Best of the Decade: Our Individual Top 50 Films of the ’00s
It has been a couple of weeks now since we unveiled our full list of the Top 20 Movies of the Decade, and I know you’re probably sick of hearing about it, but we did promise that we would also post our individual lists to round out the whole process. After some tweaking, re-ordering, and last minute additions, we are now ready to give you the Top 50 Films of the Decade from the four of us who took part in making the list.
Hopefully this will make it a little more clear how our combined lists came together, and will also shed some light on why certain films were omitted while others were ranked very high. I’m sure there are probably still some important movies that none of us managed to see, but nevertheless, I feel like we covered a lot of ground here. Check out the full lists after the jump.
Update: Added Greg’s picks!
Goon
1. City of God
2. Children of Men
3. Adaptation
4. A Serious Man
5. There Will Be Blood
6. The Wrestler
7. Synecdoche, New York
8. The Royal Tenenbaums
9. Once
10. Ratatouille
11. Pan’s Labyrinth
12. No Country For Old Men
13. Lost In Translation
14. Inglourious Basterds
15. Downfall
16. Waking Life
17. Fantastic Mr. Fox
18. Metallica: Some Kind of Monster
19. Almost Famous (“Untitled” Director’s Cut)
20. The Staircase
21. Capote
22. Little Children
23. Oldboy
24. Zodiac
25. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
26. Anvil! The Story of Anvil
27. Adventureland
28. A Mighty Wind
29. Let the Right One In
30. Grizzly Man
31. The Pianist
32. Hero
33. Man On Wire
34. In The Loop
35. Dancer in the Dark
36. The Lives of Others
37. The Class
38. Before Sunset
39. Capturing the Friedmans
40. The Dark Knight
41. Spirited Away
42. United 93
43. District 9
44. Moon
45. Avatar
46. Gangs of New York
47. Wet Hot American Summer
48. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
49. Speed Racer
50. The Devil and Daniel Johnston
Sean
1. Children of Men
2. Lost in Translation
3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
4. The Wrestler
5. The Dark Knight
6. No Country for Old Men
7. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
8. Memento
9. Inglourious Basterds
10. United 93
11. City of God
12. The Incredibles
13. Borat
14. Traffic
15. Once
16. Bowling for Columbine
17. District 9
18. Signs
19. The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
20. American Psycho
21. Sin City
22. Babel
23. The Squid and the Whale
24. Grizzly Man
25. Anchorman
26. Apocalypto
28. Black Hawk Down
29. Hustle & Flow
30. Ghost World
31. The Departed
32. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
33. Little Children
34. Fantastic Mr. Fox
35. Slumdog Millionaire
36. George Washington
37. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, & 2 Days
38. Pan’s Labyrinth
39. Adaptation
40. Metallica: Some Kind of Monster
41. The Road
42. There Will Be Blood
43. Brick
44. The Royal Tenenbaums
45. 28 Days Later
46. Let The Right One In
47. Spider-Man 2
48. Hero
49. The Staircase
50. Shaun of the Dead
Jay
1. There Will Be Blood (2007)
2. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
3. The Wrestler (2008)
4. United 93 (2006)
5. Children of Men (2006)
6. No Country for Old Men (2007)
7. Grizzly Man (2005)
8. Lost in Translation (2003)
9. Zodiac (2007)
10. The Devil and Daniel Johnston (2005)
11. Synecdoche, NY (2008)
12. Rocky Balboa (2006)
13. Let the Right One In (2008)
14. City of God (2002)
15. 25th Hour (2002)
16. Kill Bill 1&2 (2003/2004)
17. The Fantastic Mr.Fox (2009)
18. Paradise Lost 2: Revelations (2000)
19. The Dark Knight (2008)
20. District 9 (2009)
21. The English Surgeon (2007)
22. Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
23. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
24. Borat (2006)
25. The Staircase (2004)
26. The Descent (2005)
27. Adaptation (2002)
28. Chopper (2000)
29. All the Real Girls (2003)
30. Manda Bala (2007)
31. Death Proof (2007)
32. Encounters at the End of the World (2007)
33. Hustle & Flow (2005)
34. Pontypool (2008)
35. The Proposition (2005)
36. Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (2004)
37. Lake of Fire (2006)
38. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
39. Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2008)
40. Old Boy (2003)
41. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
42. Man on Wire (2008)
43. Anchorman (2004)
44. George Washington (2000)
45. The Host (2006)
46. Wild Blue Yonder (2005)
47. Zoo (2007)
48. Primer (2004)
49. Standard Operating Procedure (2008)
50. Little Children (2006)
Honourable Mentions: In America, Ballast, Gomorrah, Inside Man, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Requiem for a Dream, Me and You and Everyone We Know, The New World, Fog of War, Apocalypto, The Mist, 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days, Catch Me if You Can, Unbreakable
Greg
1. The Wrestler (2008)
2. No Country For Old Men (2007)
3. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
4. There Will Be Blood (2007)
5. Children of Men (2006)
6. The Departed (2006)
7. Anvil: the Story of Anvil (2009)
8. Memento (2000)
9. LOTR: FOTR (2001)
10. Lost In Translation (2003)
11. City of God (2002)
12. Grizzly Man (2005)
13. LOTR: ROTK (2003)
14. Let the Right One In (2008)
15. The Dark Knight (2008)
16. Shut Up & Sing (2006)
17. Ratatouille (2007)
18. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
19. Mystic River (2003)
20. Little Children (2006)
21. Inside Man (2006)
22. Hustle & Flow (2005)
23. Anchorman: the Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
24. Zodiac (2007)
25. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
26. Bowling For Columbine (2002)
27. Wall-E (2008)
28. Rocky Balboa (2006)
29. Spellbound (2002)
30. Sideways (2004)
31. American Psycho (2000)
32. A Mighty Wind (2003)
33. Gladiator (2000)
34. 25th Hour (2002)
35. Michael Clayton (2007)
36. Traffic (2000)
37. Borat (2006)
38. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
39. Man On Wire (2008)
40. The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
41. The Rocket (2005)
42. School of Rock (2003)
43. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
44. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, & 2 Days (2007)
45. In the Bedroom (2001)
46. Sin City (2005)
47. Lars & the Real Girl (2007)
48. The Fog of War (2003)
49. Jackass Number 2 (2006)
50. Metal: A Headbangers Journey (2005)
Comments (48)
I like Goons inclusion of Speed Racer.. I found it very enjoyable and visually stunning.. I´m surprised that Jay rates Rocky Balboa so highly. I´m with you on Death Proof though.
Posted by pcch7 on January 11th, 2010Greg! Not well done.
Posted by Rusty James on January 11th, 2010Jay, so now you are saying The Dark Knight is better than Spider Man 2? Maybe you mean overall as a “film”, but not as a “comic book movie”? Because I remember you saying Spiderman 2 was your second favorite comic book adaptation after Danger: Diabolik.
Posted by Mason on January 11th, 2010City of God? One of the most overated films of the decade. Yes. OVERated.
Posted by el grifte on January 11th, 2010@Goon – “19. Almost Famous (â€Untitled†Director’s Cut)”
Dammit all! I’ve been scouring used DVD stores for years trying to find a copy. How? HOW!?
Posted by Falsk on January 11th, 2010I think my movie tastes are most in sync with those of Sean.
Posted by Teo on January 11th, 2010Neither Goon nor Jay has Mement on their TOP 50 LIST OF THE 00′S. Wtf? Was that on purpose? And where the fuck is The Prestige, The Fall or Punch FUCKING Drunk Love!?!
4. I agree with you. City of God is a good movie, but also very, very overrated. But it’s still much better than the even more overrated Slumdog Millionaire. None of you have Gladiator either, which i guess you excuse for being ”cheesy”(but you have alot of other cheesy stuff in your list). It’s even worse that no one has Snatch or the French masterpiece Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain. These movies are not even in the honourable mentions list! WTF!??
Posted by fuckingshit on January 11th, 2010“Jay, so now you are saying The Dark Knight is better than Spider Man 2? Maybe you mean overall as a “filmâ€, but not as a “comic book movieâ€? Because I remember you saying Spiderman 2 was your second favorite comic book adaptation after Danger: Diabolik.”
The placement of each film on my list is not gospel. I am most positive about my top ten in that they are all #1 films for me. Once I start analyzing the rest, I could rearrange forever. I like Spider-Man 2 and The Dark Knight for many reasons, but I suppose if I were to spend more time on this list, the placement of those two might be one thing I would fix to keep in line with my previous lists.
Posted by Jay C. on January 11th, 2010I am also happy to see Speed Racer on one of these lists!
Posted by Chris on January 11th, 20105. Umm, why did he call it ”untitled” Director’s cut? Why just not Director’s Cut? I didn’t know the movies had titles for their..um..Director’s Cut?
Posted by heya on January 11th, 2010wow, Master and Commander not even in anyone’s top 50. Greatly under appreciated as it is flawless
Posted by rus in chicago on January 11th, 2010enough with the ‘best’ lists, because its getting redundant! what about the worst?
Posted by Bratwurst on January 11th, 2010@heya cameron crowe titled his director’s cut that way because he wanted it to look like be like a bootleg album.
Posted by Cain on January 11th, 2010#7 I agree with you about Punch-Drunk Love, Memento, The Prestige, The Fall, Snatch and Amélie. I think these movies have been overlooked by these guys (except for Sean with Memento of course), because it surprises me that these movies aren’t in any of their Top 50 list, or in the honourable mention list, when we can find a list with movies like Avatar, Adventureland, The Class (the movie goes nowhere, and start nowhere, but still people love it. Why? Cause its French?), Moon (a sci-fi cliché that brings nothing new to the table, and is therefore very predictable and boring), Signs, The Descent and Primer.
Posted by Jesus on January 11th, 2010I’m sorry guys. There are just too many movies that you have overlooked, and you couldn’t even put it in your Top 50 lists out of 3 tries (still waiting for Gregs). I’m just not as interested and excited as I thought I would be, and I have to say your list is (especially Goon’s) bad.
Out of all the lists, I think Sean’s list is the best, even though I had a lot of disagreements with all of your lists.
Jesus has spoken.
Posted by Itchy-Finger on January 11th, 2010So Goon, you have just been scolded by Jesus. How do you feel?
Posted by Henrik on January 11th, 2010is taste not specific to the individual. that being said i agreed most with sean. not the ordering. just the inclusions.
punch drunk love and snatch shoulda got a nod.
Posted by mark on January 11th, 2010For those who like “The Fog of War” (in Jay’s honorable mentions) I recommend Eugene Jarecki’s “Why We Fight” (2005). Similar topic, but instead of one talking head, there are many. I think I enjoyed “Why We Fight” more, even though “Fog of War” might be a more artfully done film.
Posted by Mason on January 11th, 2010“So Goon, you have just been scolded by Jesus. How do you feel?”
probably just means the guy is Mexican. Jesus Henrik, go some place nonwhite once in awhile.
Posted by rus in chicago on January 11th, 2010^_^
Posted by Henrik on January 11th, 2010“probably just means the guy is Mexican. Jesus Henrik, go some place nonwhite once in awhile.”
Really?
I’ve now decided that my fist born will be named Jesus Henrik.
Posted by Greg on January 11th, 2010Props to Sean for including 28 Days Later and Goon for Adventureland and Spirited Away.
I couldn’t disagree more with “Jesus” on Adventureland and Moon, but I did enjoy Punch-Drunk Love.
…
Memento is overrated. Now forgive me.
…
Posted by AlexG on January 11th, 2010Top-notch lists all around, guys. These lists have reminded me that I have to get around to watching Hustle & Flow. Also, it’s nice to see The Proposition up there and The New World (even as an Honourable Mention).
Posted by Nuno on January 11th, 2010Greg I am honored.
Posted by Henrik on January 11th, 2010Jesus is just mad becuase I dont believe in him
“Neither Goon nor Jay has Mement on their TOP 50 LIST OF THE 00′S. Wtf? Was that on purpose? And where the fuck is The Prestige, The Fall or Punch FUCKING Drunk Love!?!”
I love all of those movies, if I included every movie I loved I could make a much much longer list. I think I actually just forgot about the Fall, which would be one of my first buys when I get a Blu Ray player.
Posted by Goon on January 12th, 2010as for why “Untitled” directors cut, its because the directors cut of the film is called “Untitled” in the credits/menu, etc, but if I put “Untitled” on the list nobody would know what movie i was talking about.
Posted by Goon on January 12th, 2010There’s only one movie on all of these lists that I didnt like – Primer, and I’d still be willing to give that one another chance
Posted by Goon on January 12th, 2010im still not watching a documentary about horse fucking
Posted by kris on January 12th, 2010HAHA, Thanks for an awesome list of movies to Netflix. SUCKERS!!!
Posted by Matt on January 13th, 2010“im still not watching a documentary about horse fucking”
horse art
Posted by Goon on January 13th, 2010I’m going take credit for reminding Jay about Hustle & Flow and maybe, just maybe, motivating Sean to finally watch, see the magic, and ultimately honor it with a spot his list. It’s a small victory; I can die feeling a life fulfilled.
Posted by rus in chicago on January 13th, 2010WHERE THE HELL IS REED’S LIST ?!?!??!?!?!
Posted by Mark In Ottawa on January 14th, 2010city of god is a stylistic masterpiece
it is everything that guy ritchie could’ve been and never was
it’s a certified classic
for those saying that the film lacks emotionally (character deaths lack emotional punch), you could say that derives from how banal death was in Rio
other than that this movie is phenomenal
also props to goon and jay for catching The Host and Oldboy
BUT
it’s almost criminal that The Diving bell and the Butterfly didn’t make it on to any of your lists
Posted by alan on January 14th, 2010I liked Diving Bell (actually, the first time I fell asleep) and own it but it probably wouldnt even be in my top 150
Posted by Goon on January 14th, 2010I also really like Diving Bell but it’s not the kind of movie I see myself revisiting much. My Top 50 was already extremely tight… would probably be in my Top 100 though.
Posted by Sean on January 14th, 2010Mark: Reed is struggling to come up with a list of 10 movies that he likes from any decade.
Posted by Sean on January 14th, 2010Mark in Ottawa, yeah, I’m still working on my list. I’ve got six films locked in, but I’m trying to fill the other four slots. I’m actually thinking of putting “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier” in my Top 10, but I’m thinking my credibility as a film reviewer might be diminished with that addition. Maybe I should just have a “Top 6″ films list. I think it might take humanity another hundred years of movie-making before I can add four more films that I really like.
Concerning “City of God”’s merits, I’m afraid I don’t know why there’s a big hullabaloo. I’ve read the reviewers’ comments on Rotten Tomatoes, but I didn’t have the same sense of appreciation when I saw the film. I think this is one of those films in which you have to be told why it’s a masterpiece rather than have that feeling when you watch it. I’m often told that I appreciate style over substance. “City of God” supposedly has both, so I don’t know what my problem with the movie is. Maybe having kids shoot each other in the streets isn’t that interesting to me.
Posted by Reed Farrington on January 14th, 2010These are all awesome films on the filmjunk lists but there is not a single film that the mrs would enjoy. Can anyone recommend any best of decade list of chick flicks?
I can’t quite imagine Greg talking up ‘dancers in the dark’. perhaps this would not make great podcasting so stick to what you do best.
Posted by Scott in Hong Kong on January 14th, 2010Ah well I can see how some people wouldn’t totally love Divingbell
on a side note, have any of you guys (filmjunk crew) seen the korean movie Memories of Murder? It’s by the same director who did The Host. I think it’s an even better version of Zodiac.
Posted by Alan on January 15th, 2010Wet Hot American Summer. nice.
Posted by retarded giraffe on January 16th, 2010Def like seeing Wet Hot get a shout out. Also appreciate seeing Bad Lieutenant get some recognition. I think Almost Famous is the most overrated movie of the decade.
my top 15: http://mediasickness.com/?p=414
Posted by Kevin on January 16th, 2010Gentlemen…you use multiple Top 50 lists as the basis for an agreed upon Top 20 List…!!!!? And someone on the podcast states that the average of the list is … 2006!
Posted by Buttonman88 on February 5th, 2010Film appreciation – A. Math competency – G. Strangely, the mix of both is hugely entertaining. Current score, in my opinion, “4 Cows”!
OLD SCHOOL?
Posted by Jack k on February 5th, 2010“Bloody Sunday” – Paul Greengrass 200(3?)
Posted by GT on February 24th, 2010The fountain should be in there..
Posted by Michael on March 12th, 2010Ok so Bourne Ultimatum was on the top 50, but what about Bourne Identity and Bourne Supremacy?? Those were amazing as well. The Departed was good, but I haven’t even seen any of the others on any of those lists. Yeah yeah ur prolly like WTF right? Well guess i’ve been living in stone ages! Lol! Rob Zombie’s edition of Halloween and Devils Rejects definately woulda been on my list. Ya’ll suck!
Posted by snowglobe on March 21st, 2010I just listened to your There Will Be Blood podcast review and can’t believe how you guys all said you wouldn’t put it on your top 10 list of 2007 and no it’s top ten of the decade? Have to say Sean has the same taste in movies I did when I was 17.
Posted by Jimmy on July 25th, 2010Your 17 year old self has good taste in movies.
Posted by Sean on July 26th, 2010Leave a Reply