Best movies of the 2000s - Yearly Top 5 lists

[Paul Moots]

I LOVE Memento. There are only a few movies where I walk out of the theater feeling like, "WOW," and Memento was one of them. I felt that way with Fight Club and Amelie as well. Way different films, but I love them both.

[Cole]

Transformers is when I discovered Megan Fox, how dare you bash it!

[John]

NOTE: Newcomers to the league interested in seeing previous rankings from the 2000s should start from the beginning of this thread before jumping into the post below.

2010
The decade in film closed on a bit of a sour note for me. 2010 was hardly a fine year for the cinema. In fact, heading into the end-of-year award-bait season, I was preparing to dub 2010 one of the worst cinematic years in memory. Some latecomers to the game boosted the year's stock, though, and a year that produced a #1 of this level of quality can't be all bad...

As always, I am only scoring films that I've had an opportunity to see. That means some deserving candidates may not be ranked, a group which contains awards candidates such as Toy Story 3, The Kids Are All Right, 127 Hours or Winter's Bone. I would be interested in hearing your takes on these films if you've seen them. Similarly, atrocities such as Skyline, Little Fockers and The Last Airbender are mercifully exempt from consideration for "Worst of the Year". For therapeutic reasons, it might be good for you to share your experience with these clunkers with us, too.

Top 5 Films

1. Inception - I am running a great risk here. It is extremely dangerous to start tossing around, "Best film I've ever seen," for a movie you've only seen recently and only seen once. I will resist the urge to thus label Inception, but I cannot hold back my recommendation that you see this extraordinary movie if you haven't already. Much like with Avatar, the fan boys have turned hard against Christopher Nolan's mind-bending epic. It's been decried as overly complicated and too full of exposition, and the inconclusive ending has turned off many. For some reason, these complaints don't reach me. I didn't find the movie too complex, perhaps because I wasn't focusing purely on deciphering the layers of plot. The plot is interesting, sure, but I felt the film was more a study of the power of regret and just how difficult it can be to forgive oneself for past sins. I found that message to be very poignantly conveyed, and the fact that the film didn't spell out the precise final fate of the protagonist didn't detract from my appreciation of his journey at all. You can read my full review of Inception here.
2. True Grit - I've had a love/hate relationship with the Coen brothers over the years. Some of their films (Raising Arizona, No Country for Old Men have really worked for me; some (Fargo, The Big Lebowski) haven't. Given that True Grit is a western - not exactly the genre that most excites me - my expectations were mixed going in. Consider me blown away. If all westerns had this much heart and style, I'd be rooting hard for a comeback for the genre. I can't get over how linguistic the movie is. My understanding is that the Coen's worked very hard on capturing the language of the book upon which the film is based, and it shows. This is some of the best dialogue I've seen in a film for a long, long time. As for newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, who stars as the precocious 14-year-old Mattie Ross, we're looking at a clear Oscar performance here. Apparently, they're placing here in the Best Supporting Actress category. I suppose that will save her from competing against Natalie Portman in her role-of-a-lifetime (Black Swan), but honestly, Steinfeld was the star of this show; her coming Oscar will be well-deserved.
3. Inside Job - If you see just one documentary from 2010, see Inside Job. Great movies make you think and feel. Inside Job makes you think by relating the facts and figures behind the 2008 global financial crisis. It makes you feel (outrage) through a series of interviews conducted with many of the characters behind said crisis. If you think these men are apologetic, think again. Then consider that many of these people are still holding positions where they can influence global economies. That thought makes Inside Job perhaps more than just a great documentary, but also a great horror film.
4. The Social Network - It's been called Generation Y's Citizen Kane. While I wouldn't go that far myself, there's no denying the impact that Facebook has had on our culture, and there's no denying The Social Network is a seminal work of filmmaking. One would have to consider Jesse Eisenberg a leading candidate for Best Actor for his turn as Mark Zuckerberg, the socially inept computer genius who founded Facebook with his friend Eduardo Saverin from his Harvard dorm room after being dumped by his girlfriend. Zuckerberg would court controversy on numerous occasions, including stabbing his friend Eduardo in the back and apparently stealing the idea for Facebook from a pair of Harvard students, the Winklevoss twins. A couple interesting side notes on the Winklevosses: First, I had no idea that the same actor (Armie Hammer) played them both in the movie. Second, the Winklevosses have just asked a court to throw out its $65M ruling in their favor, apparently believing they can extract a higher compensatory award in a second trial.
5. The Town - Reminiscent of one of favorite movies of all time, Heat, The Town confirms that Ben Affleck is - surprise, surprise! - a director worth watching. He followed up his well-reviewed debut directorial performance, Gone Baby Gone, with this captivating tale of how a woman comes between a close-knit team of Boston professional criminals. The way this woman enters their life is unique; she is a hostage taken from a bank job. While the leader of the group falls deeper in love with this damaged woman, his best friend and right-hand man wants her dead since she could implicate them at any time. Read my full review here.

Worst of the Year - Four Lions. Pardon me, friends, for I am about to go off. Are you familiar with the story The Emperor's New Clothes? Let me share with you some sampled reviews of this limited-release indie comedy about four buffoonish British nationals who wish to blow themselves up and become martyrs for Islam:

...brilliantly incendiary... the blackest, ballsiest political comedy since 'Dr. Strangelove.' And, for those of strong stomach, one of the funniest.

...challenging and often hilarious... It's not your usual comedic fodder, but the director and co-writer's extensive research and profound intellect elevate the film above mere farce.

You'll laugh uproariously at what seems like a nihilistic but good-humored film, until you realize that [director Chris] Morris isn't actually kidding about any of it... a first-rate example of the self-lacerating, take-no-prisoners current in British comedy.

That's some pretty high praise from some pretty noteworthy critics! Sounds like a movie worth catching, no? I had been interested in Four Lions for some time based on the outlandish premise. I thought it could be a dark, subversive comedy worth seeing. Then the reviews came out and it seemed like an even surer bet for success. Almost everybody seemed to be in agreement that Four Lions was a super-witty satire. Oh sure, there were some naysayers. Joe Morgenstern of the Wall Street Journal, for instance, had this to say:

...an adolescent stab at a grown-up subject.... lacks a moral base. If the terrorists are hapless clowns, the cops are silly fools, and the closest the movie comes to political satire is the terrorists' penchant for videotaping themselves.

Ah, but that exception just proved the rule, right? I mean, everyone else was wildly shouting how stunning the emperor looks in his new clothes! And hey, we all know that the WSJ has its own political slant on things; this is just their bias showing through, yes?

That's what I figured heading into the movie. Upon leaving, I realized I owed Joe Morgenstern and the Wall Street Journal an apology. They were amongst the only reviewers to speak the truth: The emperor is walking around nude. Morgenstern says Four Lions "lacks a moral base". I'll take it a step further and say something I pretty much never say after seeing a movie: I found Four Lions to be offensive.

Now where do I get off dubbing this "offensive" when I knew going in it was a comedy about people wanting to blow themselves (and others) up in the name of their religion? Doesn't this fall under, "Duh, if you're a tightwad, you probably shouldn't be going to see this kind of satire?" Perhaps, except that I don't generally consider myself a tightwad, and this kind of satire sounded right up my alley. I like my comedies like my coffee: Black (alright, I don't drink coffee; I just wanted to use that analogy). Yet Four Lions was so horrible, so ungodly awful, that I was checking my watch every three minutes and fighting the urge to walk out of the theater about 50 minutes into it.

Let me tell you where Four Lions went wrong for me, and for any of you with creative writing ambitions, this is a moral worth considering. This is a story featuring protagonists who are virtually impossible to relate to and who experience absolutely no character arc. I don't care what you're writing, be it a comedy, a romance, a sweeping sci-fi epic, an action thrill-ride with a body count in the hundreds... fail to create relatable protagonists who develop in some manner over the course of the narrative and you're going putting yourself at extreme risk of failing to reach your audience. Even good antiheroes should be relatable in some way and experience some form of arc. In The Road Warrior, for instance, Max is a dislikeable, aimless wanderer who only cares about himself, and while he never becomes a total softy, he does find motivation to pick a side and aid a threatened colony of civilians in the form of revenge - a motivation many of us can relate to.

There's none of that in Four Lions. When the movie begins, our four protagonists have already decided to blow themselves up. Why? What drove them to this point? We never learn. As the movie progresses, we never witness any change or refinement in their motivations. They start angry and end angry, with no journey in between, all with no apparent reason. We are left to the conclusion that the characters in Four Lions are merely vessels for delivering "subversive" humor, but that's not good enough (especially when the jokes fall this flat); we want to see them actually grow over the course of the film.

If I had a chance to rewrite the script of Four Lions, here's what I would do. I would begin the movie with only one of the characters (Barry, the most radical and angry of the group) desiring to martyr himself. The remainder - including Omar, the leader of the group - would be more moderate in their views until an Event causes Omar to rethink his position. A newly radicalized Omar would suddenly become open to Barry's cajoling, and Act 1 would conclude with the two of them convincing the other two to join them in traveling to Pakistan to train at a camp for Islamic militants. Act 2 would cover their foibles at said training camp and would conclude with the Revelation that the Event which spurred Omar to pursue martyrdom was actually a big misunderstanding. After the Revelation, Omar and his two friends no longer wish to be martyrs. Barry is still full-in, however, and the shady characters they've gotten themselves involved with in Pakistan aren't particularly understanding about the trio's change of heart. Act 3 would chronicle Omar and friends' attempt to convince Barry to reject his chosen path and to extricate themselves from this group without getting themselves killed (by their hand or anyone else's).

It may not be Shakespeare, but at least we now have relatable characters (if you've ever taken an action in anger, then desperately wish you could retract your action when you later discover your anger was misplaced, you can empathize with Omar and friends), and we have a character arc of sorts (moderate characters become radical terrorist wannabes, then return to moderates who are now in danger from radicals). To me, that's a whole lot more interesting than, "Start angry, stay angry, end angry, tell some jokes and then blow yourself up in the end." Find your story's heart by making your characters three-dimensional, and remember to take them on some kind of developmental journey!

False Advertising - Predators. Before Four Lions came along and spurred me to write a novella on its failings, my Worst of the Year was tabbed for Predators. I was thoroughly disappointed by this weak sauce sequel to one of the greatest action movies of all time (you can read my review here). While Four Lions saved Predators from being the bottom of the barrel, I can't let the movie go without pointing out the nasty bit of false advertising producer Robert Rodriguez pulled on us. If you caught the Predators trailer, then you saw a scene at the end where star Adrian Brody is staring at something off-camera as about a dozen predator laser gun sights suddenly wink into existence on his body. Whoa! So there's going to be a big showdown between Brody and a dozen predators, eh? Well... not so much. You see, those gun sights were edited in specifically for the trailer. In the actual movie, Brody is facing just one predator and has just one gun sight on him. Rodriguez attempted to justify the move to MTV:

A lot of my movies have trailer shots that I shoot just for the trailer, so that people haven't seen the movie already but they get the feeling of what it's supposed to represent.

Except that people are making a decision whether to pay to see your film in part based on information gleaned from your trailer, Robert, and when you misrepresent the experience - especially when that misrepresentation is overstating the level of action contained in an action film - those people may walk away feeling cheated. I've long been a proponent of avoiding trailers as much as possible; I prefer going into a movie with as little knowledge of the setup as possible. If false advertising in trailers becomes standard practice, it will be just one more reason for me to avoid trailers altogether.

[John]

Let's update my personal Top 25 and Worst 5 Films of the 2000s lists. Newly added movies are highlighted in red:

Best of the 2000s

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - The movie that kept cinema alive for me long enough for my #2 movie of the decade to rekindle my passion. I never would have thought it possible for there to be such a perfect capturing of those masterworks of literature, but Peter Jackson pulls it off.
2. V for Vendetta - The movie that made cinema relevant to me again after a 10-year falling out. Much more than a simple action film, this one really reached me on a personal level. "Remember, remember the fifth of November,"... a message as timely now as it was in the time of Guy Fawkes.
3. Inception - As I said last year when I ranked District 9 at #3, it's always dangerous ranking movies you've only recently seen; they tend to come off higher than they should be. Despite the fact that I've only seen Inception once, I believe it's going to stick high on my list. It's theme of the importance of letting go of regret and the importance of forgiving yourself resonated with me.
4. District 9 - How amazing is this film? For $30M, Neill Blomkamp delivered a poignant tale of how we all too often allow our differences to become justifications for bigotry, and created a cracking sci-fi/action film with production values rivaling movies with 10x District 9's budget. It's just my kind of film; simultaneously entertaining and thought-provoking.
5. There Will Be Blood - An acting and directorial tour de force. Who would have thought, "I drink your milkshake!" would become a classic line for the ages?
6. No Country For Old Men - The Coen Brothers have long deserved recognition for their quirky work. They finally received it with one of their darkest films ever - and coming from these guys, that's saying a lot.
7. Avatar - Say what you want about the film's worldview, but it's clearly a film that's going to impact how we look at movie's for years to come (quite literally, if the spate of announcements of 3D versions of upcoming movies is any indication).
8. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - RotK gave this trilogy the fine send-off it deserved and cemented its place as the #1 movie series of the decade.
9. Children of Men - An artistically shot film depicting a hopelessly bleak future. Sometimes depressing can be beautiful.
10. The Wrestler - As touching a movie as you'll find. Just a superlative performance by Rourke. The work he must have put in to get his body in shape for this film is difficult to imagine.
11. Gladiator - A grand epic in the Braveheart mold (which, incidentally, remains one of my favorite films of all time).
12. Collateral - No one paid much attention to this move. They should have. Watching Jamie Foxx make the journey from dreamer to doer is inspirational.
13. In Bruges - My highest ranked comedy was also not seen by many people. Like Collateral, it deserves more attention, though I admit the film's foreign-ness works against its acceptance here in the States.
14. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - The least of the trilogy is still a fine film in its own right. Boo for dumbed-down Ents; yay for the Battle of Helm's Deep!
15. Blood Diamond - Is it emotionally manipulative? Probably. In this case, I was successfully manipulated. You win this round, Ed Zwick.
16. True Grit - An absolute pleasure to watch, True Grit actually makes me root for a comeback for the western genre. The melodic use of language, the gravelly voiced performance by Jeff Bridges and the stellar debut from young Hailee Steinfeld make True Grit a movie I'll look forward to seeing again.
17. Serenity - My lowest ranked top film of a year. It won't show up on most film critics' top anything list, but then most film critics aren't as passionately in love with Firefly as I am.
18. Shoot 'Em Up - I make no apologies for unabashedly loving this celebration of wanton violence. If you're thinking about going over the top, take a hint from Shoot 'Em Up and go all the way over... then be careful not to trip over your audiences' jaws as you go even further.
19. Pan's Labyrinth - Watching what Guillermo del Toro dreams up here makes my mouth water in anticipation of what he's going to do with The Hobbit.
20. Frost/Nixon - If you're going to see just one biopic, see this one.
21. Tropic Thunder - Those of us who have seen lots of war movies like Platoon and Full Metal Jacket will be rolling at this send-up of the genre.
22. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - If I were asked what the second most beautifully shot movie of the decade was, I would nominate Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
23. Inglourious Basterds - How can you not love a movie where Hitler gets a hot lead-full of comeuppance?
24. Memento - You could make a compelling argument that this amazingly told story is the best movie of the 2000s. Perhaps I saw it before I was ready, but I still recognize its genius.
25. Munich - Despite being too long for its own good, some extremely powerful scenes propel Munich to these lofty heights.

Falling off the list: Gangs of New York, Hero

2010 makes up for lack of quantity with some high quality. It places two films in the top 25, including Inception strong debut at #3. 2006 and 2008 are the only two years to have four movies appear on the Top 25. 2006 comes off strongest of all; its top four movies rank #2, #9, #15 and #19 overall. It joins 2007 (#5, #6) and 2009 (#4, #7) as the only years featuring multiple Top 10 entries. 2000, 2007 and 2009 each get three movies, while every year from 2001 through 2004 placed just one. Interesting that 2001 features my #1 overall movie and nothing else. The strength of the top films of 2001 and 2003 propel those years higher in my estimation than 2002 and 2004, which each lost a Top 25 film this year and featured little else of note beyond their top two placers.

And now the very worst 5 movies of the 2000s:

Worst of the 2000s

1. Transformers - When one of these brain-dead mega-budget films gets made, how many smaller budget potential gems do we lose out on? I shudder to think.
2. Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones - The Phantom Menace already dragged my memories of the original trilogy through the mud. Now you're burying my memories neck-deep in dung.
3. Battlefield Earth - Of all the movies on this list, this one is easily the worst from a purely technical perspective. Film students will be studying this movie for years as an example of what not to do.
4. Four Lions - It's exceedingly hard to place an indie black comedy amongst these big-budget shlock-fests. I probably hated my experience with Four Lions more than any of the other films on this list. Still, part of what goes into my determination of "worst" is expectations and lasting effect. The Star Wars prequels and Matrix sequels were dancing on the graves of treasured films from my past, and at least I won't have to see tons of Four Lions merchandise everywhere as a reminder of my wretched experience. The fact that there's no threat of a Four Lions 2 helps, also.
5. The Matrix Reloaded - Chalk up one more in the "tarnished memories" column. At least The Matrix only had three years in my heart before it was brought low by cash-in sequels.

[John]

You've hopefully just finished reading my Best Movies of 2010 and Top 25/Bottom 5 Films of the 2000s lists. Now it's time to look forward! Here are 10 of the films I'm particularly looking forward to in 2011. Since release dates for indie and Oscar award season films are so hard to pin down this early in the year, I'll be focusing on studio-backed films with set release dates.

• Battle: Los Angeles (March 11) - Aliens have arrived on Earth, and as tends to be the case, their none too friendly. Battle: Los Angeles shows us how us puny humans, led by Aaron Eckhart fight back. While that may not seem terribly original, the way the film is shot - which could be described as similar to the style of Black Hawk Down - means this just might be intense enough to catch my attention.
• Black Death (March 11) - This medieval horror flick featuring Sean Bean investigating reports of villagers returning to life after perishing from bubonic plague was actually on my list of films to see in 2010. Unfortunately, it didn't receive a U.S. release. It did make it out in England and Germany, and it's been doing the film festival circuit, garnering praise in most cases.
• Limitless (March 18) - A New York novelist who's going nowhere gets hold of a rare underground wonder-drug that turns his life upside-down. Taking it boosts his mental capacity by an order of magnitude, allowing him to turn his fortunes around. Problem is, it's killing him at the same time. Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro star.
• Source Code (April 1) - Duncan Jones's follow-up to his brilliant directorial debut, Moon finds Jake Gyllenhaal waking up in the body of an unknown man. He soon discovers he's part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train and must relive the last eight minutes of this man's life until he can solve the mystery of who is behind the bombs and prevent the attack.
• Your Highness (April 8 ) - A raunchy send-up of the fantasy genre that's getting good word-of-mouth. The fact that it features Natalie Portman, hot off her likely Oscar turn in Black Swan, doesn't hurt this film's chances.
• Super 8 (June 10) - No, I'm not talking about the motel chain. I'm talking about J.J. Abrams's homage to the Stephen Spielberg style of science fiction films (Spielberg is actually producing the film). Pretty much all we have to go on at this point is that the movie is about a group of kids who accidentally capture footage of a mysterious creature via 8 mm film. Abrams likes to play close to the vest, so expect details on this film to be very sparse leading up to its release.
• Moneyball (September 23) - Now here's one we should all be excited for! I love the book, but I never would have imagined it getting made into a movie. You've got Brad Pitt as Billy Beane and Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Art Howe. Sold.
• Anonymous (September 30) - Sometimes you want to see a movie because you expect greatness. Sometimes you go because you're anticipating a train wreck. The story of Anonymous centers on the long-rumored theory that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, actually wrote the plays of William Shakespeare. Sounds interesting, no? You know what else is interesting? Know what else is interesting? This historical drama is being directed by Roland Emmerich. Yes, the same Roland Emmerich known for such big-budget disaster film crap-fests like Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow and 2012. This should be fun!
• The Thing (October 14) - Okay, this is just weird. A prequel to one of the greatest horror films of all time (which itself was a remake of a 50s horror film could be interesting, I suppose... except that the story focuses on those crazy Swedes ("They're Norwegian, Mac.") that dug up and thawed out the thing in the first movie, and we all know how that turned out for them (lots o' dead Norwegians). Still... you had me at "The Thing". I'll be there; just don't trample on childhood memories, please.
• Contagion (October 21) - Earlier, we had a movie that was originally to be directed by Steven Soderbergh. Now we have a movie that actually will be directed by Soderbergh (and perhaps one of his last, if you believe the news), and it's shaping up to be a great one. An all-star cast headlined by Matt Damon accompany this film about a contagious and deadly disease that confounds an international team of doctors who are trying desperately to contain it before it becomes a worldwide plague.

[Arroyos]

This was difficult! I couldn't remember ten films from the past decade, let alone which were the best, without the help of others lists online that reminded me of some of the memorable films I saw. I was surprised to discovere how many of the ones I remember most favorably were political thrillers or political intrigue films. No question, though, which one was first on my list. A film that broke the mold, risked being completely incomprehensible, and spawned a host of imitators, none of which came close to evoking the world of a man whose memory is erased every night.

1. Memento
2. Crash
3. Lives of Others
4. The Reader
5. Transamerica
6. Charlie Wilson's War
7. Syriana
8. Burn After Reading
9. The Savages
10. Bowling for Columbine

[Matt]

I think I saw one film that came out in 2010, and on video at that. All though to be totally honest, I didn't really watch it.

Furry Vengence.

If your babysitting a 6 yr old girl, this is a great movie for keeping them occupied while you attend to PEBA on your laptop.

What's it about? I have no clue. But she laughed, left me alone for an hour and a half to get my export ready, so I give it two thumbs up.

[John]

1. Memento
2. Crash
3. Lives of Others
4. The Reader
5. Transamerica
6. Charlie Wilson's War
7. Syriana
8. Burn After Reading
9. The Savages
10. Bowling for Columbine

Memento and Syriana are of course both on my Best of Year lists. Burn After Reading is one of the Coen brothers films that clicked with me; I kinda dug that comedy. I also enjoyed Charlie Wilson's War. The other six films you listed, I haven't had a chance to see for myself. The Lives of Others sounds particularly interesting; I'll have to check that out!

I think I saw one film that came out in 2010, and on video at that. All though to be totally honest, I didn't really watch it.

Furry Vengence.

If your babysitting a 6 yr old girl, this is a great movie for keeping them occupied while you attend to PEBA on your laptop.

What's it about? I have no clue. But she laughed, left me alone for an hour and a half to get my export ready, so I give it two thumbs up.

The sacrifices we make for our families.

[Arroyos]

The Lives of Others sounds particularly interesting; I'll have to check that out!

It's well worth the effort to find it. A tense and compelling drama about the final years of East Germany, where neighbors spied on neighbors, everyone assuming everyone else worked for the Stasi.

[John]

Well, how about that? I was looking this thread over again and was shocked to realize that I somehow forgot to include The Town, which just edges out The King's Speech to take the #5 spot on my Best of 2010 list. I've edited that list, removing The King's Speech (which I still wholeheartedly recommend) and adding The Town, an excellent crime/romance thriller that shows Ben Affleck has serious directorial chops. You can read the mini-review above.

[Daniel Diemer]

Memento annoyed me in the end because the story doesn't actually work if you play it all out. But it was a movie that kept you thinking, and I was ready to consider it one of the best I've seen until the end. But that's just me. :)

[klewis]

As always, I am only scoring films that I've had an opportunity to see. That means some deserving candidates may not be ranked, a group which contains awards candidates such as Toy Story 3, The Kids Are All Right, 127 Hours or Winter's Bone.

John, you need to jump on the Pixar bandwagon! Ha, I'm going to sound like I work for Pixar but... Pixar is one of the few studios that seems to never disappoint with each movie. It's kind of like the Simpsons in its prime. Sure, the animation is for kids but there's a lot of subtle themes that adults can latch onto.

I just recently watched Winter's Bone with my brother. We were both left disappointed. The acting was superb especially that of the main character (portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence). There's a lot of grit to the movie. But both of us thought the movie was slow and ended rather abruptly. I most certainly thought the movie was just in its climax and then it ends. Perhaps if I am more familiar with the Ozarks setting, I could have connected better with the film.

[Zephyrs]

Not that anyone is interested but here is my take on John's best films of the 2000's list:

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - I totally agree with John.
V for Vendetta - Not interested.
Inception - Nolan is the best film maker alive in my opinion.
District 9 - I watched this not too long ago and was very taken by the film. I did not feel real good after watching it but, provoked a lot of thought and emotion.
There Will Be Blood - I found it boring. I didn't really connect with anyone in the film.
No Country For Old Men - My favorite all time Coen bros film is Miller's Crossing. I go from really like to absolutely love everything they make and this was no exception.
Avatar - Like V, I am not going to see this.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - All three of these were great entertainment.
Children of Men - I found it interesting and very watchable but not on my top anything list. On the "sometimes depressing can be beautiful" note - I would put The Road in that category.
The Wrestler - I watched bits and pieces and it is on my to do list. I hate to sound superficial but, any movie that has naked Marisa Tome is alright by me.
Gladiator - Perfect film. I own it.
Collateral - Not great but not bad either.
In Bruges - I tried to watch this. After 45 minutes, I gave up.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Again, three great films.
Blood Diamond - I found this to be worth my time. Good all around entertainment.
True Grit - On my to do list for a variety of reasons.
Serenity - I have never heard of this but, I will check it out because it is here.
Shoot 'Em Up - This was a bit campy but, overall a fun watch. My brother loves it.
Pan's Labyrinth - I too love the visuals of Guillermo del Toro. My kids love the Hellboy movies and having Guillermo as the Director makes them real easy to watch.
Frost/Nixon - It was just OK.
Tropic Thunder - I laugh so hard at this movie. Tom Cruise shot up in my standing after watching this.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - I watched it once but really don't remember much about it.
Inglourious Basterds - Solid movie that will forever be tainted by my mistake of letting my kids watch a good portion of it before I recognized my mistake.
Memento - This movie really 'wowed' me. I remember re-watching it immediately after the credits rolled.
Munich - Never saw it. Not likely to change.

I watched the Town last night and was really blown away. I will see it again before adding it to my all time best films.

[John]

Not that anyone is interested but here is my take on John's best films of the 2000's list:

Hey, I'm interested! What fun is critiquing if not for return critiques? I totally agree - Nolan is one of the filmmaking geniuses of our time. Hey, he even made me kinda like Batman. Considering how disinterested I am in all things superhero related, that's an amazing accomplishment.

[Alan Ehlers]

Hm, a top ten 2000-2009 is quite difficult, especially as there's been some dry spells when I didn't watch many new releases.

Here's my meager attempt, in no particular order:

- Lord of the Rings (yes, I consider them one movie, just as I do the Russian War & Peace adaptation)
- Pan's Labyrinth
- Inglorious Basterds
- There Will Be Blood
- Avatar
- The Dark Knight
- Watchmen
- Inception
- Infernal Affairs (the Hong Kong movie that was remade as "The Departed")
- The White Ribbon (chronicle of one year in a small village in Prussia before WW1)

Also, here are my favorite guilty pleasures of the decade:
- Transporter 1-3
- Crank 1-2
- Iron Man
- The Expendables
- John Rambo
- Doomsday
- Saw series
- Planet Terror
- Machete
- 300