Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Out 1 Film Journal's Best Movies of the 2000s


I'm sure you've all seen Best of the Decade lists, and, yes, this is another one adding to the many you've seen online and elsewhere. We tried to spice things up in a couple of ways. One, by including a wide range of writers who are friends, acquaintances, and all-around excellent critics. Two, by asking each of the writers to submit 13 movies rather than 10. This allows everyone to fit in a couple more titles in impossible difficult to make lists and goes along with a riff in Jacques Rivette;s Out 1 - revolving around Balzac's History of the Thirteen. So, using thirteen lists from thirteen writers submitting their thirteen best movies of the decade, I submit you to the following results! The only stipulation was that each movie in the top 13 had to be included on at least two lists and it wouldn't have mattered points wise regardless. Each individual list contributed can be seen after the break. A special thanks to each contributor!


1. Dogville (Lars Von Trier, Denmark/Sweden/Norway/Finland/U.K./France/Germany/The Netherlands, 2003)


2. INLAND EMPIRE (David Lynch, USA/Poland/France, 2006)


3. In The Mood For Love (Wong Kar Wai, Hong Kong, 2000)


4. The New World (Terrence Malick, USA, 2005)


5. Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand/France/Italy/Germany, 2005)


6. Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson, USA, 2002)


7. Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, USA/France, 2001)


8. Werckmeister Harmonies (Bela Tarr, Hungary, 2000)


9. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)


10. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, USA, 2007)


11. Silent Light (Carlos Reygadas, Mexico/France/The Netherlands, 2007)


12. Zodiac (David Fincher, USA, 2007)


13. The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel, Argentina/France/Italy/Spain, 2008)



Directors of the Decade
1. Michael Haneke
2. Apichatpong Weerasethakul
3. Lucrecia Martel
4. Paul Thomas Anderson
5. David Lynch


Performances of the Decade
1. Laura Dern, INLAND EMPIRE
2. Daniel Day Lewis, There Will Be Blood
3. Isabelle Huppert, The Piano Teacher
4. Naomi Watts, Mulholland Drive
5. Tilda Swinton, Julia

Individual Lists

James Hansen

1. Mulholland Drive/INLAND EMPIRE (David Lynch, 2001/2006)
2. Dogville (Lars Von Trier, 2003)
3. Werckmeister Harmonies (Bela Tarr, 2000)
4. Syndromes and a Century (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2007)

5. Southland Tales (Richard Kelly, 2007)
6. Light Is Waiting (Michael Robinson)
7. When It Was Blue (Jennifer Reeves, 2008)
8. Silent Light (Carlos Reygadas, 2008)
9. Spider (David Cronenberg, 2002)
10. The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel, 2008)
11. Two Minutes To Zero Trilogy (Lewis Klahr, 2003-4)
12. Colossal Youth (Pedro Costa, 2006)
13. The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005)

Directors:
1. Apichatpong Weerasethakul
2. Lucrecia Martel
3. David (Cronenberg/Gatten/Lynch)
4. Lewis Klahr
5. Michael Robinson

Performances:
1. Naomi Watts, Mulholland Drive
2. Laura Dern, Inland Empire
3. Maggie Cheung, In The Mood For Love
4. Charlotte Gainsbourg, Antichrist
5. Olivier Gourmet, The Son


Brandon Colvin

1. INLAND EMPIRE (David Lynch, 2006)
2. Paranoid Park (Gus Van Sant, 2008)
3. Children of Men (Alfonso Cuaron, 2005)
4. Silent Light (Carlos Reygadas, 2008)
5. Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)
6. Punch-Drunk Love (PT Anderson, 2002)
7. The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke, 2009)
8. Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly, 2001)
9. Adaptation. (Spike Jonze, 2001)
10. I Heart Huckabees (David O. Russell, 2004)
11. Caché (Michael Haneke, 2005)
12. Gerry (Gus Van Sant, 2002)
13. Into Great Silence (Philip Gröning, 2005)

Directors:
1. David Lynch
2. Gus Van Sant
3. Michael Haneke
4. Paul Thomas Anderson
5. Steven Soderbergh

Performances:
1. Laura Dern, INLAND EMPIRE
2. Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford
3. Nicolas Cage, Adaptation.
4. Nicolas Cage, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
5. Steve Carrell, The 40-Year-Old Virgin

Chuck Williamson

1. The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005)
2. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-Wai, 2000)
3. Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2004)
4. INLAND EMPIRE (David Lynch, 2006)
5. Dogville (Lars von Trier, 2004)
6. Goodbye, Dragon Inn (Tsai Ming-liang, 2003)
7. The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel, 2008)
8. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
9. The Piano Teacher (Michael Haneke, 2001)
10. Friday Night (Claire Denis, 2002)
11. The Virgin Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors (Hong Sang-soo, 2000)
12. Silent Light (Carlos Reygadas, 2008)
13. I'm Not There (Todd Haynes, 2007)

Directors:
1. Apichatpong Weerasethakul
2. Michael Haneke
3. Lucretia Martel
4. Tsai Ming-liang
5. Claire Denis

Performances:
1. Laura Dern, Inland Empire
2. Isabelle Huppert, The Piano Teacher
3. Daniel Day Lewis, There Will Be Blood
4. Christian Bale, American Psycho
5. Thora Birch, Ghost World

Joseph Bowman

1. Dogville (Lars von Trier, 2003)
2. Talk to Her (Pedro Almodóvar, 2002)
3. Morvern Callar (Lynne Ramsay, 2002)
4. Black Book (Paul Verhoeven, 2007)
5. The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel, 2008)
6. Yi yi (Edward Yang, 2000)
7. The Piano Teacher (Michael Haneke, 2001)
8. Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2005)
9. Late Marriage (Dover Koshashvili, 2001)
10. Wild Side (Sébastien Lifshitz, 2004)
11. Songs from the Second Floor (Roy Andersson, 2000)
12. The Intruder (Claire Denis, 2004)
13. Summer Hours (Olivier Assayas, 2008)

Directors:
1. Olivier Assayas
2. Lucrecia Martel
3. Michael Haneke
4. Claire Denis
5. Gus Van Sant

Performances:
1. Isabelle Huppert, The Piano Teacher
2. Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
3. Tilda Swinton, Julia
4. Laura Dern, Inland Empire
5. Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson

Tony Dayoub

(alphabetical)
25th Hour (Spike Lee, 2002)
A Christmas Tale (Arnaud Desplechin, 2008)
Children of Men (Alfonso Cuaron, 2006)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Spike Jonze, 2004)
I ♥ Huckabees (David O. Russell, 2004)
Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009)
In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar Wai, 2000)
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (Peter Weir, 2003)
Miami Vice (Michael Mann, 2006)
The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005)
There Will Be Blood (PT Anderson, 2007)
The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke, 2009)
Zodiac (David Fincher, 2007)

Directors:
-Paul Thomas Anderson (Punch-Drunk Love, There Will Be Blood) for allowing the madmen—actors—to run the asylum.
-Charlie Kaufman (Synecdoche, New York) for being an auteur before he was a director.
-Michael Mann (Ali, Collateral, Miami Vice, Public Enemies) for mastering the digital camera as he ventures further into "pure" cinema.
-Julian Schnabel (Before Night Falls, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Lou Reed's Berlin) for following his muse, and making lyricism a priority in cinema.
-Steven Soderbergh (Erin Brockovich, Traffic, the Ocean's Eleven series, Full Frontal, Solaris, Eros (segment: "Equilibrium"), Bubble, The Good German, Che, The Girlfriend Experience, The Informant!) for his overwhelming output, consistent in both quality and innovation.

Performances:
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Benicio Del Toro, Che
Laura Dern, Inland Empire
Mélanie Laurent, Inglourious Basterds
Meryl Streep, Doubt

Jeremy Heilman

1. Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2002)
2. Werckmeister Harmonies (Bela Tarr, 2000)
3. The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005)
4. Dogville (Lars von Trier, 2003)
5. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
6. Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2004)
7. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009)
8. Dancer in the Dark (Lars von Trier, 2000)
9. I'm Not There (Todd Haynes, 2007)
10. Before Sunset (Richard Linklater, 2004)
11. Elephant (Gus Van Sant, 2003)
12. Spider (David Cronenberg, 2002)
13. Hunger (Steve McQueen, 2008)

Directors:
1. Paul Thomas Anderson
2. Quentin Tarantino
3. David Cronenberg
4. Lars von Trier
5. Richard Linklater

Performances:
1. Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
2. Nicole Kidman, Dogville
3. Naomi Watts, Mulholland Dr.
4. Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada
5. Isabelle Huppert, The Piano Teacher

Nathan Lee

1 My Hand Outstretched to the Winged Distance and Sightless Measure (Robert Beavers, 1967-2002)
2 Mulholland Drive/INLAND EMPIRE (David Lynch, 2001/2006)
3 In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar Wai, 2000)
4 Russian Ark (Aleksandr Sokurov, 2002)
5 Spider (David Cronenberg, 2002)
6 Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2005)
7 Before Sunset (Richard Linklater, 2004)
8 In Praise of Love (Jean Luc Godard, 2001)
9 Zodiac (David Fincher, 2007)
10 Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly, 2001)
11 The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005)
12 L'intrus (Claire Denis, 2004)
13 Pootie Tang (Louis CK, 2001)

VJ Morton

(alphabetical)
Capturing The Friedmans (Andrew Jarecki, 2003)
L’enfant (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, 2005)
Dogville (Lars Von Trier, 2003)
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Cristian Mungui, 2007)
Grizzly Man (Werner Herzog, 2005)
Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000)
La Pianiste (Michael Haneke, 2001)
Silent Light (Carlos Reygadas, 2008)
Songs From The Second Floor (Roy Andersson, 2000)
Time Out (Laurent Cantet, 2001)

Jeremy Richey

1. Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003)
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
3. The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001)
4. I Heart Huckabees (David O. Russell, 2004)
5. Sex and Lucia (Julio Medem, 2001)
6. Zodiac (David Fincher, 2007)
7. Punch Drunk Love (PT Anderson, 2002)
8.21 Grams (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2003)
9. Kill Bill (Quentin Tarantino, 2003/2004)
10. Vicki Cristina Barcelona (Woody Allen, 2008)
11. Amelie (Jean Pierre Jeunet, 2001)
12. Auto Focus (Paul Schraeder, 2002)
13. Talk To Her (Pedro Almodovar, 2002)

Nathaniel Rogers

1. Moulin Rouge! (Baz Luhrmann, 2001)
2. Dancer in the Dark (Lars Von Trier, 2000)
3. Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005)
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
5. Far From Heaven (Todd Haynes, 2002)
6. In The Mood For Love (Wong Kar Wai, 2000)
7. Talk to Her (Pedro Almodovar, 2002)
8. Rachel Getting Married (Jonathan Demme, 2008)
9. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000)
10. A History of Violence (David Cronenberg, 2005)
11. Requiem for a Dream (Darren Aronofsky, 2000)
12. Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)
13. Lord of the Rings (Peter Jackson, 2001-2003)

Jacob Shoaf

1. Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)
2. No Country for Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007)
3. Inland Empire (David Lynch, 2006)
4. Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman, 2008)
5. Children of Men (Alfonso Cuaron, 2006)
6. Elephant (Gus Van Sant, 2003)
7. Wendy and Lucy (Kelly Reichardt, 2008)
8. Caché (Michael Haneke, 2005)
9. Werckmeister Harmonies (Bela Tarr, 2000)
10. There Will Be Blood (PT Anderson, 2007)
11. Zodiac (David Fincher, 2007)
12. Dogville (Lars Von Trier, 2003)
13. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar Wai, 2000)

Directors:
1. Michael Haneke
2. Guy Maddin
3. Gus Van Sant
4. Carlos Reygadas
5. Lars Von Trier

Performancs:
1. Laura Dern, INLAND EMPIRE
2. Sean Penn, Milk
3. Michelle Williams, Wendy and Lucy
4. Audrey Tautou, Amelie
5. Michael Fassbender, Hunger

Michael Sicinski

( ) (Morgan Fisher, U.S., 2003)
Bamako (Abderrahmane Sissako, Mali / U.S. / France, 2006)
The Brown Bunny (Vincent Gallo, U.S., 2003)
Dogville (Lars von Trier, Demark / Sweden / Norway / Finland / U.K. / France / Germany / The Netherlands, 2003)
The Heart of the World (Guy Maddin, Canada, 2000)
Irreversible (Gaspar Noé, France, 2002)
Phantoms of Nabua (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand / Germany, 2009)
Regular Lovers (Philippe Garrel, France, 2005)
St. Ignatius Church Exposure: Lenten Light Conversions (Lynn Marie Kirby, U.S., 2004)
Still Life (Jia Zhangke, China / Hong Kong, 2006)
Werckmeister Harmonies (Béla Tarr, Hungary, 2000)
What the Water Said, Nos. 4-6 (David Gatten, U.S., 2007)
When It Was Blue (Jennifer Reeves, U.S. / Iceland, 2008)

Directors:
Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Pedro Costa
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
Claire Denis
Nathaniel Dorsky

Performances:
Olivier Gourmet, The Son
Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Samantha Morton, Morvern Callar
Issey Ogata, The Sun
Summer Phoenix, Esther Kahn

Blake Williams

1. INLAND EMPIRE (David Lynch, 2006)
2. Syndromes and a Century (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2007)
3. Punch-Drunk Love (PT Anderson, 2002)
4. RR (James Benning, 2008)
5. Melancholia (Lav Diaz, 2008)
6. In the City of Sylvia (Jose Luis Guerin, 2007)
7. Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2005)
8. La Ciénaga (Lucrecia Martel, 2001)
9. The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005)
10. The Gleaners & I (Agnes Varda, 2000)
11. Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman, 2008)
12. Code Unknown (Michael Haneke, 2000)
13. Dogville (Lars Von Trier, 2003)

Directors:
1. Apichatpong Weerasethakul
2. Michael Haneke
3. James Benning
4. Lucrecia Martel
5. David Lynch

Performances:
1. Laura Dern, INLAND EMPIRE
2. Tilda Swinton, Julia
3. Isabelle Huppert, The Piano Teacher
4. Eva Löbau, The Forest for the Trees
5. Juliette Binoche, Code Unknown

3 comments:

Tony Dayoub said...

I'm surprised that there was such a consensus on Laura Dern, Michael Haneke, and DOGVILLE.

Thanks for all the effort you guys put into this.

Nostalgia Kinky said...

Great stuff guys,
Thanks for compiling these and for including mine. I have added a link over at Moon in the Gutter for you. If you want to bother adding them, here are my actors and directors as well. Thanks again...

ACTORS
1. Mickey Rourke: The Wrestler
2. Kate Winslet: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
3. Scarlett Johansson in Lost in Translation
4. Terrence Howard in Hustle and Flow
5. Paz Vega in Sex and Lucia

DIRECTORS
1. Sofia Coppola
2. Lars Von Trier
3. Paul Thomas Anderson
4. David Lynch
5. Darren Aronofsky

Nice to see DOGVILLE at the top. It absolutely would have been on mine if I hadn't gone for DANCER IN THE DARK as my Von Trier selection.

James Hansen said...

The Haneke selection was far from "consensus" (very tight vote) as was Dogville, but Dern won in a blowout. Also, not everyone voted in the performances/director so there were fewer points to go around. Apichatpong had 3 first place votes (out of 7 or 8 director voters) but Haneke placed in enough of them to make the jump.

Jeremy- I'll add yours no problem! I was thrilled to have you as a contributor, so thanks to you, sir! Adn, yeah, I had a few that could have gone either way. I picked Syndromes for Joe, but it could have easily been Malady, Blissfully Yours, or Primitive project. Alas...pretty happy with the list all around!