10. (tie)
Half Nelson (2006)
Director: Ryan Fleck
Writer: Fleck, Anna Boden
Actors: Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps, Anthony Mackie
My wife and I saw Half Nelson on our honeymoon. Yeah, not a romantic movie. What I loved is the totally unconventional plot, plot devices, character relationships. It takes the hip and quirky set-up of a lot of mid-00s dramedies and turns it on its head. Yeah, he’s a cool young teacher with a 5-day beard, wearing short sleeve shirts and coaching basketball and generally living life funky and on the edge. But it’s also about a decent guy who wants to do good and is trying to change, and it takes the whole movie before he’s even able to get the slightest upward momentum. And it goes deep. There’s a scene in which Dan’s student, the one with whom he’s been trying to connect, shows up to sell him some crack. It’s hard to imagine a darker moment for either character, or for a viewer who’s been been waiting for things to get better.
and …
Junebug (2005)
Director: Phil Morrison
Writer: Angus MacLachlan
Actors: Embeth Davidtz, Will Oldham, Amy Adams, Alessandro Nivola
This cavalcade of tiny, touching moments is rent wide open by Amy Adams in a wide-eyed optimist of a role she won’t best for another 10 years. It’s in it’s way a movie about a search for authenticity, and director Phil Morrison has managed to fill it top to bottom with authentic performances of human beings living through trying times in their small lives. There’s sadness in the singing.

9. Requiem for a Dream (2000)
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Writer: Aronofsky, Hubert Selby Jr.
Actors: Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans, Christopher McDonald
This is at the top of the list of fantastic movies I don’t ever want to see again. Aronofsky is, quite simply, a genius, and this is one of those blessed circumstances in which a guy at the top of his game gets a little money to play with, and some great actors and technicians willing to execute his desperate, glitchy vision. It’s harrowing to say the least, and to tell the truth I do occasionally pop in the DVD and watch the first 40 minutes or so. But once the title card that says “Winter” shows-up, I run for the hills. It’s too terrifying and too real. There but for the grace of God, as they say.

8. I’m Not There (2007)
Director/Writer: Todd Haynes
Actors: Cate Blanchett, Ben Whishaw, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Richard Gere, Marcus Carl Franklin, Julianne Moore, Charlotte Gainsbourg, David Cross
True, this movie is worth it for the soundtrack alone, but there’s so much more credit to give Mr. Haynes, for managing to capture the manic glory of both Dylan the man, and Dylan the man’s body of work. So, yes, the movie is kind of hard to follow, and you have to be ready to hold in your mind several ideas that all contradict each other at once. But that’s art, baby! It’s messy! And that’s Bob Dylan, man! He’s a mess! As much as that though, this film is just as much about the performances, and it’s a crime that Cate Blanchett didn’t get more recognition. She’s the most Dylan-esque of all of ‘em, and it’s not hard to imagine her and Todd Haynes giggling about that. Oh, and David Cross as Allen Ginsberg? Y-E-S.

7. The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen) (2006)
Director/Writer: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Actors: Ulrich Mühe, Ulrich Tukur, Sebastian Koch, Martina Gedeck
It’s true I have a thing for Eastern Bloc countries, and spend countless hours trying to imagine what it must have been like. This movie does a better job a demonstrating it than any other. Rather then attempting the historic sweep that’s so tempting in evaluating the Cold War era, this movie sticks to a handful of lives and the ways in which the atmospheric pressure of the times turns them against each other, implicating and condemning even those who try to stay out of it. Miraculously, the movie avoids putting a simple villain at the heart of it, instead finding a conceivably good man, and putting him in a bad way. I know a person who actually lived at these cross-roads, and no one short of Soltzhenitsyn has better captured what it must have been like to be there, on the ground, day after day. Yes, I just dropped the big, red S. It’s that good.

6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Director: Michel Gondry
Writers: Gondry, Charlie Kaufman, Pierre Bismuth
Actors: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Elijah Wood, Mark Ruffalo, David Cross, Kirsten Dunst, Tom Wilkinson
You can imagine how I feel about Charlie Kaufman. He’s always worth viewing. And Gondry is a guy committed to finding new ways of doing things even in an era of movie-making that releases directors almost completely from the obligations of the imagination. Yet there these two are, making film experiences that bend reality, sans digital effects, and finding a way to root it all in a pair of broken hearts. A lonely night with the DVD player doesn’t get much better than this.

Related posts:

1. Favorite Movies of 2000-9: 25-11
2. Favorite Movies of 2000-9: 51-26

I know how it is, you just don’t “get” what some people like about Bob Dylan. And even if you were inclined to to try, how would you know where to start? A (virtual) trip to the iTunes store reveals 40-some albums, and that’s just counting the proper releases, never mind greatest hits, live albums and other detritus.

Allow me to make a few suggestions.

A Simple Twist of Fate
from Blood on the Tracks, 1975
A slowly breaking heart, that’s all. This is Dylan at his finest, sketching simple but potent scenes full of emotion and erudition. More than any other, this is the song on the list that makes me think, “How could anyone be unmoved by this?”

Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
from The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, 1963
This time Bobby’s leaving, not left, but the themes are similar. And the song is really direct, just a guitar, mouth harp, and Dylan’s young, strong voice. “Goodbye’s too good a word, gal. So I’ll just say fare thee well.”

One of Us Must Know
from Blonde on Blonde, 1966
Another broken-hearted ballad, poor guy. Blonde on Blonde is the Kind of Blue of Dylan-ography. (If you don’t know what I mean by that, skip this post for now and go get Kind of Blue.) This song isn’t downbeat, though. It’s got some great gospel grooves, slick organ voicings, charging piano chords, and a repeating build that makes majesty out of our downtrodden lover’s lonely attempts at vindication.

Hurricane
from Desire, 1976
Who says Dylan never rocks? Have you heard this one? It’s amazing how low-key this one starts. Dylan didn’t write as many overtly political songs as his reputation would suggest. This one is eight and a half minutes of eyewitness journalism on wax and it’s thrilling to hear him so angry and unafraid. This song is so powerful Dylan got sued over it.

Most of the Time
from Oh, Mercy, 1989
Another man trying to heal his heart. This guy’s almost alright, but we catch him here in a moment of strange reflection. Notably, this is from Dylan’s first album with super-producer Daniel Lanois. It’s a moody track, to be sure, but with a strong, slow groove under-pinning it, and Dylan sounds determined, like he’s singing through gritting teeth. The effect is enhanced by his deteriorating vocal power, and if you squint your ears, it’s not hard to imagine this song is about aging as much as anything else.

Girl from the North Country (with Johnny Cash)
from Nashville Skyline, 1969
I know, you were just starting to get used to his weird voice, and now this. Well, Dylan kinda went country for a couple of albums, and he changed his voice to go better with the style of the songs. This track is from a day that Dylan and Johnny Cash spent recording duets. A little sad, but it’s really gorgeous, and they sound fantastic together.

Visions of Johanna
from Blonde on Blonde, 1966
This contains maybe my favorite Dylan one-liner, “We sit here stranded, though we’re all doin’ our best to deny it.” And the song gets a heck of a lot more metaphoric than that. Fans have spent years trying to decipher this tangle of allusions and what we presume are memories. It’s a pretty easy-going song though, and despite the lyrical density, it’s not difficult to fall into the swing of it.

Forever Young
from Planet Waves, 1974
The Band plays backup here, and their contribution is considerable as they elevate the recording above the realm of the more “standard” Dylan ballads of the 70s. It’s a blessing from a father to a child, and Dylan’s lyrics and performance are appropriately tender and passionate. If you think you’ve heard it, that’s because Rod Stewart “accidentally” covered the song years later.

Positively 4th Street
(originally released as a single)
from Greatest Hits, 1967
Dylan wrote a lot of great “kiss-offs” in the form of some catchy songs. This is one of them. If you’ve had a run-in with a supposed friend who you just know isn’t really loyal, this song is for you. I recommend it here because it so well epitomizes a particular mini-genre of Dylanography, but is also straightforward enough to be appreciated the first time around by any listener.

Ain’t Talkin’
from Modern Times, 2006
FORTY YEARS LATER, and he’s still making 9 minute songs on serious themes. Bobby D. is positively weary on this track, and that certainly doesn’t sound like a good way to start such a long opus, but trust me, he works through it. He may be weary, but as he sings, his heart’s burnin’ and he’s still yearnin’.

Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again
from Blonde On Blonde, 1966
Sometimes though, Bob Dylan just wants to have fun. I suspect he’s being obscure just for the hell of it on this one, and I don’t really mind, the song is full of great hooks and twisty phrases that get stuck in your head for days.

All I Really Wanna Do
from Another Side of Bob Dylan, 1964
We had one of our favorite couples read these lyrics at our wedding. It’s a really friendly song about agape, and it has just enough little Dylan-isms to distinguish it from could otherwise by a really childish exercise. His sometimes howling, sometimes giggling performance really puts it over the top. This song is just so darned likable.

Gotta Serve Somebody
from Slow Train Coming, 1979
Low down, bluesy, with some gospel feel in the background. The secret here is that this was Dylan’s first statement as a born-again Christian, and it was also his last hit single. It’s a great place to check on the progress of Dylan’s voice, and it’s a really different aspect of him, that you won’t hear about too often. He’s “enlightened” here, sure, but he’s really angry again. The lyrics are focused and the sentiment is almost bitter.

Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
from Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid, 1973
So you’ve heard the Guns n Roses version, right? And the Eric Clapton version, maybe even a reggae version or two and a bootleg of U2′s version. Have heard the original though? It’ll change your perception of the song, I think. It’s short, and surprisingly resigned and reverent.

Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You
from Live 1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 5, 2002
1975: Dylan hits the road with a misfit crew of fantastic musicians, artists, poets, and personalities and calls it the Rolling Thunder Revue. This is the lead-off track from the “official bootleg,” (one of my Top 3 Dylan releases) and it’s … well, it’s a real humdinger. Dylan & co. transform this Nashville Skyline ditty into a unexpectedly massive epic. Just skip to 2:30 and listen for 30 seconds to hear how passionately invested Dylan was.

Make You Feel My Love
from Time Out of Mind, 1997
There’s no denying this album was a comeback for Bobby. Most folks considered this his first “great” album in fifteen years, if not twenty. Billy Joel recorded a fine cover of this song, but I think the original is even more touching in all its ragged glory. Dylan could still write, no doubt about it.

Like a Rolling Stone
from The Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3, 1991
This is kind of a bonus track for the list. If you’ve made it this far, here’s the gravy, or the frosting. “Like a Rolling Stone,” the version we all know, is perhaps the greatest, most influential rock recording of all time. This “3/4 waltz,” the 4th take recorded the day before, is a treasure in its own right, and a stark illustration of how ephemeral even the most epochal moments of great art can be. What if Dylan had stopped there, instead of going all the way to take 20? (Actually, it was take 8 that was finally released, but you get my point.)

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Bob Dylan dot com is a really great site, where you can thoroughly explore Dylan’s music, listening to samples of just about everything, and reading the lyrics to damn near every song he’s released.

Here’s a picture of Bob Dylan that I like.

Related posts:

1. State of Love and other songs I love & trust

The 2010 Oscar nominations are out and the best picture list is a joke. So, in an attempt to push those those thoughts from my mind and yours, here are some more of my favorite movies of the last 10 years.

25. Adaptation (2002)
Director: Spike Jonze
Writer: Charlie Kaufman (and Donald Kaufman)
Actors: Nicolas Cage, Tilda Swinton, Meryl Streep, Brian Cox, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ron Livingston, Chris Cooper
Hoo-boy. Well, this movie is about writing, and it’s about obsession. And it’s got a meta-narrative about writing. The movie is about itself. I didn’t like it too much the first time I saw it, but I went home thinking about it and starting to decipher it, and I had a couple of a-ha moments, and realized there was more there. Now, every time I watch it, I see that Kaufman has buried the real truths of the film. It’s not about what it seems to be about. The plot itself is a red herring. Tricky, even a little bit mean, but I dig it.

24. 24 Hour Party People (2002)
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Writer: Frank Cottrell Boyce
Actors: Steve Coogan, Andy Serkis, Shirley Henderson, Sean Harris
Thank goodness the story of Manchester and Tony Wilson and everyone involved is no longer one of the great under-told stories of modern music. There’s a greta blending of reality and myth, and lots of breaking of the 4th wall, all of which fits Wilson’s personality perfectly. The thing even manages to be sad a good bit of the time, despite its otherwise manic energy and style. Ian Curtis and Joy Division, of course, have received even more attention since this movie’s release. Sadly, no Happy Mondays biopic has yet surfaced.

23. Amélie (Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain) (2001)
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Writer: Jeunet, Guillaume Laurant
Actors: Audrey Tatou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus
Do you remember how much you loved this movie when it came out? Okay, maybe you didn’t. Maybe Jeunet’s extravagant, over-blown method of setting-up intricate series of co-incidences and then watching them fall in rapid-fire sequence just isn’t for you. His follow-up, A Very Long Engagement has almost no repeat-viewing value because of it. Amélie’s charms, though, seem universal: Ms. Tatou’s gigantic eyes, a cast of interesting actors full of passion and disrepair, and just a touch of movieland fantasy. The subtitles only make it more believable and much more romantic.

22. Memento (2000)
Director/Writer: Christopher Nolan
Actors: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano
The decade was so young, and so was I, but I still remember the impact this one had on me. It was the pinnacle of 20 months of a briefly golden age that saw the ascendance of young gun directors like Nolan, Darren Arronofsky, Spike Jonze, P.T. Anderson, and David Fincher. Too bad that golden age wasn’t destined to last. Memento is clearly the product of craft, and deep, complex thought about structure and the way an audience deciphers a plot. Such a thing was rare ten years ago, and seems even rarer now.

21. You Can Count on Me (2000)
Director/Writer: Kenneth Lonergan
Actors: Laura Linney, Mark Ruffalo, Matthew Broderick, Rory Culkin
There’s a moment in You Can Count on Me in which Mark Ruffalo sits on bed and suddenly starts crying in the middle of a sentence. It’s a palpable moment of suffering and release and you’re not a human being if it doesn’t make you want to bawl your eyes out. Dammit. There’s another moment when Lonergan cuts away just as a cop opens his mouth to reveal some awful news. Lonergan has an amazing talent for squeezing a great sea of depth out of all the stuff between his carefully chosen words. Frustratingly, Ruffalo spent most of the decade after that squandering his talent, and Lonergan’s follow-up has been tied-up in a legal dispute for years.

20. (tie) I ♥ Huckabees (2004)
Director: David O. Russell
Writer: O’Russell, Jeff Baena
Actors: Jason Schwartzman, Isabelle Huppert, Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin, Jude Law, Mark Wahlberg, Naomi Watts, Tuppi Hedren, Shania Twain
and …
Waking Life (2001)
Director/Writer: Richard Linklater
Actors: Wiley Wiggins, Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Caveh Zahedi, Adam Goldberg, Steven Soderbergh
How do you take your philosophy? Straight-up? In Linklater’s first animated film, it’s quoted directly by some vaguely-familiar talking heads manipulated so that their forms reflect their content. Or would you prefer it with a twist? David O. Russell’s follow-up to the wildly-acclaimed Three Kings pushes several philosophical viewpoints (any of which might be a put-on) through a funhouse of absurd entanglements played straight as can be by a simply awesome cast of professional nitwits. Either one is as likely to unscrew as your head as to feed it, and both have the potential to leave a serious indentation on your psyche.

19. About a Boy (2002)
Director: Chris & Paul Weitz
Writer: The Weitzes, Peter Hedges
Actors: Hugh Grant, Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, Rachel Weisz
This movie is kind of treacley. Bravo first, though, to Hugh Grant for taking on the anti-hero role. The character is not likable, he’s a jerk, or at least he starts out that way, and Grant goes all the way into it. Bravo secondly to the kid, Nicolas Hoult, and to the casting agent that found him. He’s not cute, he’s odd. If I saw him on the street, I would wonder what his parents were up to. And some applause for Damon Gough AKA Badly Drawn Boy. The soundtrack is perfectly matched to the film, and yet the songs stand on their own two feet quite ably. (In fact, I don’t think Gough’s topped this yet.) Finally, bravo to Peter Hedges, who helped turn Hornby’s movie-ready one-liners into a touching and memorable story. This is one of those rare occasions when I’d recommend skipping the book and going straight for the movie. That’s alchemy, right?

18. Stone Reader (2002)
Director/Writer: Mark Moskowitz
This is a movie about the joys of reading and the way books can shape our lives. I love it. The best comfort next to reading itself. ‘Nuff said?

17. So Goes the Nation (2006)
Directors: Adam Del Deo, James D. Stern
I felt physically shaken watching this in the theater. I hadn’t realized how deep the wounds of the 2004 election really were. Watching it now, of course, feels very different. Let me plug the film, though. It’s an incredibly balanced document of the Bush/Kerry battle, with lots of commentary from important officials from both sides, and a lot of footage from the “ground war”. And it all takes place in Ohio – Columbus and Cincinnati, specifically. It’s moving, upsetting, funny … for anyone who’s “into politics,” it’s required viewing.

16. Untitled: The Bootleg Cut (Almost Famous) (2000)
Director/Writer: Cameron Crowe
Actors: Billy Crudup, Frances McDormand, Kate Hudson, Jason Lee, Patrick Fugit, Zooey Deschanel, Noah Taylor, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Jimmy Fallon, etc.
This ranking is just for the rare “Untitled” DVD-cut of the movie. The shorter, regular release version was seriously underwhelming. This movie was the center of a big project I did as a present for a friend, and because of it, I’ve seen it about 30 times. Seriously, at least that much. Suffice to say, it really grew on me. It’s a movie about a make-shift family, with a passion for music, who are trying (and often failing) to do the right thing. That’s my kinda thing. Crowe put all his heart and soul into this one and it really shows. The characters are lovable and deeply flawed. There’s humor and pathos, often at once. There’s a lot of good music, and there’s the heartbreaking feeling of lives that will never be so wondrous ever again.

15. Brick (2005)
Director/Writer: Rian Johnson
Actors: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Nora Zehetner, Lukas Haas, Noah Fleiss, Matt O’Leary,
Suburban noir. Another movie that makes incredible use of little means, Brick manages to look really slick doing it. Its cast of high school freaks and geeks are idiosyncratic, dangerous, and hard-boiled far beyond their years. That alone creates a thick tension that never abates. Add to that a snakes nest of double-crosses that keep the audience one step behind the whole way through, and you can imagine how much fun grasping straws can sometimes be.

14. The Constant Gardener (2005)
Director: Fernando Meirelles
Writer: Jeffrey Caine
Actors: Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Danny Huston, Bill Nighy, Pete Postlethwaite
Meirelles second big film, as static as City of God is dynamic. As piercing as City of God is inspiring. Ralph Fiennes gives a performance that can only be described as restrained, and Meirells gives a lesson in mining as much personal pain as one can imagine from a story with formidable political overtones. You could spend the whole time just watching Fiennes’ face as he reckons with the shattering of his belief system, but there’s even more to it than that.

13. The Hours (2002)
Director: Stephen Daldry
Writer: David Hare
Actors: Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, Meryl Streep, Stephen Dillane, Miranda Richardson, John C. Reilly, Toni Collette, Ed Harris, Allison Janney, Claire Danes, Jeff Daniels
These are rough waters. I have to admit that I haven’t read the novel, but I can only imagine it would destroy me. Suicides abound in this film, that’s the only way to say it. And look at all the amazing actresses in this one movie. There was a lot of complaining about the casting of Nicole Kidman, but I won’t join that chorus, she’s quite good. Julianne Moore continues to let her heart seep out through her expressive eyes and her mouth, and then there’s that Meryl Streep lady. This is three heart-breaking stories in one, and my god, someday I hope I can make something that feels as much as this.

12. Little Children (2006)
Director: Todd Field
Writer: Field, Tom Perrotta
Actors: Kate Winslet, Patrick Wilson, Jennifer Connelly, Jackie Earle Haley
137 minutes of brave actors playing dreadfully uncomfortable moments as the film-makers lay it on with tortuous subtlety and cruel directness. You have to squirm as Richard gets caught masturbating with a porn star’s underwear on his face. It’s some seriously brave acting. Watch Kate Winslet order a “hide-your-tummy” swimsuit, and then marvel at the innocent ambition in her eyes. Well, it looks innocent, doesn’t it? Then, 45 minutes in, the chummy neighborhood pool scene turns on its head with the slightest touch.

11. The Squid and the Whale (2005)Director/Writer: Noah Baumbach
Director/Writer: Noah Baumbach
Actors: Owen Kline, Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney, Lesse Eisenberg, William Baldwin, Ann Paquin, Halley Feiffer
Poor Noah Baumbach, he’s had an awkward time of it. Apparently TS&tW (finally, ten years on, the actual follow-up to the generation-defining (whether they know it or not) Kicking and Screaming) is really autobiographical. I don’t think it’s a co-incidence that Baumbach cast two greats of the midwestern school of theatrical realism to play his fallaciously paired parents, and this movie turns out to be all about casting. The reliably great Jeff Daniels slides into the raw skin of the father’s fragile ego with almost disturbing ease, and is perfectly matched in naturalistic glory by Laura Linney. Stephen Baldwin is an appropriately smarmy choice, and the kids are just as awkward as can be. Why do I keep re-watching this one? It’s not that I like seeing people in pain, I guess it’s just helpful to know that it’s not just me.

Related posts:

1. Favorite Movies of 2000-9: 51-26
2. Roger Ebert’s Favorite Movies of the Decade
3. Movies

I can hardly believe I did this. I’m even trying to put them in order. Anyway, if you like this, come back as we slowly count down to my favorite movie of the past ten years. I’ll give you a hint – it’s not a Star Wars movie.

51. (tie) Primer (2004)
Director/Writer: Shane Carruth
Actors: Carruth, David Sullivan, Casey Gooden, Anand Upadhyaya
and…
Moon (2009)
Director/Writer: Duncan Jones
Actors: Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey
Making something out of nothing is often what great film/art is all about, and these tow do with amazingly well in the toughest genre to crack on a low-budget – sci-fi. Here’s to the future.

50.Bowling for Columbine (2002)
Director/Writer: Michael Moore
I honestly don’t think Moore will be this good again for quite some time. Re-watching the movie recently, I was struck by how utterly convincing the narrative is, and how the Michael Moore of BfC resorts to relatively little histrionics, and much less megalomania than in his more recent films.

49.District 9 (2009)
Director: Neill Blomkamp
Writer: Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell
Actors: Sharlito Copley, Jason Cope
As smaller, artier films start to dissolve into a single miasma of hip gestures and false morals, we enter the post-blockbuster age. District 9 is one of the smarter films on this list. Technology and audiences seem to have finally caught-up enough that we can have our cake and eat it too. Hopefully this is the first of a new trend – challenging, high-concept movies that kick a lot of ass, too.

49. I Am Trying to Break Your Heart (2002)
Director: Sam Jones
Actors: Wilco
Sam Jones and Wilco got really lucky. This movie, like Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, the album it documents is miraculous capturing of lighting in a bottle. It also turned out to be one of the first in a series of big blows against a music industry that would shortly find itself toppled due to precisely the kind of ignorance and obsolescence on display in this film. That album is now legendary and the eventual death of Jay Bennett, after a frustratingly sad later career, only add to the movie’s mystique.

47. Iron Man (2008)
Director: Jon Favreau
Writer: Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway
Actors: Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow, Favreau
Who would have guessed that Iron Man would be the comic character to most successfully transition into the new millennium? Probably only the same people who would have guessed that Jon Favreau would be the guy to show what it takes to make a really great superhero movie. Nearly flawless fun.

46. Hot Fuzz (2007)
Director: Edgar Wright
Writer: Wright, Simon Pegg
Actors: Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, Bill NIghy
Sure some folks prefer Shaun of the Dead, and it could probably fit into this run of well-made genre flicks just as well, but I prefer the Fuzz, which simultaneously embraces and sends-up all the action movie cliches that came to dominate blockbuster film-making at the end of the 20th-century with a wink so subtle, I’ll bet some people missed it entirely.

45. Children of Men (2006)
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Writer: Cuarón, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby
Actors: Clive Owen, Michael Caine, Julianne Moore, Danny Huston
Truly frightening dystopia is hard to come by, but the world Cuarón and co. create in this career-booster for the already blazing-hot Clive Owen (boy, I hope he rebounds) is so much like our own current world, it makes my skin crawl. It’s too easy to imagine this one coming true.

44. Casino Royale (2006)
Director: Martin Campbell
Writer: Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Paul Haggis
Actors: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright
Now that’s style. Shame on anyone who counted Bond out. He just needed the right guy filling out his spy-suit. The key moment of Casino Royale is when Daniel Craig goes all-in, pushing his chips over on the poker table like a brute and playing a mind-games with almost everyone in the room at the same time. Oh yeah. and don’t forget the incredible parkour-eographed opening sequence, another distillation of the new Bond – finesse and force in equal measures.

43. Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Director: Ang Lee
Writer: Larry McMurty, Diana Ossana
Actors: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Randy Quaid, Michelle Williams, Anne Hathaway
One hardly needed to watch the movie to see the heart-break coming; the trailer was enough to bring me to tears, no matter how many times I saw it. Course, that’s Ang Lee for ya. Lee is a master, and his choice of material here proves his worth and his point at the same time. Even someone speaking ESL can see and feel and understand the love of these two men. So what excuse could anyone else have?

42. The Dark Knight (2008)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Writer: Nolan, Jonathan Nolan, David S. Goyer
Actors: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine,Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman
After two boring genre-remakes/star-vehicles and one better-than-average-but-still-pales-by-comparison superhero flick, Nolan finally fulfilled the promise set forth by Memento and made a second completely unforgettable film. That it stars a bat and a clown is hardly even the point. The themes that Nolan sets forth, and the way they’re so extraordinarily played out in Heath Ledger’s legendary performance make this one far more than the sum of its parts.

41. There Will Be Blood (2007)
Director/Writer: Paul Thomas Anderson
Actors: Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano
Daniel. Day. Lewis. There is no better film actor on this earth. It’s just plain not fair that’s he’s only made 18 movies in 27 years. His performance alone justifies the existence of the movie, but let’s not forget it was made by P.T. Anderson, who’s no slouch either.

40. Gosford Park (2001)
Director: Robert Altman
Writer: Julian Fellowes
Actors: (Take a deep breath.) Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Kristin Scott Thomas, Tom Hollander, Jeremy Northam, Ryan Phillippe, Stephen Fry, Kelly Macdonald, Clive Owen, Helen Mirren, Emily Watson, Alan Bates, Jeremy Swift
This is quite a cast, right? It seems that all of Britain was waiting for a chance to be in a Robert Altman feature, and he took them all up on it. It’s just a couple hours of finely distilled acting, remarkable attention to detail, and the interplay of wholly unique characters, made more exotic by the accents, and a deep examination of subliminal class concessions.

39. In the Mood for Love (Fa yeung nin wa) (2000)
Director/Writer: Kar Wai Wong
Actors: Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Ping Lam Siu
All his films are wondrous to look at, but this one has perhaps a little more heart than any of the others. It’s less an intellectual adventure and more a good, long look at an emotional dilemma. It’s impossible not to be drawn in, whether you like subtitles or not.

38. You and Me and Everyone We Know (2005)
Director/Writer: Miranda July
Actors: July, John Hawkes, Miles Thompson, Barndon Ratcliff
You won’t believe it, but this movie contains something that is totally one-of-a-kind: heart-rending scatological humor. I know you don’t believe me, but that’s just one instance in which Miranda July is able to find the love and tenderness behind some really awkward and sometimes upsetting and strange behavior.

37. Moulin Rouge (2001)
Director: Baz Luhrman
Writer: Luhrman, Craig Pearce
Actors: Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, John Leguizamo, Jim Broadbent
The movie musical didn’t come back with Chicago, it came back with Baz Luhrman’s masterpiece. Imperfect, yes, even annoying sometimes, but what this movie understands is that singing people require great emotion. It has that in spades. It’s also pretty, sexy, poppy, and bizarre. And it doesn’t hurt that the music has several moments of stunning convergence. Remember when that big guy starts singing “Roxanne?”

36. Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Directors: Pete Doctor, David Silverman, Lee Unkrich
Writer: Doctor, Jill Culton, Jeff Pidgeon, Ralph Eggleston, Andrew Stanton, Daniel Gerson, and so on …
Actors: John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Mary Gibbs, Steve Buscemi, James Coburn, Jennifer Tilly
Fuck the sappy, facile Pixar of recent years. Sure, that sequence in Up was a real step forward, but the rest of the movie was boring. Yes, Wall-E was silent but deadly for 30 minutes, but they had major 3rd act problems. This is the last really clever movie Pixar’s made. Funky, groovy, with surprises galore, a killer cast, and a script that works great for me and my 5-years-old niece.

35. The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)
Director: Walter Salles
Writer: Jose Rivera
Actors: Gael Garcia Bernal, Rodrigo De la Serna
Okay, I may get sappy for a moment here. I remember seeing this movie and being astonished by the romance of it. It still managed to get its social message across, and tell the a clear story of how Ernesto became Che. What I remember though is the singing and the dancing and the mountains, and the laughing. “Chipi chipi!”

34. Love Actually (2003)
Director/Writer: Richard Curtis
Actors: Bill Nighy, Coln Firth, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, Martin Freeman, Keira Knightly, Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman, Billy Bob Thorton
Every year around Christmas, my wife puts this movie in and I attempt to do something else. Soon enough though, I look-up for a moment to catch one of Bill Nighy’s many great moments, and then I’m hooked. I can’t stop watching. Each well-done moment is followed by another, and the followed by a really funny bit, and them something legitimately heart-wrenching. There’s even a sweater in this movie that I always look forward to seeing. It doesn’t hurt that everyone in England is in the movie, that some of them are among my favorite actors, and that the rest of them are extremely likely (in that way that all people with British accents are extremely likable.)

33. Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Writer: Ted Griffin (as well as the writers of the 1960 story and screenplay)
Actors: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Bernie Mac, Elliot Gould, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Carl Reiner, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Julia Roberts, etc.
Another perfect genre-piece from Mr. Soderbergh. Some say he’s a genre-hack, and I guess sometimes he is, but there’s only one mis-step in this entire movie. (It’s Don Cheadle’s accent.) Otherwise it’s perfect. Notice all the detail. Notice the ridiculous camera pushes. Notice Brad Pitt eating in every scene. Look for all the times the actors are genuinely cracking each other up and Soderbergh got the take just right. I find it almost infinitely re-watchable, and every time, I imagine I’m on-set.

32. Minority Report (2002)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Writer: Scott Frank, Jon Cohen
Actors: Tom Cruise, Max von Sydow, Samantha Morton, Tim Blake Nelson
Speaking of perfect genre pieces. Sometime around finishing Saving Private Ryan, a good movie, but the only thing event halfway decent he’d done in 5 years, Spielberg looked around and said, “Let’s do something fun. Remember when I knew how to kick-ass? Let’s do that again.” And God saw that it was good.

31 (tie). Jarhead (2005)
Director: Sam Mendes
Writer: William Broyles, Jr.
Actors: Jake Gyllenhaal, Scott MacDonald, Peter Sarsgaard, Jamie Foxx, Brian Geraghty
and …
The Hurt Locker (2008)
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Writer: Mark Boal
Actors: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Guy Pearce, Ralph Fiennes
I seriously can’t decide. I’ve watched them both recently, and they both have some absolutely unforgettable moments. I guess every Iraq war needs its definitive statements. (Yes, I remember Three Kings, but that’ll go down in history as being more about Spike Jonze, Ice Cube, and George Clooney than any specific war.) Jarhead is big and flashy and fun, and has Peter Sarsgaard and Jamie Foxx, but lacks some depth. Hurt Locker is amazing, but manages to get a little tedious at times. Know what they both have? Brian Geraghty. Lucky guy. Hurt Locker, though, might get the edge, though, just for this image, which sets the tone for the next decade of war movies.

30. Kill Bill (2003/4)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Writer: Tarantino, Uma Thurman
Actors: Thurman, Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Daryl Hannah, David Carradine, Sonny Chiba
Overblown and ridiculously violent, but like the best of the samurai films it emulates, there’s beauty in all that bloody motion. Unlike Inglorious Bastards, in which Tarrantino throws his Tarrantino-isms at the wall and hopes that something works, the gags here are as carefully planned as the fights. And lets not forget Kazuto Nakazawa’s animated sequence, maybe the most beautiful part of the whole damned thing.

29. Dark Days (2000)
Director: Marc Singer
I seriously don’t understand how this isn’t on a lot more lists. Lemme break it down for you, Marc Singer spent several months getting deep into the lives of the people who live in the abandoned subway tunnels under New York City. These folks steal to eat, bathe in run-off water from leaky pipes, and yet live pretty full lives. It’s a real adjustment to your perspective to find your self laughing along with the characters as they find joy in each others’ antics just like we do. There are tragedies too, of course, and the movie’s as dark as you might imagine at times. It’s completely fascinating, though, and Singer manages to introduce us to a tiny sector of society that would otherwise completely escape our notice.

28. Once (2006)
Director/Writer: John Carney
Actors: Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová
Oh so charming, with their funny accents, and I do have a thing for Eastern European women. The music carries the day here, and it’s wonderful music performed in wonderful settings. It’s hard not to get swept up in it as the characters do. Even the cheesy moment when the jaded producer suddenly takes an interest is lovable.

27. (tie) The Proposition (2005)
Director: John Hillcoat
Writer: Nick Cave
Actors: Guy Pearce, Richard Wilson, Noah Taylor, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston
and …
3:10 to Yuma (2007)
Director: James Mangold
Writers: Halstead Welles, Michael Brandt, Derek Haas
Between a totally original Australian odyssey of despair and a by-the-books, star-studded remake, we’ve got a perfect 21st century western.

26. Che (2009)
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Writer: Peter Buchman, Benjamin A. van der Veen
Actors: Benicio Del Toro
Brilliant! People don’t make epics anymore, Soderbergh’s one of the few guys with enough clout to do so, and one of the few names that could get me to go. I know it’s hard to find this kind of time these days, but do yourself a favor and watch the whole thing in a day. Yes, the second half is bleak, the first half is more fun. That’s not a mistake, my friends, Soderbergh’s making a point. This thing’s so real it’s practically cinema verite. Soderbergh breaks all kinds of industry rules for popular bio-pics: there’s no triumphant ending. most of it needs subtitles, stars are few and far between; it’s almost 4 hours long. But it’s all worth it, because it’s a totally absorbing experience and a fully realized work of art. Bravo.

Related posts:

1. Movies
2. 2006 Top Ten Movies
3. Two Lil Movies

The Auteurs (a pretty great online cinema for snobs that I’d somehow never heard of before) bring us this great list of the decade’s best movie posters. Here are two of my favorites.

h/t Khoi Vinh.

Related posts:

1. Fall Movie Previews
2. Movie Lists
3. The musically fragmented decade

The New Yorker is more than flush with great critical writing. Well, this is a list of lists (some are decade-spanning, too) from those wonderful writers.

I’m trying to tell you it’s a dream come true. Get over there. Click around. Get lost for a few hours.

In fact, to encourage you, here’s my list of the ten best lists from the New Yorkers Best Of lists:

1. The Best Films of the Decade, by Richard Brody
2. Goings On About Town’s Best Off Broadway Theatre Shows of 2009, by Shauna Lyon
3. The Best Recordings of 2009, plus annotations by Sasha Frere-Jones
4. The Top Thirteen People of 2009, by Zachary Kanin
5. The Five Best Ten-Best Lists, by Ben Greenman
6. The Best Non-Museum Art Goings-On of 2009, by Andrea K. Scott
7. Ten Great Photographs, 2009, by Vince Aletti
8. Memorable Fashion Statements of the Obama Era, by Judith Thurman
9. Ten Exceptional Recordings by Alex Ross
10. Books of the Year, by James Wood

And that’s not even the half of it.

Best-Of Lists: The New Yorker

Related posts:

1. Jan 13, 2009
2. Mar 14, 2009
3. Lists Returning

I’m working on getting my lists back on-line. The first is my favorite albums. Go here for that if you’re so inclined.

No related posts.

Some bloggers recently got together and made a list of the 40 “best” bands in America. Note, only American bands need apply. The longer and more catchy title for this list is “The Top 40 Bands In America As Voted On By A Bunch Of Effing Music Bloggers That Only Listen To Cooler Than You Guitar Based Indie Rock And Not Much Else”. The original list, with quotations and MP3s can be found here.

Which are you listening to? (My faves are bold.)

1) TV On The Radio
2) The Hold Steady
3) The Decemberists
4) Ghostface Killah
5) My Morning Jacket
6) Bob Dylan
7) The Mountain Goats Silversun Pickups
9) The Thermals
10) Cat Power
11) Grizzly Bear
12) My Chemical Romance
13) Wilco
14) Joanna Newson
15) Sleater-Kinney
16) Okkervil River
17) Eric Bachmann
18) Beruit
19) The National
20) Voxtrot
21) Bishop Allen
22) Tom Waits
23) Sufjan Stevens
24) Aberdeen City
25) Fiery Furnaces
26) Ryan Adams
27) M. Ward
28) Midlake
29) Sonic Youth
30) Man Man
31) Lavender Diamond
32) Timbaland
33) Lucero
34) DangerMouse
35) Car Stereo (Wars)
36) Girl Talk
37) LCD Soundsystem
38) Tapes N Tapes
39) Shearwater
40) Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s

Related posts:

1. Top Ten Avengers

Look over there. I updated my 2005 Top Movies. Junebug made a BIG splash. Great movie. I recommend it to everyone except Dan Welsh.

No related posts.