Now that this decade is winding down, I thought I'd throw out some of my picks for best movies for the 2000-2009 decade. I'm only throwing out movies I have seen, and have legitimately enjoyed. I'm not throwing anything out there just because it was a huge hit or for critical appeal.
Drama:
Gran Torino
Home Room (Not very well known, you all should see it)
The Patriot
Sam & Janet
Frequency
Comedy:
Talladega Nights (Made me laugh the hardest this decade)
American Wedding
Euro Trip
The Girl Next Door
Anchorman
Rock Star
Horror:
Cabin Fever
The Mist (Sorry Rico I loved it)
Believe
The Devil's Rejects
Final Destination 2
The Grindhouse Double Feature
Scifi:
Dreamcatcher
Butterfly Effect
Attack of the Clones
Donnie Darko
The Happening
Star Trek
The Dark Knight
Spiderman
(I think I'll stop here for brevity; our favorite category after all)
Documentary
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
EXPELLED: No Intelligence Allowed
Who Killed the Electric Car?
IOUSA
Feel free to make a list of some of your favorites.
I can't really comment because even though I have seen many of the films you list I didn't care for most all of them except Star Trek and Dark Knight. But that is personal preference. I do acknowledge that there are films made today (albeit relatively few) that will stand the test of time and be considered classics 40 years from now, but I much prefer to watch films pre-1960 for the most part. I find most films today to be dull, too graphic, exploitive, gratuitous and base. Thus I watch very few modern films anymore.
Kevin
Lord of the Rings.
If I had to pick one, for me it might be "The Dark Knight." I just was so happy they really got into the psychology of both the Joker and Batman. Finally a movie that was very true to the comics (others have come fairly close). I'll list some others I thought were also very good, below.
Lord of the Rings trilogy
Star Trek
Harry Potter series
Donnie Darko
Serenity
Revenge of the Sith
Matrix trilogy
Office Space
There are others, but that's a good sampling.
I couldn't begin to answer this. I will say that it has been a great decade for film and probably one of my most preferred. I think we have reached a point were special effects don't look like special effects and that makes a great addition to what we see. It will allow some of these films that we watch to not seem so dated as other films have. With the addition of digital, we're preserving films before their color fades and you can see that there's some age to the films.
I was going to put together a list, but how do you define a decade are we going the last 10 years? (2000 - 2009). Can we include a movie that started in 1999 but was part of a series?
For me it's just so easy. LOTR are right up there with SW as my favorite films of all time. I just think they are magic.
Perhaps I am looking at this wrong? Maybe rather than naming the "top" films I should be naming my favorites? If that is the case here are some of my favorite films of the decade not necessarily in order:
Star Trek
X-Men trilogy
Pirates of the Carribean trilogy
Lord of the Rings trilogy
Shaolin Soccer
Iron Monkey
Monsters Inc
The Incredibles
Casino Royale
Quantum of Solace
A Mighty Wind
Best of Show
Chicken Run
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
Galaxy Quest
Tomb Raider films
Harry Potter films
Spiderman trilogy
Ice Age
Passion of the Christ
House of Flying Daggers
Hero
Bourne Trilogy
Mission Impossible trilogy
Batman Begins
The Dark Knight
Invincible
Iron Man
The Forbidden Kingdom
The Last Samurai
As you can see I like fantasy films and sci-fi and some action. Even the martial arts films fall into the fantasy category for me.
Kevin
That's quite a list, Ktrek. :) Like you, most of the movies I watch are form the 40's, 50's and 60's. I'm trying to convince my wife and daughter that just because a movie is in Black/white, doesn't mean it's not a good movie.
These are some of the movies that I would consider to be top movies of this decade:
Star Trek
The Bourne Triology
The Lord of the Rings Triology
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
The Harry Potter films
Children of Men
The Departed
Letters from Iwo Jima
No Country for Old Men
Traffic
The Aviator
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Oh Brother, Where Arth Thou?
Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy
Kill Bill 1 & 2
Batman Begins and The Dark Night
Black Hawk Down
The Incredibles
Kung Fu Hustle
Kung Fu Panda
Casino Royale
Quatum of Solace
Man! I forgot Kung Fu Panda! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THAT FILM! It reached me on so many levels. I rarely ever cry during a film but that one got me.
Kevin
Iron Man
Revenge of the Sith
X-Men
Spiderman
I forgot quite a few too, that I really enjoy:
X-Men (first 2 movies)
Spider-Man (first 2 movies)
Pirates of the Caribbean (mainly the first one)
Iron Man
Casino Royale
Kill Bill 1 & 2
Batman Begins
Wallee
The Incredibles
Team America
and many more....
Hmmm..the last ten years. In no particular order..
Matrix Reloaded
Matrix Revolutions
Batman Begins
Wall-E
The Incredibles
Finding Nemo
Bourne Trilogy
V for Vendetta
Wallace and Gromit Were Rabbit
Oceans 11
....
hard to believe these were all in the last 10 years. Time flies.
I was debating on whether or not to tell this story. But when the Lord of the Rings movie came out, I wasn't paying much attention to what movies were coming out. Somehow I had never heard of the Lord of the Rings books. I heard through word of mouth that a Muhammad Ali movie was coming out. I drove by the theater, saw the marquee "Lord of the Rings" and thought that's got to be the Ali movie. Saw like 15 minuets of it, and walked out.
I still haven't watched the LOTR movies.
Excepting the chase scenes, one of my favorite movies of the decade was 'The Island' - which in my mind was like Logan's Run meets Bladerunner. Some great ideas - and Scarlett Johanson didn't do the film any harm either.... ;)
Quote from: AlanP on August 30, 2009, 12:45:34 PM
I was debating on whether or not to tell this story. But when the Lord of the Rings movie came out, I wasn't paying much attention to what movies were coming out. Somehow I had never heard of the Lord of the Rings books. I heard through word of mouth that a Muhammad Ali movie was coming out. I drove by the theater, saw the marquee "Lord of the Rings" and thought that's got to be the Ali movie. Saw like 15 minuets of it, and walked out.
I still haven't watched the LOTR movies.
WOW! Really? I'm guessing fantasy novels and fantasy movies are not something you are interested in?
Quote from: AlanP on August 30, 2009, 12:45:34 PM
I was debating on whether or not to tell this story. But when the Lord of the Rings movie came out, I wasn't paying much attention to what movies were coming out. Somehow I had never heard of the Lord of the Rings books. I heard through word of mouth that a Muhammad Ali movie was coming out. I drove by the theater, saw the marquee "Lord of the Rings" and thought that's got to be the Ali movie. Saw like 15 minuets of it, and walked out.
I still haven't watched the LOTR movies.
It took you 15 minutes before you realized that it wasn't a film about Muhammad Ali. I figured after the first few seconds of the opening battle I would have thought hmmm what does this have to do with a boxer.
Ha Ha. Definitely not my brightest moment, Kenny.
I first thought it was a trailer, then a short. Around that time there were elaborate Matrix shorts before movies like Dreamcatcher. I was thinking it was something like that. Then I didn't really know what to make of it. It did look kind of good but not really what I was there to see. After about 15 (or what felt like it) minutes I guessed this must be the movie.
Wow, AlanP?! You should give the trilogy another try. The movies are fantastic!
Yeah, I know. People keep telling me I'll like it.
It's just so big. 3 films, 3 hours each. I'll need some time.
You all like it?
Quote from: AlanP on August 30, 2009, 03:06:54 PM
Yeah, I know. People keep telling me I'll like it.
It's just so big. 3 films, 3 hours each. I'll need some time.
You all like it?
Frankly, if you have not read the books I would read those first and then watch the movies. The books are true fantasy classics that so much fantasy literature has "borrowed" from over the years that you owe yourself a chance to imagine the story, setting, characters, and all of Middle Earth before you see the films. The movies are great I think and very well done, but nothing can compare to your own mind and imagination.
At times LOTR can drag a little. My advice would be to stick with it. Even my wife agreed that the long "boring parts" (as she called them!) were worth it for all the action. The cost of staying as loyal as Jackson was to the books I'm afraid! Personally, I loved even the "long boring parts".
Nobody has mention Peter Jackson's King Kong. That is one of my highlights.....I'm not afraid to admit that I shed a tear when ever I watch it...then cringe 2 minutes later with Jack Black's final line delivery! A homage to the original that is the only negative of such an awesome movie! Pity it's the final line....
AlanP, I can't imagine seeing the LOTR films without having a historical knowledge or baseline going in. I would hazard to guess that someone with absolutely no history of the story might find the first movie a bit slow or confusing. I would agree with what Rico said but I'd strongly suggest to first read the prequel story, the Hobbit. It's much more accessible and if you find, like most do, that after reading the Hobbit you fall in love with the characters and the world, you will be much more likely to give the LOTR books a fair shot as they can be a challenging read the first time through.
I agree with everyone else who suggested reading the books, or at least "the Hobbit" before seeing the movies. I also recommend that you not watch all the movies back-to-back. I had a free weekend all to myself a couple of years ago and decided to spend it playing catch up on TLOTR movies. Contrary to what one may think, it is indeed possible to overdose on epic battle scenes.
I agree - my wife had not read the books and she was totally lost in the first movie, and would not see the rest with me. So it is good advice to give the books a go first.
For a real treat find the Rob Inglis unabridged audio books of The Hobbit, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy - you won't be disappointed - he is a fabulous reader giving each character a unique voice.
My wife had not read the books at all and thoroughly enjoyed and could follow the films just fine. However, that said, I agree that reading the books first would really add to your enjoyment. My wife has since read the books and she said she liked the movies better but what does she know! LOL
Kevin