My Top Ten Films of the Decade

My list of the top ten films of the decade went online today, and will be published in tomorrow's edition of The Dispatch. You can read the full write up here, but for now, here's the list:

1
THERE WILL BE BLOOD
(Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)

2
DOGVILLE
(Lars von Trier, 2004)

3
MULHOLLAND DRIVE
(David Lynch, 2001)
4
THE LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY
(Peter Jackson, 2001, 2002, 2003)
5
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS/LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
(Clint Eastwood, 2006)
6
SPIRITED AWAY
(Hayao Miyazaki, 2002)
7
CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON
(Ang Lee, 2000)

8
SILENT LIGHT
(Carlos Reygadas, 2008)

9
4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, AND 2 DAYS
(Cristian Mungiu, 2007)

10
GOSFORD PARK
(Robert Altman, 2001)
HONORABLE MENTIONS (11-20)
CHILDREN OF MEN (Alfonso Cuaron, 2006)
THE NEW WORLD (Terrence Malick, 2005)
DANCER IN THE DARK (Lars von Trier, 2000)
IN THE BEDROOM (Todd Field, 2001)
MOULIN ROUGE (Baz Luhrmann, 2001)
ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (Michel Gondry, 2004)
COWARDS BEND THE KNEE (Guy Maddin, 2004)
THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD (Andrew Dominick, 2007)
MUNICH (Steven Spielberg, 2005)
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (Ang Lee, 2005)
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Comments

Nate said…
Very good choices Matt. I have about 60% of them on my personal list.

Happy holidays.
9:18 PM
Ryan McNeil said…
Great List!

It was actually really hard for me to rank the films of this decade. I mean, I whittled the tally down to 25...and at that point I could make a case for any of them taking the number one spot.

Funny - even though I love every movie on your ten, none of 'em made my own 00's Top Five (which I'll be posting New Year's Day).
11:54 AM
Film-Book dot Com said…
A good list but your numbering is inaccurate.

Your list includes thirteen films.

Also, the regular edition of The Two Towers was weak. Are you referring to the extended edition of that film?
7:56 PM
Mattie Lucas said…
My numbering is exactly the way I want it to be. And I do not agree with your assessment of THE TWO TOWERS. I am counting LOTR as a whole, not three separate films. Theatrical or extended cuts, it doesn't matter. The placement would be the same.
8:04 PM
Ryan McNeil said…
@ Matthew... I'm with you. Usually i consider entering film series, or trilogies as one entry a cheat. However, in the case of LOTR they are not a cheat since they all tell one long story and were filmed concurrently.

For what it's worth, I've always said TOWRES was the best of the three - theatrical edit or directors cut.
10:57 PM
Film-Book dot Com said…
@Matthew and The Mad Hatter.

I never took the concurrent filming of LOTR into consideration. Most of the decade lists I have seen count the films separately. Your point of view will certainly change my decade list.

I have actually seen The Tow Towers more than the other two parts of the film.
3:41 AM
Mattie Lucas said…
I wouldn't normally do that in a year end list. But I felt these were extraordinary circumstances. Same with Flags/Letters. To me, they represent one story, one achievement. You need both and all three to get the greatest impact of each, although each stands alone well on its own.
3:45 AM
Film-Book dot Com said…
Flags is not even close to as good as Iwo Jima but I see your point, looking at an issue from both sides.
6:32 PM
Daniel said…
Great call on Spirited Away and Jesse James - they'd both be in my 11-20.
10:07 PM
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