The MoFo Top 100 of the 2000s Countdown

Oldboy is a twisty revenge mystery-thriller with style to spare. Very violent yet also poetic, it's got some scenes which are iconic and seem to have existed in our collective subconscious since long before 2003.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a funny, tune-filled saga with a great KKK scene and this.
No votes.

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A little surprised to see O Brother rank this high. It's an enjoyable film, but I never thought of it as one of the greatest films of the decade. I know Oldboy was well regarded, but I didn't like it at all.

Love Oldboy, it getting a spot on my ballot was never in doubt. O Brother Where Art Thou? is an entertaining enough watch but wasn't ever really in contention for my ballot.

Seen: 52/80 (Own: 35/80)



Faildictions (millennial edition v1.01):
26. Superbad (2007)
25. Memento (2000)
24. Road To Perdition (2002)
23. The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
22. Shrek (2001)
21. Requiem For A Dream (2000) [26]
20. Oldboy (2003) [22]
19. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
18. Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004)
17. City Of God (2002) [25]
16. In The Mood For Love (2000)
15. O Brother Where Art Thou? (2000) [21]
14. Children Of Men (2006)
13. Amélie (2001)
12. Zodiac (2007)
11. WALL·E (2008)
10. The Departed (2006)
9. The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (2001)
8. Shaun Of The Dead (2004)
7. Mulholland Drive (2001)
6. Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
5. There Will Be Blood (2007)
4. The Dark Knight (2008)
3. Spirited Away (2001)
2. The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King (2003)
1. No Country For Old Men (2007)

Nine down, seventeen to go...

22. Oldboy (247 points) - My #13. An absolute tour de force from Park Chan Wook. The story and visuals (those transition scenes!!) are just incredible. Amazing film, which went some way to start my journey into international film.



21. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (249 points) - I remember liking it but not loving it. I should revisit it soon.

I have a really spotty history with the work of the Coens and O Brother is among those I didn't like. I very strongly dislike George Clooney and found the movie kind of irritating. Being subjected to the soundtrack for months each time I hung out with a particular friend didn't help anything.

I haven't seen Oldboy and the only way that will change is if I'm forced to watch it.

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Seen both, voted for none...

Oldboy is veeeery good. I love the setpieces and I love how it cleverly sets everything up for that final reveal. Still, I ended up cutting it towards the end. Glad to see it make it so high.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a lot of fun, but it probably wouldn't crack my Coen Top 5. I also haven't seen it in a good while, so it wasn't that fresh in my mind. Good soundtrack, though.


How did we get here?...

Seen: 63/80

That faildiction list is playing with fire.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? was my #10.

When Ocean's Eleven showed up earlier in the countdown, I said this about it:

Well, in this case, instead of "banal material" we have, ya' know, The Odyssey as a rough frame to smear the Coens' zany character plaster on. But I think something similar is happening, anyway, since the quote above is less about the material being bad, and more about it being familiar or easy. It's like a world-class bowler using the bumpers: they don't need them, but they can have a lot of fun bouncing off them and doings they couldn't. Just because you don't need a safety net doesn't mean you can't turn it into a hammock for the audience to luxuriate in.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? is funny, well-acted, charming, genuinely sad at points, and has one of the best soundtracks you will ever hear in a movie. The Coens have an obvious fondness for the semi-rural, and for dialects, and they've chosen a setting that allows them to indulge fully in both. And as usual they've cast actors whose ability wildly outstrip necessity (same as the directors), which (same as the directors) allows them to do quirky things they otherwise wouldn't be able to.

I never saw any of the recent movies but damn, O Brother, Where Art Thou? was #96 on the Millennium list and makes it way to #21 on this list. Let's keep it up with the big changes and hopefully new movies make it too.

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Chan Wook-Park's Oldboy was #20 on the MoFo Top 100 of the Millennium List as well as #10 on the MoFo Top 100 Foreign Films List. Joel & Ethan Coen's O Brother, Where Art Thou? jumps seventy-five spots from the Millennium List (#96).

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Which is exactly how it ought to be at this end of the countdown

This is the Coens third entry into the countdown after The Man Who Wasn't There (#84) and A Serious Man (#66). They still have the following films eligible:

• Intolerable Cruelty (2003)
• The Ladykillers (2004)
• No Country for Old Men (2007)
• Burn After Reading (2008)

Is there any chance that they'll go 100%??

No way.

No Country will, though I sure as hell didn't vote for it. Don't think the others are that widely regarded.

Critics

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Critics thoughts on our #23, Oldboy...



It currently has an 81% Certified Fresh Tomatometer score among critics, and a 8.4/10 score on IMDb (with 551,000 votes).

Roger Ebert gave it ★★★★ and said:

"Oldboy ventures to emotional extremes, but not without reason. We are so accustomed to "thrillers" that exist only as machines for creating diversion that it's a shock to find a movie in which the action, however violent, makes a statement and has a purpose."

Meanwhile Josh Larsen, of LarsenOnFilm, gave it ˝ star and said:

"I’d like to defend Oldboy’s shock tactics, to say that they capture the perversity of revenge by depicting how, once enacted, vengeance pulls everything it grasps into the same deadly maw. But for me to profess that would be hollow. Almost as hollow as Oldboy professing that revenge is anything but good, grisly fun."

As for our MoFo reviewers, @Cobpyth said:

"I also love how Oldboy is able to hold a sincere emotional core throughout all its weirdness. The plot is extremely improbable, but the film handles everything with enough style, seriousness and emotion to make everything engaging and entertaining."

And @Citizen Rules said:

"What we get is the usual revenge, action, torture stuff which is crap to me and reminded me of Pulp Fiction, a film I don't like. I'm not generally a fan of Korean movies, the ones I've watched seem like Korea's version of the Hollywood blockbuster, big on action and cheap thrills. I like movies that feed the soul and the mind. I don't care for movies that are the equivalent of deep fried pork rinds."

Feel like I hit the jackpot with the latest "group of ten". Going to say that it's the best "group of ten" so far. Fully expect the last two "groups of ten" will be even better. I really like typing "group of ten"!





Have seen so far: 43/ 81
Put on list for future viewing: 13
My list that ended up on the cutting room floor (dammit!): 6
Put on "meh" list : 18
Zero chance of ever watching: 12
1 Ptrs: seen 8

Love both films, but neither made my list. Oldboy is one of those flicks I have seen a few times, but perhaps never need to see again. That is some dark ****, right there.

Oh brother is a ton of fun, while also being whip smart, even if it's about some people that are dumber than a sack o' hammers. Found myself in a tight spot! ...as I tried to fit it on my list. In the end, its chariot didn't swing into the final grouping.

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Critics

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Critics thoughts on our #21, O Brother, Where Art Thou?...



It currently has a 78% Certified Fresh Tomatometer score among critics, and a 7.7/10 score on IMDb (with 302,000 votes).

Roger Ebert gave it ★★˝ and said:

"I left the movie uncertain and unsatisfied. I saw it a second time, admired the same parts, left with the same feeling. I do not demand that all movies have a story to pull us from beginning to end, and indeed one of the charms of The Big Lebowski, the Coens' previous film, is how its stoned hero loses track of the thread of his own life. But with O Brother, Where Are Thou? I had the sense of invention set adrift; of a series of bright ideas wondering why they had all been invited to the same film."

Meanwhile Geoff Andrew, of Time Out, said:

"Great dialogue, superb 'Scope camerawork from Roger Deakins, and a genuinely wondrous deus ex machina are among the delights."

As for our MoFo reviewers, @Cobpyth said:

"If you're in the mood for an entertaining, hilarious, visually stunning and adventurous ride through the old South with a delightful classical touch, you should definitely see this film. It's a great piece of modern cinema!"

And @meatwadsprite said:

"Although it's story is a lot more straightforward than the majority of the Coen films, it still missing some big developments like many great stories: though the visuals and humorous style of it won't let you down on."

seen O'Brother once like forever ago. i think i liked it at the time but there's no actual memory of it. Oldboy on the other hand sucks @ss. just the dumbest script ever, tires to be overly slick while being shot on a potato. the worst of the trilogy for sure and i honestly think i prefer Spike Lee's.

Trailers

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