. Inglourious Basterds 2. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans 3. Capitalism: A Love Story 4. A Serious Man 5. Up in the Air 6. An Education 7. Drag Me to Hell 8. Fantastic Mr. Fox 9. The Hurt Locker 10. Sugar 11. Watchmen 12. Up 13. Observe and Report 14. Avatar 15. Funny People 16. Moon 17. Black Dynamite 18. Public Enemies 19. Adventureland 20. The Lovely Bones/ Me and Orson Welles/Big Fan (ok I cheated)
If you haven't had a chance to pick up the 20th Anniversary Edition of Empire, do so. It's very classy and has kept me busy this whole week. It includes reflections from its writers/editors/photographers, the movies that "make" Empire, a Lord of the Rings retrospective, as well as Empire "icons" - actors who grew up or did their most important work during Empire's tenure. One of my favorite feature of the magazine is the "Directors of Our Lifetime", which highlights the best directors and selected quotes from their past interviews with Empire. The list includes: Tarantino, Spielberg, Fincher, Scorsese, Greengrass, Jackson, Coen Bros., Nolan, Boyle, Lucas and more. Here are some of my favorite quotes from some of my favorite directors both of my lifetime and all time.
"A movie like Fight Club is always going to come under attack from fucking pussies... violence between consenting adults is a healthy thing." - David Fincher
"I'm not from the Mike Leigh school. I want to reach the widest audience possible." - Christopher Nolan
"I want every one of my movies, even 20 years down the line, to have the same piss and vinegar, the same hard fucking dick as Reservoir Dogs. There can be no fuck-up, no weak link, no blank in the chamber for the kid to discover." - QT
"There's a point editing a film when you get really tired of it. I never got tired of Goodfellas" - who do you think?
"I don't like the name 'the Movie Brats' that much. I wish they'd called us 'the Movie Nerds'" - Steven Spielberg
and Paul Greengrass names Ken Loach as his favorite director which is awesome.
The MSN critics have near impeccable taste. Their list of the top 10 of 2009 will probably be the closest to mine. Much kudos to them putting Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans on their as well as them putting Inglourious Basterds so high. To make it even more legit, they also added the individual lists of their panel of critics. Big props to them putting some of the seriously underrated movies of the year Public Enemies and Observe and Report. Check out both here
I post in this shit freely. No rules. Never were, never will be. This is my sweet declaration of freedom, like good ol' TJ, breaking more ground than an earthquake or a really fat person walking in a cartoon. I don't know why I get discouraged by the fact that my blog isn't read by multitudes of people. It's not like I gave a shit when the only one reading my diary back in 'nam was my charlie overseer in the prison camp. I still wrote my things down, so I guess I'll continue. Fuck it, whatever.
Anyways, can't believe I haven't posted a response upon my seeing Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. I have seen it four times in theaters as I write this if that's any indicator of the supreme level enjoyment this film gives me. Seriously, if you're in OC you have no excuse not to see this... it's playing at the Campus theater in Irvine and the Regency theater in Laguna Niguel. Herzog and Cage throw a most incendiary molotov cocktail into the stale police-procedural drama genre and it is endlessly gratifying. Herzog subverts the genre conventions by completely obliterating them. What maybe begins like your typical crime show or cop movie increasingly becomes a delightfully evil and hallucinatory story. This maybe the first time I've ever seen a POV shot from tripping iguanas or break dancing souls. Or lucky crack pipes.
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans is easily one of the best films this year. Cage is quite possibly the most fearless actor with the most on-screen presence working in film today. It's a testament to his work that anyone could make that statement after all the shit movies/roles he's done. But when he's on, like he is here, he's fucking on and I'd like to see anyone else try and touch him. This is a film where the plot gradually becomes irrelevant and instead we sit back and bask in the wonderfully rich and crazy world, characters, and perspective of Louisianna, cops and criminals that Herzog and Cage have provided for us.
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