25(+) Favorite Films of the 00s

Here, as promised, is my decade list, although it's been contracted to 25 (plus assorted Honorable Mentions).


25. Something New (Hamri, 2006)
24. An Education (Scherfig, 2009)
23. Duplicity (Gilroy, 2009)
22. Fast Food Nation (Linklater, 2006)
21. Nobody Knows (Kore-eda, 2004)
20. Miami Vice (Mann, 2006)
19. Mysterious Skin (Araki, 2004)
18. Grizzly Man (Herzog, 2005)
17. A History of Violence (Cronenberg, 2005)
16. A Serious Man (Coens, 2009)
15. Marie Antoinette (Coppola, 2006)
14. Far from Heaven (Haynes, 2002)
13. Head-On (Akin, 2004)
12. The Three Burials of Melquíades Estrada (Jones, 2005)
11. Happy-Go-Lucky (Leigh, 2008)
10. Werckmeister Harmonies (Tarr, 2000)
9. In the Mood for Love (WKW, 2000)

8. My Summer of Love (Pawlikowski, 2004)
7. The Gleaners and I (Varda, 2000)
6. Syndromes and a Century (Weerasethakul, 2006)
5. Yi Yi (Yang, 2000)
4. The New World (Malick, 2005)
3. Children of Men (Cuarón, 2006)
2. I'm Not There (Haynes, 2007)
1. There Will Be Blood (Anderson, 2007)

Honorable Mentions (in all cases, best means "other than those above"):
Best Science Fiction Film: Sunshine (Boyle, 2007)
Best Film about Literature: Reprise (Trier, 2006)
Best Adaptation of Shakespeare: Hamlet (Almereyda, 2000), She's the Man (Fickman, 2006) (tie)
Best neo-Neo-Realist film: Le fils (The Son) (Dardennes, 2002) [A good deal better, in my mind, than L'enfant]
Best neo-Noir: Brick (Johnson, 2005)
Best film about adolescence/innocence: The Girl Next Door (Greenfield, 2004)
Best use of Emanuel Levinas in a film: Notre Musique (Godard, 2004)
Best film that inadvertently launched a career in public service: Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (Leiner, 2004) [You think Obama hired Kal Penn because anyone liked The Namesake?]
Best Animated Film: Spirited Away (Miyazaki, 2001)

Best use of a Renoir film as inspiration: Gosford Park (Altman, 2001)
Best Dumb Action Film: Live Free or Die Hard (Wiseman, 2007)
Best Sports Film: Offside (Panahi, 2006)

General Hon. Mentions: Vera Drake (Leigh, 2004), 25th Hour (Lee, 2002), Rachel Getting Married (Demme, 2008), Dirty Pretty Things (Frears, 2002)

Comments

why do you prefer "marie antoinette" to "lost in translation"? i thought "marie" was a huge letdown. and why don't you like "eternal sunshine of the spotless mind"? too earnest for you?
Jonny Ross said…
good list. agreed with a lot of your choices (that i'm familiar with). thought miami vice was a drag, though, and history of violence felt like it didn't add up to much. but agree with marie antoinette over lost in translation. also, reprise was a great little lit flick. nice.

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