I confess, looking back, that I have no great generalizations to make about the movies that came along this decade. Read the full post.
Dec 25
2009
01:48 PM ET
Owen Gleiberman's 10 Best Movies of the Decade
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1. The Lives of Others
2. Lost in Translation
3. Y Tu Mama Tambien
4. Pan’s Labryinth
5. A.I.
6. Eternal Sunshine
7. Children of Men/Minority Report
8. There Will be Blood/No Country for Old Men
9. Almost Famous
10. Memento
I know, I cheated a bit…
Honorable mention: The LOTR trilogy, The Pianist, Munich, Adaptation, Zodiac, The Pixar movies, The Royal Tenenbaums, Brokeback Mountain…
Minority Report? The film that has about 100 plot holes?
Interesting list, to be sure, but does anyone else have a problem with the fact that the most recent film on the list came out in 2006? Either nothing as good as these movies came out in the past three years OR you don’t have enough perspective on those years to judge them properly. That’s a pretty major flaw.
At the end of a decade, critics are usually expected to put together Best of Decade lists. I think it can be difficult to figure out which films in the past year or 2 or even 3 have had “best of Decade” impact so naturally these lists end up heavy on the first half of the decade. Definitely not a flaw!!
Honestly, I think the first half of the decade was much stronger than the first. That’s reflected in a lot of critic’s lists. It’s reflected in my own list too.
Remember, the first half of the decade we were still riding high on the indie-movie craze and the studios were trying to compete with that level of creativity and storytelling. As the decade went on, studios started swallowing indie films rather than trying to compete with them. Obviously, this is a huge generalization for why the films in the first half of the decade were stronger, riskier, and more exciting, but I definitely felt like I saw way more “great” films per year in 2000-2006 than in the last three years.
Noticed this too, Mike, and I think Owen overlooked some instant classics, i.e.: There Will Be Blood, Juno (probably, almost undeniably, on Schwarzbaum’s list), The Wrestler, Inglourious Basterds, Milk, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, and several others.
Also, where’s the comedy? Sideways only??
Great list, Owen. Here’s mine, but let’s take it to 20:
1. Mulholland Drive
2. Once
3. Waking Life
4. Requiem For a Dream
5. Napoleon Dynamite
6. Donnie Darko
7. Best In Show
8. Y Tu Mama Tambien
9. The Lives Of Others
10. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
11. Anchorman
12. Sideways
13. The Squid & The Whale
14. Before Sunrise
15. Almost Famous
16. Hi Fidelity
17. Memento
18. Brokeback Mountain
19. Diving Bell & The Butterfly
20. Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
I think people make lists just to: a.) impress others; b.) impress themselves; c.) stare at a list.
you just made a list too, Mr. Pretentious.
I believe you’re right Most of these people go ahead and think of all the “good” movies they’ve seen and decide to put them down even if they are truely iffy or indifferent about the movie.So they put all these and stare and convince themselves they have good taste
Owen asked commenters to name their favorites.
anchorman’s a good pick. hilarious.
Good list. Loved Once! I think Hi Fidelity was a 90s movie…
Checked it… High Fidelity was 00.
This is a horrible list……Munich, really? Bad choice. I don’t think any of these films would make my top ten. And as much as “Far From Heaven” is an interesting film…there is NO WAY it is the best film of the last ten years.
If you’re going to call Owen’s opinions “bad” it may help to, you know, actually explain why that selection didn’t make sense for you. Owen went into great explanation why each film DID speak to him as well as work as a piece of art/culture.
Munich is a masterpiece. best film thus far dealing with the war on terror.
are you retarded? munich deals with the soccer team that got killed.. nothing to do with the war on terror. if any movie that deals with the war on terror, it would be the kingdom or body of lies.
Actually “Sideways” is spectacular….I’ll give OG credit for putting that on the list…..but he loses big points for “Moulin Rouge” and “Buck & Chuck”. Lame.
You know, this list is crap. I am surprised you also did not include the Twilight movies. EW has gone so so so so far down hill over the last year my new years resolution is to stop reading this crappy site. I have already deleted the bookmark, you guys need to look at yourselves and wonder why you have become so crappy lately (your love affair with crappy shows and stupid movies does not help).
Thank you for taking the time to share your feelings on a site that you are not reading anymore. Bu-bye.
uh huh ….. you were drunk – right, Owen?
My personal favorites of the decade are: in no particular order
-Whale Rider
-Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
-Amelie
-Grand Torino
-In America
-No Country for Old Men
-Departed/Inferanl Affairs
-City of God
-Gladiator (I think of this movies as a real good love story)
-Pan’s Labyrinth
Honorable mention: There Will Be Blood, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Dark Knight, Snatch, Sideways, LOTR trilogy.
Whale Rider Completely crossed my mind nice movie
Okay, so I’m unashamedly populist, so my top 10 would be much more popular movies than these. Off the top of my head:
1: Pretty much all of the Pixar movies could fill this list, but in order for me: 1. Up, 2. Incredibles, 3. Wall-E, 4. Monsters, Inc., 5. Toy Story, 6. Finding Nemo, 7. Toy Story 2, 8. Ratatouille,
2. Lord of the Rings
3. Juno
4. Star Trek
5. Batman Beyond (I liked it better than Dark Knight)
6. Hellboy 2
7. Little Miss Sunshine
8. Gran Torino
9. Pirates of the Caribbean
10. I am Legend
I love that you included the Pixar movies but Toy Story is from 1995 so it is too old for this list. And Toy Story 2 is a 1999 film. But, I will absolutely stand behind your picks of The Incredibles, Monsters, Inc and Finding Nemo. These are 3 of my all-time favorite films. I too am a populist but would have chosen others than some here. I love the choice of Lord of the Rings, would add Harry Potter (at least two of them) while removing I Am Legend, Pirates and Little Miss Sunshine.
Thank you for including Little Miss Sunshine.. definitely one of the best of the decade. Oh and thanks for making a brave list and daring to include movies that were entertaining, as well as good.
I agree with your number 1, 2, 3, 7, and 9, although not necessarily in that order.
Gladiator over Lord of the Rings?
Agreed! This is complete lunacy IMO.
The greatest movie of the decade was:
The Motorcycle Diaries
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN!!!!!!!!
What do you know ….. Owen picking mostly lesser known films. He is soooo artsy and so much smarter than us. Maybe the next decade I will only get into artsy indie movies.
Are you kidding? Those are not ‘lesser’ known films for the most part. There are a couple, but give me a break. Sorry that Batman and Pirates aren’t on there for you, bud.
Only half of those films could be consider “well known”. Although, I’m much more comfortable shooting even lower and saying 3.
If you don’t know the movies on this list, then you should really stop commenting on articles about movies. With DVDs, Netflix, and the Internet in addition to cable TV and megaplexes, there is no reason why you shouldn’t know or have seen any of these movies. Broaden your horizons and watch movies created by people other than Michael Bay.
The Hurt Locker, one of the best.
Can’t believe some of the crap movies listed on here.
I just watched Far From Heaven again on DVD the other day, so this was a sweet surprise! What a beautiful film.
I can’t say I agree with your inclusion of Gladiator — surely there were many better films (American Splendor, The Lives Of Others, I’m Not There, Milk, etc.)? — but otherwise a solid list.