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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

9. Into the Wild (2007)

Sean Penn may have closed out the decade winning a Best Actor Oscar for “Milk”, but to me his finest work of the 00’s was this film where he stayed very much behind the camera. Based on a best-selling non-fiction book by Jon Krakauer, “Into the Wild”, written and directed by Penn, tells the heart-breaking true story of one young man’s journey to find himself. This woefully underrated film was released at a time when such darkly cynical films such as “No Country For Old Men” and “There Will Be Blood” were dominating pop culture and the awards circuit. But for me, “Into The Wild” stands on equal ground with those two aforementioned films (which both were also very near-misses to this list). What sets this film apart from those 2 films to me is that it is a film full of beauty and life, and one which packs an emotional wallop that gets me every time I see it. Emile Hirsch leads a stellar yet quirky cast that includes Katherine Keener, Vince Vaughn, Kristen Stewart (yes everyone Bella from Twilight!), Hal Holbrook, William Hurt, Marcia Gay Harden, Jena Malone and “The Hangover“‘s very own Zach Galifianakis. Add in a hauntingly beautiful and sparse soundtrack by Eddie Vedder, and this completes a film that never fails to captivate nor move me.

>>>NEXT: “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”

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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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