Kris has kindly pointed out a few times in addition to being a very busy film critic up here in Canada, I also have a seven-book (keeps growing) deal with Greenwood/Praeger in the United States. The first, “Clint Eastwood: Evolution of a Filmmaker,” was released December 30, 2008.
I am currently working on “Spielberg: American Film Visionary,” due for release in December of 2009 and have signed to do “The Coppolas: Francis and Sofia” (release date to be announced). But I’m also working on something as we speak called “The New Millennium American Cinema, 2000-2009,” the first in a series of decade-specific titles from the publisher.
Given the title, it’s self-explanatory: the mainstream hits and misses, the critically acclaimed films, and those cult pictures (say, “Donnie Darko”) that found an audience despite of the odds against them in the last decade. The format of the volume will be a chapter devoted to each year with sub-chapters within devoted to each film, and an end discussion of the major new directors and actors to emerge in that particular year. In terms of size, we are looking at between 500-550 pages.
I was hoping to pick the brains of the good people that chime in on this site and see what they thought of this span of time in the cinema and the films they believe have made an impact, for better or worse, with critics or at the the box office (or both). In other words, which films do you think should be included in the book? I’d love to hear from you.
I have an initial list, but I’d like to compare it with my fellow celluloid junkies who have your finger on the pulse of the film world. Give me the titles and why they should be there. Again pay attention to the title, “The Millenium American Cinema” — so just U.S. titles. This is strictly a study of cinema from the United States and the impact of those films.
Have at it!
Comments
62 responses to “Some help with my new book”
Sounds interesting. Too bad it can only include American works, as I feel the last decade has been particularly strong for foreign cinema (maybe they’re just getting better exposure?).
I don’t think there’s a title I could list that you don’t already know about (LOTR, Brokeback Mountain, No Country for Old Men, etc…), but I will make a gentle suggestion:
I know you’re kinda so-so on animation, but do consider some Pixar projects. This has been THEIR decade as far as mainstream American animation goes, and the they’re the only studio whose movies constantly have critics buzzing and even comparing them to the highest quality live-action pictures. Just a suggestion, but any book about the most critically and commercially triumphant films of the last ten years would be incomplete without mentioning Pixar.
Anyway, that’s my two cents. I’m sure your book will make a great read. I’ll keep my eyes open for it in the future.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Dark Knight
No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood
Mystic River
Mean Girls
Little Children
Milk
Wendy & Lucy
Mumblecore. Joe Swanberg, Aaron Katz, The Duplass Brothers, Andrew Bujalski, Barry Jenkins, Lynn Shelton, Ry Russo-Young, Joshua Safdie, Ronald Bronstein and Mary Bronstein.
NB — indeed I have included all the major American animated films, from Finding Nemo through The Incredibles right up to WALL-E with room for anything released this year — thanks for that.
The Dark Knight
Gladiator
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Memento
Batman Begins
The Prestige
Donnie Darko
Brokeback Mountain
The Departed
There Will Be Blood
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
No Country for Old Men
Juno
Michael Clayton
Letters from Iwo Jima (American produced)
Mystic River
The Aviator
The Last Samurai
Blood Diamond
Babel
WALL-E
Finding Nemo
Into the Wild
Borat
Iron Man
Spider-Man
Sin City
Kill Bill Vol. 1
Kill Bill Vol. 2
Good night, and good luck
A History of Violence
King Kong
Munich
Syriana
Collateral
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Requiem for a Dream
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Zodiac
Hotel Rwanda
The Bourne Ultimatum
The Bourne Identity
The Bourne Supremacy
Spider-Man 2
Ratatouille
Munich
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Casino Royale
The Wrestler
The Fountain
28 Days Later
Those are the ones off the top of my head
I think this was a very interesting period in cinema. First, it was the first decade that we had the new batch of Millennial Generation influence on filmmaking. This was interesting because where in the 90s, the youth in cinema was disaffected, this decade (The Doom Generation, Kids, Clerks) we’ve seen the much more open and fluffy youth movement with a larger sense of community. Even our counter culture figures (Donnie Darko, Napoleon Dynomite, Juno) are much more friendly. Donnie was trying to save the world through time travel, Napoleon wanted to promote youth voting, and Juno had a baby. Suprisingly wholesome stuff when compared to the 90s.
I think Donnie Darko is a perfect touchtone, because it represents the youth film in transition. We see a truly new take on the disaffected youth, which is much more of a patiche. He has friends, and much of his lonelyness has to do with his internal world than sociological alienation. We see him embrace an ambuguous religious phenomena, and begins to stand for truth. The most interesting thing is in the end, at the end of that film, the audience is given ownership over the story. The ambiguity of this narrative makes every single person that watches it have its own personal interpretation . By not pushing a specific ending on the audience, the narrative adds layers of valence. It’s personalized if you will.
To a lesser extent, I felt the same way about Lost In Translation, a film which in any other decade could have become about the disaffected, but suddenly in the hands of Sophia Coppola becomes about something much more mystical. The spontaneous vigor and subtlety was done with such minimalism that no specific theme or narrative is pushed on a person. The result was that the film becomes a mirror to each person’s soul, challenging the viewer to find the truth inside of themself and extrapolating it from the film.
It was a decade of style becoming substance. Everything that was old became new again. A post 911 society cried out for the superheroes when our real world had none, and we got Spiderman, and Batman back. We saw a serious 80s retro phenomena happen, be it worn as an Ironic costume “Napoleon Dynomite” or or as a nostalgic artform as in “Grindhouse.” or “The Departed.” “Pirates Of The Carribian” becomes its own postmodern puzzle when it asks: “which is better: The actor Johnny Depp, or the concept of the actor Johnny Depp”? In that sense, the decade saw Johnny Depp, Paris Hilton, Stephen Colbert, and countless others become a Warholian version of themselves where the idea of their talent and fame is more famous than themselves.
This year comes the sawnsong of postmodern aesthetic and style as content when we finally get “Inglorious Bastards” dumped on us. Good or not, we’re probably going to spend decades trying to figure that one out.
On the other hand, you see an industry afraid of these changes fighting tooth and nail to hold on to the old way. Films like Munich, Million Dollar Baby, Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World, Ray, Kinsey, Mystic River, Flags Of Our Fathers all tried to hold on to the old way of approaching storytelling, where grand narratives are thrust upon the audience. Sometimes, as in the case of Benjamin Button or Munich, they work, other times, not so much.
It was a great decade for meloncholy dramedy. We got The Royal Tennenbaums, About Schmidt, Sideways, Little Miss Sunshine, and the great underapriciated Waitress. The cultural diversity and globalism talk of the 90s saw too diverging narratives: The optimism of globalism (Finding Nemo, Slumdog Millionare, Once) and the claustrophobic paranoia: The Kingdom, and one could argue The Passion Of The Christ. There was a short documentary craze where we got to act like being entertained made us smart. March Of The Penguins, An Inconvenient Truth, and Farenheight 911 all left an imprint on the history of the multiplex.
I think you can’t write the book without addressing the resergence of conservitive pop culture It got crazy there for a while: Fox Faith was craking them out, and Bella continues to make the rounds as “Juno”‘s goody-too-shoes sister.
I’m reading “Millennial and Pop Culture” by William Strauss and Neil Howe right now, and I highly suggest you take a look at it.
Those are my thoughts on the decade. Hope that helps.
The best cinema from 2000-2009 has dealt with the individual’s relation to society at large. This time period portrays the individual as a youthful protagonist(s) searching for acceptance or their role in society. Consider these titles for the portrayal of alienation.
The Royal Tenenbaums
Y tu mamá también
Almost Famous
Children of Men
Cidade de Deus
Pan’s Labryinth
Lost In Translation-Youth represented by Scarlett Johannson
25th Hour-Youth character represented by Rosario Dawson
Children of Men-absence of youth but also portrays a fear and paranoia prevalent in many of the great modern films. 28 Days Later falls into this category.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Brick
The Constant Gardener
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Fall
The Fountain
Lost in Translation
Revolutionary Road
Speed Racer [don’t kill me for saying this, I just think it will have a long-lasting effect on the visual part of cinema…]
Wendy and Lucy
It’s a shame Magnolia doesn’t make the cut.
On a quick thought I realized Paul Thomas Anderson might be the most interesting filmmaker to emerge from this period.
‘There Will Be Blood’ and ‘Children of Men’ are bound to classics in 15-20 years — the latter a victim of horrible studio management that didn’t realize it had a winner on its hands until it was too late.
I also think ‘Zodiac’ deserves major props — it will hold up significantly.
Please make room for The Fall, Songs from the Second Floor, Werckmesiter Harmonies, and The Triplets of Belleville. Some of the best films of the decade.
I agree with Chase, that extra emphasis should be places on There Will Be Blood and Children of Men. Films as good as any ever made, and indeed, modern classics that will only become better with time.
The Wrestler
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
United 93
The Passion of The Christ
Children of Men
The Departed
Little Miss Sunshine
There Will Be Blood
No Country for Old Men
Crash
Lord of the Rings
The Bourne Trilogy
Brokeback Mountain
Memento
Fahrenheit 911
Croutching Tiger Hidden Dragon
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
The Incredibles
Wall-E
Ratatouille
Finding Nemo
American Splendor
Before Sunset
Borat
Letter From Iwo Jima
Once
Munich
Donnie Darko
Y tu mama tambien
Million Dollar Baby
Traffic
Gladiator
You Can Count on me
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Switch the s and the i on Werckmeister and don’t mind me as I lash myself over here.
As someone who only in the last few years has even attempted to view a wider variety of films I feel my perspective would differ to others on this site. For the first half of the decade my first-hand knowledge is thin. The only memorable films I really saw in the cinema where LOTR and Harry Potter. Both I think have made a huge impression on mainstream cinema and I think sadly Harry Potter’s contribution is too often forgotten.
I can’t say for sure but my impression is that this decade is the decade that really exploded the sequels/franchises and re-boot trend.
The other films I feel where important (obviously skewing to the more recent) are Moulin Rouge (reintroduced the musical), Brokeback Mountain (made gay okay), There will be Blood (powerful & relentless) and The Dark Knight (blended entertainment and art).
When it comes to actors I think the decade will ultimately belong to Ledger, who will be remembered for many many more decades, but also this period marked the acceptance of Sean Penn as the premiere actor in the world and the emergence of Leonardo DiCaprio as more than just a pretty face.
I hope this different perspective helped you out John, good luck with all your books.
Also Russell Crowe: Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind and Cinderella Man. Can’t argue with that. :D
2000 – Almost Famous, O Brother Where Art Thou, American Psycho
2001 – The Royal Tenenbaums, Moulin Rouge!, Memento
2002 – Gangs of New York, 25th Hour
2003 – Lord of the Rings (all), Kill Bill, Mystic River, Lost in Translation
2004 – The Incredibles, Sideways, I Heart Huckabees (yup)
2005 – Batman Begins, A History of Violence
2006 – The Departed, Letters From Iwo Jima, Thank You For Smoking, The Prestige
2007 – Jesse James, Juno, No Country for Old Men
2008 – Benjamin Button, Dark Knight, Milk, Slumdog
Rian Johnson’s “Brick”.
Before Sunset
‘Brick’ is a criminally overlooked film — love it. It’s too bad ‘The Brothers Bloom’ may be a sophomore slump for Rian Johnson. (Although I’m still hopeful).
These films:
1. Lord of the Rings (most ambitious feat of filmmaking… ever?)
2. Moulin Rouge! (breakthrough storytelling techniques. new kind of comedy/music via editing. postmodern kitsch and good for it!)
3. Brokeback Mountain (perfect classic film, like “Shawshank”)
4. Children of Men (21st century international masterpiece. this is our humanity)
5. There Will Be Blood (a new avenue of ambitious filmmaking. reminiscent of the 70’s, but a whole new path altogether. PTA is the next great filmmaker)
6. Lost in Translation (the paradigm for all young intelligent filmmakers)
7. Mulholland Drive (film surrealism at its best. terrifying.)
8. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (charlie kaufman is undoubtedly one of the 21st century’s top names. never before have screenplays been so directly psychological)
9. Talk to Her (pedro almodovar is one of the great film artistes ever, and this is his best film)
10. This year’s top two films:
a) Slumdog Millionaire (a brand new type of film–only possible in Barack Obama’s 2008)
b) The Dark Knight (an instant classic. will be seen for years with new layers, themes, parallelisms to unravel. the joker will rival hannibal lecter for the greatest villain ever.)
I have to confess that I am 16, and 2000-2009 have been my teenage years. So that is my point of view.
Eternal Sunshine has been said more than once already. I would say that, Little Miss Sunshine, and Donnie Darko have meant the most to me.
Oh, and something needs to be said about Superbad. I feel like it really was part of a major transition for main stream comedies. We went from being smothered with Will Ferrell to being smothered with Seth Rogen around that time period.
Also, someone mentioned Harry Potter. I did admit my age already, but still, I can not think of any movies that people of my generation have watched and been affected by more.
Thematically, how about the rise in the role of women behind the camera? I’m thinking off the top of my head, and admittedly, got the idea in thinking about how Mandy Walker likely won’t become the first female cinematographer nominated for an Oscar, even though we all thought it was a lock three months ago.
Still, there’s been some really nice female work done this decade. From a screenwriting perspective, I have to point to Sofia Coppola and Jenny Lumet, in some contraversial character studies, Lost In Translation and Rachel Getting Married. And there’s Diablo Cody, of course.
And lest we not forget that a year ago, we almost saw (and should have seen) the first female Best Director nominee in Sarah Polley. She was so fantastic in her work with “Away From Her,” one of my favorite films from last year.
And the trend in the works of the females I listed? All had projects that had fantastic lead female performances. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that working with a female behind the camera might bring out the best in an actress, and I think we’ll be seeing more of that after this decade.
Emily touched on Superbad, but I would expand that to be the entire Judd Apatow brand. Say what you will, but the man was the single dominant producer from this decade (along with, maybe, Scott Rudin). Apatow built a tree of connections from Rogen to Ferrell to Carrell that made some absolutely fantastic comedies, and if you look at the stuff, really made some accessible romantic comedies.
No matter your opinion on the films, the LOTR trilogy cannot be overlooked because of how successful it was. Others to consider…
-Memento
-There Will Be Blood
-Requiem for a Dream
-Children of Men
-The Departed
-The Dark Knight
-The Bourne Ultimatum
-Hotel Rwanda
-Moulin Rouge
-Once
-Pixar’s incredible bridge between kid/adult entertainment (monster’s inc., finding nemo, the incredibles, ratatouille, wall-e)
Its a shame it is only american cinema because films such as City of God, pan’s labryinth and the diving bell and the butterfly have been a few of the best the decade has had to offer
In thinking about Moulin Rouge! and 3:10 to Yuma, two of my favorites from this decade, I can’t help but think there’s been a return of musicals and westerns this decade, after a bit of a drought in the 1990s. As far as musicals go, next years “Nine” should only continue that trend.
I also hope your book includes superlatives, John! Here’s the four that jump out at me:
Best Picture (and one of the best of all-time): There Will Be Blood.
Best Actor (and one of the best of all-time): Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood.
Best Supporting Actor (and one of the best of all-time): Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight.
Best Original Score (and one of the best of all-time): Gustavo Santaolalla, Brokeback Mountain.
Serenity. It’s far from the best film of the decade albeit, vastly underrated. I do believe that it started the tv-to-film trend.
I think something must be said for American Psycho, one of my favorite films of all time and one of the most disrespected classics of the first decade. It perfectly reflects how the worlds increasing materialism (portrayed in the 80s, but even more poignant when it came out in an upcoming era of even worse proportions) can drive someone to act out in such an extreme way and still not even notice it.
studios giving art house directors tentpole films
Don’t forget mumblecore.
John, I’ll be looking forward to purchasing your book some time in the future.
So many of my favorite films from this decade have been of the foreign variety, but as far as English language films, there are without question, a select group, that most certainly will be enjoyed my cinemaphiles decades from now, and are a cinch to stand the test of time.
From an animated standpoint, the past decade has belonged to the good folks at Pixar, who have graced us with a half dozen animated delights (in particular FINDING NEMO, and WALL-E).
Musicals have also made a strong comeback, with films like MOULIN ROUGE, CHICAGO, and the vastly underappreciated SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET bringing a new sense of style, and purpose, to a genre that had previously looked as if it had long since exhausted it’s possibilities.
Martin Scorsese rebounded from a string of mediocre films in the mid-to late 90’s (after his greatest masterpiece, GOODFELLAS) to direct three of this decades most ambitious projects (GANGS OF NEW YORK, THE AVIATOR, and THE DEPARTED.
Roman Polanski’s THE PIANIST is truly a film for the ages, as is BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, and best of all, THERE WILL BE BLOOD.
Comic book films have never been better, then in the past 8-10 years, but the first two installments in Christopher Nolan’s BATMAN series (BATMAN BEGINS, THE DARK KNIGHT) are particular standouts.
A few other films, that I personally feel shouldn’t be overlooked: INTO THE WILD, CHILDREN OF MEN, THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, A BEAUTIFUL MIND, the BOURNE TRILOGY, and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL.
Finally, a couple guilty pleasures on my part, which I hope you will consider for placement in your book: PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER, and THE FOUNTAIN.
Oops…I forgot to mention the greatest film trilogy of all-time… THE LORD OF THE RINGS…LOL!!
Shows you where my head is this evening…
-The return of the American Musical
-The success of the American Indie
-Box office: Comic Books and Fantasy
-Will Smith
-PG-13 Horror
-The return to reason on capping Talent salaries
-3-D and Motion Capture films (Zemeckis, 2009 Marks the official start of the new 3-D en masse)
-The rise of the American Latino market and Urban films getting stellar numbers in semi-wide release
-The rise of Dreamworks Animation as Disney comp.
-The fall of M. Night Shymalan
Movies:
-There Will Be Blood (Modern O. Wells)
-Michael Clayton
-Indies: My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Juno, Napolean Dynamite
-Cast Away
-Harry Potter Movies
-Pixar
-Passion of the Christ and American religious films (Fox Faith, the huge success of the small films FIREPROOF and FACING THE GIANTS)
I’d also say the LGBT community has been portrayed well in American cinema for the first time, instead of the old cliches:
TransAmerica
Brokeback Mountain
Milk
Even side characters in movies like The Family Stone where gays are portrayed as potentially even more ‘normal.’
The Squid and the Whale. George Washington. The New World ( weather or not your sold on this one – I personally feel it’s a masterwork – and it’s still T. Mallick’s foray into the new millinium, witch is definitely worth noting) Elephant. Vera Drake. (God I love Mike Leigh!) Tony Kaye’s: Lake of Fire. Primer. Steven Soderbergh’s take on Stanislaw Lem’s novel Solaris. The Royal Tenenbaums. Punch Drunk Love. Momento. Half Nelson. Mulholland Dr. (Gotta say something about this masterpiece that sums up a career of one of America’s most visionary auteurs, in David Lynch) Cronenberg’s: Spider, A History of Violence, and Eastern Promises (damn, Cronenberg is reaching mythic status with his consistency from picture to picture. If you disagree just wait and see cause it’s com’n. I mean, he’s already a cult figure just give him one more film that’s as good as any of his recent offerings, and he’ll be legend) Tideland, Harmony Korine’s: Mister Lonely. A.I., Minority Report, Munich (Lord, I actually loved Munich, and didn’t get why folks seemed to be pissing on it) I’ll thinka summore later but for now peace.
As long as There Will Be Blood is in their, I will be happy.
Yet, contrary to what most are saying, I really think the only film that you are completely obligated to include is The Departed. Even if you think it is only a marginally good movie, you have to think about who was involved in the picture, and how it will be seen in a few decades. First off, it is Scorsese’s first Oscar for director, and his first film to win Best Pic (which I can’t decide if that speaks more for Mary, it being at best his fourth greatest, or if that speaks less of the Academy, though I tend to lean towards the latter). Also, it has unarguably one of the best actors from the previous generation (Nicholson) and unarguably one of the best actors of our generation (DiCaprio). And tying in with the box office issue, it should also be noted that this was (at the time at least) Marty’s highest grossing film.
Just some films I would personally like to see mentioned:
Memento
Crash
Brokeback Mountain
Letters From Iwo Jima
Michael Clayton
Into The Wild
I’m Not There (highly unappreciated – greatest film about the best musician ever)
No Country For Old Men
The Dark Knight
Milk
Zodiac
The Wrestler
Revolutionary Road
…and in light of a rather weak year, or at least a disappointing one, why not include the incredible Synecdoche, New York.
But please do not mention The Passion of the Christ. It is not a a good movie (a complete absence of artistry, it’s how I imagined the story in my head when I was seven). Just because it pissed of some Christians and other people of faith doesn’t mean it is a landmark in cinema of this decade.
The 10 films I felt were overlooked: (In alphabetical order)
Children of Men (2006)
Finding Neverland (2004)
Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)
In Bruges (2008)
Keeping The Faith (2000)
The Last Samurai (2003)
Memento (2000)
Snatch (2001)
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
V For Vendetta (2006)
Most Overrated Films off the top of my head:
Napoleon Dynamite
Donnie Darko
Art School Confidential (Don’t know if its overrated, I just really hated it.)
Indiana Jones and The Kingdom…
Pirates of The Caribbean: At World’s End
Happy Feat
Most Overlooked Actor: Clive Owen
Most Overlooked Actress: Rachel McAdams
Who needs to stop acting immediately: Jon Heder and Nicole Kidman
So many great ideas, please bear in mind the book is about American made (financed) films only — for Scott, I must include The Passion of the Christ my friend because the book is a study of American cinema through that ten year period and I am sure you understand it’s impact is a great deal more than just pissing off some people — animation, Harry Potter and There Will Be Blood are all represented and very well — to young Emily, it is for young film lovers like you, those in their 20’s, through to their 90’s that this book will exist, never apologize for your age, I started loving film at 11 — I will not have a section on the “best”, as I stated a year by year stuy of the decade’s cinema. Keep them coming gang. I will finalize my list and post within 48 hours. And of course I am including “Donnie Darko”.
I want to second McGuff’s suggestion about Judd Apatow’s comedies which have been well received by critics and audiences alike. And actually it’s a very new kind of comedy, different from what was successful in the 90s (Adam Sandler, Jim Carrey, the Farrelly brothers).
Films you might want to think about that as far as I can tell haven’t been mentioned yet: Shortbus -> sexuality
Syriana -> America and the Middle East
Kill Bill -> popcorn cinema and the auteur
Elephant/Gerry/Last Days/Paranoid Park
Also you might consider talking about how the term American cinema has become hard to define: is a film like “Atonement” American? What about the influx of foreign (not just British) directors to helm “American” films: Wong Kar Wai, Lars von Trier, Tom Tykwer, Gabriele Muccino, etc?
I think one should, at least glance at Oliver Stone’s 2000s career trajectory and how it relates to this decade’s cinema.
“Comandante” came out in 2003, just missing the documentary craze. “Alexander” should be remembered as one the biggest flops of the decade. “World Trade Center” came out the same year as “United 93” – a side-by-side examination of the two should be mandatory. And with “W.”, well, at least he attempted to paint an incendiary portrait the way he used to.
“Far From Heaven” is plainly (to me, at least) one of the most significant films of the decade, in terms of how it speaks to American cinematic history, toeing the line between pastiche and revisionism. I could write a chapter on that film alone.
Well, John would be remiss to leave out stuff like the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, the “Harry Potter” saga, the “Star Wars” prequels (why did no one mention these?), and the superhero and animated genres being tonally rebuilt after the ’90s.
I hope you’ll include “Minority Report,” a film I believe to be the best of the decade.
But that’s all I can think of right now.
Total agreement from Guy, the film pays homage to a genre of film (and director) from the fifties while brilliantly allowing the director to modernize the work without ever losing touch with the original style — one of the greatest works of the decade.
For some others: Stone is there for the good and bad, W. and Alexander, and of course the Kill Bill films are there.
And how could I possibly leave out “The Lord of the Rings”, “Harry Potter” and “King Kong”??? Cannot do a complete study pf the decade without them.
Eternal Sunshine
Eternal Sunshine
Eternal Sunshine
If you want a movie that spoke to the youth of this decade, that’s the one in my opinion. The romanticism of the era perfectly summed up in one film.
I recently wrote a paper on Post 9/11 Superhero Cinema. That topic a definite must for you’re book.
Everyone has mentioned Eternal Sunshine, which I always rate as one of the decade’s most overrated films, but I think more than just that movie, Charlie Kaufman should deserve his own channel. It’s unfortunate that Being John Malkovich was in the 90s, but if it is that decade that introduced us to Kaufman, this was the one that signified his place as Hollywood’s strangest screenwriter. And then, of course, this year represented his directorial debut with a film that many loved.
But how could we talk about Eternal Sunshine without touching on Adaptation and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind?
Someone mentioned regret at Magnolia’s inability to be included. That is definitely a good thing.
Don’t get me wrong. I love the movie wholeheartedly. But looking at PTA’s work this decade vs. the 90s, one can see a blatant style shift. Whereas Hard Eight, Boogie Nights and Magnolia owe some part to filmmakers past (Altman, Scorsese), Punch Drunk Love and There Will Be Blood are clearly PTA creations, even if one is an adaptation.
I would go so far as to call Paul Thomas Anderson our generation’s Kubrick – the most important director we have walking among us today.
Postal
Disaster Movie
Meet the Spartans
Alone in the Dark
Yep, I think that covers the worst of the… Gigli.