Gentlemen! Top 25 films of the previous decade.

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[Herr Schatten]

Nominations for worst film of the last decade? The Happening?, Wickerman?, Knowing?, Inception?

Do you mean worst or most disappointing?

Obviously, there's a truckload of abysmal movies from the last decade, but I guess nobody in their right minds would have expected most of the usual hollywood fluff (I'm talking stuff like Sex and the City, Mamma Mia, etc.) to turn out well anyway, right? I mean, some things are just meant to be crap.

On the other hand, I'd like to nominate The Limits of Control for most disappointing film of the decade. I totally didn't expect it to suck that much, especially since it came from a director I usually hold in high regard (Night on Earth is one of my favourite movies ever).

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[louisg]

Star Trek (best Star Trek movie ever, and it captured what made the original show so great!)

Except for the countless plot holes and contrived coincidences. Sure, it looked very kinetic and exciting, but the writing was abysmal. If they had done a pure "Starfleet Academy" movie without the time travel and altered reality crap, it would have been a thousand times better.

Hmm I'm not sure it has any gaping plot holes, but the science was pretty dubious (which I can live with). There were a few contrived coincidences for sure, and I think the messiest part of the movie in that respect was the ice planet-- it seemed more Star Wars than Trek, and it was obvious that they threw it in because they didn't know what else to do to advance the plot and put the brakes on the pace of the flick. But even with these problems, I'd still put it far, far ahead of any Trek movie made at least since II (though I'll also admit that other trek movies are also a pretty damn low bar when you compare them to non-trek movies ).

Yeah, the 2009 Star Trek is almost strictly about the characters and their development; in many ways, the main plot (a fairly uninteresting "kill the bad guy" story) is really nothing more than a backdrop. I felt it had a lot of excellent individual scenes, and the pacing of the movie is excellent. For some reason, it's a movie I can't stop watching.

But I'm glad you complained about the script (which does have its share of issues)-- as opposed to a lot of trek fans which will go frighteningly crazy about continuity, like "how could they do that?! don't they understand that hyper-velcro-dampeners weren't invented yet in stardate 2784?!!! aaaaaiiiggh!".. I will never understand that stuff!

[Mortificator]

The first half of the newest Star Trek movie was great, but it kind of lost its way after the destruction of Vulcan. Ice caves, lil' alien sidekick, erotic asphyxiation while everyone looks on with mild interest, and a climax where stopping the future weapon that totaled dozens of ships boils down to running around inside it and punching.

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[KindGrind]

Sorry that I cannot dissect the film into its technical, symbolic, and cinematographic components in order to justify why I like it (an enduring task for CMoon), but I would still recommend seeing it to others.

Taste and enjoyment are very arbitrary. Sometimes movies just don't strike a chord in us and we don't care about them all that much... I had such a feeling towards Slumdog Millionaire. Very watchable, as you say, but not top 25 worthy.

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[CMoon]

Yup, same here with Slumdog, although I did in part put that down to watching it on a long-haul flight (the continuous engine drone made it impossible to concentrate!).

Yup. Really wanted to love it. Inspired by the first half, completely dissapointed by the second half. Maybe a 7/10.

[neorichieb1971]

1) Hero
2) Descent
3) Death Note (live action)
4) Boondock Saints
5) Oldboy
6) Serenity
7) Pitch Black
Ironman
9) Sunshine
10) Hangover

I can't be bothered to mention any more but I guess you can see what I like from that list.

[louisg]

I'd totally forgotten about City of God. I remember thinking it was very good, but I don't really want to see it again either.

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[Skykid]

4) Boondock Saints

Oh, you went there. I can't believe it.

[jonny5]

4) Boondock Saints

Oh, you went there. I can't believe it.

hey, the first one was a great watch; the sequel, however, was abysmal.

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[jonny5]

Only one on that list that I've seen was 'V for Vendetta', which I thought was meh; expected more I guess.

[SuperPang]

RAMBO

Word. 90 minutes of me giggling like a small child.

Tough question this, I'm sure I've forgotten half of them, but here are some movies I liked in no particular order:

Rambo
28 days later
Pans Labyrinth
There will be blood
Inglorious Basterds
Gladiator
Pocahont... I mean Avatar (sue me, it was a true movie event and I loved it)
Spirited Away
Oldboy
Donnie Darko
Lost in Translation
Sin City
The Dark Knight
Serenity (just because it happened)
Taken
Borat
Iron Man
Gran Torino

[Acid King]

This thread led me to research other films on IMDB that might have made it into my top 25 if only I'd seen them. What do people make of these:

Letters from Iwo Jima
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Mystic River
Amelie
Lives of Others
Downfall
Hotel Rwanda
Into the Wild
The Road
Million Dollar Baby
Toy Story 3
Amores Perros
V for Vendetta

?

Of the ones I've seen, Mystic River and Hotel Rwanda were quite good.

[njiska]

This thread led me to research other films on IMDB that might have made it into my top 25 if only I'd seen them. What do people make of these:

Letters from Iwo Jima
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Mystic River
Amelie
Lives of Others
Downfall
Hotel Rwanda
Into the Wild
The Road
Million Dollar Baby
Toy Story 3
Amores Perros
V for Vendetta

?

Letters is one of the best Western films to show the Japanese side of the conflict and is incredibly respectful. Mystic River and Million Dollar Baby were also great, if not highly emotional dramas (Clint Eastwood is a great director).

Hotel Rwanda captured some of the tension of the genocide, but i feel it was a bit of a soft portrayal after reading Shake Hands with the Devil.

V for Vendetta was an alright, sort of fun movie, but lost a lot of it's power in the translation. Plus an anti-thatcher film doesn't work when she's out of power and nearing the grave. Nothing special, but not a jumbled mess either.

Can't tell you about the rest.

[drauch]

Oh god I forgot Gran Torino.

That and Rambo. Pretty much life right there.

[njiska]

Oh god I forgot Gran Torino.

Clint Eastwood for most consistently interesting director of the last decade?

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[Skykid]

I think Clint Eastwood is an incredibly overrated director and his movies consist primarily of silly sentimentality, dialogue with no depth and TV movie style plots.

Gran Torino was watchable but completely average.
I haven't seen Iwo Jima (I hear it's the better of the two) but Flags of our Fathers was so poorly directed I would have switched it off if I'd had something better to do.
Million Dollar Baby - yuck!
A Perfect World - watchable, but average.
Changeling - Good story, felt like a TV movie (again), but was pretty compelling. Why they changed the details of the real life murders I don't know, sort of lost its integrity cos of that.
In the Line of Fire - poor.
The Rookie - Charlie Sheen is in it. Enough said.
Mystic River - haven't seen it, but I hate it already because they gave the Oscar to Sean Penn instead of it's rightful heir, Bill Murray.

My favourite Eastwood directed film is still Unforgiven. Not a masterpiece, but you can tell the guy knows his westerns. Clint was the man in the Leone Westerns.

Clint Eastwood for most consistently interesting director of the last decade?

Embarrassingly, I'd probably give that distinction to Christopher Nolan if we're speaking Hollywood terms.

[emphatic]

Mystic River - haven't seen it, but I hate it already because they gave the Oscar to Sean Penn instead of it's rightful heir, Bill Murray.

It's a fantastic adaptation of the fantastic novel. Also, Penn has the edge needed for the role, how cliché that sounds or not.

[Skykid]

Mystic River - haven't seen it, but I hate it already because they gave the Oscar to Sean Penn instead of it's rightful heir, Bill Murray.

It's a fantastic adaptation of the fantastic novel. Also, Penn has the edge needed for the role, how cliché that sounds or not.

Yeah? Hm, ok, might get my hands on it. I've seen most of Clint's stuff, so I'll get around to it. I find his movies good vegetating material, when you can switch your brain off and just watch something entertaining, easily digestible, but entirely disposable (unless it's Flags of our Fathers, which is only the latter.)

[njiska]

Mystic River - haven't seen it, but I hate it already because they gave the Oscar to Sean Penn instead of it's rightful heir, Bill Murray.

It's a fantastic adaptation of the fantastic novel. Also, Penn has the edge needed for the role, how cliché that sounds or not.

Yeah? Hm, ok, might get my hands on it. I've seen most of Clint's stuff, so I'll get around to it. I find his movies good vegetating material, when you can switch your brain off and just watch something entertaining, easily digestible, but entirely disposable (unless it's Flags of our Fathers, which is only the latter.)

See i get the exact opposite reaction, i find a lot of his movies make you think, especially Iwo Jima. I made the mistake of watching Flags of our Fathers afterward and being extremely disappointed. Though i realize now that the main reason it felt off was that Iwo is about the soldiers, Flags is about the pressure of fame in a time of moral crisis.

My favourite Eastwood directed film is still Unforgiven. Not a masterpiece, but you can tell the guy knows his westerns. Clint was the man in the Leone Westerns.

Clint Eastwood for most consistently interesting director of the last decade?

Embarrassingly, I'd probably give that distinction to Christopher Nolan if we're speaking Hollywood terms.

Oddly i'm not that big a fan of Unforgiven and find it to be rather overrated. I'll give you hands down that he is the man in the Dollars trilogy. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is one of my favourite flicks (Minus the civil war scene).

Nolan is also a very talented director, Hollywood terms or not. He's proven to be incredibly capable in a number of different styles of film making.

[Skykid]

Oh yeah, TGTB&TU is one of my all time favourite films, incredible cinema.

Honestly, I don't think Flags fell down because it's about the soldiers and the pressures of fame - it's a true story and all the people in the film existed in real life and experienced the media creating an image they couldn't handle.
It fell down for me because it was a really crap film, and the story wasn't done justice in the slightest. Bad scripting, acting, casting, directing - the lot.

See i get the exact opposite reaction, i find a lot of his movies make you think, especially Iwo Jima.

As I mentioned, I can't comment on Iwo Jima as I'm yet to see it. I have a seen a lot of movies about Japan and the war, mostly foreign films, and all are interesting whether the Japanese are the villains or the victims. It's rare in Hollywood to get anything except one point of view, so I'll give Clint that.

As for a thinking man's movie maker, I really can't see it. The basic contexts of all his movies are nothing more than situational melodrama, pulling the same emotional heartstrings and punches that Hollywood has done for years.
I'm not saying they're awful flicks, I find his stuff watchable, just throwaway.

Unforgiven I'm not sure (haven't seen it in a while) but I remember it being a Western with a bit of integrity, and a better modern attempt than most others.

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[Skykid]

http://uk.movies.yahoo.com/blog/article ... ginal.html

Check out the sixth one down. See, it must be true!

That's what happen when journalists work on tight deadlines and need to fill spaces.

[borislaw]

I think Werner Herzog's output over the decade must be mentioned. For his highlight reel lets include two transcendent documentaries, Grizzly Man and Encounters At the End of the World, and three movies for Hollywood -- 'Rescue Dawn', 'Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans', and 'My Son My Son What HAve Ye Done ?'. Rescue Dawn was just OK, but the other two are easily on the level of his German classics.

There Will Be Blood -- for me it is easily one of the 5 or 6 best films of the decade.

Chan-wook Park's Vengeance Trilogy, especially Old Boy; also he made Thirst, as well as the lesser-known 'Im a Cyborg But That's OK' (2006)

The Japanese drama 'Tokyo Sonata' probably wasn't on most people's radar, but it has stuck with me as one of the decade's top 10.

The mysterious and often psychological German drama Das Wiesse Band. Probably has little to no appeal for most here, but I liked it.

of course Tarantino. Inglorious Basterds and Death Proof. Of the top 25, the Kill Bill saga came up just a little short.

Scottish film Movern Callar that I am oddly partial to, although few others are likely to have even seen it, let alone consider it deserving of a place in the decades top 25.