Tuesday, January 5, 2010

My Top Films of the Decade

I would've had this up earlier, but I forgot the order of the movies after I submitted the list to LAMB. Epic fail on my part. Anyway, here's my list:

10) Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Being not that big of a fan of horror movies, I was questioning this. But since it's directed by Tim Burton and stars frequent collaborator Johnny Depp, I gave it a shot. Wow, was it violent. Good, but violent.

9) Batman Begins
Having seen only Tim Burton's takes on the Caped Crusader prior to seeing this, I figured this would be similar to Burton's films. Boy, was I wrong. This had an edge Burton's films were missing.

8) Casino Royale
Although having never seen any of the previous Bond movies, I got the gist of what usually goes on in those movies. Fast-paced action is what keeps the movie going.

7) Million Dollar Baby
Although the story and acting are superb, it's the ending of the movie that makes me question if I'm going to watch it again.

6) The Aviator
Man, Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio definitely have a very good collaboration. Three movies together, all of them nominated for Best Picture (their most recent The Departed won). DiCaprio successfully manages to shed his Titanic image (and then some) with his leading role of Howard Hughes. With stellar supporting work from Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin and Alan Alda, The Aviator is a biopic that focuses on ambition and mental health deterioration. Here's to Scorsese and DiCaprio for a long-lasting collaboration.

5) Walk the Line
Shortly after watching this, I read a lot of people critizing about Reese Witherspoon's performance. I'll admit I'm not sure if she deserved to win that Oscar, but she was pretty good. Besides, I focused more on Joaquin Phoenix's performance of Johnny Cash than I did her's.

4) Road to Perdition
I find it slightly odd that the first movie a director does after winning an Oscar kinda sucks. Not true with Sam Mendes and Road to Perdition. With an all-star cast including Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, a pre-James Bond Daniel Craig and Jude Law, it delivers a great story and great acting.

3) The Dark Knight
What to say that hasn't already been said about this massive blockbuster? I mean, apart from the fact that it F**KIN' ROCKED, pretty much everything good has been said about it. Heath Ledger definitely earned that Oscar for his creepy as hell performance of the Joker. Here's hoping that Christopher Nolan's career as a director will flourish.

2) Mystic River
It's really rare for me to see a movie that completely blows me away. Clint Eastwood's Mystic River is an exception. With a great script, great direction, and Sean Penn and Tim Robbins delivering the best performances I've seen, Mystic River is one you should not miss.

1) WALL-E
Oh my God, I absolutely LOVE this movie. I was on the verge of tears at the end. Although Pixar's next movie Up also pulled at my heartstrings, WALL-E will have a special place in my heart.

So those are my choices. What do you think?

4 comments:

  1. well ... i don't agree with all of this... Wall-e is not a great movie.. Up was a much better film... two batman Movies...??? you need to watch more movies..LOL... you missed Inglorious Basterds... clearly one of the great films of the past ten years...

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  2. I think it's a solid list, although I've never been much of a Wall-E fan. That being said, the only other one I am hesitant about is Casino Royale. Glad to see you recognize Batman Begins as well as The Dark Knight, both fantastic films, even if the latter takes it up a notch. Bale is remarkable in the first installment. I want to catch up with a few films before I post my Decade list, but you can be sure that I will have a couple from this list as well.

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  3. REALLY liked the road to perdition, the dark knight, million dollar baby, and mystic river. those are the ones i agreed on. oh, and batman begins

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  4. Nice list. You got me all excited when I saw Batman Begins in there. I thought, is he one of the 5 people on Earth who ranks Batman Begins ahead of The Dark Knight... with me??? Then no... lol. Excellent list though

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