Top 10 Movies 2000-2009

Since my political and social commentary posts have failed to garner the comments and feedback I so desperately crave; I've decided to do a pop-culture post. This should bring the comments pouring down as people vehemently disagree with my opinions and attempt to assert the superiority of their own opinions. This is going to be pure comment gold! Okay, with that said, let's get to the films.

1. The Lord of the Rings (2001, 2002, 2003)
Seriously, did anyone not see this coming? In all sincerity now though, how can you NOT put this at the top of any and all movie lists? This was clearly the film-making achievement of the decade, hands down. The breakthroughs necessary to even make the film alone justify placing it at number one. How can you rank it lower? Because they split it up and staggered the release dates? The damn thing would be 10 hours long!! This is still a commercial enterprise, they're expecting to make money somehow. Criticize these movies however you want, yes liberties were taken, yes scenes were cut, yes the third movie seems to end about four times before it actually ends. The bottom line is that this book was considered unfilmable for 50 years, right up until Peter Jackson went ahead and filmed it anyway. Can anyone else say they filmed the unfilmable this decade?

2. Kill Bill Vols. 1 & 2 (2003, 2004)
Nobody else makes movies like Quentin Tarantino. Good or bad, he always surprises. He pulls once in a lifetime performances out of actors on a regular basis. He deals out cards you didn't even know were in the deck. Kill Bill draws the second spot, like Lord of the Rings, at least in part because of the sheer scale of the project. Degree of difficulty, if you will. Over four hours long, filmed in five or six different countries, this was an "A for effort" type of deal. It's fashionable in certain circles to bash Tarantino. Hell, I got the idea for this whole post when one of my roommates found me watching Kill Bill and damned it with praise (conversely, he loves Inglourious Basterds, c'est la vie). I know another of my friends hates this movie, and still another seems to hate Tarantino himself. I simply don't understand this attitude. Tarantino is a completely unique talent. I know he borrows from old movies, he doesn't make a secret of it. It's not like he's tracing them. He does it because he's a student of film. Let's be real here for a second, do we really think he couldn't stage a completely original fight scene between Lucy Liu and Uma Thurman if he wanted to? With the guy that choreographed the fights in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the Matrix on the payroll? He does things no one else does, playing by his own rules. The climactic final battle in Kill Bill takes place while both of the fighters are sitting down, for crying out loud. Neither one of them even get up! He's never phoned in a movie, he's never directed a film just for the money, he's never made a movie just to be making a movie. You always get his best effort. And this is his best film.

3. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
I seriously considered putting this movie at number 1. Then I seriously considered putting it at number 2. If the two movies ahead of this one had been an ounce less epic, or even a milligram less work had gone into them, The Royal Tenenbaums would be at number 1. Okay, not true, there was no possibility of anything beating the Lord of the Rings, but Royal Tenenbaums would be number 2 anyway. This movie is special. It's sad. It's funny. It's heartwarming. It's heartbreaking. It justifies Gwyneth Paltrow's existence. There's an even more inexplicable backlash against Wes Anderson, but I think this movie safely predates it, with even his detractors admitting that this movie is totally awesome. In his career to date, it's hard for me to decide whether to put this ahead of Rushmore, or vice-versa. Fortunately, this is moot for purposes of this list, as Rushmore was released in 1999. I can't say enough about this movie, which oddly makes it hard to say much. What else can you say after "it's awesome, watch it over and over again"?

4. The Dark Knight (2008)
The Dark Knight is the best comic book superhero movie ever made. Once upon a time the competition for this spot would not have been very fierce. But that was before the X-Men films (except the third one). Before the Spider-Man movies (even the third one. I liked it.) Before Batman Begins. Even before the flawed, but still good Superman Returns. At this point "best comic book superhero movie ever made" is pretty heady praise. But I will go further. The Dark Knight is the best film of 2008. And the fourth best movie of the entire decade. I was originally skeptical of a Joker portrayed by Heath Ledger, but it absolutely made the film. I am not sure this movie could have succeeded with anyone else in the role. The plot is also flawless, an absolute classic Joker story with the rise and fall of Harvey Dent/Two-Face as the perfect counterpoint. Where Spider-Man 3 felt crowded and over-stuffed, The Dark Knight was complex and layered. Where Superman Returns went far afield into "what-if?" territory, The Dark Knight stays true to the source material and reaps the benefits. This is the film that comic book adaptations will be judged against for the forseeable future.

5. The Brothers Bloom (2009)
A funny, charming caper movie featuring the two titular con men. Stephen and Bloom are brothers who started a career as confidence men before they were teenagers. After their latest con, Bloom tells Stephen he's tired of playing the parts Stephen writes for him in their cons, that he wants a "real" life. Three months later Stephen lures Bloom back for one last mark. A wealthy New Jersey heiress who's spent practically her entire life trapped in her house "the largest private residence on the eastern seaboard". Posing as antique dealers the Brothers Bloom are quickly able to lure her into a caper that spans two continents. But is everything as it seems? Stephen describes the perfect con as one in which "everyone gets want they want". Will that happen here? This all proceeds perfectly to an ending in which even the audience gets what they want. Or is it a con? This movie is nothing short of brilliant. The four principle actors are all fantastic with Rinko Kikuchi, as Bang-Bang, coming close to stealing the film despite having only one line. This was the best movie I saw in 2009. And I saw Avatar. 'Nuff said.

6. Lost in Translation (2003)
Was I in love with Scarlett Johansson before I saw this movie? Quite possibly. I don't honestly remember. But I definitely was after I saw it. What does this say about the movie? ... It's good? Judged conventionally, there's not much to the movie. Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray are Americans staying at the same hotel in Tokyo. They meet and strike up a friendship despite their differences in age, gender, etc. Their friendship is strained, recovers, and they say a tearful goodbye. This is all in the course of only two or three days. The film's impact comes from its ability to drive home the feeling of being alone in a foreign culture. And from contrasting that with scenes of the two principals together, enjoying each others company. Under different circumstances, these two might have never met, back home their worlds are almost entirely different. But here, away from all the background clutter, they are able to find each other. Specifically, each other. There are other American guests at the hotel, but none of them are worthy, none of them are invited into the two-person club Murray and Johansson have formed. Is this a romantic connection? We may never know. Certainly their second good-bye seems to be much more than two chance acquaintances who will almost definitely never see each other again wishing each other well. But whatever Bill Murray whispers into Scarlett's ear seems doomed to oblivion and we are left to form our own conclusions. Lost in Translation is a meditation on loneliness and friendship, with two characters you'll want to visit in Tokyo again and again.

7. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
Absolutely one of my favorite films. Not just of the past decade, but of all time. It wasn't the critical success that Anderson's first two films were, but I feel that it is just as strong as those films, if in a different way. I loved this films twist on the "film within a film" conceit. We have the movie that Wes Anderson makes about a character named Steve Zissou, and then we have the character's, Zissou's, film about his hunt for the jaguar shark. At some point at or just before pirate attack, certainly no later than this, Anderson's movie is completely pushed aside by Zissou's. That is, the movie that we are watching is no longer Wes Anderson's movie about fictional Steve Zissou, it is now the fictional movie that fictional Steve Zissou is making about himself and his quest to find the jaguar shark that killed his friend. We are no longer watching the "real" movie, we are watching the movie within the movie, except it has now taken over the entire movie. In Anderson's movie, Zissou is essentially a fraud, constantly upstaged by his rival, his last movie is a joke, he can't get financing, his wife leaves him, he strikes out with the lady reporter, he responds to any criticism by lashing out, and he's constantly giving little asides to the cast and crew to get them to make him look better. More or less completely ineffectual. Now in Zissou's own movie, suddenly he does things like single-handedly drive off a pirate attack, then lead an attack on those same pirates home base to rescue a bond-company stooge and that same hated rival. His wife comes back and helps finance his movie, the constant lashing out and attempts at self-aggrandizement disappear, replaced by becoming bouts of self-doubt. Oh, and his new movie is a huge hit. And let's not forget, in Anderson's movie, Zissou is introduced to the son he always suspected he might have, but intentionally avoided. Zissou's feelings about fatherhood are clearly ambivalent at best, and once we're well beyond Anderson's film and into Zissou's his wife explains that Zissou is actually sterile, so he can't possibly have a son. The Zissou of the second half of the movie is barely recognizable as the Zissou of the first half. Very meta, and I love it.

8. Adaptation (2002)
This is another meta project where one film slowly becomes another. Charlie Kaufman is working on a script, an adaptation of the non-fiction NY Times bestselling book The Orchid Thief. Unfortunately, it's not going well. Meanwhile, his twin brother Donald has moved in with him and decided to become a screenwriter as well. Things get even worse for Charlie when Donald's hacky, cliched screenplay for a psychological thriller sells for one million dollars. Charlie finally reaches a point of desperation at which he asks Donald for his help in writing his adaptation. Donald agrees to help and the movie at this point starts to show signs of Donald's script-doctoring, going from a more-or-less realistic look at Charlie's starts and stops and writer's block, to suddenly including wildly implausible plot twists, such as the brothers discovery of the seedy, adulterous and illegal behaviors of both The Orchid Thief's author and main protagonist. The author and her subject decide the only way out is to kill the brothers. Donald dies, but not before giving an Oscar-speech. The movie has subtly moved from a Charlie Kaufman script to a Donald Kaufman script. Apparently the very script the brothers are working on in the movie itself. This one may take a couple of viewings, but the rewards are there and are substantial. Nicolas Cage reminds everyone why he won an Oscar, playing both brothers and doing it so well it's possible to tell which brother is which from merely visual cues, though they're supposed to be identical. Chris Cooper disappears into the role of The Orchid Thief's subject, and even Meryl Streep leaves the accent at home in the role of the author. Complex, funny and even moving, this is a film well worth everyone's time to watch, at least once.

9. I Heart Huckabees (2004)
This film is a perfect example of what I call "The Marky-Mark" effect. Put simply, Mark Wahlberg's performance in a film is a perfect barometer of that film's quality. If he is terrible in the movie, then the movie will also be terrible. If he gives a good performance, then the movie will be good as well. He's like a mirror reflecting the film's own quality or lack thereof back at it, and at the audience. I'm pleased to inform you that I Heart Huckabees features Mr. Wahlberg's best performance, maybe ever, but certainly since Boogie Nights. The film also features Jason Schwartzman, Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin, Jude Law and Naomi Watts. The plot revolves around Schwartzman and Law and their rivalry for control of an environmental group. The rivalry extending so far that when Schwartzman engages two existential detectives to unravel coincidences that keep popping up in his life, Law hires them also. The unconventional methods of the detectives (Hoffman and Tomlin) inevitably draw Wahlberg and Watts into the confrontation. Then things get really interesting when Hoffman and Tomlin's existential rival turns up, seeking to lure Schwartzman and Wahlberg away as clients. The movie is fast-paced and funny, although I have read that some people found it unfocused and found it hard to follow. To this I say: READ A BOOK, AMERICA!! A great movie, track it down and watch it. Today.

10. Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004)
I know what you're thinking: "Dodgeball? He has goddamn Dodgeball on this list? What about Insert Movie Title Here? Why isn't that on the list, if Dodgeball is?" A fair question. Originally, Dodgeball was not on this list. But it kept floating back up. And it occurred to me that I enjoyed Dodgeball when I saw it a lot more than I enjoyed the critically acclaimed movies that usually go on these lists. For instance, I can barely remember what happened in There Will Be Blood or Almost Famous or A.I., or American Psycho. But, I can very nearly recite Dodgeball's script, word for word. Is it a perfect movie? Of course not, there's no such thing, but it's funny with a talented cast. The idea of having Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller essentially switch roles, so that Vaughn plays the lovable loser and Stiller plays the pushy jerk is one that the film is able to get tremendous mileage out of. Most of the rest of the cast are slumming ringers like Gary Cole, Jason Bateman, Justin Long, etc. I'm sure you're all thinking that there are a hundred movies you would put on a Top Ten of the Decade list before you got to Dodgeball. But let me ask you this. Make your list, pick your tenth movie. Now, which one would you rather watch? Right now. We're going to pop it in the Blu-ray player this instant. Hope you didn't pick Punch Drunk Love or some epic downer. So, what's it going to be? Your number 10, or Dodgeball? Think about it.