Top Ten: The Aughts
Wednesday, May 28, 2014 at 11:49PM Last year I was throwin' up quickie top ten lists for each decade for archival and discussion purposes and tonight wI realized that I'd never finished the run skipping the Aughts and the 1920s and the 1910s (the latter two because I'd hoped to see more silent films before top ten'ing it). So herewith a revisit / rework of a "best of the aughts" list originally published in 2010 but many of you have joined us since!.
Care to share yours?
01 Moulin Rouge! dir. Baz Luhrmann (2001)
The party of the decade. The inspired mashup conductor (Baz) and his darling stars (Nicole, Ewan, Jim) put on the messiest craziest livelest funniest tearjerking "Spectacular! Spectacular!" show on earth. I'd never claim it's a perfect movie but flaws are endearing when you love madly and deeply. and Love Is All You Need.
02 Brokeback Mountain dir. Ang Lee (2005)
A love story for the ages. And one that quietly enrages.
03 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind dir. Michel Gondry (2004)
The Eyes: a singularly imaginative visualist in Gondry. The Brain: the twisty intellect of Charlie Kauffman. The Body: a great acting ensemble operating as one powerful machine. The Heart: a comic (Jim Carrey) positively aching with true drama. The Soul: one of the most elemental faces and emotional forces in cinematic history (Kate Winslet); It's the collaborative miracle movie of the decade, all its parts made greater by their interconnectedness.
04 Dancer in the Dark dir. Lars von Trier (2000)
The story of the Aughts for this particular moviegoer was the rebirth of the musical. To yank the dead genre from its unfortunate grave, fearless visionary filmmakers and prodigiously gifted musicians were required. The impish deconstructionist (von Trier) provoked such genius from a totally modern composer (Björk) that a decade later you can still be transported with just a bar of "New World" or "I've Seen It All".
05 Far From Heaven dir. Todd Haynes (2002)
Of all the things we have to thank Todd Haynes for: new ways of looking at Barbie dolls, Bob Dylan splintered, restless experimentation as cinematic life-blood, a mini Douglas Sirk revival, Ewan MacGregor naked and covered in glitter... this is the gift I cherish most: Julianne Moore in a purple scarf, waving love goodbye.
06 In the Mood for Love dir. Wong Kar Wai (2000, released in 2001)
In a perfect world, I would always be fetching noodles or trying on cheomsangs with Maggie Cheung. Either that or writing wuxia and smoking with Tony Leung Chiu Wai. I'd gladly pay the price of heartbreak in the end.
07 Talk To Her dir. Pedro Almodovar (2002)
So imaginatively structured, exquisitely controlled, and enigmatically moving that it's nearly impossible to wrap your head around in one go. It's a good thing then that Pedro's movies miraculous improve with repeated viewings... even when they were brilliant to begin with. "Cucurrucucú paloma, cucurrucucú no llores."
08 Rachel Getting Married dir. Jonathan Demme (2008)
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change... like the fact that so many people don't love this movie. Their loss. I'm ready to dive back into this immersive, noisy, eclectic, spontaneous, superbly acted, wonderfully sustained, bleeding heart of a movie right this very second. Pass me the DVD.
09 Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon dir. Ang Lee (2000)
Ang Lee is the only filmmaker with two movies in the top ten. How glorious was/is this utterly transporting adventure?
10 A History of Violence dir. David Cronenberg (2005)
In the past I've likened this movie to a machine, it's so finely calibrated and efficient. But that doesn't get at its emotional fire, its guttural poetry, and its savage eroticism. It's more like a cyborg.
ten other beloveds
Requiem for a Dream, Mulholland Dr, There Will Be Blood, The Lord of the Rings, Vera Drake, Y Tu Mama Tambíen, WALL•E, Volver, The Class, The Hurt Locker, and Before Sunset.
Previous Top Ten Quickies
1930s | 1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s (thus far)
and don't forget to like the film experience on facebook
Reader Comments (72)
I've only seen half of yours, Nathaniel, but I just rented Dancer in The Dark this morning, and will take this post only as a sign to watch it as soon as possible! Here are mine, subject to change, of course:
1. Mulholland Drive
2. Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind
3. Junebug
4. Maria Full of Grace
5. Birth
6. Inland Empire
7. Far From Heaven
8. Erin Brockovich
9. The Piano Teacher
10. Monster
This is tough, well aside from my #1 film of all-time in Lost in Translation. Let's see
2. Morvern Callar (2002)
3. Ghost World (2001)
4. WALL-E (2008)
5. Antichrist (2009)
6. The New World (2005)
7. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
8. The Wrestler (2008)
9. Mulholland Dr. (2001)
10. In the Mood for Love (2000)
I'm afraid to say that the only movie on your top 10 I don't love is your #1 choice, but that's also certainly not a movie that I don't understand why people like it. More so, it's one of those movies that I can respect for what it is while admitting that it's simply not for me.
My top 10 for the Aughts would look something like this:
1. Lost in Translation
2. Sideways
3. Ratatouille
4. Spirited Away
5. In the Mood for Love
6. A History of Violence
7. Ghost World
8. WALL-E
9. Mulholland Dr.
10. The Royal Tenenbaums
Aside from a definitive #1, the rankings aren't set in stone.
1. There Will be Blood
2. Moulin Rouge!
3. Where the Wild Things Are
4. Inglourious Basterds
5. Adaptation
6. Birth/Dogville - Kidman aside, these films feel related to me. Being released in the same year helps.
7. Talk to Her/Y Tu Mama Tambien - See comment above
8. Ratatouille
9. The Departed
10. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
With sincerest apologies to The Hours, Mean Girls, Eternal Sunshine, Gosford Park, Brokeback Mountain, Munich, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Ask again next week and 2-9 could change, but the full list does feel pretty set.
This is in neither descending or ascending order:
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Brokeback Mountain
Far From Heaven
The New World
I'm Not There
Adaptation.
25th Hour
Birth
1. The Lord of the Rings trilogy - a massive, massive achievement, and the best of its kind since the original Star Wars trilogy
2. There Will Be Blood
3. Children of Men
4. Traffic
5. Wall-E
6. The 25th Hour
7. The Dark Knight
8. The Departed
9. No Country for Old Men
10. United 93
Honorable: Black Hawk Down, Up in the Air, Inglourious Basterds, Sideways
Gorgeous list. Mine:
1. Moulin Rouge!
2. Brokeback Mountain
3. The Hours
4. Hairspray (not kidding, I adore it)
5. Juno
6. Memento
7. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
8. Milk
9. The Departed/Little Miss Sunshine (can't and won't choose)
10. Kill Bill
Angels in America would be #2 if it were allowed to play.
Runners Up: Finding Nemo, Zodiac, The Dark Knight, An Education, A Prophet. Far From Heaven has bounced around my lists so much over the years - along with Eternal Sunshine and Crouching Tiger, and they all need revisits. Julianne Moore in Far From Heaven... incredible.
Yay, this was one of my favorite series from last year! Ah, the aughts. I love every movie on your list except for Rachel Getting Married, to which I am unfortunately allergic.
My list:
1. Mulholland Drive
2. The New World
3. No Country for Old Men
4. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
5. Ratatouille
6. Dancer in the Dark
7. Tropical Malady
8. Spirited Away
9. The Pianist
10. Irreversible
Holy crap, I didn't find room for:
Finding Nemo, Gladiator, Y Tu Mama Tambien, There WIll Be Blood, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Zodiac, O Brother Where Are Thou, Ghost Dog, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Beyond Sunset, Fantastic Mr. Fox, La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet, Don't Touch the Ax, Che, Speed Racer and many many more...!
What a great list. And all of the lists in the comments are just as full of favorites. I love The Film Experience.
Mine (I had to break the rules and do 11):
1. Moulin Rouge
2. Dancer In The Dark
3. Junebug
4. In The Mood For Love
5. Bad Education/Volver/Talk To Her--don't make me choose!
6. Erin Brockovich
7. Kill Bill
8. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
9. Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
10. Bright Star
11. Dogtooth
My Top 10 would probably look something like this:
1. City of God (Fernando Meireilles/Kátia Lund)
2. Mulholland Drive (David Lynch)
...
3. Y tu mamá también (Alfonso Cuarón)
4. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)
5. 8 Women (François Ozon)
...
6. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee)
7. Talk to Her (Pedro Almodóvar)
8. The Fog of War (Errol Morris)
9. Head-On (Fatih Akin)
10. Bin-Jip (Kim Ki-Duk)
The Top 2 are pretty close, and it's pretty much impossible to put these films in any order really, and any of these films could have been anywhere between #6 and #10 if I had assembled this list in any other mood:
Amores Perros (Alejandro González Iñárritu)
Dancer in the Dark (Lars von Trier)
Yi Yi (Edward Yang)
Atanarjuat (Zacharias Kunuk)
Ghost World (Terry Zwigoff)
Dogville (Lars von Trier)
Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola)
Swimming Pool (François Ozon)
Zatôichi (Takeshi Kitano)
Grizzly Man (Werner Herzog)
Match Point (Woody Allen)
No Country for Old Men (Joel & Ethan Coen)
In the Loop (Armando Iannucci)
By the way, could you link to the last time you did this? I'm pretty sure I replied with a list of my own back then, as well, and I'm quite interested how that one compares to this one...
I thought Moulin Rouge sucked...
1.Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2.Kill Bill, Vol. 1
3.A History of Violence
4.Volver
5.The Incredibles
6.Brokeback Mountain
7.Mulholland Dr.
8.Wall-E
9.Frida
10.House of Flying Daggers
Wow, I love your choices! Many of mine are similar.
My top ten of the aughts:
Dancer In The Dark
Moulin Rouge
Y Tu Mama Tambien
Mulholland Dr.
Far From Heaven
Elephant
Dogville
Children Of Men
No Country For Old Men
Kill Bill (counting them as one)
Great list! But where are Bright Star and The Hours?
1. Far From Heaven
2. The Hours
3. Moulin Rouge
4. Brokeback Mountain
5. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
6. Bright Star
7. Rachel Getting Married
8. In the Mood for Love
9. Closer
10. Notes on a Scandal
missed the top ten: Volver, Two Lovers, Spider, Shutter Island, The Piano Teacher, Mulholland Drive,
1. Spirited Away
2. Summer Hours
3. Ratatouille
4. United 93
5. The Bourne Trilogy (If I have to pick one, then The Bourne Supremacy)
6. Rachel Getting Married
7. Fantastic Mr. Fox
8. Kill Bill Vol. 1
9. Minority Report
10. LOTR: The Two Towers
11-21: Kung Fu Hustle, The Dark Knight, The Devil Wears Prada, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Far From Heaven, The Hours, Billy Elliot, C.R.A.Z.Y, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, The Hurt Locker
12-20: LO
FUR
DOGTOOTH
MY MOTHER
BAD EDUCATION
THE PIANO TEACHER
BROKEN EMBRACES
ADAPTATION
PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE
SEARCHING FOR DEBRA WINGER
DEATH PROOF
A great decade...
Away From Her
Brokeback Mountain
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (#1)
Gosford Park
Little Children
Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Moulin Rouge!
Rachel Getting Married
The Pianist
The Hurt Locker
There Will Be Blood
Ricopolo/anyone---
What does 12-20: LO mean?
1. Memento
2. Eternal Sunshine
3. United 93
4. Brokeback Mountain
5. Ratatouille
6. City of God
7. Infernal Affairs
8. Incredibles
9. Adaptation.
10. About a Boy
Mark,
It was an editing error. I originally had a tie at 10th place (hence 12-20 for the rest), then decided against it. =)
I'm gonna cheat a little and post a top 12, in alphabetical order:
Adaptation.
Birth
Code Unknown
Dogville
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Hours
Lost in Translation
The Man Without a Past
Mulholland Dr.
Summer Hours
Synecdoche, New York
There Will Be Blood
It seems that Charlie Kaufman and Nicole Kidman are my MVPs of the decade.
Why is this so effin hard?! ....anyway:
1. The Wrestler
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
3. Amores Perros
4. Mulholland Dr.
5. The Hours
6. Moulin Rouge!
7. Dancer in the Dark
8. Erin Brockovich
9. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings
10. The New World
Request for Nathaniel: how about a Top 10 Performances of the Aughts?
1. Moulin Rouge - breaking every what not to do rule in moviemaking and still working on so many levels
2. The Piano Teacher- Isabelle Hupert 'nuff said
3. Far from Heaven- the beautiful cinematography, screenplay and Julianne Moore!
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind- Kauffman's screenplay and Kate Winslet!
5. Lost in Translation- Copolla's finest - even in Tokyo, it feels so close.
6. There will be Blood - grows on me with every watch, and i've watched it enough times!
7. Spirited Away - Miyazaki's masterpiece - beautiful on every level
8. Marie Antoinette- the most misunderstood movie of the Aughts (ironic, no?)
9 Pixar's one- two punch of Ratatouille and WALL- E ( tied) one tells us to never leave your dreams even if all odds are against you and the latter is the biggest reality check of the aughts
Brokeback Mountain
In The Mood For Love
Y Tu Mamá También
Les Chanson D'amour
Moulin Rouge!
Hable com Ella
Wall•E
Mulholland Dr.
Spirited Away
Before Sunset
Have you seen Love Songs Nathanael?
1 - Japón, Carlos Reygadas
2 - Miami Vice, Michael Mann
3 - In The Mood For Love, Wong Kar-Wai
4 - Femme Fatale, Brian de Palma
5 - The Time That Remains, Elia Suleiman
6 - Spider-Man 2, Sam Raimi
7 - Talk to Her, Pedro Almodóvar
8 - Kings and Queen, Arnaud Desplechin
9 - The New World, Terrence Malick
10 - Goodbye Dragon Inn, Tsai Ming-Liang
1. Synecdoche, New York
2. Mulholland Dr.
3. INLAND EMPIRE
4. Spirited Away
5. Russian Ark
6. The New World
7. No Country for Old Men
8. Punch-Drunk Love
9. Rachel Getting Married
10. 25th Hour
I thought you liked The Hours enough to include it on your top ten, but these are some worthy choices (and not at all surprising to someone who has followed the site for awhile!)
PedroPet - i have, yes.
Cal - ahhhh, Kings & Queens. I should revisit that next year for its 10th for sure
1. Mulholland Drive
2. Innocence (Hadzihalilovic)
3. The Piano Teacher
4. Russian Ark
5. Werckmeister Harmonies
6. The Five Obstructions
7. Marie-Antoinette
8. The Royal Tenenbaums
9. Yi Yi (A One And A Two)
10. Before Sunset
01. WALL-E
02. A.I. Artificial Intelligence
03. In the Mood for Love
04. Spirited Away
05. Bad Education
06. Cache
07. There Will Be Blood
08. Requiem for a Dream
09. No Country for Old Men
10. The Wrestler
In alphabetical order (and I picked a Top 12 because I'm too weak to narrow it to a Top 10)
- Brokeback Mountain
- Cache
- Dancer in the Dark
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- Far From Heaven
- The Hurt Locker
- In the Mood for Love
- The Lives of Others
- Mulholland Drive
- Talk to Her
- United 93
- Y Tu Mama Tambien
ALT: Need to rewatch There Will Be Blood again before I commit...
And this is one of the many reasons I visit your blog so frequently - your great taste that is so similar to my own!
1. Brokeback Mountain
2. No Country For Old Men
3. The Lives of Others
4. In the Bedroom
5. Match Point
6. Little Miss Sunshine
7. Million Dollar Baby
8. CIty of God
9. Moulin Rouge!
10. The Lord of the RIngs
Lust, Caution, Before Sunset, There Will Be Blood, Wall-E, The Wrestler, In the Mood for Love, Spirited Away, Fantastic Mr Fox, Birth
Lists are SO hard!
Well my list is very different to most... Mix of great films and ones that I simply adore. They more or less capture what my movie-watching in the Aughts were like.
01. Bridget Jones Diary
02. Charlie’s Angels
03. City of God
04. Head over Heels
05. House of Flying Daggers
06. Inglourious Basterds
07. Legally Blonde
08. Memories of Murder
09. Miss Congeniality
10. Moulin Rouge!
The Assassination of Jesse James
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
A Prophet
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
There Will Be Blood
No Country for Old Men
Children of Men
City of God
Talk to Her
Brokeback Mountain
1. There Will Be Blood, Paul Thomas Anderson 2007
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Michael Gondry 2004
3. The Pianist, Roman Polanski 2002
4. Spirited Away, Hayao Miyazaki, 2001
5. Talk to Her, Pedro Almodovar 2002
6. Brokeback Mountain, Ang Lee 2005
7. Mulholland Drive, David Lynch 2001
8. The White Ribbon, Michael Haneke 2009
9. In the Mood for Love, Wong Kar Wai, 2001
10. Y tu Mamá También, Alfonso Cuarón, 2001
Here's mine: http://www.deborahlipp.com/2010/01/movies-of-the-decade/
I love lists!
1. The Piano Teacher
2. Julia
3. Happy-Go-Lucky
4. Dancer in the Dark
5. Mulholland Drive
6. Far From Heaven
7. I Am Love
8. Maria Full of Grace
9. Precious
10. Birth
Always interesting to see individual tastes, these things are so subjective but that's what makes them fun!
The Trip (2002)
Latter Days
Brokeback Mountain
Gosford Park
Far From Heaven
Love Actually
Little Miss Sunshine
Finding Neverland
The Italian Job
Frost/Nixon
Just missing the top: Wonder Boys, Legally Blonde, Oceans Eleven, The Painted Veil, Atonement, Under the Tuscan Sun, 13 Days
What a great decade for films indeed!
my definite top 10 in no specific order:
MOULIN ROUGE!
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
THE HOURS
CITY OF GOD
MULHOLLAND DR.
FINDING NEMO
REQUIEM FOR A DREAM
IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE
VOLVER
KILL BILL VOL. 1 AND 2
SPECIAL MENTIONS FOR GREATNESS:
HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG
DOGVILLE
SPIRITED AWAY
CASINO ROYALE
EASTERN PROMISES
THERE WILL BE BLOOD
BAD EDUCATION
Yaay lists!
1. Talk to Her
2. Volver
3. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days
4. Brokeback Mountain
5. Kings and Queen
6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
7. Dogville
8. Kill Bill, Vol. 1
9. No Country for Old Men
10. The New World
Though it kills me to leave out Mulholland Drive
Alphabetically:
The Aviator
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Gosford Park
The House of Mirth
Lost in Translation
Marie Antoinette
The New World
Pride & Prejudice
Ratatouille
1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (04)
2. In the Bedroom (01)
3. In the Mood for Love (01)
4. Lost in Translation (03)
5. The Return (03)
6. Far From Heaven (02)
7. Where the Wild Thing Are (09)
8. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (07)
9. Cache (05)
10. Brokeback Mountain (05)
1. Atonement
2. Far From Heaven
3. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
5. There Will Be Blood
6. In the Mood for Love
7. Spirited Away
8. No Country for Old Men
9. Brokeback Mountain
10. Grizzly Man
Nathaniel, I don't know how you can be ready to watch Rachel Getting Married at any minute. Don't get me wrong: It's a great movie, but its honest brutality is something I have to prepare myself for internally.
Am I the only one who feels this way? About any movie?
This list makes me happier than a box of sunshine.
In no particular order.
Before Sunset
The Son
4 Months 3 Weeks and 2 Days
Moulin Rouge
LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring
A History of Violence
Y Tu Mama Tambien
Spirited Away
No Country for Old Men
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
My top 10:
Brokeback Mountain
Moulin Rouge!
Mulholland Drive
The lord of the rings: the return of the king
Before sunset
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind
21 grams
There will be blood
Bright Star
The Hours
They may not always be the best, but these are films that I loved from the double-0s and can watch again and again:
21 Grams
Brokeback Mountain
The Hours
The Lives of Others
Moulin Rouge!
Mulholland Drive
Napoleon Dynamite
Pan's Labyrinth
Requiem for a Dream
Waking Life
The White Ribbon
1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Is there any other movie from the previous decade to managed to span the critical and popular culture divide to capture the collective imagination in electric, unifying ecstasy? I love it so much, and when I find people that have an equal appreciation for it, they are now officially in my "cool" people book. I keep it handy in my back pocket for just such an occasion.
2. Mulholland Dr. - A dreamlike noir that both condemns and celebrates the artificiality and power of Hollywood, while also pulling double duty as an intricate and intimate character study.
3. Inglorious Basterds - Kill Bill should probably be on this list as well, but IB may just be QT's masterpiece, and I don't say that lightly. Cinema saves the world!
4. There Will Be Blood - The closest comparison I can link this to is Lawrence of Arabia, an intimate epic if it were. Utterly and totally captivating from beginning to end.
5. Wall-E - Need a Pixar, and there's a half a dozen wonderful films I could have put here, but Wall-E just gets me in the soul every time. The first 30 minutes should be studied and taught in classes. I'm not joking.
6. In the Mood for Love - One of the most romantic, achingly beautiful films you'll ever see, and the title characters never even share a kiss.
7. Lord of the Rings - In my head, its just one long ass movie, a swords-and-sorcery action adventure epic for the ages, and a phenomenal cinematic achievement.
8. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - Fuckin' Captain Magic
9. A.I.: Artificial Intelligence - Flawed? Oh in so many ways. And yet a less-flawed version would be much less interesting. A film I revisit often, and find it more rewarding each and every time.
10. Spirited Away - Hayao Miyazaki's masterpiece, hard to put into words how I love this fuckin' movie. It takes me away to a fully-formed imaginary world and I get sucked into all its little idiosyncrasies and repetitions.
Honorable mentions: Mean Girls, Anchorman, Shaun of the Dead, Before Sunset, No Country for Old Men, Casino Royale, Children of Men, Kill Bill vol.1/2, Minority Report, everything Pixar did this decade, Brokeback Mountain, Knocked Up, The Dark Knight, Batman Begins, Zodiac, Happy-Go-Lucky, In Bruges, The Squid and the Whale, Master and Commander, 25th Hour, Bourne Ultimatum, O Brother Where Art Thou, etc, etc, etc...
a BRUTAL list to make
1. Mulholland Dr. (Lynch)
2. Y Tu Mama Tambien (Cuaron)
3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Gondry)
4. Children of Men (Cuaron)
5. La Cienaga (Martel)
6. There Will Be Blood (Anderson)
7. No Country for Old Men (Coens)
8. The Return (Zvyagintsev)
9. Rachel Getting Married (Demme)
10. Gosford Park (Altman)
Honorable Mentions- Bad Education (Almodovar), A Serious Man (Coens), Far From Heaven (Haynes), Cache (Haneke), Inglourious Basterds (Tarantino), In the Loop (Iannucci), Talk to Her (Almodovar)