Movie stuff

It's been a great decade, laughs and cheers, happiness and sadness, movies that made us feel good, and movies that moved us, here is my selection of movies that I believe should be appreciated for the decade of the 2000s.

1. Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight. Never has a movie left me as stunned as The Dark Knight, it's a roaler coaster ride through Gotham City, mostly revolving around playboy billionaire Bruce Wayne, or ofcourse, Batman, played by Christian Bale. The script is magical, as is Heath Ledger's amazing performance as the main villain in the picture, The Joker, in which he won the Oscar for best supporting actor. The performances, the direction, the writing, the whole visual experience, is one of the best ever, in any film. The Dark Knight is the Best Movie of the Decade!

(In Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, the late Heath Ledger gives one of the greatest screen performances of all time!)

2. Gus Van Sant's Milk. Milk is probably the greatest bio-pic of all time. It gives us the last 8 years of Harvey Milk's life, in a perfectly edited way. Milk is moving, inspirational, and fantastic. Sean Penn gives one hell of a performance as the title character, followed by the amazing performances by the rest of the cast, which includes Josh Brolin, James Franco, and Emile Hirsch.

(Sean Penn is wonderful as Harvey Milk, in Gus Van Sant's Milk.)

3. Brad Bird's The Incredibles. The Incredibles has unbelievable animation, smart, witty dialogue, and fun characters. It's funny and original. It is another Pixar treasure and will always be remembered as one of the best animated features of all time!

(One of the many Pixar home runs, Brad Bird's The Incredibles is a triumph!)

4. Pete Docter's Monsters, Inc. Only like 3 animated movies have made me burst into tears, Monsters, Inc. is one of them. The two leads, Sully and Mike (John Goodman and Billy Crystal) are one of the best duos ever, and the animation is groundbreaking!

(Pete Docter's Monsters, inc. will make you laugh, it will make you cry, and in the end you'll just say "I loved that movie".)

5. Christopher Nolan's Memento. Memento is so clever, you'd be surprised that anyone had the ability to write something this good. Guy Pearce nails the tricky performance as Leonard, a man with a condition similiar to amnesia. Memento is funny, thrilling, and an amazing achievement!

(Christopher and his brother Jonathan write one of the greatest screenplays of all time, Memento.)

6. Pete Docter's Up, I guarantee, if you watch Up, no matter who you are, you will love this movie. The richness in the animation, the humor of the writing, the characters, and especially Michael Giachinno's amazing score will suck you into this moving, beautiful tale of a man persuing his dream.

(I don't understand how they do, but every Pixar film seems to make you want to applaud after the movie ends, and that is truly magical. Pete Docter's Up is a breakthrough motion picture event.)

7. Andrew Stanton's Wall-E, this movie is so much fun, and takes you on an adventure with the little robot, Wall-e. The story telling and character development is amazing, but how do you make a film that barely has any dialogue, this good? That would be the direction by Andrew Stanton, he knows what he's doing, and he does it well.

(Only Pixar, can make a film about a robot this funny, this heart warming, and this spectacular. The scoring, the animation, and the story telling make Andrew Stanton's Wall-e a fantastic movie!)

8. Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain. What makes this film so good? Well, I think that every single element is almost perfect, making this a nearly flawless film. The direction, writing, acting, cinematography, it's all great. This movie is powerful, and Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams, and Jake Gylanhaal are so great!

(Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain is like a beautiful poem, so gentle and pretty. This is not a gay story, this is a love story, and a strong one it is.)

9. Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. I love Tim Burton so much because he's a visionary. The visual effects in this movie looked great. The art direction, cinematography, costumes, under scoring. I also loved the performances by both Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, they are so fantastic, as is the film, one of the greatest musicals of all time.

(Johnny Depp gives one of the best performances of his career in Tim Burton's amazing Sweeney Todd)

10. Michael Mann's Public Enemies. This is a fascinating picture. It's very unique filmmaking, and I really appreciated the risk that the cinematographer Dante Spinotti took in using the HD digital cameras, but it works. Johnny Depp as play John Dillinger is outstanding, and Marion Cotillard and all of the rest of the cast are wonderful in a groundbreaking film,

(In Michael Mann's Public Enemies, Johnny Depp shines as John Dillinger. A terrific performance, in a terrific film.)

11. TIE: Finding Nemo and The Departed

12. Pirates of the Carribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl

13. Ratatouille

14. Iron Man

15. TIE: Juno and Shrek

16. Almost Famous

17. Finding Neverland

18. Ray

19. Million Dollar Baby

20. Little Miss Sunshine

21. 500 Days of Summer

22. The Simpsons Movie

23. Avatar

24. I am Sam

25. Rocky Balboa