Cinemusings

OUR TOP MOVIES OF THE DECADE (2000-2009)

Personally I could care less who thinks when the decade ended or began. Many people are saying that the decade actually began in 2001 and ended in 2010, others are saying it began in 2000 and ended in 2009, while many are oddly insisting the decade began in 2000 and ended in 2011. I could care less who thinks what anymore. Since we basically missed the boat on posting our thoughts on our favorite movies of the decade back in December of 2009, we've decided to finally catch up and post our top films of the decade starting from 2000 and ending on 2009. That's that. We've spent the last three months trying to figure out how to best voice our thoughts on our best films of the first decade of the millennium, and we figured we may as well just post our list embedded in one big article.

We were going to originally post just ten of our favorite films of the decade, but really we figured we may as well just pick the films we thought were the best in no particular order. We could go on forever explaining which films we thought were the best of the decade and we did go on for hours trying to decide which movies we thought were the best. While the list is mainly mainstream material we couldn't help but experience immense enthusiasm for these films that managed to meet our high expectations and completely surprise us. We really looked forward to 2003's 28 Days Later but when we finally managed to sit down and watch it upon its release we were shocked to discover it was one of the best horror films we'd ever seen. There were many excellent horror films in the decade but none of them were able to mesh science fiction and horror so flawlessly as Danny Boyle's stab at the genre.

Not just an outstanding genre film, but an outstanding film altogether, "28 Days Later" takes no mercy on its characters and constantly introduces us to heroes who we discover are only human as Boyle sets us up to grow attached to people only to kill them off within minutes. It all starts with rabid monkeys in an animal testing lab to set off the end of the world as a man with no memory struggles to cope with the end of society and all he knows and must come to grips with his new way of living and be forced to adapt to the new conditions of his surroundings which involve infected human beings fueled by the infection turning them in to murderous rampaging monsters. Boyle's horror film made a big impact in the states garnering mostly positive reviews and inspired directors to re-visit the concept of running zombies. The "Dawn of the Dead" remake blatantly ripped off a few key scenes in the film, and Boyle's haunting opening scenes inspired the opening pages of the award winning comic book series "The Walking Dead."

Back when released, Boyle's film managed to be utterly remarkable and earned its place as one of the best horror films of the decade and one of my favorite films of all time. Years after its release, "28 Days Later" has proven to be a marketable franchise, but the best of the series continues to be Boyle's. In the category of unexpected surprises, 2008's Let the Right One In was a masterful vampire romance that dared to dabble in story themes involving pedophilia, homosexuality, and sexual awakening in the face of lost innocence between a constantly bullied boy named Oscar, and a mysterious neighbor named Eli who takes a liking to the young boy. Isolated and alienated, the two form a bond with one another and this relationship culminates in a haunting take on kismet where Eli's infatuation with Oscar becomes a connection that changes both of their lives forever. Filmed with impressive direction by Tomas Alfredson, the modern masterpiece ends in a wicked form of karma involving bloodshed and torn limbs at a public pool where Eli reveals the lengths she's willing to through to protect her young friend and maintain his purity in a world filled with pure evil and madness. Atmospheric and grim, the film watches like a morbid fairy tale and even in spite of its melancholy closer, is still quite spooky. There was also 2005's Twelve and Holding a very under-appreciated indie film about the loss of innocence in the face of harsh crimes, and utter infatuation. When one of their friends dies in a horrible prank initiated by two local bullies, three of the children involved (which include the boy's twin brother) struggle to come to terms with his death and must figure out what type of people they're doomed to evolve in to after the death splits them apart and forces them to re-evaluate themselves and their relationships with their loves ones.

Along with some incredible performances by its mostly juvenile cast, there is also an excellent performance by future Oscar nominee Jeremy Renner as an ex-firefighter who gains the infatuation of young Malee Chaung a child torn between two divorced parents who interrupts his life leading to a rather disturbing climax demonstrating the emotional and societal confusion of most twelve year olds. 2005's Sophie Scholl is another movie that completely blindsided me upon watching it. Admittedly I have a real soft spot for films involving the Holocaust and the Nazi's but this film was different. In a sense it's a court room thriller but it's also the accounts of the final days of Sophie Scholl a young girl who refused to bow to the power of the Nazi regime and is eventually caught by authorities after being caught passing around flyers protesting the movement. Imprisoned, she manages to evade her accusations by outwitting the best interrogators enlisted to her case and in spite of managing to fight her case in court, is eventually beheaded along with her two cohorts. But not before warning the authorities that the time of the Nazi regime is coming to a close and that their crimes will not go unpunished. This prophecy is made ever more bitter when the climax fades to black and we hear the swishing of the blades ending Scholl's life.

There's no prison worse than our own body and in 2007's The Diving Bell and the Butterfly we're given an emotionally exhausting view in the eye of Jean-Dominique Bauby whose severe stroke leaves him completely paralyzed and only able to function by communicating with the blink of one eye. From his realization of paralysis to the origin of his stroke right down to being unable to communicate with his beautiful nurses, Bauby's struggle is raw and grueling to sit through and it becomes even worse to watch when he's lost all will to live and can do nothing about it but lay on his bed and await his death. It's truly an amazing drama you have to experience to comprehend and a look at his final days through his eyes makes the film powerful and truly heartbreaking. Due to Disney's continued affiliation with Studio Ghibli, American audiences were introduced to the beautiful animated epics directed by Hayao Miyazaki and 2001's Spirited Away stands as one of Studio Ghibli's crowning achievements. Taking the charge Hayao Miyazaki writes and directs this modern take on "The Wizard of Oz" where a young girl manages to crash in to a world filled with wonders and horrors in a struggle to discover how to turn her parents back to humans when they suddenly become giant pigs during a visit in to a mysterious town. Possessing some of the most vivid images ever created in the fantasy genre, Miyazaki is at his absolute best and almost tops one of his greatest "My Neighbor Totoro."

Part Two / Part Three

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