Best Films of the Decade

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. 25^th 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