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

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!

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.)

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.

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”