Top 10 Best Movies of the Decade

[Cougar Bait]

Excellent cut to Requiem. I love that movie and the music is insanely powerful. I like your taste in movies, Cougs.

Seems we agree on music and movies...and lovers.

[Capybara]

Great post, but so tough to narrow down... Here is my best effort!

10. The Pianist (2002)
9. War of the Worlds (2005)
8. Collateral (2004)
7. Grindhouse (2007)
6. Sexy Beast (2000)
5. X-Men (2000)
4. School of Rock (2003)
3. Gladiator (2000)
2. Memento (2000)
1. No Country for Old Men (2007)

[Capybara]

Per Mudcat's separate mention, some documentaries from this decade off the top of my head that I thought were fantastic:

Touching the Void
The King of Kong
The Devil and Daniel Johnston
Capturing the Friedmans
Spellbound
Wordplay
and the one I just watched tonight,
Dogtown and Z-Boys!

Mudcat, did that include some of your docs, what were yours?

[TheLock]

Yeah Sideways was a badass movie. Memento is one of the most underrated movies of all time.


Dark Knight and The Hangover are almost too good to leave out.

[BarkingToad]

Seabiscuit
Gran Torino
Kill Bill
Cinderella Man
Office Space
Casino Royale
Replacements
Greatest Game Ever Played
Dodgeball
Hidalgo

[Capybara]

Seabiscuit
Gran Torino
Kill Bill
Cinderella Man
Office Space
Casino Royale
Replacements
Greatest Game Ever Played
Dodgeball
Hidalgo

Office Space is from 1999. Fantastic movie though.

[Matt Rain]

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Requiem for a Dream

No Country for Old Men

10) Almost Famous
7) Sin City
4) Mystic River

I would add O Brother Where Art Thou?, but I'm fairly certain that was a 1999 movie. Not sure what else to add.

[Cougar Bait]

Great post, but so tough to narrow down... Here is my best effort! 10. The Pianist (2002) 9. War of the Worlds (2005) 8. Collateral (2004) 7. Grindhouse (2007) 6. Sexy Beast (2000) 5. X-Men (2000) 4. School of Rock (2003) 3. Gladiator (2000) 2. Memento (2000) 1. No Country for Old Men (2007)

I really like your top 3, some solid choices. Sexy Beast is good as is Collateral. The Pianist is great, but didn't make my list. IMO War of the Worlds wouldn't make my Top 3,000. I was real disappointed by that one. Also, liked the other side of Grindhouse better...Death Proof. Kurt Russell was awesome in that. Overall, good picks though.

[Capybara]

I really like your top 3, some solid choices. Sexy Beast is good as is Collateral. The Pianist is great, but didn't make my list. IMO War of the Worlds wouldn't make my Top 3,000. I was real disappointed by that one. Also, liked the other side of Grindhouse better...Death Proof. Kurt Russell was awesome in that. Overall, good picks though.

Grindhouse is both films (PT + DT), plus all the extra stuff: the trailers, the "popcorn for sale in lobby" cards, etc. I found the whole experience just really special -- it felt like you were really back in a skeevy theatre in the 70s. I loved the jump-cutting in PT.

I thought Spielberg nailed it with WoTW. I've always wanted to see a film seriously handle an alien invasion, like make it seem legit and terrifying -- and he hit it out of the park in that regard. It was flawed, in particular with the ending, but my jaw was hanging open the whole time. Great use of sound also, amazing.

[BarkingToad]

Office Space is from 1999. Fantastic movie though.

Ok, my bad, I'll replace it with Taken.

[Cougar Bait]

Office Space is from 1999. Fantastic movie though.

Yeah, and if the last 20 minutes of Idiocracy wasn't lame that one might have squeaked in my Top 10.

[Capybara]

Ok, my bad, I'll replace it with Taken.

Great choice! Kind of a guilty pleasure of a movie, but Wow, I ate it up -- Liam Neeson is the frickin' Man.

[Capybara]

Per Mudcat's separate mention, some documentaries from this decade off the top of my head that I thought were fantastic:

Touching the Void
The King of Kong
The Devil and Daniel Johnston
Capturing the Friedmans
Spellbound
Wordplay
and the one I just watched tonight,
Dogtown and Z-Boys!

Mudcat, did that include some of your docs, what were yours?

Anybody watch documentaries? Some outstanding movies in this list, check 'em out!

[Cougar Bait]

Grindhouse is both films (PT + DT), plus all the extra stuff: the trailers, the "popcorn for sale in lobby" cards, etc. I found the whole experience just really special -- it felt like you were really back in a skeevy theatre in the 70s. I loved the jump-cutting in PT. I thought Spielberg nailed it with WoTW. I've always wanted to see a film seriously handle an alien invasion, like make it seem legit and terrifying -- and he hit it out of the park in that regard. It was flawed, in particular with the ending, but my jaw was hanging open the whole time. Great use of sound also, amazing.

No doubt it was a great concept. I really, really liked Death Trap. I thought Planet Terror was above average. Best Alien movie...now there's a thread.

[Cougar Bait]

[Cougar Bait]

Here's a documentary that made me laugh Capy...and Super Size Me needs to be on your list.

DARKON

[Capybara]

Awesome!

That Billy Mitchell is such a colossal C@CK!

[Brock Landers]

Radio
88 minutes
righteous kill


oh wait, the BEST movies of the decade LOL

[Capybara]

Here's a documentary that made me laugh Capy...and Super Size Me needs to be on your list.

DARKON

Haha, I found this one on TV one night and tried watching it, but thought it moved a little too slowly, kinda bored me.

However, you reminded me of Second Skin -- flick about people who play World of Warcraft. Amazing movie!! See it if you haven't, just came to DVD recently.

[Jimmy0607]

No country for old men
The departed
The hangover
Training day
Unfaithful
Benjamin button
Gran torino
The replacements
Anchorman
Four brothers

[Capybara]

Okay, I couldn't stop at 10... sue me! In addition to my posted list above, here are my Honorable Mentions:

High Fidelity (2000)
Snatch (2000)
The Mothman Prophecies (2002) (I know I'm alone, but I thought this was great)
Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003)
Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2005)
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Paranormal Activity (2009)
Half Nelson (2006)
Lord of the Rings: FoTR (2001)
Training Day (2001)

And a separate category for great comedies (they seem separate to me for some reason... although School of Rock actually made my Top 10):

Superbad (2007)
Anchorman (2004)
Zoolander (2001)
Borat (2006)
The Hangover (2009)

[BobHarvey]

No Country For Old Men
Gran Torino
Million Dollar Baby
High Fidelity
The Departed
Oh Brother Where Art Thou
Kill Bill (1 and 2)
25th Hour
Road To Perdition

and any James Bond flicks

[Cougar Bait]

I personally love Mothman Prophesies. High Fidelity, Training Day, and Kill Bill are all great picks...but High Fidelity is definitely a comedy Capy.

Good list Bob. Oh Brother came out in 99 though.

[Jonah]

Great post, but so tough to narrow down... Here is my best effort!

10. The Pianist (2002)
9. War of the Worlds (2005)
8. Collateral (2004)
7. Grindhouse (2007)
6. Sexy Beast (2000)
5. X-Men (2000)
4. School of Rock (2003)
3. Gladiator (2000)
2. Memento (2000)
1. No Country for Old Men (2007)

I think someone just has a crush on Tom Cruise....And then School of Rock?

And then someone else - The Replacements? Truly?

The Kong documentary was great as was Troopers....I think I shall come up with a list in a few days.

[dogcity]

Mothman Prophesies...ya...count me in too. Surprised me to learn the movie was (loosely) based on a true story.

For documentaries how about 'The Fog of War' featuring Robert MacNamara's frank recounting of some very pivotal (and scary) moments in modern American history. Also, 'Man on Wire' about tightrope walker Philippe Petit's World Trade Center feat...incredible...

[Cougar Bait]

If you like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Being John Malcovich (both great) check this out. Almost made my list of best of the decade.

[Eellsy27]

1. The Gladitor
2. Gangs Of New York
3. The Pianist
4. Million Dollar Baby
5. The Aviator
6. A History of Violence
7. 25th Hour
8. Almost Famous
9. Sin City
10. Cinderella man

Other Greats- Man On Wire, Training Day, The Bridge, There Will Be Blood, In the Bedroom, A Beautiful Mind, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Elephant, Eastern Promises, The Wrestler, Delirious, Wonderland, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,

[Mudcat]

Per Mudcat's separate mention, some documentaries from this decade off the top of my head that I thought were fantastic:

Touching the Void
The King of Kong
The Devil and Daniel Johnston
Capturing the Friedmans
Spellbound
Wordplay
and the one I just watched tonight,
Dogtown and Z-Boys!

Mudcat, did that include some of your docs, what were yours?

As weak a decade as I found it to be for movies movies, I found it to be very strong for docs. I always keep an eye on the docs section at Blockbuster because sometimes I don't even hear about what's coming out and they end up being great.

I have seen most of the ones you mention and thoroughly enjoyed them. Spellbound and Capturing the Friedmans stand out (for totally different reasons). The King of Kong was enjoyable to watch but I later learned was highly manipulative, how it was put together. Somewhat dishonest.

Referring back to my imdb ratings, here are additional docs I have rated 7 or higher (for a variety of reasons). I'm sure I'm missing some because I sometimes forget to enter a rating

Emmanual's Gift
In The Shadow of the Moon
Who Killed the Electric Car
What Remains of Us
Darfur Now
My Kid Could Paint That
Earth
Religulous
Young @ Heart
Deliver Us From Evil
Sicko

and of course let's not forget


The Aristocrats!

[Mudcat]

I just found an old thread on this topic which refreshed my memory on a few other good docs from the decade.

Born into Brothels
The Corporation
Stevie
In The Realms of The Unreal
The Life of [I forget her name unfortunately] (I don't remember the full proper title but it was about the woman who was Hitler's secretary right up till the end).

[betplom]

A decade is a period of ten years. Although all of their selections are whore shit.

Deuce, you're wasting your time explaining the definition to an American.

A decade is whatever an American says it is, freedom of speech ya know.

[pavyracer]

A decade is a period of ten years. Although all of their selections are whore shit.

I think the confusion is when does a decade span? because for example the period of time between 1975 to 1984 is still a decade. Not all decades necessarily start at year with a 0 at the end.

[JoshW]

I don't get all the love for "No Country for Old Men". It was edited too long with at least four points were they could have ended it and didn't do it. It was ok, but would never make my top list.

[Boner_18]

See the discussion Lock and I are having in his thread. Any 10 year period, however arbitrary it is, is a decade. Culturally we identify decades as ending on 10's (as in this thread) and 1 - 10 (2001 - 2010) defines a proper ordinal decade.

Maybe from here out we should define the decade we refer to, i.e. "Top 10 Movies of the Cultural Decade Spanning From 2000 - 2009."

[JoshW]

Waiting (I laughed me ass off watching this film, I doubt it is on many lists).
Donnie Darko
Sideways
Memento
40 Year Old Virgin
History of Violence
City of God
Y Tu Mamá También
Insomnia
Superbad

[Matt Rain]

I don't get all the love for "No Country for Old Men".

Silent terror/suspense that's augmented by the scenery, the language and a larger than life baddie. Not a movie you should keep on watching if it didn't hook you after the first sequence.

In some ways, I thought it was a yellow/brown version of Fargo.