Top 25 Films of The 2000s

Thanks for the kind words. Yeah, it seems like there have been quite a few brilliant peaks in this decade of filmmaking. Though I wonder if there were some great movies in the 90's that have just been lost to history. I would've checked out the acclaimed independent films back in '93, except I was only 7...

You are correct, I have not seen "Spirited Away." But from what I've heard, I think it could easily find a home here once I've seen it, along with some other possible omissions such as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "The Pianist", "Amores Perros", "About Schmidt", "Yi Yi", "The Others", etc. etc.

I actually loved the main Jim/Kate plot of Eternal Sunshine, but when I saw the film, I didn't like some of the subplots. At first I thought the stuff with Kirsten Dunst was just boring, then I felt like the way her plot wrapped up with Tom Wilkinson was just using the characters as a plot device for Jim and Kate. That is, I felt like they created the Kirsten/Tom subplot just to give Kirsten Dunst a reason to send Jim and Kate their tapes back. But part of the reason I was bored early on was because I didn't think the Kirsten Dunst plot was going anywhere, so now that I know it does go somewhere, I might like the movie better on a rewatch. I'm not sure if I'll like the Kirsten/Tom stuff better on a rewatch.

Hope you love Memento.

21 Grams is a very good movie, but I didn't like it enough to put it on here. I feel that its randomly assembled chronology, while you could probably justify it artistically, really had no point from a narrative perspective (unlike, say, Memento), and the result is a film that distances its audience by making the trials of its characters harder to follow. I like playing with chronologies when it makes the movie's secrets more engaging to unravel (Following, Memento, Eternal Sunshine, Ten 'Til Noon, etc.), but not when it's just making a dramatic story less comprehensible. I also feel like the film is much more self-conscious in the way it doles out the misery than similarly intense, dramatic films like Requiem for a Dream and Before the Devil Knows You're Dead.

There is much that I love about 21 Grams, but honestly Amores Perros is much more likely to make it on here.

Thanks lbangs! It's still kind of a work in progress though. I'm hoping at least one film from 2009 will make it on here, and there are a few movies I really should watch (The Pianist, Into the Wild) or rewatch (I have been meaning to see Eternal Sunshine again to determine if, after five years, I will love it as much as everyone else on earth), but this is what I've got for now. As for the ones you haven't seen, I'd highly recommend all of these of course, and I'd love to know what you think of the ones you see!

By the way, is it just me or are most of these "best of the decade" album/movie/song lists heavily skewed towards the first half of the decade, especially 2006 and earlier? I wonder why that is.

Man, I gotta see that Bela Tarr.

As for Irreversible, it's an amazing film and I loved it. Though I didn't think it worked enough to be a crowning acheivement of the decade. Still, I could see it being top ten in anyone's list (everyone should see it!). Top three tho?

As for Synedoche, I don't think Kauffman is a particularly strong director. The script was pretty much amazing, but I wish he'd just let others direct his films. I thought it was the worst made film of all his scripts. But even then it was really good. I think the problem there was that he had to rush through shooting it and because it was his first film it wasn't as tight as any of his other masterpieces. We'll see what happens with him - will he hand his next project over to a capable director or will he improve and give the other writer/directors a run for their money.

I haven't seen any of your top three, I must admit, although I do want to see all of them eventually. No promises on how much I'll like them of course, as all three of those seem pretty dense.

I personally think Juno is more a comment on people who ooze of the desire to be to be "hip" and "cool," and I've certainly known people like that. I was also lucky to see it before it turned into a hypefest and, going into it with fresh eyes, just loved it. By now I think the backlash is more vocal than the hype, so don't feel you're in the minority here, but I still love it. As for Synecdoche, I think it actually has tons of layers of depth, although a lot of it perhaps deceptively easy to understand. I actually just rewatched and reviewed both of these movies here, so feel free to check that list out for more in-depth comments.