Previously: My Top 48 Movies of the Last Decade – Part I
And it continues…
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The 2000s Hollywood was all about starting over. Reboots, reimaginings, and re-quels, we saw it all. One of the most successful rebirths was that of the old reliable James Bond. With the help of some Bourne-esque gritty realism, Casino Royale took Bond into the post-9/11 world. An important factor in the new Bond era is Daniel Craig. Sure Bond fans were upset when they first heard that a short-haired blonde was taking over. But it turned out that Daniel Craig was perfect as the new era 007. Thrilling action sequences, hot women, absurdly evil villains, along with actually making poker exciting and watchable, makes Casino Royale a great Bond film and one of the best action movies of the decade.
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Director: Martin Scorsese/Writers: Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian & Kenneth Lonergan
Scorcese’s first film of the new millennium came out several years too early. In Gangs of New York, a war no one wanted raged, an immigrant problem was rampant, and an election was fast approaching. I was less than impressed when I first saw it, actually. To me it was just an action period piece starring Leonardo DiCaprio (I wasn’t convinced of his leading man stature at the time) and Cameron Diaz (yeah definitely not the best choice for that role). The best part that stood out for me after the first time seeing it and after continuous viewings was of course Daniel Day-Lewis. His fascinating take on Bill the Butcher was a great warm-up to his next movie and the performance of the decade (more on that later). Years later, sometime in 2008, I saw it again and I was blown away. Gangs of New York says so much about America as we know it now. Give it another chance if you don’t believe me. It’s a great movie that hopefully will be appreciated more as time goes on.
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Director: Paul Greengrass/Writers: Tony Gilroy, Brian Helgeland, Scott Z. Burns, & George Nolfi, based on the novels by Robert Ludlum
The Paul Greengrass-less Bourne Identity never did the trick for me. Even with the inclusion of the likes of Clive Owen and Chris Cooper, I couldn’t stop from thinking of it as a lifeless action movie. It wasn’t until Greengrass entered the equation with Supremacy that the film series found its own unique edge. Supremacy and Ultimatum utilized the now much imitated shaky handheld camera technique in a lot of the action scenes. I mean can we even imagine what the new Bond and Batman films would look like without the Greengrass-Bourne influence?
And Ultimatum really succeeds where a lot of action sequels stumble. The story builds on Supremacy to deliver a fantastic follow-up (and possible final chapter). It’s definitely one of the smarter action movies I’ve ever seen. The plot moves along just as fast and smoothly as Matt Damon’s solemn Bourne escapes the authorities. It’s rare that a film series improves so dramatically with each new entry, and the send two Bourne movies last decade do just that.
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Director: Edgar Wright/Writer: Edgar Wright & Simon Pegg
An ode to the mindless action movie, the Spaced boys’ (Wright, Pegg, and Nick Frost) second feature film tries its damndest to outdo their first (the classic Shaun of the Dead) and they almost succeed in doing so. It’s near genius how Hot Fuzz instantly turns moments from films like Point Break and Bad Boys II into iconic movie moments. And thanks to Wright and company those two movies are now seen in a whole new light. That’s one of the reasons why the film ends up being so great. The movie’s not a parody, but a loving tribute to all those detective action movies. While Shaun was a movie set in the world of the Romero zombie movies, Hot Fuzz is set in the world of Dirty Harry and Lethal Weapon. Special attention needs to be given to Simon Pegg, who plays a different type of character than what he’s accustomed to. He’s no longer the nerdy loser but the hard-edged Harry Callahan type. The film continues to prove that Wright, Pegg, and Frost work at their best when they’re working together, which makes me eager to see what they have in store for us next.
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Director: Kathryn Bigelow/Writer: Mark Boal
This is the one of two war films on my list. The reason why is because war movies just don’t affect me like they should. One of the rare exceptions is last year’s The Hurt Locker, which in my mind is the best real war movie since Saving Private Ryan. I try to explain why below.
From my Best of 2009 list:
“This is a very different kind of war movie. Director Kathryn Bigelow will get nominated for Best Director and likely win for constructing some of the tensest sequences ever put on film. Starring Jeremy Renner as a member of an Explosive Ordnance Disposal in Iraq, the film’s best ‘action’ sequences are built around the defusing of IEDs. Renner is a hotshot professional, sometimes throwing caution to the wind as he comes inches and seconds away from being totally obliterated. As he says halfway through the film, taking off his protective bombsuit, “There’s enough bang in there to blow us all to Jesus. If I’m gonna die, I want to die comfortable.” Renner’s character may be cool under pressure next to hundreds of pounds of explosives, but his unwavering calm is tested after he starts seeing ‘the horrors of war’. At points it is like the same old war movie but it does do it better than any other war movie this past year or decade.”
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Director: Christopher Nolan/Writers: Jonathan Nolan & Christopher Nolan
Perhaps the best action sequence of the decade has to be the cop convoy chase sequence. One of the few sequences in the film entirely shot in IMAX, the sequence is still as visually satisfying now as it was when I first saw it for the first time. Christopher Nolan isn’t the greatest action director, actually there are times when the editing makes it incomprehensible, but somehow it works. That’s the way I see the whole movie actually. There are times where it just doesn’t make sense, like the Joker’s prison escape plot (which is way too unbelievable), but somehow it comes together to make a great film. Other sequels have gone down the same path, going down the bloated convoluted side, but The Dark Knight is that rare exception, where popcorn movie meets masterpiece.
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Director: Spike Jonze/Writer: Charlie Kaufman, based on the book by Susan Orlean
This is the best movie about the writers’ struggle since Barton Fink. Charlie Kaufman is one of the best Hollywood screenplay writers out there and this is one of the reasons why. Kaufman adds several layers to this film, making Adaptation a bit inscrutable. How much of it is real? How much of it is a put on? Did screenwriter Charlie Kaufman really try to adapt a book about the poaching of rare orchids? Or is it just a satirical take on the generic Hollywood script and nothing else? It could be all of the above, or none.
It does the job attacking the formulaic screenplays in Hollywood, and only in Hollywood, and this movie, would Nicolas Cage play Charlie Kaufman. Here, Cage gives a rare great performance, playing both Kaufman and his fictional twin brother Donald. He’s playing the wide spectrum, from schlubby loser to cocky trash writer. It’s the kind of work that Cage should do more of.
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29. Knocked Up (2007)Director/Writer: Judd Apatow
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Director: Spike Lee/Writer: David Benioff
My favorite Spike Lee movie of the decade quietly sneaks up on you and by the end it knocks you out with an emotional sledgehammer. Ed Norton plays Monty Brogan, a man spending his last day before a seven year prison sentence with his best friends and girlfriend. Sure it’s a nice character drama, with each of Monty’s friends (played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Barry Pepper, and Rosario Dawson) having their own personal demons to deal with. Hoffman is exceptionally good as a loser teacher with a crush on one of his students (Anna Paquin in a small but memorable role). Crime drama at parts, it stays alittle formulaic but remains exceptionally done. It’s not until the end that the movie changes speeds and hits you emotionally with Monty’s conversation with his father. It’s a scene that is still with me after all this time and it’ll probably remain with me for years to come.
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Director/Writer: Paul Greengrass
Cries of ‘too soon’ wouldn’t stop Hollywood from releasing 9/11 centric films. Two were released in 2006. One was Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center and the other was Paul Greengrass’ United 93. Stone’s take suffered from what a lot of movies on the subject suffered from, it ended up being a disingenuous melodrama. Greengrass’ film about that faithful day is anything but melodramatic. Filmed in the signature documentary style, the film does something brave and refuses to insert politics or bias into the equation. It is powerful filmmaking as it looks and feels like an accurate and respectful look at what really happened on that day. In decades to come we could be seeing more Pearl Harbor’s, fortunately we have Greengrass’ unflinching point of view.
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Director/Writer: Rian Johnson
Joseph Gordon Levitt is a movie star. Yeah, (500) Days of Summer finally proved it this past year but a lot of people already knew it back in 2005 when he starred in Rian Johnston’s debut feature. Brick is an all out film noir detective story set in a high school. Levitt is the lead, hell bent on solving the murder of an ex-girlfriend. The one thing that separates the movie from every other one on this list is the movie’s dialogue, which is brilliant. The script is one of the most finely crafted of the decade. It takes a while to get use to the hardboiled detective lingo but once you catch on it becomes a really memorable experience.
I’ll leave you with a selection of dialogue:
Brendan Frye: Emily said four words I didn’t know. Tell me if they catch. Brick?
The Brain: No.
Brendan Frye: Or Bad Brick?
The Brain: Nope.
Brendan Frye: Tug?
The Brain: Tug? Tug might be a drink, like milk and vodka, or something.
Brendan Frye: Poor Frisco?
The Brain: Frisco? Frisco Farr was a sophomore last year, real trash. Maybe hit a class a week, I didn’t know him then, haven’t seen him around.
Brendan Frye: Pin?
The Brain: Pin. The Pin?
Brendan Frye: The Pin, yeah?
The Brain: The Pin is kinda a local spook story, yeah know the King Pin.
Brendan Frye: Yeah, I’ve heard it.
The Brain: Same thing, he’s supposed to be old, like 26. Lives in town.
Brendan Frye: Dope runner, right?
The Brain: Big time. See the Pin pipes it from the lowest scraper for Brad Bramish to sell, maybe. Ask any dope rat where their junk sprang and they’ll say they scraped it from that, who scored it from this, who bought it off so, and after four or five connections the list always ends with The Pin. But I bet you, if you got every rat in town together and said “Show your hands” if any of them’ve actually seen The Pin, you’d get a crowd of full pockets.
Brendan Frye: You think The Pin’s just a tale to take whatever heat?
The Brain: Hmm… So what’s first?
Brendan Frye: Show of hands.
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Director: Danny Boyle/Writer: Simon Beaufoy
America’s mood in the last decade was dreary, to say the least. Most of the film on this list follow that same sentiment, that of post 9/11 nihilism. So it’s refreshing to see such a hope-filled movie like Slumdog Millionaire. The film isn’t overtly sappy, though. The film’s end feels earned after nearly two hours of turmoil the ‘slumdogs’ endure. And it’s all under the impressive direction of Danny Boyle, who after some misses comes back to make his best film since Trainspotting. Also the plot, built around the game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire, turns out to be less ridiculous than it sounds, all thanks to the great adapted screenplay by Simon Beaufoy. Love, destiny, and hope were what America was feeling at the time Slumdog Millionaire won Best Picture. It may feel like years ago, but the film reminds us that it wasn’t all doom and gloom in the 2000′s.
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Next up:
My Top 48 Movies of the Last Decade: Part III
My Top 48 Movies of the Last Decade: Part IV
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Second part is just as good as the first, great choices!
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