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Smart Hollywood: My Top Ten Fave Films of the 00’s

the aughts

by Jonathan Fuhrman | 12:50 pm, December 4th, 2009

» 4 comments

3. The Dark Knight (2008)

The 00s will likely be remembered as the decade the superhero movie came of age. Just consider how many comic-book film franchises have flooded cinemas in the last 10 years. “Spiderman” kicked the decade off and launched a new filmmaking powerhouse that is Marvel Studios (so powerful that Disney snapped them up earlier this year for a tidy $4 billion, yes BILLION). “Spiderman” may have earned a spot here if not for the fact that the 3rd Spidey film really was that much of a turnoff (I really dig Tobey Maguire as Spiderman, but if I ever see him dance his way through another musical number on screen, it better be in a new musical by Rob Marshall and not in another Spiderman movie!). But “The Dark Knight” isn’t just a great comic-book film. It’s a great film period. So great that many people believe that the reason the Academy Award for Best Picture will grow to 10 nominations this year is because The Dark Knight was flat-out robbed last year when it didn’t get a Best Picture nomination. The film is a piece of bravura movie-making by writer/director Christopher Nolan, and a fitting allegory for our current troubled times. What truly makes this film mesmerizing from start to finish is the performance of Heath Ledger as The Joker. Ledger justly won a posthumous Best Supporting Actor Award for his performance in this film. Years from now when you think of Heath Ledger, the first thing you will likely think of is the Joker. His performance is both funny and terrifying at the same time, a comic book villain for the ages. You would have never thought that someone could erase the image of Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of the Joker (from Tim Burton’s 1989 “Batman”) from the collective consciousness, but Ledger did it. If that’s’ not a testament to how great Ledger’s Joker was, I don’t know what is. Nolan is rumored to begin working on his third Batman film in 2010. That film sure will have a lot to live up to. I can’t wait to see it.

>>>NEXT: “Gladiator”

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kevinsemicolon

That’s a pretty interesting list. Of the movies I’ve seen, I would only disagree with a few of them (one in particular—I can guarantee I will not be rewatching any Russell Crowe movie in the next 20 years). Here’s my list, with the added restraint of only one movie per year:

Wonder Boys (2000)
Mulholland Drive (2001)
24 Hour Party People (2002)
The Saddest Music in the World (2003)
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005)
Volver (2006)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
Synecdoche, New York (2008)
Coraline (2009)

For Volver, you can substitute Pan’s Labyrinth if you prefer. 2006 was the year Madrid picked up the slack for Hollywood. That was a fun exercise. Thanks!
Rachel Sklar

What a great list. I admit that I can watch “Legally Blonde” anytime…or “Bring It On”…or “Mean Girls”…I think I just stumbled upon another idea for a list…

(I also like smart-people movies too, sheesh. Oh and I think I’d put Inglorious Basterds on any list. I still find myself thinking about it, and arrested by it.)
Jonathan Fuhrman

I agree re: “Basterds” but left it off the list for 2 reasons: 1) personal bias given I worked on it and trying to remain somewhat impartial; 2) and more importantly, it’s probably a case of timing hurting its chances to make the top 10 – its just too soon – need a little bit of time and distance to really determine its place on this list. That being said Quentin’s other masterpiece of the 00′s, “Kill Bill” (especially Volume 1) was definitely a near miss to this list. I can watch that scene where The Bride takes on the Crazy 88 over and over. What a movie.
lkruse

Excellent choices! I agree with all those films. I think if I had to try and do both: pick movies just from the 00′s that I’ll enjoy yrs from now (enjoy being the key word in this category as some of the best movies can be difficult to watch over and over again), as well as movies that stand up to critical acclaim I would have to add:

Both Joe Wright’ films “Atonement” and “Pride and Prejudice”
Steven Soderbergh’s “Erin Brokovich”
“Little Miss Sunshine”
“Tropic Thunder”

Smart Hollywood: My Top Ten Fave Films of the 00’s

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