Around the World in 24 Frames 12.04.09: The Great Films of the 2000's - Part Two

Posted by Len Archibald on 12.04.2009

I continue to highlight the best of the past decade with TWO Scorsese flicks, a "Dark Knight", beautiful kung-fu, and Ben Affleck? ROB ZOMBIE? What is he doing here? Read on to find out...



Good Friday! It's been one of those weeks. Overtime! Yay!

*sarcasm meter explodes*

More Comments Than You Can Shake a Stick At

paco smith holds a special place in my heart here at 411. He was the one who smacked me with the "Arthouse Archibald" nickname that I love so much…even though I think he did it to be facetious at first. Of course, knowing that I am a fellow Canuck may have turned him around!

About American Psycho, I do think the film can be jarring to audiences upon first viewing, but I have found it to have great replay value. There are shots and nuances that I didn't catch when I first saw it, and because of repeated viewings that final denouement makes more sense and yet carries even more ambiguity…I may be a sucker for those kind of films.

…and don't knock Rogers Video! If it wasn't for those five-night rentals, I wouldn't have been introduced to Argento, Ozu, and Chan Wook-Park. Plus, working there got me two free rentals, ½ price internet and cable and free Blue Jays tickets! Okay, the Blue Jays tickets may be stretching it as they haven't done anything important since Joe Carter hit that home run.

Q:?, who I think is ?uestlove from The Roots took a moment of silence for our dear friend, Wilson the Volleyball from Cast Away. Don't worry, Q:? – as last I heard, Wilson – from the earnings of his star-making performance is now "sitting on a beach…earing twenty percent."

411's own Jeremy Thomas and Steve Guftason got me ego trippin' like Snoop Dogg again! Stop it, boys – you're making me blush! I hope you take the time to check out their work here. *shakes fist* CHECK IT OUT!!!

Frequent reader (at least I hope so), JLAJRC gave me some praise and explained his feelings for Before Sunset (which disappointed him), Borat (which he really hated) and Brokeback Mountain (which he thought was "ok" and prefers 2005's Crash over it).

Which is why I don't rank the films in the first place: subjectivity. The key word JLAJRC used in his comment was "prefer" – and I more than respect that. Everyone takes different things from different films. For example, I just watched Precious over the weekend - which our own Erik Luers gave a 6.5 out of 10, while I would give it a 9.5 and hail it as one of the best of the year. Of course, Precious may resonate deeper with me for completely personal reasons other than the actual "craft" of the film (which was good – I just wish the soundtrack kept consistent with 1987: It felt weird watching a fantasy sequence set to Bobby Brown's 1992 hit "Humpin' Around".)

I loved the ending to Before Sunset - probably because it felt like The Up Documentaries or Francois Truffaut following Antoine Doniel for four films, where each film didn't have so much of an "ending" as much of a "to be continued…" Who's to say that the cast and crew behind Before Sunrise/Sunset won't revisit this story in another 8 or 9 years to see if Jesse and Celine moved onto the next step of their relationship and it is really everything they hoped it would be?

I won't lie…you really have to be in a certain mood or mindset to even approach Borat - and even then, the comedy is not for everyone. My wife HATES Borat with the fire of 1,000 suns. I love Best in Show, btw.

I liked Crash - it was on my shortlist for the Honorable Mentions…I think what irked me about it was the "hyperlink-iness" of it all. I think that after Amores Perros and Traffic, it just felt like it was done before. The peformances are beyond excellent, though – especially Matt Dillon's quasi-racist cop and Terrence Howard as the black filmmaker who just didn't want to make a "scene" (HA!) I just felt a deeper connection to Brokeback Mountain. Maybe having two homosexuals in my family (who I love with all my soul) may have something to do with it; maybe understanding what it's like to be involved in a long-distance, somewhat taboo relationship may have something to do with it – maybe seeing Anne Hathaway naked may have…I'm rambling. ;)

Oh, and yes, The Aristocrats is indeed a great (and funny) film, and honestly – one I completely overlooked. I am flabbergasted that I forgot it and will lash myself a thousand times for pennance. I do think it's important to highlight documentaries, because a great doc is just as powerful – sometimes, even moreso – than any work of fiction that can illuminate facets of human nature and change it for the better. There will be a lot more docs to come.

One of my many…MANY groupies amy n professed her love for me. Oh you didn't know? Being a foreign-film conesseur got me pimpin' all over the world.

***************************************

If you read my columns, you know how I feel about lists: I don't do them…technically. I engage in 411's Top 5 columns as a lark and to see what my fellow writer's opinions are, but when it comes to actually "ranking" films, I can't bring myself to do so - simply because you can't rank art. I mean, who's really going to discuss whether Whistler's Mother is a better painting than the Mona Lisa, or that Sam Cooke's A Change is Gonna Come is better than Metallica's Master of Puppets in regards to songwriting? They're all excellent for entirely different reasons. If you want rankings, wait a few weeks for the 411 Staff's take on their 100 Best Movies of the Decade (which I will also take part in.)

To me, either a film is well made and powerful or it's not. There are varying degrees of course, but there are factors involved such as personal preference, historical and cultural significance and one's mood while watching a movie. If you catch me on any day of the week and ask me what my favorite movie is, I will give you an different answer every day. Today it may be Citizen Kane, tomorrow it can be The Seven Samurai. Next week may be The Godfather or Star Wars or Belle De Jour or Persona or McCabe & Mrs. Miller, or E.T.. How can I say I like Tokyo Story better than Lawrence of Arabia or Enter the Dragon when I enjoy them all on a deep level but for differing reasons? I can't.

I have taken on the task of compiling a list of my favorite (key word, here) films of the new millennium. I have not narrowed it down to a round number like 100 or 50 or whatever, but just decided to give a shout-out to the films that touched me, made me joyous, made me angry, inspired me and changed my life this decade. This is not a ranking – more of an alphabetized listing of the films I greatly appreciated from January 1st, 2000 to – hopefully December 31st, 2009.

I compiled the list down from over 1,100 films on my radar and basically cut close to 9/10ths of them. How did I do so? I just went with the films that affected me the most. There is no "best", here – each film I consider a "best" in its own right. I understand that you may have never heard of some of these films: I hope anyone who reads this can use this list as a guidepost to help discover new movies.

So, enjoy! Let's see if any of your favorites made the final cut…

Click Here for the HONORABLE MENTIONS…

Click Here for PART ONE: 8 Mile to Children of Men


THE BEST OF THE DECADE


Chopper

Release Date: August 3rd, 2000
Directed by Andrew Dominik
Distributed by First Look Pictures
Cast:
Eric Bana
Simon Lyndon
David Field
Bill Young

Chopper was Eric Bana's introduction to some mild mainstream attention, and it is a disorienting story with Bana giving a crackling depiction of notorious Austrailian lifetime criminal Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read, based off his semi-autobiography.

Read had already been in and out of jail since he was sixteen years old when he kidnaped a judge to get his childhood friend Jimmy Loughnan (Simon Lyndon), out of the notorious H Division of maximum security Pentridge Prison in Coburg, Victoria. The failed attempt landed Chopper a 16-year bid at that very prison, where he involved himself in a violent and heated power struggle for his own survival to become leader of his division. Of course paranoia and the ambition of others eventually get the better of Chopper as his own gang turns his back on him and he finds himself isolated and somewhat deranged when he is released in 1986 – only to find himself not able to rehabilitate based on the path he had chosen a long time ago.

Bana, in that unmistakeable goatee is a walking, talking hurricane in this film, and along with Geoffrey Hall's breathtaking cinematography (the film is basically two parts in regards to how it is shot) and Dominik's swift and sure direction, Chopper deserved all the praise and accolades it deserved when it was unleased on audiences. Even the real "Chopper" approves of his own vile depiction.


City of God (Cidade de Deus)

Release Date: August 30th, 2002
Directed by Fernando Meirelles & Kátia Lund
Distributed by Miramax & Buena Vista International
Cast:
Alexandre Rodrigues
Alice Braga
Leandro Firmino
Phellipe Haagensen
Douglas Silva
Jonathan Haagensen
Matheus Nachtergaele
Seu Jorge
Roberta Rodrigues
Graziella Moretto

In 1982, Hector Babenco released a little Brazilian crime-drama called Pixote, which was one of the first films I reviewed for Around the World… - twenty years later, Fernando Meirelles (with assistance from Kátia Lund) re-visited the poverty and crime-riddled streets of Rio de Janeiro for this heart-stopping masterpiece, City of God.

Based on the novel "Cidade de Deus" by Paulo Lins, City of God depicts the growth of organized crime in the suburb of Cidade de Deus (a more hellish, barbaric version of South Central L.A.) from the late 1960's to early 1980's. César Charlone's colorful (too colorful sometimes) cinematography bursts with life from every edge of the frame while Leandro Firmino da Hora is absolutely terrifying as drug overlord Li'l Zé. It's like da Hora watched Lorenz Tate as O'Dog in Menace II Society and decided to increase the volume by infinity. Accompanied by Daniel Rezende's tight edits, City of God gives the viewer a glimpse of the real-life horrors and barbaric nature that overwhelming povery can lead to.

Cidade de Deus is a film that uses chronology, color and the rage of youth over the backdrop of its very musical country and the result is a breathtaking achievement of scope and characterization. How this didn't even get nominated for a Best Foreign Language Oscar is beyond my petty comprehension.


Collateral

Release Date: August 6th, 2004
Directed by Michael Mann
Distributed by DreamWorks & Paramount Pictures
Cast:
Tom Cruise
Jamie Foxx
Mark Ruffalo
Jada Pinkett Smith
Javier Bardem

Michael Mann is one of the few American directors that no matter the project, there will be anticipation for it because his style oozes with chutzpah. In Collateral Mann took the story of a hitman (Tom Cruise) bucking heads with a lowly taxi driver (Jamie Foxx) and turned it into one of the best tightly wound thrillers of the decade.

The idea of goody-goody Cruise playing Vincent, a filthy louse of a human being set alarms off for audiences, but it worked terribly well. As the somewhat timid cabbie, Max Durocher, Jamie Foxx tested the waters of serious acting before taking the role that would win him an Oscar, and Mann's grainy, Hi-Def video-like quality of the film gave it a realism and noise that was hard to top. Jada Pinkett-Smith, Mark Ruffalo and Javier Bardem also gave outsanding turns.

Of course, I never understood why the scene where Cruise, relaxed in a Jazz bar quietly asks the owner where Miles Davis learned music never caught on into the lexions of pop culture much like Joe Pesci's "Funny like a clown…" moment in GoodFellas, or more recently, Javier Bardem's "Call it…Frendo" scene in No Country For Old Men. It's just as powerful, intense and suspenseful as those previous famous moments in cinema.

I feel people give Tom Cruise too much flak for his eccentric behavior, but the fact of the matter is that when he is asked to, the man can ACT with the best of them.


Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Release Date: May 16th, 2000
Directed by Ang Lee
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Cast:
Chow Yun-Fat
Michelle Yeoh
Zhang Ziyi
Chang Chen

Brokeback Mountain justified Ang Lee's place among the world's best fimmakers, but this will always be his calling card. Taiwan's answer to Gone With the Wind, this is part sweeping epic, part romantic melodrama and part kung-fu ass-kicking romp with a touch of the decade's best score (that Yo-Yo Ma cello solo shakes me to my core.)

Crouching Tiger… (mainly) follows the exploits of Wudan warrior and skilled swordsman Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun-Fat), as he decides his time for fighting has come to an end. He gives up his trusty Green Destiny sword to his long-time friend (and love of his life) Shu-Lien (Michelle Yeoh) to present as a present to the Governor. Eventually, the sword is stolen by a young, talented-but-arrogant petty thief who may have ties to the rogue Jade Fox, who assassinated Li Mu Bai's master a long time ago. The theft of the sword is merely the catalyst for a chain of events that is awesome in scope, dealing with themes of sexism, meeting one's potential and unrequited love. The first chase sequence on the rooftops of the Governor's compound is one of the most astounding and jaw-dropping sequences not only filmed this decade, but ever – and Ang Lee, cinematographer Peter Pau, and famed fight choreographer Yuen Wo Ping would continue to top themselves with each sequence, culminating in a tree-top confrontation that is so beautiful it hurts – mainly because I strive to create such moments of my own someday.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon easily walked away with the Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar in 2000, and is universally praised as one of the best films ever made. I have watched this movie once a year since it came out and that is a tradition I see continuing for a LONG time.


The Dark Knight

Release Date: July 16th, 2008
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Cast:
Christian Bale
Heath Ledger
Arron Eckhart
Michael Caine
Gary Oldman
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Morgan Freeman

Overrated? Only to those who don't understand why it's the second highest grossing film of all time. Christopher Nolan did something no filmmaker since Richard Donner and the original Superman was able to do: take a comic book hero and turn the story into the epic those who followed the frames could call their champion.

The Dark Knight continues the high-standard set by Batman Begins as The Caped Crusader finds himself in the middle of a power struggle for the soul of Gotham City between the insane, anarchic Joker (Heath Ledger) and the city's "White Knight", ambitious and spontaneous D.A. Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart). Christopher Nolan and his crew did the unthinkable – taking something out of the frames of a comic book and aspire to make it as artful, dramatic and meaningful as any film could possibly be. The Dark Knight's ambition to be more than just a "summer blockbuster/comic-book movie" is matched only by the cast that inhabits it: everyone pulls their fair share of weight, from Gary Oldman's slow turn to the famed Commissioner he is destined to be, Michael Caine's staunch loyalty as Bruce Wayne's only true remaining family to Maggie Gyllenhaal's far more superior turn as Rachel Dawes (better than Katie Holmes) and Morgan Freeman…Well, he's Morgan Freeman. The glue that holds the film together, though, is Aaron Eckhart's turn as the D.A. who is destined to fall from grace.

Now, I've heard all the criticisms that have since befallen what I consider to be equal (and in some moments, superior) to Richard Donner's 1978 Superman as the greatest comic-book film of all time, and here's what I say to them…I don't care if Christian Bale's voice sounds like he needs to take the largest shit in history, I don't care if The Joker's plan was "too" perfect and contrived, I don't care if people think the film was "too dark" (those are people who know nothing about the mythology surrounding Gotham City) – this was a vehicle for Bale, Gyllenhaal, Eckhart (especially Eckhart), Freeman, Oldman and Caine to shine in.

Finally, anyone who thinks Heath Ledger's performance was "overrated" as well…You know absolutely NOTHING about the intracies of film-acting. Nothing. His take on The Caped Crusader's ultimate nemesis was something that would make Stanivslasky and Brando stand up and take notice.


The Departed

Release Date: October 6th, 2006
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Cast:
Leonardo DiCaprio
Jack Nicholson
Matt Damon
Mark Wahlberg
Martin Sheen
Alec Baldwin

I don't think there was any doubt about this one. Put Scorsese at the helm. Have Jack Nicholson be "Jack" (most know what I mean by that) – except he's racist mob boss "Jack". Throw in compelling performances from Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg, and the complete maturity of Leonardo DiCaprio as an extraordinary force of acting chutzpah and you have a recipe for an excellent film.

A remake (WHAT??!) of the 2002 Hong Kong film Internal Affairs, The Departed weaves the tale of Colin Sullivan (Damon), planted to be an informant with the Massachusetts State Police by Irish mob boss Frank Costello (Nicholson) – while at the same time, Billy Costigan Jr (DiCaprio) is assigned the task of going undercover to infiltrate Costello's operation. With themes of identity, vigilante justice and "ratting out" while creating a father/son dynamic between Costello and Sullivan, Scorsese does right with the 2006 Best Picture recipient. Mark Wahlberg had shown flashes of genuine talent in Boogie Nights, and as the hot-headded Bostonian Staff Sergeant Dignam, he sunk his teeth into a role where he could truly shine in. Throw in heavyweights like Martin Sheen and Alec Baldwin, and a villainous role for Jack Nicholson to show why at one point he was the world's best actor, and the result for The Departed is a well-rounded police thriller.

In my opinion, working with Martin Scorsese has done more for Leonardo DiCaprio than anything the box-office of Titanic could have ever done: the relationship has made him more than a star, but one of the most genuinely gifted actors on the planet. With this, The Aviator, Gangs of New York and the highly anticipated Shutter Island, Scorsese and DiCaprio have proven to be one of the best (if not the best) actor-director combinations of the decade.


The Devil's Rejects

Release Date: July 22nd, 2005
Directed by Rob Zombie
Distributed by Lions Gate Entertainment
Cast:
Sid Haig
Bill Moseley
Sheri Moon Zombie
William Forsythe

Oh, Rob Zombie. If one reads anything of mine, an impression of how I feel about the rock icon/horror filmmaker can be easily made. Thing is, I didn't have the current feeling I have for him in regards to talent around four years ago when this little horror/exploitation love letter was released. In fact, I was hailing him as the next great horror filmmaker at the time.

The Devil's Rejects discarded all the silliness from the previous House of 1,000 Corpses and left the bare bones of the now-infamous Firefly family breaking loose and being on the run. Zombie's homage to 70's exploitation and grindhouse films takes place two years after the events of 1,000 Corpses where State Troopers bombard the infamous family on charges of over 75 homicides and disappearances. As family members are murdered, taken into custody and have all but disappeared, only Baby (Sherri Moon-Zombie) and Otis (Bill Moseley) escape. They meet up with Baby's father, Captain Spalding (Sid Haig), where they basically use the orange and yellow tinted deserted roads as their canvas to spill blood on, while being chased down by the slowly-turning insane Texas Sheriff, John Quincy Wydell (William Forsythe).

Taking inspiration from The Wild Bunch, Easy Rider and I Spit on Your Grave (a truly weird hybrid of films) Rejects takes all of Zombie's best attributes as a writer/director and highlights them in a truly gruesome, yet entertaining and well-made film. Yes, it doesn't hurt to humanize despicable characters, but there must be a purpose to it. It worked like gangbusters here, because the rules were already established that these were flesh-and-blood people with actual ties to one another (albeit screwed in the head.) It didn't work with Michael Myers because it was established he is pure evil with no ties to anyone. You can't humanize that. Regardless, The Devil's Rejects more than deserves its praise as one of the best films of the 2000's.


The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Release Date: May 23rd, 2007
Directed by Julian Schnabel
Distributed by Pathé & Miramax
Cast:
Mathieu Amalric
Emmanuelle Seigner
Marie-Josée Croze
Anne Consigny
Max Von Sydow

When Julian Schnabel's magnum-opus, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly was released in 2007, it was hailed as an instant masterpiece. Controversy has since risen over the depiction of some of the real-life people involved in the story, but the controversy should not overpower what is indeed a visual feast and a touching, inspirational story.

The Diving Bell…, based on the memoir of the same name by Jean-Dominique Bauby, depicts the story of Bauby's life after suffering a massive stroke at the age of 42, which left him with a condition known as locked-in syndrome (meaning he is paralyzed pretty much everywhere, but his mind functions normally.) We learn through flashbacks and fantasies that Bauby was an editor for Elle Magazine and had a deal to write a book. He decides to write the book anyways, and by using his only funcioning body part - his left eyelid - he develops a system of communication with his speech therapist by blinking his left eye as she reads a list of letters to spell out his messages, letter by letter.

By visualizing the restricted nature of Bauby's condition, Julian Schnabel, with cinematographer/god of light and composition Janusz Kaminski, created something of a miracle with The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Mathieu Amalric gives a heartbreaking portrayal of a man who was at the cusp of greatness only to lose it all and have to examine his own struggles and past issues to be at peace. This is truly a gem of a film.



Donnie Darko

Release Date: October 26th, 2001
Directed by Richard Kelly
Distributed by Newmarket Films
Cast:
Jake Gyllenhaal
Jena Malone
James Duval
Mary McDonnell
Holmes Osborne
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Katharine Ross
Drew Barrymore
Daveigh Chase
Beth Grant
Patrick Swayze
Noah Wyle

I am not in love with this trippy little masterpiece as much as others are, but I won't deny its power and the intial hold it had on me for the first month after my intial viewing. I won't get into all the different theories, interpretations, "The Artifact", "The Manipulated Dead" and the "Tangent Universe", as I'll break my own brain in the middle of writing this.

Kelly's story of the title character (Jake Gyllenhaal) who slowly finds out he may have the power to control time is a brooding, twisted little gem, brimming with 80's nostalgia and commentary that has an uncanny ability to hypnotize. Donnie comes under a sleepwalking spell where he meets Frank, a man in the most bizzare bunny costume ever constructed – and is told that the world will end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds. From there it is a race against time (literally) for Donnie to figure out what he needs to do in order to accomplish his destiny of saving the world - going through the 1988 Presidential Election, pedophiles, a new girlfriend, a plane engine landing in his bedroom, "Grandma Death" and the possibility of time travel along the way.

Donnie Darko offers great supporting roles to Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze and Jenna Malone, but this is is Gyllenhaal's film by a country mile. A true cult classic in every sense of the word.


Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Release Date: March 19th, 2004
Directed by Michel Gondry
Distributed by Focus Features
Cast:
Jim Carrey
Kate Winslet
Tom Wilkinson
Elijah Wood
Kristen Dunst
Mark Ruffalo

I won't lie – you're gonna see Charlie Kauffman's name appear a LOT on this list, simply because I feel he has best been able to tap into a subject better than any other modern screenwriter: the human mind.

Here, we follow Joel and Clementine, played by Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet – a couple whose torrid love affair causes chaos for everyone around them, especially since they've had it (or are having it) erased from their memories. The film starts out easily – and strangely enough, as Joel suddenly has the impulse to take the train to Montauk, where he meets Clementine and the two hit it off as something like old friends – even though they can't possibly know each other. Hell, Joel has never heard the song "My Darling, Clementine". Weird, right? It is, and Eternal Sunshine is also devilishly clever, groundbreaking, visually stunning touching to boot. Michel Gondy's insane direction and use of special effects to create the memories (and lack therof) in Joel's mind is one of the breakthroughs of the decade.

The film boasts superb acting all around from Kristen Dunst, Elijah Wood, Mark Ruffalo and Tom Wilkinson, who all work at the center where heartbroken people decide they will have their painful memories erased ("Well the procedure…technically…is brain damage.") and are involved in their own little subplot that spills over the main plot of Joel's and Clementine's affair. No matter what, this was the ultimate display of art meeting up to the challenge of the talents involved and Kauffman's story with Gondry's vision and Jim Carrey's and Kate Winslet's head-first-in performances help make Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind easily one of the best films of this, or any, decade.


The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara

Release Date: May 21st, 2003
Directed by Errol Morris
Distributed by Sony Pictures Classics
Cast:
Robert McNamara

The winner of the 2003 Oscar for Best Documentary is a harrowing lesson in the rules of armed combat. The Fog of War is noted documentarian Errol Morris' masterpiece, an engaging tale about former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara and his rise to power, specifically in his management of the Vietnam War.

With the use of U.S. Cabinet conversation recordings, archival footage, and culiminating with an interview of the eighty-five-year-old Robert McNamara (at the time), The Fog of War plainly describes (neither glorifying or smearing) his life, from his birth during the First World War to working as a prodigal military officer during World War II to being the president of the Ford Motor Company – up to his employment as Secretary of Defense. Along the way, we are given glimpses and explainations of his "Eleven Lessons of War", including controversial statements such as "Empithize with your enemy", "You can't change human nature" and "In order to do good, you may have to engage in evil".

With a plain-speaking subject and the parallels that have been used to describe the horrors of Vietnam with Iraq and Afghanistan, The Fog of War is the kind of documentary that Michael Moore attempts to create, but can't because of his biases (not that Morris doesn't have his, but they are much more subtle): a direct-to-the-point documentation and retrospective of events that doesn't isn's so much a finger-pointing rant as much as it is an attempt to understand the past through the face and words of one of the United States' most notable commanders.


Frida

Release Date: August 19th, 2002
Directed by Julie Taymor
Distributed by Miramax
Cast:
Selma Hayek
Alfred Molina
Antonio Banderas
Valeria Golino
Ashley Judd
Edward Norton
Geoffrey Rush

I suppose by some subconscious divine justice, I had saved the best Mexican-born female performance of the decade as the final one. I had already touched on Catalina Sandino Moreno in Maria Full of Grace and Penelope Cruz in Volver, but Selma Hayek's uni-browed portrayal of surrealist Mexican painter Frida Kahlo is a joy to behold.

Julie Taymor quickly rose to prominence as one of the best filmmakers with this 2002 gem. Frida was impaled by a metal pole at age 18 while riding a bus that collided with a car trolley and the injury would plague her, haunt her and inspire her work for the rest of her life. It gives insight to her controversial bisexual relationships, where she took on both male and female roles in the relationship, as well as the on-again-off again open-ended relationship with muralist Diego Rivera (Alfred Molina, in one of his absolute best performances.)

Taymor, with cinematographer Rodrigo Prietosd richly colored the screen with moments that are inspired by various of Khalo's works, including a whimsical collage-like montage of Frida and Diego as they trek to New York City. Despite all the great moments and performances of this film (great turns by Geoffrey Rush, Ashley Judd and Antonio Banderas, along with a great cameo from Edward Norton) and a robust, Oscar-winning score from Elliot Goldenthal, Frida ultimately belongs to Selma Hayek, who gives one of the rawest, honest and best portrayals on screen from any female performer in the 2000's.


Frost/Nixon

Release Date: October 15th, 2008
Directed by Ron Howard
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Cast:
Frank Langella
Michael Sheen
Kevin Bacon
Oliver Platt
Sam Rockwell

Ron Howard's Frost/Nixon, based on the Peter Morgan West End and Broadway stage production, became somewhat of a curious phenomenon in 2008. Curious, for me – anyways, because I'm aware that most audiences are not apt to be able to sit through a movie where there are no explosions, no melodramatic romantic undertones, or a joke every 32 seconds. This was the anti-blockbuster, and yet, wound up a tremendous success, and was also an excellent film to boot.

Frost/Nixon was just about two people and their singular ambitions: For British television broadcaster David Frost (Martin Sheen), it was to snag an interview with former U.S. President Richard Nixon (Frank Langella) after his disgraced resignation in lieu of the Watergate Scandal; and for Nixon himself, it was to clear his name of any wrongdoing, and in essence, exonerate himself from Watergate and re-write the history of his Presidency. The film documents the interview process and the behind-the-scenes drama unfold. That's it, nothing else – but what places Frost/Nixon ahead of the game, apart from a confident and controlled eye from Howard and Director of Photography Salvatore Totino, is the mezmerizing and engrossing performances from Sheen and Langella, who both reprise their roles from the stage play.

Michael Sheen has become the go-to guy in biographies, playing three iconic characters from England: Frost, British PM Tony Blair in The Queen (2006) and soccer (or football, depending) coach Brian Clough in 2009's The Damned United, and he puts on the role of Frost like a perfectly fitting glove. Langella, a man who has been nothing more than an excellent supporting player, struck gold as the former President – and even though he didn't *look* like Nixon, he embodied the spirit, the swagger, and the chutzpah where to the human eye it would be impossible to decipher the real person from the performer. This was a thrilling drama that needed no chases, fistfights or ticking time bombs to thrill.


Gangs of New York

Release Date: December 20th, 2002
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Distributed by Miramax
Cast:
Leonardo DiCaprio
Daniel Day-Lewis
Cameron Diaz
John C. Reilly
Henry Thomas
Jim Broadbent
Liam Neeson
Brendan Gleeson
Barbara Bouchet

Leonardo DiCaprio is/was a man who had all the talent in the world, but never had many true opportunities to show it. After stealing the show (from Johnny F'n Depp, no less) in the spectacular What's Eating Gilbert Grape, DiCaprio went on to eventually be one of the faces of the highest grossing film of all-time, James Cameron's Titanic. At that point, DiCaprio went from "actor" to "movie star". It took him five years and time with two of the greatest film directors in history to get that "actors" credibillity back (or at least, to prove that he never lost it.) He made his mark with the one-two combination of Steven Speilberg's Catch Me if You Can (which just missed the Honorable Mentions) and Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York, both released in 2002.

Gangs is set in the Five Points district of New York City during the mid-19th century, where dissent towards immigrants (particulary, the Irish) was high among natural-born Americans in NYC. Years after witnessing his father, Priest Vallon (Liam Neeson) murdered at the hands of Bill "The Butcher" Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis), Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) returns to his home in the second year of The Civil War. Amsterdam weaves his way into Bill's gang, plotting to infiltrate Bill's trust enough until he is able to get close enough to avenge his father's death. The events leading to that penultimate moment is a sweeping, soaring epic, not seen from Scorsese since he unleased The Last Temptation of Christ on the unsuspecting public. Gangs is a brutal, historic and energetic love letter to the city that Scorsese loves so much, littered with beautiful images and cluttered with one excellent performance after the next. Even Cameron Diaz, not known for her "thespian" skills, stepped up her A-game to give by far her best performace as an actor.

Gangs of New York rises and falls on the backs of its two leads: Daniel Day Lewis is – well – Daniel Day-Lewis, and is a walking, talking, living, breating volcano of a human being as Bill "The Butcher". Day-Lewis is perhaps the most consistently great actor of our generation, cranking out memorable performance after memorable performace, and is no less great here; and Leonardo DiCaprio effectively shook of the "Titanic Curse", whereby he became more than just a pretty face and the poster boy of a tweener's crush, and made the leap to become one of the best actors this decade.


Ghost World

Release Date: July 20th, 2001
Directed by Terry Zwigoff
Distributed by United Artists
Cast:
Thora Birch
Scarlett Johansson
Steve Buscemi
Brad Renfro
Illeana Douglas
Stacey Travis

Ah, Ghost World, or as I remember it, "Juno before Diablo Cody." See, there were films before the 2007 gem that displayed witty female characters who spoke a dialect and matuity ahead of their years. Based on the graphic novel by Daniel Clowes (who also penned the screenplay), this little gem went under the radar of basically…everyone and is still considered in the "great…if you can find it" list of under-appreciated movies.

The story focuses on two teenage friends, Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson – before she became SCARLETT JOHANSSON, Knockout Hot Chick) newly graduated outcasts of the high school they attend outside Los Angeles. Enid discovers her graduation diploma was awarded conditionally and that she must attend a remedial art class in the summer, taught by the terribly pretentious and self-important Lady GaGa-wannabe performance artist Roberta Allsworth (Illeana Douglas). People think *I* may be a little pretentous and artsy-fartsy douchey, but this chick…it's just a great performance. Along the way, Enid and Rebecca prank call Seymour (Steve Buschemi) a lonely, somewhat nerdy kinda guy as a woman he is infatuated with. Enid eventually feels sorry for Seymour, and a makeshift relationship ensues – complete with an odd love/hate admiration for a blatantly racist poster for a fast-food chicken franchise ("Coon Chicken".)

Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson embody their roles as the prototypical social outcasts, while Steve Buschemi shines as a man who is ugly, but not unattractive. Terry Zwigoff's pacing and direction (taken straight from the frames of the comic) is superb, and with an ending that gives me flashes of Five Easy Pieces - a bittersweet and real take on adolescence.


Gone Baby Gone

Release Date: October 19th, 2007
Directed by Ben Affleck
Distributed by Miramax
Cast:
Casey Affleck
Michelle Monaghan
Morgan Freeman
Ed Harris
Amy Ryan
John Ashton

I've always been of the belief that the general public are/were too hard on certain actors – mostly because of their looks, but forget how insanely talented they are. Brad Pitt had fallen into this trap, despite giving glorious performances in A River Runs Through It, 12 Monkeys, Snatch, Fight Club and recently, Inglorious Basterds. Leonardo DiCaprio, as I just explained earlier, needed to work with Speilberg AND Scorsese in the SAME YEAR just to shake Titanic off his back; and then there's Ben Affleck - who won a freakin' OSCAR and is treated as the Marty Janetty to Matt Damon's Shawn Michaels (to use a wrestling analogy.)

The thing is, Ben Affleck is perhaps the more well-rounded talent of the two Good Will Hunting boys, showing that he can write, act – and with 2007's Gone Baby Gone, direct with the best of them. Gone Baby Gone is Affleck's current magnum-opus, and if this is used as a medium where he spends more time behind the camera instead of in front of it, a la Ron Howard, Clint Eastwood or Penny Marshall, I'm all for it if he can continue to output modern classics such as this.

Gone Baby Gone, based on the novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane, who also wrote Mystic River, follows the exploits of two private investigators, Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and his girlfriend/partner Angela Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan), as they hunt for an abducted four-year-old girl from the Boston neighborhood of Dorchester. The twists, turns and shady doppledanger characters come to life right out of a pulp novel or Dashiell Hammett's best work. Casey Affleck's career began a rocketship-like take-off working with his brother, who showed a restrained eye with John Toll's dense and eerie mood-evoking cinematography. All the performances hit the right note – but no matter what, this is Ben Affleck's movie – a basic "Fxck You" to those who still make jokes about Gigli and "Bennifer', and one of the best films of the decade.



Gomorrah

Release Date: May 16th, 2008
Directed by Matteo Garrone
Distributed by IFC Films
Cast:
Nicoló Manta
Gianfelice Imparato

Every once in a while, a film comes along that re-defines genre boundaries and creates a whole new, expanded universe. We had Nosferatu, then Bela Lugosi's Dracula, then Christopher Lee's Dracula, then Fright Night, The Lost Boys, Interview with the Vampire, Blade, 30 Days of Night and (sigh) Twilight, all in their own way, reshaping, reforming and expanding the lore and legend of who started out as "Vlad the Impaler".

Italian Matteo Garrone took something that seemed as expansive as it could already get – the "Cosa Nostra" or "Mafia" crime film, and turned it on its ear. Gomorra is the direct descendant of Scarface: The Shame of a Nation, The Godfather, GoodFellas and The Sopranos (sprinkled with a little of Brian De Palma's Scarface for good measure.) It is a dark, dirty, bloody and messy film that follows the exploits of the foot soldiers of the underground crime syndacate and takes them to their ultimate conclusion. There are really no likeable characters in this film – as Roger Ebert says in his review, Gomorroah "…has no heroes, only victims."

…But this story doesn't need, or better yet, couldn't contain likeable characters. This isn't about a family, where the patriarch seems to be nothing more than a soft-spoken grandfather. There is no extended family that accepts an outsider as one of their own to help build an empire. This is about the cronies that do the dirty work on which criminal empires are built, where the blood is so far away from those who made the order that justice can never be served. Gomorrah, with its five separate tales of those affected by the Comorra in Naples and Caserta is a gripping, paralyzing experience. Mafia films can never go back to what they were after Gomorrah.


Gosford Park

Release Date: November 7th, 2001
Directed by Robert Altman
Distributed by USA Films
Cast:
Eileen Atkins
Bob Balaban
Alan Bates
Stephen Fry
Michael Gambon
Richard E. Grant
Derek Jacobi
Kelly MacDonald
Helen Mirren
Jeremy Northam
Clive Owen
Ryan Philippe
Maggie Smith
Kristin Scott Thomas
Emily Watson
Laurence Fox

Robert Altman is the undisputed king of ensemble. Quentin Tarantino may have the juicier characters, and Steven Soderbergh may get the bigger stars, but there isn't, wasn't and may never be another director that can get the most out of a large cast, create a more complete atmosphere around his characters and have them totally engulfed by the story than the man who brought us M*A*S*H*, Nashville, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, 3 Women, The Player, A Prarie Home Companion, and this 2001 super-masterpiece of a murder mystery, Gosford Park.

The film takes place at a British country house in 1932, where various wealthy guests, English and American gather at the home of Sir William McCordle with their servants for a shooting weekend, where a murder occurs in the middle of the night. What occurs is a "whodunit" for the ages, as Altman weaves in and out, upstairs and downstairs, observing the murder from the point of view from both the wealthy and the servants. Gosford Park becomes more than just a simple Agatha Christie-like murder mystery, but an in-depth study showing the tension and drama between the classes. Luis Bunuel would be proud.

Those involved with the production of Gosford Park all brought their best foot forward, from the ensemble (with amazing performances from Helen Mirren, Stephen Fry, Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Clive Owen, Eileen Atkins, Jeremy Northam and even Ryan Philippe) to Patrick Doyle's beautiful score to Andrew Dunn's pitch-perfect photography (this is perhaps Altman's best looking film since McCabe & Mrs. Miller), Gosford Park is a triumph of mood, characterization, atmosphere and plot coming together seamlessly. Easily one of the best of the decade – one of the best of all time, actually.


Grizzly Man

Release Date: August 12th, 2005
Directed by Werner Herzog
Distributed by Lions Gate Films
Cast:
Timothy Treadwell
Werner Herzog

Werner Herzog is one of the oddest, strangest, and smartest filmmakers in history. With eccentric classics such as Stroszek and Aguirre: The Wrath of God under his belt, it is apparent that the German-born director is more interested in character than plot. His newest film, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, starring Nicholas Cage, should be another great little gem (and hopefully one that reminds audiences just how good Cage is as an actor.)

So it seemed fitting that Herzog would take on Timothy Treadwell, a bear enthusiast who spent thirteen summers at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska, where he documented himself interacting with grizzly bears. Over time, he believed that he was trusted by the bears, who seemed to allow him to approach and even touch them, despite repeated warnings by park officials that his interactions were dangerous to both himself and the bears. He wanted to document the footage to raise awareness of the problems bears faced in North America. Herzog narrates and gives his own opinions on the situation, based on the final five years of Treadwell's experiences.

To say that Grizzly Man is one of the strangest, yet most hypnotizing documentaries ever constructed would be an understatement. Herzog clearly loved this subject, and even if he interpreted Treadwell as a disturbed man who may have had a death wish, he does not use the film to condemn or belittle Treadwell – in fact, he praises him on several occassions as a gifted filmmaker. It is this subjective documentation and commentary that puts Grizzly Man a step above most documentaries. It also contains one of the most haunting and genuinely frightening moments captured on film (fiction or documentary), in a neat throwback to my favorite documentary of all time, Gimme Shelter. Herzog listens to an audio track that contains elements of Treadwell's fate and his visibly shaken demeanor says more about the story than anything I could describe. This is a movie begging to be seen just to be believed.


The Hangover

Release Date: June 5th, 2009
Directed by Todd Phillips
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Cast:
Bradley Cooper
Ed Helms
Zach Galifianakis
Heather Graham
Justin Bartha
Jeffrey Tambor
Mike F'n TYSON

I called this 2009's funniest film and I still stand by that. I went into the theater apprehensive and DREADING that this was going to be something of American Pie meets Dude, Where's My Car? meets What Happens in Vegas - thank GOD I was wrong.

Taking some twisted elements from Memento and using alcoholic excess as an effective plot device was a brilliant stroke to string along the story of three buddies who lose their groom-to-be during a night of debauchary in Las Vegas hours before he is to make the altar. There was a chemistry between Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis, and seeing Mike Tyson sing Phil Collins was side-splitting in its absurdity. Between the "Can't Tell Me Nothing" spoof music video and this film, Galifianakis basically flew into my radar and instantly became someone who I will seek out whenever he does something new.

Everything about this film clicked, from the establishment of the characters (the douchey teacher using money from his students to go to Vegas; the uber-whipped fiance, the socially awkward bearded man-child), to the intial setting and the absolute surprise element of Ken Jeong as gangster Leslie Chow, to the hilarious photo montage that closed the film (I still don't know how they got away with that one…picture), everything about The Hangover worked – and is in my opinion, the best LOL/minute comedy this decade.


Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Release Date: November 4th, 2001
Directed by Chris Columbus
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Cast:
Daniel Radcliffe
Rupert Grint
Emma Watson
Richard Harris
Robbie Coltrane
Alan Rickman
Maggie Smith
Ian Hart

One may find it…interesting, or perhaps maddening why I chose the inaugural Harry Potter film and not the one that has been more critically praised by The Prisoner of Azkaban, directed by Alfonso Curon. My reasoning is simply this – which is the same reasoning I use to explain even though I know, understand and accept The Empire Strikes Back is the best of the Star Wars movies, the first one holds a more prominent place in my heart: The second film would not have worked without the setup of the first.

Chris Columbus is, admittedly, a hit-or-miss director. When he hits, he hits BIG (Home Alone), but when he misses, he's on another solar system (I Love You, Beth Cooper). With The Sorcerer's Stone, he hit it out of the park. The now-infamous tale, based on what may well end up being the literary phenomenon of the decade (even though Twighlight is giving it a late-push) by J.K. Rowling, about Harry coming to terms that he is not just a "wizard", but perhaps destined to be the greatest wizard of them all, is a heart-pounding, epic feast on the eyes, complete with eye-popping sequences from Hogwarts, to the rush of the first ever Quiddich game to the foreshadowing of "He Who Shall Not Be Named".

By casting veterans, Richard Harris, Maggie Smith and the always awesome Alan Rickman, Harry Potter gained some serious acting credibillity that set it apart from the more juvinile teeny-bopper type of movies. Add in the wonderful chemistry and believeability between the three child leads, Radcliffe, Watson and Grant, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is more than just an excellent adaptation, but an excellent foundation for one of the more celebrated film franchises this decade. We wouldn't have six movies if the first one wasn't so good.


Hero

Release Date: October 19th, 2002
Directed by Yimou Zhang
Distributed by Beijing New Picture Film Co., EDKO Film & Miramax Films
Cast:
Jet Li
Tony Leung Chiu Wai
Maggie Cheung
Zhang Ziyi
Chen Daoming
Donnie Yen

For some, Jet Li is/was the newest in a long line of those who would like to take the throne of Kung-Fu/Action GOD that Bruce Lee pretty much dominated until his untimely death in the 1970's. For others – including myself, Mr. Li is the embodiment and continuation of what Bruce Lee *could* have been if he lived. Bruce Lee was a hell of a martial-artist – perhaps the best of all time…but he was also an insanely gifted actor (when speaking in Cantonese) and showed flashes of brilliance as a writer/director (the final confrontation between he and Chuck Norris in Way of the Dragon a.k.a. Return of the Dragon is breathtaking in its pace.) Jet Li took all the tools inspired by Bruce Lee and threw everything he had in Zhang Yimou's 2002 masterpiece, Hero.

Loosely based on the legendary Jing Ke, Hero follows a nameless protagonist (Jet Li) in a fractured acient China who is allowed a rare audience with the King of Qin's. Following an assassination attempt, the king lives alone in his palace, always wears his battle armor and forbids visitors from coming within 100 paces of his throne. The nameless protagonist unveils the weapons of three infamous assassins who were plotting to murder the King and collect the reward in taking them out. The King, reluctant to believe his story, allows Jet Li's character to explain in detail the tale of how he achieved this feat.

Zhang Yimou is pretty much hailed as a master of color, using a massive pallet of brightly colored hues to display emotion, scope and beauty and with cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Hero is a grand spectacle, full of dreamlike compositions and one great set piece after another. Angie Lam's editing is a masterclass, keeping up with the battles and wuxia (wire-work) based action that fills the screen. Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, and Donnie Yen are excellent as the would-be assassins, Chen Daoming displays a dominance and wisdom buried under paranoia as the King of Qin and Zhang Ziyi…is one of the most beautiful women in the world. She displays her acting chops, but a film like Hero was made to just have her look as beautiful as possible whenever she is on screen.

Ultimately, though, Hero lives or dies – literally on the performance of Jet Li. Playing a nameless protagonist where motives are learned by the audience at the same speed as the characters (in this case, the King) is not an easy task. Li demonstrates that if given the right role, he can truly display that he is more than just a martial-arts wizard. He is, in fact, an actor to be reckoned with.


A History of Violence

Release Date: September 23rd, 2005
Directed by David Cronenberg
Distributed by New Line Cinema
Cast:
Viggo Mortensen
Ed Harris
Mario Bello
William Hurt

CANADA! David Cronenberg is one of the oddballs of cinema, a man who has never strayed from the taboo, the strange or the just plain "fxcked up". His 1986 remake of The Fly is STILL the only film I have ever seen that made me literally, physically sick – of course, it may have to do with me seeing it when I was 10 or so, but that aside, Cronenberg has proven to be a truly gifted storyteller.

Recently, Cronenberg has left the strange for more "mainstream" fare – at least in regards to the *types* of stories he lends his eye to. With Eastern Promises (narrowly missing my honorable mentions) and A History of Violence, Cronenberg introduced audiences to a more scaled back and nuanced craftsman, more concered with the pacing of a well told story than just the forced manipulation of the audience into a world of the macabre. He also helped shed light on Viggo Mortensen as more than just "The King of Middle Earth". Based on the graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke, A History of Violence tells the story of Tom Stall, a local restaurant owner in the small town of Millbrook, Indiana who lives peacefully with his lawyer wife Edie (Maria Bello), his teenage son Jack (Ashton Holmes) and younger daughter Sarah (Heidi Hayes).

One night minutes before closing time, a pair of robbers enter the restaurant in an attempt to steal from Tom, who – in defense of himself and fellow customers – kills them both. He becomes a national celebrity overnight. This brings attetnion to Carl Fogerty (Ed Harris), who ominously visits the Stall family, claiming that Tom is not who he says he is.

Honestly, I'm going to stop right there. A History of Violence is one of the best well-paced films this decade, filling the screen with a rising tension and sense of dread all the way up until its thrilling conclusion. All actors involved, especially Maria Bello and Ed Harris give excellent performances – but this was David Cronenberg's re-introduction to the cinematic universe as confident as mature as an artist as he ever has been. I actually think this next decade will be HUGE for him if he continues with the output he has recently displayed.


The Host

Release Date: July 27th, 2006
Directed by Bong Joon-ho
Distributed by Showbox
Cast:
Song Kang-ho
Byeon Hee-bong
Park Hae-il
Bae Doona
Ko Ah-seong

In the 2000's there was an explosion of eastern and Asian-based films that made it into the mainstream. Films such as Ju-On, Oldboy, Hero, Departures and Internal Affairs (the film that inspired The Departed) made various "Best of" lists over the decade. Bong Joon-ho's 2006 horror/sci-fi/dramedy hybrid of a thriller The Host was one of the best films in what I think was the best year of the decade for movies (either that or 2000.)

The Host, now the highest-grossing film in South Korean history, tells the story of a truly normal and seemingly boring family thrown into the most extraordinary of circumstances. The film begins with an American military pathologist ordering a reluctant Korean assistant to violate protocol by dumping over 100 bottles of formaldehyde down the drain, which leads to the Han River. Years later, a small, mutated amphibious creature (never shown) grows into a large, fleash-eating creature that terrorizes the town and forces the South Korean government to act – all the while the family, led by the dim-witted Gang-du (Song Kang-ho), who runs a small snack bar, must work together to not only save the inhabitants of the city, but one of their own as well.

What makes The Host work so well is that it truly understands the genre its in, establishes the rules, then bends or breaks them at will – mixing humor and genuinely dramatic moments of characterization for effect. The screenplay by Baek Chul-hyun and Bong Joon-ho accomplishes something that most American horror screenwriters either are unaware of doing or are just too lazy to try: establish unique, human characters with human flaws and sensibilities that the audience can care about. When one of the family is snatched from the Creature, everyone acts out of their normal comfort zone, but still shows moments where they are flawed and damaged just like anyone else. They represent a real family and it enhances the story.

Song Kang-ho, Byeon Hee-bong, Park Hae-il, Bae Doona and Ko Ah-seong all do wonders acting, being, running, hesitating (one of the worse moments of hesitation in film history occurs in The Host) and performing under the most extraordinary circumstances and under Bong Joon-ho's direction, complete with political commentary and tongue-firmly-placed-in-cheek, The Host rises (haha) to be one of the best monster movies to come out in a long, long time.

{Film Passport Stamped]

That will do it for this week! What films resonate with you? Let's make this a big interactive deal and trade off.

Coming Attractions: Part three of The Great Films of the 2000's highlight arguably the best film of 2009, the Rwandan Genocide, & a Chinese love story!