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The first decade of the 21st century is quickly approaching it's end. While the decade might have been terrible for the events that our whole world has had to endure for the past 10 years, the decade was ripe with amazing cinema. Trying to get this list to just fifty films was not an easy task and even as I look over the finished list, I still feel stings over certain omissions. But is my final list and I stand by it. So, without further delayhere are the first 25 of my 50 greatest films of this decade.
50. Kill Bill - Vol. 1 (2003)
It had been six years since Tarantino had released Jackie Brown and the result was well worth the wait. Combining so many different elements together such as your classic revenge plot, amazing sword fights, very traditional dialogue and even an entire sequence explained through anime, this showed Tarantino could still wow an audience and tell a thrilling story at the same time. Did I mention the insanely gory violence?
49. Swimming Pool (2003)
This English language mystery-thriller from French auteur Francois Ozon is simply amazing. With a plot that goes back and forth along with a great performance from Charlotte Rampling, this film will be stuck in your mind long after the credits start rolling.
48. Rachel Getting Married (2008)
The dysfunctional family is a reliable source for great drama and Jenny Lumet's script about death, addiction, love, life and family shines as another example of drama from this subject. Combine that with Jonathan Demme's direction and the isanely wonderful acting of Anne Hathaway and this drama is one that you'll find yourself crying and laughing with the whole way through.
47. Bad Education (2004)
Pedro Almodovar never ceases to amaze. He is fearless in his subject matter and amazing at writing fantastic roles, particularly for his female actors. But he gives an amazing part to Gael Garcia Bernal as an aspiring actor hoping to get a former childhood friend to produce his screenplay and cast him in the leading role.
46. Shortbus (2006)
I knew one of John Cameron Mitchell's movies had to make it on this list but it was very tough to decide which one. Hedwig and the Angry Inch did reinvent the rock musical for many years to come, but Mitchell's controversial film Shortbus really struck a chord in telling the story of several people and their interactions with each other as sexual beings. With it's frank discussion and depiction of sexuality, one hopes it can be something we are not afraid to discuss anymore. Plus, after watching this movie, the Star-Spangled Banner will never be the same again.
45. Garden State (2004)
Zach Braff showed he was more than just a sitcom actor with his writing/directorial debut about a struggling actor returning home to New Jersey for his mother's funeral and at the same time searching for personal meaning in his life. The movie hits all the right notes of comedy and drama and has an amazing soundtrack to boot, which Braff earned a Grammy Award for producing.
44. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)
Sidney Lumet showed that he is still as sharp as ever when he directed this tale of family turmoil about two brothers who, while experiencing tough financial situations, decide to stage a robbery of their parent's jewelry store and how the events go terribly wrong. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei and the marvelous Albert Finney make up just a part of this extraordinary cast.
43. Kung Fu Hustle (2005)
Stephen Chow directs this martial arts comedic masterpiece about a wannabe kung fu master who ends up saving an entire village from a gang of sharply dressed fighters who all wear top hats. If that synopsis alone sounds unbelievable, I won't even try to describe the insane effects that are brought to life in this production.
42. Persepolis (2007)
This beautifully animated film takes a look at Marjane Satrapi's life in Iran during the overthrow of the Shah and shows what some hoped it would become and having to deal with what it became. Satrapi along with her fellow director Vincent Paronnaud weave together an amazing story of adolescence and coming of age in the middle of a country's fundamental change.
41. The Aviator (2004)
Martin Scorsese brilliantly brings to life the amazing time of Howard Hugh's phenomenal success in aviation and motion pictures and manages to capture both the glamour of Hollywood in the 1920's, 30's and 40's as well as the madness that always surrounded Hughes and ended up consuming him. Leonardo DiCaprio really shows his acting chops as the aviation pioneer along with Cate Blanchett's unique rendition of Katherine Hepburn and Alan Alda as the delightfully dastardly Sen. Owen Brewster.
40. American Splendor (2003)
Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman bring an amazing story of ordinary life to the big screen with the story of Harvey Pekar and his comic book "American Splendor". Paul Giamatti brilliantly channel's Pekar and Hope Davis is his marvelously sardonic partner. The simple message of this amazing biopic is simply that ordinary life is pretty complex stuff.
39. Good Night, and Good Luck (2005)
George Clooney directs this amazing look at how Edward R. Murrow took on Sen. Joe McCarthy and his communist witch hunts. With Robert Elswit's beautiful black and white camera work along with David Strathairn's uncanny resemblence in both body and voice to Murrow's, this film served as a haunting reminder that American's should never walk in fear of one another.
38. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
While many films receive praise for paying attention to historical accuracy, this film just throws that whole concept out the window. Tarantino takes on World War II with Brad Pitt and a gang of eight Jewish soldiers who go around Europe killing Nazis. Christoph Waltz is amazing as Lt. Hans Alada for which he received the Best Actor award at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and will probably be taking home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
37. The Dark Knight (2008)
While comic book movies can often make for a good spectacle on the silver screen, they rarely have the trademarks of remarkable cinema. But Christopher Nolan found a way to combine the two and directed one of the most iconic films of the decade. The fact that Heath Ledger's final full performance is one of the most haunting I've ever seen only helps cement this film's place in history for a long time to come.
36. The Triplets of Belleville (2003)
This insane animated tale from France tells the story of an old woman who must find her grandson after he is kidnapped while competing in the Tour de France. While on her quest she meets up with the titular characters and from there it just gets more wacky, but the beautiful animation keeps you hooked even when you factor in that there is no spoken dialogue in the movie.
35. Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
This magnificent film of family dysfunction was the sleeper hit of 2006 that spread primarilly through people telling others about the movie. This movie about a family of losers who put all their hope on the awkward Olive prevailing in a child beauty pagent would go on to take home two well-deserved Oscars, one for it's screenplay and one for Alan Arkin as the grumpy and drug-taking grandfather.
34. There Will Be Blood (2007)
Paul Thomas Anderson makes a stark departure from modern ensemble pieces bring us this amazing tale of greed, oil, family and power. Daniel Day-Lewis nails every aspect of Daniel Plainview as someone who is consumed by his wealth and his desire to keep it and reminds us of those who are in charge of that very industry in this current date and time. Along with Paul Dano, the film also uses the analogy of a milkshake to drilling for oil in a truly unforgetable way. "I'M FINISHED!"
33. Billy Elliot (2000)
When I first saw the trailer to this movie, I thought it was going to be some lame family flick and boy, did I turn out to be completely wrong. Stephen Daldry directs the story of a boy who would rather dance than box, who's family is caught up in the midst of the coal miner's strike in Northern England in the early 1980's. Jamie Bell's performance as Billy also proved the young Bell was just as capable of handling a lead role as Russell Crowe or Tom Hanks.
32. A Mighty Wind (2003)
While many will probably argue that Best in Show was Christopher Guest's superior film, I believe Guest's tribute to folk music was much more funny. Whether it was Eugene Levy's hilarious awkwardness, John Michael Higgins and Jane Lynch's crazy religious practices, Ed Begley Jr.'s dropping of Yiddish phrases or Fred Willard's wildly inappropriate band manager, this movie kept me in stitches the whole way through. Plus the music is great to boot. Hey, Wha' happen?
31. The Departed (2006)
Scorsese returned to form with this Boston reimagining of the Hong Kong film, Infernal Affairs. Leo DiCaprio and Matt Damon play for opposite teams of the law each infiltrating the other side and Jack Nicholson is pitch perfect as lead gangster Frank Costello. Along with great supporting turns by Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin, Ray Winstone and the sublime Martin Sheen, Martin Scorsese finally made a movie that everyone was alright with him winning an Oscar for.
30. Far From Heaven (2002)
Todd Haynes's tribute to the style of Douglas Sirk's films in the 1950's is one of the greatest tributes ever made. Julianne Moore stars in her best performance yet as a Connecticut housewife who discovers her husband's homosexuality (Dennis Quaid) and at the same time, begins to fall in love with her African-American gardner (Dennis Haysbert). But it's the film's style that really impresses with cinematography by Edward Lachman and music by Elmer Berstein, you feel as if this film was probably made during the 1950's.
29. A History of Violence (2005)
David Cronenberg has always been known for his off-beat films and their interesting view of the world. But with this film, Cronenberg could no longer be considered just an art-house indie director. The tale revolves around a diner owner in rural Indiana who, after he foils a robbery, is tracked by people who believe he is a former Philly gangster known for his out of control violence. Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello and Ed Harris are excellent but William Hurt really steals the movie with a performance that lasts only eight minutes.
28. The Hurt Locker (2009)
Kathryn Bigelow has consistently shown throughout her career as a director that she is just as capable of playing with the big boys in directing films that usually are aimed at male audiences. With this story of an Explosive Ordinance Disposal team in post-invasion Iraq, Bigelow truly captures the realities of this war in a way that's suspenseful but also non-political. Jeremy Renner, in a phenomenal performance, leads the cast along with Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty and bit parts by Guy Pearce, David Morse and Ralph Fiennes.
27. L.I.E. (2001)
Michael Cuesta's debut film gave new meaning to testing people's comfort zones. The story follows young Howie (Paul Dano in his screen debut) who's mother was killed in a car accident on the L.I.E. and who's father is now sleeping around with several women. Howie falls in with a bad crowd that ends up burgling the house of "Big" John (Brian Cox), an ex-marine with a thing for younger boys. To go into the rest would be complicated but Brian Cox delivers the kind of performance that's akin to Peter Lorre's in M and the film helps us view certain characters in ways we could never imagine.
26. Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire (2009)
This story of an illiterate teen who has been impregnated by her father twice and lives with an abusive mother (Mo'Nique) is one most people would probably try to stay away from. But with Lee Daniels's direction and the amazing performance given by Gabourey Sidibe, Precious is a film that manages to find comfort and hope in reality, even when it seems utterly impossible.
