P’haps I should have waited before compiling my best of the decade list…
So, today I saw a film that completely through my recent “top ten of the decade” list into disarray. This would/is my new number 2.
A bunch of films I’ve watched recently
A bunch of films watched between ten thousand words of papers and essays.
Top Ten of the decade. Number 1.
1. There Will Be Blood Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007. US When compiling this list there was only one dead cert for inclusion. And this was it. There was literally no other contender for the top of this list, it really was that clear cut. There Will Be Blood is the single greatest film produced in … Read more
Top Ten of the decade. Number 2.
2. Two Lovers James Gray, 2008. US/FRA James Gray, perhaps the most continental of young American Filmmakers produced a series of mini-classics over the last ten years, each of which star the fascinating Joaquin Phoenix, but while his most recent piece, Two Lovers may lack the scale of his previous two post-2000 pictures The Yards and We … Read more
Top Ten of the decade. Number 3.
3. Gangs Of New York Martin Scorsese, 2002. US Martin Scorsese’s foray into the world of the historical epic, and a film semi-derided upon it’s initial release is still my chronological favourite Scorsese since Goodfellas. Released just weeks after a very different piece of epic cinema, The Two Towers, Gangs of New York showed that … Read more
Top Ten of the decade. Number 4.
4. Batman Begins Christopher Nolan, 2005. US The ultimate post-September 11th piece of mainstream cinema, Batman Begins eschews the neon-nineties Schumacher-Batman flicks for a film grounded in fear. The over the top enemies of the earlier films are no longer part and parcel of the Batman franchise, instead we see terror reign, in a world … Read more
Top Ten of the decade. Number 5.
5. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Andrew Dominik, 2007. US/AUS The “noughties” belonged to one genre for this viewer, and that genre was the Neo-Western. Inspired by the likes of Clint Eastwood’s The Outlaw Josey Wales and John Sturges’ Bad Day at Black Rock, an influx of post-modern, ultra realistic … Read more
Top Ten of the decade. Number 6.
6. Children of Men Alfonso Cuaron, 2006 US/UK/MEX While this film excels in many areas, boasting an outstanding cast, a beautiful sense of scale, incredible cinematography and inspired direction, Children of Men was the best science fiction film of the decade for one reason above all of this; its world. The direction, sense and cinematography combined … Read more
Top Ten of the decade. Number 7.
7. 35 Shots of Rum Claire Denis FRA The sole entry from 2009, a year which from afar looks rather tame, but in fact boasted many great pictures. Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler is the most memorable flick from the first half of the year, with the likes of District 9, Star Trek and Moon providing a … Read more
Top Ten of the decade. Number 8.
8. The Royal Tenenbaums Wes Anderson, 2001. US The film that launched a thousand imitators (Napoleon Dynamite, Bear vs. Shark to name but two), Wes Anderson’s family drama expanded the aesthetic concepts behind Bottle Rocket and Rushmore, and with it created an ensemble piece that maintained the heart and character of his earlier films. From … Read more
