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Wednesday, December 9, 2009

The ten best movies of the decade

The ten best movies of the last ten years?

The lists are flying left and right as the Oughts wind down, or wind up, and I’m not proud -- I’ll add my catalog of essential titles to the deliberations. Culling from my year-end best-of lists (and adding one glaring omission – how could I have overlooked the title responsible for the decade’s ultimate movie catchphrase, “I drink your milkshake”?), and revisiting work by the likes of the Andersons (Wes and Paul Thomas), the Coens (Joel and Ethan),  Clint Eastwood and Ang Lee (all with multiple contenders over the last decade), I’ve got the list down to the requisite ten.
 
Here goes (alphabetically):
 
Amelie (2001), with Audrey Tautou as a playing-with-fate café waitress, from the impossibly inventive director Jean-Pierre Jeunet
 
Brokeback Mountain (2005), the heartbreaking gay cowboy love story, with a sad, searing performance from the late Heath Ledger
 
Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind (2004): Even with Jim Carrey in the lead, this is great stuff -- a trippy, goofball study of love and memory, steeped in melancholy
 
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), Wes Anderson makes stop-motion animation magic, and offers a witty but profound take on the nature of -- well, human nature. Not to mention the nature of well-dressed, well-spoken foxes, badgers and moles, too. For kids, for adults, for everyone.
 
Into the Wild (2007), Sean Penn directs this Great American road movie, a beautiful tragedy about the need for human connection, and what happens when the quest for solitude turns dark and dire
 
Michael Clayton (2007), George Clooney stars in Tony Gilroy’s endlessly satisfying legal thriller/existential drama (really – it’s been on HBO heavy rotation forever, and never disappoints)
 
Million Dollar Baby (2004), Hilary Swank’s Oscar-winning femme fight flick, with the sage Clint Eastwood guiding her both onscreen and from behind the camera
 
Sideways (2004), an oenophilic road movie and bittersweet romance, with Paul Giamatti as the tortured writer/Merlot hater. Smart, funny, sublime
 
Slumdog Millionaire (2008), Danny Boyle’s whirling Hindi fable about love and destiny, good fortune and cold cruelty, the hardships of life – and the happiness it can bring. (Especially when everybody in the cast starts boogieing crazily as the end credits roll)
 
There Will Be Blood (2007) Daniel Day Lewis is unforgettable as a money-mad oil prospector in Paul Thomas Anderson’s epic about greed, God and going off the deep end in your own private bowling alley
Posted by Steven Rea @ 5:16 PM  Permalink | 19 comments
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:07 PM, 12/09/2009
    Lost In Translation?????
    — reek3232
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:17 PM, 12/09/2009
    One man's opinion. Zzzzzzzzzz!
    — trainrdt
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:43 PM, 12/09/2009
    Thank heavens: this lets me know what to think. There I was liking other movies more like a fool
    — MagnusUnda
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:44 PM, 12/09/2009
    It's truly amazing how these so called "experts" go out of their way to tout movies that most people haven't seen, and could care less about seeing. It's comical in that these critics always want to appear smarter than the rest of us by identifying outside the norm, eclectic movies. They wear their fascination with non-main stream movies like a badge of courage. I'm actually shocked that the list includes several semi-main stream films, such as Million Dollar Baby and Michael Clayton -- by the way, the former was very good, while the latter was decent. Neither, however, warranted placement on a top 10 list. However, as with Mr. Rea comments, this is one man's opinion. Have a great holiday!
    — ParentOf2
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:46 PM, 12/09/2009
    I think something by Alfonso Cuaron (Y tu mama tambien or Children of Men) needs to be listed among the best films of the decade. But this is a very good list nonetheless.
    — Dan K
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:53 PM, 12/09/2009
    Daniel Day Lewis was absolutely magnetic in TwBB. Incredible performance and a great movie
    — flyerdog
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:07 PM, 12/09/2009
    This list is pretty shortsighted. I agree that there are some good selections on there, but 70-80% of the list is arguable. BTW, did you even watch Slumdog Millionaire? What about that was a Hindi fable? Please tell me that someone with such elite and misguided tastes as you doesn't assume that, just because Slumdog was based in India, it is a Hindi fable. The three central characters were Muslims, and this fact was not neglected in the storyline.
    — ajcduqpitt
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:16 PM, 12/09/2009
    What about Wal- E? The first part of that movie was classic story telling without any dialogue. Or how about the Incredibles? I can watch that movie endlessly. There are some great lines in that movie that so capture this decade that it is unbelievable. "When everyone is super, then no one will be." This pretty much sums up our last decade. Just giver everyone a trophy, give the kids an "A", everyone gets a college degree.
    — rs505
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:19 AM, 12/10/2009
    The Wrestler?? Gran Torino?? NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN???
    — pucky88
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:40 PM, 12/10/2009
    I guess Gladiator must have been been at a theater too far for you to drive to.
    — wfs0868
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:31 PM, 12/10/2009
    Its an opinion people!!! Why are you arguing with a writer's opinion? I agree with the first writer Lost In Translation belongs on any top ten list for the decade, but yet again this is an opinion column.
    — philly200
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:26 PM, 12/10/2009
    Just Desserts: The Rise and Fall of Barack Obama and Tiger Woods
    — ppasq
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:52 PM, 12/10/2009
    ajcduqpitt: Steven Rea said "Hindi", not "Hindu". Hindi refers, of course, to the language---and not the religion.
    — CityLimits
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:49 PM, 12/11/2009
    to stephen rea: city limits was correct and i was incorrect. in my hasty response based on disagreement with your selections, i improperly associated "hindi" with "hindu." i know the difference and will take greater care in self-editing my commentary, especially when delivering criticism. apologies and regards.
    — ajcduqpitt
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:07 AM, 12/12/2009
    Wait, is this the list of best movies or best movies to prove how pretentious I am?? Glad you alphabetized them...at leasst you have THAT writing skill.
    — bingo


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About Steven Rea
Steven Rea has been an Inquirer movie critic since 1992. He was born in London, raised in New York City, and has lived in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Iowa City, Iowa. His column, "On Movies," appears Sundays in Arts & Entertainment, his reviews appear in the Weekend section on Fridays, and his blog, On Movies Online, can be found here. He is a member of the National Society of Film Critics.

Steven Rea's previous blog posts can be found here. Read his most recent columns and reviews, here. He also curates the movie stars and bicycling photo blog, Rides A Bike.

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