Jeebus, you people fill open threads fast sometimes.
Apparently commenter Renato is polling us on the top ten films of the decade, since it is near the end of 2009. Place your picks below, and if I have energy, we will do a poll in the next couple of weeks.
*** Update ***
Camera battery is dead, but here is an old Tunch pic to soothe the afficionados:
I’ll have some more tomorrow, plus I am dogsitting Tammy’s Samantha, so there should be some fun pics there, too.
*** Update #2 ***
Please, no Monk finale spoilers, I forgot to watch last weeks and won’t catch up on both until tomorrow.
Comrade Mary
You know what might mellow us out? A picture of Tunch. Just one. We can take it, I swear.
SIA aka ScreamingInAtlanta
I want to see one of Lily in the new boy-chair.
Flix-R-U.S.
Probably “City of Life and Death”
but I also liked “District 9”
That’s just for 2009 though.
General Winfield Stuck
We hearts movies is all.
And now I’m going to watch one and maybe two if I can stay awake long enough.
Yutsano
Meh, I just cleaned my kitchen and now I’m cranky and hungry. And it probably won’t even get noticed. Bah.
SIA aka ScreamingInAtlanta
@General Winfield Stuck: What are you watching? This is so lame, but I have a Charlie Chan film next up in line. No matter how bad, I love all old black and white mysteries. Fun times heh.
DougJ
I wish I could tell you I saw a movie made this decade I really liked, other than “The Departed”, but that would be a lie.
This has been the decade of the tv series. “The Wire” is better than ever movie ever made, and I love movies. And “Mad Men” is better than any movie made this decade, even if it doesn’t measure up to the real cinematic greats.
EMPY
Saving Private Ryan. The D-day landing scene left me slack jawed in awe at what our forces had to wade through.
freelancer (itouch)
1) Black Hawk Down
2) Redbelt
3) Children of Men
4) Syriana
5) Shattered Glass
6) The Dark Knight
7) Zodiac
8) City of God
9) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
10) Before Sunset
—–
As an aside, Zach Gilford deserves an Emmy for his portrayal of Matt Saracen on this season of Friday Night Lights. Just killer stuff.
Xanthippas
My favorites (not necessarily the best) and I’m not ranking them, but here’s a list:
Donnie Darko
Punch Drunk Love
Matrix Reloaded
Lost in Translation
March of the Penguins
The Quiet American
Jarhead
The Dark Knight
Unbreakable
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Memento
LOTR: The Two Towers
Garden State
Okay I went over a little bit.
freelancer (itouch)
@EMPY:
1998.
Xanthippas
I forgot Saving Private Ryan, so I’m adding to my list. Ten, fourteen, whatever.
Trinity
District 9.
Oh, and Zombieland. (Whatever. I love the genre!)
khead
So, it’s not just me. Whew.
Xanthippas
I think The Departed must have close the record for the number of point blank shots to the head in one movie.
Yutsano
KITTEH!! Thank you, that shall please my wifey much.
robertdsc
For fans of the Jackson LOTR movies, this is a site I kept during their heyday:
Images From The Lord Of The Rings
I haven’t touched it in years, but it was a labor of love for a long time.
Incidentally, the “Darth Screen Capture” site is where I derive the “DSC” in my name from. I do admit that I haven’t done any capturing in a while, though.
Comrade Mary
Soft kitty, warm kitty
Little ball of fur
Lazy kitty, pretty kitty
Purr, purr, purr
SQUEEE! Thanks, John.
Mojotron
I’m going with (in no order):
1. Tropic Thunder
2. Memento
3. X Men2
4. O Brother Where Art Thou
5. the Prestige
6. Ratatouille
7. City of God
8. Kill Bill
9. Iron Giant
10. Lord of the Rings
General Winfield Stuck
@SIA aka ScreamingInAtlanta:
I have two movies that arrived today from NF. Drag Me To Hell and The Endurance.
General Winfield Stuck
Children of Men. Not even close.
Corner Stone
While we’re here and speaking camcorders – let me just tell everyone – for an affordable, awesome, fantastic, mini-camcorder – absolutely buy a Flip UltraHD camcorder.
Unbelievably awesome. Just bought one for an Xmas present for my child and we’ve been loving the hell out of it.
It’s not going to give you all the features a $1K camcorder does, but it is so damn good. It records 120 minutes of HD, in a little device small enough to fit in your jeans pocket.
I could go on but honestly – for $150 thru Amazon – just buy one and thank me later.
No. I don’t work for them. But I was so damn happy I had it today when the snow storm hit Houston. Recorded a couple snowball fights and everything else. I just dig it and it’s prolly the best $150 I’ve spent in a ling time, strip clubs excluded.
South of I-10
@Yutsano: What a lovely job you’ve done with the kitchen! Why don’t you sit down and have a snack, you deserve it.
jacy
FYI it’s snowing here in southern Louisiana. My husband is at volleyball and told me to go out and take pictures of the yard. I’m originally from Colorado, so I just laughed at him and hung up the phone.
Favorite movies of the last decade? That’s a hard one – but I do know the two I couldn’t stop obsessing about after I watched them: No Country for Old Men and The Prestige. I would say The Prestige probably edges it’s way into my top 20 of all time.
Favorites — not necessarily best:
The Prestige
No Country for Old Men
In Bruges
RocknRolla
Michael Clayton
Wall-E
Waitress
Hot Fuzz
Land of the Dead – because you have to have zombies.
I don’t think the Dark Knight was a best, but Heath Ledger’s performance was. Ditto Jackie Earle Hayley in Watchmen.
Unfortunately I’m way behind on movies this decade because I have so damn many kids. We’ve had The Fall from Netflix for the last 7 weeks and haven’t managed to watch it yet. Sigh.
robertdsc
Reposting my list:
10 for the 2000s, in no particular order:
The LOTR trilogy with Two Towers as my favorite.
Revenge Of The Sith. Anakin Skywalker’s fall was exquisite.
The Hours with Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, & Julianne Moore. Painful & sad but wonderful at the same time.
21 Grams. Naomi Watts owns my soul.
Hero directed by Zhang Yimou. Best Kung Fu movie I’ve seen in years.
Far From Heaven with Julianne Moore.
Eastern Promises with Naomi & Viggo.
Batman Begins. Such a strong cast & story. I liked it better than The Dark Knight.
Black Hawk Down. Ridley Scott is great.
Gladiator, even though I can’t watch it now because Russell Crowe is a disgusting animal. When this movie was in the theaters, I saw it 13 times. My ex, who I’d just broken up with a few months earlier, suggesed I see it. The first 10 minutes were like a sponge for the pain in my soul.
Corner Stone
@Mojotron: X Men 2 is damn good.
Jager
The Gods must be Angry
Corner Stone
@Yutsano: Do Marines notice such?
Guster
In Bruges.
SIA aka ScreamingInAtlanta
@Jager: Good one I’d forgotten about.
Yutsano
@South of I-10: Heh. Thanks. I needed that. You have no idea.
SiubhanDuinne
@John Cole: Thanks for the new thread. My BlackBerry gave up around #350 on the old one.
@South of I-10: Snow and other wintry stuff is always both treacherous and amusing in the south. It always cracks me up the way the local TV stations go all deep-voiced *Blizzard of 2009* with their special-effects graphics and portentous theme music and camera crews stationed on every interstate and overpass to cover stalled motorists and trucks skidding around.
My Canadian relatives tell me that for the first time since 1843, Toronto had a 100% snow-free November. Take *that,* global warming deniers!
Mark S.
In no particular order:
Fellowship of the Ring
Memento
Million Dollar Baby
Brokeback Mountain
Spiderman
Spiderman 2
Catch Me If You Can
You Can Count On Me
Far From Heaven
About Schmidt
Cat Lady
WALL-E
Children of Men
Apocalypto
Motorcycle Diaries
Lost in Translation
O Brother Where Art Thou
Ratatouille
Corner Stone
@Yutsano:
You know what else pisses me right the fuck off? I just figured out why choosy mom’s choose Jif.
I can not tell you how motherfucking pissed off I am right now.
Yutsano
@Corner Stone: If one knew what was good for him (and was here to appreciate the fact) he’d better. Although to be honest it takes a lot for him to make me mad at him. I think it’s only happened once or twice. It’s hard for someone to irritate you when they’re 3000 miles away.
MikeJ
You take rugby far too seriously.
Mark S.
@robertdsc:
I forgot that one. That might be a candidate.
rob!
In no particular order, American films only (I haven’t seen enough foreign films to make a credible list):
The Dark Knight
Lost in Translation
There Will Be Blood
Before Sunset
Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room
Munich
Children of Men
…eh, that’s all I got.
jacy
Crap – forgot Memento and O Brother Where Art Thou, from up thread.
And nobody saw Session 9 – but that scared the hell out of me, and I consider myself a horror expert.
Corner Stone
How about one single movie that makes you want to absolutely destroy something?
Mine is The Forgotten (2004) with Julianne Moore.
scav
I’m not sure I watched any movies this last decade. The last ones I really obsessed over were Wings of Desire & Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown which probably means something dire.
SiubhanDuinne
@Comrade Mary:
Take a pound of fly-around,
An ounce or two of fat,
A little fur, a little purr,
And you’ve a pussy cat!
Corner Stone
@Yutsano:
I’ve thought about this for a couple minutes and have decided I have nothing smartass to say.
I will now do yoga for a few minutes to recenter myself.
Yutsano
Persepolis
WALL-E
Anything Miyazaki
And David Boreanaz on my TV.
binzinerator
Posting this from the tail end of the first open thread this morning. Been a hard day today.
******
Horrible day, just horrific tragedy happened here that has affected us.
Mrs. Binz went to drop our kids off at their preschool this morning only to find it was closed for the day. The Director took her aside and told her our 2-year-old son’s teacher and the teacher’s daughter, who is also in our son’s class, had been murdered last night. Amber was his teacher, and Neveah was the little girl.
Our son just adored Amber. She was the one he wanted to comfort him if he was having a bad day at school.
Wednesday night I when picked my kids, I asked Amber how his day was. She told me he had a really good day. Then she gushed “I just love that little guy!” And Neveah came running up and gave me a hug and asked me if my son could stay longer so they can play more.
Now they’re both gone. We’re stunned. It’s so goddamed senseless. Amber was so full of joy, so happy, just loved kids. And Neveah was the cutest little sweetheart, loved hugs. Oh damn I am just crying now. It makes no sense.
How the hell do I tell my little boy and my 4-year-old daughter, who went to the same school and also knew both of them well, about this?
I think the best I can do is tell them Amber and Neveah are gone and are not coming back. That they have died and not go into any details. I sure as hell am not telling them some bad man shot them.
This is going to be hard on our little boy; he just absolutely adored Amber. It’s going to be hard on our little girl in other ways, she’s older and has begun to realize that people die but does not yet understanding it.
I guess I don’t either. It’s so senseless. So wrong. Amber was just a joyful person, truly she was. Neveah was just two years old. My mind just reels.
JK
@robertdsc:
The Hours rocks. Unforgettable performances by Kidman, Streep, and Moore. Roman Polanski is a scumbag, but The Pianist is a great movie.
gyma
@Corner Stone:
I loved Women on the Verge and have been trying to get it from NF for like forever. Sadly, it’s not available.
demkat620
Am I the only person who has absolutey not interest in the Avatar movie?
I think it looks really dumb.
Bhall35
In no particular order:
Ghost World
Children of Men
Donnie Darko
The Lives of Others
Tropical Malady
The Host
Ratatouille (tough to pick just one Pixar though)
LOTR, the Return of the King
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Hot Fuzz
This was very top of my head, these all just stuck out for one reason or another from most others. I’m sure I’m forgetting something.
gyma
@gyma:
Dang, that was supposed to be scav. Sorry.
binzinerator
We told our kids early this evening. It was hard.
(The above link goes back to a follow-on comment of mine also posted at the end of this morning’s open thread.)
jacy
Devils Backbone – Spanish, Guillermo del Toro.
Sheesh – never ask me to make a list of anything. My brain is a sieve.
freelancer (itouch)
@binzinerator:
Damn biz. That’s some senseless, heartbreaking tragic shit. I’m so sorry. I hope you and your community are able to pull closer together in a time like this.
Condolences.
jl
Blogs schmlogs, who cares?
I nominate TUNCH as a top ten cat.
Viva BrisVegas
Well it wasn’t a stellar decade for movies, but the ones I liked:
LOTR (all three)
Star Trek
Wall*E
Gwoemul
Kill Bill Vol1 (NOT Vol2)
There Will Be Blood
The Incredibles
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
To tell the truth I’m hard put to get to ten.
RedKitten
@binzinerator: I don’t even know what to say, except to agree that it is a horrible, senseless tragedy.
If it’s any consolation, adults almost seem to be more affected by this stuff than kids are, just due to the fact that they don’t really delve into the fine details of the situation. When I was 8, my best friend, her mom, and her brother were killed in the Air India crash. I was obviously very upset that Bhavani was dead and that I’d never see her again, but I didn’t really grasp the senseless, horrible tragedy of it until I looked back on it as an adult.
Your kids will be okay — they’ll be sad, really sad, but having a caring parent like you will be a huge help.
RedKitten
I love that picture of Tunch, by the way—his eyes have that perfect combo of sweetness and mischief.
By the way, I earned a parenting merit badge today. I successfully assembled Sam’s new IKEA crib all by myself, with no start-overs, no missing pieces, and not one bad word uttered.
Viva BrisVegas
@MikeJ:
Which one? There is one you can take seriously and one you can’t.
SiubhanDuinne
@binzinerator:
I posted a (woefully inadequate) response in the earlier thread, but I just want to say again how terribly sorry I am — sad and angry and helpless-feeling. You have a tough task ahead of you breaking the news to your children, but I think your instincts are right — to be truthful while not dwelling on the violence. Thinking of you. This is a terrible thing.
madmommy
@jacy:
I’m on the Northshore and it’s done nothing but rain here so far. I just went outside and it sounds like it might be starting to sleet a bit, but definitely no snowflakes. The kids are expecting snow like last year. I am not. 4 days of no power suck hard.
Haven’t seen anything but Pixar movies within the last decade. Which is sort of sad, but they are good movies.
Yutsano
@RedKitten:
Okay that’s just scary. Or superior Canadian education.
Corner Stone
@gyma: Eh, it had me thinking for a couple minutes. And really, what the hell more could I ask for?
San
OK, that does it.
This weekend we are having the LOTR marathon. Our daughter loves the films so it will be a nice family affair.
Max
Okay movie people, I have the following on my DVR and want to watch one tonight. I’m sick, so nothing too heavy.
My choices are:
The Wrestler
The International
Doubt
Which should I watch?
Oily Taint
Get back to me in a year or so; this decade still has 13 months left in it. Math isn’t debatable.
ed
Shaun of the Dead
Yutsano
@demkat620: I’m thinking when it hits Redbox I might rent it. Unless it has an IMAX format, then it might be worth it.
Corner Stone
@Bhall35: Well, Forgetting Sarah Marshall is absolutely f’ng fantastic and I can’t believe I forgot it in my previous list last thread.
Thank you.
Children of Men? Meh. But I will say the scene near the end where they are in the building/compound and everyone is killing everyone and generally blowing the shit outta shit and then the mom walks the baby down and out while they all kinda are like…WTF?
That was straight awesome.
Didn’t really like much else of it, and I am a shahooge Clive Owens fan.
Yutsano
@Max: Option A. The other two are a bit too heavy for illness. Just MHO.
jacy
@madmommy:
Yeah, I have a 4-year-old, and after last year and tonight, he’s going to start expecting snow every winter. Hopefully we’ll get a chance to visit my mom back in CO sometime soon, and then he can see some real snow.
Me, I’m over it, but my husband spent his whole life in the French Quarter, so it’s still quite the novelty. Here’s hoping for no power outages for anybody!
Brian Griffin
favorites
pan’s labyrinth
hot fuzz
michael clayton
children of heaven
garden state
juno
the royal tennenbaums
o brother where art thou
I can’t get to 10
valdivia
Tunch! Thanks John, seeing him always makes my day. Who could ask for a better overlord?
Movies. can they be non american movies?
Have to think of a full list but on the number one spot I would most certainly put what i think is the best political film I have seen, The Lives of Others. Yes I know a lot of conservative idiots like it a lot but I refuse to give this wonderful movie over to them. It is one of the most nuanced, saddest best executed films and I truly think they did not get it.
On my top 10 I would also put Talk to Her, and the Israeli film Walk on Water. Oh and the Argentinian film Nueve Reinas, fantastic caper, but remade into a second rate film here in the states. The original is perfect.
Now I have to go back to grading papers. At least I have not encountered anything Evita related yet.
Annie
@Jager:
Yes. A great film along with The Commitments….
gnomedad
@binzinerator:
That’s just unimaginable. So sorry for you and your family.
JK
@Corner Stone:
Best Clive Owen performance – Croupier
ChrisNBama
American Beauty.
Hands down my favorite movie. A twisted story revealing the dark underbelly of American suburban life. What I love about the movie is the way it shows how redemption can come bundled in seedy beginnings (pederasty).
A must see. One that I watch on a fairly regular basis.
madmommy
@jacy:
The worst part is they only got to play in the snow for a while last year before they got cold. We just don’t have the proper gear for playing in snow! Then the power went out and the whole adventure went to hell in a handcart. No electricity in an all electric house with a well means an instant time warp to a time before indoor plumbing.
Not fun.
JK
@binzinerator:
Heartbreaking post. My condolences to you.
MikeJ
I hate making lists like this, so in lieu of thought, I’ll grab the stack of dvds that is next to me and take out the Goddard, Kurosawa, and Buffy the Vampire Slayers:
Capote
Good Night and Good Luck
Walk the Line
Burn After Reading
Paris Je t’aime
South of I-10
@SiubhanDuinne: I am sure there will be some wrecks tonight, nobody here knows how to drive on ice, although they could take you through some mud like nobody’s business!
TEL
@binzinerator: I’m so sorry about that. I can’t imagine how you’re feeling right now, but reading your story brought me to tears also. Deciding how (and how much) to tell your kids will probably take several conversations. It constantly surprises me how awful people can be, how they can act so selfishly with no thought about the lives they take, and all the other lives they affect.
Bhall35
@Corner Stone: Children of Men blew me away. The whole thing as conceived, acted and shot seemed frighteningly plausible, and I’m not always a sucker for overt religious overtones, but the spiritual dimensions of this one really got to me.
One question: did you see it at the movies or at home? I’m finding that some movies really need to be experienced as movies, in the dark, with a room full of strangers. I know public behavior sucks and is getting worse, but sometimes it is still worth it.
Bhall35
@ChrisNBama: I almost put American Beauty here, and agree with you about the movie, despite the backlash that the film engendered, but it was released in 1999, no?
South of I-10
@madmommy: No snow yet? We are at the tail end of this system and very little snow. Little one is not happy. Are you ready for the game tomorrow? I know you have said your a Bama fan.
Max
@Yutsano: Thank you. I will queue it up.
MikeJ
Nobody knows how to drive on ice. Don’t let the people from the snow bound regions tells you any different. There are just as many idiots who don’t know how to drive in places where it snows as in places where it doesn’t. Many times when people aren’t used to snow they acknowledge this fact and actually drive better.
ChrisNBama
@Bhall35: Yep, American Beauty came out in 1999. My understanding is that we are rating movies over the past ten years. Unless, I’m mistaken. And lord knows that happens more often than I care to admit.
The reason why the movie is so powerful to me is because of all the spiritual meaning I get out of it. It’s the gospel told by Alan Ginsburg or William Burroughs. You have a middle-aged man–Lester Burnham– who is, for all intents and purposes, dead. Without ambition, without love. Then you have the Christ figure in the form of the drug peddling, teen-aged next door neighbor–Ricky Fitts–, who preaches the gospel to Lester in the form of a very simple act: quitting his job. And like a millstone around his neck, Lester quits his job, too (in a very creative way, I might add). The story then unfolds around Lester rediscovering who he is before the dramatic, and tragic, end. A tour de force!
JK
@Bhall35:
See Debate over millennium celebrations
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millenium#Debate_over_millennium_celebrations
Best use of Baba O’Reilly and Won’t Get Fooled Again in a movie – Summer of Sam
binzinerator
@RedKitten:
Thanks, RedKitten, that is a consolation. And it’s true. I think we were socked harder by this than they were. It took us a bit before we could wrap our heads around it enough so we could in turn tell them and still be the listening parents they need.
I can’t imagine what Amber’s family is going through right now. My heart just aches for them.
@ SiubhanDuinne
Thank you, SiubhanDuinne, for your words and thoughts.
Notorious P.A.T.
@Mark S.:
**applause**
@Comrade Mary:
Good on bringing up “Spider-Man”. It had the biggest box office opening ever (I think) and generally people thought it was one of the best super hero movies ever, yet it hasn’t been getting much mention in best-of-decade lists.
MikeJ
dammit, meant that for the other thread.
Notorious P.A.T.
@binzinerator:
Oh wow. I’m so sorry to hear that.
Cat G
In no order..
LOTR
Children of Men
Intolerable Cruelty
O Brother Where Art Thou
Gosford Park
The Lives of Others
Casino Royale
Star Trek
jacy
@madmommy: My oldest just came from a football game up in Franklinton and said they’ve got feet of snow. But there’s just a covering here in the Hammond area. The youngest are sitting in front of the TV dressed up in hats and parkas waiting for Dad to come home. Ah, to be young and so easily amused.
I’m getting a cup of tea and getting in bed and making some space on the DVR. The Doctor Who Christmas special seems like a good choice.
madmommy
@South of I-10:
Not a flake! And yes, I’m ready for the big game! Though if Bama plays like they did in the Iron Bowl last weekend they are going to be beaten like a rented mule. I am hopeful, but not confident. They went undefeated last year till they met up with UF. I cannot wait till Tebow graduates and moves on to a lackluster 2 year career in the NFL. I’m only afraid that his NFL career will be followed shortly by a career in politics. He’s got all the winger bona-fides.
arguingwithsignposts
@binzinerator:
{hugs}
no words. just the electronic equivalent of hugs for you and your kids and everyone who was touched by this family.
Comrade Luke
Just tried to watch Jersey Shore.
Holy…are these people for real?
wasabi gasp
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Journey to the Center of the Earth
The Wizard of Oz
Babes in Toyland
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Fantastic Voyage
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Hans Christian Andersen
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
freelancer (itouch)
@ChrisNBama:
American Beauty was my favorite movie of all time when it came out. I saw it in theaters at least 4 times. The reason I think it’s lost some of it’s appeal in my mind in the years since is that the creative genius of the film was inherent in Alan Ball’s script. In the five seasons of Six Feet Under, I think Ball explored every nuance and theme in his own script to much greater effect.
Mendes is a talented director, but Ball’s later work overshadowed Beauty.
Children of Men is the 21st century Blade Runner. In a world where humans can live without having kids/ can’t procreate, we have to choose the things that matter to us, define us, that give us hope and we have to defend them at all costs.
Thanks to you folks, I’m currently an hour into The Mission. Damn. Damn.
Bhall35
@JK: Yeah, I know that’s not likely to ever be settled, but it seems that a lot of the best of decade lists I’ve been seeing are of the 2000-2009 variety, though I hardly have a strong opinion about it. In any event, American Beauty did rock, especially the 1st time I saw it and knew very little about it.
Cat G
In no order –
LOTR
Children of Men
The Lives of Others
Casino Royale
Intolerable Cruelty
Gosford Park
Star Trek
O Brother Where Art Thou
Michael Clayton
Charlie Wilson’s War – just to see Phillip Seymour Hoffman
and yes, George Clooney’s had a pretty good decade
Notorious P.A.T.
Other movies I really liked from this past decade (not necessarily among the 10 best):
Wonder Boys
Training Day
Zoolander
Minority Report
Road to Perdition
Down With Love
Open Range
Cabin Fever
Dodgeball
Seebach
Best movie of the decade is 3 Iron, a Korean movie.
Church Lady
Does anyone know if Max Baucus was also a resident of the C Street house? If not, he should have been. He and Ensign would make good running buddies.
Man, the party doesn’t make a difference. They’re all a bunch of dogs.
General Winfield Stuck
@wasabi gasp:
Was a delightfully macabre flik. good choice.
SiubhanDuinne
Nothing to do with movies, but did anyone hear about the massive Toys R Us double-billing that took place on Black Friday? Apparently there was some kind of computer glitch because the stores opened at midnight but the system didn’t recognize the date/time so it ended up putting transactions through twice. According to the report I heard, hundreds of people who used debit cards and were double-charged incurred overdraft charges. To their credit, Toys R Us have said that if the banks don’t remove the overdraft penalties they will make good on them, but in the meantime what a huge nuisance. I didn’t get the sense this was local but rather widespread. But this was the first I’d heard of it.
calipygian
The decade 2000-2009 has been the second best decade for movies since the invention of the motion picture since the 1970s.
Discuss.
General Winfield Stuck
@Church Lady:
Are you kidding, Baucus worships Baucus and maybe the FSM, and besides his crazy ass wife would kill him if he spread his noodle around.
wasabi gasp
@General Winfield Stuck: Yeah, but how ’bout that Hans Christian Andersen?
MikeJ
@Church Lady: Having a girlfriend makes one a “dog”? Even if that person is not married?
calipygian
In no particular order:
The LOTR trilogy.
Children of Men
Munich
The Departed
Gangs of New York
Snatch
Memento
O Brother Where Art Thou
Grand Torino
There Will Be Blood
No Country For Old Men
General Winfield Stuck
@wasabi gasp:
LOL. will pass on that one.
JK
@calipygian:
See Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘N’ Roll Generation Saved Hollywood and A Decade Under the Influence:The 70’s Films That Changed Everything
Comrade Kevin
Interesting picture of Tunch. He doesn’t have that “I’m plotting how to kill you” look on his face.
Elie
@ChrisNBama:
American Beauty — just saw it again a few weeks ago and remembered how amazing it was…
One image of the plastic bag blowing in the wind, mysteriously and beautifully —
The simplicity and mystery of life…
Elie
@Brian Griffin:
Juno —
I will enjoy over and over for a long time
calipygian
Can there be a case made for Viggo Mortonson to be the Robert DeNiro of the Naughies?
LOTR
Eastern Promises
The Road
A History of Violence
28 Days
Prove me wrong.
Elie
Popcorn recipe:
for those still awake — My best healthy popcorn for movie watchin…
Unsalted, unbuttered popcorn
Drizzle over some olive oil
sprinkle some soy sauce instead of salt (spray is best if you can place in a spray bottle, but sprinkle will do fine)
Toss
Shake over some Brewer’s Yeast buds or flakes (very good for gents and ladies arteries and such )
Shake over some grated parmesan
shake over a little garlic powder
Toss again…
Enjoy!
This is a Bellingham Pickford Cinema tradition
JenJen
My friends and I were just talking about a Best Movies of the Decade list last night, and the one film for me that immediately jumped out was “Das Leben der Anderen/The Lives of Others”, which I see some wise posters with excellent taste in cinema have already mentioned.
freelancer (itouch)
@Comrade Kevin:
This is an old pic, that comes later. It would be irresponsible not to speculate that Tunch might possibly be a reincarnated wingnut. Perhaps the tortured soul of Curtis LeMay.
calipygian
I have to second the commenter who said that this was the decade of the cable series.
Are there really Hollywood movies that have had the cultural impact of the Sopranos? The insight of the Wire? The vulgar majesty of Deadwood? The coolness of Mad Men?
calipygian
@calipygian: Not to mention the screwball comedy of Curb Your Enthusiasm?
Elie
@calipygian:
You have a point. I have enjoyed all of those you mentioned…
My favorite was Deadwood…
JK
@calipygian:
Don’t forget The Shield, Rescue Me, Breaking Bad, The Riches, and Damages.
Tattoosydney
@Yutsano:
@asiangrrlmn – wherever she is
@AhabTRuler:
Hello. I am alive… How you?
Tiefschwarz feat. Tracey Thorn – Damage
Tom Q
Glad to see so many people here are with me on Children of Men, which I think is the most thrilling movie of the decade by far — thrilling in both the action and emotional senses. Wish Cuaron would get back to work.
Others contending for my top list:
Far from Heaven
Sideways
No Country for Old Men
Gosford Park
The Rings trilogy as a whole, though I think quality tapered off by the third one
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Almost Famous
A Serious Man
Memento
with About Schmidt, Mystic River, Good Night and Good Luck, Vera Drake, United 93, Zodiac, There Will Be Blood and Wall E also rating mentions
I’d say the decade was streaky — some excellent vintages (’02, ’04, ’06 and ’07), but the other years were sparse. As one who lived through the 70s in real time, there was more a sense then that there was always something exciting playing, or at least coming in a month or two.
Andy K
@calipygian:
I’ll agree that the ’70s were the best decade for film ever (so far), but until we get some distance, I’m not willing to rank this decade above the ’30s.
freelancer (itouch)
@JK:
Jerry,
love ya buddy, but you NEED to watch The Wire. It’s not readily available, but on half.com,
best $60-100 you will ever spend. For serious.
http://product.half.ebay.com/The-Wire-The-Complete-Series_W0QQtgZinfoQQprZ70847974
this is one of the very few shows I’m a complete evangelist about.
I agree about this being the best decade of TV, but that’s a whole nother thread.
Brett
Not yet mentioned, I think:
Goodbye Solo (I cannot believe how good this movie is)
Grizzly Man
The Inside Man
The Fog of War
The Bourne Identity (HA! It never gets old.)
Insomnia (sure it’s a remake, but Al Pacino + Hilary Swank)
Legends of Rita – Stille Nach dem Schuss (the first time I watched it I thought it was just Boogie Nights for folks who remembered the Baader-Meinhof gang, but I was wrong – director’s commentary is worth the extra couple of hours)
The rest of my five are already here:
Pan’s Labyrinth
Michael Clayton
You Can Count on Me
Corner Stone
@Bhall35:
I refuse to believe you just used the word “conceived” while discussing this film.
General Winfield Stuck
@Brett:
Damn straight. I bought a trilogy package and watch them over and over, never gets old. The very definition of taut action flick. Nothing is wasted .
De selby
Oh, dang. Fishing With Ghandi is from the wrong decade.
Get off my lawn.
freelancer (itouch)
@Tom Q:
I’m so glad I went to the same HS as Alex Payne, so he could grow to film my hometown as a dystopian, post-industrial hellfuck with constant Londonesque dreary weather. BTW, it was so nice that you had Laura Dern huffing paint at a hardware store two blocks from where I live.
/break
United 93 is an amazing and soulcrushing watch.
/break
I watched Gosford Park the other night, to me it was Altman doing a macabre version of Clue. I could take it or leave it, but Kelly MacDonald as always, was amazing.
JK
@Tom Q: @Andy K:
As far as decades go, I’d put the 1960’s right up up there alongside the 1970’s:
Lawrence of Arabia, The Great Escape, A Man for All Seasons, In the Heat of the Night, The Odd Couple, Dr. Strangelove, A Hard Day’s Night, The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy, Easy Rider, The Lion in Winter, Elmer Gantry, The Apartment, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf
Andy K
@JK:
Chinatown. ‘nuf said.
JK
@freelancer (itouch):
The Wire is on my list along with several other programs.
I’d also put the Law and Order franchise and House up there with the best cable tv dramas.
JK
@Andy K:
Love Chinatown. You can’t bring up the 1970’s in film without also including Five Easy Pieces, The Last Detail, Save the Tiger, Patton, The French Connection, The Conversation, Nashville, The Hospital, All the President’s Men, Network, Breaking Away, Apocalypse Now, Next Stop Greenwich Village, MASH, Dog Day Afternoon, and my five favorites from the 70’s The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, Mean Streets, Annie Hall, and Manhattan.
freelancer (itouch)
@JK:
Law and Order. Brother, we’ve been here several times before. Their staff is absolutely competant, I’m sure. But that’s like saying the Shield is basically Training Day, the movie. Some things don’t translate and with your taste, you owe it to yourself to dive headfirst into this show.
JK
@freelancer (itouch):
I think you should give Gosford Park another shot. There are so many great performances in it, it’s worth revisiting.
Yutsano
@Tattoosydney: Bonne matin etranger! How was the wedding et al?
Andy K
@JK:
American Graffiti, The Sting, Harold & Maude, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jaws, Star Wars, The Last Picture Show, Bound For Glory, Taxi Driver….
JK
@Andy K:
Agreed on your choices except for Star Wars. To me it’s somewhat overrated.
Ben Richards
@JK: I would not have thought so, but after reading everyone’s lists, this decade has 10 + movies that I think could stack up against that list from the 1960’s. Time will tell.
Some of my standouts are:
Children of Men
Pan’s Labyrinth
Catch Me If You Can
Good Night and Good Luck
Adaptation
Almost Famous
Far From Heaven
There Will Be Blood
Yutsano
@Ben Richards: The nice part about this is it’s not a competition among us. We each throw out our opinions then compare and take what the other says under consideration. Since I work (indirectly) for a movie rental distribution company, I always take notes for whenever we get our free codes approved as a perk of employment. Then maybe I’ll get caught up.
Tom Q
Wow, now we’re covering multiple decades. I’d say the only shortcoming of the 60s is the period from ’63-’66 is a little soft — at least, compared to the amazements of 1962 (The Manchurian Candidate, Lawrence of Arabia, Lolita, To Kill a Mockingbird, Jules and Jim) and the revolution that started with Bonnie and Clyde and The Graduate in ’67.
JK, I’d certain echo most of your 70s picks; also throw in American Graffiti, Cabaret, Clockwork Orange, The Last Picture Show, Taxi Driver. My top five, depending on the day: Nashville, Chinatown, American Graffiti, Manhattan (glad you mention it; it’s too often overlooked, and just about perfect), and Cabaret (I’m one of the few who actually preferred it to The Godafther that year — but of course we’re talking on a “Who’s better, Mays or Aaron?” level)
Andy K
@JK:
It’s iconic. You can’t deny that.
And i don’t have it in my top ten for the decade, although it’s probably the one from the decade that I enjoy the most…Call it sentimentality, I guess.
freelancer (itouch)
@JK:
Will do. Altman is a treasure, but you’ll agree he’s an aquired taste.
But then, I’m an old soul buried in youth.
JK
@Ben Richards:
I’ve cut back substantially on going to the theater in the last few years and on watching videos of recent releases. Most of the movies people are listing from this decade are ones I haven’t yet seen.
I agree with you that Catch Me If You Can, Adaptation, and
Far From Heaven are standouts.
Morbo
Q: Who has more touchdowns than Tim Tebow and in fact set a new record tonight?
A: Dan LeFevour (147), quarterback at Central Michigan University. They may be a MAC team, but 3 conference championships in 4 years is nothing to sneeze at. At least one team from this state had a decent season in college football. Go, Chippewas!
Yutsano
@Morbo: And how much do you want to bet he goes really low or completely undrafted?
Andy K
Shit, i forgot to mention McCabe & Mrs. Miller. And (bad segue) Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, Holy Grail and Life of Brian, The Man Who Would Be King, Vanishing Point and The Outlaw Josey Wales. Animal House.
Andy K
@Yutsano:
He’s been projected as an early second/late first rounder since early in the ’08 season, and his stock has been rising.
With the Wolverines sucking and the Spartans being, well, the Spartans for the last two falls, I’ve been listening to a lot of Chips games. LeFevour is LeGit.
JK
Andy K – Star Wars is certainly iconic.
Tom Q, Andy K, freelancer – Given your interest in movies, you owe it to yourselves to see the documentaries “A Decade Under the Influence” and “Easy Riders Raging Bulls” which recount the golden age of moviemaking from the late 1960’s thru the mid 1970’s. Also check out “No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos” which discusses the careers of Hungarian emigres Lazlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond. They were the cinematographers for many of the iconic films of the 60’s and 70’s. “Vision of Light” is another great documentary on the history of cinematography from the silent era thru the late 1980’s.
JK
@Andy K:
I once saw an interview with John Huston in which he said he’d been wanting to make The Man Who Would Be King for decades and originally hoped to cast Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable in the lead roles.
Andy K
@JK:
I just can’t imagine that. Caine and Connery were perfectly cast.
JK
@Andy K:
I haven’t seen the film, and I’ll take your word for it that Caine and Connery were great, but I certainly would love to have seen Bogart and Gable playing opposite one another.
Andy K
@JK:
As two retired, 19th century British NCOs?
BTW, find a copy of TMWWBK, and view it back-to-back with Mountains of the Moon. Makes for a rousing weekend afternoon.
Or go all in and tack on Kim and Zulu.
Tattoosydney
@Yutsano:
Long and drunken – great food, lots of stupidity, many photos (which I will share at some point). My mother burst into tears four times, so you know it was a good night.
Let me tell you too that these straight people have been on a good thing with the wedding presents.
JK
@Andy K:
I have great faith in John Huston, based on his track record, and if he thought he could have pulled it off with Bogart and Gable, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.
Mountains of the Moon is on my list.
Yutsano
@Tattoosydney: Yes photos will be required at some point. I’m glad the blessed event went off well. Moms crying is always a good sign.
Oh and that restaurant! I may have to save that link! I planted a bug in a friend’s brain and I may just have a travel companion should I decide to visit Australia, say, this August?
Steeplejack
@SIA aka ScreamingInAtlanta:
Amen, sister. I love the Charlie Chan movies.
Another particular guilty pleasure–the Jacques Tourneur/Val Lewton movie I Walked with a Zombie (1943). Lamest title ever, but it’s a actually very moody, atmospheric and appropriately creepy movie. Shows up on TCM every now and then.
Tattoosydney
@Yutsano:
Have you been to Sydney before?
If not, there is a walk I need to take you on one sunny day early in your trip – the very best way to see the Opera House, the Bridge and the Harbour for the “first” time.
Steeplejack
Add:
Crouching Tiger, HIdden Dragon
Spirited Away
And, sorry, Corner Stone and Notorious P.A.T., No Country for Old Men is a great movie. Not perfect, but damn good.
Yutsano
@Tattoosydney: Farthest south I’ve been is Florida (Miami, been to Mexico but right along the border so that hardly counts) and only been over the Atlantic unless you count the fact I was born in Hawai’i. It would definitely be really exciting for me and my friend, especially since we’ve traveled together before and we get along doing that rather well. I have to let you know that I have a life goal involving Sydney: I want to, just once, sing in the Sydney Opera House. I’m a classically trained singer so I wouldn’t necessarily embarrass myself, but talk about a realization of a dream!
Steeplejack
@Oily Taint:
Have to disagree with you. Yes, the 20th century (and the second millennium) ended on December 31, 2000. But decades are different in how people refer to them. When they say, for example, “the ’70s,” they are by definition talking about the ten years from 1970 to 1979. So most people, when they say “this decade,” mean the aughts–2000 to 2009. (Not the first decade of the 21st century, which would be 2001 to 2010.) So, as someone who has a fair amount of finicky
OCDCDO (h/t AsiangrrlMN), I urge you to just deal with it and/or seek professional help.Phoebe
Ok.
In no order:
Brokeback Mountain
You Can Count On Me
Lost In Translation
Let the Right One In
Shotgun Stories
The Foot Fist Way
Monster
Infamous
Eternal S of the S M
Grizzly Man
Svensker
@RedKitten:
OK, that’s when I knew you were spoofin.
Stephanie
In no particular order:
The Lives of Others
Traffic
Slumdog Millionaire
Lost in Translation
Almost Famous
Hotel Rwanda
Little Miss Sunshine
Brokeback Mountain
Michael Clayton
Sideways
JenJen
After spending the morning thinking about this, I humbly offer my Top 10 in no particular order. And are we agreeing that the decade started in 2000, or 2001? I’m going with 2000 so I can include the first three on the list:
– Traffic
– O Brother Where Art Thou
– Almost Famous
And here are the rest:
– Once (even thinking about this movie brings a tear to my eye. In a good way.)
– The Lives of Others
– 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
– Fahrenheit 9/11 (I think this was one of the most important films of the decade, and it’s absent from a lot of lists)
– The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (can I count that as one? If I can only take one, make it “Fellowship of the Ring”)
– Lost in Translation
– United 93
JenJen
@freelancer (itouch): Glad you mentioned “Six Feet Under.” I agree with others who say this was the decade of amazing TV, and for me, “Six Feet Under” is at the tippy-top of that list. I still miss that show, and the characters.
Joel
late to the party.
without reading anyone else in thread..
1. Cidade de Deus
2. The Wrestler
3. Memento
4. Donnie Darko
5. Y Tu Mamá También
6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
7. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
8. The Dark Knight
9. The Hurt Locker
10. Traffic
Nice showing by Christopher Nolan.
I’m comfortable with this list.
Will
(not in order)
No Country For Old Men
Pan’s Labyrinth
Brokeback Mountain
City of God
Let The Right One In
Grizzly Man
Tropic Thunder
American Psycho
Training Day
Sideways
____________________________
All in all, a pretty weak decade, actually. The 90’s was far stronger, what with the rise of independent American cinema, etc.
asiangrrlMN
Tunchie. I love Tunchie. I want more of Tunchie. That is all.
The Next-to-last samurai
Hello Juicers,
I can no longer comment on new topics, the ads move over and block my typing, don’t know if it’s the site or our computer, and also don’t know if this will go through (I’ve tried a number of times before, with no luck), but if you are seeing this, Hello and Merry Christmas (or substitute December holiday of your choice)!
DFH no.6
Pan’s Labyrinth (mentioned several times above) was the best movie I saw during the aughts.
Synecdoche New York (Philip Seymour Hoffman) in 2008 was a close second. I didn’t see it mentioned in comments yet. Pretty strange movie — not for everybody by any stretch.
Just saw The Road (really liked the book). After waiting in anticipation for about a year and a half since filming ended, I was disappointed. Not terribly so — it seemed to be a heartfelt and solidly professional job (and Mortensen is always good) — but somehow it missed.
I saw a good portion (maybe even a majority) of the movies listed by everyone, but most of them were just all right, not great.
De gustibus non est disputandum and all that.
Karl Rove
Don’t forget 2009:
Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire