Films from the 2000's

What have people been calling this decade? The naughts? The ots? People seem obsessed with trying to find a name for this decade. We had the 20's, 30's, etc. but what did they call the early 1900's? It seems to me that we could just revert back to whatever that was called and use it today. But I'm just one person, sitting in front of a computer, writing about whatever. As you can see, I have some pull around here, so maybe I can make something happen. But that's not the point I'm trying to make today.

Today I round up my "Best Of" series with my top films of the decade, from the no name 2000's. It wasn't until I completed this last list that I noticed something, something unintentional but after thinking about it for a while I realized it made perfect sense. One filmmaker shows up on the list four times. He could've shown up five times if there weren't some great films already on this list.

It astonishes me that one director, who also had a hand in writing all four of the listed films, could produce quality films multiple times throughout a decade. Especially in a decade when the cinematic world view expanded, and exploded, with films from countries like Iran and Brazil coming to the forefront and establishing their cinematic identity. The world of film is no longer Hollywood vs. Europe. People from all over the globe are participating in making films that are a part of their culture and society. They are letting the world see what they have to offer and that in turn provides moviegoers the opportunity to find great films from almost anywhere in the world.

While this final list might not reflect the new world order of the expanded world view I mentioned before, I look back at each list I made for each year and I see films from other parts of the world and smaller films put up against the machine that is Hollywood, and at times besting it.

I tried to order this list from top to bottom and I found myself changing my mind with every succeeding number. I think that the list I have now is as complete as it will get, although I find that the first two films are interchangeable (as I've switched them 4 times since I made the list). Without further ado...

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
2. Memento
3. The Pianist
4. The Dark Knight
5. Up
6. Slumdog Millionaire
7. Minority Report
8. Lost in Translation
9. There Will Be Blood
10. Batman Begins
11. Moulin Rouge!
12. Juno
13. Dogtown and Z-Boys
14. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
15. Kill Bill Vol. 2
16. Hustle & Flow
17. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
18. Hot Fuzz
19. Little Miss Sunshine
20. The Prestige