[...]While I've been counting down the Top 31 TV Shows of the Decade, my movie-centric colleagues Gregory Ellwood and Drew McWeeny handled the big screen, with Greg offering his Top 25 of The Aughts and Drew doing an exhaustive Top 50....
http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/2008-12-11-awards-campaign-2009/posts/an-awards-worthy-look-at-the-top-25-films-of-the-decadeAn 'Awards-worthy look at the top 25 films of the decade...It's a daunting task to come up with a list of best films for a year let alone a decade. And strangely, unlike the 90's, the past 10 years has just whizzed by with so many movies that were good, but not great that many years seem like a blur. You try to think of movies that stand out only to discover they came out in 1999 or within the past two years. That can't be an accurate look at the decade, can it?
The first part of the 21st Century in film is marked by two events: 9/11 and the Writer's Strike of 2008. Obviously, one has truer historical importance, but both deeply affected the movie industry both creatively and economically. I'll leave it to cinema historians to reflect on the deluge of war documentaries and features in the middle of the decade that were a direct reflection of the tragic events in New York, but there is some irony that the best of those films, "The Hurt Locker," was one of the last and as good as it is, didn't make this list.
As any major work stoppage is apt to do, a significant writer's or actor's strike has traditionally affected the next 18 months following it which means this year's crop of films. No matter what anyone says on either side of these cyclical disputes, the work always suffers. Studios rush scripts to get finished for production before an expected strike and then rush scripts out when the stoppage is over and that's never good. Looking over this list and those of my peers, very few films from 2009 crop into their top ten, if any. In fact, only one made my top 25, "Precious." But that's another discussion for another page view.
If you were compare decades, this one feels uneven to the 90s which seemed like one breakthrough after another. That could be because the 80s were a tepid and bloated time following the much lauded 70s era of filmmaking. Sure, Indie film reached it's peak economically in the 00's, but certainly not artistically. And with the current dearth of legitimate distributors and the fading DVD market, it's unclear what will happen to independent cinema in the future. We're guessing it will thrive again in another few years, but perhaps that's wishful thinking.
In any event, if you're looking for big blockbuster like "Casino Royale," "Pirates of the Caribbean," "Star Trek," "The Bourne Ultimatum" or "Avatar" on this list you'll be sadly disappointed. All great films, but not best of a decade worthy. At least not yet, because when it comes down to it a "best of" list is really combining your artistic sensibility with an educated guess on what films will survive the test of time. When people look back, what films will they watch the most? What will have the most meaning or relevancy to them? What will be their "Godfather," "Terms of Endearment" or "Silence of the Lambs" ten or twenty years down the road? Just something to keep in mind when reviewing the following selections.
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3. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (2000)
Ang Lee's martial arts epic beat Zhang Yimou's "Hero" to the world stage, but that's not why it's higher on the list. Lee introduced every element of this fantastical world with a deliberate and lyrical turn that expertly draws the viewer into the story. He's aided by stunning imagery (which looks more realistic than "Hero") an amazing score and a heartbreaking performance by Michelle Yeow that never got the recognition it deserved (are we detecting a theme here?).
2. "Brokeback Mountain" (2005)
An even bigger achievement for Lee than "Crouching," "Brokeback" is one of the quintessential American love stories of our time. Every performance and moment is spot on. A true classic in every sense of the word.
1. "The Dark Knight" (2008)
It isn't in vogue to put Christopher Nolan's blockbuster -- a sequel no less -- on the top of a best of the decade list, but my god is it a masterpiece. And we have HBO, at least in this pundit's case, to thank for it. Every time "Dark Knight" is on you can't turn away from the screen. Whether it's Ledger's career defining performance (which will still be lauded when we're all dead and gone), the groundbreaking score (by two composers of polar opposite styles mind you), the screenplay's subtle allegories to panic in a post-9/11 world or one strikingly powerful and original action sequence after another, Nolan has turned a "superhero movie" into art. And that, ladies and gentleman, is very, very, very hard thing to do.
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I don't know about the rest of the list but I am more in agreement with Gregory Ellwood than with the other fella. Though to be fair, he said something that is bang on...
Someday, people will just be able to appreciate the sincere feelings behind this doomed love story, made additionally tragic after Ledger's passing. This was truly his best performance, even if Oscar came posthumously and for more flamboyant work. And Gyllenhaal is his equal. Beautiful score and cinematography as well, plus an understatedly lovely turn from Michelle Williams.
I won't bother quoting Drew McWeeney's review since Brokeback Mountain is not even on the top 50! How a laugh! Royal Tendenbaum is on and Brokeback not?!
