So Film Comment is collecting reader numbers on what their audience thinks are the best films of the past decade. The deadline is coming soon (Feb. 12), so here is mine:
- Mulholland Drive (pictured)
- The Royal Tenenbaums
- A History of Violence
- The Fog of War
- In the Mood for Love
- Spirited Away
- The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
- Punch Drunk Love
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- Cache
- The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
- The Squid and the Whale
- Zodiac
- Possible Worlds
- Pan’s Labyrinth
- Man on Wire
- Memento
- Grindhouse double feature
- No Country for Old Men
- The City of God
All of these films, in some way or another shook me deep inside, be it with either bliss or shock. I think the best films always leave you disturbed in some way.
Several of these were highly underrated. I think it takes a special audience to appreciate the Squid and the Whale because it requires you to have an advanced degree or at least some kind of intellectual interest to get the jokes, and a self-deprecating sense of humor to enjoy those jokes. Humility and intellect rarely go hand-in-hand.
Then, Tarantino’s contribution to the Grindhouse double feature, Deathproof, was oft short-sightedly maligned as his one of his weaker films, but I would beg to differ. It makes a very obscure reference to 70s cinema by whole-heartedly embracing the leisurely pace of the exploitation film as well as its sudden violence, and it is also one of his stronger, more concentrated proto feminist works.
Some of these movies, like Mulholland Drive, the Royal Tenenbaums and In the Mood For Love keep getting better after repeated viewings, and I have seen each of those at least five times already if not more often than that.
What are your favorite movies of the past 10 years? You can submit them to Film Comment through the link above, but also do share them below.
Yeah, some of my favorite lines of all times come from the Royal Tenenbaums
Margot (to Royal): You probably don’t even know my middle name.
Royal: That’s a trick question. You don’t have one.
Margot: Helen.
Royal: That was my mother’s name.
Margot: I know it was
Hilarious! It’s one of those movies that only gets funnier and funnier.