Carv's Thinky Blog I'm an author with a focus on satirical science fiction.

10Dec/090

Down in Front: The Best Movies of the Decade

This is the most subjective of my three lists, in that I'm stuck with some choices even I couldn't justify persuasively. All I can tell you is I pondered the list all day, then slept on it, then pondered it again, and I still wouldn't know what to change if I had to. Here are the five films that just missed my top twenty: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, Slumdog Millionaire, Whale Rider, and Wonder Boys.

The list shows you what a sentimental guy I am--an easy cry, and a hearty laugh. It also shows you that I respect technical innovation and a strong visual style.

You'll notice two of the films were actually five films when released. I don't consider this cheating. Each of those movies was conceived and shot as a separate film. One was written as a trilogy, but during its long gestation it was meant to be as few as one film and as many as five. Above all, it plays as a single long narrative, perhaps even more than the duo of movies--which was written as one long, episodic screenplay.

Anyway, enough justification. Once again, my choices are in alphabetical order, but the film I'd rank highest is the film I'd be least likely to watch again. It was also the film with the highest degree of difficulty, which is why I'd rank the trilogy a very close second.

I may at some point compile a list of the best acting performances of the decade, in which case Daniel Day-Lewis's Daniel Plainview and Heath Ledger's Joker would be very near the top.

P.S.: Originally this post was illustrated with reproductions of the movies' one-sheet posters. I've replaced those with a simple list to speed up load times for the rest of the page.

The 40 Year-Old Virgin
Almost Famous
American Splendor
Amores Perros
The Bourne Ultimatum
City of God
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Hurt Locker
The Incredibles
Kill Bill
The Lord of the Rings
Million Dollar Baby
Once
Pan's Labyrinth
Sideways
Sin City
United 93
Y Tu Mamá También

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