Film is Pwn

I’m a regular viewer of the At The Movies TV show, formerly known as Siskel & Ebert/Ebert & Roeper.  At the Movies is currently hosted by two film critics whose opinions I enjoy even when I disagree, A.O. Scott of the New York Times and Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune.  For the past ten weeks Scott & Phillips have been unveiling their picks for the top ten movies of the decade.  While Scott & Phillips are entertaining and knowledgable film critics, they are your classic film critics.  By that I mean they are prone to like dull, subtitled, Belgian films about the angst of existence when normal humans would prefer a good action film. 

I still count myself as a “normal” fan of movies, despite two years of writing film reviews.  I’m going to give you my favorite ten movies of the decade, but first, let me share with you their selections, with my comments in bold.

Michael Phillips
10. Minority Report – Good movie, not great, surprising to see it here
 9. Gosford Park – I saw it and thought it was OK; British period pieces are not my cup of tea
 8. Mulholland Drive – I watched the first twenty minutes then opted to do laundry instead of finishing this
 7. United 93 – I can’t bring myself to see 9/11 movies
 6. Zodiac – Pretty good, not great in my opinion
 5.Y tu mamá Tambien – Never saw it
 4. Once – Never saw it
 3. Climates – Never heard of it, don’t intend to look for it
 2. Ratatouille – Terrific Pixar movie that I just recently saw for the first time and loved
 1. There Will Be Blood – Daniel Day-Lewis is amazing and deserved Best Picture – I didn’t care for this epic other than Day-Lewis’ towering performance

A.O. Scott
10. Million Dollar Baby – Great movie, a bit sentimental but respectable choice
 9. 25th Hour - Pretty good movie, enjoyed it the first time I saw it.  I tried to watch it again in the last year and didn’t care for it the second time through
 8. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Interesting movie trying to be brilliant and failing, in my opinion
 7. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days – Never heard of it
 6. The Best of Youth – Never heard of it
 5. Where the Wild Things Are – Haven’t seen it yet, but I’ll catch it when it’s on DVD
 4. The Pianist – Never saw it, and considering it’s Roman Polanski I don’t think I will
 3. Brokeback Mountain – Never saw it
 2. A.I. – I saw it in theaters and I HATED this. Ugh. 
 1. Wall-E – Great movie

If you ask me next year, the list will probably be a little different (except for the top spot), but without further ado, here are my favorites:

10. Collateral (2004) – A mesmerising thriller starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx, beautifully directed by Michael Mann.  Cruise is a hitman who takes Foxx, a mild-mannered cab-driver, on the ride of his life. 

9. The Bourne Supremacy (2004) – The second installment of the amnesiac spy saga featuring Matt Damon as Jason Bourne blew the first film out of the water on every level.  This is the definition of a motion picture “experience.”

8. Gran Torino (2008) - Clint Eastwood’s swan song as an actor features Clint playing a character who may as well be Dirty Harry in retirement.  What would that be like? “Go ahead, make my day” is replaced by “Get off my lawn,” for starters. For a movie that tackles tough subjects as racism and redemption, Gran Torino is shockingly funny as well as a gripping drama.

7. Brick (2005) - A modern film noir set in a high school.  Mesmerising little independent drama with a great story, great cast, and Mamet-esque dialogue.

6. Star Trek (2009) – I grew up a Trekkie, watching the original series and the Next Generation, but then the franchise became pretty pathetic with the last two series (Voyager & Enterprise).  The 2009 reboot, Star Trek, reignited my fondness for the characters and the universe.  I’m not ready to go to a convention or wear the Spock ears, but I can’t wait for the sequel. A superb movie.

5. Spartan(2004) – My favorite David Mamet movie, and I love most of them.  The first half of this movie, wherein Val Kilmer plays a special forces op on a mission to find the missing daughter of a important politician is utterly exceptional.  The second half is still doggone good, but it’s the first stretch that makes this movie stand apart.

4. Batman Begins (2005) – Yup, I like Christopher Nolan’s brilliant reboot of the Batman franchise better than the lauded sequel The Dark Knight.  What blew me away about Batman Begins is that in the first hour there is no Batman, and that’s the best part of the film.

3. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) – The Lord of the Rings trilogy is like one giant, wonderful, ten-hour opus that I choose to represent here with my favorite, the second.  The Helms Deep battle sequence is what puts The Two Towers over the top for me; I must have watched that half-hour stretch of the The Two Towers a dozen times leading up to the release of the third LotR film, Return of the King, and I most turn to The Two Towers and that same sequence when I feel like getting a refresher on why exactly I love the Lord of the Rings movies.

2. Serenity (2005)– A bold, funny, exciting, and altogether terrific sci-fi adventure.  I caught a matinee of Serenity the weekend it was released, and I was so enamored I went back to the theater that same night and caught another screening.  Serenity is more true to the spirit of the original Star Wars trilogy than George Lucas’ dreadful prequels.

1. Memento (2000) – Director Christopher Nolan’s breakout movie, a mystery told in reverse, beginning with the murder and then proceeding through interlocking segments presented in reverse order to reveal the story.  My knee jerk reaction to Memento halfway the first (of many) times I saw it was: This is the greatest movie I have ever seen.  A decade later, I stand by that.

A couple of honorable mentions: Wall-E, Redbelt, Fog of War, The Dark Knight, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, and Amazing Grace.