A List of Favorites (as opposed to “Best”)
1) Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001) — The crane shot of Amélie skipping stones in Canal St. Martin is possibly the most gorgeous thing caught on film in my lifetime. If you do not like this movie then you are dead inside.
2) The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) — Wes Anderson’s best movie so far. Alec Baldwin as a narrator–genius. It is also a little bit before M. Anderson lost himself in himself.
3) Le Scaphandre et le Papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) — This movie really impressed me through it’s visual tone and storytelling. the fact that it was made by an non-French (american) director really makes me smile to know that kindred spirits are out there. The conversation through his wife at the end is heartbreaking (and so french).
4) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind — Charlie Kaufman, Michel Gondry, and Ellen Kuras. Yeah, one of the best of the decade.
5) Gosford Park — Altman, exceptional, british cast, and a lush roving camera in constant motion.
6) Memento (released in Jan 2001 in the USA) — To date, Christopher Nolans’ best film (if you’re thinking “What about the Dark Knight?” then you don’t deserve to read any further).
Paper on Memento for Noir Class
7) The Darjeeling Limited — My Cav Daily Review
8) Serenity — Film finalizing (maybe) the prematurely ended show Firefly. Watch Firefly first (PJ you douche)! One of a few movies of pure delight allowing no external distraction when in a period when i desperately needed them.
9) In the Mood for Love — So I forgot about Kar Wai Wong’s In The Mood for Love. Honestly, he could quite possibly be making the best looking, most interesting films out there right now. The Criterion release is stunning, and i just hope they get the rights to do a BD one. Thanks to PMD for reminding me of it, and giving me a more satisfying pick than Lost in Translation (still kept my burb below). It feels right.
10) Avatar — I make no apologies for this. Other than star wars, Avatar was one of the most pure cinematic experiences i’ve ever had. You can look back afterwards and critique all you want (and i am certainly not ignorant of its flaws), but i was so engrossed in the spectacle and visuals, so captivated while watching it that none of it registered at the time. If you were not, then i just feel bad for you that you missed out.
Other Movies I considered:
Lost in Translation — It’s lyric, funny, and just resonated with me at the time i first saw it. I guess it still does but perhaps not to the same degree.
Spider-Man 2 — the greatest comic book movie since Donner’s Superman: The movie, but with a decent third act.
Kingdom of Heaven, Director’s Cut- Ridley Scott’s best looking movie since he stopped making sci-fi (and I’ve been alive). Sure Orlando’s “rousing” speech is weak and the “duel” at the end is unnecessary and weird. But it still looks amazing. That probably is accounting for most of this, but a film with an enigmatic aesthetic can do wonders. Don’t bother with the theatrical cut. While Director’s cut usually means “a version to get more money from you” here it actually means “movie the studio would have released if alexander didn’t blow so hard and scare us.”
Batman Begins – poor editing and a third act so full of holes it makes inception look like it holds up does not stop the fact that i found this movie so entertaining in that summer of 2005 (see Serenity).
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Ratatouille
Enchanted
Eastern Promises
Hustle and Flow
Children of Men
The Squid and the Whale
District 9
junebug
Adaptation
City of God
Tropic Thunder
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Never Saw:
An Education
There Will Be Blood