Previously:
My Top 48 Movies of the Last Decade: Part I
My Top 48 Movies of the Last Decade: Part II
And it continues…
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24. Collateral (2004) Director: Michael Mann/Writers: Stuart Beattie, Michael Mann, & Frank Darabont
Tom Cruise can deliver a solid performance if he tries. In 2004 he delivered one in Collateral. As a professional hitman, Cruise is cold and distant and out of his comfort zone. It’s definitely one of the most underrated performances of the decade and it’s a shame that the only award he was nominated for was an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain. The backdrop of the film is L.A. at night and no one shoots L.A. better than Michael Mann. I’ve always been a fan of Mann’s digital film shoots, like in Miami Vice and Public Enemies (yes, I know I’m one of the few who actually enjoyed the look of that film). Los Angeles is another character in Collateral. The cityscape, the alleyways, the abandoned freeways at night; it’s the perfect setting for a film of this tone. The movie revolves around Cruise’s hitman taking hostage Jaime Foxx’s taxi driver. Cruise’s solitary look on life is easily summed up with what he says when he first meets Foxx’s character:
Vincent: What’s your name?
Max: Max.
Vincent: Max. I’m Vincent.
Max: First time in L.A.?
Vincent: No. Tell you the truth, whenever I’m here I can’t wait to leave. It’s too sprawled out, disconnected. You know? That’s me. You like it?
Max: It’s my home.
Vincent: 17 million people. This is got to be the fifth biggest economy in the world and nobody knows each other. I read about this guy who gets on the MTA here, dies.
Max: Oh.
Vincent: Six hours he’s riding the subway before anybody notices his corpse doing laps around L.A., people on and off sitting next to him. Nobody notices.
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23. The Wrestler (2008) Director: Darren Aronofsky/Written: Robert D. Siegel
This is an amazing example where in an actor fully embodies the character. Mickey Rourke is Randy the Ram. If I were to list the performances of the decade Rourke’s here would rank right behind Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood. It’s all about timing too; imagine if the original actor who was set to star in the movie, Nicolas Cage, hadn’t dropped out. I can’t honest imagine Cage being able to pull off what Rourke does here, putting everything on screen, both physically and emotionally. Aronofsky knows how to capture it all too. His grainy handheld camerawork will make you forget he was the kinetic fastcut director who brought us amputated arms and unnamable sex acts involving Jennifer Connelly. And if the final moments don’t affect you as powerfully as they did me then you’re a robot.
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A light funny movie about the age old debate of existentialism versus nihilism, written and directed by the always berating David O. Russell, has a much wit as a Wes Anderson movie but manages to be just unique in its own right. Sometimes the heavy existentialism dialogue, delivered comedically by Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin, weighs down the plot, but it’s definitely tries to be smarter than your run of the mill comedy. The entire cast is hilarious (Jude Law and Naomi Watts give rare comedic roles) but the highlight for me is Mark Wahlberg, who gives his best performance here as a washed up fireman. Director Russell may be the only person on earth that can extract an honest performance from Wahlberg. It’s surprising to see how well the movie turned out after hearing about the turmoil that happened on set (Google “David O. Russell and Lily Tomlin”) so count this as one of those happy accidents.
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In the long line of Judd Apatow produced films coming after 2005’s The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Superbad stands as the best. Written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg when they were teenagers, the movie is a great coming of age comedy, which is just as great as the classic comedies from the 70’s and 80’s. It’ll influence so many like I think movies like Ghostbusters and any old National Lampoon films influenced so many. In so many words I’m trying to say that Superbad has the potential of being a future classic. Some of the film’s success is because of the cast which is all sorts of perfect. Bill Hader continues to prove he’s one of the funniest men to come out of the current SNL era and Seth Rogen remains consistently hilarious (and I don’t care if you say otherwise). The two standouts though, are the leads, Michael Cera and Jonah Hill. The chemistry is perfect as the movie becomes the first of many ‘bromance’ comedies released in the last couple of years. They’re part of the reason why the movie is so re-watchable.
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20. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (2005) Director/Writer: Shane Black
Robert Downey Jr. is a robber turned wanna be actor turned private detective in this painfully overlooked action/comedy/crime movie. Written and directed by Shane Black, the writer of the first Lethal Weapon, the movie is really one of the best combinations of action and comedy I’ve ever seen. It may be Black’s previous experience with 80’s action movies, but the action scenes in Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang are top-notch, especially the film’s last perfect sequence. It’s not primarily an action movie though as Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer, as a gay private detective, make a great buddy cop duo (sound familiar?) and as they say ‘comedy ensues’. Mix in some film noir elements and the very hot Michelle Monaghan and you’ve got a great movie that balances several genres and one of my favorites.
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19. Closer (2004) Director: Mike Nichols /Writer: Patrick Marber
This film, based on the play by the same name, displays the worst parts of any relationships. It’s all here; the lying, the cheating, the manipulation, the games, and the breaking-up. Painful at parts, it’s the dialogue that makes the film feel raw and real. Almost every scene has just two of the four leads talking. And that’s all it is, talking. I’m surprised that the movie works as well as it does. And it’s mainly due to the cast. Julia Roberts, Natalie Portman, Jude Law, and Clive Owen are perfect. They embody truly fucked up characters, who you pity just a little (only a tiny bit though). Special mention goes out to Clive Owen and Natalie Portman. Owen is one of my favorite actors and this movie is a reason why. He’s at his best here, manipulative and insecure (his ‘how did he taste’ argument with Roberts is a standout), it’s no wonder why he was nominated for the Oscar for his role here. It’s the opposite of a romantic comedy. It’s a real romantic drama.
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I feel like I’ve said so much about this movie already. My four star review from last August and my Best of 2009 list, in which I named this movie my best of the year, pretty much said it all. It’s an amazing film from one of my favorite directors. I think with time my appreciation of the movie will continue to grow. In the last few weeks I was debating at where exactly this movie would place on my decade list. I originally had it lower but after the seeing the movie again I placed it much higher, but I’m still debating on whether a higher ranking would be more appropriate. Technically it’s up there with Tarantino’s classic Pulp Fiction, and it’s my personal second favorite of the decade.
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The Lord of the Rings films are perfect examples of epic filmmaking. The cast, the location, the story, the battle scenes; the trilogy brought back the event film in a big way. When it was deemed impossible to make huge big budget films, back-to-back even, Peter Jackson came in and made it look so easy. Eight years in the making, the three films (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King) set the trilogy trend in Hollywood, with Pirates of the Caribbean and The Matrix following suit and filming movies simultaneously. But they weren’t event films like the Lord of the Rings movies turned out to be. The films’ success could be attributed to what America was feeling at the time. The first film was released in late 2001, a mere four months after the 9/11 attacks. People were looking for pure fantasy and Fellowship was the perfect distraction. A tale of good versus evil, with wizards and hobbits mind you, allegorized our new ‘War on Terror’ and was the proper wish-fulfillment we needed. Thanks to Jackson and company, what could’ve turned out as a ridiculous mess (I’m thinking Dungeons & Dragons: The Movie), became a once in a lifetime movie experience for many.
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16. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) Director: Adam McKay/Writers: Will Ferrell & Adam McKay
The funniest movie of the decade. And here are a few reasons why:
- “I am in a glass case of emotion!”
- “I’m gonna punch you in the ovary, that’s what I’m gonna do. A straight shot. Right to the babymaker.”
- “Discovered by the Germans in 1904 they named it San Diego, which of course in German means a ‘whale’s vagina’.”
- “Dorothy Mantooth is a saint!”
- “I love poetry. And a good glass of scotch. And of course, my friend Baxter here.”
- “Right now it is seventy-eight degrees in our fair city, and compare that to sixty-eight degrees in the Upper Northwest, and forty-eight degrees in the Middle East.”
- “I love carpet. I love desk…I love lamp. I love lamp!”
- “Oh, sorry, Champ… I think I ate your Chocolate Squirrel.”
- “They’ve done studies, you know. Sixty percent of the time, it works every time.”
- “Yeah, there were horses, and a man on fire, and I killed a guy with a trident!”
- “I’m Ron Burgundy. Go fuck yourselves, San Diego.”
- “I’m not a baby, I’m a MAN! I am an ANCHORMAN!”
- “It smells like Bigfoot’s dick!”
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15. Mulholland Drive (2001) Director/Writer: David Lynch
I don’t get some of David Lynch’s films. Even though he’s made some of my favorite films (Blue Velvet, The Elephant Man) and one of my favorite TV shows (Twin Peaks) sometimes I’m completely dumbfounded by what he does (Lost Highway, Inland Empire). One thing that remains constant though, his movies never fail to get under my skin. That’s what Mulholland Drive does so well. The simplest description I can give is that the film revolves around two women, Naomi Watts and Laura Harring, caught up in a murder mystery in Hollywood. Beyond that, well, things from the darkest recesses of my nightmares show up. Longtime collaborator composer Angelo Badalamenti supplies the haunting soundtrack, like his work in Twin Peaks and Blue Velvet, which adds another layer of eeriness to the already disturbing movie. I’ve read theories about what the chilling final minutes of the movie actually mean. A dream, multiple personalities, parallel dimensions; it’s interesting to think about the interpretations but what I’d prefer and not over-analyze it and enjoy it for what it is, a truly thrilling mind-bending movie.
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14. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) Director: Wes Anderson/Writers: Wes Anderson & Owen Wilson
The Royal Tenenbaums is still my favorite Wes Anderson movie. It has the best cast, the best story, the best acting, the best music, and the best look of any of his films. With this, his third feature after Bottle Rocket and Rushmore, Anderson cemented his original style. And it takes a talented filmmaker to pull a great performance out of Gene Hackman and Ben Stiller in the same movie. The whole gamut of acting talent is extraordinaire with Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelica Houston, Danny Glover, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, and Bill Murray rounding out the cast.
It’s quite a beautiful piece of filmmaking.
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Back in 2005, what I thought would end up like Spielberg’s next Schindler’s List ended up being his version of a Mission: Impossible movie. Covering a chapter in history vaguely known (or at least slightly fabricated according to who you talk to), the movie follows a group of Israeli assassins, led by Eric Bana, brought together to hunt down and kill members of Black September, who helped plan the 1972 Olympic terrorist attack in Munich. And hunt down and kill they do. Spielberg creates little vignettes for each hit, with the focus on pushing the tension as much as humanly possible; he makes the quest revenge farthest from easy. The fantastic action set pieces are wrapped around what ends up being a morality play about the consequences of the Israeli’s retaliation. As a member of the Israeli hit squad wonders, “We are supposed to be righteous. That’s a beautiful thing. And we’re losing it. If I lose that, that’s everything. That’s my soul.” It’s a powerful movie and one as important as any this decade.
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Finally:
Again great list, I cannot wait to see the top 12.
Hey thanks, glad you like it.
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