Top 50 Films of the Decade: 2000-2009
This is, at the very least, a huge undertaking to take a retrospective and just sorta count out what I liked most from the past 10 years of seeing movies, mainly because in 2000 I was 8 years old. My movie sense then isn’t the same as it is now. But after a ton of visits to Wikipedia’s film lists and a lot of deliberation last night as I went through a process involving my notebook to narrow down the movies, I think I’ve come to some true results that I can stand behind. There were snappy comedies that were fun to watch, mind-blowing crime sagas, and movies that even took us deep inside through the human mind. Agree or not, these are my favorite movies from the past 10 years, in other words, the first decade I’ve lived through the entirety of.
- The Dark Knight-The setting was a dark, increasingly crowded theater filled to the brim with avid fanboys waiting to see the most anticipated superhero film of the year. Christopher Nolan crafts an expert film with an engaging story of a superhero, but also perfectly crafts what can come with superpowers and an intelligent but enthralling way of describing the morality that comes with it. Every scene Heath Ledger’s Joker comes on screen the crowd fell silent in anticipation, not knowing what would come next. This is an expert film, the best superhero film ever made in the fact the hero isn’t a “superhero” at all, and one of my favorite films I’ve seen.
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind-Another one of my favorite directors, Michel Gondry (also helming The Green Hornet which I can’t wait for) takes us inside the human mind with a fantastically written and a fantastically executed movie that redefines “interesting”. Jim Carrey’s near-perfect in this, and with an ending that throws you truly on your head, you definitely need to see it.
- Little Miss Sunshine-There’s just something so infectious about this movie, this family starts out separated and by the end of the 2 hours not only have you seen them grow together you’ve grown closer to them, plus it’s funny and witty, Steve Carell is perfect in it.
- Be Kind Rewind-Michel Gondry hits the note again in what was a great concept that was executed greatly, that’s fun to watch over and over again.
- No Country for Old Men-Ha-Ha, the Coen Brothers paint a wild west landscape that’s just so bleak and silent, Javier Bardem appearing often to truly embody “evil” in one of the best films of that year. It holds with it a great story, and the anticipation builds and builds throughout.
- Up-(See Below)
- Finding Nemo-It’s so so so worth mentioning how paramount the Pixar movies have been in the past decade, truly great movies that have been cranked out constantly, never disappointing. These two, to me, exist as their 2 finest. Other Pixar Films appear in my list, which just goes to show how much they’ve meant to me growing up and learning to love movies.
- Gran Torino-Clint Eastwood puts together a really strong movie with one of his best and most iconic characters ever in Walt.
- District 9-Neil Blomkamp shows what can be done with little financial backing my crafting a science fiction masterpiece that’s really ingenious.
- Dan in Real Life-Steve Carell’s in the top ten again, a really charming romantic comedy that I really enjoyed watching.
- I Love You, Man
- Monsters Inc.
- Spiderman 1/2
- Watchmen
- Pineapple Express
- United 93
- Swing Vote
- The Hangover
- Shaun of the Dead/Hot Fuzz
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl/Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
- Star Trek (2009)
- Supersize Me
- Zombieland
- Hitch
- Sherlock Holmes (2009)
- Casino Royale
- Where the Wild Things Are
- Avatar
- Forgetting Sarah Marshall
- Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
- Inglourious Basterds
- The Prestige
- The Soloist
- Iron Man
- Slumdog Millionaire
- I Am Legend
- Drag Me To Hell
- Funny People
- Wanted
- Taken
- Batman Begins-Liam Neeson two times in a row haha
- X2: X-Men United
- 300
- Run Fatboy Run
- Shrek
- Inside Man
- Knocked Up
- Walk the Line
- The Pursuit of Happyness
- Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Honorable Mentions-
- Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?
- 16 Blocks
- Get Smart (2008)
- The Visitor
- Observe and Report
- Away We Go
- Elf
- School of Rock
- Secondhand Lions
- Ray
- The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
- Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
- Bruce Almighty
- The Incredibles
- War of the Worlds
- March of the Penguins
- National Treasure
- The 40 Year Old Virgin
- The Blind Side
- Public Enemies
- Henry Poole is Here
- License to Wed
- Disturbia
- Happy Feet
So, there’s the list. The Top 10 I totally recommend and take your own discretion through the rest of the list, but I can definitely recommend each and every one of those to your NetFlix or check at your local video store.