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
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