Written By ALYN DARNAY, Critic, Filmmaker, Author
When it was suggested by a student of mine that I compile a list of the best films of this past Decade I knew it would be a daunting task. I mean what criteria do you use; best script, best acting, best action, best drama, most stirring, most scary, funniest, highest grossing, most expensive, most talked about, most popular? It had me going for quite some time let me tell you.
I hemmed and hawed for weeks before I finally sat down and got to it. The fact that I’ve been reviewing films for a long time made my decisions a bit easier, and in the end I went with my reviews and my gut feeling and chose those films that have impressed me the most in the last decade. Before you say anything, I’m know some really good films didn’t make the cut and I’m sure there are those of you that disagree with me, but I stand by my decisions and I hope you get a chance to view everyone one of these fine film
COUNTING DOWN TO #1
100) Once (John Carney, 2007)
99) Battle Royale (Kinji Fukasaku, 2001)
98) Crash (Paul Haggis, 2004)
97) The Devil Wears Prada (David Frankel, 2006)
96) A History of Violence (David Cronenberg, 2005)
95) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000)
94) Million Dollar Baby (Clint Eastwood, 2004)
93) House of Flying Daggers (Zhang Yimou, 2004)
92) Dirty Pretty Things (Stephen Frears, 2002)
91) Ghost Dog (Jim Jarmusch, 2000)
90) The Wedding Crashers (David Dobkin, 2005)
89) School of Rock (Richard Linklater, 2003)
88) The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001)
87) Gosford Park (Robert Altman, 2001)
86) Love Actually (Richard Curtis, 2003)
85) In The Loop (Armando Iannucci, 2009)
84) Hotel Rwanda (Terry George, 2004)
83) The Wind That Shakes The Barley (Ken Loach, 2006)
82) The Departed (Martin Scorsese, 2008)
81) The Piano Teacher (Michael Haneke, 2001)
80) Me, You and Everyone We Know (Miranda July, 2005)
79) Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001)
78) About Schmidt (Alexander Payne, 2002)
77) Fahrenheit 911(Michael Moore, 2002)
76) Whale Rider (Niki Caro, 2002)
75) Talk to Her (Pedro Almodóvar, 2002)
74) Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo Del Toro, 2006)
73) Almost Famous (Cameron Crowe, 2000)
72) Taking Woodstock (Ang Lee, 2009)
71) Monsters, Inc. (Pete Docter/David Silverman/lee Unkrich, 2001)
70) The Class (Laurent Cantet, 2008)
69) Persepolis (Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi, 2007)
68) Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000)
67) Gomorrah (Matteo Garrone, 2008)
66) High Fidelity (Stephen Frears, 2000)
65) Waltz with Bashir (Ari Folman, 2008)
64) L’enfant (Jean-Pierre Dardenne/Luc Dardenne, 2005)
63) Zombieland (Ruben Fleischer, 2009)
62) There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
61) 500 Days of Summer (Marc Webb, 2009)
60) Iron Man (Jon Favreau, 2008)
59) The Stoning of Soraya M ( Cyrus Nowrasteh, 2009)
58) Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright, 2004)
57) Star Trek (JJ Abrams, 2009)
56) Volver (Pedro Almodovar, 2006)
55) The Road (John Hillcoat, 2009)
54) Bad Santa (Terry Zwigoff, 2003)
53) Milk (Gus Van Sant, 2008)
52) Taken (Pierre Morel, 2009)
51) The Constant Gardener (Fernando Meirelles, 2005)
50) The Lord of the Rings; The Return of the King (Peter Jackson, 2003)
49) Knocked Up (Judd Apatow, 2007)
48) Little Miss Sunshine (Jonathan Dayton/Valerie Faris, 2006)
47) The Notebook (Nick Cassavetes, 2004)
46) Traffic (Steven Soderbergh, 2000)
45) Touching the Void (Kevin Macdonald, 2003)
44) Both-Â 2012/Day After Tomorrow (Roland Emmerich 2009/2004)
43) The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)
42) The Incredibles (Brad Bird, 2004)
41) Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón, 2006)
40) Black Hawk Down (Ridley Scott, 2001)
39) Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003)
38) Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)
37) In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar Wai, 2000)
36) Precious; Based on the novel Push by Sapphire (Lee Daniels, 2009)
35) Y Tu Mamá También (Alfonso Cuarón, 2002)
34) Finding Nemo (Andrew Stanton/Lee Unkrich, 2003)
33) Monsoon Wedding (Mira Nair, 2002)
32) Gladiator (Ridley Scott, 2000)
31) Superbad (Judd Apatow, 2007)
30) Kingdom of Heaven (Ridley Scott, 2005)
29) Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze, 2000)
28) The Hangover (Todd Phillips, 2009)
27) Sideways (Alexander Payne, 2004)
26) Juno (Jason Reitman, 2007)
25) Dancer in the Dark (Lars Von Trier, 2000)
24) 28 Days Later… (Danny Boyle, 2002)
23) Man on Wire (James Marsh, 2008)
22) Far from Heaven (Todd Haynes, 2002)
21) Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly, 2001)
20) Good Night, and Good Luck (George Clooney, 2005)
19) Sherlock Holmes (Guy Ritchie, 2009)
18) Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008)
17) An Education (Lone Scherfig, 2009)
16) Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
15) Downfall (Oliver Hirschbiegel, 2004)
14) The Counterfeiters (Stefan Ruzowitzky, 2007)
13) Both-Â Bourne Supremacy/ Bourne Ultimatum (Paul Greengrass, 2004, 2007)
12) The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006)
11) Grizzly Man (Werner Herzog, 2005)
10) Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakstan (Larry Charles, 2006)
9) Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009)
8 ) Casino Royale (Martin Campbell, 2006)
7) Slumdog Millionaire(Danny Boyle, 2008)
6) The Last King of Scotland (Kevin Macdonald, 2006)
5) City of God (Fernando Meirelles, Katia Lund, 2002)
4) No Country for Old Men (Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, 2007)
3) Both-Â Kill Bill PT1&2 (Quentin Tarantino, 2003, 2004)
2) The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2009)
1) AVATAR (James Cameron, 2009)