Best Movies of the 00s -- Part IV: The Final Chapter

In case any of you have been awaiting the conclusion as I count down my top movies of the past decade, my apologies. I just haven't had time to blog over the past couple days. But, I'm here now, and I think the important thing is that we got through this together...er something.

So, I'm not going to lie to you, it wasn't easy making this list. I love movies and, quite honestly, the 00s was a fantastic decade for the cinematic arts. After compiling this list, I've remembered a lot of movies that should have been included, even posted an appendix. I think I'm going to go through some of those forgotten movies and watch them again.

But, while compiling the the whole list was hard, we're actually to the relatively easy part. When I decided to compile this list, #s 1-3 were the first three I picked and they haven't moved since. I've played around some with #s 4 and 5, but they were always near their current position. I guess what I'm trying to say is that discussing these last five movies will be fun...for me at least.

5. A Serious Man (2009)

It's hard to say a movie is in the Top 5 of an entire decade when it only came out a couple months ago. But, what can I say? This movie had me at hello and has continued to grow on me as I've thought more and more about it. I actually wrote a fairly extensive review of the movie not too long ago, so I'll try not to repeat myself too much here.

A Serious Man is the Coen Brothers' most Coenesque movie to date. It almost seems as though they made it with few other people in mind, which, in my opinion, makes it a better movie. It's almost as though they put their very own spiritual and philosophical conflicts into a narrative and put it up on screen. It tells the story of an ordinary man whose problems are not titanic in any sense, yet, in the movie, they seem to be almost of biblical proportions. It's like the story of Job set in suburban Minnesota.

The movie is very Jewish. The conflict and the struggles the protagonist face deal directly with tenants of the Jewish faith and the expectations of the Jewish culture. Yet, somehow, because the story is so specific and personal, it's application and meaning are universal, applying to anyone whose ever pondered the meaning of their existence. Of course, in the end, the Coens seem to be saying that existence has no meaning, a view I do not share. But, it's a fascinating ride to see them get there.

Did I mention that the movie is hilarious? It is...incredibly so.

Sadly, I know very few people who have seen this movie. So, if you do end up going to see it, shoot me an email, I'd love to discuss it in depth with someone in the know. It's amazing.

Unfortunately, between my review and my Top 10 list, I think I've exhausted all the available clips of this movie that are online. Sorry.

4. The Dark Knight (2008)

I love a good comic book movie. Heck, I even like the bad ones. Had I compiled this list a few years ago, it's likely that a few movies featuring super heroes would have ended up on this list. However, that all changed with the release of The Dark Knight, which has become like The Godfather of comic book movies. From now on, all comic book movies will be measured and evaluated in relation to this one. Indeed, it is probably the first super hero movie that one doesn't have to say "it was good for a comic book movie." The Dark Knight is a superb piece of filmmaking. Period.

If I was to pick a Filmmaker of the Decade, Christopher Nolan, who directed and co-wrote this movie, would definitely be on the short list. In addition to this film and the preceding Batman Begins, he wrote and directed Memento (also in my top 10), Insomnia, and The Prestige. Each of these films resonates with a noir or at least noir-like eeriness and an element of intelligence that's just not present in movies that are made just for entertainment. Indeed, no one would describe Nolan's most of movies as cerebral or arty, but, even when the subject matter is ridiculous -- like about an invincible hero in a bat-suit -- he is able to infuse his movies with enough realism to keep the audience from becoming too detached. Brilliant, if you ask me.

Of course, this movie will always be remembered for the performance of Heath Ledger as the Joker. Indeed, his performance in this movie was so good, so chilling, and so guns-blazing that it did the impossible -- it made people forget about Jack Nicholson's Joker in the 1989 edition of Batman. It's become cliche to say that the gravity of his performance was enhanced by his death, which is a shame because I don't think it's true. Had Ledger lived to see the release of the movie, I think the performance would have been just as iconic and he still would have been worthy of the Oscar he eventually received posthumously. It's just that good

This is my favorite scene in the movie because it displays not only Ledger's full abilities, but the cool nihilism of the Joker as a character.





3. Children of Men (2006)

Some of the movies on my list are triumphs of substance. Others are triumphs of story or even shear entertainment value. And, others are technical filmmaking triumphs. Children of Men, in my opinion, would have made this list on its technical merits alone. The reason it ranks so high is because it scores in the other areas as well.

Set in a not-too-distant future, this movie tells the story of a world in which the human race can no longer reproduce. The youngest living human is, at the start of the movie, already an adult. No children exist in the world of this movie. As you might expect, this picture is a bleak one. Not only is mankind faced with the prospect of having no future, its present is robbed of one its vital sources of joy, vitality, and humanity.

Chaos ensues.

In a world on the brink of civil collapse and destruction, Theo Faron, played by the rarely-great but always-reliable Clive Owen, has basically reached the final phase of the grief cycle: acceptance. Having been robbed of a life by the death of his child and the departure of his wife, he's resigned himself to simply eking out his final days in this futureless world. That changes when he is mysteriously brought into contact with Kee, the first pregnant woman the world has seen in nearly two decades. Then, with a renewed hope, he sets out to protect her on her journey to those who can help her and hopefully the rest of mankind.

At its core, Children of Men is about our shared humanity. While it can get lost in wars waged by governments and the agendas of those seeking political power, it is nonetheless more powerful than these forces combined. This is demonstrated in an amazingly powerful scene wherein the baby is revealed literally in the middle of a war zone and everyone -- on both sides -- can only stop and look on in awe. Of course, once that baby is out of harms way, the fighting resumes. Such is human nature.

Now, so far, I've been talking about the substance of the film and I haven't gotten into the technical prowess displayed by director Alfonso Cuaron. I'll let the movie do the talking.

First of all, check out this scene. It's a complex, multi-variable, action scene that takes place in a moving car and is done in a single long take.



There are several scenes that are just as amazing and one that is more so. Sadly, I'm unable to find any good clips on YouTube. Stupid copyright laws. But, here's a little featurette discussing the shooting style and focuses on the one-take scenes.



2. Almost Famous (2000)

There are a select few movies that, when I think of them, just fill me with exquisite joy. This is one of those movies. Oddly enough, the movie is about sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Still, I'm giddy right now just thinking about this movie and how happy it still makes me.

Yes, the movie is about youth, unrequited love, lost innocence, and the satisfaction of finding one's place in the world. I can go over that forever. But, let's be honest, the most memorable scenes of this movie are all about the music. Indeed, director Cameron Crowe is a master of finding the perfect music to resonate the particular emotion of a scene. It was on display in his other movies -- heck, even in Elizabethtown, which was pretty crappy -- but, this movie was his Mona Lisa.

So, I know it might seem lazy. But, I'm just gonna go to the YouTube clips with the memorable moments. If you've seen this movie, these clips should make you giddy like me. If you haven't, they probably still will.

The most famous scene, of course, the "Tiny Dancer" scene. In college, I used to play this song when I was depressed and pretend that it cheered me up just so I could be cool like the people in this movie.



I'm no Kate Hudson fan. In fact, find her to be extremely annoying. But, this one scene makes you believe that a man could fall in love with her.



And, in these two clips, all the themes I mentioned in this movie summed up and it's the music that does the lion's share of the work. This time, though, it's not a classic rock song, but the film score. Beautiful.





I'm telling you people, Almost Famous is pure joy wrapped up and packaged in a two-hour movie.

That brings us to the top spot. Any last guesses on what it'll be?

1. There Will Be Blood (2007)

More than any other movie, There Will Be Blood burns its way into the memories of moviegoers. It's this decade's Unforgiven or L.A. Confidential, a serious and brutal movie that you can't not watch when you find it on TV. I'm almost angry when I find this movie on my cable schedule because it means that the next two and half hours of my life are spoken for.

There are a lot of reasons why this movie is the best of the decade. I won't go into them all here. It's late. But, I'll start with three simple words: Daniel Day Lewis. I'll risk being a little crude to say that his portrayal of Daniel Plainview was, by far, the ballsiest performance by an actor during the past decade. He managed to be both subtle and enveloped in the character while, at the same time, bombastic and over-the-top. Day Lewis is a master at flipping the switches of human emotion and, in this movie, few of the emotions are good, which is what makes him so fun to watch. He's in virtually every scene in the film, so he had to be good for the movie to work.

The film is also a masterpiece on a technical level. It won an Oscar for its cinematography and it contains the best film score of the decade, composed by Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood.

And, of course, you have to talk about the themes. Like A Serious Man and No Country For Old Men, this movie is as much about what it says about the world as it is about the characters on the screen. There Will Be Blood is about the effect of greed on the human soul. Plainview is the least sympathetic protagonist in the history of film. He is spiteful, corrupt, and, by his own admission, he hates everyone. Yet, in the end, the audience can't help but feel sorry for him and the state his greed and hatred have left him in. Greed also corrupts the other major character in the movie -- Eli the preacher -- eventually turning him from a simple insincere cleric into a pathetic waste of a human being and, eventually, a corpse at the hands of Plainview. It's no coincidence that the sources of greed for these two characters are religion and oil. No doubt writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson was thinking of contemporary American greed when he made this movie.

Once again. This has been a long journey. It's late. I could say more, but let's be honest, the clips do a better job of talking for this movie. Enjoy.






This is the last scene. It contains spoilers for those who haven't seen it. But, it's a classic. Amazing.



So there you have it folks, my list. Feel free to opine and criticize or offer your praise. It's a new year and a new decade. We can only hope that, cinematically speaking, it's as good as the last one. Good night and good luck.