The Alternative Chronicle’s Official Top Films of 2000s Part 2

by Abe Rose, Andrew Bowcock, Austin Flones, Jonathan Burrello, Johnathan Mastron, Kenny Cooper, Matthew Groves, Max Power, Nate Bell, Nicholas Ahern, Rachelle Klemme, and Taylor Rae

This is a continuation of our list, specifically our Top 25 of the decade. You will find many predictable picks, but there will be some surprises along the way as well.

25. A Scanner Darkly

It’s one I’ve only seen recently all the way through but it’s one that I really enjoy a lot. I really like what Linklater did here with the animation and I don’t hate Keanu Reeves in this. It’s also what cemented me as a Robert Downey, Jr fan. (Kenny Cooper)

24. Faithless

One of the greatest director/actor collaborations of all time (Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullmann) draws to a close with this powerful morality tale…only this time the tables have turned, as Ullmann directs a script by Bergman, with the main character being a spitting reflection of Bergman himself. Forget “Fatal Attraction” – this is a heart-breaking, beautifully composed film about the consequences of infidelity crafted in one of the most introspective and realistic ways. (Okay, I understand I have my Bergman bias, but watch it anyway.) (Andrew Bowcock)

23. Dancer in the Dark

This was an incredibly tough choice for me. In a decade that including such films as, Dogville, Antichrist, and the underrated/underappreciated Manderlay, Lars von Trier has proven to be one of the best and most talented visionaries in the world of film today, and for a strongly avowed fan, it is hard to pick one. This genre-bending, self-aware musical/heart-wrenching drama about a Selma (Bjork), a Czech factory worker, mother, and lover of musicals who finds out that she is slowly becoming blind. This highly deserving Palme d’Or winner (the top prize at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival) is an emotional roller coaster ride that not only was an emotional roller coaster that left me in tears, (much like his best film, Breaking The Waves, that was released four years prior) but this and Waves made me an unadulterated lover of his work and a part of the beginning of my journey with a dark, interesting, and disturbed filmmaker. (Matt Groves)

22. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

If there was one film this decade I would say was perfection, this would probably be it. It’s not only a milestone for the western genre, but its modest storytelling technique is enhanced by beautiful cinematography, one of the greatest scores in recent memory, and an incredible ensemble cast (especially Casey Affleck). (Andrew Bowcock)

21. There Will Be Blood

Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the great actor/director pairings like we’ve seen with De Niro/Scorsese and Pacino/Coppola. Best performance of the decade as well as best film. (Taylor Rae)

20. Memento

Christopher Nolan managed to make a great neo-noir and tell it backwards. A brooding little film that knows what moves to make and when. (Jonathan Burrello)

19. In The Bedroom

This film from actor turned director, Todd Field, is a marvel to behold, a film from start to finish that is so well-acted and well-crafted it will knock you off your feet. In The Bedroom is one of the greatest films about grief and how it manifests itself. Not only is the film beautifully photographed, edited, but the acting by Tom Wilkinson and Sissy Spacek are easily not only two of the best performances this decade, but of all time. (Matt Groves)

18. Elephant

Once again with director, Gus Van Sant, I am also presented with the same problem I had with von Trier as well as Austrian auteur, Michael Haneke. This really was an exceptional decade for Van Sant in many ways, and nothing in his canon in my mind is as great as his experimental/existential trilogy, Gerry, Elephant, and Last Days. The best of the three without question is Elephant. Not only does he, along with assistance of the great Harris Savides, one of the best cinematographers working today, reproduce and give his own spin on the artistic sensibility of the films of Bela Tarr to each of these films, but he wrestles artistically with mortality and other existential struggles better than any other filmmaker today, specifically well in this trilogy. This film takes place specifically in a high school and follows a single day that ends in school violence. Not only does Van Sant wisely refuse any easy answers or answers in general for the viewers, but he also gives one of the greatest commentaries on violence, not indulging in it, but just giving us the absolute minimal amount, making every outburst shocking and unsettling. Certainly a film I will never forget this pure work of art and this surely is one that should be seen, studied, and appreciated for ages. (Matt Groves)

17. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Cinephiles may have turned their back on it by now, but that would make them fickle. Easily the motion picture event of the decade (in the sense that Ben-Hur and How the West Was Won were events in their respective decades), as well as a successful bringing together of various elements (Tolkien’s text, Weta Workshop, New Zealand, Enya), it kept the epic impulse alive and stirred a sense of spiritual peril in many viewers. Already in danger of becoming underrated, the sureness of Jackson’s storytelling (in Fellowship at least) and the exuberance of his camerawork make their own eloquent defense. (Nate Bell)

16. Adaptation

Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman has written a screenplay about himself writing about a screenplay, about a writer writing a book about a thief obsessed with flowers. This movie breaks every single rule they teach in screen-writing classes, and even argues with the great screenwriting expert Robert McKee himself. But the film works; it follows through on its themes and at the same time, it critiques itself. It is nothing short of brilliance, and what else could you expect from the man who wrote “Being John Malkovich” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”? And as for the fact that Kaufman really did write himself into his screenplay, I can handle a little bit of creative self-indulgence if it produces a great film like this one. (Abe Rose)

15. Waking Life

Richard Linklater’s films are consistently good, but Waking Life takes it a step further. Rotoscoped by a team of artists, the varied discussions of philosophy, religion, and the nature of dreams are surreally imagined through a host of visual styles. Linklater’s later film A Scanner Darkly uses a similar technique though in a much more deliberate manner. (Johnathan Mastron)

14. Mulholland Drive

Simply, it’s about a young woman who wins a jitterbug contest, comes to Hollywood to be an actress, falls in love, is betrayed, goes mad, and eventually kills herself. Complicatedly, it’s a labyrinth of ominously beautiful images and sounds that collaborate to give an impression of Hollywood as a personal hell. A project tailor-made for David Lynch, who plays fast and loose with narrative but who obeys his own rules diligently. History may remember it as his last great film before he traversed territories where few could follow (Inland Empire). (Nate Bell)

13. The Triplets of Belleville

You either like what animator Sylvain Chomet is doing or you hate it. I love it. Fantastical design and absurd storyline serve to make this bizarre rescue story something exceptionally unique and powerfully captivating. (Jonathan Burrello)

12. Pan’s Labyrinth

Guillermo del Toro’s brilliant fantasy fable set against the backdrop of fascist Spain is a beautifully haunting experience. Wonderfully shot, this sad but hopeful fairy tale complete with monsters and magic was a high water mark for movie going this decade…for me anyway. (Jonathan Burrello)

11. Munich

With terrorism lurking in that deep dark corner in the back of everyone’s mind, Munich reminds us of the human frailty within us all as ordinary humans realize their capacity for violence and penchant for vengeance. Steven Spielberg examines the human stain revenge and nationalism can leave on us all, especially when we are left in a world. (Nick Ahern)

10. Mystic River

I could have easily put four or five Eastwood films on the best of the decades list, but after narrowing it down, this is the one that affected me the deepest. Here is a police procedural that has the scope of a Greek tragedy, with sins committed against children coming back to haunt them later in life. While the film works splendidly on the surface as a murder mystery, theres a whole another level of dark depths running deep underneath. This is a powerful film. (Abe Rose)

9. No Country for Old Men

The Coen Brothers’ best film since Fargo. I don’t think there is a working director who has as much control over every aspect of the film as they do. When they set out to make a great film, there’s nothing that can get in their way. (Taylor Rae)

8. Spirited Away

Combining the representational skill and humanism of the ’90s Disney films with the sheer imaginative trippiness of The Yellow Submarine, Spirited Away has the best of both worlds under the direction of master animator Hayao Miyazaki. A ten-year-old girl Chihiro finds herself in a dark fantasy land on a quest to save her parents. What compels the story is Chihiro’s need to walk on a tightrope between the necessity of completing her curse-breaking tasks under her new identity Sen, but not going so far into the dark world of fascinating spirits and monsters that she forgets her real self. (Rachelle Klemme)

7. Oldboy

Chan-wook Park is at the top of his game here with this Count of Monte Cristo-esque tale of violence, revenge and grief. It’s the perfect synthesis of what I love in films (which makes sense since Park is a great philosopher as well as an avid Bergman and Hitchcock fan). The twist at the end feels like a sword in your side, but the incredible score and artistry which usher in the grand finale give one enough room to heal. (Andrew Bowcock)

6. Silent Light

In an age where religion in cinema, specifically Christianity, is exploited for either pure pandering or just plain propaganda now more than ever, Silent Light is a great artistic breath of fresh air and a film that gives me hope as well as being a film that when I first saw it, it was a profound spiritual experience. It tells the story of a farmer with a wife and large family, set in a German Mennonite community in Northern Mexico, who is ridden with guilt because he has fallen for another woman. This propels the story into a grand study of love, adultery, marriage, and faith, that treats the audience like adults and the situation as naturally and realistically as possibly. That naturalism not only comes from the visuals, but also the great direction, by Mexican auteur, Carlos Reygadas, of non-professionals from this real-life Mennonite community. Reygadas is one of the best cinematic gems coming out of contemporary Latin American cinema, which is a lot saying that, when in his own country has produced such talents that include Alfonso Cuaron, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, and Guillermo Del Toro. Reygadas calls back to and gives his original take on classic religious cinema from likes of Bresson, Dreyer, some small bits of Bergman and Tarkovsky; the latter director’s filmography motivated Carlos to get into cinema in the first place. I highly recommend this criminally underrated wonder and believe it to be the best religious film of the decade. Yes crazy Mel, I did not say your over-the-top crucifixion film. (Matt Groves)

5. The Wrestler

Mickey Rourke was robbed. I will fully admit to still being bitter about his loss to Sean Penn, and remain a staunch advocate for Mr. Rourke. Not only is the acting fine, but the humanity of two very ugly trades, both sex and violence, is shown through a dirty lens with conviction and tenderness. (Nick Ahern)

4. WALL-E

Out of all the films that have gotten me choked up and near tears, I never expected to come close to near blubbering during a film about a little lonely robot. This magical little film shows that Pixar has enough respect for the intelligence of the audience by telling much of the story using the purity of silent cinema. Even though he doesn’t communicate with full spoken sentences, you always know exactly what WALL-E is feeling and why. This is film is so good, it’s in a different league far beyond other wonderful Pixar films like “Up,” “Toy Story 2,” and “Ratatouille.” That’s saying something. (Abe Rose)

3. The Hurt Locker

Muscular and complex, this marvelous war-time actioner delivers thrills as quickly as a round is discharged from a well-oiled machine gun. Jeremy Renner deliver, as does an entire cast, and Kathryn Bigelow films this a few miles from Iraq on the Jordan border, and the heat is truly generated. Transcending politics and tired tirades, this fine film presents real characters and working soldiers as simply warriors in the line of duty. My pick for this year’s Best Picture. Hands down. Nothing more. (Nick Ahern)

2. Requiem for a Dream

In my opinion, Darren Aronofsky is one of the greatest filmmakers to emerge from this decade so I wish I could include all of his films, but this one was the first one I saw and its power is undeniable – the ultimate “just say no” film. (Andrew Bowcock)

1. City of God

This emotionally taut Brazilian film about a young boy who manages to survive growing up amidst drug wars and gang violence in Rio de Janero should definitely rank up there as one of the most memorable films of the 2000s. (Jonathan Burrello)

Continue to:

Part 1 – 50-26, Part 3 – Individual Lists

Picture Sources:

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1822529792/tt0405296

http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/images/issue/420/faithless_420.jpg

http://sistersandsparrows.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/dancer-in-the-dark.jpg

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3574634496/tt0443680

http://justforthekicks.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/there_will_be_blood1.jpg

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1833277696/tt0209144

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2853214208/tt0247425

http://projectcostume.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/elephant-splash.jpg

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3461715968/tt0120737