12/17/09

I suppose it depends on taste, genre preference, age, gender and, according to some of the girls I’ve met over the years, astrological sign. Or maybe it depends on what you read and hear and see. In this instance, it surely depends on how often you get out to the theater or video store. Or maybe who you date or are married to or, in general, spend your free time with. We’re talking film here. Not just film, but the best film of this strange, transformative decade. Before we get into ScreenTime’s Top 50 Films of the Naughts, I feel it necessary to not just list, but rank the Top 10 films of the decade I’ve not yet seen. Ranked, of course, by how good I expect them to be once I am able to see them. 

Top 10 Films of the Decade I’ve Not Yet Seen: 10. Up In the Air; 9. The Hurt Locker; 8. Broken Embraces; 7. Gomorra; 6. Moon; 5. Me and Orson Welles; 4. Micmas a tire-larigot; 3. City of God; 2. In the Mood for Love; 1. Yi Yi. So, in the far off event that you’re loaded, extremely bighearted, like to shop at Amazon.com and love and wish to support this column by helping bulk up our forever growing DVD library, e-mail us at the below address and we’ll help you help us see these 10 films. Or, well, better yet, keep reading …

Top 50 Films of the Decade I Did See (not ranked according to anything having to do with my Astrological sign): 50. Wall-E; 49. Fantastic Mr. Fox; 48. Catch Me If You Can; 47. Snow Angels; 46. Unbreakable; 45. Mulholland Drive; 44. In the Bedroom; 43. Dirty Pretty Things; 42. Sin City; 41. Me and You and Everyone We Know; 40. The Departed; 39. Lost In Translation; 38. I’m Not There; 37. Y Tu Tambien; 36. Amores Perros; 35. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince; 34. Children of Men; 33. 21 Grams; 32. American Psycho; 31. Wonder Boys; 30. Punch-Drunk Love; 29. Little Children; 28. You Can Count On Me; 27. 25th Hour; 26. All the Real Girls; 25. The Prestige; 24. Babel; 23. Adaptation; 22. The Darjeeling Limited; 21. Memento; 20. Kill Bill, Vol. 1; 19. The Bourne Identity; 18. Batman Begins; 17. George Washington; 16. Half Nelson; 15. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind; 14. Kill Bill, Vol. 2; 13. No Country For Old Men; 12. Almost Famous; 11. The Aviator; 10. Inglourious Basterds; 9. The Squid and the Whale; 8. American Splendor; 7. The Life Aquatic; 6. Brokeback Mountain

5. The Dark Knight: I could write at length about every film on this list. And, through e-mails to friends, my website (www.ZeCatalist.com) and message boards, I very likely have. I usually go on and on about how Knight is the best made big budget Hollywood film ever. I’ve often called this film a “miracle” and it’s maker, Christopher Nolan, “the best living filmmaker.” Grand scale defined.

4. There Will Be Blood: I drove two hours to see this film. Aside from the film that tops this list, it was maybe my most anticipated movie ever. That said, I can’t watch it too often like I can the others in my Top 50, but, when I do, it bruises my soul all over again.

3. High Fidelity: If not for a couple of slower spots in the second and third acts, this would surely by my No. 1 film of this decade. Set in the late 90s, many things about Stephen Frears’ record store classic already feel ancient due to all the new technology we’ve seen take over American lifestyles and attitudes. Going to record stores to hang out. Making lists of your favorite albums and favorite Side One, Track Ones ever. Remembering people by the albums you bought them or they bought you. Documenting the memories of your life by what records you were listening to at the time. For most, this film is set in a time that doesn’t exist anymore. For others (me, for example), this is the most comforting film ever made.

2. Amelie: French auteur Jean Pierre-Jeunet is secretly the best filmmaker in the world right now. And this is the best of his four A+ films thus far. There’s too much here to love and swoon over, so, onto No. 1.

1. The Royal Tenenbaums: One of the best screenplays I’ve ever read and, without a doubt, one of the most hands-on detailed films ever made. It’s epic, even if its story is small, and it’s incredibly deep, even if its characters often seem shallow. If you’re the kind of person who loves detail, film history, good music, warm color palettes and excellent cinematography, this film has everything for you. I could go on. I could write a book about this film and how I saw it three times in the theater on the day it came out and how I requested off from work the day the DVD came out. And so on. The no-brainer of the decade for me. Nothing close.

Our picks for the 27 Best Performances of the Decade: 25. Javier Bardem in Before Night Falls; 24. Sean Penn in Milk; 23. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote; 22. Jennifer Connelly in House of Sand and Fog; 21. Salma Hayek in Frida; 20. Sam Rockwell in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind; 19. Penelope Cruz in Volver; 18. Sean Penn in 21 Grams; 17. Michael Clayton in Bug; 16. Kate Winslet in Little Children; 15. Miranda July in Me and You and Everyone We Know; 14. Bill Murray in Lost In Translation; 13. Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind; 12. Tom Wilkinson in In the Bedroom; 11. Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler; 10. Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men; 9. Nicolas Cage in Adaptation; 8. Mark Ruffalo in You Can Count On Me; 7. Paul Giamatti in American Splendor; 6. Audrey Tautou in Amelie; 5. Gael Garcia Bernal in The Motorcycle Diaries; 4. Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight; 3. Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator; 2. Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson; 1a. Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain; 1b. Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood; 1c. Cate Blanchett in I'm Not There

(Note: This column will return to its regularly scheduled format in two weeks. Next week, we look at the Year In Film: 2009.)