Top-10 1/2 of the Decade: #4

4.  The Dark Knight (2008)

              If you haven’t heard, or if you’re not completely obsessed with the film award season like I am (as well as a couple of my movie-freak friends), then you may not know that the Oscar category for Best Picture has been expanded to 10 films (formerly 5) for the 2010 awards.  First off, let me just say that I’m not even sure there were 5 movies in 2009 that are quality BP nominees, let alone 10.  Let me also say, that if James Cameron wins Best Director again for Avatar, then I might seriously quit watching movies.  But I will save my whining about this for a Mega-Oscar Preview before the awards in March.  Where was I?  Oh yeah, so in 2008 there were 4 movies that were favorites to be BP nominees: Slumdog Millionaire, Frost/Nixon, Milk, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.  The final spot was up for grabs, and there were two critical darlings that had an outside chance at claiming it, since no other prototypical Oscar movies seemed good enough (although I would argue The Wrestler should have been considered); and those two were Wall-E, and The Dark Knight.  So when the Oscar nominations were released, and we all found out that The Reader had claimed the fifth spot, the nerd-community just about exploded. 

           

             The outrage over The Dark Knight (and Wall-E) not being given a nomination was so immense that it pushed the Academy to make the decision to expand the BP category (nominating the films that were actually good enough would have been fine, but of course they had to take the difficult route).  So, I’m forever dubbing The Dark Knight “The Oscar Conundrum.” The reason I write all of this before going into my discussion of why I personally have it #4 for the decade is to point out what an impact it had on the movie business in general.  For the Academy to throw out 70-something years of tradition, they must have gotten completely trashed by people displeased with their choices last year.

Aren’t you glad you got that little history lesson?  Now, I will lay out why it’s #4, and leave it at that.  (Warning!! Extreme use of hyperbole follows!!)

1. Directed by “Neo” (see #5, Memento).  When it’s all said and done, Neo has a good chance of being as successful (both artistically and financially) as any American director ever, and I don’t care if you think I’m up my butt with that statement.  Every one of his movies is as deep as it is entertaining. 

 

2. Unequivocally the best superhero movie ever. 

3. Will stand the test of time—and even be more well thought-of in the future, a la Citizen Kane (no, I’m not comparing Knight to Citizen Kane).  When people look back on the 00’s, this is one of the first movies people will think of.  Mark my words.

4. Perhaps better so than any other film of the 2000’s, captures the feel of post 9/11 fear in America in a poignant way. 

5. Some of the most powerful, moving dialogue of any film in the 2000’s. 

6. Heath *bleep*ing Ledger.  Enough said.

-Oh, and while we’re at it, my top-5 personal favorite superhero movies of the decade:

1. The Dark Knight

2. The Incredibles

3. Spiderman 2

4. Batman Begins

5. Tie: Iron Man/X-Men

857.  Spiderman 3

Top-10 1/2 of the Decade: #5

5. Memento (2000)

            If you call yourself a film buff but haven’t seen Memento, go ahead and strangle yourself with your computer’s power chord.  If you’re not a film buff, here’s all you need to know about this movie for me to persuade you to watch it: it’s about a guy who is looking for his wife’s murderer.  The catch?  During the same event in which his wife was murdered, he suffered a blow to the head that disabled him from developing any new short-term memories, so he relies on writing down (and tattooing on himself) every thought or piece of evidence that could potentially help lead him to the killer.  And um, oh yeah—the scenes are shown in reverse-sequence. 

        

             Why is it #5 on this prestigious list?  Throw out the fact that it was directed by Christopher Nolan (aka "Neo"…and don’t worry, we’re not through with him yet).   Throw out the great acting trio of Guy Pierce, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Joe Pantoliano.  Throw out the sheer entertainment of watching a movie where you already know the ending but are more interested in how we got there.  Throw all of that out, and what’s left is a film that still shines because of the original way of conveying its theme: reality vs. perception.  You see, because Leonard (the main character) can’t form new memories, all he has to work with is the information he records as he goes along.  He has to trust himself.  For him, reality only exists to the extent that he writes it down—otherwise it’s like it never happened to him.  Because Leonard’s acquaintances know this about him, they manipulate his reality to their own selfish advantage.  But that’s not it: Leonard also manipulates his own reality to his advantage, which is the genius aspect of this movie.  

         

           I don’t want to dig too deep into this discussion, first because it’s not a literature class, and second, because I’m too dumb.  But I will say this: unlike Leonard, we don’t have trouble forming new memories, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t manipulate our own realities to our advantage.  Have you ever told a lie to yourself and others so often that you actually forgot what the truth was?  Do you have a tendency to hear only what you want to hear?  We love to agree with “facts” that support our viewpoint, no matter whether they are true or false, and we love to disagree with “facts” that don’t support our viewpoint, whether true or false.  Sometimes, our reality is only what we want it to be.

In a way, like Leonard, we all have short-term memory loss. 

-Oh, and while we’re at it, the 5 most mind-bending movies of the decade:

1. Mulholland Drive

2. Primer (I implore anyone to figure this movie out after 1 viewing)

3. Synechdoche, New York

4. Memento

5. Donnie Darko

435. Identity

Top-10 1/2 of the Decade: #6

6. City of God (2002)

             City of God, or as I like to call it, “The better version of Slumdog Millionaire”, is my obligatory foreign language film for this list, although my naming it #6 is anything but obligatory.  The movie takes place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in a ghetto referred to as the “City of God” by its residents.  It spans the 70’s-80’s and follows the life of two young boys from the City of God, one who wants to get out of the lifestyle of drugs/guns/violence in the ghetto, and the other who seeks to become the most powerful crime-lord within it. 

            The fact that this is based on a true story just makes me shake my head: How could people live like this?  How could a society be so destructive?  The movie does not answer these questions in a way that comforts me.  We as viewers want reasons for why bad people do things in movies, no matter how stupid that reason is.  Take for instance the movie The Ring.  "So you’re telling me, that the reason you kill people after 7 days is because they didn’t make a copy of your retarded home video?  REALLY?"   But isn’t that a better answer than say, “She was a freaking deranged little undead girl and just felt like screwing with people.”  If the second answer had been the case, I would have walked out of the theatre and probably not slept that night, but since there was a reason, it didn’t bother me that a bunch of innocent people died.  And that’s the thing that makes City of God a great movie—it gives us no answers—just chills you to the bone.   Yes, a lot of the killing was related to drug wars, or money, and things like that, but the simple fact is that much of the violence and destruction in this movie had no rhyme or reason at all, and that’s scary.  Once scene in particular floored me—a 10 year-old is handed a gun and, at gunpoint, forced to shoot his 6 or 7-year old friend.  And that brings me to my next point…

         

           This definitely isn’t a film that makes us reflect inwardly.  It’s a commentary on society.  Yes, this movie takes place on a different continent two decades ago, but to pretend that senseless violence isn’t going on in our own backyard is would be intentionally closing our eyes to the truth.  I’m not trying to get all Michael Moore on you guys or anything (I would need a few extra pounds, a dirty t-shirt, a megaphone, and a few factual errors).  I’m not a politician, and I don’t have the answers.  But for me especially, to sit in my downtown Houston apartment and watch this movie while acting like I’m completely removed from it’s message would just be ignorant. 

(Steps off soapbox). 

Oh, and while we’re at it, top 7 Foreign Language films of the decade (going with 7 instead of 5 for this particular list)

1.  City of God

2.  4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days

3.  Pan’s Labyrinth

4.  Amelie

5.  The Lives of Others

6.  Letters from Iwo Jima

7.  Let the Right One In

958.  New Moon (Okay, don’t really have a humorous foreign film to make fun of here, so I just went with the stupidest movie I could think of.  Although, 13-year-old girl language is kind of like a foreign language, so maybe this actually works?)

Top-10 1/2 of the Decade: #7

7.  In the Bedroom (2001)

            I must warn you, my list takes a divergence here—numbers 10-8, while great movies, are fairly transparent thematically and were more concerned with surface-level entertainment value than inducing any real reflection from their viewers.  This little film, directed by Todd Field (—genius), does just that.  Of all the films on my top 10 ½, this one will probably cause the most controversy, and I can’t make any guarantees about whether you will like it.  All I can guarantee is that if you don’t go through some sort of moral self-reflection after watching this movie then there’s something wrong with you.  It’s very difficult to talk about this movie without giving too much away, but suffice it to say that the plot concerns a middle-aged couple from Maine who suffers a tragedy and tries desperately to cope, while they and the audience begin to question how far they are willing to go to ease the pain.  There, Ebert couldn’t have said it better himself.  Tom Wilkinson and Sissy Spacek are just downright awesome as the leads, but the real star here is Field.  No other director would have made such seemingly boring scenes so intense and dramatic—scenes like watching characters mow the lawn, watch TV, smoke a cigarette, or wait to cross a bridge.  There is something about the quietness and subtlety of scenes like this that appeal to me as a moviewatcher.    Maybe it’s because I’m a creep and I’d rather watch people than actually have a conversation with them. 

            

           Watch these scenes with an open mind and study the expression of the characters as they go about coping.  Think about how you would react—how would you move on?  Would you move on at all?  Some of ya’ll will probably get bored while watching this movie, but trust me that there’s a payoff for paying attention to details.  Some movies make you think, some movies make you feel (good or bad), and some movies exist to entertain.  This movie crawls under your skin and lives inside your soul for a week, and defies you to consider your perception of who’s “good” and “bad” in society…just let it in.  The final 20 minutes will leave you speechless. 

-Oh, and while we’re at it, top 5 directorial debuts of the decade:

1. Todd Field, In the Bedroom

2. Martin McDonagh, In Bruges

3. Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton

4. Fernando Meirelles, City of God

5. Judd Apatow, The 40 Year-Old Virgin

Top-10 1/2 of the Decade: #8

8.  Sideways (2004)

           “I like to think about the life of wine. How it's a living thing. I like to think about what was going on the year the grapes were growing; how the sun was shining; if it rained. I like to think about all the people who tended and picked the grapes. And if it's an old wine, how many of them must be dead by now. I like how wine continues to evolve, like if I opened a bottle of wine today it would taste different than if I'd opened it on any other day, because a bottle of wine is actually alive.  And it's constantly evolving and gaining complexity. That is, until it peaks, like your '61.  And then it begins its steady, inevitable decline.”           --Maya, “Sideways”      

            This is one of those movies that everyone pretty much loves or hates.  And the people who hate it really hate it.  I, of course, love it, but I can totally understand those who hate it.  I mean, the two main characters are 1) a drunken wine snob with self-confidence issues that rival most 12 year old girls, and 2) a failed TV star and overly confident, self-proclaimed playboy who is intent to cheat on his fiancé before getting married.  Not exactly the most inspiring cinematic duo ever.  I think guys generally like this movie more than girls, and I think that’s because the two characters I mentioned are really exaggerated versions of ourselves and friends that we’ve had/have.  No, I don’t have any friends that want to cheat on their spouse/fiancé (that I know of).  But it seems like a lot of times with best-bud relationships that there’s always some version of the self-loathing/overly-confident dynamic; like I said, just less exaggerated than depicted in the movie.  Honestly though, there is some serious heart in this movie, and several scenes really strike an emotional chord with me, no matter how many times I see it (probably in the 10-12 range by now).  Some people, including my wife, dislike this movie because of the constant symbolism between wine and the characters in the film, like in the quote at the top.  To them it comes off cheap, but for me and others who like this movie, it really works.  I can’t do it justice by explaining it, and I’m not going to apologize for it.  Just watch it and see if it works for you. 

      

           Now that we have all of that out of the way, let me just add that beyond whether or not you like the story and characters, this is an extremely well-made film.  Alexander Payne is an absolute wizard from behind the camera, even throwing in some great split-screen sequences.  Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church both give the performances of their career.  Rolfe Kent adds to it with a great musical score.  Raise your glass and give a toast to #8 on the top 10 ½. 

-Oh, and while we’re at it, top-5 breakout acting performances of the decade:

1.   Adrien Brody, The Pianist

2.   Audrey Tatou, Amelie (She was already really famous in France, but this movie made her a household name in the U.S.,  so I’m counting it.)

3.  Joaquin Phoenix, Gladiator

4. Paul Giamatti, Sideways

5.  Josh Brolin, No Country for Old Men (effectively moved him from the C-list to the A-list)

845.  Robert Pattinson, Twilight

          

Top-10 1/2 of the Decade: #9

9.  Pirates of the Caribbean (2003) & Ocean's Eleven (2001) 

 

           So sue me for having two number nines.  I simply could not separate these movies and like I said before, I almost passed out trying to cut one more movie off my list and I just couldn’t do it.  Plus, these two movies share a lot in common with each other and deserve to be neck-and-neck on the list.  These two movies don’t necessarily carry the clout with the critics as much as other movies on my list will, but in the “Adam’s Rear Window patented formula for determining how good movies really are,” rewatchability is a MAJOR plus.  Have you ever turned on TBS when Ocean’s Eleven was on and not watched at least 15 minutes of it before saying to yourself “holy crap, I’ve seen this at least 18 times and I own it on DVD why am I watching this?!” (If you’re like me, you watch 20 more minutes after asking yourself this question).  Or with Pirates, have you ever turned on the TV right as your about to leave the house and you’re like, “I know I’m running late for such and such but it’s about to be the part where Jack and Will go to Tortuga!” and then your wife looks at you like she regrets ever meeting you (once again, maybe just me)?  Anyway, these two movies top the list of rewatchability for me for this decade.  Johnny Depp gets better every time (despite Orlando Bloom getting worse every time) and garnered a best-actor nomination, and he’s the only person in Hollywood who could have made that happen.  Ocean’s Eleven has one of the most ridiculous casts ever, which could have been a bad thing except that you felt like they were really enjoying making the movie together, which just makes it more fun to watch.  Credit that to always-outstanding director Steven Soderbergh.

-Oh, and while we’re at it, the top-5 Brad Pitt Performances Ever (As opposed to top-5 movies starring Brad Pitt, huge difference):

1.  Fight Club (duh)

2.  Snatch

3.  The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

4.  Se7en

5.  The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

943.  Troy

Top-10 1/2 of the Decade

         With the close of 2009 and the new decade here, I thought a great way to kick things off with the blog would be a Top-Ten Movies of the Decade countdown, which actually turned into a top-10 ½ countdown, because I simply couldn’t narrow it down further.  Come back to the site every day or two for my updated list.  What are my qualifications to determine this, you ask?  Well, for starters, I’ve seen all 45 movies nominated for Best Picture since 2000, and 178 movies nominated for any Oscar since 2000 (not that the Oscars are the end-all and be-all of movies).  I’ve probably watched more movies in the last year than you have in the last five.  I would beat the crap out of you in “The Movie Game” (© Brown, Freeman & Dickinson).  I constantly read message boards dedicated to debating these matters.  Martin Scorcese calls me for advice at least three times a week (—lie).  In short: I’m a nerd.

       

         So I don’t want you to think that I just picked my ten favorite movies.  I took a lot of different factors into account, and yes, a couple of my favs ended up on the list, but that wasn’t the final authority.  There was a rigorous process involved in whittling down my first list of 30-something movies that I thought were quality nominees.  I almost blacked-out while trying to decide which movie would be number ten, and it was so hard that I ended up just choosing two number 9’s instead.  It was rough on me, okay?  So cut me some slack if your favorite movie didn’t make the cut.  So, without further adieu….

10.  Once (2006)

            This is the one movie on my top 10 ½ that I can pretty much guarantee that everyone will like.  Let’s see…great, heartfelt music?  Check.  Non-gratuitous love story?  Check.   Authentic human emotion played out through a realistic plot?  Check.  If you can’t appreciate those things in a movie, then go read another blog (seriously, leave).  The basic plot: two musicians meet in Dublin and begin writing and recording music together; love story ensues.  There are so many things I could praise about this movie, i.e. great acting and on-screen chemistry from the leads who aren’t even actors, the outstanding music that is wonderfully-woven into the film in a natural way, and a love story that is incredibly realistic and works on so many levels because of that.  Some people may be off-put by the home-video look, but for me it just added to the realistic (third time I’ve used the word “realistic” in this review—there’s four) nature of the film.  Not only is this one of the best 10 ½ movies of the decade, but it’s gotta be near the top in the feel-good department.  Do yourself a favor and go to blockbuster—actually, scratch that, just go to Target and buy it right now, I promise you won’t regret it—plop down on the couch with your significant other and let the movie do it’s magic.  Did I mention how realistic it is?

-Oh, and while we’re at it: top-5 musicals of the decade:

1.  Once (by default)

2.  Sweeney Todd

3.  Enchanted

4.  Chicago

5.  Walk the Line (Does this count?  I say yes.)

734. High School Musical