One question people always ask is what are the greatest films of all-time. There is a lot of different criteria that goes into coming up with a list and it all depends on your taste mainly due to all film being subjective and everyone liking or disliking the same/different things. I've decided to do a new series in which I try to decide what I think are the greatest films of all-time. One way to help do that is by deciding what the best films of each decade are. Each month until October I will choose what I think are the best films from each decade and in November I will take the number one films in each decade and put them into a top 10 greatest films of all-time list. Now the list will bot be based on scores or my own personal lists, but based off the popularity of each film and how much of an effect it has had or is having on film today. For example my favorite film of all-time is The Dark Knight, but that doesn't necessarily mean that I think it is the greatest film of its decade. For this month I'm going to bring you the top 10 films of the 2000's. So without further ado...
10. The Departed
Martin Scorsese is a marvelous director and this film solidified that statement. He was able to take and already fantastic film in Infernal Affairs and made it better with this film. The performances ares solid all the way around and to get this group of talent together for this film is a great achievement. You as an audience member are led on this goose chase that keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time and the film give you little hints of foreshadowing in every scene. It's also the first film where Martin Scorsese won his first and only Best Director Oscar which is a crazy thing to think considering all of the great films he had done in the past.
9. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
This film is fantastic for a lot of different reasons. First off it was the first film after Sense and Sensibility that proved Ang Lee is a great director and this film really put him on the map. The martial arts scenes are so well choreographed and if you didn't know it, there is no way you could tell that the cast was on wires the entire time. The story itself is even pretty entertaining and it's one a lot of films have borrowed from today. The way the camera moves well while the performers are in air is just gorgeous and you never feel left behind in a shot. It's a film that put the country of Taiwan on the map for filmmaking and it just did so much for foreign films to make a much easier transition to the American market.
8. UP
Animanted films have come a long away since 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Up is the film to prove it. It was is easily the most gorgeous animation Pixar has ever done, Up takes you on such a fun filled journey and it has many emotional moments that will stick with you for a long time. The characters are so memorable and the quotes are some of the best dialogue Pixar has ever come up with. The first 5 minutes of the film are the most heartbreaking 5 minutes to ever be on the big screen and if you don't cry, then you don't have a soul. It was also the first animated film to ever be nominated for Best Picture and the first ever Pixar film to gain that honor. It's a film with an everlasting legacy and one of the better take home messsages from a Pixar film.
7. Avatar
Some of you will probably be shocked to see this film so high let alone on the list at all. While I agree that the film is a tad bit overrated in a lot of ways, it's still a revolutionary film when it comes to technolgy. It took James Cameron 15 years to make the film and release it which is a true test of endurance when it comes to filmmaking. While the story is just an absolutely complete rip-off of Dances With Wolves, Pocahontas, FernGulley and several others, but the technical achievements the film has really makes it stand out from the crowd. The film recieved a lot of Academy Award attention as well as box office attention and still to this day it is the highest grossing film of all-time and it officially gives James Cameron the top two spots at the all-time box office.
6. There Will Be Blood
If you want to talk about films that have stellar performances then this is the film you talk about. Daniel Day Lewis is the greatest actor to ever live and it's not even a question and he proves it with this film. Every single time you see him on screen you just wonder what he is going to do next. Possilby the most underrated performance of all-time is in this film and it comes in the form of Paul Dano who I feel should've gotten a nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Paul Thomas Anderson took Upton Sinclair's novel and just made it into a cinematic masterpiece. This is an absolutely perfect film in every single way and it just gives you hope that films like this can still be made in this age of filmmaking.
5. Children of Men
This film will effect you in so many ways after watching it. It's a film about an where women are no longer fertile and no children are born causing the population of the world to die out. After a few turn of events the story takes you on a journey that just seems like something that could be so real especially for the would we are living in. It's one of the few sci-fi films that didn't rely on a massive budget and it was more story driven then effects driven which is a great change of pace. Alfonso Cuaron rarely makes any films, but this is the standout piece of his filmography. Another thing working for it the cinematography which is done by the current three time consecutive winner of the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Mr. Emmanuel Lubezki and he just works so well with Cuaron and there some fabulous shots that are continuous single takes and it just gives the film a sense of reality. It's just a film that doesn't beat around the bush and gets straight to the point on what the message is and it just shows that films don't need $200 million budgets to make a great film.
4. Pan's Labyrinth
Guillermo del Toro may not always make the greatest films in the world, but he knows how to make a film look absolutley gorgeous. This is easily his best film to date and it's a film that really changes the game on costume design and creature design. It's a fantasy horror film. It keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time and it just leaves you speechless as you look at the amazing visuals. It some of the more creepy moments that you'll ever see in any film let alone a traditional horror film. It's as gorgeous as it is scary as it is heartbreaking and it just has everything you want in a film that is statiscally the best reviewed film of the decade.
3. The Dark Knight
Now some of you are probably going to say I'm a little biased because this is my favorite film of all-time. Well it's like I say at the beginning of each of these blogs that just because I love this film, doesn't necessarily make it the best film of the decade. Taste doesn't always dictate greatness and that's the case here. This film changed comic book films forever and it set the tone for future DC films. It let the world know that you can take a comic book character and make a film that's dark, gritty and realistic and have it be successful. This film is also great for the performance of Heath Ledger as The Joker for which he won an Academy Award. Some people say that the performance is only remembered because of Ledger's tragic passing 6 months before the films release and that's simpley not the case when there have been pleanty of of other films that people enjoy where an actor has died either in the middle of production or after the fact. Christopher Nolan was tasked with making a realistic superhero and rejuvinate the Batman franchise and while he did that with Batman Begins, The dark Knight is his ultimate masterpiece and it's a film that will forever been compared to for years to come.
2. No Country For Old Men
If you want and slow burning film with amazing suspense and some great performances then this is the film for you. The Coen Brothers are remarkable fimmakers that love the craft of filmmaking and ti shows with this film. At every twist and turn you get something new that just adds to the overall mystery of the story. It's one of the few films were I can stand Tommy Lee Jones's carboard acting style and it's a film that gave us one of the most haunting performances in the form of Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh. As I said before with Daniel Day-Lewis's performance in There Will Be Blood being the greatest of all-time, this performance is right up there in the top 5 simply because Bardem is abel to make the character unpredictable with a calm demeanor. It's a wild chase with one of the more ambiguous endings ever to be seen on the big screen.
1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
This is just an absolutely tremendous film that deserves the title of the greatest film of the decade. It closes out one of the greatest cinematic trilogies to ever be seen on the big screen. It culminates the entire story that has been told over the course of three films and it just brings everything full circle. It has all of the emotions you need in a film and the visuals are just absolutely stunning. The film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and it joined Ben-Hur and Titanic as by winning 11 Oscars which is the most ever at an Oscars ceremony. Films like that are special and in the 88 year history of the Oscars it's only happened 3 times which makes this film apart of an elite club. There's not much more I can say about this film that hasn't already been said, but this film is by far the best of the decade.
So ladies and gentlemen what do you think of the list, what films should be added or deleted and what do you think is the greatest film of the 2000's? Let me know in the comments section below and let your voice be heard.
Jonah Sparks
10. The Departed
Martin Scorsese is a marvelous director and this film solidified that statement. He was able to take and already fantastic film in Infernal Affairs and made it better with this film. The performances ares solid all the way around and to get this group of talent together for this film is a great achievement. You as an audience member are led on this goose chase that keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time and the film give you little hints of foreshadowing in every scene. It's also the first film where Martin Scorsese won his first and only Best Director Oscar which is a crazy thing to think considering all of the great films he had done in the past.
9. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
This film is fantastic for a lot of different reasons. First off it was the first film after Sense and Sensibility that proved Ang Lee is a great director and this film really put him on the map. The martial arts scenes are so well choreographed and if you didn't know it, there is no way you could tell that the cast was on wires the entire time. The story itself is even pretty entertaining and it's one a lot of films have borrowed from today. The way the camera moves well while the performers are in air is just gorgeous and you never feel left behind in a shot. It's a film that put the country of Taiwan on the map for filmmaking and it just did so much for foreign films to make a much easier transition to the American market.
8. UP
Animanted films have come a long away since 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Up is the film to prove it. It was is easily the most gorgeous animation Pixar has ever done, Up takes you on such a fun filled journey and it has many emotional moments that will stick with you for a long time. The characters are so memorable and the quotes are some of the best dialogue Pixar has ever come up with. The first 5 minutes of the film are the most heartbreaking 5 minutes to ever be on the big screen and if you don't cry, then you don't have a soul. It was also the first animated film to ever be nominated for Best Picture and the first ever Pixar film to gain that honor. It's a film with an everlasting legacy and one of the better take home messsages from a Pixar film.
7. Avatar
Some of you will probably be shocked to see this film so high let alone on the list at all. While I agree that the film is a tad bit overrated in a lot of ways, it's still a revolutionary film when it comes to technolgy. It took James Cameron 15 years to make the film and release it which is a true test of endurance when it comes to filmmaking. While the story is just an absolutely complete rip-off of Dances With Wolves, Pocahontas, FernGulley and several others, but the technical achievements the film has really makes it stand out from the crowd. The film recieved a lot of Academy Award attention as well as box office attention and still to this day it is the highest grossing film of all-time and it officially gives James Cameron the top two spots at the all-time box office.
6. There Will Be Blood
If you want to talk about films that have stellar performances then this is the film you talk about. Daniel Day Lewis is the greatest actor to ever live and it's not even a question and he proves it with this film. Every single time you see him on screen you just wonder what he is going to do next. Possilby the most underrated performance of all-time is in this film and it comes in the form of Paul Dano who I feel should've gotten a nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Paul Thomas Anderson took Upton Sinclair's novel and just made it into a cinematic masterpiece. This is an absolutely perfect film in every single way and it just gives you hope that films like this can still be made in this age of filmmaking.
5. Children of Men
This film will effect you in so many ways after watching it. It's a film about an where women are no longer fertile and no children are born causing the population of the world to die out. After a few turn of events the story takes you on a journey that just seems like something that could be so real especially for the would we are living in. It's one of the few sci-fi films that didn't rely on a massive budget and it was more story driven then effects driven which is a great change of pace. Alfonso Cuaron rarely makes any films, but this is the standout piece of his filmography. Another thing working for it the cinematography which is done by the current three time consecutive winner of the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Mr. Emmanuel Lubezki and he just works so well with Cuaron and there some fabulous shots that are continuous single takes and it just gives the film a sense of reality. It's just a film that doesn't beat around the bush and gets straight to the point on what the message is and it just shows that films don't need $200 million budgets to make a great film.
4. Pan's Labyrinth
Guillermo del Toro may not always make the greatest films in the world, but he knows how to make a film look absolutley gorgeous. This is easily his best film to date and it's a film that really changes the game on costume design and creature design. It's a fantasy horror film. It keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time and it just leaves you speechless as you look at the amazing visuals. It some of the more creepy moments that you'll ever see in any film let alone a traditional horror film. It's as gorgeous as it is scary as it is heartbreaking and it just has everything you want in a film that is statiscally the best reviewed film of the decade.
3. The Dark Knight
Now some of you are probably going to say I'm a little biased because this is my favorite film of all-time. Well it's like I say at the beginning of each of these blogs that just because I love this film, doesn't necessarily make it the best film of the decade. Taste doesn't always dictate greatness and that's the case here. This film changed comic book films forever and it set the tone for future DC films. It let the world know that you can take a comic book character and make a film that's dark, gritty and realistic and have it be successful. This film is also great for the performance of Heath Ledger as The Joker for which he won an Academy Award. Some people say that the performance is only remembered because of Ledger's tragic passing 6 months before the films release and that's simpley not the case when there have been pleanty of of other films that people enjoy where an actor has died either in the middle of production or after the fact. Christopher Nolan was tasked with making a realistic superhero and rejuvinate the Batman franchise and while he did that with Batman Begins, The dark Knight is his ultimate masterpiece and it's a film that will forever been compared to for years to come.
2. No Country For Old Men
If you want and slow burning film with amazing suspense and some great performances then this is the film for you. The Coen Brothers are remarkable fimmakers that love the craft of filmmaking and ti shows with this film. At every twist and turn you get something new that just adds to the overall mystery of the story. It's one of the few films were I can stand Tommy Lee Jones's carboard acting style and it's a film that gave us one of the most haunting performances in the form of Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh. As I said before with Daniel Day-Lewis's performance in There Will Be Blood being the greatest of all-time, this performance is right up there in the top 5 simply because Bardem is abel to make the character unpredictable with a calm demeanor. It's a wild chase with one of the more ambiguous endings ever to be seen on the big screen.
1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
This is just an absolutely tremendous film that deserves the title of the greatest film of the decade. It closes out one of the greatest cinematic trilogies to ever be seen on the big screen. It culminates the entire story that has been told over the course of three films and it just brings everything full circle. It has all of the emotions you need in a film and the visuals are just absolutely stunning. The film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and it joined Ben-Hur and Titanic as by winning 11 Oscars which is the most ever at an Oscars ceremony. Films like that are special and in the 88 year history of the Oscars it's only happened 3 times which makes this film apart of an elite club. There's not much more I can say about this film that hasn't already been said, but this film is by far the best of the decade.
So ladies and gentlemen what do you think of the list, what films should be added or deleted and what do you think is the greatest film of the 2000's? Let me know in the comments section below and let your voice be heard.
Jonah Sparks
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