2000's in film.

The 2000's saw the film industry acted upon by the horrific attacks of September 11th, the subsequent forever wars, and the greatest recession since The Great Depression. Perhaps understandably, audiences gravitated more and more toward crowd-pleasing blockbusters, bloated sequels, and cinematic universes, while dramas and serious cinema became more low-budget and destined to live or die through festivals and awards season. Of the ten winners so far, which is your favorite and why?

 

I could have gone with 9 of the films and if you asked me tomorrow I would pick a different one.

 

From what I've seen:
1. There Will Be Blood
2. Synecdoche, New York
3. Punch Drunk Love
4. Before Sunset
5. Inglourious Basterds
6. In the Mood for Love
7. Mulholland Dr.
8. LOTR

 

What a roster of films.

1. Inglorious Basterds
2. In the Mood for Love
3. Synecdoche, New York
4. Mulholland Drive
5. There Will be Blood
6. Children of Men
7. Before Sunset
8. The New World
9. Return of the King
10. Punch Drunk Love

I genuinely think all ten are great

 

Really really hard to choose between Mulholland Dr, There Will Be Blood, and Synecdoche, New York

 

1. Before Sunset
2. Punch-Drunk Love
3. Mulholland Drive
4. Children of Men
5. Inglorious Basterds
6. There Will Be Blood
7. Synecdoche, New York
8. Return of the King
9. In the Mood for Love
10. The New World

Amazing list. Three of my top 10 of all time.

 

1. There Will Be Blood
2. Before Sunset
3. Punk Drunk Love
4. Inglourious Basterds
5. Synechdoche, New York
6. Children of Men
7. The Return of the King
8. The New World
9. Mulholland Drive

haven’t seen in the mood for love

 

1. Children of Men
2. There Will be Blood
3. Inglorious Basterds
4. Return of the King
5. Mulholland Drive
6. Punch Drunk Love

 

1. Children of Men
2. The New World
3. In the Mood for Love
4. There Will Be Blood
5. Before Sunset
6. Punch-Drunk Love
7. Synecdoche, New York
8. Mulholland Dr.
9. Inglourious Basterds
10. Lord of the Rings 3

 

Mulholland Drive
LOTR
There Will Be Blood
In The Mood For Love
Punch Drunk Love
The New World

 

Very tough to rank, what a great lineup

1. There Will Be Blood
2. Synecdoche, New York
3. Punch Drunk Love
4. Inglourious Basterds
5. Before Sunset
6. Children of Men
7. Mulholland Drive
8. The New World
9. LOTR: Return of the King

Haven't seen In the Mood for Love

 

Good to see that at least one person has voted for 9/10 of these films as number one so far (nothing for The New World yet).

 

Arguably among the greatest long takes in mainstream Western cinema.

 

Only seen three of these but I would rank them like this -

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2. Children of Men
3. Inglourious Basterds

 

I remember seeing the trailer for Children of Men in theaters, being blown away, and then completely forgetting everything about it other than how good the trailer was. Took me like five years to remember what it was called. Been one of my favorites ever since. I am begging Criterion to do a release. Literally. I have actually begged them. Also might have tried to bribe them.

 

Punch-Drunk Love is such a fun film because of the way it doesn't fit into Anderson's filmography, which starts with clear homages to his influences like Scorsese and Altman while he developed a more brooding style that we have seen in his more recent films.

It took a lot of courage to make this film so early in his career. He was the wunderkind who made Boogie Nights in his mid-twenties, but Magnolia, while beloved my many, was considered bloated. Instead of trying to perfect that style, he makes such a weird "romantic comedy" built upon the guy who is known for screaming at penguins and Bob Barker.

The above scene has so much of the goofiness that makes it endearing. Pointless asides like Luis Guzman breaking the chair or getting connected to the wrong hotel. Barry showing up to the airport with absolutely no luggage, like a man on a suicide mission. The juxtaposition of his temper with the celebration on the streets. The way the crowd starts cheering as he gets a hold of Lena. His awkwardness to try to shake hands even though he has already been intimate with her and she clearly wants to be with him. The silhouette as people and kids with balloons go by. It is so comforting to know that Anderson is still really young for a filmmaker and is still trying new things rather than making variations on Boogie Nights.

 

Those who haven’t seen In the Mood for Love should see it imo

 

Yeah there are maybe only 3 films here that aren’t all time must watches. In the Mood for Love is for sure a must watch.

 

1. Mulholland Drive
2. Synecdoche, New York
3. There Will be Blood
3 of my all time favourite films, they are all 10s in my mind and the ranking could change at any moment


4. Before Sunset
5. Punch Drunk Love
6. In the Mood for Love
Tier 2 is very close but not as beloved as the top three. Interesting all the romantic films fell into this group for me.


7. Inglorious Basterds
Fun


8. Children of Men
9. The New World
10. Return of the King
Good films, not excited to rewatch.

 

Just wanted to add that Jonathan Demme has also been a big influence on PTA. Over his career, especially including Phantom Thread, PTA has copied Demme’s use of having characters look directly into the camera to talk to another person as if you’re in their POV.

 

1. Mulholland Dr
2. There Will Be Blood
3. Inglourious Basterds
4. Synecdoche, New York
5. Before Sunset
6. Punch-Drunk Love
7. Children of Men
8. The Lord of The Rings: The Return of the King

All incredible films (No Spirited Away???)

Need to see In the Mood For Love (still going through Wong Kar-Wai's filmography for the first time) and The New World

 

Where is 2010? We want 2010!

 

Not until you've seen the ones you missed.

 

We all know who will win 2010 and it’s The King’s Speech