The MoFo Top 100 of the 2000s Countdown

Have seen so far: 4 - Iron Man - I liked this movie, I thought it was good.
Have not seen so far: 14

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Moviefan1988's Favorite Movies
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Welcome to the Dance: My Favorite 20 High School Movies
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I had The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada and The Man Who Wasn't There on my list. The Man Who Wasn't There is basically Camus's The Stranger as a weird noir and The Three Burials is one of several neo-westerns set in Texas, which explore rather dark themes, and all these films seem particularly good to me. The Coens themselves went there, and in fact theirs will be fighting for a top spot on this countdown. The first Iron Man movie is very good, before that whole universe building thing became ridiculous and I lost interest. I also really liked Cache, but it's due for a third watch after all these years, as I've forgotten a lot of the details.


My List:
18. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (#86)
22. The Man Who Wasn’t There (#84)

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Critics

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Critics thoughts on our #84, The Man Who Wasn't There...



It currently has a 81% Certified Fresh Tomatometer score among critics, and a 7.5/10 score on IMDb (with 107,000 votes).

Roger Ebert gave it ★★★ and said:

"The Man Who Wasn't There is so assured and perceptive in its style, so loving, so intensely right, that if you can receive on that frequency, the film is like a voluptuous feast. Yes, it might easily have been shorter. But then it would not have been this film, or necessarily a better one. If the Coens have taken two hours to do what hardly anyone else could do at all, isn't it churlish to ask why they didn't take less time to do what everyone can do?"

Meanwhile Peter Rainer, of New York Magazine, said:

"The Man Who Wasn't There denatures pulp, and although I know this was the Coens' intention, it's not a particularly gratifying one. Their movie isn't there, either."

As for our MoFo reviewers, @Cobpyth said:

"If you're in the mood for some pitch-black comedy with a delightful touch of melancholy and world-weariness (realised by the sadness of Beethoven's Piano Sonatas and Roger Deakins' deliciously somber cinematography), you should definitely watch this remarkably well crafted piece of cinema (it's one of the Coen Brothers' most visually impressive films, in my opinion). The Man Who Wasn't There is one of those films that will stay a firm personal favorite of mine for a very long time!"

And @Citizen Rules said:

"This is stunning film work! Visually the use of shadows and high key lighting, silhouettes and Dutch angles, wide overhead shots and deep focus...are all here and done to a level of sublime. This film should be used to train new directors in the art of lighting."

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Critics

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Critics thoughts on our #83, Iron Man...



It currently has a 94% Certified Fresh Tomatometer score among critics, and a 7.9/10 score on IMDb (with 997,000 votes).

Roger Ebert gave it ★★★ and said:

"At the end of the day it 's Robert Downey Jr. who powers the lift-off separating this from most other superhero movies. You hire an actor for his strengths, and Downey would not be strong as a one-dimensional mighty-man. He is strong because he is smart, quick and funny, and because we sense his public persona masks deep private wounds. By building on that, Favreau found his movie, and it's a good one."

Meanwhile Ann Hornaday, of Washington Post, said:

"Toggling between Stark's impish goatee and Iron Man's full-metal body condom, and amid so many generic fireballs, kill shots and earsplitting thumps, bumps and crunches, the film finally collapses under its own weight."

As for our MoFo reviewers, @Yoda said:

"The results [of adapting comic books] have been somewhat schizophrenic, as the genre is inhabited by both carefree efforts like Fantastic Four, and somber, believable films like Batman Begins. Iron Man is one of the few capable of effectively splitting the difference. It manages to be an enjoyable distraction without becoming mindless entertainment."

And @Darth Stujitzu said:

"There is nothing outstanding on offer, it was somewhat of a gamble to cast Robert Downey Jr, but he doesn't let the side down, and indeed provides one of the more wry comedic performances of recent years. The direction is fine, pace and action sequences plod along at a decent pace (still not loving CGI though!) my only real grumbles were that the rest of the cast have little to do, and I'm afraid that as inspired as casting Robert Downey Jr was, casting Jeff Bridges as the main villain didn't work for me at all."

Trailers

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Bridges, who I normally find to be great, is my main issue with the first Iron Man. By the end of the film, he plunges over a cliff into moustache-twirling silliness.

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Interesting pair. I think The Man Who Wasn't There is one of the few Coen brothers films that I haven't rewatched at least once. I did like it, though. I also like Iron Man.

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"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

Not a big fan of comic book movies but Iron Man was a strong contender for my list. Great fun and I adore Pepper Pits.

Haven't seen The Man Who Wasn't There.

As someone who isn't a fan of the MCU, I think Iron Man holds up pretty nicely, as it was made before they had their corporate strategy in as concrete a form so it remembers to be an actual narrative rather than advance marketing for subsequent entries. I also think the fact that it was a comeback for Downey after his personal and career troubles gives its redemption arc some added resonance.

On a related note, this was the summer that nerd culture really came to the fore, with this and The Dark Knight becoming monstrous box office hits. After a steady rise over the decade, it was a brief moment of optimism and good vibes, before the truly toxic elements became apparent with the gamergate and Ghostbusters nonsense, and the Marvel juggernaut drowning out the rest of cinema. I remember starting to get into comic books the previous year, getting **** for nerdy interests, and then having the same people tell me about Watchmen and **** the next summer. "**** you guys, I told you about that **** last year!"

So far I've seen 11 and not a single one was on my list.

Iron Man is the first from my list to show. After some strategic voting, I had it at 9. It would have barely made the list were it not for that.

The Man Who Wasn't There is an ok Coen, but they've certainly done better.

I remember liking The Man Who Wasn't There, but I haven't seen it since its release.

Iron Man is mostly a fun little flick, I don't mind its presence on the list. At the same time, I'm not even sure it would have made a top 50 of mine for the decade.

i liked iron man when i saw it in the theater, and even though i can now pinpoint it as the movie that officially set cinema on its path to ruin, i imagine i would still more or less enjoy it today.

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I agree that The Man Who Wasn't There is an excellent film, with a great understated performance by Billy Bob Thornton. It might be the Coens' best non comedic film-- a firm neo-noir.

Awards

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Now to the awards received by The Man Who Wasn't There...

• Cannes Film Festival Best Director (Joel Coen, tied with David Lynch)
• BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography (Roger Deakins)
• AFI Award for Cinematographer of the Year (Deakins)
• ASC Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases (Deakins)

Among many, many others... mostly for Deakins!

As for Iron Man, it won...

• MTV Movie Awards Best Summer Movie So Far
• Scream Award for Best Science Fiction Movie
• Scream Award for Best Science Fiction Actor (Robert Downey, Jr.)
• Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film, Best Actor, and Best Director (Jon Favreau)

Trivia

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The Man Who Wasn't There



Did you know that...

• The Coens were inspired to write the film while working on a barber scene in The Hudsucker Proxy?
• Billy Bob Thornton agreed to do the film without reading the script? When Joel called him, Thornton asked them what it was about and they said "it's about a barber who wants to be in the dry-cleaning business". He said "I'll take it", and that's it.
• The actor that plays the piano teacher (Adam Alexi-Malle) is actually an accomplished concert pianist? The Coens didn't know it until he spontaneously played Piano Concerto #1 by Franz Liszt.
• Thornton jokingly made it look like Crane had an erection in one of the scenes with Birdy Abundas at the piano? When the Coens found out, they made it clear that Ed would not be aroused in the scene.

Trivia

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Iron Man



Did you know that...

• Clark Gregg's role, Agent Coulson, was supposed to be an unnamed brief role? But as the chemistry with the other actors developed, they added more scenes for him which eventually spun off into one of the most notable roles of the franchise.
• Paul Bettany recorded all his JARVIS lines in two hours?
• The roadster in which Tony Stark works is owned by director Jon Favreau?
• The "I am Iron Man" line was ad-libbed by Robert Downey, Jr.? Producer Kevin Feige approved it then, and credits it with his decision to not rely on secret identities in the MCU.

Of the two next films, there's one I haven't seen, and the other I haven't seen in a very, very long time, which makes it harder to hand out hints, but here's something for tomorrow...

Film #82


Film #81


Four one-line reviews from film lovers and cinephiles, not film critics. Use Google if you want, but in the wise words of @John Dumbear



Also, tomorrow's two films, along with #80 and #79 are all in a four-way tie. Wow.

So sleep tight, peeps!

Eh, I'll skip the clues today. Although maybe I shouldn't since I guessed one right today too.