Around the World in 24 Frames 12.11.09: The Great Films of the 2000's: Part Three

Posted by Len Archibald on 12.11.2009

What does a pimp-turned-emcee, Nazi-scalping basterds, a creepy Japanese boy, a revenge-fueled bride and a fire extinguisher to the face all have in common? Well, nothing really - except that they are all part of my great films of the decade! Read on to know more!



So, I don't know if anyone noticed (I did) that last week's column kind of ended a little apruptly. Damn page/word count!

THE REBUTTAL

411's Owain J. Brimfield fed my ego and explained that A History of Violence didn't gel with him. That's cool – not every film resonates with everyone. Of course, he doesn't like The Godfather so…*winks*

I must give a shout-out to Dick who caught a slip up of mine: The original Japanese film that The Departed is based on is INFERNAL Affairs and not INTERNAL Affairs, which is a film starring Richard Gere and Andy Garcia. That's what happens when the "t" and "f" are so close on the keyboard and you're a fast typer. Thanks!

AG Awesome thanked me for not using "that being said".

That being said, Ser Drake and our very own Jeremy Thomas got me on some egotistic BS. Thanks!

I think I would have some great conversations with JLAJRC about movies, as he has his opinions, I have mine, but we can explain them away. I truly appreciate your feelings regarding the films that you like, and moreso, the films you don't. I would recommend to give Crouching Tiger another shot, simply BECAUSE it' been ten years since The Matrix was released. Hit me an email and we'll talk some more!

paco smith sent me a very appreciated email – and I'll simply respond with this: I was at home in Brampton when I saw Joe Carter's series-ending home-run. I taped that game in its entirety, so I have it with me always. Thank you very much for the kind words (unfortunately, AA does NOT mean "Arthouse Archibald" – even though it makes total sense!)

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Click Here for the HONORABLE MENTIONS…

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

Click Here for PART TWO: Chopper to The Host

THE BEST OF THE DECADE

Hotel Rwanda

Release Date: December 22, 2004
Directed by Terry George
Distributed by Lions Gate Entertainment & United Artists
Cast:
Don Cheadle
Sophie Okonedo
Nick Nolte
Fana Mokoena
Cara Seymour
Joaquin Phoenix
Jean Reno
Desmond Dube
Hakeem Kae-Kazim

When I was in junior high school, I assembled a makeshift home-run derby with proceeds from entrants, donations and sponsorships allotted to the African nation of Rwanda. There was massive airplay about the hunger that plagued the country at the time, and I was compelled to help. I was unaware of the genocide that would take place years later – and when I found out about it, I was angered by my helplessness. Perhaps it is this personal, unspoken bond with that country is why a film like Terry George's Hotel Rwanda resonates deeply within me.

Hotel Rwanda tells the magnificent true-life story of Paul Rusesabagina, manager of the upscale Hôtel des Mille Collines during the heinous Rwandan Genocide of 1994, where over a million citizens, mainly of the Tutsi tribe, were murdered by Hutus. Rusesabagina used bribes of money, liquor and inspired, improvisational thinking to save the lives his family and over a thousand other refugees by granting them shelter in his hotel. It is Schindler's List, only the time was much closer to my generation and the country was in Africa instead of Europe.

There isn't much to say about this film except for me to heap praises on all involved in the making of the film. From Terry George's tight pacing and direction, to Robert Fraisse's photography and the acting performances of Sophie Okonedo, Nick Nolte, Joaquin Phoenix, Fana Mokoena and Hakeem Kae-Kazim. Ultimately, Hotel Rwanda displays the acting prowess of one Don Cheadle, who carried the fire, internal anger, poise, resourcefulness and fear of a man who survived on nothing more than base instincts. Watch him closely in a scene where all he is doing is trying to put a tie on around his collar. The story is an inspiration, and coupled with *my* favorite leading performance of the decade, Hotel Rwanda deserves every accolade it receives, including being one of the best of the 2000's. See this movie if you haven't, right now.

House of Flying Daggers

Release Date: July 16, 2004
Directed by Yimou Zhang
Distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, Focus Features, Warner Bros., Pathé and
20th Century Fox
Cast:
Takeshi Kaneshiro
Andy Lau
Zhang Ziyi
Song Dandan

I'm sure you've heard the expression, "…so beautiful it hurts." – it actually was uttered in 1999's American Beauty. Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers is sensory overload for the eyes, because every corner of the screen is filled with a scope, wonder and breathtaking elegance that is almost – literally – too much to bear.

The great Tang Dynasty is in decline in 879 AD, while rebellious factions, such as the Robin Hood-like "House of Flying Daggers" run rampant across the district. The leader of the Flying Daggers is killed, but the group emerges stronger from a secret leadership. The story is about Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and Leo (Andy Lau), two police captains, who are ordered to find and kill this new leader. They have ten days to do so.

This leads to a complex, soap-opera oriented plot line that twists, turns, flies, soars and roars, all to the super colored pallet of Yimou's eye. He and cinematographer Zhao Xiaoding do everything to amp up the color: Bamboo forests are very, VERY green. Fights take place in a whiteout of a blizzard, where the extremely red blood sprays as a contrast. There are performances – Kaneshiro and Lau are exceptional as the two captains who get entangled in a love triangle with Mei (the gorgeous Zhang Ziyi), a blind dancer, but House of Flying Daggers is more concerned with a *look*. More love story than kung-fu, Flying Daggers is a masterpiece for the eyes.

The Hurt Locker

Release Date: June 26th, 2009
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
Distributed by Summit Entertainment
Cast:
Jeremy Renner
Anthony Mackie
Brian Geraghty
Christian Camargo
Guy Pearce
Ralph Fiennes
David Morse
Evangeline Lilly

If one were to ask me my favorite films – or the film that impacted me the most from this year, nine times out of ten, my impulse will force me to blurt out Katheryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker, which may wind up being the best film about the U.S. military's occupation in the Middle East.

Taking place in the early stages of the Iraq war in 2004, The Hurt Locker follows the story of Sergeant First Class William James (Renner), the team leader of an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit with the U.S. Army's Bravo Company in Baghdad. He is an expert at bomb diffusion, but he is completely reckless about it, disarming bombs without robots, and even without his bombsuit. Eventually, he befriends Beckham, an Iraqi boy who works for a local merchant operating at the base where James is stationed.

And that's it. That's all I'm going to give you. Bigelow and cinematographer Barry Ackroyd immerse audiences into the heat (literally) of the battle, amping up the tension between character and situation to its boiling point. Jeremy Renner is especially good in this film – which should grant him a Best Actor nomination, playing a man who suffers from an addiction no different than anyone with a narcotic problem. This is an adrenaline-rush for our times, and in my opinion, the best film made about the Iraq war.

Hustle and Flow

Release Date: 2005
Directed by Craig Brewer
Distributed by Paramount Classics
Cast:
Terrence Howard
Taryn Manning
Tajari P. Henson
Anthony Anderson
DJ Qualls
Chris "Ludacris" Bridges
Paula Jai Parker
Issac Hayes

It is indeed "hard out there for a pimp." Craig Brewer's Hustle and Flow came out of nowhere in 2005 and grabbed the audience's attention in a hurry. This is the second hip-hop based film in my list…I am unsure if it is because of my biased love for hip-hop music or that this is just an excellent film. I think it's a matter of both.

Terrence Howard was an actor who pretty much flew under the radar until this peformance emerged. As DJay, a small time pimp with big-time aspirations to make it in the world of hip-hop music, Howard perfectly portrays a man who isn't a saint, but is willing to – as they say – "flip the script" on his environment and use his shortcomings as a way to make it. DJay is an interesting character: a petty drug dealer and pimp who suffers from a mid-life crisis. His "ho" isn't exactly "his ho", as Nola is more of a business partner and they treat each other as equals. Their relationship reminded me of that of Warren Beatty and Julie Christie in Robert Altman's McCabe & Mrs. Miller, but not as melancholy.

Tajari P. Henson dazzles as Shug, DJay's pregnant love intrest – the moment when she first truly bellows the chorus for "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp" is magnificent, and it isn't often that the film world gives Anthony Anderson and DJ Qualls an avenue to shine. Plus, we got perhaps the single greatest moment in Oscar history out of Hustle and Flow: Three 6 Mafia's celebration and elation with their Best Original Song win.

In America

Release Date: October 31st, 2003
Directed by Jim Sheridan
Distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures
Cast:
Paddy Considine
Samantha Morton
Sarah Bolger
Emma Bolger
Djimon Hounsou
Sarah Bolger

There may be no other film this decade that truly feels like a family therapeutic session that Irish filmmaker Jim Sheridan's In America. The semi-autobiographical tale was written by Sheridan and his two daughters Naomi and Kirsten – and was dedicated to his brother Frankie, who died at the age of 10. This is a powerful film that makes you feel an urgency – something needed to be said – and was.

In America follows the exploits of the Sullivan family, aspiring actor Johnny (Paddy Considine), his wife Sarah (Samantha Morton) and their two daughters Christy and Ariel (Sarah and Emma Bolger). They entered the United States on a tourist visa through Canada, where Johnny worked as an actor. The family settles in Hell's Kitchen in New York City, surrounded by extreme characters, such as drug dealers and transvestites. One of their neighbors in the building they occupy is Mateo Kuamey (Hounsou), a reclusive Nigerian photographer suffering from HIV. Johnny has never been able to get over the death of his infant son which puts a strain on the family.

What I described above may seem like the makings of a truly depressing plot, but In America is one of the more joyous and life-affirming films made in the past ten years. Declan Quinn's photography bursts with life and the ensemble draws you in with their chemistry. This is a family who does their best to make the most of a bad situation including poverty and grief and at the end of the day, the Sullivan family show a strength in their bond that is refreshing to see from a "movie family" standpoint. I think Jim Sheridan needed to make this movie to get over his own demons. I hope it helped, because I'm sure In America aided viewers to cope with theirs.

In Bruges

Release Date: January 17th, 2008
Directed by Martin McDonaugh
Distributed by Focus Features
Cast:
Colin Farrell
Brendan Gleeson
Ralph Fiennes
Clémence Poésy
Jordan Prentice
Thekla Reuten
Jérémie Renier
Anna Madeley
Elizabeth Berrington
Željko Ivanek
Ciarán Hinds

In our self-referential and "too cool for school" self-awareness when it comes to movies, it's nice to see that a film like In Bruges can still surprise and amaze. Martin McDonaugh's dark-comedy actioner is much more than the tongue-in-cheek wackiness of its characters from movie trailers – it is in fact, a very moving human drama.

Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) are a pair of hitmen, sent to Bruges, Belgium on orders of their eccentric and high-strung employer, Harry (Ralph Fiennes) who may have the most extreme set of principles one could possibly imagine. Ray is racked with guilt, as he accidentally killed a young boy on his first hit. Along the way, he meets Chloë (Clémence Poésy), a thief and drug dealer who moonlights as a production assistant (so…backwards), Jimmy, a dwarf actor (Jordan Prentice), and two CANADIANS (Željko Ivanek and Stephanie Carey.) What Ray is unaware of is that Harry is coming to Bruges, and he isn't happy.

What sets In Bruges apart from other over-the-top "shoot ‘em up" films this decade is that there is no doubt the heart is in the right place for this one. Colin Farrell shows off his acting chops, playing a bad man who did an unspeakable act and is truly remorseful for it. Martin McDonaugh never lets the audience go in his pacing and does his best to make every moment a memorable one – there's a hilarious shouting match that occurs in the stairs of a hotel that is just too strange and funny to comprehend. The final fifteen minutes of the film also takes the characters and the story on so many twists and turns that when In Bruges reaches its conclusion, it is heartbreaking, hilarious and satisfying.

花樣年華: In the Mood for Love

Release Date: December 29th, 2000
Directed by Wong Kar-wai
Distributed by USA Films
Cast:
Tony Leung
Maggie Cheung
Siu Ping Lam
Cheung Tung Cho 'Joe'
Rebecca Pan
Lai Chen
Chan Man-Lei

Wong Kar-wai's 2000 masterpiece, In The Mood for Love is one of the best and strangest love stories ever told. It evokes a sense of longing one may feel when they are alone and are under the glow of a bright full moon accompanied by a sad love song. It's never taken into account from most audiences that the role playing that occurs in the film are performed by two very disturbed individuals. Of course, given the circumstances, I'm not sure if they can be blamed for their behavior.

Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung play journalist Chow Mo-Wan and secretary So Lai-zhen in 1962 Hong Kong. On the same day, they each rent a room in an apartment building where they become next-door neighbors. Both have a spouse who works and often leaves them alone for an overtime shift. The shared isolation between Chow and So become the basis for a deep bond. They admit their shared suspicions that their spouses are cheating on them with each other. Chow persuades So to re-enact what they imagine might have happened between their partners' and their lovers, and slowly the line between play-acting and real romance blurs. Along with cinematographer Christopher Doyle and Michael Galasso's evocative score, Wong Kar-wai crafted a gem of a film that touched on the basics of human affection in the quiet, contemplative manner that most Asian films are known for, but with a darker edge that Western audiences may better relate to.

This is a beautiful film that displays the pain and euphoria of love and friendship, one that I would say mixes Lost in Translation, Before Sunrise and a little of Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo. Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung are excellent as the friends who do their best not to become lovers – and succeed and fail at the same time. This is a powerful film that needs to be seen by as many people as possible.

Inglorious Basterds

Release Date: May 20th, 2009
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Distributed by
Cast:
Brad Pitt
Christoph Waltz
Michael Fassbender
Eli Roth
Diane Krüger
Daniel Brühl
Til Schweiger
Mélanie Laurent

Quentin Tarantino is one of the most gifted filmmaker's on the planet, but there was a time where even though we could always be guaranteed a "great time at the movies" with every outing, it seemed as if he wasn't really *evolving*. That time has passed - gloriously (terrible pun.)

Inglorious Basterds is Tarantino's most mature work, a film that from the opening reel you're sure whose confident hand is at the helm. Tarantino has always oozed confidence with his dialogue and eye, but here, with his best screenplay since Pulp Fiction, we witness not confidence but assurance. Basterds follow three interweaving stories: In German-occupied France in 1941, Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) of the SS and SD, nicknamed "The Jew Hunter", is the Nazi version of Sherlock Holmes, sniffing out Jews in hiding before exacting a cruel fate on them. One of those Jewish families, the Dreyfuses, was executed in full, except for teenage Shosanna, who Landa allows to escape (one of the best opening scenes I'd seen in a long time.) Years later, adult Shosanna (Mélanie Laurent) assumes a new identity operating a small cinema in Paris, where through a happy chance of events, finds an opportunity to exact revenge on every major Nazi commander – including Hitler himself. Meanwhile, 1st Lieutenant Aldo "The Apache" Raine (Brad Pitt) recruits a team of eight Jewish-American soldiers to cause panic and havoc within the Third Reich by savagely killing as many German servicemen as possible, including scalping their victims. "The Basterds", as they come to be known, develop a modus operandi involving leaving one soldier alive to spread news of the terror of their attacks.

What makes Inglorious Basterds something of a "masterpiece" – is the fact that Tarantino went to great lengths to not make this a "hyperlink" film. The Basterds and Shosanna never meet each other, and are both completely unaware of each other's plots – this builds the tension greatly towards the now epic climax of the film, when it seems like both parties have a chance to "fix" history, but at the same time, could wind up sabotaging each other without knowing it. Christoph Waltz gives perhaps the male performance of 2009, and Mélanie Laurent shines while Brad Pitt proves again that he is a stick of acting dynamite under a handsome face (with the greatest false Italian accent in history.) In paying homage to, and mixing elements of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, The Dirty Dozen and his own Pulp Fiction, Tarantino proved that he is more that just "the hip talk". *SPOILER*Plus we get to see Hitler bite the big one in glorious style (see what I did there?)

Iron Man

Release Date: May 2nd, 2008
Directed by Jon Favreau
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Cast:
Robert Downey Jr.
Terrence Howard
Jeff Bridges
Gwyneth Paltrow
Leslie Bibb
Faran Tahir
Shaun Toub

While The Dark Knight showed that a comic book movie can ascend into high art, that very same year Iron Man showed a comic book movie could be smart, well-acted, flashy and FUN. Robert Downey Jr. re-emerged as the a-list player he was always meant to be and with Jon Faverau's expertly-paced direction and a stellar supporting cast that included Terrance Howard and Jeff Bridges, we got to see a superhero movie that could rock the casbah and be intelligent while blowing stuff up.

If you are a comic-book nerd, you know the story: Tony Stark (Downey Jr) is a weapons industrialist, following in the footsteps of his father – except he is a brash, womanizing douche of a man. During a trip to Afghanistan to test out a new weapon, his convoy is ambushed and he is critically wounded and taken hostage to an Afghan cave. He wakes to discover an electromagnet embedded in his chest, placed there by fellow captive Dr. Yinsen to keep shrapnel from entering Stark's heart and killing him. The terrorist group, "The Ten Rings" orders Stark to build a missile for them. That's pretty much where the movie starts – I mean the real movie.

What sets Iron Man apart from say…oh…Transformers is that the crew involved in the making of the movie took the mythology of the source material seriously. Of course, one could make the argument that Transformers' source material is the actual toy line, but that is another topic. Favreau did his best to keep the story grounded in some semblance of reality – which was accomplished by hiring a talented troupe of actors who could bring the goods (in Gwyneth Paltrow's interpretation of Pepper Potts…literally). At the end of the day, in my opinion - Iron Man belongs to Robert Downey Jr. – who completed THE comeback of the decade by cementing his place among the A-listers.

Irréversible

Release Date: May 22nd, 2002
Directed by Gaspar Noé
Distributed by Lions Gate Entertainment
Cast:
Monica Belluci
Vincent Cassel
Albert Dupontel

There is no middle ground with French auteur Gaspar Noé's mind-numbing, blatantly disorienting masterpiece of self-indulgence: Irréversible struck like a fire extinguisher to the unsuspecting skulls of the public in 2002 and struck a nerve with anyone who dared to take a peek at the film for better or for worse.

I was absolutely assaulted by Gaspar Noé's study in time vs. depravity – a thirteen scene backwards tale about three friends, two of them lovers, as an unspeakable tragedy befalls them all. I don't know all the details of Gaspar Noé's life, but something struck a chord with him that guides his techniques and the stories of the (in his mind) barbaric and depraved streets of France. There is an urgency with this film, much like his debut Seul contre tous aka I Stand Alone that resonates – all up to the final, terribly uncomfortable, disturbing brutal nine-minute act in the middle of the film where poor Monica Belluci falls victim to.

The inaugural scene of violence came so suddenly and was so unflinching in its graphic nature that I remember viewers vomiting in their seats. The power of this film, from its dizzying camerawork and disorienting low-frequency score (from Daft Punk's Thomas Bangalter) weighed down on me like no tomorrow. I hated – HATED this movie when I first saw it, now I can't deny the sheer genius of what Noé was trying – and succeeded – to accomplish.

(BTW, someone commented on my Antichrist review that the unbroken "rape" scene it was one of the hottest moments he's ever seen – I'm assuming he was trolling, but if he wasn't - dude, get help cause you're a sick psychopath.)

呪怨: Ju-on: The Grudge

Release Date: January 25th, 2003
Directed by Takashi Shimizu
Distributed by
Cast:
Megumi Okina
Misaki Ito
Misa Uehara
Yui Ichikawa
Takako Fuji
Yuya Ozeki
Takashi Matsuyama
Kanji Tsuda

When the whole "J-Horror" fad was in full bloom, films like Ringu and Takashi Shimizu's Ju-on: The Grudge were eagerly anticipated by Hollywood executives to snatch up and contemporize for American audiences. Even though The Ring was a perfectly acceptable – almost excellent, even – remake, the Hollywood version of The Grudge didn't fare as well. You're better off starting here.

Ju-On follows the lives of an assorted array of characters who encounter a cursed house where a man murdered his wife and child in a fit of rage. That rage has taken a spiritual manifestation in the house and all who enter either die or disappear. The tone that Takashi Shimizu creates is one of constant dread and fear – with one particular scare (and fate) inside a character's bedroom that gave me haunting flashbacks of Dario Argento's Susperia. All the acting is top notch, especially Megumi Okina, who plays Rika, a voluntary social worker and Misa Uehara, who plays Toyoma, a detective trying to figure out what is occurring in the house.

At the end of the day, Ju-On: The Grudge is a great, scary time at the movies, evoking actual scares than proving gore, and giving the screen a compelling and iconic scary character in Toshio. There is a mood and tone involved that gives the feeling similar to when one feels something supernatural in nature is lurking from the shadows. I highly recommend watching Ju-On: The Grudge 2 as well – if for no other reason that to understand how this and Ringu are linked.

Juno

Release Date: September 1st, 2007
Directed by Jason Reitman
Distributed by Fox Searchlight
Cast:
Ellen Page
Michael Cera
J.K. Simmons
Jason Bateman
Jennifer Garner
Allison Janney

Ah, Juno. The little Can-Am indie film that could, which brought superstardom to pretty much anyone involved – Ellen Page went from X-Men co-star to A-Lister; Michael Cera went from Tim Horton's commercial and Arrested Development cutie to MEGA cutie and Diablo Cody won Oscar gold for her biting, self-reflexive and uber-hip (almost to a fault) screenplay.

If you haven't lived under a rock for the past few years, you may be familiar with the plot. Ellen Page plays the titular character, a sixteen year old independent-minded high schooler in Minnesota who got pregnant with a child fathered by on again/off again best friend Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera). After deciding it would be best not to have an abortion, Juno decides to put the baby up for adoption once it is born. Through ads in the Pennysaver, she finds and meets Mark and Vanessa Loring (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner), who expresses a desire for a closed adoption. All the while, with the support of her father (J.K. Simmons), mother (Allison Janney) – and without the consultation of Paulie, who feels slightly shunned.

Criticisms have surfaced recently (from the "cool" people) who dismiss Juno as being pretentious and too smart for its own good – painting a picture of Juno as a "too cool for school" dislikable character who tries too hard to be an indie darling – and is in fact, a poser. I would tell them to place the blame squarely on Ellen Page's shoulders, since it was she who gave the suggestion to use several of Kimya Dawson's and The Moldy Peaches' now infamous songs. Jason Reitman's direction is steady and clean, Cody's script is more than just witty banter, twisting and turning, and the performances – especially Ellen Page's – is a great celebration of the cockiness of know-it-all youth in high school.

Kill Bill Vol. 1 & Vol. 2

Release Date: October 10, 2003 (Vol.1); April 16, 2004 (Vol.2)
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Distributed by Miramax Films
Cast:
Uma Thurman
David Carradine
Vivica A. Fox
Lucy Liu
Michael Madsen
Darryl Hannah
Sonny Chiba
Julie Dreyfuss
Gordon Liu

Even though I recently hailed Inglorious Basterds as Tarantino's best since Pulp Fiction, I didn't want that to be seen as a "knock" of the terribly entertaining Kill Bill films (which I am grouping together), in which Vol. 1 is nothing more than a homage of the old 1970's and 80's over-the-top kung-fu flicks that I (and he) greatly enjoyed in my youth – and Vol. 2 is his interpretation of a character-driven western.

The premise for Kill Bill is deceptively simple: "The Bride" (Uma Thurman) had left her life as an assassin and former lover/boss, Bill (David Caradine) for a life of normalcy. In a little church in El Paso, Texas where she (now pregnant) is to be married, "The Bride" and her small wedding party is ambushed by her former assassin group, "The Deadly Vipers", killing everyone. In a great opening monologue, Bill explains to a beaten and bloody Bride that he is at his most "masochistic" point, and shoots her in the head moments before she is able to fully state that the baby inside her is his, putting her in a coma. Four years pass, and "The Bride" awakens – thinking her baby has died and vows for revenge against all involved in her pain.

While Volume 1 of Kill Bill is a near-perfect, adrenaline-rushing, blood-soaked interpretation of a kung-fu film, complete with that now-iconic RZA score and TWO epic battles - "The Bride's" decimation of the "Crazy 88's" and her final encounter with Yakuza leader, O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu), I actually prefer the quieter, character driven western of Volume 2, where the story expands upon the nuances of each of the main characters. Michael Madsen gives a gripping performance as a flawed man who has also moved on from his life as an assassin, Daryl Hannah is great as one-eyed Ellie Driver and I'm sure David Carradine has never – EVER been better as super-cool villain Bill. Uma Thurman rocks the boat as a woman driven only by pure hatred and vengeance, being the main vehicle Tarantino uses to infuse his love of all things movie-related to the audience. This is a fun, fun – wicked fun time at the movies.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Release Date: November 11th, 2005
Directed by Shane Black
Distributed by
Cast:
Robert Downey Jr.
Val Kilmer
Michelle Monaghan
Corbin Bernsen
Dash Mihok
Larry Miller
Rockmond Dunbar
Shannyn Sossamon
Angela Lindvall

I always get on movie audiences when I feel they missed the boat on a great film. This year, I was infuriated that pretty much everyone didn't give Ponyo a chance – and I'm beginning to feel the same about Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are. When I saw Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - in 2007, I was PISSED at myself for allowing this terribly under-appreciated gem to go under my radar for so long. I'm even more pissed that given the talent involved, seemingly no one cared for it. Given recent circumstances, if it was released now, it would be a $100 million summer blockbuster.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, written and directed by Shane Black, follows Harry Lockhart (Robert Downey Jr.) a small-time criminal who breaks the fourth wall at nearly every moment. After a botched robbery, Harry is able to evade the police and somehow finds himself in the middle of a movie audition, where he impresses those involved in the process, gets a role and is introduced to private investigator "Gay" Perry van Shrike (Val Kilmer), enlisted to help Harry prepare for his role in the movie. Along the way, Harry runs into his childhood friend and crush, Harmony Faith Lane (Michelle Monaghan – with one of the best fictional names I've ever heard) – and the three of them somehow stumble onto a murder mystery that parallels the detective novels Harry and Harmony grew up reading. A bunch of nonsensical events happen and hilarity ensues.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang seemingly moves at the speed of light. Shane Black's script and direction, along with Michael Barrett's photography keeps tight compositions with tight dialogue. Robert Downey Jr. started his comeback to the A-list here, playing a man so hilariously awful and dry that it's hard not to like him, complete with a great running gag involving his finger. The chemistry he has with Val Kilmer, playing a homosexual private investigator, is infectious as they both play with the film-noir genre with their tongues firmly placed in cheek. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang also has one of the best – and random endings ever (where the hell did Lincoln come from???) STOP SLEEPING ON THIS MOVIE!

功夫: Kung Fu Hustle

Release Date: December 23rd, 2004
Directed by Stephen Chow
Distributed by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Classics
Cast:
Stephen Chow
Yuen Wah
Yuen Qiu
Danny Chan Kwok Kwan
Bruce Leung
Music by Stephen Chow
Raymond Wong
Hang Yi
Xian Luo Zong

You may not have figured it out by now, but I LOVE kung-fu. As much of a pretentious arthouse snobby movie snob I am, I can't deny the sheer joy I watch getting someone's ass handed to them - whether it's under a "realistic" setting – like seeing Pacquio or Fedor beat someone into submission, or a "staged" one, like witnessing Randy Orton punt someone's head into next month, there's a feeling of glee I get…Especially if it's done convincingly in the most over the top manner possible. Bless the heavens for Stephen Chow and 2005's Kung-Fu Hustle.

Part homage to the 1970's kung-fu flicks of yesteryear, and the zany antics of the old school Looney Toons animated comedy-fests, Kung-Fu Hustle takes place in 1940's Shanghai, where many gangs vie for dominance. The most feared of these is the "Axe" gang (named for its weapon of choice) and led by Brother Sum (Danny Chan). These gangs only manifest in the more upscale parts of Shanghai, because in a land where the law is non-existent, people can only co-exist in the poor areas. Pig Sty Alley – a tenement home to those of different skills is one of those areas, run by a greedy landlord and his domineering wife. On a particular day, Sing (Stephen Chow) and Bone (Lam Chi Chung) arrive to the area impersonating members of the Axe Gang to gain respect. The attempt epically fails and Sing's lackluster masquerade draws the ire of the real gang. A huge, over the top battle ensues, and the gang are easily dispatched by three tenants, Coolie (Xing Yu), Tailor (Chiu Chi Ling), and Donut (Dong Zhi Hua), who are powerful masters of the martial arts. From there, the story becomes about Sing's growth to become a hero…even if he is pretty inept.

Stephen Chow brings all the physical comedy of Buster Keaton and Jackie Chan and adds antics that Chuck Jones would appreciate, complete with nearly every cartoon cliché one could think of (the first time I saw a particular character rush off like The Roadrunner, I did a double-take) – but there is more to Kung-Fu Hustle than that. This is an expertly made film, brimming with memorable characters and twisting a well-known genre and mocking it, while at the same time, playing homage. It is a wire-act - one that takes balls to do - and the cast and crew, led by Chow is more than up to the task, combining the graceful beauty of the martial arts with hilarious slapstick.

Låt den rätte komma in: Let the Right One In

Release Date: January 26th, 2008
Directed by Tomas Alfredson
Distributed by Magnolia Pictures, Sandrew Metronome and Momentum Pictures
Cast:
Kåre Hedebrant
Lina Leandersson
Elif Ceylan
Per Ragnar
Henrik Dahl
Karin Bergquist
Peter Carlberg
Ika Nord
Mikael Rahm
Karl Robert Lindgren
Anders T. Peedu

We're currently being bombarded with vampire adaptations, films, books, television shows and other lore the likes we've never seen before. The world has always been enthralled by the mythology that surrounds "Vlad the Impaler", and while the "tween" uprising currently boasts Twilight as their champion, Sweedish filmmaker Tomas Alfredson's adaptation of John Ajvide Lindqvist's novel, Let The Right One In - in my opinion – is the real deal in regards to taking the rules laid out by Bram Stoker into a contemporary world.

Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) is a fragile 12-year old boy who lives with his mother in Blackberg in 1982. A constant victim of bullying, he spends every night imagining revenge against his tormentors. One night, he encounters Eli (Lina Leandersson), a pale, androgynous girl his own age who has moved next door in the same apartment with Håkan (Per Ragnar), an older man. Right off the bat Eli tells Oskar they can't be friends, but over time their isolation and lonliness becomes a catalyst for a bond that becomes thicker than blood (HA!) sharing Morse code conversations through their apartment wall. Eli discovers Oskar being bullied and inspires him to stand up for himself. Eventually, secrets are discovered about Eli and Håkan (with one of the sickest acts of sacrifice I've ever seen) and the two young (um…I guess one is probably young) people learn to depend on each other to survive and gain acceptance with each other against the rest of the world.

What makes Let the Right One In a class above most of the other vampire-laden films this decade (other than Hoyte van Hoytema's bleak and gorgeous photography and Johan Söderqvist's haunting score) is the multifaceted nature of the protagonists. For example, is this film (which is really a love story at heart) a vampire version of Brokeback Mountain? Even though one may want to have the impression that Eli is a girl, there are various moments that may prove otherwise. The performances from Kåre Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson are nothing short of extraordinary (especially for child actors) as they easily convey the angst, lonliness and hurt of being an outcast at a young age. This, along with Pan's Labrynth showed that children can play prominent roles in a typically adult subject matter, and still realistically portray what it's like to be a kid on the outside looking in. Right now, this is Tomas Alfredson's magnum-opus, and I hate to have the expectations that will befall him for his next film.

硫黄島からの手紙: Letters from Iwo Jima

Release Date: December 9th, 2006
Directed by Clint Eastwood
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Cast:
Ken Watanabe
Kazunari Ninomiya
Tsuyoshi Ihara
Ryo Kase
Shido Nakamura
Hiroshi Watanabe
Takumi Bando
Yuki Matsuzaki

In the 2000's, Clint Eastwood easily cemented his place as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, crafting masterpiece after masterpiece. How would you like to have these films on your resume in the span of 10 YEARS: Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, Flags of Our Fathers, Gran Torino, Changling - and most likely, when the year is over, Inviticus? Of all of these, though – I felt his best film was his tale of Japanese soldiers fighting and enduring a losing battle during World War II, Letters From Iwo Jima.

Based on the non-fiction books "Gyokusai sōshikikan" no etegami ("Picture letters from the Commander in Chief") by General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (portrayed by Ken Watanabe in one of his best roles) and So Sad To Fall In Battle: An Account of War by Kumiko Kakehashi, the film follows the Battle of Iwo Jima completely from the viewpoint of the various Japanese soldiers during that time. The soldiers know they are in dire conditions, and are right at the cusp of losing the war. Kuribayashi evacuates the civilian population of Iwo Jima to mainland Japan, clashing with senior officers who do not agree with his strategy of defending inland instead of the beaches. The Japanese are able to hold out longer than expected, and many attempt to fight with a fleeting sense of honor even though the outcome is all but written.

Clint Eastwood created one of the most visually stunning films this decade, collaborating with cinematographer Tom Stern to create moods and spaces through beautiful black and white composition with sublte splashes of color to craft one of the best pure war films I've seen in a long while. The entire ensemble is brilliant and I've always appreciated its to-the-point opening and ending (those falling letters – even if it's a tad on the melodramatic side – works for me.)

Little Miss Sunshine

Release Date: January 20th, 2006
Directed by Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris
Distributed by Fox Searchlight
Cast:
Greg Kinnear
Toni Collette
Abigail Breslin
Steve Carell
Paul Dano
Alan Arkin

Little Miss Sunshine came out of left-field in 2006, premiering at Sundance, and walked away with one of the most lucrative distrubution deals in that festival's history. This was the "indie-darling" of 2006, going from obsurity all the way to a Best Picture Oscar nomination and an Oscar win for Alan Arkin for Best Supporting Actor. All these accolades for what seems to be nothing more than a road trip movie – a very good one.

The Hoover family of Albuquerque, New Mexico is – to use a now common phrase – "a hot mess". Sheryl Hoover (Toni Collette) is an overworked mother. Her brother Frank, (Steve Carell) is a homosexual scholar who lives with his sister after a suicide attempt. Sheryl's husband, Richard (Greg Kinnear) attempts to create a career as a motivational speaker– with little success. Sheryl's son, Dwayne (Paul Dano) is obsessed with Nietzsche and has taken a vow of silence until he can become a test pilot. Richard's father, Edwin (Alan Arkin) has a foul mouth and was evicted from his retirement home for snorting heroin. Then there's seven-year old Olive (Abigail Breslin), who just learned she qualified (by default) for the "Little Miss Sunshine" beauty contest that is being held in Redondo Beach, CA in two days. Her parents and Edwin support and coach her and Frank and Dwayne can't be left alone, so the entire family embarks on this 800 mile trip in their yellow Volkswagen T2 Microbus.

Michael Arndt's debut screenplay crackles with wit, heart and a dash of commentary about parents living through their children (the final scenes at the beauty contest is a mad horror show on its own.) The little touch of using the Volkswagen (inspired from Arndt's own life) is a great gag – one I, or anyone else that ever owned a POS automobile could relate to – and the performances from all involved, especially Alan Arkin and Abigail Breslin is a joy to behold. It is also refreshing to see Steve Carrell before he really hit it big, performing a more human role, than the awkward, aloof one he plays in The Office (not that he doesn't do that well, but anyone who's follows his career knows he can bring more to the table.)

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Release Date: 2001; 2002; 2003
Directed by Peter Jackson
Distributed by New Line Cinema
Cast:
Elijah Wood
Viggo Mortesen
Ian McKellan
Sean Astin
Ian Holm
Christpher Lee
Andy Serkis
Liv Tyler
Billy Boyd
John Rhys-Davies
Orlando Bloom
…and about 10,000 other people

I'm grouping all three films here, because in reality – it is really one big-ass movie. J.R. Tolkien's works were always considered to be "unfilmable" because of his vast scope and neurotic attention to detail to Middle-Earth. Peter Jackson destroyed every convention or notion anyone had in regards to whether or not the universe from the pages of one of the most inspired works of fiction could be properly visualized – and assembled a trilogy that was basically pitch-perfect in every way.

A brief summary of the story for those who just made it out of under the deep dark rocks of incarceration for the past half-century: Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) lives in the shire of Middle Earth with the other free-spirited, tight-knit community of hobbits – along with his friends Samwise (Sean Astin), Pippin (Billy Boyd) and Merry (Dominic Monaghan). An unexpected visit from wizard, Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) to see Frodo's uncle, Bilbo (Ian Holm) sets off a chain of events that places the daunting task of Frodo and his fellowship to destroy the One Ring, forged by the evil Dark Lord Sauron to defeat him once and for all. This fellowship, represented by Gandalf and the hobbits, the noble representative of men, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) and Boromir (Sean Bean), the staunch dwarf, Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) and elf Legolas (Orlando Bloom), they split and endure every hardship imaginable to complete their task.

I'm not going to get into the specifics – the three films are AWESOME in their scope and managed to keep faithful to the tone and magic of the celebrated novels. My favorite is The Fellowship of the Ring (using my first movie rule which states that the sequels cannot work if you don't hook the audience with the first), but I cannot deny the sheer brilliance of The Two Towers and The Return of the King (the 2003 Oscar winner for Best Picture.) Peter Jackson's eye is glorious, understanding the scope landscapes and set design, and getting the most of his ensemble cast. From Elijah Wood's Frodo and Viggo Mortesen's Aragorn to Christopher Lee's Sauroman and Ian McKellen's turn as Gandalf "You. Shall. Not. PASS!" The Grey (and White); but for me, the LOTR Trilogy lives or dies on the presentation of Sméagol/Gollum (Andy Serkis), which is one of the true breakthroughs of film technology – not since Jim Henson's puppeteering of Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back has a total non-human character been able to convey such emotion. Basically, it's almost as if the ghost of David Lean posessed Peter Jackson for half a decade and this was the output. Even if you don't like the *kind* of film it is, there is no denying the truly awesome, well crafted spectacle that The Lord of the Rings is.

Man on Wire

Release Date: January 22nd, 2008
Directed by James Marsh
Distributed by Magnolia Pictures, Icon, Madman and Diaphana
Cast:
Paul McGill

James Marsh' Man on Wire, the 2008 recipient of the Best Documentary Oscar, is a strange little creature. Filmed like a heist movie, the account on its extraordinary subject is enthralling, maddening and quietly sweet. It is by far the best reviewed film on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 100% "fresh" rating with over 140 reviews.

In 1974, Philippe Petit, a french high-wire artist, gained notoriety for "le coup" aka "The Artistic Crime of the Century" – a high wire walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center on August 7th, 1974 – with no permission. To accomplish this he used a 450-pound cable, and a custom-made 26-foot long, 55-pound balancing pole. The gap between the towers was 140 feet, and he could have fallen oer 1,600 feet to his death. This took six years of planning, before the towers were even completed, where he would sneak away to the rooftops of the unfinished buildings to scope out security. He made models of the buildings for schematics. He amassed an army of collaborators, making fake ID cards for them all to gain access (they were all contractors, apparently.) It is indeed one of the greatest true-to-life constructions of deception ever invented.

With presenting rare footage of the preparations for the event and still photographs of the walk, alongside reenactments (with Paul McGill as the young Petit) and present-day interviews with the participants, Man on Wire is the simple/not so simple story of a man who exists only to defy odds and test himself to achieve his penultimate limits, all the while gaining fame for (now) the worlds most famous buildings. It is a stark, grim and bittersweet reminder of everything New York City was before 9/11 (and achieves this effect by not mentioning the tragedy.) This is one of the best docs that I've seen in the past twenty – much less ten years.

Match Point

Release Date: May 12th, 2005
Directed by Woody Allen
Distributed by DreamWorks, Icon Productions and Prokino Filmverleih
Cast:
Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Scarlett Johansson
Emily Mortimer
Matthew Goode
Brian Cox
Penelope Wilton
Ewen Bremner
James Nesbitt
Rupert Penry-Jones

I find it a little disheartening that one of the most prolific filmmakers during the 1970's "golden era" has been very hit or miss this decade. It used to be an event for me to see a Woody Allen film: Annie Hall Manhattan, Hannah and Her Sisters and Crimes and Misdemeanors stand among the greatest movies ever made. Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex… is one of my all-time favorite comedies ("What's YOUR Fetish?") So to look at my list and see only one of his movies made my final cut makes me a little sad (multiply that sadness by 1,000,000 when I realized that my favorite filmmaker of that era, Francis Ford Coppola has NONE.) At least Match Point showcased that Allen had a little gas left in the tank (Vicky Christina Barcelona just missed the cut for The Honorable Mentions.)

Chris (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is a recently retired tennis pro and works at an upscale London club as a tennis instructor. He grows a friendship with Tom (Matthew Goode) who is one of his pupils. Tom's younger sister, Chloe (Emily Mortimer) likes Chris and they date. During a family gathering, Chris meets Tom's fiancée, Nola (Scarlett Johansson), a struggling American actress. There is an attraction between the two and they begin a wet (literally) affair where they go back and forth between their fiance's/spouses and each other. Things take a turn for the worse as it is understood that Chris is not exactly the most sane or morally sound individual walking the earth.

I made a point to mention Crimes and Misdemeanors with the sole purpose of comparing the two great films. Match Point is in a way, Crimes and Misdemeanors without the comedy, Allen himself and with the volume turned up to eleven, all under the guise where the plot takes place in a world where God does not exist so men cannot be held accountable for their acts. Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays a man so obsessed with his own desires that he contradicts himself when he realizes those desires is inconvenient to others. It's a brilliant and twisted performance of a man who is normal at the surface but is a lot darker underneath. Woody Allen frames his characters brilliantly, taking in the space and dimension of the events of the plot and uses that space to explain – without words – the tensions and the manifestations of relationships between characters. Scarlett Johansson is a treat (a tasty one at that) – and the final twenty minutes of the film smacks you so hard in the face it may take a couple of days to recover.

Mean Girls

Release Date: April 30th, 2004
Directed by Mark Waters
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Cast:
Lindsay Lohan
Rachel McAdams
Lacey Chabert
Amanda Seyfried
Tina Fey

I said that my readers would be in for a treat when mentioning that Lindsey Lohan had somehow stumbled her way into some truly great films this decade (Bobby and A Prarie Home Companion.) While those were more the part of the filmmakers, and the fact that she was more of a supporting player with an awesome ensemble, here Miss Lohan showed that she could carry an entire film on her back and do it with tremendous success. Where has this Lindsay Lohan disappeared to? Seriously, where has she gone – cause I miss her so much.

Mean Girls is the brainchild of Saturday Night Live alumni and current 30 Rock queen of comedy, Tina Fey – about Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan), a home-schooled daughter of zoologist parents while living in Africa. Upon her arrival back to the United States, she is unprepared for her official "first day of school" at North Shore High School in Illinois. With the help of social misfits Janis Ian (Lizzy Caplan) and Damien (Daniel Franzese), Cady learns about the various cliques, including "The Plastics", an exclusive group of girls led by queen bee Regina George (Rachel McAdams), who was once Janis' best friend. Janis concocts a plan for Cady to infiltrate "The Plastics" and get revenge for what Regina did to Janis in 8th grade. Once Cady is successfully integrated into the group, she encounters an identity crisis, where she must figure if she is really an outcast, or is in fact, a "Plastic".

Based on the non-fiction book, Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman, Mean Girls is hilarious in its brutal honesty about the clique-hood of high school. Anyone who lived between grade 9 through 12, male and female could easily relate to the themes of fitting in, and doing almost anything to do so. Tina Fey (who also plays a supporting role) crafted a screenplay, twisted in its morality, while director Mark Waters (whose brother, Daniel, penned the screenplay for Heathers, another great film about the sheer insanity of high school angst) was able to get the absolute best from his actors, including Rachel McAdams and especially, Lindsay Lohan – who somehow realistically morphs into three completely different characters by the time the film ends. It is truly a brilliant performance – one I was hailing at the time as something that would lay the groundwork for a golden (literally and figuratively) career. How the mighty have fallen, as they would say. At least we'll always have Mean Girls.

Memento

Release Date: December 15th, 2000
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Distributed by Summit Entertainment
Cast:
Guy Pearce
Carrie-Anne Moss
Joe Pantoliano

While Following may have gained the future architect of the second most financially successful film of all time his indie cred, it is with this twisted tale of disorienting revenge that put Christopher Nolan on the map. 2000's Memento pretty much took the world by storm, putting Guy Pierce on the fast track to superstardom (after giving a hell of a performance in 1997's L.A. Confidential) and guaranteeing that Nolan would have a place around the dinner table with the upper echelon of filmmakers.

Guy Pierce plays Leonard Shelby, a former insurance claims investigator who was the victim of a burglary in which his wife was raped and murdered. The brutal attack also left Leonard with severe head trauma leading to a condition called anterograde amnesia. This renders his brain to be unable to store new memories. To cope with his handicap, Leonard maintains a system of notes, photographs, and tattoos to record information about himself and others, including his wife's killer. Along the way, he calls on the aid of Teddy (Joe Pantoliano) and Natalie (Carrie-Anne Moss), neither of whom he can fully trust.

What sets Memento apart from my other backwards film, Irréversible, is that while in that film, the backwards story is used to hammer home a message, in Memento, it is used to serve the plot. Since Leonard is unable to create new memories, the audience knows only what he does – until the plot begins to completely unravel and the audience is clued in to the fact that they don't suffer from amnesia and will remember certain points that give weight to the final moments of the film. Guy Pierce is an excellent lead, with Carrie-Anne Moss and Joe Pantoliano (both hot from The Matrix giving stellar supporting performances. Memento is a mind-boggling puzzle of a film, Hitchcock-ian in nature and a truly great modern classic. It also gives perhaps my favorite moment of the decade:

"What am I doing here? Looks like I'm chasing him…"
BANG!
"No, he's chasing me!

Minority Report

Release Date: June 21st, 2002
Directed by Steven Speilberg
Distributed by DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox
Cast:
Tom Cruise
Colin Farrell
Samantha Morton
Steve Harris
Neal McDonough
Max Von Sydow

Steven Speilberg has become more of a myth than a man over the past decade. In the 1970's, he wrote the book and single-handedly changed the way the studios would market films in the summertime. In the 1980's, his legend grew, crafting blockbuster after blockbuster that had artistic merit to it (with the exception of 1941.) In the 90's, he helmed two instant masterpieces and helped usher in radical new film technology with a third – in the span of five years. Speilberg is no longer Universal Studios "Boy Wonder" – he represents the Holy Grail for all filmmakers – the freedom to create artistic works with widespread commercial appeal. 2002's Minority Report is just another credit in perhaps the most impressive resume in history.

The adaptation of Sci-Fi guru Phillip K. Dick's short story of the same name, takes place in Washington D.C. in 2054, where John Anderton (Tom Cruise) leads an experimental police force known as "Precrime", which uses future visions generated by three "precogs" - mutated humans with precognition abilities, to stop murders. Due to the unit's actions, D.C. has been essentially murder-free for six years. Since the disappearance of his son, Anderton has grown an addiction to illegal drugs and with the Precrime concept about to go nationwide, the system is audited by Danny Witwer (Colin Farrell), a member of the Department of Justice, a skeptic who points out stopping future crimes essentially changes the future and creates a paradox. During this audit, a prediction is made that Anderton will murder a man he does not know in 36 hours. Anderton believes it is a set up, so he must race against time and flee from his own unit to solve the case.

In my mind, only Alfred Hitchcock is capable to taking a wide-ranging plot like this and turn it on its ear, keeping the darkness of the characters and still add an element of breath-taking excitement. Speilberg pulls out one of Tom Cruise's all-time best performances, and with Super Cinematographer and eternal collaborator, Janusz Kamiński, creates an unmistakeable overlit, bleached, high-contrast look while John Williams uplifts the picture with another remarkable score. This is science-fiction done right, and one of the few sci-fi films of the decade that has that intangible quality that pushes it past the "blockbuster" movie into "quality great film".

{Film Passport Stamped]

Coming Attractions: Part Four of The Great Films of the 2000's: The Coens visit twice, a love story in song, Robin Williams' greatest twisted performance, my favorite film of the decade and PIRATES! ARRRRRRRRRRRR!

Questions or comments? Completely disagreed with any of my picks? Are you in love with me? Leave comments below or email me at [e-mail]!!!

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