The Ten Films of the Decade

Writing out a top ten list for the best films of a year is a fairly simple process. Most of the choices are fresh in your mind, and most of the time you know which films are exceedingly better than the rest. A top ten of the decade though? A much more difficult process. It's not about choosing which films are great, but which films defined the decade in which we lived, which ones stood out the most. At least, that's how I feel. Yes, they have to be pretty good as well.
Before I get to my top ten, here are the ten that just missed the cut. In my opinion, this would have been a damn fine top ten as well.

20. Requiem for a Dream - Darren Aronofsky. 2000. Aronofsky's second feature is a bold creation of life consumed with drugs. Ellen Burstyn is haunting.

19. Letters from Iwo Jima - Clint Eastwood. 2006. Telling WWII from the side of the Japanese, Eastwood shows us with painstaking detail that sometimes, war has no enemy.

18. The Hurt Locker - Kathryn Bigelow. 2009. Not just the best film made about the war in Iraq, but a heartbreaking tale of the courage to survive.

17. Adaptation. - Spike Jonze. 2002. Hilarious but at the same time terribly sad, Jonze's feature is a refreshing look at the worn down idea of writer's block.

16. Memento - Christopher Nolan. 2000. Nolan may very well be the best director of the naughties, and it wouldn't have happened without this little gem.

15. The Departed - Martin Scorsese. 2006. A thoroughly entertaining mob story from the man who knows mob films the best.

14. Milk - Gus Van Sant. 2008. Although not possible without Brokeback Mountain, Van Sant's film gives us hope for a change in America's mindset.

13. No Country for Old Men - Joel and Ethan Coen. 2007. Haunting. Thrilling. Thought-provoking. Obscure. Brilliant.

12. 25th Hour - Spike Lee. 2002. Many filmmakers thought it was too early for films to comment on 9/11. Lee takes it head on with a brilliant look at a man on the brink.

11. Elephant - Gus Van Sant. 2003. Winner of the Cannes Palme d'Or, this little masterpiece takes only eighty minutes to haunt our minds, and break our hearts.

And now, the top ten.

10. Up in the Air - Jason Reitman. 2009.

Reitman's masterpiece is a film for the blue-collar American. Anyone who has lost anything during this recession can identify with so much of this film. Using actual unemployed people for several scenes, we understand that the emotions they show are not a form of acting, but their own feelings about their lives. Shying away from what could have been a conventional, cliche film, Reitman pulls a 180, and continues to surprise us throughout.

9. Wall-E - Andrew Stanton. 2008.

Pixar had the best decade of any film studio. Continuing to shelve out hit after hit, they had their best success here. Not just a great kids movie, the film is a also a terrific comment on today's society, with its vision of humans using robotic chairs for their daily purposes. Nothing short of brilliant.

8. The Pianist - Roman Polanski. 2002.

One of only two of Polanski's films of the decade, it proves to us that he is still a master filmmaker. Despite his shortcomings, he is still one of the best auteur's alive. Brody is on screen for much of the film by himself, walking through the wastelands of his hometown helpless. Having some of the most haunting shots of the decade, the film is difficult to forget quickly.

7. Rachel Getting Married - Johnathan Demme. 2008.

If any film has made you wish you attended a wedding, it would be this wedding. Demme's documentary style filmmaking brings these characters to life. The tagline for the film was "This is not your family, but this is your family." No truer tagline has ever been conceived. We may not know people exactly like this in our family, but we can find similarities, and that alone makes it brilliant. The film's subtle hints of these characters past is real, and makes them all the more fascinating.

6. Children of Men - Alfonso Cuaron. 2006.

This is not a film to view if you are looking for a hopeful future. Cuaron's bleak tale of a future without the ability of reproduction has stayed in my mind in the three years following the first time I saw it. Coming back to it again only resonated those thoughts even more. His quality and attention to detail is stunning, his thoughts on the human condition in the sight of apocalypse is haunting.

5. Lost in Translation - Sofia Coppola. 2003

What is it like for two people finding themselves in a completely new environment, alone, with no one to turn to? Who do they talk to when no one is there to listen? Coppola answers these questions with terrific quality and a great eye for minimalist scenes. These two characters are unforgettable, made so by the terrific performances from Scarlett Johannson and Bill Murray. Murray is still able to bring the laughs, but he is able to tell us so much about his character from his facial expressions. No other actor can do it quite like Murray can.

4. Brokeback Mountain - Ang Lee. 2005

Ang Lee's 2005 masterpiece was a groundbreaking moment in cinema. It made gay and lesbian themed films relevant in mainstream media, which is mostly thanks to the A-list cast, headlined by its two heterosexual leads, Ledger and Gyllenhaal. But the standout is Ledger. His Ennis Del Mar is easily the most fascinating character of the decade. A married family man, he's torn about his feelings for Gyllenhaal's Jack Twist, and what it could mean if their secret was revealed. Del Mar wants to look like the tough guy cowboy of the west, with his rage exploding at various points. But he lifts our hearts in the films final scene, one of the most hopeful moments film has ever given us.

3. In the Bedroom - Todd Field. 2001.

Field is able to build a mountain of tension throughout the film that makes it almost too unbearable to watch. Yet we cannot take our eyes away from it. Set in the beautiful lakeshore homes of New England, the film is gorgeous to look at just for its set pieces. Yet underneath that lies a terrible secret that this family is forced to bear. Field doesn't do much flashy in his first feature, but the film didn't need that. The story and acting drives this film, and the camera is simply there to follow.

2. There Will Be Blood - Paul Thomas Anderson. 2007.

An American tragedy through and through. Daniel Plainview is one of the most haunting characters ever put on film. His greed and lust for oil is something that can be identifiable in today's society. Working very much like a classic silent film, it is perfect in every sense of the word. Plainview never looks for sympathy, but at times we can see twinges of it in his soul. The baptism scene is the best pure cinematic scene of the decade.

1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Michael Gondry. 2004.

Timeless and pure. A joy to watch. Gondry's masterpiece is something that almost anyone can enjoy. Not necessarily fully comprehendible on a first viewing, it is the most well made film of the decade. Gondry went for an unconventional style of storytelling that paved the way for numerous films throughout the rest of the decade. He wasn't the first to do it this decade, but he did it the best. It is always a joy to come back to, and will be a timeless film in the decades to come.

So there you have it, my favorite films of the decade. I found this to be a surprisingly terrific decade for high end films. Here's to hoping the '10's are even better! What do you think? What are your ten favorites?

Flash: RIP Brittany Murphy

Brittany Murphy passed away today after suffering from cardiac arrest. She was 32. The young actress was known most for her performances in intriguing films such as 8 Mile and Sin City. Not much else is known about the untimely death, but this is yet another tragic case of a talent lost at far too young of an age.

Invictus Review

One of the greatest directors of the decade is back with one of the most highly anticipated films of the year. Invictus, from director/producer Clint Eastwood, is a valiant effort from the auteur on an uplifting true story about a…rugby team? The film follows the story of the 1995 South African rugby team on their quest to win the World Cup, led by their team captain Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) and extra motivation from President Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman). The President, in his first term at this point, uses the team as a motivator to unite the long divided country. Think of it as Remember the Titans meets Gandhi (sort of), but on a countrywide scale, and you get the idea.
While the true story behind the story in Invictus is powerful, moving, and motivational, the film does a poor job of bringing these emotions to the screen as much as it could have. There’s no denying the inspirational story of the rugby team and their struggle, or the story of Nelson Mandela himself. His rise from prison to become the most powerful man in his country, and uniting a people through grace and good will is something that is sorely lacking in many parts of the world today. However, Eastwood tries to bring too much story into the film, leaving us with a plethora of information, but not enough emotional depth. What the film needed above all else was a split. Invictus would have worked much better in two parts, because there seem to be two different films working here. There is the film about President Mandela, his struggles in prison, his rise to power, his place in history. Then there is the story of the South African rugby team: their struggles with keeping their name in an ever-changing country, their impact on the youth of South Africa, and simply their underdog sports story. What Clint Eastwood would have been better off doing, was to create a film concentrating solely on Mandela’s struggles as the President, with flashbacks and parallels to his time in prison, with the rugby scenes taking a background. Then creating a second film, where rugby is at the forefront, and Mandela is in the background, seen as a symbol of inspiration for the team.

However, despite the films disappointing structure, it benefits from two terrific performances from its lead actors. Matt Damon is simply stunning as the Rugby captain, and Morgan Freeman basically transforms himself into the President. Their parallels onscreen are uncanny, and their brief scenes together are the highlights of the film. But where these two actors shine lights on the project, the rest of the cast create a shadow too unbearable to overcome.
Eastwood is slowly turning into a director who will settle for second-rate, B-movie style reactions and acting from his supporting cast, seen first in last year’s lukewarm Gran Torino. Although the gritty look and idea of Gran Torino saved it from being a disaster, Eastwood’s point-and-shoot style with the camera in Invictus is a bit disappointing, remembering this is the same person who has brought us brilliant films like Unforgiven, Mystic River, and Letters from Iwo Jima. I would have preferred to see the gritty style of these films in Invictus, as I think it would have been an interesting touch to the story, and given it more of a gloomy feel.
But we cannot always get what we want, and despite the terrific performances from Freeman and Damon (both very deserving of their Golden Globe nominations in my opinion), I have no doubt that in the next several years Invictus will be looked at a disappointment in an otherwise terrific decade of films for director Eastwood.
Grade: C+

Welcome!

Welcome to Film Criticals, a site devoted to coverage of all things related to the world of film. Some of the blog is still under production, but there are several different postings you can look forward to before the end of the year, including my top ten lists of 2009 and the decade (2000-2009). Also be sure to to look for these posts in the coming months:
Award season coverage, predictions
Reviews of films I skipped in theaters
Screen Gems (essays on classic films)
Plus much more. Comments and suggestions are welcome, be sure to also give me your intelligent feedback on films as well. Check back soon for my reviews on Fantastic Mr. Fox, Invictus, and my #10 film of the decade.