2000s List Discussion and Suggestions (Lists Project Vol. 2)

[swo17]

All this Twin Peaks talk reminds me of a loophole that I would like to exploit for this go-around, namely the prematurely cancelled (?) FX show Thief, which was eligible for Emmy consideration as a miniseries, and which IMDb classifies as a miniseries, and so I'm calling it eligible for your list consideration. If you watched Homicide: Life on the Street, I don't have to tell you that Andre Braugher is one of the most vital actors of the small screen. Add to that the intensity that comes with there being no assurance that all of the main characters will survive any given episode, and you have a show that's every bit as entertaining as, say, The Shield or Breaking Bad, with the added bonus that you are allowed to vote for it. I believe it is available to watch on Hulu.

[zedz]

I’ve hardly thought about this since the last time, so the following recommendations may be a bit rusty. I have to agree about Punch-Drunk Love, which might be my highest ranking American film of the decade, maybe even top 20, and like several posters above it’s hard to articulate just why it resonates with me. Despite the Altman forelock-tugging, I find it Anderson’s least derivative film by a country mile. At one level it’s completely ridiculous about them, but at another it’s weirdly truer about relationships than most other recent films.

The same could be said about Hong’s The Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, which also has the virtue of being hilarious and utterly ingenious. At the moment it’s locked in at number two (no prizes for guessing what beats it).

The second funniest film that’s in contention for my top ten (though your mileage may vary!) is Tsai’s Goodbye, Dragon Inn. It’s one of the great films about filmgoing and it plays like Buster Keaton at 10 fps. Ideally this should be seen in a near-empty movie palace, but at least it’s available in most places on DVD. I’m even more in love with his previous What Time Is It There? (which, to continue the humour strand, has one of the best visual jokes of the decade).

Also highly recommended: the aforementioned Denises (particularly L’Intrus – a film that guards its mysteries very deeply but whose surfaces are nevertheless electrifying – and the deceptively light but equally intoxicating Friday Night); the Dardennes’ The Son (tremendously intense, and something of a peak in their work, though hopefully not the last one); all of Jia’s features are under consideration, with The World and Platform at the top; Apitchatpong Weerasethakul’s Tropical Malady (a simply magical 35mm experience but by all accounts the Second Run DVD is very good); Assayas’ Demonlover is a marvellous mindfuck of a movie, and he’s such a seductive and fluid filmmaker that it’s a delight following his camera-eye even if you have no idea where it’s heading (I know this film isn’t for everyone, but he won me over as soon as Neu’s ‘Hero’ blasted out over the credits, turned up to 11); Yanagimachi’s Who’s Camus Anyway? (kind of Altman meets Imamura, if you can imagine that, orchestrated by a master filmmaker back from the wilderness and by some miracle available on DVD in R1).

I’m much less certain about a lot of the films that appeared around the middle of my list last time, but do seek out, if you can, Pat O’Neill’s very creepy Hollywood-as-haunted-hotel dream The Decay of Fiction, which would make an ideal double feature with Goodbye, Dragon Inn or Mulholland Drive – and it probably pre-empts Inland Empire.

Mid-thirties last time but sure to climb is Eugene Green’s wonderful Les Pont des Arts, a much more interesting update of Bresson and Dreyer than any of Carlos Reygadas’ films to date (and I don’t mind Reygadas at all). Last list I’d only seen it once at it got placed for being remarkably odd, but subsequent viewings have revealed it to be deeper and richer than I suspected. The French DVD has English subs (as do those of his previous features).

A superb decade for Asian cinema. There are a number of emerging filmmakers I find grotesquely overrated (I saw Park Chan-wook’s Thirst last night but will – um – bite my tongue). Honourable mentions go to: Eureka (Aoyama); Distance (Koreeda – though you should see his other films as well); All About Lily Chou-Chou (Iwai); Take Care of My Cat (Jeong); Electric Dragon 80,000V (Ishii – by an order of magnitude the best and most insane superhero film of the decade); Vibrator (Hiroki); South of the Clouds (Zhu); Memories of Murder (Bong – and maybe even The Host); A Gentle Breeze in the Village (Yamashita).

And I only just mentioned it during the 90s discussion, but if you haven’t seen this, treat yourself. My favourite short film of the decade and perhaps the most elaborate one-shot film ever made.

[colinr0380]

I really liked A.I. - sort of an enquiry into manufactured sentimentalism vs 'real' feelings and emotions, which made it a rather appropriate subject for Spielberg!

Sorry about Lily Chou-Chou Michael, but it was nice to know you agree on Eureka. If it is any consolation Eureka is another of my 'vying for the number 1 position' films, while Lily Chou-Chou will likely place middle to bottom of the 50.

I'm not very good at duels kajuot! I like Stephen Fry as much as anyone, but he seriously derailed Gosford Park in his scenery chewing major scene. That would not have mattered in a poorer film where something like that could have been the memorable moment of an otherwise dull movie, but when everything else was working perfectly (even Ryan Phillippe!), that made Fry's scene stand out even more.

Assayas’ Demonlover is a marvellous mindfuck of a movie, and he’s such a seductive and fluid filmmaker that it’s a delight following his camera-eye even if you have no idea where it’s heading (I know this film isn’t for everyone, but he won me over as soon as Neu’s ‘Hero’ blasted out over the credits, turned up to 11).

And it has the gorgeous Connie Nielsen injecting a co-worker's bottled water with sedatives in an airplane bathroom, taking bribes on the subway (in the other best scene set in the Metro of the decade, though the three way chat about sex in Irreversible should probably feature as well!), playing cat and mouse paranoic games with nebulous rival corporations over who gets the rights to release some premium anime tentacle porn in the US (though the 3D films that are said to be the future of the medium during the studio tour look absolutely terrible!), and getting Irma Vep'd up for some cat burglary which escalates into a rough and tumble no holds barred fight with Gina Gershon...after which point things get really weird!

[knives]

Well it looks like Punch-Drunk is going to top the master list. My second, possibly top, American film of the decade and probably won't get lower then five. Thinking over I might need to limit myself since I mightvget four Van Sants and maybe as many Hanekes. Wes Anderson, the Coens, and Park (not the one you're thinking) might three. Geez I need to Netflix a few others.
Adaptation. might top my list.

[LQ]

Three films by Claire Denis will undoutedbly chart high for me, Friday Night, Trouble Every Day and L'Intrus. Most likely in that order

Glad to see others like Friday Night! My favorite Denis from the 00's (of what I've seen). It's stayed with me ever since I first saw it, which was latelatelate one night when I couldn't sleep. It seemed to be made for someone with tired eyes; the camera would linger a beat longer than usual on little details, the mood was languorous, quiet, comfortable...just like the instant rapport between Laure and Jean. And Paris with its streets slick with rain, and its interiors painted a seductive crimson-red, looked so calmly, spellbingingly alluring. It was a beautiful experience.
Trouble Every Day on the other hand, I'm not quite sure what I think of it. It's, uh, disgusting but very intriguing. I'll be interested to hear what people have to say about it.

Another doc that I'd like to recommend, especially for fans of photography, is What Remains: The Life and Works of Sally Mann. I recently watched it based on a recommendation from Michael, and it was gorgeous. How beautiful the world is through the lens of Sally Mann!

[zedz]

I don't think Kiarostami will place quite as high (though ABC AFRICA is highly recommended).

Five may well be in my top five, certainly top ten.

I'm afraid I find Kiarostami's career path in the 00s more interesting than most of his films, though they continue to have their moments of transcendence (e.g. the blackout in ABC Africa). A lateral connection reminds me to mention the only Victor Erice film of the decade, Lifelines, his contribution to the Violin / Trumpet portmanteaus.

And, on the balance of obscurity, availability and quality, I'll nominate Who's Camus Anyway? as my official swapsie. It's a real movie-movie, so some of you at least should enjoy it. Amazon link.

[Lemmy Caution]

Maddin will figure prominently in my 21st C listification.
Huckabees, Memento and Little Children will certainly make the list.

I've been rather resistant to the whole Asian film boom, which is unfortunate since I'm in China and a great deal of the recent films are readily available.
There is one Chinese film I'd recommend which might have passed under the radar: Blind Shaft (Mang Jing, Li Yang 2003), a gritty film about two shady coal miners in central China involved in the billion-person struggle to get ahead.
This film was successful enough to spawn a follow-up of sorts entitled Blind Mountain (Mang Shan 2007), another harsh look at the countryside, this time involving the kidnapping and selling of a young woman as a bride. I've been meaning to pick this up.

Other recs:

Shadow Kill (aka Nizhalkkuthu, directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan, 2002) is the tale of a hangman in 1940's India, and an interesting meditation on duty, guilt, and tradition. This film really stuck with me. Hopefully I'll have an opportunity to see more Gopalakrishnan films.

The brief Romanian wavelet spawned the chilling 4 Months, 3 Weeks 2 Days -- along with the intriguing fog-of-coup The Paper Will Be Blue, which I'd encourage folks to see.

[swo17]

The brief Romanian wave spawned the chilling 4 Months, 3 Weeks 2 Days -- along with the intriguing The Paper Will Be Blue, which I'd encourage folks to see.

Don't forget 12:08 East of Bucharest and The Death of Mr. Lazarescu!

[Lemmy Caution]

The brief Romanian wave spawned the chilling 4 Months, 3 Weeks 2 Days -- along with the intriguing The Paper Will Be Blue, which I'd encourage folks to see.

Don't forget 12:08 East of Bucharest and The Death of Mr. Lazarescu!

Those two didn't do much for me. 12:08 held my interest, but I disliked Lazarescu.

I did enjoy California Dreamin' but wouldn't expect it to make my list.

Kontroll from Hungary is another good film which I just remembered. I should re-watch it.

[Awesome Welles]

Yes, it looks like Punch-Drunk Love will fare well as it may top my list also. Others circling around the top ten include In the Mood for Love, The Consequences of Love, ... Jesse James..., Tenenbaums, Waking Life, Yi Yi, and There Will Be Blood.

Somewhere below that Morvern Callar, for those who haven't seen it, that's my recommendation. I would also point people to Paolo Sorrentino's L'Amico di Famiglia an odd little film that I really enjoyed. It won't be for everyone but interesting nonetheless. Glad to hear you're a fan of Way of the Gun too, Colin. I love it's pulpy absurdity, definitely one of the better films of the post-Tarantino deluge of crime films. What an opening scene as well!

[kaujot]

Taxidermia will be on my list for sure, possibly top 10, but not entirely sure. Hukkle, too. Those are both definitely films more people need to see. Get to it!

[Perkins Cobb]

Punch-Drunk Love? Really? I'm okay with it, but it always struck me as just a doodle -- Anderson poking around inside the darker psychology of Sandler's comic persona, to the exclusion of much else.

Plus, it's one of those self-indulgent intellectual fanboy-bait movies where the socially inept loser guy gets (or at least has a chance with) the adorable, quirky, lonely hottie. You know, like in real life. Line up all of those movies from the last decade (and there are a ton) and you'll find a lot of overrated critical darlings in which a (youngish, white, male) director who's capable of better takes the easy way out.

As antidotes, I'd offer Jeff Lipsky's Flannel Pajamas, and, yes, Bujalski's Funny Ha Ha.

[Murdoch]

A superb decade for Asian cinema.

Agreed, I'm currently honing in on a Kim Ki Duk film that will make the cut. I just watched Time and was somewhat ambivalent toward it, but I find it has many interesting ideas to offer about identity and love even if I didn't find the characters too involving. Spring, Summer... will probably make my list as it's my favorite by Kim so far, although Bad Guy I thought was interesting. I still have to see Dream...

Both Jia Zhang Ke and Hong Sang Soo will be featured prominently in my list, and I look forward to Platform and Virgin Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors after loving both The World and Woman on the Beach.

The only Wong film that I'll have will be 2046, didn't much care for his other two films, but I still have to watch The Hand so that may make an appearance on my list.

Also, I'll definitely have some Hou since this is the only decade from which I've seen his films - outside of City of Sadness - although I don't know if I prefer Millennium Mambo or Three Times...

Apichatpong Weerasethakul I'm trying to catch up on after loving Syndromes and a Century.

Needless to say, Asian cinema will occupy a large majority of my list, hell, I'll be lucky if I get another region in!

[swo17]

If for no other reason than to get as many as possible to make the effort to see it, the ol' gut's telling me to make a swapsie of Roy Andersson's funereal ditty, Du Levande (aka You, the Living), which I'm just going to go ahead and call the greatest architectural comedy since Playtime (or at least since Songs from the Second Floor). It is unfortunately currently only available in R2, but if you are not resourceful enough to get it this way, PM me and I might be able to help. Failing that, I suppose you might just try to knock off the first thing I mention here that you haven't already seen / that interests you.

[xavier110]

Adding to the list of excellent Asian films from this decade, I'd like to recommend Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Tokyo Sonata and Jun Ichikawa's Tony Takitani.

[domino harvey]

I'll say more when I'm not using WIFI in a hipster coffee shop, but here's my provisional Top 10:

01 the Baxter (Showalter, 2005) The smartest, funniest film I've ever seen. I've watched it at least forty times and it's only gotten better. I swear I think every single line, moment, cadence of the film is perfect, so admittedly there's not much debate to be had on my side. But I will say that if this film had some moderate overseas distribution, Cahiers and other knowledgeable film critics would have loved it-- it does Lubitsch and Sturges one better and shouldn't be missed by anyone on this board. How can anyone who loves movies not just fall so completely for Showalter's film, which understands so intrinsically what makes romantic comedies work and not only subverts but humanistically reinforces their methodology at every turn?

02 Junebug (Morrison, 2005) A brilliant examination of the increasingly impassable red state / blue state cultural shift.

03 Hard Candy (Slade, 2005) I can just hear the bitching now...

04 Ocean's Twelve (Soderbergh, 2004) Unquestionably Soderbergh's finest moment and the biggest con job ever pulled on the moviegoing public at large

05 Lilja 4-Ever (Moodysson, 2002) Don't plan on going out after watching, you'll be sobbing in bed all nite. And probably the next day too.

06 Land of Plenty (Wenders, 2004) I'll expand on this one later, but handily the best film made about the effects of 9/11. Wenders' utter sincerity in the film turns a lot of viewers off, but how else to make a film like this?

07 Dogville (von Trier, 2003) Well, you know.

08 Cassandra's Dream (Allen, 2008) Still.

09 Reefer Madness: the Movie Musical (Frickman, 2005) I doubt anyone has my back here, but this is the best musical made since the sixties.

10 Louis and the Nazis A placeholder for all of Theroux's work, but one that perfectly encapsulates what makes him so vital. An hour spent with some of the most compelling people you'll ever meet, people whose world view is so abhorrent that it's something of a miracle as the film unfolds and Theroux pokes at the layers of humanity until he shows, without ever breaking or interfering his subjects' self-imposed delusions, the full extent of their tragic contradictions. The moment in the backseat with the two girls of Prussian Blue, one lamenting that they're not going to get to go to public school, punctuated by the girl with her sunglasses, remains for me one of the most unshakable documented moments in recent memory.

[carax09]

If for no other reason than to get as many as possible to make the effort to see it, the ol' gut's telling me to make a swapsie of Roy Andersson's funereal ditty, Du Levande (aka You, the Living), which I'm just going to go ahead and call the greatest architectural comedy since Playtime (or at least since Songs from the Second Floor). It is unfortunately currently only available in R2, but if you are not resourceful enough to get it this way, PM me and I might be able to help. Failing that, I suppose you might just try to knock off the first thing I mention here that you haven't already seen / that interests you.

I'm in the same boat, Swo. I'd like to leap into this swapsie thing with The Low Down (written/directed by Jamie Thraves), but there's no R1. If anyone hasn't seen it, and likes films that manage to be both gritty and lyrical, I'd be happy to lend my copy out.

[ptatler]

08 Cassandra's Dream (Allen, 2008) Still.

I'll back you up on this. It's Woody's best of the decade by a longshot (not that there's much competition).

[denti alligator]

04 Ocean's Twelve (Soderbergh, 2004) Unquestionably Soderbergh's finest moment and the biggest con job ever pulled on the moviegoing public at large

Oh c'mon! This kind of con is standard fare for "hip" Hollywood films of the decade. And in this case it was simply stupid. As much as I loved the first film, and am a sucker for a good heist flick, this film was horrible, horrible, horrible. Please, domino, explain how this can rank so high and with barely a non-English-language (um, make that not a one) film in sight. What's up?

[Jeff]

INSIDE MAN (Spike Lee's best of the decade)

For me, that would be The 25th Hour, a film that would feature prominently in my list. I'm usually too lazy to participate in these, but with "best of decade" fever sure to be sweeping movie websites at the end of the year, I may play along.

[knives]

04 Ocean's Twelve (Soderbergh, 2004) Unquestionably Soderbergh's finest moment and the biggest con job ever pulled on the moviegoing public at large

Oh c'mon! This kind of con is standard fare for "hip" Hollywood films of the decade. And in this case it was simply stupid. As much as I loved the first film, and am a sucker for a good heist flick, this film was horrible, horrible, horrible. Please, domino, explain how this can rank so high and with barely a non-English-language (um, make that not a one) film in sight. What's up?

If he was having meta fun and not necessarily the con as his reasoning I may agree with Harvey. As a film about making movies it is quite enjoyable. I agree on The Baxter, which deserves much love.

[roujin]

Three films by Claire Denis will undoutedbly chart high for me, Friday Night, Trouble Every Day and L'Intrus. Most likely in that order.

That's funny as for me the listing would run just the opposite (in fact, Friday Night won't make it at all).

Yeah, I can understand that. L'Intrus is, for me, still very impenetrable. I feel I've only scratched the surface with it. Friday Night was my first Denis so it's kind of a sentimental favorite. I realize many people don't think highly of it (they can suck it!)

[Murdoch]

09 Reefer Madness: the Movie Musical (Frickman, 2005) this is the best musical made since the sixties.

What about Cop Rock, man! What about Cop Rock? Oh, if only it had been eligible for the 90s...

[domino harvey]

04 Ocean's Twelve (Soderbergh, 2004) Unquestionably Soderbergh's finest moment and the biggest con job ever pulled on the moviegoing public at large

Oh c'mon! This kind of con is standard fare for "hip" Hollywood films of the decade. And in this case it was simply stupid. As much as I loved the first film, and am a sucker for a good heist flick, this film was horrible, horrible, horrible. Please, domino, explain how this can rank so high and with barely a non-English-language (um, make that not a one) film in sight. What's up?

If he was having meta fun and not necessarily the con as his reasoning I may agree with Harvey. As a film about making movies it is quite enjoyable. I agree on The Baxter, which deserves much love.

Of course the con in the film is stupid, Alligator. The con I'm refering to is the one pulled on the audience, as I stated, by the director. It's a covert art film that punishes the casual viewer for even trying to care about the heist.

And exactly what version of Lilja 4-Ever did you watch?

[Titus]

Also I am very interested in Miike's "Big Bang Love, Juvenile A". Can anyone recommend or defend? (Michael, I know you are a fan of Miike's.)

I think the quality of Miike's work has tapered off a bit in recent years, but this one impressed me a lot. The one time I saw the film it failed to cohere thematically for me, but it is marvelously inventive formally and beautiful to look at, and the central relationship holds everything together when the abstractions threaten to unravel it all. And it's short, so it won't be a huge waste of time if you don't like it.

A few other films at the front of my memory:

Before Sunset -- Linklater's best film and maybe my favorite picture of the decade

Werckmeister Harmonies -- An obvious pick, but it seems no one else has mentioned it yet, so... here it is. I think this is every bit as good as Satantango.

Café Lumière -- This is actually my favorite Hou of the decade. It's probably the most immediately enjoyable and seductive film of his that I've seen. A good intro to his work.

Dead or Alive 2: Birds -- Probably the definitive Miike film. Not the best, but the one that encompasses all the wildly different strands of his work most fully. You don't need to bother with the first film.

Last Life in the Universe -- Very low-key and moody. The comparisons to Lost in Translation are apt, but this one is much more enigmatic, funny, and beautiful. Strangely enough, given how otherworldly it is tonally, its also a much better illustration of the restorative powers of fleeting relationships than Sofia Coppola's movie was.

Little Otik -- The only Svankmajer feature I've seen so far. A hysterical nightmare of a film that could have very easily turned into a simple parable about the extremes and potential destructiveness of maternal instinct, but instead seems more interested in wringing awkward laughs from the audience

I also agree with those praising Punch-Drunk Love, which I think is fabulous. Also, The Man Who Wasn't There is the Coens' second best film, (a good distance) behind Miller's Crossing. I've yet to figure out why it's been so overlooked, even among Coen fans.