Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Movies Of The Millennium


Another list while waiting for the last Metro Classic of the year (or maybe ever this just in: we'll be back in the Spring!), tomorrow night's Cabaret. Here's a Top 50 films of 2000-20008, so far:

1. Millennium Mambo
2. The New World
3. House Of Flying Daggers
4. WALL-E
5. The Wind That Shakes The Barley
6. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
7. Kill Bill Vol. 1
8. The Royal Tenenbaums
9. Punch-Drunk Love
10. 2046
11. Last Life In The Universe
12. Hero
13. The Fellowship Of the Ring
14. Three Times
15. I'm Not There
16. There Will Be Blood
17. The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
18. Tropical Malady
19. The Departed
20. In the Mood For Love
21. The Heart Of The World
22. Still Life
23. Sita Sings the Blues
24. Miami Vice
25. AI: Artificial Intelligence


26. Yi yi
27. Ratatouille
28. No Country For Old men
29. Goodbye, Dragon Inn
30. The World
31. Sparrow
32. The Two Towers
33. Spring Summer Fall Winter. . . and Spring
34. Blissfully Yours
35. What Time Is It There?
36. All About Lily Chou-Chou
37. Flight Of The Red Balloon
38. A History Of Violence
39. Grizzly Man
40. Platform
41. Climates
42. Almost Famous
43. Moulin Rouge!
44. Cafe Lumiere
45. Munich
46. Syndromes And A Century
47. 8 Women
48. Anchorman
49. Grindhouse
50. I Don't Want To Sleep Alone

6 comments:

  1. Some questions/thoughts:

    * Did you have a long short-list for this, or were you stretching to find 50 films? Variation on the same question: How big is the span between #1 and #50 - I know you must love Millennium Mambo quite a bit, but where do the bottom ten, like Munich or I Don't Want to Sleep Alone, fall on your scale?

    * So what you're saying is, I need to see more Hsiao-hsien, Weerasethakul, Zhang and Ming-liang?

    * Seeing as there are so few European films on here, allow me to make a few suggestions: You have one Ozon film, but I'd make the case for two more; Water Falling on Hot Rocks and Time to Leave. Susanne Bier's last three Danish melodramas would probably all be in my top fifteen: Open Hearts, Brothers and After the Wedding. And seeing as you like Godard and Truffaut, you might get a kick out of Joachim Trier's Reprise too.

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  2. I used the lists I've made for each year to generate the titles. All the films in the top 50 are in the top 5-7 of their respective years, so I'd definitely say I like all of these films a lot.

    There is indeed a huge Asian slant in the films I've seen from the last decade or so. Partially that's because they're making great films there, but partly its because I haven't seen very many European films from that time period. Frankly, many of the most praised ones I just don't think look that interesting so I've avoided them all together (Breillat, the Dardennes, Ramsay). Some directors I've seen a film or two by and did not like at all (von Trier, Haneke).

    I've have been meaning to watch more Ozon after liking 8 Women, but I've not gotten around to it. And I've heard nothing but raves about After The Wedding, and will probably check it out eventually. I'm sure there's a lot of other great stuff I just haven't gotten to yet.

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  3. I'm sure there's a lot of other great stuff I just haven't gotten to yet.

    That's the great part, isn't it? I can't wait to dip into these Asian directors I've missed out on.
    Somehow, I forgot to mention Tykwer in my Euro-recommendations, but I vaguely recall raving about him in a previous comment. Anyway, The Princess and the Warrior is definitely in my top five of the decade.

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  4. Great to hear Metro Classics will be back in the spring! I've been out of Seattle for the past 12 months and was missing this series greatly.

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  5. Yup, we'll be back. Looks like March and April, with a lineup set hopefully by the end of January.

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