Top 100 of the Decade Part 2: The Search For More Money (50-74)

Preamble Part 2: If the 00's taught us anything is that great films can come from anywhere. Where the term "film" has become looser as DVDs, the internet, television, etc. have redefined cinematic experience. With home theaters becoming more and more common as they become more and more cost affordable, it comes naturally that film expanded the amount of mediums that it could be told. I separated films from television into two distinctive lists so there would be little cross-over as possible. Nevertheless, there will be some films on this list that got their start of television or on DVD. It's inevitable when putting together what is truly the greatest of the past decade.

50) Let the Right One In
"It's just that I've been twelve for a long time."

What "Twilight" should've been. That is if "Twilight" was intended for foreign film geeks instead of adolescent girls. It's a brilliant story of boy meets vampire because it feels real. There's no real fawning over how a vampire is sexy and cool. They're just two kids caught up in a whirlwind of madness.

51) Persepolis
"Listen. I don't like to preach, but here's some advice. You'll meet a lot of jerks in life. If they hurt you, remember it's because they're stupid. Don't react to their cruelty. There's nothing worse than bitterness and revenge. Keep your dignity and be true to yourself."

It's sad to think that the 00's truly is the final resting grounds of the cell animated film. With CGI films become the predominant mode of cinematic animation, it's a wonder to see a cell animated film fall through the cracks every once in a while. "Persepolis" does something even more remarkable. It's the rare animated film aimed at adults that both pleases and has something worthy to tell. Plus, it's black and white. Yeah. No wonder this film only stuck on the art house circuit.

52) Gone Baby Gone
"You come 'round here again, and I'm gonna get discourteous on your ass."

Ben Affleck, bad actor, great director. For years I wondered if it was just Matt Damon that wrote "Good Will Hunting." Now I know the talent that Ben Affleck has so carefully concealed from audiences. That and his brother who has pretty much been doomed to indie films. At least with this and a title later on, he has been able to break out more.

53) The Constant Gardener
"Don't try to play detective."

A lot of films made in the 00's came to be known as message films. Films that are about something that is actually happening in the world but takes a dramatic interpretation to show it. "Brokeback Mountain" and even "Crash" can fall under this. The problem with these films is that sometimes they can get too preachy. "The Constant Gardener" strikes a balance of showing the evils of the world with actually telling a great story.

54) When the Levees Broke

Spike Lee is many things to many people. In the 00's, he has had a dip in his creative output, certainly, but, man oh man, he really knows how to put the message across. Going down to New Orleans after Katrina, Spike Lee documented this, sometimes, cinema verite look at life post-Katrina and how far people had to sink to survive. However, that's only part of the story. This documentary captures Katrina from all angles. From the responders to the residents to journalists to everyone in-between. It's a living, breathing document of history that will certainly help keep the memories alive of the worst storm (metaphorically and literally) to ever hit the US.

55) Synechdoche, NY
"But while alive, you wait in vain, wasting years, for a phone call or a letter or a look from someone or something to make it all right. And it never comes or it seems to but it doesn't really. And so you spend your time in vague regret or vaguer hope that something good will come along. Something to make you feel connected, something to make you feel whole, something to make you feel loved. And the truth is I feel so angry, and the truth is I feel so fucking sad, and the truth is I've felt so fucking hurt for so fucking long and for just as long I've been pretending I'm OK, just to get along, just for, I don't know why, maybe because no one wants to hear about my misery, because they have their own. Well, fuck everybody. Amen."

Can Charlie Kaufman do no wrong? Okay, "Human Nature" aside, this man is a genius. Put him behind the director's chair and it's amazing what he can do. Many writers that become directors end up shooting their own work in the proverbial foot. Not so here. True, it starts off like typical art house fair about disturbed genius but, by the end, I was shaking from how amazing every tied together. Was it real? Was it all imaginary? So many questions still linger in my mind after watching it. Come to think of it, the more I do, the hire it goes up on my list.

56) Little Miss Sunshine
"Oh my God, I'm getting pulled over. Everyone, just... pretend to be normal."

If you ever felt bad about your messed-up family, then watch this film. I guarantee it will make you hug them afterwards. I can watch this film a hundred times and still feel giddy afterwards.

57) Zodiac
"I am not the Zodiac. And if I were, I certainly wouldn't tell you."

Obsession. It's one of the biggest driving points of serial killers. This film skews this and shows how the detectives themselves become so possessed with a case that it ruins their lives. At nearly 3 hours long, the time flies like a breeze. David Fincher's long over-due return after stumbling slightly with "Panic Room", he really makes one of the most realistic looks of the hunt for a madman.

58) Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker Uncut
"You know, kids, a lot has changed since your old Uncle Joker's been away. New Gotham, new rules, even a new Batman. But now I'm tanned, I'm rested and I'm ready to give this old town a wedgie again!"

Like I said earlier, a great film can come from anywhere. Sadly this isn't often the case with straight-to-DVD movies. Nevertheless, there's still some gold hidden amongst all the turds. Until "The Dark Knight," this film was the definitive take on the Joker. Sure, initially when it came out it was cut to ribbons, but when it was released in its uncut form, it really shined indeed.

59) Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
"Captain's not called Lucky Jack for no reason."

Most people tend to forget this film. Coming out close to "Pirates", this beautiful and high-rollicking high-seas adventure tale for the Oscar-savvy crowd was truly something to ogle at. The beauty of the Galapagos and the brutality of the epic ship battles created a film filled with cognitive dissonance.

60) Green Lantern: First Flight
"Let me tell you, friend. The only way to operate out here is by fear. They hit, I hit harder. They attack, I annihilate. I am the one constant, unassailable force against their chaos and you made them forget that. You think I enjoy this? Look at the universe the Guardians have created. We have the greatest power in the cosmos and what have they made us? Garbage collectors! We pick up the trash."

Need I say more about this film? Nah. Not really. I want to focus on the rest of the entries. You can read more about this film on my column on DC Animated films.

61) The Assassination of Jesse James
"He was ashamed of his persiflage, his boasting, his pretensions of courage and ruthlessness; he was sorry about his cold-bloodedness, his dispassion, his inability to express what he now believed was the case- that he truly regretted killing Jesse, that he missed the man as much as anybody and wished his murder hadn't been necessary."

Beautiful. Simply beautiful. Thank you HD cinema. You finally created something the equivalent of actually being there.

62) Amelie
"It's better to help people than garden gnomes."

A quirky comedy with an irrepressible lead and wonderful characters, this film bottles pure happiness and shares it with the world. It's interesting how it's a stark contrast to the director's earlier works, which have been known for their quirky dark imagery like "Delicatessan" and "City of Lost Children". Well, as the French say, ce la vie.

63) The Life Aquatic
"Don't point that gun at him, he's an unpaid intern."

The most underrated gem from Wes Anderson. Combining Henry Selick's stop-motion animation expertise, a wonderful script by Wes Anderson, and beautiful mise en scene, the film relishes in beauty amongst the crappy, crappy life of Steve Zissou. Bill Murray's career revival from comedian to comedian with existential problems is astounding to watch as it unfurls on screen.

64) The Princess and the Frog
"You sure this is the right blind voodoo lady who lives in the boat in the tree in the bayou?"

The best Disney cell-animated film since "The Lion King", "The Princess and the Frog" is something all children should see. Whereas the message of other Disney films is essentially "find someone rich and get married", the film takes something from "Enchanted" where the message is to get to know someone before you make a commitment. That and hard work goes a long way. Also, some crocodiles carry around a trumpet. Kids will love that one when they go to the Everglades.

65) Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
"We don't want Tiffany's. We want a Mom and Pop operation, in a busy place, on a Saturday when the week's takes go in the safe. We both worked there. We know the safe combinations. We know the burglar alarm signals. We know where everything is. I figure, between the week's take, the jewelry and the cases, the vault, there's a $500,000 haul. I figure probably six. The old dumb old lady that works there, she's alone till noon. She's not going to be a problem."

Sidney Lumet is the hardest working man in showbiz. Making the film in his 80's (holy shit!) it's a wonder to see how incredible the film came out. Some directors retire after they make a couple of bad films in a row. Not Lumet. He still has some great movies in him. Even if this one in particular was perhaps the bleakest I've seen all decade.

66) Good Night and Good Luck
"Good night, and good luck."

Going back to message films, a great one is also one that creates an analogy between the past and the present. "Good Night and Good Luck" is remarkable as it came out during the height of Bush's reign in office and blew a lot of smoke back in his and his fellow Republican's faces. Though a lot of us see the past as the past, it's scary to think that this too may occur again one day. Especially if the current people running the Republican party get in control again.

67) Traffic
"Well, you know, in Mexico, law enforcement is an entrepreneurial activity. Not so much in the states, anyway, we, uh... We hire drivers with nothing and throw a lot of product at the problem. Some gets stopped, enough gets through. It's not difficult. Look, boys, this has worked for years, okay. It's going to continue to work for years."

Showing all aspects of the drug trade from low-level pusher to drug lords to drug czars that, apparently, can't hold their families together, it's as if the film distilled "The Wire" into a 2-hour opus. Mind you, it isn't as great as "The Wire", but it's still incredible to see how intricately plotted the film is by the end of it.

68) O Brother, Where Art Thou?
"So long boys. See you in the funny papers."

Coming off the era of the "Coens can do no wrong", I can see no way how anyone else could've made this film. An adaptation of "The Odyssey" based in the old South was a brilliant move on the Coens part. By taking the myths of the old South and, sometimes literally, burning them to the ground, the Coens essentially demystify what "Gone With the Wind" and other films of that ilk have so carefully crafted as a romantic reading of the old South. Taking a myth to disprove another myth. It's mind-boggling but, then again, it's the Coen Brothers.

69) Gangs of New York
"He ain't earned a death! He ain't a death at my hands! No, he'll walk amongst you marked with shame, a freak worthy of Barnum's Museum of Wonders. God's only man, spared by the Butcher."

Scorsese throughout the late-90's was on a downward spiral. Washed-up some people called him. Then he found Leonardo DiCaprio and, very soon, all was right with the world again. Plus, Daniel Day-Lewis to boot. It's a dirty, rotten picture filled with little sympathetic characters but it really captures history at that point in time.

70) Little Children
"I'm not a nice person."

Films are only as good as the performers in them and the performances in this are all five stars. Stepping back from the deluge of message films, "Little Children" examines the craziness of suburbia. Yeah, there's a lot of films like that, but it doesn't focus on the buildings and the societies surrounding it. It plays up the interpersonal connections and misconnections people make trying to escape it in some way. Even if it means retreating into childhood.

71) The Aviator
"Everybody works for you, Howard."

I take this film as Leonardo DiCaprio's official apology for "Titanic." Showing that really has the stones to act, he surprised me in how incredibly well rounded (and crazy) his interpretation of Howard Hughes was. Some biopics of Hollywood stars tend to focus on the drama and this film is guilty at that in times. However, it's really a great film about how close genius is to madness.

72) The Visitor
"We are not helpless children!"

When I started this film, I thought nothing of it. Then, thirty minutes in, everything changed. Wait, I wrote a review for this too. Check the archives!

73) Lost in Translation
"Can you keep a secret? I'm trying to organize a prison break. I'm looking for, like, an accomplice. We have to first get out of this bar, then the hotel, then the city, and then the country. Are you in or you out?"

How can you go wrong with the stellar chemistry between Bill Murray and Scarlet Johanssen? You really can't. And in Japan. Bill Murray solidified his revival with this film and it really hasn't worn its way through age. The shots of Japan are simply breathtaking at times (as well as the opening shot).

74) Caprica (TV-movie)
"What have you done?"

"Battlestar Galactica" was one of the greatest show revivals ever forged. There's a danger when trying to spin-off a success like that. You sometimes come up with something like the, I don't know, the countless spin-offs of "Stargate". Though, I don't want to confuse you, but this pilot was originally a television-movie and not a show. However, the network found it so good (from research of course and actually watching it) that they gave it a full first season. After watching this, I'd give it a couple of more.