Top Ten Movies - 2000-2010

2000 - 2010
Top Ten Movies of the Decade by Adam Kemp

And here we are... On the eve of 2011. A decade already of the 00’s. There was a lot of great films in the decade alone. So many, that I just couldn’t list it. There’s another word for the decade, sequels. And lots of them.

In order (1 to 10)

Oldboy (2003)
Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
28 Days Later... (2002)
The Departed (2006)
No Country for Old Men (2007)
The Dark Knight (2008)
Moon (2009)
Shutter Island (2010)
Gladiator (2000)
Collateral (2004)
Kung Fu Hustle (2005)

2000 - Gladiator
This is Russell Crowe’s finest movie, I believe. I haven’t seen anything else with Crowe that hasn’t really been that good since “Gladiator”. Joaquin Phoenix played the villain so well, that I just hated his guts when I first saw this movie. I knew that he was doing a great job. “Gladiator” did take home Best Picture that year, beating out such films as Johnny Depp’s Chocolat, Julie Roberts’s Erin Brockovich(Seriously? More actresses should wear push up bras then!), Traffic, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon...

“Gladiator” is a great and beautiful film. The colors are amazing, the details are so realistic. I give props to Ridley Scott. If you haven’t seen this, I’ll be surprised.

2001 - Royal Tenenbaums
Wes Anderson. Genius. Look at the cast that this movie had to offer. Gene Hackman, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Anjelica Huston, Bill Murray, of course we can’t forget Lethal Weapon’s Danny Glover!

The first time that I saw this movie, I was blown away by the quirkiness and dry humor of this movie. It’s one of my all-time favorites. I always watch it and it never gets old. Wes Anderson picks his songs so brilliant in this movie, that the soundtrack is one of my all-time favorite soundtrack with Bob Dylan, Nico, Paul Simon, The Clash, John Lennon and etc etc.

Owen Wilson as Eli Cash is perfect, one of his best roles, perhaps his best role ever.

If you haven’t seen this, see it. Also, watch “Bottle Rocket”, “Rushmore”, “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou”, “The Darjeeling Limited”, and “The Fantastic Mr. Fox”. All directed by the Brilliant Wes Anderson.

2002 - 28 Days Later... | Punch-Drunk Love
I remember the first time that I saw this movie. I was with my Dad and we went to the Drive-In for a double bill. I really wanted to see 28 Days Later... and I remember that my local theatre didn’t have it, only the Drive-In. So we had to watch Terminator 3 first. Great. But it was well worth it though. As soon as the first scene of 28 Days Later... and the haunting music, so creepy. Especially at a Drive In theatre, who knows... Are the ‘Infected’ out there in the woods coming towards us? It made for a great night.

Danny Boyle, who has been cranking out great films in the decade of 2000 (28 Days Later..., Millions, Sunshine, Slumdog Millionaire, and 127 Hours) and that’s just on top of The Beach and Trainspotting.

I would suggest that you watch this movie with all the lights turned off, the sound system cranked up... and a bucket of popcorn.

2002 - Continued with Punch-Drunk Love

And there’s another 2002 film that is an absolute favorite of mine, Paul Anderson’s Punch-Drunk Love. Not that Paul Anderson (Director of such films as Alien vs Predator, Resident Evil, etc etc.). This is Paul Thomas Anderson. You may know him from such films as There Will Be Blood, Magnolia, Boogie Nights, Sydney (or those knows it as Hard Eight)

Punch-Drunk Love was a perfect trailor for Adam Sandler’s serious acting. Believe me, there’s alot of people who just dislike Adam Sandler for his comedies (Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, Waterboy, etc etc) but would prefer Adam Sandler as a serious actor in this film. As well, Reign over Me.

But Punch-Drunk Love is a romantic movie with a small business owner who just finds a small little harmonium and embarks on a romantic journey with a mysterious woman. (Thanks, IMDb!)

If you can’t stand Adam Sandler in those comedies, check him out in Punch-Drunk Love. Watch for the Mattress Man.

2003 - Oldboy
I remember when I finally found this movie at Have You Seen...in Peterborough. I was so excited about it because I couldn’t find it anywhere. I was so thrilled that I found this, that I watched it twice in one night. It was just an amazing movie. I don’t want to spoil it at all, I want you to watch it like a first timer. Everytime I watch it, I’m amazed with the movie. This is part of the Vengeance Trilogy with Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) and Lady Vengeance (2005). All directed by Park Chan-wook.

It’s a movie that I just don’t want to spoil at all. Find it, Buy it, Rent it. I don’t care what you do, just go and watch it....NOW.

2004 - Collateral
This was a tough decision for me.

“Collateral” was a one of a kind, that it’s my favorite Tom Cruise film, as well Jamie Foxx film. I’m not a big fan of Jamie Foxx however, but this is the only movie that I could able to stand Foxx. Tom Cruise plays the ever so likable villain perfectly. You just want Vincent (Cruise) to succeed in everything as soon as you see him on-screen.

Jamie Foxx does a great job as a Cabbie with Big Dreams. Colleratal is a very “realistic” street-level film.

Watch for the “Coyote” scene, very mesmerizing. This was a beautiful film in one of the darkest ways possible. The colors, the lights...

The whole movie was just entertaining, it all flowed great.

2005 - Kung Fu Hustle
You may wonder... “Why is Kung Fu Hustle on this list?” Well, that’s just an simple answer that I’m going to tell you right now.

Everytime that I watch this movie, I just crack up. It’s just out of this world, it’s all fun.

Entertaining. Funny. Rewatchable.

In the year 2005, there was films like King Kong (*snores*), Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Domino, Crash, Layer Cake, Lord of War, The New World (It’s beautiful, but the movie itself is...eh.)

2006 - The Departed
The movie that finally won Marty Scorsese finally the Academy Award for Best Director. This movie has it all from great storytelling to great characters to memorable lines.

This movie has an amazing cast with Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Ray Winstone, Alec Baldwin.

Mark Wahlberg is highly entertaining in movies when he plays an Asshole, not an goody two shoes science teacher. However, this movie has solidify one of the best American Crime movies.

2007 -No Country for Old Men
2007 was a great year for movies, you had Assassination of Jesse James, There Will Be Blood, and even more. It was a hard choice for me to pick the movie of the year. The Coens Brothers’ No Country for Old Men was just amazing. Josh Brolin who is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors to watch. I realize that I grew up watching The Goonies with Josh Brolin, but what else has Brolin done since?

So anyway, Josh Brolin plays the Greedy Coward to a role, if you want to call that role. (I’m not really making sense here, but oh well.)

Tommy Lee Jones is wonderful in this film, to the point that his ‘Texan” accent is very Texan that you couldn’t even understand the man. However, the person that stole this movie?

Javier Bardem.

One of the most scary villains ever to grace the screens. The fact that he used a “Captive Bolt pistol” which is commonly used for stunning animals prior to slaughter as a weapon is scary enough.


2008 - The Dark Knight
Amazing enough, in the decade of sequels... This is the only sequel that you’ll see on this list. Christopher Nolan reinvents the Batman franchise.

Better yet, Christopher Nolan revived the Batman Franchse after Joel Schumacher killed it with Batman Forever and Batman & Robin *spits* (Don’t worry, Joel... You did directed The Lost Boys and St. Elmo’s Fire, you’re safe...for now)

Christian Bale returned as Batman, and of course we all had to put up with his accent when he became the Batman. However, we all know who was the saving grace of the movie.

Heath Ledger.

When I first heard that Heath Ledger was going to be playing “The Joker”, everybody was shocked. They just couldnt’ see that Heath could pull it off. It’s all because Heath just did “Brokeback Mountain” and was trying to label Heath a gay cowboy.

But he proved everybody wrong and became, I’m going to say this... The Best Joker Ever.

2009 - Moon
When I first heard of this movie, actually, I saw the poster for this movie. I was pretty curious about it. I really love Sci-Fi movies, Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey. I went and bought the movie, a blind buy. I’m glad I made the choice.

I feel that it’s a homage to 2001: A Space Odyssey in some way. Sam Rockwell plays the paranoid astronaut perfectly.

I’m not going to spoil this. Do me a favor, pick it up, watch it.

2010 - Shutter Island
I was given a suggestion to read Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane. Lehane also wrote “Mystic River” and “Gone, Baby, Gone”. Which both movies are great in their own ways.

Shutter Island is brilliantly shot with the eerie music. When I read the novel, I was like how are they going to pull this off? When I saw the movie, I was like “This is amazing.” It’s one of those rare novel to movie that turned out so good.

Having the song “Cry” by Johnnie Ray worked so well.

Since I’m not going to spoil it, like I’ve been saying in the other movies, watch it. Pay attention. You don’t want to miss anything.


Honorable Mentions
There’s quite a few honorable mentions in this list, I won’t put them in order though. There’s Shaun of the Dead, which helped revived the Zombie genre with the Dawn of the Dead remake. We finally got to see Q.T’s The Bride in Kill Bill. And we also got to see Q.T’s Inglorious Basterds killing Nazis as well.

To be honest, the decade of 2000-2010 has given us a lot of great flicks, of course we wouldn’t be here without a few bombs there or there. So let’s honor the bombs as well. Well, there’s too many to list, so we should just look up Nic Cage’s IMDB biography. That should cover it.

Wow, I went overboard on this Top Ten. I hope you enjoy this. Remember, this is MY Top Ten, based on my opinions. It’s not the “official” top ten of the world, as most people would take that seriously on some sites. Don’t worry, I won’t be like MTV where I’ll be listing lot of the best movies at 10, then rank a brand new movie at 1.

Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

FLY ,FALKOR, FLY!

So this will be a personal movie blog for myself to enjoy and for you to read. Sure, I may have bad grammar at times, but seriously.... Who the hell cares? (Unless you're a Nazi Grammar Douche)

So I'll be rambling stuff like top ten Christmas movies or most hated characters? I don't know, it'll be all movies-related... perhaps every once in a while, there'll be a tv show hidden somewhere in there.

Seriously, it'll be random. I'll talk new and old. Maybe a Mel Gibson movie every once in a while.