Anyway, this was what passed for my final picks...
1. In the Mood for Love (2000)
2. Mulholland Drive (2001)
3. Spirited Away (2001)
4. There Will Be Blood (2007)
5. No Country for Old Men (2007)
6. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
7. Before Sunset (2004)
8. Battle Royale (2000)
9. Hot Fuzz (2007)
10. Memories of Murder (2003)
11. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
12. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
13. Paprika (2006)
14. Memento (2000)
15. Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)
16. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
17. Yi Yi (2000)
18. Ghost World (2001)
19. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
20. Zodiac (2007)
21. A Scanner Darkly (2006)
22. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005)
23. Miami Vice (2006)
24. Grizzly Man (2005)
25. Rejected (2000) Ghost World was my #18, an exercise in adapting the cult comic book about two disaffected teenage girls as they dealt with the immediate aftermath of graduating high school and having to deal with what happens next - one does what she can to fight against the possibility of conforming while the other gradually acquiesces to the opportunity for stability. Throw in a middle-aged jazz obsessive to further complicate things and you have an indie dramedy that feels more genuine in its efforts to deal with the arrested development behind youthful cynicism than something superficially similar like, say,
Reality Bites.
A Scanner Darkly was my #21. Seeing
Waking Life show up was one of the more pleasant surprises during this countdown, but as far as Linklater's experiments with rotoscope animation go I definitely prefer his adaptation of Philip K. Dick's 1977 novel that imagines a darkly satirical dystopia that is so twisted up in itself that the plot revolves around an undercover narcotics agent who is so undercover due to highly-advanced disguise technology that he is ultimately assigned to investigate...himself. DIck's heady material proves a curiously perfect match for Linklater's woozy hangout vibes (perfectly casting Reeves, Harrelson, and Downey Jr. as the hardscrabble addicts at the heart of the story) and the animation - much more polished here than in the chaotic dreamscapes of
Waking Life - makes me think of this as Linklater's most underrated film and definitely worth a mention here.
Miami Vice was my #23. I'm glad that
Collateral and its more straightforward Mann thriller vibes made the list, but I haven't seen it in a long time (keep meaning to rewatch it, though) - since the last time I watched it, I have seen
Miami Vice at least three times. Definitely a bold choice given how much Mann's post-
Collateral output can easily read like diminishing returns, but such boldness is reflected in his decision to revamp the iconic '80s police drama for the 21st century and push his newfound fascination with digital photography even further in order to reflect the blurring of lines between cop and criminal that are at the heart of the film. The plot is the most archetypal
Miami Vice plot - Crocket and Tubbs going undercover to foil a drug ring - but underneath the pixelated grain and byzantine plotting, Mann is able to lock onto the melancholy vibes and strange intimacies that have existed throughout just about every film he's ever made in order to reinvent one of his most iconic properties (even if it is in a way that ultimately didn't play too well amid a wave of more pleasantly nostalgic TV-based reboots).
Grizzly Man was my #24. Considering the complete absence of documentaries on this list - after all, how many of them do prove to be genuine favourites? - it is hard not to see this as something of a wasted vote (though who knows what those two points should've gone to instead). Still, Herzog is one of my favourite directors and this still stands out as one of his quintessential films so I felt it was worth a nod, even though its bizarre and tragic subject matter - eccentric environmentalist Timothy Treadwell and his ill-fated mission to live in close proximity to a group of grizzly bears, recording his exploits on video the whole time - does not make it an enjoyable viewing experience.
Rejected was my #25 and I guess I'm not the only one who thought it was worth voting for. Hertzfeldt has gone on to develop this film's sense of the absurd and nihilistic beyond this short parody of educational cartoons full of nonsensical exchanges and horrifying violence, but this is a solid exercise in doing so nonetheless (it's not surprising to see it get an Oscar nomination, and even less surprising to see that it lost).