List by David Valkenet
Top 100 of the Decade (2000 - 2009)
What a great decade.
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Thanks Tony! Any you agree/disagree with in particular? It took a little while, but it the hardest task was what to cut...
Sorry for the long reply!
@Ron RE: comic books - I find the darker comic book films not as enjoyable or compelling (in general) as the lighthearted comic book film. The tone of the superhero comic books clashes so heavily with dark and brooding (except certain superhero books like Watchmen) that the films feel forced. Even with The Dark Knight there is that weird duality between comic book camp and Michael Mann style heist film that doesn't always work. (Having said that I didn't have enough enthusiasm to check out Green Lantern or Fantastic Four and thought X-Men was pretty good, but not great).
@Ryan - I won't defend the comedies on the list because it just comes down to did I laugh, didn't I laugh. I find WIll Ferrel funny, but Step Brothers was below par for me. I did laugh in parts (the COPS line) but overall I didn't enjoy it too much.
Above all I judge films by the way they make me feel, if they can move me emotionally and show me new images. With that in mind some choices should make sense.
Lost in Translation - Did both of the above - new interesting images and connected with me emotionally. Completely bypassed by critical faculties and got me on an emotional level.
Hidden (Caché) - This film was one of the early ones that got me into movies. I started off disinterested during the long boring credits but quickly great anxious and claustrophobic. No other film has made me feel like this has. I was completely engrossed and thrilled. I've seen it a few times since and love every second.
Synecdoche New York - I love this movie completely. I see it's a mess and it throws out too many ideas but I feel that overall it resolved many issues and had flashes of brilliance that left me with a feeling no other film gave me.
United 93 - I don't know why people don't like this. I loved the grounded, non-actors, I liked the few real actors, the shaky cam didn't annoy me (as it did in the Bourne films) and it was a highly tense thriller.
Some Kind of Monster - I'm not a Metallica fan but this was a really compelling look at a big metal band at the height of their fame and a glimpse into the creative process. I loved…
I'm in total agreement with Lost in Translation, I have it in my top 3 from this decade, words can't express how much I love that film. And No Country for Old Men is up there as well. Also thank you for giving Speed Racer a decent rank, I think that film is greatly underrated.
I actually feel a little embarrassed that according to the sidebar here i've only seen 22 of your top 100. I like Mulholland Dr. up there, I had trouble keeping that one out of my top 25 of the decade, but now with your inspiration, i'm going to extend it to at least 50 I think.
There are only a few that i question not being here. Inglorious Bastards, and no Eastern Promises, you have Histaory of Violence up high which is awesome, I personally preferred Eastern Promises of the 2 Cronenberg films.
And of what i don't quite understand, well off the top, Before Sunset? I've never seen it, so i'm not bashing it, but is it that good? and A.I., I just didn't like that film, it was boring to me, but i haven't watched it in a long time, maybe a rewatch is due.
Anyway, sorry for the novel, LOL still an awesome list
Speed Racer I think was either overlooked or under-appreciated. It's truly an interesting use of CGI. Perhaps people might think it's obvious or too easy, but I can't think of another similar film, let alone one that does it at the same quality.
I'm interested to check out your list! I'll have a look shortly. Looking forward to the top 50 too.
At the best of times I'm not the biggest Tarantino fan and Inglorious Basterds felt like a huge representation of everything I love and hate about him. That ambivalence did not belong on the list.
Eastern Promises I thought was very good, but the twist and the way it ended I felt unsatisfying and a little contrived. ALso, it lacked the psychological intrigue that was at the heart of A History of Violence. Cronenberg is one of my favorite directors though, and Spider very nearly missed the top 100.
A.I. I don't recommend you rewatch if you didn't like it the first time. I think either you connect with it emotionally or you can pass it off as overly sentimental and trite (as with many Spielberg films). In this case it really got me. Maybe it was the Kubrick script.
If you enjoy romantic comedies with realistic/naturalistic dialogue you will enjoy Before Sunset. To really appreciate it for the classic film it is you should see it in sequence with Before Sunrise. Before Sunset is so good that it actually improves the first film by association. It is like 80 minutes and engaging from the get-go. Funny, charming, cynical at times but above all retains the idealistic and sentimental nature of the first. If you do get around to watching both films I'd be interested to read your reviews.
Because it's a poorly-made film that is simply not strong enough on its own merit. If the allegedly real events that inspired it never occurred, and this exact same movie was made...nobody would care. Nobody would praise it. It would ever get made. The script, in and of itself, is too awful and wholly amateurish. There are no characters. No motivations. No subtext. Wretchedly piss-poor dialogue. Stupid decisions made by both terrorists and passengers. The movie itself failed to induce an emotional response. I was only thinking of the real-life events and people. I didn't care for these mannequins at all. Didn't even know their names. didn't care to know, either.
Judging the film in and of itself, solely on its film-making merits...it's just fucking awful.
In other words, Greengrass essentially did no work on this movie. He paid no attention to framing or shot composition, the editing was random, there are no characters...the story was literally told for him. All he did was get a bunch of non-actors together, give a hand-held camera to a man prone to violent, prolonged seizures, and show us what happened in the most sub-par, Unsolved Mysteries-style reenactment way possible. Uwe Boll could have made the same movie and evoked the same emotional response because the actual events create a built-in emotional core for the film. The movie itself did no work at all. And if it was required to as-is, it would fail in every possible way.
It may actually be the most pedestrian attempt at professional film-making I have ever seen.
I'm usually very good at removing any outside events from the film itself and letting them not influence or colour my opinion of the film. I usually find 'based on a true story' films annoying as they either try and make the event too big a deal, or try and remain too faithful to what happened.
I don't know how well I removed myself from the actual events of 9/11 when watching the film. I think I did pretty well, and still enjoyed the film - but I can't really be sure.
I think this film neither tried to play up the importance of this event, and because they didn't have all the information about what happened in the plane they were able to take some liberties. Beyond relating to the events of 9/11, I think we can connect with the passengers on a base level, in a 'what would I do in this situation' type way. And I liked the fact that there were no forced character arcs, contrived character development etc, and the story was just presented. I was never bored nor disinterested in the situation, and how the characters would react.
As for the technical side, I thought it was well done, and much more thought given to the framing and editing. The dialogue I thought was naturalistic and worked in the context of the film. Apparently all dialogue off the plane was fairly close to what was actually said on the day/what would be said in this situation.
Loving the Michel Gondry love!
His movies make me happy! Especially Be Kind Rewind.
I have a similar list, only not as personal.
letterboxd.com/thatspyisaspy/list/the-essentials-2000s/
Yes, this is a shameless self-promotion.