Movie of the Decade

[Mr. TM]

What is your movie pick for the WrestleZone movie of the decade? With the 00s ending, and a plethora of high grossing movies in a time of inflation, we must separate the Transformers from the Crashes.

I'll put up a list of 15 movies that I would consider to be in the top 15, then after a week, Ill put up a poll with the most voted movies. So pick your films and give your reasonings.

Finding Nemo
City of God
Memento
The Dark Knight
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
The Departed
The Prestige
Sin City
Gran Torino
Gladiator
No Country for Old Men
The Wrestler
Into The Wild
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Crash​

My choice for the movie of the decade is Peter Jackson's Lord of the Ring: The Return of the King. The finale of the greatest trilogy in film, the Lord of the Rings: ROTY tied a record for the most Academy Awards won at thirteen. At over 3 hours, this film delivers action from the after the victory at Helms Deep to the battle for Middle Earth at Minas Tirith, to the destruction of the Ring at Mordor.

 

[jmt225]

Here's a full list of my favorite movies from this decade, in alphabetical order:

A Beautiful Mind
A History of Violence
Alpha Dog
American Psycho
The Aviator
Batman Begins
The Bourne Ultimatum
City of God
Closer
The Dark Knight
The Departed
Eastern Promises
Gangs of New York
Gone Baby Gone
Into the Wild
Kill Bill
Knocked Up
The Lookout
Mulholland Drive
Old Boy
Requiem for a Dream
The Rules of Attraction
Wonder Boys
The Wrestler​

When I look on that list (and granted, I'm probably forgetting two or three movies), I would have to give the edge to Requiem for a Dream, hands down, as the greatest film this decade. It's the most heart wrenching film I've ever sat through, and everything about it is simply perfect. The acting, direction, editing... all that. But really it's just the experience of sitting through that movie, man. There's nothing like it. The film is about addiction, and the film itself makes you high; high off of pure emotion, as corny as that sounds. But what I mean by that is, while you're watching this masterpiece, you feel literally every emotion you could ever feel while watching a motion picture. And I don't think there's another film on my list that can come close to comparing to that.

To give a top 10, though, here you go:

1. Requiem for a Dream
2. The Departed
3. Mulholland Drive
4. Batman Begins
5. City of God
6. The Wrestler
7. Old Boy
8. Gangs of New York
9. The Lookout
10. The Rules of Attraction

Edit: Please keep in mind that I have not seen most of the "best" movies from this year, so my list could perhaps be incomplete, since films like Up in the Air, Brothers, etc. very well could end up on that list when I eventually see them.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Here's my list of the top movies of the decade:

Gangs Of New York
The Departed
Gran Torino
Kill Bill Vol.1
Lord Of The Rings;The Two Towers
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge OF The Sith
Orphan
Sweeney Todd: The Deomn Barber Of Fleet Street
The Mist
The Dark Knight
Secret Window

Gangs Of New York has to be my pick. Daniel Day Lewis and Leonardo Dicaprio put on some amazing performances in this film. Cameron Diaz also was very good in this movie. This movie is a prime example of why Martin Scorsese is one of my favoerite directors. He did such a great job of capturing this time period, when it came down to the language and the culture.

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

Here's my preliminary list (I'll narrow it down to 25 by the end of the year):

Almost Famous
Cast Away
Yi Yi
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence
Black Hawk Down
Freddy Got Fingered
In The Bedroom
Monsoon Wedding
Monster’s Ball
Mulholland Drive
The Piano Teacher
Spirited Away
Vanilla Sky
City Of God
Lilya 4-ever
Talk To Her
Irréversible
21 Grams
Bad Santa
Mystic River
Oldboy
Shattered Glass
Far From Heaven
Ichi The Killer
Crash
Downfall
Head-On
Million Dollar Baby
Shaun Of The Dead
Sideways
Caché
Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo
Hustle & Flow
It’s All Gone, Pete Tong
Match Point
Mysterious Skin
Naboer
Sympathy For Lady Vengeance
The Host
Ken Park
Bully
The Prestige
Letters From Iwo Jima
Rocky Balboa
Pan’s Labyrinth
Half Nelson
Better Luck Tomorrow
Michael Clayton
Gone Baby Gone
No Country For Old Men
The Orphanage
Babel
La Comunidad
Batman Begins
The Diving Bell And The Butterfly
Gomorrah
Precious
Mother
The White Ribbon
Let The Right One In
​

City Of God will more than likely be number one, as it's not only a great film, but the most important one of this decade. I don't think any film has ever moved me as much as The Diving Bell And The Butterfly, so that will definitely be high on my list as well.

As for the best director of this decade, it's a tie between Michael Haneke and Clint Eastwood. Gangs of New York was on my original list, but, like There Will Be Blood, its greatness can be attributed to Daniel Day-Lewis. If I had to pick an actor for this decade, it would be him (in a tie with Daniel Auteuil).

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

All right, I'll do five posts, with five films each. I will count from 1 to 25.

1. The White Ribbon (2009) - The Palme d'Or winner at Cannes this year, this latest effort from Michael Haneke looks at the mysterious, violent acts committed in a small farming village in Germany right before the outbreak of World War I. Thematically, the film examines the social preconditions for German fascism. While definitely a topic worthy of cinematic treatment, it's Haneke's direction and his ability to imbue even the most placid of situations with extreme, white-knuckle suspense that make The White Ribbon probably the best film I have ever seen.

In her book, Blood and Guts in High School, Kathy Acker's protagonist, Janey Smith, has a conversation with Jean Genet, the famous and controversial French writer. When Janey asks Genet if he plans on writing again, he says something to the effect of, "No. I've said everything I've needed to say." Although it would sadden me if Haneke never made another film, his career's complete with The White Ribbon; he's conveyed to his audience everything he has needed to convey.

2. City Of God (2002) - I think everyone's seen this epic film about child gangs in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. If not, go get it; it's the most socially important film of this decade.

3. Let The Right One In (2008) - When I said The Diving Bell And The Butterfly was the most touching film I'd ever seen, I lied; I had completely forgotten about this Swedish vampire film. While not the most technically superb of films, the friendship of Eli and Oskar more than makes up for this. I used to think that Spielberg had a monopoly on the ability to effectively tell the stories of children from broken families who have a desperate need for companionship; I was clearly mistaken.

4. The Diving Bell And The Butterfly (2007) - The story of Elle editor and stroke victim Jean-Dominique Bauby, who was left paralyzed in all but his left eye. Although I was initially skeptical of how a film about an almost-complete paralytic could be in the least bit exciting, my doubts were put to rest as soon I just started watching this film. A celebration of life and all of the pain, joy, and moments of pure bliss that it brings. Also, this film makes All That Jazz look like the piece of shit that it always was.

5. Caché (2005) - Another Haneke film. You either love him or you hate him. I love him, and there wouldn't be enough room in this post to both sing his praises and uncover all of the hidden meaning in his films. Hell, I probably couldn't even do both of those things with the space of ten posts.

 

[Daedalus]

Requiem for a Dream
Mysterious Skin
Into the Wild
21 Grams
Session 9
Mystic River
The Mudge Boy
Brotherhood of the Wolf
Let the Right One In
The Fall
Super Troopers
Brokeback Mountain
Sunshine
Shaun of the Dead
The Prestige
Battle Royale
High Tension
House of Sand and Fog
The Mist
L.I.E.

Requiem for a Dream may be my all time favorite flick. Everything about it is great and haunting. Darren Aronofsky is a great director. Great acting performances in that flick as well. Mysterious Skin is another film that is haunting and stays for you well after the film is over. I enjoy Gregg Araki as he makes movies that are different and MS had great acting performances from Joseph Gordon-Levitt (best young actor in his generation) and Brady Corbet. Into the Wild has a great performance from Emile Hirsch (right up there with Gordon-Levitt) and astonishing cinematography. 21 Grams seems to be under the radar but man did it have some solid writing and acting performances. Session 9 is the best horror movie to come along in the last decade. Brad Anderson is very talented and made a superior psychological horror flick.

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

I can't get to sleep. Let's do another five films.

6. Mulholland Drive (2001) - All right, here's the deal with this film: if I did this list last year, this film would have easily been number one. But, I have recently started to ask myself whether or not Lynch just lucked out with Mulholland Drive. That is to say, was it an intentional act of genius, or did the pieces just fall into place serendipitously? I will probably piss off both xfearbefore and jmt225 for even questioning the godliness of David Lynch, but, I do want to hear what they have to say in defense of this film. It's a superb film, probably the best Lynch has ever done; but, thinking about it nonetheless conjures up the image of Chance, the mentally handicapped gardener from the Being There, who just happened to say simple things that could be interpreted as profound.

7. Bully (2001) - The dramatization of the incidents leading up to the brutal murder of 20 year-old Floridian Bobby Kent, as envisioned by the enfant terrible of American independent film, Larry Clark. If you liked Kids, American History X, L.I.E., or Mysterious Skin, then you'll love this film.

8. Oldboy (2003) - They don't get anymore brutally poetic than this Korean film, which is about a lush who is held in captivity for reasons unknown to him. Upon being abruptly released 15 years later as a frizzy-haired, insane, blood-thirsty, ass-kicking machine, he is asked by his captor to uncover the reasons for his imprisonment. Supposedly, this film is being remade with Will Smith in the lead. This just makes me .

9. Mystic River (2003) - The film that began Clint Eastwood's ascension into the company of the greatest American filmmakers of all time. Sure, there was Unforgiven, but, between that and Mystic River, Eastwood delivered to his audiences almost nothing but crime-thriller duds. Here, he proves to us that he's a master storyteller, and he hasn't let up for the past six years. Here's to hoping that an Eastwood film cracks my top five in the next decade.

10. Mother (2009) - You read it here first, folks: the next legitimate auteur is Bong Joon-ho. Memories Of Murder and The Host were great, but Bong Joon-ho tops both of them with this mystery/comedy/drama about Hye-ja, a middle-aged ginseng vendor who excessively dotes on and coddles Do-joon, her mentally handicapped and mischievous 27 year-old son. When Do-joon is arrested for the murder of a local schoolgirl, Hye-ja stops at nothing to exonerate him. What ensues is a hilarious and poignant picaresque of a film that has something to say about almost everything in contemporary South Korean society. In my opinion, what makes Bong Joon-ho such a talented director is his ability to evoke a palette of emotions from his audience without coming across as forced or overly sentimental; each of his films genuinely makes me feel amused, sad, and happy

 

[lordslix0129]

There's been a ton of really good movies over the past decade.

1. The Departed - Aside from the fact that this movie included all of my favorite actors of all time, the entire movie had me hooked from beginning to end, and it was really freaking long. Normally, I can't sit through a long movie without wanting to get up, stretch my legs and use the restroom; but I didn't even wanna get up once during this movie. The acting was awesome, the story was very intense and interesting, the minor comedy involved was funny, the twists and turns in the movie tripped me out. The ending was definitelty surprising and awesome. A lot of movies are ruined by a bad ending, or an anti-climatic twist but this movie was amazing from beginning to end.


2. The Matrix Trilogy - I didn't like the cheesy romance between Neo and his girlfriend, but I LOVED the biotech futuristic battles involved, the CG was mind blowing, the philosophy behind the story was fascinating, and the root of the story was very very interesting.

3. Requiem For A Dream - This is one of the most flawless movies of the decade, in terms of production, acting, directing, storyline and it really shows you the bad effects it can have on someones life if they let drugs ruin it. I've only seen this movie twice, but I was blown away by the stellar acting as well as the crazy storyline, and the ending tripped me out. It provided a realistic insight on the effects an addiction can have on someones life. Definitely an eye opener.

4. Taken - Okay, so the acting wasn't the greatest in the world, but the ACTION and FIGHT SCENES were freaking brilliant beyond what I could have expected before I saw the movie. I loved the car chasing scenes, the gun battles, the hand to hand combat battles, it was just a kick-ass action movie, and one of the greatest action movies of the decade.

5. Antitrust - I'm a huge fan of Tim Robbins, and he played the maniacal Gary Winston that was loosely based off of Bill Gates to perfection. Tim Robbins acting as a maniacal, obsessed computer programmer was awesome and hilarious. Most hollywood movies about computer hacking, programming are so full of shit, its hilarious. But this one actually included some legitimate code, all the acting from the "geeks" reminded me of how most of my friends are. It was just a fun movie, and probably the best computer based movie that hollywood has ever released. The storyline was interesting, but it wasn't amazing, but I was def impressed.

6. The 40 Year Old Virgin - This movie ranks up there with Cheech and Chong in terms of comedic hilariousness. Almost every scene in this movie cracks me up, and no matter how many times I've watched it, I still lmao throughout the entire movie. Paul Rudd and Seth Rogan's performances were hilarious and arguably their best roles to date. The ending was kind of anti-climatic, but when Steve Carrel was with his chick in the hotel room, and was like "DUDE, GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!!", that was side splitting funny shit. Also, when they locked Andy in the store room with the huge porno blasting in the background, great stuff!

 

[Tenta]

Yeah, if I could name each and every one of my favorites, we'd all be here for a while

Look, there's been thousands upon thousands of movies that came out, and I seem to love all of them. I don't make for much of a credit. But if I have to pick one movie, from this decade, for the rest of my life, the choice is simple:

The Dark Knight

Simply put, this has become, for me, the example of what a superhero film should be. It struggles with the same questions of morality we all deal with from life. The performances were spectacular, from all standpoints. Let's forget Heath Ledger; I could probably do an entire post simply off his performance. Batman was actually very convincing to me. Ignore the coarse voice, and you'll see a man brought down to human level, though we see him as anything but. Nolan does a fantastic job in portraying his superhero, a man we should see as our savior and superior, as merely mortal.Without that human feel, we can't come to understand the whole moral of the story, nor can we accept the message. Bruce Wayne is an idealist who believes he can alter the world’s crime ridden roots through the donning of a mask and a cape. But how far will he proceed with it? And how much is he willing to risk of himself in order to obtain it.

Plus, add that with brilliant performances by Maggie Gyllenhaal, and an outstanding suporting cast to surround our three main characters in Bale, Ledger, and a superb Aaron Eckhart. Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Gary Oldman, all at the same time? Who the Hell is able to pull that off.

And besides that, they got Zeus into play a bit role!

Ok, maybe that's not a good point to make. Still, if we're going by entertainment value, it was easily the best movie of the 00s. Action packed, yet full of meaning, The Dark Knight is the best film of the 2000s

 

[Billie Jean]

Yeah, if I could name each and every one of my favorites, we'd all be here for a while

Look, there's been thousands upon thousands of movies that came out, and I seem to love all of them. I don't make for much of a credit. But if I have to pick one movie, from this decade, for the rest of my life, the choice is simple:

The Dark Knight


Simply put, this has become, for me, the example of what a superhero film should be. It struggles with the same questions of morality we all deal with from life. The performances were spectacular, from all standpoints. Let's forget Heath Ledger; I could probably do an entire post simply off his performance. Batman was actually very convincing to me. Ignore the coarse voice, and you'll see a man brought down to human level, though we see him as anything but. Nolan does a fantastic job in portraying his superhero, a man we should see as our savior and superior, as merely mortal.Without that human feel, we can't come to understand the whole moral of the story, nor can we accept the message. Bruce Wayne is an idealist who believes he can alter the world’s crime ridden roots through the donning of a mask and a cape. But how far will he proceed with it? And how much is he willing to risk of himself in order to obtain it.

Plus, add that with brilliant performances by Maggie Gyllenhaal, and an outstanding suporting cast to surround our three main characters in Bale, Ledger, and a superb Aaron Eckhart. Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Gary Oldman, all at the same time? Who the Hell is able to pull that off.

And besides that, they got Zeus into play a bit role!

Ok, maybe that's not a good point to make. Still, if we're going by entertainment value, it was easily the best movie of the 00s. Action packed, yet full of meaning, The Dark Knight is the best film of the 2000s

This is basically the only way to sum up. i am in full agreement with Tenta that the Dark Knight is not only in my favorite movie ever, but one of the best of the 00's.

The Dark Knight is what every great movie should be. It has a great story and background, it has phenomenal actors and one of the better, in my opinion, directors in this modern era in Christopher Nolan. It was an action packed thriller that made you not want to leave your seat. I have never been so desperate for the toilet in all my life when I had to go and yet I still sat there, mesmerized.

The actors- What a beautifully casted set of actors. As if there has not been enough already said about the performance of the late Heath Leger, he was fucking phenomenal in this film. When I looked at him in this film, I did not look at him as the villain of a superhero, I looked at him as just a fruitcake. And I think that was the way he was intended to look. Christian Bale as Batman/Bruce Wayne also did a great job for me, except for the lisp of course. I feel his segments where he performed as Bruce Wayne were excellent and due to Heath Legers performance Bale does not get all the credit he fully deserves. But for me, the two most underrated actors of the film have to be Aaron Eckhart and Gary Oldman. I feel that, although heavily critically acclaimed for the movie, these guys get no credit whatsoever. Aaron Eckhart gets no where near the credit he deserves for playing Harvey dent/Two Face and he is just a phenomenal Actor form start to finish in this movie. The same goes for Gary Oldem, just a fan fucking tastic performance form him here. I also think Michael Caine as always was awesome as expected and is, in my opinion the greatest Alfred ever. I also liked Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawds and the twist on her character.

The writing- Well, what can I say? The story is fantastic. The idea of the main character having doubts about life or what he should do. As the audience we know what he should do and it really cast a doubt in out minds on whether what Bruce Wayne does in his night life is right. Fantastic writing which deserves all the credit it gets.

That's one of the best summary's I can come up with. To sum up I think the Dark Knight is the best movie of the decade so far.

 

[ColdPlay3r]

good choices guys, here is my list

in no order,

gladiator
memento
the dark night
the departed
the prestige
the lord of the rings trilogy
no country for old men
the bourne trilogy
i love you man
the hangover
role models
american psycho
clerks 2
hot fuzz
300
eagle eye
kiss kiss bang bang
serenity
superbad
pireats of the Caribbean trilogy



ok those are some of the big names that i enjoyed watching, but i cant pick a favorite so ill just do a random one. half way on the list is the hangover so ill guess ill put a few words next to that.

i love my comedies, but it takes a lot to impress me. i guess the first thing that made the hangover a good film is i went in with really low expectations so at the end of the film i was blown away.

i thought all the characters were funny and all the actors did a good job. the plot wasn't as bad as i thought

i dont care what anyone says this is possibly one of the best comedies of the decade. thanks todd!!!

 

[The Bloop]

I'll make a short list for my favourite movies of the decade

Remember the Titans
Gladiator
LOTR (any of the three)
Pirates of the Caribbean 1

My favourite will go to Pirates of the Caribbean 1. The characters in this are just quite simply awesome. The fight scenes are entertaining, and the trio of Sparrow, Turner and Swann work really well together. Jack Sparrow is my favourite movie character ever, and this is the best of the Pirates trilogy. One of the opening scenes where Sparrow escapes with the "this is the day that you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow" line, is an absolute classic. I would vote for the 3rd LOTRs film, but its a bit too long, and as such i havent watchd it many times as it is too long to watch over and over again. Whereas Pirates isnt too long and so i have watched it ten plus times easy.

On a side note - Remember the Titans is the most inspirational film i ever saw

 

[Loveless]

My Top 10, in order

1. American Beauty
My favourite film of this or any other decade. A thorough look behind the facade of the American Dream

2. Magnolia
A brilliant, epic study of the cyclicle nature of cause and effect

3. Let The Right One In
It takes real talent to take a story as old as the hills and put a new spin on it. Let The Right One In is nothing short of brilliant.

4. Amelie
A modern fairytale, no special effects, it's not animated but it manages to be other-worldly through it's sheer style.

5. Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
Charlie Kaufmann is some kind of genius. A romance, deconstructed with painful inevitability while in reverse, then given a 2nd chance with a new beginning at the end.

6. Donnie Darko
I've got admiration for any film that dares to be intelligent or refuses to pander to the slack-jawed yokels. Donnie Darko is a mindfuck that 90% of the fans still don't fully understand.

7. Gone Baby Gone
Best ending of any film this decade. I've already said that I like films that ask you questions and the one at the end of this is an absolute cracker.

8. Where The Wild Things Are
Sits alongside Stand By Me as being one of the greatest films about being a child that I've ever seen. That does not mean it's a kids film, it isn't. It's a film to remind adults (and parents in particular) about how scary it is being a child.

9. In Bruges
If this were literature it'd be heralded as a Dante'esque masterpiece. On the surface it's just the story of two hitman hiding out after buggering up a hit, what it's actually about is purgatory, judgement and redemption.

10.Wall.E
How good is WALL.E? Well it's near silent and the kids still love it, so pretty fucking amazing to be honest.


Honourable mentions go to this lot plus a few others

No Country For Old Men, The Dark Knight, Finding Nemo, Million Dollar Baby, The Two Towers, Shrek, Pans Labyrinth, Mystic River, Spirited Away, Juno, Y Tu Mama Tambien and Casino Royale.