MC Decade Consensus - 2000s

[Spinal]

Submit your ten favorite eligible films from this decade and in a week I will give you a top twenty.

The point system is as follows

1st Place-10 points
2nd Place- 8 points
3rd Place- 7 points
4th Place- 6 points
5th Place- 5 points
6th Place - 4 points
7th Place - 3.5 points
8th Place - 3 points
9th Place - 2.5 points
10th Place - 2 points

As you can see, the scale is weighted to give your top film a little bonus and to make sure that the difference between a 6th place and a 10th place is not too drastic.

Ten eligible films must be listed. Please make any edits by making a new post and telling me what changes have been made.

PLEASE READ:
In order to be eligible for this vote, a film must have placed in the top 10 for the Yearly Consensus Poll for the year it was released. Honorable mention films are not eligible. Since you only have ten slots to fill, I want you to focus on films that have a realistic chance of making the final list, so that we may achieve the most accurate results possible. My goal is to increase the influence of your vote. Please feel free to post an additional list that reflects your "true" top films of the decade. However, only lists with ten eligible films will be counted towards the final poll.

In order to add some suspense to the final results, you may (if you choose) PM your ballot to me instead of posting it in the thread below. Either method of voting will be acceptable. (But please do not do both.) "Secret" ballots will be revealed after the final poll is posted.

No, you may not list The Lord of the Rings trilogy as a single entry. The same rule applies to Kill Bill. Choose one.

You may begin now.

Eligible films for this poll:
25th Hour (S. Lee)
2046 (Wong)
3-Iron (Kim)
Adaptation (Jonze)
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (Spielberg)
All the Real Girls (Green)
Almost Famous (Crowe)
Amelie (Jeunet)
American Psycho (Harron)
Antichrist (Trier)
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Dominik)
The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (Herzog)
Before Sunset (Linklater)
Brand Upon the Brain! (Maddin)
Brick (Johnson)
Bright Star (Campion)
Caché (Haneke)
Children of Men (Cuarón)
City of God (Meirelles/Lund)
Cowards Bend the Knee (Maddin)
Dancer in the Dark (Trier)
The Dark Knight (Nolan)
Death Proof (Tarantino)
The Departed (Scorsese)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Schnabel)
Dogville (Trier)
Elephant (Van Sant)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Gondry)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (W. Anderson)
Far from Heaven (Haynes)
Femme Fatale (De Palma)
Finding Nemo (Stanton/Unkrich)
The Fountain (Aronofsky)
Ghost World (Zwigoff)
Good Night, and Good Luck. (Clooney)
Happy-Go Lucky (Leigh)
A History of Violence (Cronenberg)
Hunger (McQueen)
The Incredibles (Bird)
I’m Not There (Haynes)
In the Mood for Love (Wong)
Inglourious Basterds (Tarantino)
Inland Empire (Lynch)
Kill Bill V.1 (Tarantino)
Kill Bill V.2 (Tarantino)
Last Days (Van Sant)
L'Enfant (Dardennes)
Let the Right One In (Alfredson)
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (W. Anderson)
Lilya 4-Ever (Moodysson)
The Lives of Others (von Donnersmarck)
Lost in Translation (S. Coppola)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Jackson)
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Jackson)
The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (P. Jackson)
Memento (Nolan)
Millennium Actress (Kon)
Moon (D. Jones)
Moulin Rouge! (Luhrmann)
Mulholland Dr. (Lynch)
Mysterious Skin (Araki)
The New World (Malick)
No Country for Old Men (Coens)
Oldboy (Park)
Once (Carney)
Pan’s Labyrinth (del Toro)
Paprika (Kon)
Paranoid Park (Van Sant)
The Piano Teacher (Haneke)
Pride and Prejudice (Wright)
The Proposition (Hillcoat)
Punch Drunk Love (P.T. Anderson)
Rachel Getting Married (Demme)
Ratatouille (Bird/Pinkava)
Requiem for a Dream (Aronofsky)
The Royal Tenenbaums (W. Anderson)
A Serious Man (Coens)
Shaun of the Dead (Wright)
The Son (Dardennes)
Songs From the Second Floor (Andersson)
Spring Summer Fall Winter … and Spring (Kim)
The Squid and the Whale (Baumbach)
Sunshine (Boyle)
Syndromes and a Century (Weerasethakul)
Synecdoche, New York (Kaufman)
Talk to Her (Almodovar)
There Will Be Blood (P.T. Anderson)
Tropical Malady (Weerasethakul)
Two Lovers (Gray)
Up (Docter/Peterson)
Wall-E (Stanton)
Wendy and Lucy (Reichardt)
Werckmeister Harmonies (Tarr)
What Time is it There? (Tsai)
The White Ribbon (Haneke)
Where the Wild Things Are (Jonze)
The Wrestler (Aronofsky)
Yi Yi (Yang)
You Can Count on Me (Lonergan)
Zodiac (Fincher)

[transmogrifier]

Too many of the best films missing.

[Spinal]

1. Dogville
2. Mulholland Dr.
3. Dancer in the Dark
4. Inland Empire
5. Once
6. City of God
7. The Piano Teacher
8. Shaun of the Dead
9. The Lives of Others
10. Happy-Go Lucky

[Spinal]

Too many of the best films missing.

Still a lot to choose from.

[B-side]

1. Mulholland Dr. (Lynch)
2. There Will Be Blood (P.T. Anderson)
3. Brand Upon the Brain! (Maddin)
4. Dogville (Trier)
5. I’m Not There (Haynes)
6. Inglourious Basterds (Tarantino)
7. Inland Empire (Lynch)
8. The Son (Dardennes)
9. No Country for Old Men (Coens)
10. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Gondry)

[transmogrifier]

Still a lot to choose from.

I'm just being a curmudgeon. Not being able to vote for The Emperor's New Groove for best of the 2000s is just not right.

[Mysterious Dude]

1. City of God
2. Requiem for a Dream
3. Children of Men
4. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
5. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
6. Mysterious Skin
7. Lilya 4-Ever
8. The White Ribbon
9. Shaun of the Dead
10. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

[Boner M]

1. Mulholland Dr. (Lynch)
2. The Son (Dardennes)
3. Punch Drunk Love (P.T. Anderson)
4. A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (Spielberg)
5. Caché (Haneke)
6. Last Days (Van Sant)
7. The New World (Malick)
8. Syndromes and a Century (Weerasethakul)
9. Zodiac (Fincher)
10. In the Mood for Love (Wong)

[soitgoes...]

Mulholland Dr. (Lynch)
The White Ribbon (Haneke)
Elephant (Van Sant)
Punch Drunk Love (P.T. Anderson)
Dancer in the Dark (Trier)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Jackson)
The Royal Tenenbaums (W. Anderson)
Oldboy (Park)
Yi Yi (Yang)
Before Sunset (Linklater)


I wish Mind Game and The Heart of the World were here.

[MadMan]

I'm too lazy to check and see if my actual top 10 of the 2000s is the same as the list I'm putting forth. Anyways I need to see more foreign movies, although some of the ones I did see such as In The Mood For Love didn't make the cut.

1. Children of Men(2006)
2. Mulholland Dr.(2000)
3. Memento(2001)
4. Adaption(2002)
5. The Proposition(2005)
6. The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou(2004)
7. A Serious Man(2009)
8. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind(2004)
9. Amelie(2001)
10. The Royal Tenenbaums(2001)

Oh yeah, no I Heart Huckabees? Oh well.

[Derek]

1. Mulholland Dr. (Lynch)
2. Werckmeister Harmonies (Tarr)
3. Yi Yi (Yang)
4. There Will Be Blood (P.T. Anderson)
5. Punch Drunk Love (P.T. Anderson)
6. Dogville (Trier)
7. Last Days (Van Sant)
8. 25th Hour (S. Lee)
9. In the Mood for Love (Wong)
10. Inglourious Basterds (Tarantino)

[Melville]

1. The Son (Dardennes)
2. Punch Drunk Love (P.T. Anderson)
3. In the Mood for Love (Wong)
4. Mulholland Dr. (Lynch)
5. There Will Be Blood (P.T. Anderson)
6. Two Lovers (Gray)
7. Requiem for a Dream (Aronofsky)
8. The New World (Malick)
9. Bright Star (Campion)
10. Werckmeister Harmonies (Tarr)

My true list would have The Aviator and Capturing the Friedmans.

[Ivan Drago]

1. A.I. Artificial Intelligence
2. Memento
3. In The Mood For Love
4. The Dark Knight
5. Punch-Drunk Love
6. Inglourious Basterds
7. There Will Be Blood
8. Synecdoche, New York
9. Mulholland Dr.
10. Antichrist

[Spinal]

1. A.I. Artificial Intelligence
2. Memento
3. In The Mood For Love
4. Irreversible
5. Donnie Darko
6. The Dark Knight
7. Punch-Drunk Love
8. Superbad
9. Inglourious Basterds
10. There Will Be Blood

Read the first post.

[B-side]

Pretty sure Mulholland Dr. already secured its #1 spot.

[Ivan Drago]

Read the first post.

Edited.

[EyesWideOpen]

1. Oldboy
2. Moulin Rouge
3. Kill Bill Vol. 1
4. Kill Bill Vol. 2
5. AI
6. Amelie
7. Death Proof
8. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
9. Inglourious Basterds
10. Lost in Translation

[Adam]

1. Punch-Drunk Love
2. Rachel Getting Married
3. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
4. Lost in Translation
5. The Royal Tenenbaums
6. Caché
7. Children of Men
8. The Proposition
9. All the Real Girls
0. Shaun of the Dead

[baby doll]

Yeah, I'm with Transy. The eligibility thing is just way too restrictive. I'm not saying no restrictions, obviously, but to have a poll of the best films made between 2000 and 2009, and then to eliminate all but a select number of well-promoted Oscar contenders that most people around here have already seen, seems to me unnecessarily narrow. Isn't the whole idea of being a cinephile that we're trying to learn more about film? I mean, what good is a list like this anyway if you can't get any good recommendations from other people? Basically you're telling me: Fuck you, snob, you can vote for Children of Men or you can vote for The Lord of the Rings.

Just to give you an idea, I was originally intending to vote for the following, none of which appear to be eligible having been edged out by such challenging, edgy foreign films as The Lives of Others and Le Scaphandre et le papillon:

Platform (Jia Zhang-ke, 2000)
Éloge de l'amour (Jean-Luc Godard, 2001)
Gosford Park (Robert Altman, 2001)
Pas sur la bouche (Alain Resnais, 2003)
Innocence (Lucile Hadzihalilovic, 2004)
Moolaadé (Ousmane Sembène, 2004)
Les Amants réguliers (Philippe Garrel, 2005)
Three Times (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 2005)
In the City of Sylvia (José Luis GuerÃ*n, 2007)
The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel, 2008)

[My original blog list (http://chuck-a-luck.blogspot.com/2009/12/decades-best-movies-best-movies-of.html) can be found here.]

[Derek]

I'm with Spinal. People should actually read what he wrote after PLEASE READ, so they know why those are the only films we can vote for.

[Lazlo]

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
4. All the Real Girls
5. No Country For Old Men
6. Up
7. The Royal Tenenbaums
8. Children of Men
9. The Dark Knight
10. Punch-Drunk Love

[baby doll]

I'm with Spinal. People should actually read what he wrote after PLEASE READ, so they know why those are the only films we can vote for.I guess as long as he gives us permission to post a "real" list and then make our selections from the pre-selections... Anyway, I just wanted to vent. Who knows, he might've caved under pressure if more people threw a fit.

[Mysterious Dude]

Just to give you an idea, I was originally intending to vote for the following, none of which appear to be eligible having been edged out by such challenging, edgy foreign films as The Lives of Others and Le Scaphandre et le papillon:

Platform (Jia Zhang-ke, 2000)
Éloge de l'amour (Jean-Luc Godard, 2001)
Gosford Park (Robert Altman, 2001)
Pas sur la bouche (Alain Resnais, 2003)
Innocence (Lucile Hadzihalilovic, 2004)
Moolaadé (Ousmane Sembène, 2004)
Les Amants réguliers (Philippe Garrel, 2005)
Three Times (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 2005)
In the City of Sylvia (José Luis GuerÃ*n, 2007)
The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel, 2008)

[My original blog list (http://chuck-a-luck.blogspot.com/2009/12/decades-best-movies-best-movies-of.html) can be found here.]
The hell? It's a consensus list, not a recommendations list. I'm sure you will never get good recommendations from a consensus list anyway, because the rest of us are not cultured enough to seek out the latest Lucile Hadzihalilovic film.

And you were going to vote for ten movies that are not even on your top ten list of the decade? Good God, you are bizarre. A bunch of the movies from your blog list (I'm Not There, Dogville, The Piano Teacher) are eligible. If you want to recommend obscure movies, make your own damn thread, or post them here without being whiny.

As for your snooty dismissal of certain titles on the list of eligible films, I can only say:


Fuck you, snob

[Spinal]

I didn't create the list of eligible films. You guys did. You're fighting a battle that has long since been lost.

Your personal favorites are valid. But they have no chance to make the final list. A consensus list by definition contains films that a large group of people agrees on.

Do you see the contradiction here? The process is simply not set up to create a list of obscure films because it requires a large group of people to see them and agree on them.

You're wanting something this thread cannot provide.

And so, because I really do want your input, I've created the limitations.

[Ezee E]

1. Children of Men
2. Requiem for a Dream
3. Kill Bill V. 2
4. Amelie
5. No Country for Old Men
6. There Will Be Blood
7. Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
8. City of God
9. Inglorious Basterds
10. Oldboy

[baby doll]

And you were going to vote for ten movies that are not even on your top ten list of the decade? Good God, you are bizarre. A bunch of the movies from your blog list (I'm Not There, Dogville, The Piano Teacher) are eligible.Having already mentioned them before, my intention was to highlight some films, which for whatever reason I didn't put on my top ten but which I consider as good as any of those on my earlier list. It was a pretty good decade, and I saw a lot of movies. (Incidentally, I didn't see The Headless Woman until after I posted my first top ten, and if I had to choose between it and Martel's earlier The Holy Girl, I couldn't tell you which one I'd pick.)


As for your snooty dismissal of certain titles on the list of eligible filmI could explain to you why I consider those films so mediocre and forgettable, but I don't feel this is really the thread for that.

[baby doll]

But they have no chance to make the final list. A consensus list by definition contains films that a large group of people agrees on.I would argue, however, that many of the films that made the earlier consensus threads are, well, consensus favorites--films that no one's particularly keen on, but everyone can sort of live with. (Is anybody really all that passionate about The Squid and the Whale?) But here, where people can vote their passion, and given time and Netflix are more likely to have seen an obscure film than when it came out, there's the possibility that some odd choices might just crack the top ten.

[Duncan]

1. Werckmeister Harmonies (Tarr)
2. In the Mood for Love (Wong)
3. Synecdoche, New York (Kaufman)
4. The Son (Dardennes)
5. Cowards Bend the Knee (Maddin)
6. There Will Be Blood (P.T. Anderson)
7. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Gondry)
8. Inland Empire (Lynch)
9. The Royal Tenenbaums (W. Anderson)
10. Zodiac (Fincher)

[Spinal]

I would argue, however, that many of the films that made the earlier consensus threads are, well, consensus favorites--films that no one's particularly keen on, but everyone can sort of live with. (Is anybody really all that passionate about The Squid and the Whale?) But here, where people can vote their passion, and given time and Netflix are more likely to have seen an obscure film than when it came out, there's the possibility that some odd choices might just crack the top ten.

We had Netflix when we did the initial voting.

You're just going to have to accept that people did vote their passion and you just didn't agree with it. This is why people were only asked to list their five favorite films per year. The assumption is that these are films that people feel strongly about.

I also offered on multiple occasions to do a revote of certain years if people were not satisfied or felt a newly released film on DVD had been slighted. Not one person took me up on that.

So now, if a film has not had enough support to make the top 10 of its given year, simple logic and math tells me it will not have enough support to make a top 20 of the entire decade. To create a better poll in which people's opinions actually make a difference, I want you to focus on the list above.

I get it. I can't believe that I don't get to acknowledge Hedwig or Y tu mama tambien. But the group does not agree with me. What can I do?

By all means, tell us what you feel got left out, but please accept the game for what it is. No more, no less.

[baby doll]

We had Netflix when we did the initial voting.

You're just going to have to accept that people did vote their passion and you just didn't agree with it. This is why people were only asked to list their five favorite films per year. The assumption is that these are films that people feel strongly about.

I also offered on multiple occasions to do a revote of certain years if people were not satisfied or felt a newly released film on DVD had been slighted. Not one person took me up on that.

So now, if a film has not had enough support to make the top 10 of its given year, simple logic and math tells me it will not have enough support to make a top 20 of the entire decade. To create a better poll in which people's opinions actually make a difference, I want you to focus on the list above.

I get it. I can't believe that I don't get to acknowledge Hedwig or Y tu mama tambien. But the group does not agree with me. What can I do?

By all means, tell us what you feel got left out, but please accept the game for what it is. No more, no less.Alright. But you know this is what I do; I come into a thread, and I stir some shit up. I'm incorrigible. I hope you don't take it personally.

[Bosco B Thug]

Shaving off from a master list made it fun and possible. I would've screamed and ran away if I had to do this from scratch.

1. Death Proof
2. Dogville
3. The New World
4. Inglourious Basterds
5. Dancer in the Dark
6. Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind
7. The Piano Teacher
8. Two Lovers
9. Mulholland Dr.
10. Elephant

[Spinal]

Alright. But you know this is what I do; I come into a thread, and I stir some shit up. I'm incorrigible. I hope you don't take it personally.

Nah, I'm really just the caretaker. I didn't invent this thing. The original goes way back. It might have been an RT thing, I don't remember. Just something to do to pass the time. It ain't perfect, but just think, it'll be filled with really interesting movies when we're all in our 60s.

[Stay Puft]

1. Tropical Malady (Weerasethakul)
2. In the Mood for Love (Wong)
3. Songs from the Second Floor (Andersson)
4. Talk to Her (Almodovar)
5. Millennium Actress (Kon)
6. Syndromes and a Century (Weerasethakul)
7. The Piano Teacher (Haneke)
8. What Time is it There? (Tsai)
9. Caché (Haneke)
10. Mulholland Dr. (Lynch)

[Dukefrukem]

1. Mulholland Dr
2. The Dark Knight
3. Wall-E
4. The Departed
5. Oldboy
6. No Country for Old Men
7. City of God
8. Finding Nemo
9. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
10. A History of Violence



Shaving off from a master list made it fun and possible. I would've screamed and ran away if I had to do this from scratch.


Same here. And my master list actually had my top 5 in order! the bottom 5 i had to pick from the list on the first post.

[Russ]

1. Inland Empire
2. Mulholland Dr.
3. In the Mood for Love
4. Talk to Her
5. Songs from the Second Floor
6. Inglourious Basterds
7. Dogville
8. Cowards Bend the Knee
9. Let the Right One In
10. Ratatouille

[Raiders]

Yeah, not being able to vote for Pulse is really bumming me out...

1. WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES (Béla Tarr, 2000)
2. TROPICAL MALADY (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2004)
3. TWO LOVERS (James Gray, 2008)
4. WALL-E (Andrew Stanton, 2008)
5. ROYAL TENENBAUMS, THE (Wes Anderson, 2001)
6. 2046 (Wong Kar Wai, 2004)
7. THERE WILL BE BLOOD (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
8. ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (Michel Gondry, 2004)
9. SERIOUS MAN, A (Coen Brothers, 2009)
10. PARANOID PARK (Gus Van Sant, 2007)

[StanleyK]

1. Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson)
2. The Son (Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne)
3. Mulholland Drive (David Lynch)
4. In the Mood for Love (Kar Wai Wong)
5. There Will be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson)
6. Syndromes and a Century (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
7. The New World (Terrence Malick)
8. WALL·E (Andrew Stanton)
9. Elephant (Gus Van Sant)
10. Werckmeister Harmonies (�gnes Hranitzky, Béla Tarr)

Apologies to: Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino), No Country for Old Men (Ethan Coen, Joel Coen)

Ineligible: Bus 174 (Felipe Lacerda, José Padilha), Solaris (Steven Soderbergh), Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki), United 93 (Paul Greengrass), Y tu Mamá También (Alfonso Cuarón)



It was harder to put 6-10 in order than 1-5; it hurts my heart the most to leave out the Coen bros.

[StanleyK]

How come nobody credits Béla Tarr's wife?

[Pop Trash]

1. Adaptation
2. You Can Count on Me
3. The New World
4. A.I. Artificial Intelligence
5. Ghost World
6. Memento
7. Requiem for a Dream
8. Talk to Her
9. All the Real Girls
10. The Squid and the Whale

No documentaries made it? And no Donnie Darko? :confused:

[dreamdead]

Gah. This one hurt.

1. Before Sunset (Linklater)
2. Mulholland Dr. (Lynch)
3. In the Mood for Love (Wong)
4. Werckmeister Harmonies (Tarr)
5. Tropical Malady (Weerasethakul)
6. Yi Yi (Yang)
7. The Son (Dardennes)
8. A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (Spielberg)
9. Punch-Drunk Love (Anderson)
10. The New World (Malick)

Honorable Mention: What Time is it There?, Cowards Bend the Knee, Paprika.

[Spinal]

Films I had the hardest time leaving out: Antichrist, Paprika

Films on my personal top 10 of the decade: Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Y tu mama tambien, Me and You and Everyone We Know, Manderlay

[Thirdmango]

1. City of God (Meirelles/Lund)
2. The Incredibles (Bird)
3. Shaun of the Dead (Wright)
4. The Royal Tenenbaums (W. Anderson)
5. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Gondry)
6. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (W. Anderson)
7. No Country for Old Men (Coens)
8. Kill Bill V.1 (Tarantino)
9. Amelie (Jeunet)
10. Wall-E (Stanton)

If they had been on the list my top 3 would have been Wizard People, Hot Fuzz and Mind Game.

[Russ]

Yeah, if this had been a total re-do, my top ten would have included Mind Game, Pistol Opera, 5 Centimeters per Second and possibly Palindromes, The Beaver Trilogy and The Fall.

[Yxklyx]

1. Songs from the Second Floor (Roy Andersson)
2. Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
3. Mulholland Dr. (David Lynch)
4. Memento (Christopher Nolan)
5. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Peter Jackson)
6. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson)
7. 3-Iron (Ki-duk Kim)
8. Ghost World (Terry Zwigoff)
9. Cowards Bend the Knee (Guy Maddin)
10. Lilya 4-Ever (Lukas Moodysson)

[Dead & Messed Up]

01. Requiem for a Dream (Aronofsky)
02. Almost Famous (Crowe)
03. No Country for Old Men (Coens)
04. Children of Men (Cuarón)
05. Inglourious Basterds (Tarantino)
06. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Gondry)
07. Shaun of the Dead (Wright)
08. Adaptation (Jonze)
09. Zodiac (Fincher)
10. Finding Nemo (Stanton/Unkrich)

[Dillard]

1. Yi Yi
2. Inland Empire
3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
4. In the Mood For Love
5. Ghost World
6. All the Real Girls
7. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
8. The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
9. Zodiac
10. Werckmeister Harmonies

[soitgoes...]

My unofficial official Top 10 (spoilered so it doesn't get in the way of tallying):


Mulholland Dr. (Lynch)
Mind Game (Yuasa)
The White Ribbon (Haneke)
The Heart of the World (Maddin)
Elephant (Van Sant)
Gosford Park (Altman)
Punch-Drunk Love (Anderson)
Dancer in the Dark (Trier)
Oasis (Lee)
Still Walking (Koreeda)


I've seen Mind Game and Still Walking since the consensus threads. Still a lot of the same there, but not having a film that would fall in my overall Top 10 hurts.

[MadMan]

Shaving off from a master list made it fun and possible. I would've screamed and ran away if I had to do this from scratch.Really? I found making a Top Ten for the 2000s to be rather easy, thanks to Criticker. I just took everything that got the highest marks, put it on a Word Document, and cut down the list. Bam! Simple :P

[Watashi]

1. The Incredibles
2. Ratatouille
3. Adaptation
4. There Will Be Blood
5. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
6. Zodiac
7. WALL-E
8. Happy-Go-Lucky
9. Memento
10. Inglourious Basterds

[Russ]

Wats, only 3 Pixars? Guess Nemo was just bubbling under the top ten, huh?

[Spinal]

8. Happy-Go-Lucky


Yes sir.

[eternity]

1. Brick (Rian Johnson)
2. Elephant (Gus Van Sant)
3. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (Wes Anderson)
4. All the Real Girls (David Gordon Green)
5. Wendy and Lucy (Kelly Reichardt)
6. Mulholland Drive (David Lynch)
7. Mysterious Skin (Gregg Araki)
8. I'm Not There (Todd Haynes)
9. No Country for Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen)
10. Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry)

[Derek]

How come nobody credits Béla Tarr's wife?

Because she edits his films and though she's occasionally credited as co-director, I imagine it is more as an assistant than an equal directorial voice. Then again, if she were co-credited in all of his films (a la Ethan Coen, Emeric Pressburger, etc.), people would more likely include her.

[Henry Gale]

1. The Fountain (Aronofsky)
2. Oldboy (Park)
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Jackson)
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Gondry)
5. Moulin Rouge (Luhrmann)
6. Synecdoche, New York (Kaufman)
7. No Country for Old Men (Coens)
8. Where the Wild Things Are (Jonze)
9. Inglourious Basterds (Tarantino)
10. Children of Men (Cuarón)

This was hard, yo. It basically came down to being the ten films I could most quickly and vividy recall being the most moved by either emotionally, or in just generally finding myself – to this day, but more in the moment – being most in awe of in terms of their images, particular sequences, characters or even more specific, personal aspects than those. Despite all that, and aside from the ordering, it was a pretty no-brainer, five to ten minute process in the end.

[Grouchy]

1. Mulholland Dr.
2. Oldboy
3. There Will Be Blood
4. In the Mood for Love
5. The Incredibles
6. Femme Fatale
7. Let the Right One In
8. A.I.: Artificial Intelligence
9. Children of Men
10. The Dark Knight
Hey, Can I change this? I'll change it on the original post too.

1. Mulholland Dr.
2. Oldboy
3. There Will Be Blood
4. In the Mood for Love
5. The Incredibles
6. Femme Fatale
7. Let the Right One In
8. The Piano Teacher
9. Children of Men
10. I'm Not There

[Chac Mool]

1. Dogville
2. There Will Be Blood
3. Talk to Her
4. 2046
5. Kill Bill V.2
6. Before Sunset
7. In The Mood for Love
8. Mulholland Drive
9. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring
10. Tropical Malady

Of the eligible entires, I'm sorry to have left out:

- A.I. (because of its brilliant third act)
- Dancer in the Dark (because of Bjork)
- The Dark Knight (the decade's best action movie)
- The Incredibles and Ratatouille (such fun)
- Inglorious Basterds (glorious indeed)
- Moulin Rouge (here we are now, entertain us)

Ineligible, but high on my own top 10 of the decade:

- Spirited Away (for that train ride!)
- Gerry (for the intangibles)
- Hero (for bringing something new to wuxia)

[thefourthwall]

1. The Son (Dardennes)
2. Children of Men (Cuarón)
3. Mulholland Dr. (Lynch)
4. Moulin Rouge! (Luhrmann)
5. Paprika (Kon)
6. There Will Be Blood (P.T. Anderson)
7. 25th Hour (S. Lee)
8. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Gondry)
9. Amelie (Jeunet)
10. Rachel Getting Married (Demme)

[Fezzik]

I'm glad for the limited list to choose from to be honest, because I'm simply not as worldly, educated in film or culturally aware as some people on here seem to be and I probably haven't even been made aware of, let alone seen, some of the films people would mention.

So, if anything, this actually gives me a chance to participate and feel like my votes mean something. So, thanks. And I mean that.

And now...on with the countdown...and yes, this was hard.


In the Mood for Love (2000, Wong)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001, Jackson)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004, Gondry)
Almost Famous (2000, Crowe)
Wall-E (2008, Stanton)
No Country for Old Men (2007, Coens)
Inglourious Basterds (2009, Tarantino)
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006, del Toro)
Memento (2000, Nolan)
Ratatouille (2007, Bird/Pinkava)


Let the Right One In, Brick and Amelie just narrowly missed.

[Spinal]

I'm changing the policy on edits so that I can get a head start on the tallying. From now on, make any edits in a new post and tell me clearly what you've changed. Thanks.

[StanleyK]

I imagine it is more as an assistant than an equal directorial voice.

Since we can't really know for sure, I trust her credit as co-director. People credit Tobe Hooper with Poltergeist, don't they?

Also, unrelated but:


Pale Rider (Eastwood, 1985) - ***

This is cool.

[Raiders]

Since we can't really know for sure, I trust her credit as co-director. People credit Tobe Hooper with Poltergeist, don't they?

Not even remotely the same thing. Hooper was the hired director and Spielberg, who was the producer and co-writer, eventually wound up taking over most of the directing duties (Hooper's contributions are rumored to essentially be the more horror-centered stuff--but who knows). But it is Spielberg that remains uncredited.

[Spinal]

Did an initial count just to get a sense of how well things are spreading out. I think it's gonna be all right. Could definitely use some more votes to get some separation in those #16-20 slots.

[baby doll]

Oh, what the hell...

1. I'm Not There. (Todd Haynes, 2007)
2. Yi Yi (Edward Yang, 2000)
3. Dogville (Lars von Trier, 2003)
4. La Pianiste (Michael Haneke, 2001)
5. Femme Fatale (Brian De Palma, 2002)
6. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai, 2000)
7. Werckmeister Harmonies (Béla Tarr, 2000)
8. Inland Empire (David Lynch, 2006)
9. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
10. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg, 2001)

Eligible films I haven't seen:

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik, 2007)
The Incredibles (Brad Bird, 2004)
Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2007)
Lilya 4-Ever (Lukas Moodysson, 2004)
Millennium Actress (Kon Satoshi, 2001)
Once (John Carney, 2007)
Paprika (Satoshi Kon, 2006)
Pride and Prejudice (Joe Wright, 2005)
Ratatouille (Brad Bird, 2007)
Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright, 2004)
Sunshine (Danny Boyle, 2007)
Where the Wild Things Are (Spike Jonze, 2009)
Zodiac (David Fincher, 2007)

Mediocre movies which I'm incredibly disappointed in you all for voting for:

3-Iron (Kim Ki-duk, 2004) [The second dumbest Korean film I've seen after Kim's earlier Bad Guy. Okay, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was also mega-stupid, but what I was expecting from that?]

American Psycho (Mary Harron, 2000)

Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón, 2006) [Do yourselves a favor: Watch [i]The War Game.]

Death Proof (Quentin Tarantino, 2006) [Tarantino's least ambitious movie, the characters are such idiots but the director evidently finds their mind-numbing conversations spellbinding.]

City of God (Fernando Meirelles, 2002)

The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008) [Stylistically bland and not very accomplished as storytelling, but you can debate its meanings for hours (and get nowhere).]

The Departed (Martin Scorsese, 2006) [The saddest chapter in Scorsese's career... before [i]Shutter Island. The original was no great shakes but at least it didn't collapse into self-parody under the weight of operatic self-seriousness.]

Le Scaphandre et le papillon (Julien Schnabel, 2007) [How can a movie with Mathieu Amalric, Isaac de Bankolé, Marie Josée-Croze, and Roman Polanski's wife suck this much? Because it was directed by the guy who made Before Night Falls, another incredibly mediocre and forgettable biopic.]

Finding Nemo (Andrew Stenton, 2004) [Cute but forgettable.]

Good Night, and Good Luck (George Clooney, 2005) [Solidly crafted, but forgettable Hollywood liberal message picture.]

Kill Bill (Quentin Tarantino, 2003-04) [Fun but forgettable.]

The Lives of Others (The guy whose next movie is a Charade retread with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie, 2006) [When the film wants us to know that some one is a villain, they have him pat the heroine on the bum. Not exactly subtle.]

Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003) [Japanese people are stupid. Seriously, you guys like this better than Marie Antoinette?]

The Lord of the Rings (Peter Jackson, 2001-03) [Stylistically bland, impersonal blockbuster filmmaking.]

Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000)

The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005) [I know, Malick's a major filmmaker who rarely, you know, makes a film, but this isn't his best work, taking an overly pious view of the characters.]

No Country for Old Men (Ethan and Joel Coen, 2007) [It's a good thriller but I have a hard time taking it as this serious mediation on good and evil, which it's clearly intended as, when the villain can appear and disappear at will.]

Oldboy (Park Chan-wook, 2004) [Starts out good, but is a little less compelling with each subsequent reel. I prefer [i]Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance.)

Rachel Getting Married (Jonathan Demme, 2008) [Looks like ass, lots of boring speeches about how happy everyone is living together. I thought multiculturalism had utterly failed? At least that would be more interesting than this self-congratulatory pre-election liberal victory lap. You guys seriously prefer this to Margot at the Wedding?]

The Squid and the Whale (Noah Baumbach, 2005) [So Baumbach's parents got a divorce. Boo-fucking-hoo. You guys seriously prefer this to Margot at the Wedding?]

Syndromes and a Century (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2006) [The guy's a master, no doubt, but he's done all this before in better movies like Blissfully Yours and Tropical Malady.]

There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007) [Not bad, but I prefer Anderson's flakier, more oddball efforts like Magnolia and Punch-Drunk Love. Like No Country for Old Men, this is one of those movies that almost bullies you into calling it a masterpiece.]

Two Lovers (James Gray, 2008) [You guys seriously prefer this to The Yards and We Own the Night?]

Up (Pete Doctor, 2009) [Cute but forgettable.]

Wall-E (Andrew Stanton, 2008) [Cute but forgettable.]

Wendy and Lucy (Kelly Reichardt, 2008) [The best Canadian social-realist film of 1971, but that's not saying much.]

The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky, 2009) [The second best Canadian social-realist film of 1971, more formally accomplished than Wendy and Lucy, but the chick characters suck.]

[soitgoes...]

I's amusing that given all the grief present on the first page, you only had to cut out three films off your "real" top 10 for the decade listed in your blog.

[baby doll]

I's amusing that given all the grief present on the first page, you only had to cut out three films off your "real" top 10 for the decade.I think of this place more as an emotional outlet than anything else.

[soitgoes...]

I think of this place more as an emotional outlet than anything else.I can appreciate that. :)

[Watashi]

Tell us more films you find mediocre, baby doll.

[Spinal]

I feel like understanding and healing has happened here. This house is clean.

[Russ]

Mediocre movies which I'm incredibly disappointed in you all for voting for...

Like you have room to talk:


9. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)



:twisted:

[transmogrifier]

ESOTSM is probably the best film of the past 13 years. Only Mulholland Dr. runs it close.

[Mysterious Dude]

Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón, 2006) [Do yourselves a favor: Watch The War Game.]

I like them both, but I didn't vote for The War Game because it was released in a different decade. My hands are tied.

[dmk]

1 . The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (W. Anderson)
2 . 2046 (Wong)
3 . The Squid and the Whale (Baumbach)
4 . Zodiac (Fincher)
5 . Where the Wild Things Are (Jonze)
6 . The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Jackson)
7. Yi Yi (Yang)
8. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Dominik)
9. The New World (Malick)
10. Punch Drunk Love (P.T. Anderson)

[baby doll]

I like them both, but I didn't vote for The War Game because it was released in a different decade. My hands are tied.Regardless, I still think Children of Men, while not a bad movie, is not as impressive as it's sometimes made out to be. The widely praised long takes are certainly impressive from a technical standpoint, but aside from the big action climaxes, Cuarón's mise en scène is actually rather pedestrian (when the characters aren't running through battlefields, we typically get standard coverage of people sitting and talking). And in terms of story, though there are certain similarities with Watkins' Punishment Park (he's got to get from point A to point B, and everybody's trying to stop him), unlike that film, where the anti-war activists breakup into various factions and the film doesn't promote one point of view over any other, posing it as a question rather than making a definitive statement (at least until the conclusion), this is much more of a Hollywood action movie: Clive Owen is the hero whose goal we're meant to identify with, and everyone who tries to get in his way is a villain. And even though it alludes to all these political issues, like the prisoners at Guantanamo, it doesn't really engage with them, certainly nowhere near to the extent that Watkins' film does, where the issues seem to emerge organically from the situation the characters are in. Also, the ending, though deliberately ambiguous, is much more hopeful than Watkins' with a literal beacon of light in the distance.

[baby doll]

ESOTSM is probably the best film of the past 13 years. Only Mulholland Dr. runs it close.I would contend that Todd Haynes' I'm Not There.--another ambitious narrative experiment that's still accessible to a wide audience--is at least the equal of Gondry and Lynch's films, and at this level of achievement, I'd rather not have to choose between them (for instance, if the original negatives of all three were in a burning building and I could only save one).

[transmogrifier]

(for instance, if the original negatives of all three were in a burning building and I could only save one).

ESOTSM.

Lynch has made other films almost as good, and is capable of doing it again. I don't really care about Haynes all that much. And I have doubts Gondry will ever be able to reproduce the alchemy that took his self-conciously playful kookiness and made it genuinely human and emotional.

[baby doll]

ESOTSM.

Lynch has made other films almost as good, and is capable of doing it again. I don't really care about Haynes all that much. And I have doubts Gondry will ever be able to reproduce the alchemy that took his self-conciously playful kookiness and made it genuinely human and emotional.So, you're saying you're not a fan of Le Science des rêves? I mean, come on, Gael GarcÃ*a Bernal is at least as mean to Charlotte Gainsbourg in that movie as Jim Carrey was to Kate Winslet, if not meaner. What more do you want from a male lead in a romantic comedy?

[Weeping_Guitar]

01. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
02. The Royal Tenenbaums
03. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
04. Pride and Prejudice
05. No Country for Old Men
06. Almost Famous
07. In the Mood for Love
08. Children of Men
09. Fantastic Mr. Fox
10. Lost in Translation

Not Eligible:
Wonder Boys

[Biff Justice]

A day at work where I'm alone and remembered my laptop means I can actually respond to one of these for once.

1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2. Children of Men
3. The Incredibles
4. Pan's Labyrinth
5. The Royal Tennenbaums
6. Let the Right One In
7. No Country For Old Men
8. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
9. The Lives of Others
10. Shaun of the Dead

[baby doll]

1. I'm Not There. (Todd Haynes, 2007)
2. Yi Yi (Edward Yang, 2000)
3. Dogville (Lars von Trier, 2003)
4. La Pianiste (Michael Haneke, 2001)
5. Femme Fatale (Brian De Palma, 2002)
6. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai, 2000)
7. Werckmeister Harmonies (Béla Tarr, 2000)
8. Inland Empire (David Lynch, 2006)
9. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
10. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg, 2001)After watching Inland Empire again last night, I've decided to switch my vote.

[endingcredits]

1. The Son (Dardennes)
2. There Will Be Blood (P.T. Anderson)
3. Mulholland Dr. (Lynch)
4. The White Ribbon (Haneke)
5. Requiem for a Dream (Aronofsky)
6. Punch Drunk Love (P.T. Anderson)
7. The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (Herzog)
8. Inglourious Basterds (Tarantino)
9. Cache (Haneke)
10. Oldboy (Park)

[origami_mustache]

1. In the Mood for Love (Wong)
2. What Time is it There? (Tsai)
3. Yi Yi (Yang)
4. Tropical Malady (Weerasethakul)
5. Brand Upon the Brain! (Maddin)
6. Antichrist (Trier)
7. Punch Drunk Love (P.T. Anderson)
8. There Will Be Blood (P.T. Anderson)
9. Songs From the Second Floor (Andersson)
10. Werckmeister Harmonies (Tarr)

[chrisnu]

1. Mulholland Dr. (Lynch)
2. Before Sunset (Linklater)
3. Requiem for a Dream (Aronofsky)
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Gondry)
5. Tropical Malady (Weerasethakul)
6. There Will Be Blood (P.T. Anderson)
7. Dogville (Trier)
8. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (W. Anderson)
9. Where the Wild Things Are (Jonze)
10. Zodiac (Fincher)

[DavidSeven]

01. Pride and Prejudice (Wright)
02. The Dark Knight (Nolan)
03. Inglourious Basterds (Tarantino)
04. Dogville (Trier)
05. Death Proof (Tarantino)
06. Punch Drunk Love (P.T. Anderson)
07. Once (Carney)
08. Pan’s Labyrinth (del Toro)
09. Rachel Getting Married (Demme)
10. Before Sunset (Linklater)

[Boner M]

01. Pride and Prejudice (Wright)
Inexplicable.

[Boner M]

Two Lovers (James Gray, 2008) [You guys seriously prefer this to The Yards and We Own the Night?]
Umm, seriously. Aren't you supposed to be the 'genre = minor work' dude?

[Raiders]

Inexplicable.

It is awfully damn good though. I watched it again not too long ago and am still taken by its strong formalism and elegant performances.

[baby doll]

Umm, seriously. Aren't you supposed to be the 'genre = minor work' dude?And romantic melodrama isn't a genre? Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of Gray's, but he's even more of a traditionalist than Clint Eastwood, who usually tweaks the genres he elects to work in (Changeling, for instance, combines at least three different genres).

That said, I think We Own the Night is one of the best action movies Hollywood has produced in a very long time in part because the big set pieces (not just the chase sequence in the rain, obviously, but also the shoot-up in the crystal meth lab, where Joaquin Phoenix has to avoid getting shot by the people on his side) have this very strong sense of physicality and consequence that's been lacking from recent action pictures.

On the other hand, I think Two Lovers is a good film, but it doesn't have any individual sequences that are as thrilling as the best parts of We Own the Night.

[Bosco B Thug]

And romantic melodrama isn't a genre? Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of Gray's, but he's even more of a traditionalist than Clint Eastwood, who usually tweaks the genres he elects to work in (Changeling, for instance, combines at least three different genres).

That said, I think We Own the Night is one of the best action movies Hollywood has produced in a very long time in part because the big set pieces (not just the chase sequence in the rain, obviously, but also the shoot-up in the crystal meth lab, where Joaquin Phoenix has to avoid getting shot by the people on his side) have this very strong sense of physicality and consequence that's been lacking from recent action pictures.

On the other hand, I think Two Lovers is a good film, but it doesn't have any individual sequences that are as thrilling as the best parts of We Own the Night. Just watched We Owned the Night not too long ago. The film was as evocative and articulate as I'd come to expect from Gray and his idiosyncratic directing, but the film does end up with this weird aura of simplicity, overwrought pulpiness, and an almost-campiness in its approach to its story, that I think makes it easy to prefer the less pulpy, less manic Two Lovers (as I do), despite it not having the brilliantly conceived action sequences.

As for Gray versus Eastwood, Gray wins by uniqueness and sophistication. But I guess you're on to something that Eastwood has a dry irony Gray's romantic sensibility doesn't have. Then again, I feel Eastwood just kinda stumbles on his special sensibility, while Gray really works for it.

[DavidSeven]

Inexplicable.

Not really. It's a perfect film -- brilliant compositions, acting, editing, staging, blocking, writing, etc. I can't cite a flaw; I really can't. Maybe not as intellectually substantive as others, but the emotional substance compensates. Besides it's no less deep than something like Once or Before Sunset.

And if it helps you sleep, I had Basterds at #1 before editing a minute later. The top four are basically interchangeable for me, but Pride needs more recognition.

[Bosco B Thug]

Not really. It's a perfect film -- brilliant compositions, acting, editing, staging, blocking, writing, etc. I can't cite a flaw; I really can't. Maybe not as intellectually substantive as others, but the emotional substance compensates. Besides it's no less deep than something like Once or Before Sunset. I'm a big big fan of P&P, but I'd make a complaint about the final quarter or so. I remember thinking it loses a lot of bite once all the couples are united. But yeah, before that, it's a shockingly impressive movie.

Atonement was such a step down.

[DavidSeven]

Atonement was such a step down.

Yeah. The first act of Atonement is incredible, but it loses a ton of steam after that. Still solid, but definitely disappointing as a follow up to Pride and Prejudice. I can't muster up any enthusiasm whatsoever to see The Soloist.

[Derek]

On the other hand, I think Two Lovers is a good film, but it doesn't have any individual sequences that are as thrilling as the best parts of We Own the Night.

I thought We Own the Night was cute, but forgettable.

[soitgoes...]

Certified Copy (Kiarostami, 2010) ***½Good job. Congratulations on having good taste!

[Derek]

Good job. Congratulations on having good taste!

It's pretty cool seeing Kiarostami make a European art film. Loved the way it morphs into something similar yet completely new in the second half.

[Bosco B Thug]

Yeah. The first act of Atonement is incredible, but it loses a ton of steam after that. Still solid, but definitely disappointing as a follow up to Pride and Prejudice. I can't muster up any enthusiasm whatsoever to see The Soloist. I really didn't like Atonement. Even the first act I thought was stupidly done. It may be book bias, though.

[Winston*]

I really didn't like Atonement. Even the first act I thought was stupidly done. It may be book bias, though.
Bias towards or against?

[soitgoes...]

It's pretty cool seeing Kiarostami make a European art film. Loved the way it morphs into something similar yet completely new in the second half.
I haven't seen anything of his since The Wind Will Carry Us, so I'm not sure if his career path has led to this or if it's something completely different, but yeah, I love that it is not like anything I've seen from him. I can see where the Before Sunrise/set comparison's are apt, following a couple as they learn about each other will do that, but as you said, the film takes on a whole new direction, one I wasn't expecting.

[baby doll]

I thought We Own the Night was cute, but forgettable.I can sort of understand why some people are so keen on Wall-E, as that seems to be the once instance when the Pixar guys attempted something more than a kid's movie. But how is Finding Nemo or Up significantly different from the cell-animated blockbusters of the '90s (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Mulan)? Of course, the Pixar films tend to be lighter and more overtly comic, which basically means that the protagonists, instead of being generically heroic, are generically comical: Hobbit-like reluctant heroes (whether it's a neurotic fish or an old curmudgeon) who get involved in adventures and learn valuable life lessons. It's hard to believe there are people who write these stories; it feels like they're spit out by a machine programmed to devise variations on the theories of Joseph Campbell.

[soitgoes...]

I can sort of understand why some people are so keen on Wall-E, as that seems to be the once instance when the Pixar guys attempted something more than a kid's movie. But how is Finding Nemo or Up significantly different from the cell-animated blockbusters of the '90s (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Mulan)? Of course, the Pixar films tend to be lighter and more overtly comic, which basically means that the protagonists, instead of being generically heroic, are generically comical: Hobbit-like reluctant heroes (whether it's a neurotic fish or an old curmudgeon) who get involved in adventures and learn valuable life lessons. It's hard to believe there are people who write these stories; it feels like they're spit out by a machine programmed to devise variations on the theories of Joseph Campbell.But you love Albert Brooks? :confused:

;)

[Derek]

I can sort of understand why some people are so keen on Wall-E, as that seems to be the once instance when the Pixar guys attempted something more than a kid's movie. But how is Finding Nemo or Up significantly different from the cell-animated blockbusters of the '90s (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Mulan)? Of course, the Pixar films tend to be lighter and more overtly comic, which basically means that the protagonists, instead of being generically heroic, are generically comical: Hobbit-like reluctant heroes (whether it's a neurotic fish or an old curmudgeon) who get involved in adventures and learn valuable life lessons. It's hard to believe there are people who write these stories; it feels like they're spit out by a machine programmed to devise variations on the theories of Joseph Campbell.

I'm not sure why you're asking me. I don't like Up and I'm not too keen on Finding Nemo either.

[baby doll]

I'm not sure why you're asking me. I don't like Up and I'm not too keen on Finding Nemo either.It seemed as though you were taking offense to my characterization of the three Pixar films I'd seen as cute but forgettable.

[Bosco B Thug]

Bias towards or against? Towards. Loved the book. Hated those actors trying to be those characters. McAvoy!!! (He probably gave the best performance.)

[baby doll]

But you love Albert Brooks? :confused:

;)Apparently he's writing a science fiction book now, so I guess he's done with movies.

[Derek]

It seemed as though you were taking offense to my characterization of the three Pixar films I'd seen as cute but forgettable.

Oh, just realized you only used that for the Pixars. I loved Wall-E, but I share your confusion re: the other two. I guess I took more offense with the "fun but forgettable" on Kill Bill. Whether or not you consider it's pastiche to be overbearing, it's not exactly one you forget right afterwards.

[Winston*]

Towards. Loved the book. Hated those actors trying to be those characters. McAvoy!!! (He probably gave the best performance.)

Loved the book too, but the stuff that makes it great is so tied up with its bookness that it gave me no desire to watch the movie. Still haven't.

[soitgoes...]

Apparently he's writing a science fiction book now, so I guess he's done with movies.He's in an upcoming Refn film with Ryan Gosling called Drive.

[Bosco B Thug]

Loved the book too, but the stuff that makes it great is so tied up with its bookness that it gave me no desire to watch the movie. Still haven't. Yup. Wright directs this one with a sledgehammer. Sledgehammer =/= literary.

[baby doll]

Oh, just realized you only used that for the Pixars. I loved Wall-E, but I share your confusion re: the other two. I guess I took more offense with the "fun but forgettable" on Kill Bill. Whether or not you consider it's pastiche to be overbearing, it's not exactly one you forget right afterwards.Yeah, I'll have to take another look at Kill Bill one of these days, but when I saw it in the theatres, I came away from both parts feeling somewhat dissatisfied. I was like, "That's it?" Some of the individual sequences are stunning (I'm thinking in particular of Uma Thurman's brawl with Darryl Hannah in that trailer), but they didn't seem to add up to anything more than a series of showstoppers. Now if you compare that with We Own the Night, there are obviously the showstoppers which I've already mentioned, but more than that, there's a story that grabbed me and made me care about these characters. As a result, the big showstoppers are more than just technically impressive; they're genuinely involving on an emotional level.

[Spinal]

One more day of voting.

[Raiders]

As much of a step down as Atonement was (I still moderately liked it), The Soloist is far worse. I'll give Hanna a shot, but if it fails I may have to call Wright a one-hit wonder.

[Watashi]

Atonement is so much better than Pride and Prejudice.

[Killed_by_Smalls]

1. Mulholland Dr.
2. Zodiac
3. Oldboy
4. Shaun of the Dead
5. There Will Be Blood
6. Where the Wild Things Are
7. Inglourious Basterds
8. Pan’s Labyrinth
9. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
10. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

[Derek]

Atonement is so much better than Pride and Prejudice.

Ew. I don't even like Pride & Prejudice that much, but no Wats, no.

[Ezee E]

Ew. I don't even like Pride & Prejudice that much, but no Wats, no.
Indeed.

[Watashi]

Atonement has gotten so much better on rewatches. It's close to a masterpiece.

[Spinal]

Last call. Results will begin sometime soon.

[Spinal]

OK, let's do this. Voting closed.

[Spinal]

#20

A.I.: Artificial Intelligence

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Year: 2001

rz7sPiOoU7A

Seldom quoted quote: "I'm so sorry I cut your hair off."

Sample IMDb forum thread topics:

1. Would you have sex with a Mecca
2. Teddy was the Best Thing in this Film
3. Man, that hair sure lasted a long time ...

Who said it?: "I've never understood that question: What makes us human? The fact that when we screw other species, nothing happens, but when we screw each other, little humans pop out. Pretty simple if you ask me."

transmogrifier

[Spinal]

#19

Tropical Malady

Directed by: Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Year: 2004

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The film that bewildered Utah: "A hypnotic head-scratcher that manages to be oddly fascinating and frustratingly tedious at the same time. Eventually, though, tedium wins." - Sean Means, Salt Lake Tribune

"It's as if two completely different movies got spliced together in the editing room, or in the projection booth." - Jeff Vice, Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Snarky RT User response to Mr. Vice: "really? maybe the director and everyone working with him didn't notice that..."

Sample IMDb forum thread topics:

1. how documentary was it?
2. Who is the smiling dude in the bathroom?
3. I didn't like it

Who said it?: "[Tropical Malady] is clearly more complex then just: Oh no, these guys are gay. What's gonna happen now!?"

MacGuffin

[Watashi]

I agree with Sean Means.

[Spinal]

#18

Inland Empire

Directed by: David Lynch

Year: 2006

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Seldom quoted quote: "There's always a chance with tits like yours, Kari."

Sample IMDb forum thread topics:

1. I think it's impossible to fully understand the movie..
2. The question is- Can you love a film that you don't understand at all?
3. Honestly...do you think people just say they like it??

Who said it?: "I think humane is the last word I would associate with Inland Empire."

Spaceman Spiff

[Boner M]

Great supplementary tidbits for each entry.

[Spinal]

#17

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Directed by: Peter Jackson

Year: 2001

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di·ver·sion (d-vûrzhn, -shn, d-)
n.
1. The act or an instance of diverting or turning aside; deviation.
2. Something that distracts the mind and relaxes or entertains.
3. A maneuver that draws the attention of an opponent away from a planned point of action, especially as part of military strategy.

Overly defensive IMDb FAQ entry:

Q: Were the hobbits gay?
A: No. Sam married Rosie Cotton, and, according to the book, Merry married Estella Bolger and Pippin married Diamond of Long Cleeve (neither hobbit woman was shown in the film). The bonding between Sam and Frodo was intended to show how war could break down boundaries between classes, but they weren't gay.

Who said it?: "Gandalf's speech is sorta cheesy, and the fight with the Balrog was a bit too flashy for my liking."

Melville

[baby doll]

First lame movie. Let's hope it's not a trend.

[Spinal]

#16

The Royal Tenenbaums

Directed by: Wes Anderson

Year: 2001

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Seldom quoted quote: "Let's shag ass."

Seriously? This is a frequently asked question?:

Q: Where did the phrase "let's shag ass" come from?
A: The phrase "let's shag ass" was taken from the movie The Last Detail (1973) starring Jack Nicolson.

Who said it?: "And I don't get the 'It's actually watchable!!' reputation of The Royal Tenenbaums."

number8

[Watashi]

"A Diversion" is from Return of the King, not Fellowship.

You fail, Spinal. You fail so hard.

[Spinal]

#15

Yi Yi

Directed by: Edward Yang

Year: 2000

2JzS1wqS7KY

That's what she said: "Why are we afraid of the first time? Every day in life is a first time. Every morning is new. We never live the same day twice. We're never afraid of getting up every morning. Why?"

Sample IMDb forum thread topics:

1. A tad long
2. Too long and too boring
3. Ending?

Who said it?: "I could go see 7 Edward Yang films at the cinema in a couple of weeks if I felt the need. Would be kind of crazy to do so just to prove an anonymous internet poster wrong tho."

Winston*

[Spinal]

"A Diversion" is from Return of the King, not Fellowship.

You fail, Spinal. You fail so hard.

Guess what film isn't making the top 20.

[Watashi]

Guess what film isn't making the top 20.
Well, ROTK is the weakest of the trilogy.

But you still fail.

[Derek]

"A Diversion" is from Return of the King, not Fellowship.

You fail, Spinal. You fail so hard.

Sometimes not knowing is winning...

[Derek]

#15

Yi Yi


Hells yeah, though it should be top 10.

[B-side]

Great supplementary tidbits for each entry.

Yup. Loving this so far.

[Spinal]

#13 (tie)

Requiem for a Dream

Directed by: Darren Aronofsky

Year: 2000

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IMDb's Most Popular "Dildo" Titles (http://www.imdb.com/keyword/dildo/?sort=num_votes):
1. Fight Club
2. The Departed
3. Requiem for a Dream (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oa5z77EI8y0&has_verified=1) (don't click this at work)
4. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
5. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

Sample IMDb forum thread topics:

1. Drug aren't THAT bad for you.
2. can those who've never done heroin really view this fairly?
3. are there sex parties like that for real?

Who said it?: "To say I didn't like the film is putting it mildly, I didn't enjoy the film and I felt uncomfortable and in agony as I watched it. I even at one point had to stop the film to take a breather before I could ultimately start it up again."

Thirdmango

[DavidSeven]

This might be your best work as listmaster yet, Spinal.

[soitgoes...]

Who said it?: "I could go see 7 Edward Yang films at the cinema in a couple of weeks if I felt the need. Would be kind of crazy to do so just to prove an anonymous internet poster wrong tho."

Winston*Fucking baby doll. :lol:

[Spinal]

#13 (tie)

Oldboy

Directed by: Chan-wook Park

Year: 2003

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An argument for sex-ed in schools: "Your tongue got my sister pregnant! It wasn't Woo-jin Lee's dick; it was Dae-su Oh's tongue!"

Sample IMDb forum thread topics (for the planned remake):

1. AWW HELLLL NAHHH!!!
2. I guess Spielberg's always had a thing about family...
3. I bet there's gonna be an alien at the end

Who said it?: "As some one who finds the real world interesting, I generally can't get that excited about films whose principal aim is to serve as an escape from it, no matter how well made. Oldboy is certainly entertaining, but it has zero resonance."

baby doll

[DavidSeven]

Oldboy

2. I guess Spielberg's always had a thing about family...


:lol:

[Spinal]

#12

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Directed by: Wes Anderson

Year: 2004

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Point, counterpoint: "This is one of the most irritating, self-conscious and smug films of the year, working neither as a dark comedy nor a character study." - Richard Roeper

"you're one of those people who can't stand watching someone smarter than you having fun with their craft. it's like a kite flier hating on pilots." - Paul N., RT user

Sample IMDb forum thread topics:

1. Sharks don't eat people
2. A movie with only one useful purpose
3. weed

Who said it?: "It's funny, it's moving ... it's practically the reason we have cinema."

Sven

[soitgoes...]

Wait, what? This finished ahead of The Royal Tenenbaums? Fail Match Cut. It's good, but not that good.

[MacGuffin]

This might be your best work as listmaster yet, Spinal.

Agreed. An awesome read so far.

[transmogrifier]

Wait, what? This finished ahead of The Royal Tenenbaums? Fail Match Cut. It's good, but not that good.

If it wasn't for Bottle Rocket, Tenebaums would be my least favourite Anderson...

[Bosco B Thug]

Wait, what? This finished ahead of The Royal Tenenbaums? Fail Match Cut. It's good, but not that good. You mean Win Match Cut.

[/terribly alone Royal Tenenbaums meh-er]

EDIT:

If it wasn't for Bottle Rocket, Tenebaums would be my least favourite Anderson... Oh, yay.

[Mysterious Dude]

Who said it?: "As some one who finds the real world interesting, I generally can't get that excited about films whose principal aim is to serve as an escape from it, no matter how well made. Oldboy is certainly entertaining, but it has zero resonance."

baby doll
So far, this is the only quote where I correctly guessed the author before reading the spoiler text.

[transmogrifier]

So far, this is the only quote where I correctly guessed the author before reading the spoiler text.

I'm not sure how Oldboy is supposed to represent an excape from reality. Yet another example of the baby doll-patented "Make shit up about a film and then use this totally fabricated quality against it" method of film anti-appreciation.

EG:

The Piano is obviously trying to be a vampire parable for the ages, but having Holly Hunter walk around in the sunlight is just a ridiculous decision and weakens its artistic sensibilities.

[MacGuffin]

Rushmore - ****
The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou - ***½
The Royal Tenenbaums - ***½
Bottle Rocket - **½
The Darjeeling Limited - **
Hotel Chevalier [iTunes viewing] - **

[Spinal]

#11

No Country for Old Men

Directed by: Ethan Coen and Joel Coen

Year: 2007

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Seldom quoted quote: "And by anybody I mean any swingin' dick."

Sample IMDb forum thread topics:

1. Great movie... until the ending
2. Frustrating picture. Arrrghhh!
3. The Coens are laughing at you.

Who said it?: "I really have to say that seeing this for the first time stoned out of my mind was not a good choice."

megladon8

[Spinal]

Intermission. Top 10 tomorrow.

[B-side]

That trailer is amazing.

[Spinal]

Glad you guys are enjoying it. Thought I'd try something a little different to avoid that feeling of been there, done that. Might be hard to keep up this format as we get to the 30s and 40s, but I'll see what I can do.

[Yxklyx]

The best thread on Match-Cut at this time.

[Ivan Drago]

I really need to talk about movies more with you guys.

[StanleyK]

11. No Country for Old Men - ****
12. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - **** (Need to rewatch)
13t. Oldboy - ****
13t. Requiem for a Dream - Need to rewatch
15. Yi Yi - *** (Need to rewatch)
16. The Royal Tenenbaums - Need to rewatch
17. The Fellowship of the Ring - Need to rewatch
18. INLAND EMPIRE - ****
19. Tropical Malady - ****
20. AI - ****

Pretty great so far.

[Spinal]

#10

Werckmeister Harmonies

Directed by: Béla Tarr and �gnes Hranitzky

Year: 2000

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But how were his melodies?: Andreas Werckmeister (November 30, 1645 – October 26, 1706) was an organist, music theorist, and composer of the Baroque era. Of his compositions only a booklet remains: pieces for violin with basso continuo, with the title Musikalische Privatlust (1689). Werckmeister is best known today as a theorist, in particular through his writings Musicae mathematicae hodegus curiosus... (1687) and Musikalische Temperatur, oder... (1691), in which he coined the term 'well temperament' and described a system of well temperament now known as 'Werckmeister temperament'. Werckmeister's writings were well known to Johann Sebastian Bach, in particular his writings on counterpoint. Werckmeister believed that well-crafted counterpoint, in particular invertible counterpoint, was tied to the orderly movements of the planets, reminiscent of Kepler's view in Harmonice Mundi. According to George Buelow, "No other writer of the period regarded music so unequivocally as the end result of God’s work," a view harmonious with that of Bach

Who said it?: "Werckmeister Harmonies is putting me to sleep. Pretty damn boring stuff. I'm about an hour in."

Benny Profane

[Ezee E]

Outside of that brilliant opening, I don't care for that movie much. Just can't get into it.

[Spinal]

#9

Inglourious Basterds

Directed by: Quentin Tarantino

Year: 2009

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I'm glad someone keeps track of this: Hans Landa appears to be the recipient of several high awards and decorations of Nazi Germany. He is seen wearing both the Golden Party Badge and the Blood Order, indicating that he either participated in Hitler's 1923 Beer Hall Putsch, or that he had been a Nazi Party member since no later than 1932. On his dinner dress uniform, he is seen wearing the Golden Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross with Swords, the highest possible grade of this order.

A listing of Hans Landa's decorations are as follows:

Blood Order
Knight's Cross of the War Merit Cross (in Gold with Swords)
War Merit Cross (First Class with Swords)
Golden Party Badge
Iron Cross (First and Second Class)
SS Long Service Award
Sudetenland Medal (with Prague Castle Bar)
Germanic Proficiency Runes
Anti-Partisan Guerrilla Warfare Badge
Honour Chevron for the Old Guard
Sicherheitsdienst Sleeve Diamond

Sample IMDb forum thread topics:

1. Why do people say all Nazis were evil and deserved to die?
2. If it weren't for Hitler, Jews would rule the world by now...
3. Only 1 historic mistake in this excellent movie

Who said it?: "Yeah right, Inglorious Bastards will be there right next to WKW's The Lady from Shanghai. Please. He has been 'working' on this thing for years off and on, and now he has a draft written and suddenly it will be out in less than a year?"

Raiders - May 27, 2008 (The film premiered at Cannes on May 20, 2009.)

[Raiders]

I hate you.

[Ivan Drago]

I hate you.

lol u got pwn3d

[Spinal]

#8

The Son

Directed by: Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne

Year: 2002

em1o2XzUFMM

The film that bored Utah: "The Son takes forever to get going. And while that is a deliberate move by the filmmakers, Belgium's Dardenne brothers, it's still a problem. Knowing that the Dardennes have tried to make a film that reflects real life — by emulating the 'neo-realist' style favored by contemporary Middle Eastern and European directors — doesn't make the film easier to take." - Jeff Vice, Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Wait, what?: Luc Dardenne wrote in his book Au dos de nos images a comment about The Son. Magali, the ex-wife of Olivier is very astonished Olivier took Francis, the murderer of their son, in his workshop . She says to Oivier in The Son: "Nobody would do that". He answers: "I do know it". And she replies: "Then, why do you do it?". He answers: "I don't know." And Luc Dardenne wrote: "We also, we don't know it."

Who said it?: "OK, forgive me. The Dardennes clearly saved cinema and now everyone wants to be them. Let's all conviniently ignore that many of these other filmmakers cite Italian neorealism, Bresson, 70s new German cinema, documentaries (particularly the stripped down, cinema verite style of people like Frederick Wiseman) and American low budget, independent, 70s films like Killer of Sheep and Wanda as influences much more than the Dardenne brothers. Could it be that the Dardennes and these other people just came to the same conclusions of how to make a film? No that's not possible. Clearly they are just poseurs flailing around in the wake of the Dardenne brothers' cinematic superiority."

Pop Trash

[StanleyK]

Holy shit, I can't believe The Son made it! :pritch: Much love for everyone who voted for it.

[Spinal]

#7

Children of Men

Directed by: Alfonso Cuarón

Year: 2006

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The More You Know: "Y'know that ringing in your ears? That 'eeeeeeeeee'? That's the sound of the ear cells dying, like their swan song. Once it's gone you'll never hear that frequency again."

Sample IMDb forum thread topics:

1. Blood on the lens
2. Pedophile's worst scenario
3. And That's How the World Became African American

Who said it?: "I thought Children of Men's childbirth was pretty crude/realistic, but then again, I've never seen a real one."

Grouchy

[Boner M]

Aww man, only 6 to go. :sad:

[Watashi]

We all know what #1 is.

[Spinal]

#6

Dogville

Directed by: Lars von Trier

Year: 2003

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Rex Reed has bunched panties: "... a stylized, three-hour creep show that comes off like an amateurish sophomore allegory about the social and political cancer of America, staged in the hackneyed style of German expressionism ... Only Lars von Trier, the Danish nut whose bloated reputation for incoherent audacity has been sadly inflated by movie critics and ignored by audiences everywhere, could get away with such bilge."

Sample IMDb forum thread topics:

1. i'm sorry what?
2. This movie has a lot of rape scenes
3. Americans are not like this.

Who said it?: "Dogville, which I tried to watch, was distracting in the extreme with those awful chalk lines and bare sets. I understand why he did it, but could the point really not have been gotten across any other way?"

Morris Schæffer

[Spinal]

Taking a break. Top five later today.

[baby doll]

I'm not sure how Oldboy is supposed to represent an excape from reality. Yet another example of the baby doll-patented "Make shit up about a film and then use this totally fabricated quality against it" method of film anti-appreciation.It's an escape from reality because nothing in the film even remotely resembles anything that's happened to anyone ever in the history of the world.

I think it's an okay movie for what it is (that is, a slick revenge fantasy), but I'm just not that into revenge fantasies. Incidentally, as I've said around here before, Park's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance seems to me the one film of his (at least of the few that I've seen) where he got the balance between grizzly, grizzly violence and dark humor exactly right.

[Spinal]

#5

Punch-Drunk Love

Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson

Year: 2002

3-QFfTTI6Zc

IMDb's Most Popular "Pudding" Titles (http://www.imdb.com/keyword/pudding/?sort=num_votes):
1. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
2. Punch-Drunk Love
3. Dude, Where's My Car?
4. Sleeper
5. Choke

Sample IMDb forum thread topics:
1. why did barry smash up the bathroom
2. Why'd he throw that hammer?
3. Why are his sisters so cruel?

Who said it?: "... no more PSH please. He was the best dumpy loser 'til Giamatti came around, sure, but he completely lost me the moment he started whining about his bowel movements in Cold Mountain (a motif, coincidentally, central to Synecdoche). Now I can barely tolerate his slovenly presence. Still, he was pretty awesome in Punch-Drunk Love."

Sven

[Derek]

It's an escape from reality because nothing in the film even remotely resembles anything that's happened to anyone ever in the history of the world.

I think it's an okay movie for what it is (that is, a slick revenge fantasy), but I'm just not that into revenge fantasies. Incidentally, as I've said around here before, Park's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance seems to me the one film of his (at least of the few that I've seen) where he got the balance between grizzly, grizzly violence and dark humor exactly right.

Not sure since I haven't seen it, but Hereafter seems to focus on events that probably have never happened to anyone ever in the history of the world as well. Or is it a lot more realistic than I've been led to believe?

[baby doll]

Not sure since I haven't seen it, but Hereafter seems to focus on events that probably have never happened to anyone ever in the history of the world as well. Or is it a lot more realistic than I've been led to believe?Good point. I would have to argue that Hereafter is just more accomplished as storytelling--or at least it moved me more, whereas both times I saw Oldboy, I felt my interest gradually diminish over the course of the film.

[dreamdead]

Sweetness to see Anderson's best film this high.

Rewatching the Tarr trailer, I'm left wondering how much of Cuarón's Children of Men is influenced by this film. They feel remarkably similar in camerawork, not just in long take.

[Spinal]

#4

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Directed by: Michel Gondry

Year: 2004

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How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd;
Labour and rest, that equal periods keep;
"Obedient slumbers that can wake and weep;"
Desires compos'd, affections ever ev'n,
Tears that delight, and sighs that waft to Heav'n.

-- Alexander Pope,"Eloisea to Abelard" (http://www.monadnock.net/poems/eloisa.html)

Sample IMDb forum thread topics:

1. OVERRATED RIP-OFF HIPSTER TRASH
2. Needlessly abstract.
3. Too FAKE: We need our Memories. Dislike this movie.

Who said it?: "Eternal Sunshine doesn't even make my top 25 of 2004. I have it at #29, right ahead of The Spongebob Squarepants Movie."

Spinal

[DavidSeven]

I like it well enough, but yeesh.

[baby doll]

Top three: In the Mood for Love, Mulholland Dr., and There Will Be Blood?

[DavidSeven]

Top three: In the Mood for Love, Mulholland Dr., and There Will Be Blood?

That just seems like a really Match-Cutty top three somehow.

[Spinal]

Thunder stealing is bad manners.

[Spinal]

#3

There Will Be Blood

Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson

Year: 2007

3KJwnqQJIBM

Ingredients
1/2 pound fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced, plus whole strawberries, for garnish
2 heaping tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pint vanilla ice cream
1/2 cup milk

Directions
In a mixing bowl combine the sliced strawberries, sugar and vanilla extract and stir to combine well. Set aside and allow to macerate for at least 20 minutes and up to 1 hour. In a large mixer, place the strawberries, ice cream, and milk. Blend until smooth. Pour into ice cream parlor glasses and garnish the rim of each glass with whole strawberries. Serve immediately.

IMDb's Most Popular "Milkshake" Titles :

1. Pulp Fiction
2. There Will Be Blood
3. Ghost World
4. Coraline
5. The Quiet

Who said it?: "I'm pretty sure I want it to be a masterpiece more than I actually think it's a masterpiece. Maybe I'm almost ready to come to terms with There Will Be Blood's mediocrity?"

trotchky

[Ezee E]

A whole pint of ice cream? Yeesh.

[Spinal]

#2

In the Mood for Love

Directed by: Wong Kar Wai

Year: 2000

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I think you're pulling my leg: "In the old days, if someone had a secret they didn't want to share... you know what they did? ... They went up a mountain, found a tree, carved a hole in it, and whispered the secret into the hole. Then they covered it with mud. And leave the secret there forever."

Sample IMDb forum thread topics:

1. hahahah this is supposed to be a love story?
2. What is the english title of this film?
3. Much like David Lynch's Eraserhead...

Who said it?: "I forgot to mention that a while back (about 3-4 months) I finally saw In The Mood for Love. I just never got around to writing a review. Perhaps I will on the new site."

MadMan - November 11, 2007

(On September 19, 2008, MadMan wrote "I, um, still owe certain people film reviews from previous swaps. Stay Puft the In The Mood for Love write up needs some more work! I swear!" As of Oct 27, 2010, the review has not appeared.)

[baby doll]

Thunder stealing is bad manners.Sorry.

[Ezee E]

Poor Madman.

[Spinal]

#1

Mulholland Dr.

Directed by: David Lynch

Year: 2001

07NMA51D46c

1. Pay particular attention in the beginning of the film: At least two clues are revealed before the credits.
2. Notice appearances of the red lampshade.
3. Can you hear the title of the film that Adam Kesher is auditioning actresses for? Is it mentioned again?
4. An accident is a terrible event — notice the location of the accident.
5. Who gives a key, and why?
6. Notice the robe, the ashtray, the coffee cup.
7. What is felt, realized, and gathered at the Club Silencio?
8. Did talent alone help Camilla?
9. Note the occurrences surrounding the man behind Winkie's.
10. Where is Aunt Ruth?

Sample IMDb forum thread topics:

1. This movie would have been better as a movie, not a puzzle
2. Would have been better with a shark or something.
3. Laura Harring's vanishing pubes!

Who said it?: "This Mulholland Drive argument would have been better if it had taken place via PMs. In it's current form it's alright, but it's not great."

Qrazy

[Spinal]

1. Mulholland Dr. 168
2. In the Mood for Love 97.5
3. There Will Be Blood 84
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 82
5. Punch Drunk Love 69
6. Dogville 68
7. Children of Men 63
8. The Son 58.5
9. Inglourious Basterds 51.5
10. Werckmeister Harmonies 48
11. No Country for Old Men 47.5
12. Life Aquatic 45.5
13t. Oldboy 45
13t. Requiem for a Dream 45
15. Yi Yi 42
16. The Royal Tenenbaums 40.5
17. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring 40
18. Inland Empire 37
19. Tropical Malady 36
20. A.I. 32

Close but no cigar:
City of God 30.5
Memento 30
The Incredibles 30
Zodiac 29.5
Before Sunset 29

[Spinal]

Only one list was sent via PM. Here it is:

MacGuffin
1. Dogville
2. Mulholland Dr.
3. Lost in Translation
4. Femme Fatale
5. Caché
6. I'm Not There
7. Inland Empire
8. Before Sunset
9. Werckmeister Harmonies
10. No Country for Old Men

[Spinal]

Full List:

25th Hour (S. Lee) 6.5
2046 (Wong) 18
3-Iron (Kim) 3.5
Adaptation (Jonze) 26
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (Spielberg) 32
All the Real Girls (Green) 21
Almost Famous (Crowe) 18
Amelie (Jeunet) 25.5
American Psycho (Harron)
Antichrist (Trier) 6
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Dominik) 15
The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (Herzog) 3.5
Before Sunset (Linklater) 29
Brand Upon the Brain! (Maddin) 12
Brick (Johnson) 10
Bright Star (Campion) 2.5
Caché (Haneke) 19
Children of Men (Cuarón) 63
City of God (Meirelles/Lund) 30.5
Cowards Bend the Knee (Maddin) 10.5
Dancer in the Dark (Trier) 17
The Dark Knight (Nolan) 24.5
Death Proof (Tarantino) 18.5
The Departed (Scorsese) 6
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Schnabel) 6
Dogville (Trier) 68
Elephant (Van Sant) 19.5
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Gondry) 82
Fantastic Mr. Fox (W. Anderson) 2.5
Far from Heaven (Haynes)
Femme Fatale (De Palma) 15
Finding Nemo (Stanton/Unkrich) 5
The Fountain (Aronofsky) 10
Ghost World (Zwigoff) 13
Good Night, and Good Luck. (Clooney)
Happy-Go Lucky (Leigh) 5
A History of Violence (Cronenberg) 2
Hunger (McQueen)
The Incredibles (Bird) 30
I’m Not There (Haynes) 24
In the Mood for Love (Wong) 97.5
Inglourious Basterds (Tarantino) 51.5
Inland Empire (Lynch) 37
Kill Bill V.1 (Tarantino) 10
Kill Bill V.2 (Tarantino) 18
Last Days (Van Sant) 7.5
L'Enfant (Dardennes)
Let the Right One In (Alfredson) 10
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (W. Anderson) 45.5
Lilya 4-Ever (Moodysson) 5.5
The Lives of Others (von Donnersmarck) 5
Lost in Translation (S. Coppola) 17
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Jackson) 40
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Jackson) 25.5
The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (P. Jackson) 7
Memento (Nolan) 30
Millennium Actress (Kon) 5
Moon (D. Jones)
Moulin Rouge! (Luhrmann) 19
Mulholland Dr. (Lynch) 168
Mysterious Skin (Araki) 7.5
The New World (Malick) 28.5
No Country for Old Men (Coens) 47.5
Oldboy (Park) 45
Once (Carney) 8.5
Pan’s Labyrinth (del Toro) 15
Paprika (Kon) 5
Paranoid Park (Van Sant) 2
The Piano Teacher (Haneke) 19.5
Pride and Prejudice (Wright) 16
The Proposition (Hillcoat) 8
Punch Drunk Love (P.T. Anderson) 69
Rachel Getting Married (Demme) 12.5
Ratatouille (Bird/Pinkava) 12
Requiem for a Dream (Aronofsky) 45
The Royal Tenenbaums (W. Anderson) 40.5
A Serious Man (Coens) 6
Shaun of the Dead (Wright) 26
The Son (Dardennes) 58.5
Songs From the Second Floor (Andersson) 24.5
Spring Summer Fall Winter … and Spring (Kim) 2.5
The Squid and the Whale (Baumbach) 9
Sunshine (Boyle)
Syndromes and a Century (Weerasethakul) 11
Synecdoche, New York (Kaufman) 14
Talk to Her (Almodovar) 22
There Will Be Blood (P.T. Anderson) 84
Tropical Malady (Weerasethakul) 36
Two Lovers (Gray) 14
Up (Docter/Peterson) 4
Wall-E (Stanton) 26.5
Wendy and Lucy (Reichardt) 5
Werckmeister Harmonies (Tarr) 48
What Time is it There? (Tsai) 11
The White Ribbon (Haneke) 17
Where the Wild Things Are (Jonze) 14.5
The Wrestler (Aronofsky)
Yi Yi (Yang) 42
You Can Count on Me (Lonergan) 8
Zodiac (Fincher) 29.5

[Spaceman Spiff]

Life Aquatic really is ridiculously high. Not a huge fan of In the Mood for Love either, but at least I sorta 'get' that one.

Cool list, though. Wish I had participated.

[transmogrifier]

Heh, if I had voted, Oldboy would have made the Top 10.

[Melville]

Great thread. I love the tour of inanity.

[DavidSeven]

It's actually a pretty nicely balanced list. Maybe the best collective effort that MC ever cobbled together. The initial filter probably helped with that. If only the Life Aquatic placement wasn't so glaring. Very good otherwise.

[Bosco B Thug]

Edge-of-your-seat stuff! Bravo IMDbers for saying the things we're all thinking.

Not too crazy about the list, opinion-wise. A complete quarter of it is **1/2 to low-***-ers for me (There Will Be Blood, Requiem for a Dream, Children of Men, The Royal Tenenbaums, and A.I.). But everything else is ***1/2 and up. Well, Life Aquatic's a ***, and I haven't seen Yi Yi, The Son, and Werckmeister Harmonies, and need to re-see Lord of the Rings and Old Boy.

[Watashi]

#1

Mulholland Dr.

2. Would have been better with a shark or something.


It's true.

[StanleyK]

1. Mulholland Drive - ****
2. In the Mood for Love - ****
3. There Will be Blood - ****
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Need to rewatch.
5. Punch-Drunk Love - ****
6. Dogville - Need to rewatch.
7. Children of Men - ****
8. The Son - ****
9. Inglourious Basterds - ****
10. Werckmeister Harmonies - ****

Best top 10 on this site. Kinda surprised The New World isn't there, but The Son's inclusion more than makes up for it.

[B-side]

It's true.

That's the one criticism I've read of that film that actually makes sense.

[Watashi]

1. Mulholland Dr. ***½
2. In the Mood for Love ****
3. There Will Be Blood ****
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind **½
5. Punch Drunk Love ***
6. Dogville ***½
7. Children of Men ***
8. The Son N/A
9. Inglourious Basterds ****
10. Werckmeister Harmonies N/A
11. No Country for Old Men ****
12. Life Aquatic ****
13t. Oldboy **½
13t. Requiem for a Dream ***½
15. Yi Yi ***½
16. The Royal Tenenbaums ***½
17. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring ****
18. Inland Empire N/A
19. Tropical Malady **½
20. A.I. ****

[Melville]

Good list.

1. Mulholland Dr. - 10
2. In the Mood for Love - 10
3. There Will Be Blood - 10
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - 9
5. Punch Drunk Love - 10
6. Dogville - 8.5
7. Children of Men - 7
8. The Son - 10
9. Inglourious Basterds - 9
10. Werckmeister Harmonies - 9.5
11. No Country for Old Men - 7.5
12. Life Aquatic - 5.5
13t. Oldboy - 6.5
13t. Requiem for a Dream - 10
15. Yi Yi - 6
16. The Royal Tenenbaums - 9
17. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring - 6
18. Inland Empire - 9
19. Tropical Malady - 8.5
20. A.I. - 5

[Dead & Messed Up]

1. Mulholland Dr. 168
3. There Will Be Blood 84
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 82
5. Punch Drunk Love 69
7. Children of Men 63
9. Inglourious Basterds 51.5
11. No Country for Old Men 47.5
13t. Requiem for a Dream 45
16. The Royal Tenenbaums 40.5
17. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring 40
20. A.I.

I've seen these, and I'm comfortable and happy with all of them making the list. Great job collating and formatting and all that, Spinal!

[MadMan]

1. Mulholland Dr.-100
2. In the Mood for Love-95
3. There Will Be Blood-N/A
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind-100
5. Punch Drunk Love-N/A
6. Dogville-N/A
7. Children of Men-100
8. The Son-N/A
9. Inglourious Basterds-95
10. Werckmeister Harmonies-N/A
11. No Country for Old Men-97
12. Life Aquatic-100
13t. Oldboy-N/A
13t. Requiem for a Dream-N/A
15. Yi Yi-N/A
16. The Royal Tenenbaums-100
17. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring-95
18. Inland Empire-N/A
19. Tropical Malady-N/A
20. A.I.-N/A

Close but no cigar:
City of God-N/A
Memento-100
The Incredibles-91
Zodiac-N/A
Before Sunset-N/A

Cool list. The only one I haven't heard off of it is The Son. I'll have to view the ones I haven't seen yet eventually.

[Grouchy]

So if there was a 2008 movie on the list, what would it be? The Dark Knight?

I'm a sick man. Spinal, congratulations for all of your troubles. The videos rocked my world. If you need me to host one of these for you later on, I'm game.

[Stay Puft]

Who said it?: "I forgot to mention that a while back (about 3-4 months) I finally saw In The Mood for Love. I just never got around to writing a review. Perhaps I will on the new site."

MadMan - November 11, 2007

(On September 19, 2008, MadMan wrote "I, um, still owe certain people film reviews from previous swaps. Stay Puft the In The Mood for Love write up needs some more work! I swear!" As of Oct 27, 2010, the review has not appeared.)

Epic.

But at least he watched the film, and I remember he blurbed about it in another thread. I'm still waiting for chrisnu to even watch Vertical Ray of the Sun.

[Stay Puft]

1. Mulholland Dr. (****)
2. In the Mood for Love (****)
3. There Will Be Blood (**½)
7. Children of Men (**)
11. No Country for Old Men (***)
12. Life Aquatic (***)
13t. Oldboy (**½)
13t. Requiem for a Dream (***)
16. The Royal Tenenbaums (***½)
17. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (**½)
19. Tropical Malady (****)
20. A.I. (**½)

[MadMan]

Oh shit, I'm sorry Stay Puft. I wrote down the review on paper, and now I'll have to dig through endless notebooks trying to find the review. But I'll get posted, um, eventually.

Also I owe Morris a review for Aliens as well. But I did see the movies. I did! I'm just a notorious procrastinator and resident lazy man. Also I find it way easier to write reviews on paper in my classes when I'm bored. Then I forget to transfer them to the Internet so people can read them. Maybe its also because I'm not confident about them being any good.

[MadMan]

So if there was a 2008 movie on the list, what would it be? The Dark Knight?

I'm a sick man. Spinal, congratulations for all of your troubles. The videos rocked my world. If you need me to host one of these for you later on, I'm game.Out of the ones I've seen from 2008, I would hope it would be The Wrestler instead of The Dark Knight.

[Grouchy]

Out of the ones I've seen from 2008, I would hope it would be The Wrestler instead of The Dark Knight.
It got no votes!

[MadMan]

It was one of the many movies to miss out on cracking my top 10. If we were compiling Top 20s it probably would have cracked the list.

[Fezzik]

I feel somewhat ashamed at how many movies in that top 20 I haven't seen yet.

Glad to see In the Mood for Love place as high as it did...thanks to KF and others for pushing me to finally see it.

Thanks for putting this together, Spinal! :D

[Mysterious Dude]

So if there was a 2008 movie on the list, what would it be? The Dark Knight?
I think Wall-E got the most votes.

[Dillard]

1. Mulholland Dr. 7
2. In the Mood for Love 9.5
3. There Will Be Blood 5.5
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 9.5
5. Punch Drunk Love 8
6. Dogville n/a
7. Children of Men 8
8. The Son 6
9. Inglourious Basterds 6
10. Werckmeister Harmonies 8.5
11. No Country for Old Men 6.5
12. Life Aquatic 9
13t. Oldboy n/a
13t. Requiem for a Dream 5 (needs rewatch)
15. Yi Yi 10
16. The Royal Tenenbaums 7
17. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring 7.5
18. Inland Empire 10
19. Tropical Malady n/a
20. A.I. 8.5

[MacGuffin]

1. Mulholland Dr. - ****
2. In the Mood for Love - **½
3. There Will Be Blood - ***½
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - *½
6. Dogville - ****
7. Children of Men - ***
9. Inglourious Basterds - ***
10. Werckmeister Harmonies - ****
11. No Country for Old Men - ****
12. Life Aquatic - ***½
13t. Oldboy - **
16. The Royal Tenenbaums - ***½
18. Inland Empire - ****
19. Tropical Malady - **** (barely missed my list)

Close but no cigar:
Memento - **
The Incredibles - *
Zodiac - ***½
Before Sunset - ****

It's been too long since I've seen the first Lord of the Rings and A.I. to rate them, but neither of them are really my thing.

[transmogrifier]

4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - *½
13t. Oldboy - **


Seems like awesome movies aren't your thing either.

[Spaceman Spiff]

1. Mulholland Dr. - 9.0
2. In the Mood for Love - 6.5
3. There Will Be Blood - 10.0
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - 9.0
5. Punch Drunk Love - 10.0
6. Dogville - 8.5
7. Children of Men - 7.5
8. The Son - 8.0
9. Inglourious Basterds - 9.0
10. Werckmeister Harmonies - Didn't really like it when I first saw it, but I should probably check it out again. The first half of Satantango is pretty godsdamn amazing, so I'm thinking I might like this a bit more now
11. No Country for Old Men - 9.0
12. Life Aquatic - 5.0
13t. Oldboy - 6.0
13t. Requiem for a Dream - 8.0
15. Yi Yi - N/A
16. The Royal Tenenbaums - 10.0
17. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring - 6.5
18. Inland Empire - 6.5
19. Tropical Malady - Don't remember this one too well.
20. A.I. - 9.5

[origami_mustache]

Not a big fan of how the list turned out, although I didn't expect to, but loved the imdb/match-cut quotes. Nice job spinal.