Hi Bryan Here…
It is finally here. The final ten films of the list. The top ten films of the decade. It was blast making this list and remembering all those memories of seeing the movies for the first time. It makes me want to watch a lot of them again. These top 10 films were extremely difficult to place, but alas it was accomplished. I hope you enjoy the finished list. As usual, you will get the title of the film, the release date, a mini review and synopsis by yours truly, and a link to purchase the movie over at amazon for a good price. Feel free to leave comments of your lists or to disagree or agree with mine.
10_ Shaun of the Dead – September 24, 2004
By far the best zombie film of the last decade and definitely in the top 1o zombie films of all time and it just might be the best horror/comedy film of all time too. Edgar Wright hit world wide fame with this hit movie. He was known before this as creator of the amazing tv show, “Spaced”, and then he broke into films and gave the world Shaun of the Dead. I saw the first screening EVER of this film in the USA. I actually wrote a review of the film which you could read HERE. I remember after seeing this film, thinking that in such a short time frame, I was genuinely scared, laughed out loud many times, bonded with the characters, and got my love of all things blood and guts. This is one hell of a ride and one hilarious film. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost will be forever immortalized in this film. This again, is truly one of the best zombie films ever made with much much humor.
9_ Battle Royale – December 16, 2000
I still think most people have not seen this movie. If you have not seen this movie….get up (after reading this article) and purchase this film if you can. It is pure genius and amazing. This is a foreign film from Japan based on a book. In short, it is about a high school class that is drawn at random by lottery to compete in a game of death and survival. The game is called Battle Royale and was made by the government to teach kids to not be assholes and not mock adults by gassing them on a bus home from school. The kids wake up on a deserted island with explosives around their neck that will blow up if the try to leave the island or take the explosive off. They are each given a bag with water, bread and a random weapon which could range from a machine gun, machete, or a frying pan. The goal is to kill each other and the last one left surviving wins and goes home alive. It is HARDCORE!!! This movie is simply amazing and well acted with a great classical score. GoGo from Kill Bill is in this film and does some serious damage. Oh this film rocked me to my core.
8_ There Will Be Blood – December 26, 2007
Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the great directors of our generation bringing us gems such as: Boogie Nights, Punch Drunk Love, Magnolia, and this movie, which is a based on a novel called “Oil”. Daniel Day Lewis and Paul Dano did some of the best acting of their careers with this movie. It reminded me a lot of the movie, “The Shining” by showing me a long slow descent of a person into complete madness. The score in the film reminded me of The Shining too. The best film of 2007 by far. Loved every minute of it.
7_ O Brother, Where Art Thou – November 22, 2000
The Coen Brothers hit yet another home run with this amazingly funny film on their take of Homer’s “The Odyssey”. This is one of the best written films. It takes some sort of genius and talent to write dialogue in that “old timey” language and make it work. I quote this film constantly as it has some very funny dialogue throughout the whole film. Everyone did a phenomenal job in this movie. The soundtrack was one of the best I have ever heard. I just don’t get tired of watching this movie. This might be The Coen Bros. best work to date. I want a sequel to this movie please.
6_ Children of Men – December 25, 2006
What a very moving futuristic dystopian film about a world where all the women become infertile and the future of humankind is about to die. Tons of parallels to the holocaust and what society has been like in the past. The camera work in this film is top notch. One shot that comes to mind is the tracking shot going through the war torn village with baby with no cuts or edits. Very moving. Also, Michael Caine in is quite hilarious in this film as a hippie. I love this movie and I want it looks so beautiful on bluray. I love this film.
5_ The Dark Knight – July 18, 2008
One of the finest sequels to ever grace the world. And one of the finest performances I have ever seen by an actor. All in one movie. Add to that a great story line, excellent FX, and one hell of a script, and you have the sequel to Batman. One of the greatest rivalries of time is the one between Batman and The Joker. I just love how The Joker in this film is back to his roots. Which is very sadistic and murderous. Not the cartoony, silly way. Heath Ledger deserved that Oscar Award 1000000 %. It is a tragedy that he passed too soon. I love seeing Batman to his detective work and battle his personal demons and still save the day by doing not what you think a hero would do. Mostly it is a film about The Joker. He is always one step ahead of Batman and he just shines. This is one of the best films to come out ina very long time. And a sequel no less.
4_ Unbreakable – November 22, 2000
It is hard to believe this film came out ten years ago. M. Night Shyamalan’s best film in my opinion and one of the most underrated films of all time. This is a story of a man who finds out he is something more than human, but rather super human. Basically it is a superhero film. And it is so well made and acted, theat you really do not know it until almost the end of the film and then you look back on it like, “Oh Yah. He totally was the hero and he was the villain.” BADASS!!! The storytelling in this movie is some of the best I have ever seen. It just keeps you on the edge of your seat and makes you wonder if their really are some sorts of super human in the world. This movie is brilliant. I really hope M. Night makes his trilogy of this series.
3_ Wall-E – June 27, 2008
My favorite Pixar film thus far and just a flawless film in every way. There might be only 20 minutes of dialogue in this entire feature length movie, but to me that made the movie that much better. This is one of the better love stories I have ever seen and it involves two robots. I remember seeing this film and loving every minute of it and falling in love with Wall-E and Eve more and more with every passing minute. This is the first Pixar film that made me cry. This film is funny and moving, and action packed. A must see.
2_ Inglorious Basterds – August 21, 2009
Tarantino’s film about a very small group of Jewish soldiers dropped behind enemy lines in France with one mission which was to kill Nazis, was far better than I ever could have expected. This film really should have won Best Picture and not The Hurt Locker. Inglorious Basterds was just far better on every level. This film had some of the best writing and dialogue of the past ten years and some really great music as a soundtrack. It has quite a bit of humor to it as well, but it is done so precisely and perfectly, that it mixes in flawlessly with the action scenes. After viewing this movie, I wish history really turned out like this movie portrayed. I just loved every bit of this film. There is not another one like it.
1_ City of God – August, 30, 2002
My number one pick. The top film of the last decade is City of God. Now I am betting quite a bit of you have not seen this foreign film from Rio De Janeiro in Brazil. This takes place in the slums of Rio De Janeiro. Far from the postcard image most of us have of the location. It is the true life story of organized crime in Rio De Janeiro which depicts several drug lords, notably the evil murderous Lil Ze and his gang. The main protaganist of the film is a kid by the nick name of Rocket who has a fascination of photography and gets a cheap camera and gets hired as an intern at a newspaper to take pictures. Since he lives in the slums, he takes pictures of all the drug lords and the crooked cops which lands him a steady job. Just like the tagline says: “Fight, and you’ll never survive. Run, and you’ll never escape!” It really takes you into the middle of this highly dangerous setting and you find yourself scared for the characters and want them to get out, but it is always too late. The camera work i this film is some of the best I have ever seen. This is by far one of the best gangster films ever made. This gets my highest recommendation and should be viewed by all. This is my #1 film. I just wish it was on bluray.
Well that’s it folks. I hope this list guides you to some new films to see that will stay with you forever. All these films are near and dear to me and I hope you can create some new memories by watching them. I hope you enjoyed it. Look forward to my next list which will be the Top Ten List of films of 2010 coming soon.
And click the links below to see the entire list in chronological order.
Click HERE for #’s 133-120
Click HERE for #’s 120-101
Click HERE for #’s 100-85
Click HERE for #’s 84-69
Click HERE for #’s 68-54
Click HERE for #’s 53-45
Click HERE for #’s 44-31
Click HERE for #’s 31.5 -11