Top Ten Movies of the 2000s by B

Here is my top ten list of the 2000s and a few additional honorable mentions. These aren’t in any specific order – I await your comments and insults, mainly insults.

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
No Commercials, no mercy. This movie may not have won any awards but sometimes you just have to go with the movie that you have watched 347 times and has made you laugh each time. There has never been a more quotable movie than Anchorman in my lifetime and there probably never will be. From Sex Panther to the Human Torch, no movie in the 2000s was funnier – no sappy endings or character evolutions, just 100% ridiculous farce.

25th Hour
On the opposite end of the spectrum is Spike Lee’s 25th Hour. This movie encapsulates the most pivotal moment of the decade within a really great story. Spike Lee used David Benioff’s crisp novel and screenplay (the dialogue in the movie is sometimes word-for-word from the book) to meditate on 9/11 and the city he loves. Lee never seems to know how to end his films but Brian Cox’s narration of Monty’s potential prison dodge is absolutely perfect. Need to watch that scene again…ok, awesome – and I’m back.

The 40-Year-Old Virgin
As much as I love Anchorman and Will Ferrell about 75% of the time, comedy in the 2000s was defined by Judd Apatow (who was a producer on Anchorman) and The 40-Year-Old Virgin is his first and best movie. Steve Carell plays someone much different than The Office’s Michael Scott and obviously carries the movie but the best scenes in any Apatow movie involve a few buddies sitting around and making fun of each other while most likely boozing. Sound familiar? And “The Age of Aquarius” ending is hands down the best use of The 5th Dimension in a movie last decade.

Sideways
This choice may be a little controversial since it is a such a small movie about two pretty despicable characters who do fairly despicable things. But there are very few movies made about these type of guys even though there are a ton of these type of guys out there and pretty much every guy can relate to them. It also helps that it takes place on the central coast where PB & J drank a lot of wine…and beer, probably a lot more beer.

The Royal Tenenbaums
The Royal Tenenbaums is kind of a lifetime achievement award for Wes Anderson. Rushmore and Bottle Rocket came out in the 90′s and are really great movies but Tenenbaums is my favorite of his – you guys need to see The Fantastic Mr. Fox though which many people think is his best movie. I’m sure we’ll write about movie soundtracks very soon but the music in every Wes Anderson movie is cleverly chosen but taken to another level in Tenenbaums. The movie opens with The Mutato Muzika Orchestra performing “Hey Jude” and concludes with “Everyone” by Van Morrison during the signature slo-mo walk to the end credits – need to find that scene online and watch it as well…and I’m back.

The Two Towers
This is my favorite Lord of the Rings flick and the second-best trilogy ever made needs to be recognized in the 2000s. Fellowship of the Ring was an amazing movie but I remember thinking the one thing that was missing was a sense of humor. The second movie doesn’t necessarily make your sides hurt but includes some much needed comic relief by Gimli (and cannibal Orcs are always hilarious.) The f/x in this movie also led to Avatar and whatever else is going to blow our mind balls in the future.

The Departed

I know that P and J will both say this movie is a remake and familiar territory for Scorsese but it is one of the most entertaining movies of the decade and features the best performances by DiCaprio, Damon last decade (and it’s pretty safe to say we saw Wahlberg’s best performance this side of Brock Landers.) Nicholson made some weird choices but at least took a risk – strangely enough, he is kind of the weak link in the movie. I know I will never watch the Hong Kong original so the remake thing doesn’t really affect my opinion of the movie; plus, most of the movies on this list are based on previous materials from somewhere.

Almost Famous
The three of us have argued about this movie quite a bit in the last six months – P and I firmly believe this is the best movie of the decade and J has become so cynical and warped by the rigors of academia that he can’t see the magic anymore. This movie just makes you feel good and is completely believable even though it’s about a world that very few people have been a part of. It easily could have turned into an ego trip through Cameron Crowe’s formative years but it wasn’t – it was completely honest and unmerciful to every character including his own.

No Country for Old Men
Cormac McCarthy can spin a yarn, huh? I don’t really have to much to say about this movie that hasn’t already been said but I will throw something out there that I want you guys to comment on – best Coen brothers movie ever? Josh Brolin (a central coast resident by the way) was possibly the most underrated actor of the 2000s. First movie he made in the decade: Hollow Man. I rest my case.

Bowling for Columbine
Say what you want about Michael Moore – and I will: he’s an obese, disgusting, abrasive blowhard – but the guy knows how to point out hypocrisy and voids of common sense. No Country for Old Men was the best fictional depiction of unreasonable and unbelievable violence in America and Moore’s documentary is the best non-fiction example. Everyone should read Dave Cullen’s new book, “Columbine,” that provides a real-time account of the tragedy in Colorado but also describes the psychology of the two killers. The biggest revelation is that they were not the abused outcasts that the media portrayed – they had a large group of friends, attention from girls, and incredibly bright minds that led them to the anarchy made possible by this country’s insistence on misinterpreting the second amendment…end of rant.

Honorable mentions:
Children of Men, Kill Bill Vol. 2, There Will Be Blood, In the Bedroom, Brokeback Mountain, Into the Wild