| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| GHcool |
Posted - 10/31/2009 : 19:03:57
Its 2 months early, but I have a free Saturday, so what the hell, right? List your favorite movies of the decade.
1. Requiem for a Dream ("Connelly makes ends meet.") - Among the most frightening and effective films I've ever seen. Ellen Burstyn gives one of the great performances in the history of cinema as a drug addicted, game show fan who quickly loses her mind.
2. Slumdog Millionaire ("Mumbai orphan given lifeline.") - Danny Boyle is one of the greatest living directors and this is his masterpiece. The screenplay by Simon Beaufoy manages to be bold melodrama and acute social critique at once, and its non-linear structure always manages to both clarify and intensify the action.
3. About Schmidt ("Unthinkable 'Molly Brown' scene.") - Jack Nicholson gives one of his most quiet, nuanced performances as a man who realized that he has wasted most of his life. The script by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor is a fine balance between tragedy and comedy.
4. Chicken Run ("Aussie Can Cluck.") - The animation is first rate and so is the screenplay. Watch it again. The characters in this film are more "human" than in most films.
5. Juno ("Diablo's best 'adopted' screenplay.") - Juno an exaggeration, but not a cartoon character. Watch Ellen Page's performance again and notice how multi-layered the writing and acting is.
6. WALL E ("Meet WALL-E's sparks.") - The film relies more on "acting" than on dialogue and still manages to have a lot to say about the human condition. The animation is groundbreaking and superb.
7. Man on Wire ("I am ledge end.") - One of the most inspiring films I've ever seen. This documentary plays like a suspense thriller.
8. Monster ("She scores... she shoots!") - Charlize Theron gives a performance equal to Ellen Burstyn's in Requiem for a Dream. The film also has an intelligent, subtle, and even empathetic screenplay that sees humanity in this story of a serial killer while condemning the crimes.
9. United 93 ("Sheikhs on a Plane.") - Captures the feelings and events of that terrible day better than any other work of art I've ever seen.
10. Inglourious Bastards - The performances, directing, screenplay, cinematography, and editing are all first rate. Quentin Tarantino's best film, in my opinion.
Movies from the 2000s I haven't seen which might have made the list: Capitalism, Changeling, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, A Serious Man, and The Wrestler. |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Demisemicenturian |
Posted - 02/25/2010 : 20:47:26
My favourite film of all time and thus of the decade is Brokeback Mountain.
My second favourite of all time and thus of the decade is Dostana.
Probably my fifth favourite of all time and certainly my third favourite of the decade is Amelie. |
| damalc |
Posted - 02/25/2010 : 20:07:44
watched "Memento" again today. as much as i love it, it's work watching that film. |
| Pope George Ringo |
Posted - 01/18/2010 : 02:06:07
"There Will Be Blood"
"Memento"
"City Of God"
Are all films that really resonated with me for some time after viewing.
The rest of my top ten would probably all be from either Pixar or the Coen Brothers.
|
| ChocolateLady |
Posted - 01/02/2010 : 07:32:45
quote:
Originally posted by Falken
� The 40-Year-Old Virgin
Huh? How did that get in there? |
| demonic |
Posted - 01/01/2010 : 14:26:54
Okay. Decade's over, so here's my top picks year by year - I couldn't pick 10, that's too cruel, but I've chosen 50 films in total that I couldn't be without and highlighted what I currently think of as my favourite 15 of the decade.
2000
*Magnolia
Being John Malkovich
The Insider
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
2001
*Amores Perros
*The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Amelie
2002
Donnie Darko
*Mulholland Drive
Lost in La Mancha
2003
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Etre et Avoir
Spirited Away
2004
Touching the Void
Big Fish
*Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Incredibles
Dogville
2005
The Aviator
A Very Long Engagement
Downfall
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
The Constant Gardener
2006
*Munich
Good Night and Good Luck
The Squid and the Whale
United 93
Brick
*Grizzly Man
*The New World
2007
Bobby
*The Lives of Others
The Painted Veil
Michael Clayton
Ratatouille
Once
2008
*The Assassination of Jesse James
*Waltz with Bashir
No Country for Old Men
*There Will Be Blood
Wall-e
Into the Wild
Gomorrah
*Man on Wire
2009
Revolutionary Road
*Synecdoche, New York
*Up
Let The Right One In
Inglourious Basterds
Moon |
| Falken |
Posted - 12/17/2009 : 03:04:04
In no particular order...
� The Dark Knight
� Oldboy
� The Departed
� American Psycho
� Crank
� Kill Bill
� 300
� Crash
� No Country for Old Men
� The 40-Year-Old Virgin |
| damalc |
Posted - 12/16/2009 : 18:55:10
just thought of this, and i know almost everyone's gonna disagree, but "Equilibrium" was one of my favorites of the decade. |
| Sean |
Posted - 12/04/2009 : 22:51:39
quote:
Originally posted by MisterBadIdea
But as political satire, it is fucking atrocious.
I think one of us may have missed something, as it never occurred to me that this was supposed to be political satire. I saw it as 100% comedy, nothing more, nothing less. These guys are ultimately nihilists, they take the piss out of anyone who has any view or moral stance on anything, or anyone who does anything whatsoever.
quote:
Get it? Michael Moore is fat!! I'm sorry, but Team America borders on An American Carol territory in its gutless refusal to mention George W. Bush or the Iraq War in a film ostensibly all about that.
If they didn't mention Bush it's not because they wimped out, it's because they didn't see any laughs in him. Bush and Iraq are serious issues and it'd be pretty hard to get the kind of laughs out of them that they got with stuff like the porn scene.quote:
And I guess you can say that, no, it wasn't really about that at all, but that's because it pusses out of all its implications. South Park and Trey Parker's entire ouevre was kind of ruined for me when someone pointed out that whenever he presents his story's moral, it's always in a mocking, self-conscious way ("You see, I learned something today!") so that you can never tell whether he means it or he's just parodying the entire concept of having a moral.
Exactly. |
| Cheese_Ed |
Posted - 12/04/2009 : 22:50:39
quote:
Originally posted by randall
CINEMANIA, if that's the docu about obsessive film fanatics, is truly a sleeper that got away. And you think you like movies...
That's it. It makes one feel almost normal. |
| randall |
Posted - 12/04/2009 : 20:04:21
CINEMANIA, if that's the docu about obsessive film fanatics, is truly a sleeper that got away. And you think you like movies... |
| Cheese_Ed |
Posted - 12/04/2009 : 19:18:30
Going to my movie database I get the following rated highest in the decade. I use 5 stars instead of 10, so this list is a little longer. Sometimes I wonder how much my rating would change with a second viewing (this means you Owning Mahowny and Wild Parrots), but I'll probably never know.
25th Hour
Adaptation
Am�lie
Apocalypto
Borat
Born Into Brothels
Chocolat
Cinemania
Deep Water
Erin Brockovich
Hero
Lost in Translation
Master And Commander
Memento
Napoleon Dynamite
No Country For Old Men
Owning Mahowny
Punch-Drunk Love
Sicko
Sideways
The Darjeeling Limited
The Incredibles
The Lord of the Rings
The Pianist
The Station Agent
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Thirteen Conversations About One Thing
U-571
Waitress
WALL�E
Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
You Can Count On Me |
| Beanmimo |
Posted - 12/04/2009 : 17:08:37
quote:
Originally posted by MisterBadIdea
I'm sorry, but Team America borders on An American Carol territory in its gutless refusal to mention George W. Bush or the Iraq War in a film ostensibly all about that.
Loved this movie and thinking about makes me want to stop the assholes shitting all over the pussies coz i'm a dick BUT I think you are looking for a more sophisticated bunch of political satirists that parker and stone, i mean they turned up to some awards show (Academy Awards) in drag, they don't do satire they poke fun. |
| demonic |
Posted - 12/04/2009 : 16:15:49
Don't think you're going to like Time Out's list much more than Lovefilm's MBI... 
To jump into your conversation - I see what you mean about "Team America" - I think it's the funniest film of the decade if only for the vomiting scene, but I agree about the political wimping out - they attack everybody, leaving no particular satirical viewpoint (other than America self appointedly policing the world and cheerfully destroying it).
I've already expressed my dissatisfaction with "Slumdog" elsewhere so we're absolutely in agreement about that one. Fantasy I can do, lazy screenwriting with illogical plot holes is harder to swallow. That it's so highly decorated makes it slightly worse (much like similarly soupy and sentimental Oscar winner "Departures" winning over "Waltz with Bashir". Are they insane??).
"Hidden" though I thought was awesome. I think the guilt is entirely justified in the specific instance. As for thinly drawn characterisation; I'd have to watch it again, but I didn't think so at the time. I do know that it made me feel more uneasy than any other recent film I've seen without providing any reason why. A man taking his socks off had my heart pounding. That's quite a feat. |
| MisterBadIdea |
Posted - 12/04/2009 : 15:46:11
"It's quite reasonable to put Team America in the Top 100 of the decade, it's funnier than any other movie from the noughties. "
The puke jokes are funny. (And indeed, I want to make clear that I've laughed as hard at Team America as any movie I've ever seen.) But as political satire, it is fucking atrocious. Get it? Michael Moore is fat!! I'm sorry, but Team America borders on An American Carol territory in its gutless refusal to mention George W. Bush or the Iraq War in a film ostensibly all about that. And I guess you can say that, no, it wasn't really about that at all, but that's because it pusses out of all its implications. South Park and Trey Parker's entire ouevre was kind of ruined for me when someone pointed out that whenever he presents his story's moral, it's always in a mocking, self-conscious way ("You see, I learned something today!") so that you can never tell whether he means it or he's just parodying the entire concept of having a moral.
As for Cache, I really don't appreciate the overpowering and not-quite-justified liberal guilt reeking all over the place on that thing. I don't like how the Algerian guy has no real traits or purpose except to make a white guy feel bad. And Slumdog Millionaire... look, I have problems with how much of an illogical fairy tale it is. Maybe if they had strived more consciously to be a modern-day fairy tale, but except for the ending dance sequence, I really don't feel like they hit that angle hard enough. Slumdog Millionaire looks especially bad in the light of the newly released Precious, where a girl pulls herself out of the slums through hard work and education, not just because of some vague notion of "fate". |
| demonic |
Posted - 12/04/2009 : 15:22:02
Here's a far better list (not really a surprise - Time Out has a slightly better critical track record than Lovefilm) with a few surprises and a very good top 10. It may sit firmly on the side of arthouse over multiplex, but hey, we are talking about the best films of the decade here. It's not really for you if you think reading subtitles is boring, but it fits my idea of what a great film is better than any similar list I've seen so far. |
|
|
