The overwhelming consensus from The Auteurs seems to be:
Inland Empire
Mulholland Drive
Irreversible
Funny Games
Yi Yi
I personally like your list better.
Fredo, Don’t forget Saraband! ;)
Actually I think it has been bumped for Zodiac. I can’t be that big of a Bergman fanboy.
Thanks, Fredo. Irreversible? Really?
@Drew
Saraband was a made-for-TV movie and cannot be included in the Bergman canon.
sort yourself out.
oh, and M.G., nice list. except Bad Santa? really? surely The 40-Year-Old Virgin is a better comedy, if not others…? Bad Santa have some kind of special significance for you…?
R.U.S.: Oh, man. I love The 40-Year-Old Virgin; and it just missed my Top 10; but, comedy is by far the most personally subjective genre to judge; and the simple answer is: I like my comedy dark; and I laughed harder at Bad Santa than any other movie I saw over the last 10 years. The movie is such a brilliant and twisted skewering of the gaudiest of all holidays, Christmas; and perfectly captures the dark undercurrent of depression that runs deep throughout the season. Another film that just missed my list was Ghost World by Bad Santa director Terry Zwigoff.
may I also assume you are no Wes Anderson fan?
Bad Santa nearly makes me piss my pants.
R.U.S.: No, as much as I love Wes Anderson, The Royal Tenenbaums just missed as well. But, in my defense, The Squid and The Whale was produced by Anderson; and has been compared to Anderson in style and tone; and ultimately, Squid affected me more personally.
WONDER BOYS is as mysteriously underrated as NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN is mysteriously overrated.
Quite true, Roscoe. It’s Curtis’ best work. Michael Douglas — an actor I usuallly don’t care for — is marvelous, as are Frances McDormand and John Boy. Even Katie Holmes is good. But the film belongs to Downey and Tobey — whose mutual seduction is as hilarious as it is sexy.
you lost me at bad santa, but I absolutely agree with wonder boys being up there and so under-rated – in terms of comedy, i think it blows 40-year-old virgin and all that stuff out of the water. i would also have to include wes anderson and spike jones on the list. brilliant film-making, acting, everything – and terribly influential. there are personal favorites that i don’t expect to see on other people’s top ten lists, too: there’s la cienaga (2001) by lucrecia martel… holy jesus…
1. There Will Be Blood
2. The Lives of Others
3. Oldboy
4. No Country For Old Men
5. Traffic
6. Lost in Translation
7. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
8. City of God
9. Requiem For a Dream
10. Inglorious Basterds
I wish Criterion would license Wonder Boys and do a true Special Edition on Blu ray.
It is a very good film and a real glimpse into college and writer life. It is better than all the other top ten competitors listed
Gary Wood
I am in no way presuming to claim Wonder Boys as the “best” film of the 2000’s; I’m simply throwing it out there for consideration, as “The Best of the Decade” lists begin to roll out in the coming months.
These are the films that meant the most to me personally over the past decade (assuming nothing earth-shattering comes out in the next 4 months):
1. Wonder Boys (2000)
2. American Splendor (2003)
3. Lost In Translation (2003)
4. The Squid and the Whale (2005)
5. City of God (2002)
6. Mulholland Drive (2001)
7. Spirited Away (2001)
8. Volver (2006)
9. Bad Santa (2003)
10. No Country For Old Men (2007)