Jonathan's Top 50 Favorite Films of the Last Decade (2000-2009) Part II

20. Charlie Wilson's War (2007) dir. Mike Nichols-- I treat films written by Aaron Sorkin much like I treat the ones written by Charlie Kaufman. In these situations, the writer is who I think of first. It's a rare occurrence, but true nonetheless. Sorkin has always been one of my favorite writers, overly-idealistic though he sometimes is, his characters are saying some of the freshest and wittiest dialogue you'll hear in television or film. That being said, Charlie Wilson's War is vintage Sorkin. It's everything I just mentioned and more. Tom Hanks heads up the cast in the title role and he succeeds as the flawed protagonist. Both Julia Roberts and Amy Adams are wonderful as the two main women in Wilson's life. They guide him through personal and professional choices he has to make. The scene-stealer and the classic Sorkin character is played by Philip Seymour Hoffman as the pot-bellied, chain-smoking, foul-mouthed, AND idealistic Gust Avrakatos. As much as I loved Javier Bardem in No Country, this is who the Oscar should've gone to. All and all, it's a great entertainment. One that can be watched anytime and anywhere.

19. Superbad (2007) dir. Greg Mottola-- This new renaissance of comedy that attacked us less than ten years ago has upped the ante for not only humor in film, but also a sense of sentimentality. The stock company of players from writer-producer-director Judd Apatow are maybe five years away from being mentioned with the same group that helped make Woody Allen as true an artist as he is. They've changed the way we look at comedies and one of the best examples is Superbad. This raunch-fest of a film is so grounded in 1970s cool that it could've come out then and be seen as even more revolutionary than Bananas or Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex, But Were Afraid to Ask. Jonah Hill and Michael Cera play our two lovelorn and incredibly horny high school almost graduates. They discuss naughty things, laugh, and curse the fact that they can't do anything about it. While most people enjoyed Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Fogel aka McLovin, the true show-stoppers were Officers Slater and Michaels played by Bill Hader and co-writer Seth Rogen, respectively. They gave this gross-out comedy a whole new dimension, keeping it fresh the entire time. One of the great comedies of the last decade.

18. Ocean's 11 (2001) dir. Steven Soderbergh-- I remember seeing this film my senior year of high school and coming to the realization that, at the time, I had not seeing anything quite as cool. With very few exceptions, I still feel the same way today. While almost killing the franchise with the two sequels, this terrific remake of the Rat Pack original has re-set the standard for what we deem as "cool". I'm not talking about early-teens, we-use-this-phrase-all-the-time "cool". I'm talking about a true state of mind. Even the dorkiest of characters in this film go about their jobs in such a manner, simply because of the task in which they are involved. Soderbergh continued to prove his worth as not only an auteur, but a great genre director with Ocean's 11. And the cast. What more can you say about the cast? Clooney, Pitt, and Damon are good enough, but who would've been crazy enough to put Carl Reiner, Don Cheadle, Elliot Gould, Bernie Mac, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Eddie Jemison, and Shaobo Qin together and think that it would actually work. Well, my friends, it did and then some. Hat's off.


17. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) dir. Adam McKay-- Without some of the sentimentality that the later Apatow-produced or directed films would bring, this might be the beginning of what those carried on. This film is funny. Plain and simple. No other words to describe it. It's ridiculous, it's inanely stupid, it's childish, but dammit it is funny. I've always described this as a 90-minute-long SNL sketch and that's why it's my favorite Will Ferrell movie to date. With former head writer of SNL, Adam McKay, co-writing and directing, Ferrell created one of the great comedy characters of the last twenty-five years. Ron Burgundy is the kind of guy that believes he's intelligent, good-looking, and above all a true professional, but we, the audience, know he's not. We forgive him, though, because he does it with such aplomb that it's damn near impossible to stay mad at him. Paul Rudd, David Koechner, and a brilliant Steve Carell offer up terrific supporting performances in this hysterical satire of not only the news business, but pretty much everything else.

16. O Brother, Where Art Thou (2000) dir. Joel and Ethan Coen-- God, those two brothers certainly know how to have fun. They're just always winking at you, aren't they? In every movie, even the more dramatic ones, it's like they're playing a practical joke on you that you, yourself, HAVE to laugh at. They are at the top of their game with this one. Not only is it a great laugh-fest, it's a filmmakers film. The sepia-toned hue of the film that makes it look like a Depression-era photograph is just the effect they were wanting to achieve. You almost have to give it up to cinematographer Roger Deakins as much the Coens. They are so great with dialogue, and Everett played by George Clooney (one of their finest creations) says some wonderful things. "I am the damn pater-familias", "Well, there are all manner of lesser imps and demons, Pete, but the great Satan hisself is red and scaly with a bifurcated tail, and he carries a hay fork", and "Me an' the old lady are gonna pick up the pieces and retie the knot, mixaphorically speaking", are just a sampling of the screw-loose phrasing in this film. Sit back, watch, listen to some great bluegrass, and marvel at what the Coens can do.

15. Chicago (2002) dir. Rob Marshall-- One of the few musicals, especially of the recent ones, that I can enjoy suspending reality for a couple hours. A musical adaptation can only work if you are okay with the option of the songs interrupting the story. The characters are there talking and BOOM there they go, tapping their feet and singing away. Most stage musicals are all songs to begin with, so it naturally works for that particular medium. With film, you really have to impress your cynical audience with the songs or you're going to lose them fairly quickly. Chicago impresses. As a matter of fact, I wanted them to sing and dance the entire time. If they were going to do other numbers like the ones I had been seeing, I say "HELL YES!!" Bring it on. Much of the success was a confluence of directing, writing, production and casting. Each actor was surprisingly great in their respective roles. You don't figure Gere, Reilly, Zellwegger, Latifah, and Zeta-Jones would be able to pull it off, but they do and then some. An entertaining film if there ever was one.

14. Up (2009) dir. Pete Docter-- What a beautiful movie. Pixar continues to make good on all of its promises. They've yet to make a disappointing feature and this one just might be the pinnacle. It has such a simple, yet inventive story. You have all of your time completely invested in each character. I went to see this movie in 3-D and by the end of the first ten minutes, my glasses were misted over due to my incessant tear flow. I mean, my GOD, animation isn't supposed to do this. Then, you realize that's what many of the great early Disney creations were all about. They always had funny characters, but intense, even sad themes. I guess Pixar's been doing that from the beginning. This was just the first time I had a real reaction to it. I truly hated the villain of the movie and I wanted him very much to die. I truly loved our protagonists and I wanted them to very much be successful. In a film of this variety, that's all you really need.

13. Gangs of New York (2002) dir. Martin Scorsese-- I'm aware that a great deal of people find this epic to be muddled, a bit overdone, and easily a disappointment in comparison to the rest of its director's work, but I find them to be wrong. I mentioned before that when Spielberg leaves it all on the screen with a take-no-prisoners attitude he's one of the best. I feel the same way about this film. It's all there and if you can't deal with it, move on. Most did, I didn't. Maybe the reason was that I was looking for something to latch onto at the time. A director, if you will. I felt that director was Scorsese, thus when upon release I saw perfection up on the screen. While the performances of DiCaprio and Diaz weren't top-notch, Day-Lewis more than made up for it with his all-out performance. This was a return to form for the great method actor and I still think it's his best work. This was the film that Scorsese had been wanting to make since the early seventies. Obviously, it would've been rather difficult to finance it back then. It was just as difficult when he finally began production, but he finished it and I left the theater quite overjoyed. I feel that it's just as impressive of an epic as Lawrence of Arabia or Bridge On The River Kwai.

12. No Country for Old Men (2007) dir. Joel and Ethan Coen-- It's a bit brutal, isn't it? Lotta blood, terse language, and overall violence. Yet, I knew I was loving this tragic opera masterpiece of a Cormac McCarthy adaptation from beginning to end. It's incredibly faithful to the book, actually, but the Coens are right there. You'd know their style of writing from anywhere and you can pick out the McCarthy and you can definitely pick out the Coens. There are scenes that you want to turn away from, but alas you can't. And the sound of the film. It's so quiet. It makes the violent scenes all the more jarring when they come. They're unexpected and I think I jumped several times the first time I saw it. Purely personifying evil is Anton Chigurh played brilliantly by Oscar-winner Javier Bardem. I felt uneasy the entire time, much like I felt when I was younger watching the Coens' Raising Arizona and the heavy of that film, Leonard Smalls played by Randall "Tex" Cobb. Anton comes out of the very darkest of shadows and destroys everything in his path and I was a bit scared when I saw him. This might be seen as the Coens best film, but I have a feeling they have a couple more in them.

11. Finding Nemo (2003) dir. Andrew Stanton-- Right after I saw Up, I said that I had just seen my new favorite Pixar film. Upon further review in doing this countdown, I still can't let go of my original favorite. Classic Pixar characters fill the screen of flowing colors in this heart-stopping, lovely film. One of the things that I've always respected about Pixar is their ability to find the true voice talent that fits perfectly with their characters. They don't need the most obvious of A-list stars. They go after the talent. Who better to play the overprotective, neurotic clownfish, Marlin, than Albert Brooks? Who better to play the gung-ho, tough-as-nails, Gill, than Willem Dafoe. And who better to play the quirky, yet lovable companion, Dory, than Ellen DeGeneres? They all do a marvelous job of finding what makes their characters tick and they instill some of their own personality into it. I can't begin to tell you how many times I laughed at the these fish said. This is just as much made for adults as it is children. It's funny and touching and, I feel, impossible to dislike.