The MoFo Top 100 of the 2000s Countdown

I feel pretty awful that it missed by just that little bit of points, I should have had it higher on my own list to have gotten it on.

The Lives of Others was ninth on my list, seventeen of its 151 points. Is saw it at the Portland International Film Festival a few weeks before it won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. I was blown away. Writer/director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck Jingleheimer Schmidt Romijn-Stamos-O'Connell Esquire was in attendance at the screening and afterwards I got to briefly shake his hand and tell him how much I enjoyed it. At that time neither one of us knew he would take a Hollywood job and make a steaming turd with Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp or I might have cautioned him against it/tried to slap some sense into him. Nevertheless, The Lives of Others is near perfection.

That makes ten from my ballot.

HOLDEN’S BALLOT
1. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (#86)
2. Dancer in the Dark (#49)
9. The Lives of Others (#41)
14. Synecdoche, New York (#46)
15. Moon (#48)
16. Fantastic Mr. Fox (#70)
17. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (#92)
18. A Serious Man (#66)
19. Adaptation. (#43)
20. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (#51)

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

I would've made a guess, but people would call BS on it.

I watched Live Of Others, gave it a 4/5. Remember absolutely nothing about it. I will rewatch at some point.

Before Sunset is the only one of the trilogy I don’t like. I am obviously in the minority.

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Letterboxd

All four of the most recent entries fall under the banner of good but not a favourite for me.

Before Sunset is probably the best of them. I think it's a charming, romantic, smart sequel that is better than the first film. I didn't care so much for Before Midnight, too argumentative.

The Lives of Others was decent but didn't wow me as I'd hoped it would based on others' reactions, although I should probably give it another watch sometime.

Adaptation was smartly written and I enjoyed it but it wasn't really a good looking film that is for sure.

Finding Nemo I have seen a lot of times. It's cute and well done but I don't love it. The trouble with Pixar movies is that after a while you do start to recognise a lot of the same tropes. Odd couple buddies, grumpy old character bonds with a young kid, father-son issues, mentor turns out to be the baddie, excessive sequels...

It sounds like people here are saying Before Sunrise is the weakest of the three. I know I didn't care for it, despite being the type of movie I should've loved. Now I suppose I have to watch the other two sometime.

two more from my list have shown up, although it should've been three. i have no idea how i missed before sunset, but it's one of my favorite films of all time and would've been #6 on my list.

my list so far:
6. Synecdoche, New York (2008)
10. Finding Nemo (2003)
14. Ocean's Eleven (2001)
17. Monsters, Inc. (2001)

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letterboxd
criticker

I had the quietly powerful film The Lives of Others at #14. It's not one I've returned to in quite a while and it's due for a rewatch, which is why it's a bit lower than I had it ranked at the time, but it's just too perfect a movie to have left off this list.

My List:
3. Synecdoche, New York (#46)
8. Sin City (#47)
13. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (#53)
14. The Lives of Others (#41)
18. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (#86)
22. The Man Who Wasn’t There (#84)
24. Moon (#48)

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I may go back to hating you. It was more fun.

Critics

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Critics thoughts on our #42, Before Sunset...



It currently has a 94% Certified Fresh Tomatometer score among critics, and a 8.1/10 score on IMDb (with 252,000 votes).

Roger Ebert gave it ★★★½ and said:

"Before Sunset is a remarkable achievement in several ways, most obviously in its technical skill. It is not easy to shoot a take that is six or seven minutes long, not easy for actors to walk through a real city while dealing with dialogue that has been scripted but must sound natural and spontaneous. Yet we accept, almost at once, that this conversation is really happening. There's no sense of contrivance or technical difficulty."

Meanwhile Michael O'Sullivan, of the Washington Post, said:

"The incessant jawboning of Before Sunset is all foreplay and no climax."

As for our MoFo reviewers, @Golgot said:

"Despite the evidently cerebral and procedural nature of a film based on one long conversation, this self assured, yet self-doubting, creation glides along so well that you just don't want to analyse it."

And @seanc said:

"Spending an hour and a half with no one but these two people was not the pleasure it was the first time around, and at times was insufferable."

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Judging from his review, which I'm referencing on my previous post, I'm pretty sure @seanc meant to say Before Sunset was the one he didn't like.

Critics

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Critics thoughts on our #41, The Lives of Others...



It currently has a 92% Certified Fresh Tomatometer score among critics, and a 8.4/10 score on IMDb (with 377,000 votes).

Roger Ebert gave it ★★★★ and said:

"The Lives of Others is a powerful but quiet film, constructed of hidden thoughts and secret desires."

Meanwhile Noel Murray, of AV Club, said:

"Writer-director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck gives his debut feature, The Lives Of Others, no particular style, and the absence of visual risk-taking renders an exciting premise ponderous and stolid."

As for our MoFo reviewers, @JayDee said:

"A stunning accomplishment, especially from a first time director. With a sharp and layered script, strong direction and a series of impressive performances it is an elegant piece of film-making which is a beautiful and resonant piece of work."

And @adidasss said:

"I honestly don't see what all the fuss is about. A potentially very powerful subject was destroyed (or rather watered down) by the back story played by two of actors that never should have left TV... The director completely failed to portray the culture of fear that the German Intelligence Service (known as Stasi) was enforcing in the German Democratic Republic. The couples story seemed meandering, cheesy and ultimately very unpersuasive."

Trailers

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Hopefully I can get another hint right, keep my streak going. That last one was certainly a close call though.

True. Sorry. At some point in the earth’s rotation there was a movie I loved, and one I didn’t like.

Stats: Pit Stop #6

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This is the sixth pit stop (60), so here are our stats so far:

Decade Breakdown

• 2000 = 12
• 2001 = 7
• 2002 = 4
• 2003 = 4
• 2004 = 5
• 2005 = 12
• 2006 = 2
• 2007 = 4
• 2008 = 4
• 2009 = 6

2000 and 2005 locked in a fierce battle for the top spot!


Director Breakdown

• Wes Anderson = 2 (Life Aquatic of Steve Zissou, Fantastic Mr. Fox)
• Joel & Ethan Coen = 2 (The Man Who Wasn't There, A Serious Man)
• Clint Eastwood = 2 (Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby)
• Ang Lee = 2 (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Brokeback Mountain)
• Danny Boyle = 2 (28 Days Later, Sunshine)
• Richard Linklater = 2 (Before Sunset, Waking Life)

Two more join the list, but more to come!


Genre Breakdown

• Musical = 2
• Biopic drama = 4
• Romantic drama = 5
• Horror = 4
• Coming of age = 2
• Thriller = 7
• Drama/mystery = 4
• Comedy drama = 6
• Action comedy = 2
• Epic, war drama = 1
• Psychological drama = 4
• Animated drama = 2
• Animated comedy = 3
• Superhero action = 4
• Crime = 5
• Western/Neo-western = 2
• Science fiction = 2
• Martial arts = 1

60 films in and thrillers continue to rule, but comedy dramas and crime films are close.


And finally, 16 of the 60 films are foreign, while we have 5 animated films in total.

Whoops, I was typing to fast, I blame work, which I have to get back to in like 3 minutes! I guess you were right, you are in the minority

And to continue with @mrblond's stats on notable actor recurrences...

4 FILMS

• Willem Dafoe (#44, #70, #79, #98)

3 FILMS

• Brad Pitt (#51*, #68, #71)
• Christian Bale (#60*, #79*, #99)
• Philip Seymour Hoffman (#46*, #73, #90)
• Cillian Murphy (#45*, #60, #88*)

2 FILMS

• Frances McDormand (#84, #90)
• Robert Downey Jr. (#76*, #83*)
• George Clooney (#70*, #68*)
• Tom Hanks (#69*, #72*)
• Paul Bettany (#83, #100)
• Colin Farrell (#56*, #99*)
• Gael García Bernal (#69, #81*)
• Casey Affleck (#51*, #68)
• Geoffrey Rush (#63, #67*)
• Samuel L. Jackson (#62, #83)
• Keira Knightley (#63, #93*)
• Bill Murray (#70, #98*)
• Owen Wilson (#70, #98)
• Michael Gambon (#70, #98)
• Brendan Gleeson (#45, #56*)
• Michelle Williams (#46, #52)
• Mickey Rourke (#47*, #54*)
• Ethan Hawke (#42*, #82)
• Julie Delpy (#42*, #82)
• Benicio del Toro (#47, #71)
• Bruce Willis (#47, #62*)
• Sam Rockwell (#49*, #51)
• Meryl Streep (#43*, #70*)

*means leading part

I'm sure I might be missing something.

For the record I do think Before Sunrise is really well regarded. I watched it when I first came to mofo because I heard so much good about it. Maybe the love has dwindled.

Never seen any of the Before trilogy. Lives of Others is fine/forgettable

Time to decide the next hint!