Other Crap

There Will Be Blood Wins the Decade

(Based on a study of all the available "top film" lists)

"This has to be considered a huge moral victory for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Barely noticed by Oscar, relatively little discussed so many years later, the Gondry/Charlie Kaufman film came just one vote away from taking the entire decade."

I agree completely with that consensus. In fact, I might have placed it #1. That is a brilliant script.

Same deal with Almost Famous, which was not even nominated for Best Picture in its year, but is now considered one of the top ten of the decade, and rightfully so.

The top non-animated comedy of the decade was The Royal Tennenbaums. I might be persuaded to agree with that as well. It was not the funniest movie of the decade, but was the best overall movie among the comedies. The only ones I might consider placing above it would be Borat and In Bruge

My top list would look something like this:

Overall favorites: (haven't see Avatar or City of God - shame on me):

• Eternal Sunshine
  
• Amelie
  
• The various Lord of the Rings movies
  
• Big Fish
  
• Pan's Labyrinth
  
• Almost Famous
  
• Malena
  

Best thoughtful or offbeat comedy (haven't seen 500 Days of Summer)

• Borat
  
• In Bruge
  
• The Royal Tennenbaums
  
• Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
  
• Shaun of the Dead
  
• Be Kind, Rewind
  

Funniest zany comedy. This decade wasn't as good as the 90s

• The 40-Year-Old Virgin
  
• Anchorman
  
• The Hangover
  
• Team America
  
• Dodgeball
  

Special accomplishments:

• The Patriot (ignored because of a mediocre script, but maybe the best cinematography ever)
  
• Children of Men (spectacular use of a continuous shot)
  
• The Russian Ark (entire film shot in one continuous, uninterrupted Steadicam shot)
  
• Momento (impressive movie made for about 45 cents)
  
• Wall-E (doing a lot and saying a lot with animation)
  
• Sin City (comic book come to life)
  
• Youth Without Youth (At about 70 years old, film legend Francis Ford Coppola wrote and directed an indie made with his own pocket change. He came very close to arthouse greatness.)