“I came in here ready to spam, “2000 FUCKING SUCKED,” but after checking out some of these lists I’m pretty sure that 2002 was one of the worst years for cinema ever.”
I think you are right. 2002 is probably the worst of the 2000s. I can’t even come up with more than 30 films I liked from that year (I take 50 as a benchmark).
I’m lucky if I find 10 films I like during a given year, you call 30 a bad haul? Must be nice.
Somebody hates movies
>>The Hurt Locker…. you liked that movie?<<
Quite a bit. It had suspense and an interesting psychological angle. One of the better war films of recent years. (although 2009 is not high on my list, so its not an all time favorite.)
Kings and Queen is 2004.
I do, in fact, hate movies.
I have movies too, Axel; I only post on forums to talk about which movies I hate. I mean, doesn’t everybody?
“Kings and Queen is 2004.”
Shit. You are correct, sir. That’s the problem with release dates. I have to go through all my old logs and then check them again with IMDB dates. I hate calendars.
It’s a big hassle balancing the disparity between “critics” and IMDb as far as dates go.
“I think you are right. 2002 is probably the worst of the 2000s.”
Really? I like a fair amount of stuff not many people like, but . . .
Spider
Demonlover
Ten
Springtime in a Small Town
*Corpus Callosum
The Pianist
25th Hour
Interview With the Assassin
Infernal Affairs
Secretary
Punch-Drunk Love
Talk to Her
Femme Fatale
Far From Heaven
The Salton Sea
Igby Goes Down
Roger Dodger
The Quiet American
Ju-On: The Grudge
The Eye
8 Women
The Twilight Samurai
Gerry
Morvern Callar
The Man Without a Past
Ripley’s Game
Russian Ark
Sweet Sixteen
Auto Focus
Distant
Dolls
All or Nothing
The Son
Open Hearts
Ararat
Oasis
Love Liza
The Tracker
Sunshine State
Blissfully Yours
Funny Ha Ha
Japón
2002 as the worst year of the aughts seems to be a big overstatement. No, having a worst year in the aughts IS an overstatement.
Ah, I forgot about Blissfully Yours! City of God is 2002 as well. I got it mixed up with the 2003 film that has the same name.
“Really? I like a fair amount of stuff not many people like, but . . .”
It’s a year where most of the best films are weaker/lesser films by the director – Spider, Sweet Sixteen, All or Nothing, The Man Without a Past, Gerry, Punch-Drunk Love, the Pianist, 8 Women etc.
Then there are downright duds/misfires like Ararat, Femme Fatale, Secretary, Auto Focus, demonlover, etc.
Hell, even my top twenty for that year features more than a few films that most people hate (especially my number 1):
The Rules of Attraction
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
Oasis
The Man Without a Past
Far From Heaven
Irreversible
The Pianist
Kedma
Sweet Sixteen
25th Hour
Spider
Dahmer
Punch-Drunk Love
About Schmidt
Red Bear (Oso Rojo)
Dirty Pretty Things
Historias mínimas
In America
24 Hour Party People
Heaven
1) 2007
No Country for Old Men
Zodiac
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
2) 2005
Syriana
Munich
Good Night, and Good Luck.
3) 2001
Spirited Away
The Man Who Wasn’t There
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
4) 2002
The Pianist
25th Hour
City of God
5) 2006
Casino Royale
I Served the King of England
The Good Shepherd
6) 2008
Goodbye Solo
IL Divo
The Wrestler
7) 2004
The Aviator
Ray
Bad Education
8) 2009
Moon
Agora
Up in the Air
9) 2000
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Traffic
Memento
10) 2003
Big Fish
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Mystic River
hate on the PENULTIMATE…. Crash (not Cronenberg’s).
…Penultimate means next to last. What is your final film in the series of inane “obvious to hate on” cinema of the 00s?
i’m gonna do a top 3 (personal preference not “best film” or whatever) since that seems to be the formula (a nightmarish one at that), however these don’t represent the year as a whole and in some cases i much prefer films from my top 3 on lower tier years than high tier:
PS all of you can suck it, i thought 2002 was a great year for the 00s. better than say 03, 04.
2002:
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Adaptation. tie
Y Tu Mama Tambien and The Rules of Attraction tie
Talk to Her and In America tie
2009: (Such a good year for film)
Antichrist and The White Ribbon tie
Up in the Air and A Serious Man tie
A Prophet
2008:
Hunger
Wall-E
In Bruges
2006:
Children of Men
The Wind that Shakes the Barley
Pan’s Labyrinth
2007:
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
No Country for Old Men
Hot Rod
2005:
The New World
A Bittersweet Life
A History of Violence
2000:
American Psycho
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Shadow of the Vampire
2001:
The Royal Tenenbaums
Gosford Park
Mulholland Dr.
2004:
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Shaun of the Dead
2003:
Dogville (one of my personal favorites of the decade)
Big Fish
Cabin Fever
It was a great decade for dark comedies.
2000
Werckmeister Harmonies
Virgin Stripped Bare by her Bachelors
Eureka
Yi Yi
In Vanda’s Room
2008
Extraordinary Stories
Now Showing
The Sky, the Earth and the Rain
Liverpool
Melancholia
2002
The Name of a River
Camel(s)
Japón
Oasis
Turning Gate
2006
Syndromes and a Century
Times and Winds
Woman on the Beach
Colossal Youth
Windows on Monday
2007
Death in the Land of Encantos
Counterparts
In the City of Sylvia
And the Spring Comes
Blind Mountain
2005
Grain in Ear
Oxhide
The Child
This Charming Girl
The Death of Mr Lazarescu
2001
Distance
The Swamp
What Time is it There?
Failan
Harmful Insect
2003
Shara
Goodbye Dragon Inn
Last Life in the Universe
Bright Future
Strange
2009
About Elly
Hiroshima
Like You Know It All
Eighteen
Fish Tank
2004
Nightsongs
The Beautiful City
Alone
The Holy Girl
Moon And Cherry
2007 and 2008 pretty bad.
Best 2009, plenty of films i like. Also 2002 and 2001.
Ranked in awesomeness/number of all-time faves
2005 (The New World)
2000 (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Tears of the Black Tiger; The Heart of the World)
2001 (Pistol Opera, The Royal Tenenbaums)
2007 (My Winnipeg)
2008 (Summer Hours)
2002 (24 Hour Party People)
2003 (Master and Commander)
2004 (2046)
2006 (The Prestige)
2009 (no all-time fave, but my fave from this year was Inglorious Basterds)
2002 and 2005 are the greatest year for me, but here they are
2000
Platform (Jia Zhiang-ke, China)
Dancer in the Dark (Lars von Trier, Denmark)
Love, Money, Love / L’amour, L’argent, L’amour (Philip Groning, Germany)
2001
The Mad Songs of Fernanda Hussein (John Gianvito, USA)
Fate / Yazgi (Zeki Demirkubuz, Turkey)
Passing Summer / Mein Langsames Leben (Angela Schanelec, Germany)
2002
Ten (Abbas Kiarostami, Iran)
Letter from a Filmmaker to His Daughter / Lettre d’un cinéaste à sa fille (Eric Pauwels, Belgium)
Cravan Vs. Cravan (Isaki Lacuesta, Spain)
2003
Shara / Sharasojyu (Naomi Kawase, Japan)
Memories of Murder (Bong Joon-ho, South Korea)
Angels in America (Mike Nichols, USA)
2004
Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand)
Trilogy: the Weeping Meadow / Trilogia: To Livadi Pou Dakryzei (Theo Angelopoulos, Greece)
The World (Jia Zhangke, China)
2005
2046 (Wong Kar-wai, Hong Kong)
Phantom Limb (Jay Rosenblatt, USA)
Dear Pyongyang (Yang Yong-hi, Japan)
2006
Bamako (Abderrahmane Sissako, Mali)
Requiem from Java / Opera Jawa (Garin Nugroho, Indonesia)
Old Joy (Kelly Reichardt, USA)
2007
Frownland (Ronald Bronstein, USA)
Photos from In the City of Sylvia / Unas Fotos en la Ciudad de Sylvia (Jose Luis Guerin, Spain/France)
Away From Her (Sarah Polley, Canada)
2008
Helsinki, Forever / Helsinki, Ikuisesti (Peter von Bagh, Finland)
Nights and Weekends (Joe Swanberg & Greta Gerwig, USA)
Still Walking / Aruitemo, Aruitemo (Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japan)
2009
Two Lovers (James Gray, USA)
Tetro (Francis Ford Coppola, USA)
Police, Adjectives / Politist, Adjectiv (Corneliu Porumboiu, Romania)
^ I didn’t realize you were such a big fan of the mumblecore, Yuki!
Question: how many films does one need to see to adequately judge a year? For convenience people have adopted Brad’s top three shorthand but it really feels lacking as a means of evaluation. Is a year just remembered because of a few landmark films or because of geographical variety and depth.
Like when you take an unambiguously great year in cinema – let’s say 1939, often called the greatest. First obvious problem, this more or less only refers to Hollywood. Second question is whether this refers to the popular high profile films released (let’s say Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind) or the depth of the great filmmaking across the board (Stagecoach, Young Mr. Lincoln, Ninotchka, Dark Victory, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Destry Rides Again, the Roaring Twenties, Only Angels Have Wings, The Women, etc,etc).
^ yes, a big big fan
good question, but since I grew up in the 2000s and that was the period when I first attracted to cinema, then I have watched lots.
“Question: how many films does one need to see to adequately judge a year?”
At least 100, in my opinion.
(and of course it depends on which 100, lol)
>>For convenience people have adopted Brad’s top three shorthand but it really feels lacking as a means of evaluation.<<
I chose the three film format because it was simple and quick way to come up with a ranked list that reflects my general take on each year. I don’t claim its the best method and it’s far from comprehensive. The main advantage is that it takes about 15 minutes to compile as opposed to the significantly longer period a more thorough evaluation would require.
2010
The Social Network
Another Year
A Prophet
The American
2011
Midnight in Paris
The Artist
Beginners
Hugo
2007
Zodiac
There Will be Blood
4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days
The Assassination of Jesse James
2008
Wall-E
Rachel Getting Married
Hunger
Let the Right One In
2001
Amelie
Y Tu Mama Tambien
Ghost World
Gosford Park
2005
Brokeback Mountain
Cache
Match Point
Pride & Prejudice
2002
The Pianist
City of God
Talk to Her
Infernal Affairs
2000
In the Mood for Love
Wonder Boys
Memento
O Brother Where Art Thou?
2006
Letters From Iwo Jima
Volver
The Lives of Others
Children of Men
2009
Up in the Air
An Education
A Serious Man
Police, Adjective
2004
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Bad Education
36 Quai Des Orfevres
Closer
2003
21 Grams
Mystic River
The Station Agent
Seabiscuit
I wasn’t trying to criticize your shorthand. It’s more a basic question re: quantity. For me to consider a year a great year, I need to approach it as a filmgoer experiencing a steady stream of worthy films in the theatre (even if release dates/distribution obviously doesn’t work that way unless you live in cinema metropolis/tour the festival circuit). Having three tremendous films in a year can’t make a year great if the rest of the year is awash with crap (in terms of the general percentage of what I saw that particular year which is already a process based on availability/selection). Are there enough worthwhile films so that I could enjoy at least one or two per week as well as having more than a few that I would call great (linger in memory/personally impacting/desire to revisit/etc)? That would be more my measure.
<“Try harder to be slow, contemplative, and “profound” why don’t you!”
I’m not sure how you can say this about Lazarescu. It’s actually a satirical dark comedy! And it clearly doesn’t strain for seriousness.>
It seems to be a very common reading of “Death of Mr Lazarescu” as a black comedy which is mystifying because there is nothing exaggerated or unreal about the depiction of the main character and his encounter with the medical care system.
@ Ari
Question: how many films does one need to see to adequately judge a year? For convenience people have adopted Brad’s top three shorthand but it really feels lacking as a means of evaluation. Is a year just remembered because of a few landmark films or because of geographical variety and depth.
I agree, i tried to put my years in order that related to ALL films i’d seen released that year, and put my favorite 3 along with the year. That’s why some years that were shit seem to have better films than the films that weren’t. However, i do personally think that 2002 was not the worst of the naughts. I thought 2000 and 2003 were much worse.
This one is gonna require some time for me…. But without a doubt I think 2007 was the best year of the 2000s. It had my two favorite movies of that decade.
Santino
Kings and Queen? Never heard of that one