The deadline for that best-of-the-decade list grows ever closer, and I continue to troll the interwebs (and my movie collection) for last-minute inspiration. The latest resource is the AV Club’s Best Performances of the Decade, which went up this morning and includes some good memory-joggers.
“Mysterious Skin”. “The Man Who Wasn’t There”. “American Splendor”. Hmm. Forgot about those.
Come on, people. Any last-minute thoughts?
I haven’t been reading too many “Best Of Decade” lists, so perhaps my suggestion is a bit redundant, but how about “Sideways”? It just gets better and better on repeated viewings, and I firmly believe that it will be considered an essential classic many years from now, not unlike “There Will Be Blood”.
I don’t know about anyone else, but I thought Across the Universe was a neat little gem by Julie Taymor.
Then again, I can never say no to the Beatles.
I agree with you, Dom, on Across the Universe, but I seem to remember that Norm didn’t like it all that much. I was interested as soon as I found out Julie Taymor was directing, before I clued in that “Across the Universe” referred to the Beatles song. Not my swiftest moment.
hey norm.
how you planning on organizing your list?
it seems too arbitrary to just bunch them all together (kind of like the AVClub did today)… i find you don’t get any feel for the decade as a whole unless you narrow down the listing terms a bit.
i guess you could scrape it down genre by genre. hmmmm…
in any case, here are a few of my potential picks:
– unbreakable
– a history of violence
– dark knight
– punch drunk love
– in the mood for love / 2046
– code 46
@ liam — the problem with trying for representational films is that you end up with a series of declarations rather than an actual best-of list. Is it fair to pick “WALL*E” over “Ratatouille” or “The Incredibles” or “Monsters, Inc.” or “Up” for the decade’s best animated film? And then what happens to “The Triplets of Belleville”? Do you break it up into CG and hand-drawn categories? And then what about “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “Coraline”?
Do you only allow one comedy? One thriller? One documentary? One French movie? One from the Asian region?
That sort of thinking will get you a list of most important or most influential films, but if you’re trying to name the “best” films — which is equally subjective, of course — then you have no choice but to throw all other criteria aside and focus exclusively on the films that most meant something to you as you watched them.
Anyway, I’ve finished my list, boiling it down out about seventy contenders … and I’m sure it’ll prove contentious, when it’s released. But it’s my list, and I’m good with it, and if people have a problem with it, there’ll be dozens of other lists out there with different choices, all equally valid.
Except that I’m right, of course.