Best Movies of the Decade
Editor's note: We asked one of our reviewers, Robert Horton, to give us his picks for the best films of the decade. Robert has been a film critic in Seattle for 25 years, writing for The Herald (Everett, Wash.), KUOW-FM, and the Seattle Channel.
"Best films of the decade" is such a grand concept it seems to place an undue amount of gravity on the process: this ten-spot had better be weighty indeed, right? A certain heaviosity required, no? But great movies are about lightness, too, so I feel fine about including films that wonderfully balanced dark and light, seriousness and humor, gravity and lift. Here are ten best of the decade 2000-2009, until somebody asks me again tomorrow.
1. Moolaadé (2004). The final film from Africa's greatest director, Ousmane Sembene, this one perfectly embodies the sense of balance I'm talking about: on one hand its subject is grave--the still-existing practice of female genital mutilation in African communities--but on the other, the film is infused with folk humor and a rich, mellow wisdom. It's also poised between a completely modern sophistication and ancient modes of storytelling. It seems to have the whole world in it.
2. Punch-Drunk Love (2002). Paul Thomas Anderson's story of a button-down man (Adam Sandler) unleashed is one of those films that pull off a strange trick: you can never predict what's going to happen from one moment to the next, and yet by the time you reach the ending it all seems absolutely inevitable that it had to unfold exactly this way.
3. Birth (2004). When Jonathan Glazer's movie opened (and then closed a week later), I had the feeling nobody else had seen it. Since then, it has slowly found its appreciators, a process that has been one of the nicer critical movements of the decade. A fine performance by Nicole Kidman commits completely to this particular l'amour fou.
4. The Fast Runner, aka Atanarjuat (2001). Not quite like anything else, this low-budget Inuit epic by Zacharias Kunuk is much more than an ethnographic study (though it's pretty cool as that): it's got the epic sweep of a David Lean picture.
5. Kings and Queen (2005). A wild ride from director Arnaud Desplechin, shifting hot-and-cold tones and storylines at a moment's notice, and featuring nimble performances by Mathieu Amalric and Emmanuelle Devos.
6. A Prairie Home Companion (2006). Somehow this warm look at community and performance turned into exactly the right way for Robert Altman to leave the stage: a funny exercise that left behind traces of melancholy.
7. Before Sunset (2004). Catching up after almost a decade with the characters from Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise, we find them decidedly older but still willing to talk their way through a city--an enchanted Paris, caught here in a two-person moment of clarity and connection.
8. No Country for Old Men (2007). The Coens are on an exciting cinematic journey of late; this film has all the gorgeous movie-making skills of old Hollywood combined with a distinctly modern way of telling a story.
9. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2006). A spellbinding trip through a long night of ill health, rendered in what seemed like real time by director Cristi Puiu.
10. Cast Away (2000). Could never get this movie out of my head: what appears to be a shipwreck picture from a populist director (Robert Zemeckis) turns into a kind of rebuke to audiences about how they should be watching movies (hint: slow down). Tom Hanks is splendid, too.
And there should be room for Million Dollar Baby, The Duchess of Langeais, Yi Yi, In the Mood for Love, Mulholland Drive, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Va savoir, Syndromes and a Century, Napoleon Dynamite, Sideways, Japon…but you gotta stop somewhere. Maybe next time.
Marta on December 23, 2009 at 12:22 PM
How can you not include the Lord of the Rings trilogy?
Kasper Hauser on December 23, 2009 at 04:07 PM
THAT is you list? THAT?
What are you? Film critic for the Union of Eunichs and Wet Noodles?
Ellen Rose on December 23, 2009 at 04:10 PM
Wow! If I paid attention to movie reviewers, I would avoid everything you applauded. You're what's wrong with the industry: gilded crap.
lcp on December 23, 2009 at 04:11 PM
Are you kidding me?
No LOTR? Like fantasy or not, these films were spectacular.
What about "Lives of Others"? Sure, it was in German, but it was pure genius.
No Master and Commander?
DM on December 23, 2009 at 04:13 PM
Wow, what a terrible list.
joeindc44 on December 23, 2009 at 04:14 PM
The Barbarian Invasions is one of the best.
MEC2 on December 23, 2009 at 04:14 PM
Worst list of the decade : This one.
mariner on December 23, 2009 at 04:18 PM
Damn.
I saw TWO of those.
Jim on December 23, 2009 at 04:18 PM
Not even close. What considerations led to formulate this absurd list?
TRO on December 23, 2009 at 04:30 PM
I saw two of the ten and one of those I didn't like. The rest I haven't even heard of, along with most of the world I imagine. What planet do they grow movie critics on?
Mark on December 23, 2009 at 04:32 PM
This comes off as a bit snobbish.
mrmystery on December 23, 2009 at 04:33 PM
Seattle critic? Even before reading it, I could have total you it would be Douchehood en Excelsis. Prairie Home Companion... "a warm look at community and performance." Thanks for the laughs. You're one of the many reasons newspapers are on the autopsy slab.
KMarx on December 23, 2009 at 04:34 PM
Nice list - everything from Marxist crap to existential garbage.
Cast Away - oh yeah, there's a great movie, yep. Only problem is Tom Hanks resumed eating after finishing it and is still alive.
And how about that rabid anti-Semite Garrison Keillor making the list - surprise surprise. Why so Hezzbola?
Thomas on December 23, 2009 at 04:34 PM
My, what a disgustingly purile list. There is one movie only on that list that I agree with -- No country for Old Men. Phenomenal picture, and he's right about the Coen Brothers.
However, after looking at his additional picks, I can see a clear problem here. While he may enjoy the cinematic aspects of many of these movies, most lack a decent storyline.
If I may ask, where is the Lord of the Rings trilogy? It certainly falls into the decade.
Where are the Harry Potter movies? Despite what some may say abour "comic book movies" Iron Man was a great movie. Where's Australia, which has, in my humble opinion, the best roles that Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman have ever played? I detested the Da Vinci Code, but they did a superb job bringing the book to life.
The point is that one man's list doesn't represent the majority, and in fact (based on the comments alone) I'd say they don't even come close to what the public deems "a good movie." At this rate without at least the aforementioned I listed on this list, I could care less for this movie critic's opinion of what is and isn't good.
Know why Hollywood is suffering? Because they don't put out a ton of movies people want to go see. Improve the product, and you improve your box office take. People, generally, "vote" with their wallets.
laughing on December 23, 2009 at 04:34 PM
Public radio movie reviewer, what did you all expect?
betheweb on December 23, 2009 at 04:37 PM
That this dweeb has been able to get away with this kind of total thumb sucking for 25 years just proves that he works in a very small market and no one there pays attention to him anyway. He probably lives alone with five kitty cats.
OldCorps on December 23, 2009 at 04:41 PM
Give him a break...He obviously thought he was supposed to compile a list of the Crappiest Movies of the Decade.
Jeez, what a hot pile of garbage this is.
Randy Rager on December 23, 2009 at 04:44 PM
What an absolutely perfect encapsulation of why I no longer watch movies. Or television. Or read newspapers, unless someone else is buying.
Jerry45 on December 23, 2009 at 04:58 PM
What? Not a single Tom Cruise movie in the top 10?
meep on December 23, 2009 at 04:59 PM
No Pixar movies? Really?
Let me tell you a little secret - great art actually usually does very well amongst the public. Ask Shakespeare and Dickens about that sometime.
If it must be subsidized by government grants, or it loses money, chances are it's really not all that hot. Obscurity and "serious themes" is not proof of greatness. Most of the movies on here weren't noted when they came out, and they won't be remembered, most likely. You might want to think about what people might actually be watching decades from now. The great films of the past are still being watched.
MarkJ on December 23, 2009 at 04:59 PM
Best Movie Of The Decade Yet To Be Made:
"The Fall of the Obamian Empire."
schizuki on December 23, 2009 at 05:00 PM
Is this a joke?
Moog Rogue on December 23, 2009 at 05:05 PM
Are you serious? That is a terrible, terrible list. "Punch-Drunk Love" and "Castaway"? OK, this has to be a joke.
K T Cat on December 23, 2009 at 05:05 PM
MrMystery, that was just awesome. I'll be laughing from that comment for quite a while. Brutal.
As for the list, huh? I don't see many movies, but The Illusionist and Julie and Julia look better than most of those snobby art-house pieces of junk on this list. How about The Kite Runner?
I agree with the LOTR supporters. That was one of the most passionate love letters ever written - a gigantic love letter to Tolkein. Beautiful.
Memo to this critic - blogs are visible to everyone, not just the creepy, black sweatered guys in your favorite boho coffee house sporting soul patches. This list was probably a big hit with them.
Moog Rogue on December 23, 2009 at 05:07 PM
This guy's commission on sales of really shitty movies must be a higher percentage than decent movies, which I guess people are inclined to purchase anyway.