The 30 Best Films of the Decade

30. Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003)

Formalistically, and thematically, Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation was the second most definitive movie of the 00s; two people improvising their way through a globalized, post-modern world.

29. Sin City (Robert Rodriguez, 2005)

Nothing less than a re-invention of the noir genre. Full of larger than life characters, taut action sequences, and stunning visuals that actually added to the story and not just the film’s budget; hyper-style done right.

28. Children of Men (Alfonso Cuaron, 2006)

Some were disappointed with the film’s barebones dystopia storyline, but the reality is that the story was just a clothesline upon to hang the best action sequences of the decade. Cuaron is a virtuoso... a master of the one-take masterpiece.

(Spoilers in the video below)

27. In The Mood for Love (Wong Kar Wai, 2000)

The sister film of Coppola’s Lost in Translation. But while Coppola’s film had a free-floating, hand-held French New Wave look, Wong’s meditation on loneliness and unrequited love was like a series of perfect, Renoir paintings hung on the wall. Ennui at its best.

 26. L’Enfant (The Dardenne Brotheres, 2005)

Most casual film viewers haven’t heard of the Dardenne brothers, but they almost certainly know their influence. While their films are fiction, their style and themes live in the world of nonfiction, showing the struggles of everyday lower-class life. The best makers of cinema verite today.

 25. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days (Cristian Mungiu, 2007)

Shot in a similar cinema verite style, the film tells the story of two college friends under Ceausescu’s Romania seeking an abortion. The best thrillers don’t involve guns or masked men with knives, but stories of everyday people, living through the real horrors of the real world.

 24. The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001)

The quintessential Wes Anderson film; the palette of vivid primary colours, British New Wave music, quirky characters wearing anachronistic outfits, and perfectly composed camerawork. But above and beyond all that, TRT might be Wes Anderson’s most well written and directed film, avoiding the unbalanced dry spots that plagued parts of The Life Aquatic and even Rushmore.

 23. Memento (Chris Nolan, 2000)

The most ingeniously constructed film of the decade.

If played from beginning to end, Memento would still be one of the better noir films ever made. But the reverse chronology not only hides the film’s mysteries, but works thematically as well, mirroring the main character’s anterograde amnesia.

 22. City of God (Fernando Meirelles, 2002)

The best gangster movie of the decade; visually stunning, so full of life and energy, it somehow made life in the worst slums in the world feel exhilarating.

 21. Minority Report (Steven Spielberg, 2002)

Possibly Spielberg’s best film, combining the finest elements of science fiction and film noir; and the movie still managed to engage the viewer’s mind with some of the most provocative themes presented in a film for years.

 20. Oldboy (Park Chan-Wook, 2003)

Revenge is a person’s most primal emotion, and Oldboy revels in it. A visceral adventure of the highest order, containing some of the most stunning plot twists in film history.

 19.  Whale Rider (Niki Caro, 2002)

One of the best coming of age stories ever committed to film, all anchored by a performance from a 12 year old Keisha Castle-Hughes. The story in and of itself is familiar (a young girl in a man’s world who can’t gain acceptance) but the details and performances transcend the material into greatness.

 18. Marie Antoinette (Sofia Coppola, 2006)

Coppola’s second feature of the 00s opened to mixed reviews, but is nevertheless her superior film. Like Whale Rider, Marie Antoinette is a woman in a man’s world; but in revolutionary France, the stakes are raised. Unlike the Merchant-Ivory period pieces, where every frame of film is ornate and perfectly composed, Coppola follows Marie like a documentarian, showing  the true heaviness of the head that wears the crown.

Kristen Dunst gives one of the great, underrated performances of the decade.

 17. The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006)

The best constructed film of the decade.

Like 4 Months, 3 weeks, 2 Days, von Donnersmarck’s film depicts life under an oppressive communist regime. But unlike 4 Months, we see the regime from the inside-out, getting an insider’s look at how the East German government spied, and subjugated their own people. And finally, how one lowly bureaucrat decided enough was enough.

 16. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)

Possibly the most ambitious super-hero film ever made, with an iconic performance from a recently passed actor at its core. Superhero films almost exclusively deal in escapist fare, but The Dark Knight was the first to deal with the notion that maybe a world with superheroes is more of a curse than a blessing.

We are unlikely to see a comic book film of this scale, ever again.

Next week, the countdown continues with the top 15 films of the decade!