The MoFo Top 100 of the 2000s Countdown

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I've seen both of today, but neither would make even top-100, let alone this ballot, for me. V for Vendetta is 2nd tier Moore and the film isn't any better. Million Dollar Baby is, in my opinion, a calculated bait for the Academy. It turns boxing into show wrestling, and the ending is an awful tear-jerker. I could go all Raul for these two.

Seen: 22/44
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V For Vendetta is one that I enjoyed when it was first released but I haven't seen it since, so I need to revisit it. Not on my list.

Million Dollar Baby is a great movie, one of Eastwood's best. All the performances are excellent, especially Hillary Swank. The devastating ending is haunting and unexpected but I loved it. It came in at #10 on my list.

#5. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl 63
#8. Unbreakable 62
#10. Million Dollar Baby 57
#22. Fantastic Mr. Fox 70
#20. Iron Man 83
#23. The Descent 80
#25. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang 76
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I forgot I had written my own review of The Secret in Their Eyes when I saw it earlier this year for a HoF, but here it is...

The Secret in Their Eyes

I was so impressed by that scene in that film that I started reading about it. Back then I saw a "Making of" video about the scene that I just can't find now, but it was great to see how they pulled it off. If I find it, I'll post it later.
Yeah, that was one of the great long take shots, and makes all the lists of best long takes.

It was a good movie. Frankly I hadn't thought of it for the countdown.



Yeesh, I'm so far behind! Some quick thoughts!

Iron Man--I did really enjoy this when it first came out. But I'm so burned out on Marvel films and how same-y they are, that I've had no desire to revisit it. Still, I can remember that at the time it was something different and fun.

Waking Life--I really like this film. I like the actors in it. I like it's unmoored, dream-reality narrative structure. I like the look of the rotoscoping and the way that its style directly supports the narrative.

The Descent is really solid stuff, and I was especially pleased after enjoying Marshall's Dog Soldiers that he had such a good follow-up to that one. The setting, for me, is sweaty-palm inducing. I like the performances. And there are some really neat interpretations of the meaning of what happens on screen.

American Psycho is meticulously made. While in some ways it isn't "my kind of movie", I have a ton of respect for its dark humor, lead performance from Bale, and direction by Harron.

Battle Royale was a really pleasant surprise for me. It was certainly a film that made a strong impression.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is one of my favorite comedies. It never fails to make me laugh, largely because the cast (Downey Jr., Kilmer, and Monaghan) really have a handle on exactly how to deliver the dialogue so that it all flows together. My sister and I also frequently quote this film. "He looked sad!" "Who taught you math?!". This one made my list at #15.

The Devil's Backbone is such a great, atmospheric horror film. It didn't make my list, but only just. I love the imagery in it and also the sound design. I think that the performances from the young cast are excellent.

Monsters Inc is solid Pixar stuff. Not on my list, but not mad about it being here at all.

Punch Drunk Love is also good stuff. It didn't really click with me entirely on an emotional level, but I can appreciate the craft in it.

Catch Me If You Can is another one I don't mind being here, even if it's not one of my favorites. Hanks, DiCaprio, and Walken are all really solid in this one and the film has a captivating momentum to it.

Snatch is the first one on this list that makes me kind of go "meh". I don't want to yuck anyone's yum, but there's an artificiality to the whole thing (from writing to editing) that just veers a bit too cutesy for me. On the other hand, I can totally see why some people really like it. I enjoyed seeing it in the theater.

Fantastic Mr Fox made my list, and I think it's a great example of a story and a style meshing perfectly. The vocal performances are outstanding and it is both funny and moving in turn. It's the kind of movie that's just perfect when I'm in the right mood. Please don't tell my chickens.

Cast Away is a film I haven't seen, because after it was released it was immediately something that became oversaturated for me with all the references to Wilson and so on. I certainly owe it a watch!

Ocean's Eleven is a solid crowd-pleaser, and I'm not surprised to see it here.

Quills is one I enjoyed when I watched it, but admittedly it has been quite a while.

A Serious Man is one of those films where halfway through I just felt as if I knew I needed to watch it again to really gel with it. It has a unique feel, and I still owe it that rewatch.

Mystic River is a film I was really hyped for. I saw it in the theater with my sister when it came out and we were both kind of "eh" on it. Just some dodgy over the top stuff in the acting. Good, but I was hoping for great.

Paprika is a film whose visuals and music really stuck with me. I frequently watch the YouTube video of Susumu Hirasawa performing Byakkoya live. Glad to see it on this countdown!

Pirates of the Caribbean is a film that was so fun to see in the theater. It's cheesy and of course turned into a bloated mess of a series, but this first film was a blast at the time.

Unbreakable is another one I saw and really liked in the theater. I was maybe a bit let down because I had LOVED The Sixth Sense, but I do think it's really solid.

Batman Begins is a movie I liked at the time but have had no desire to revisit. I'm not sure that for me it will have aged well.

The Secret in Their Eyes is one I just watched recently for a HoF and really enjoyed. Not at all surprised to see it here and I get the love.



I forgot the opening line.
58. V for Vendetta : Watched this in preparation for the countdown, but I had seen it before. Never read the graphic novel though. It was published bit by bit through the 1980s, but it was the uptick in fascism during the 2000s which made the film relevant to it's present day. Something about the fanciful nature of this film put me off a little bit. Hugo Weaving, as V, dances and prances around reciting poetry, making me dislike him intensely. Less prancing and poetry would have helped me a lot. When I looked this up on the IMDb and saw it had an 8.1/10 rating I was shocked. I had no idea this film was as highly regarded as it was - cracking the top 200 films of all time. So when I watched it, I tried to see it with new eyes and take it all in - but it still only hits me as an average to good film.

57. Million Dollar Baby : I definitely considered this for my list. It's a terribly good film, and it ropes me in every time I watch it - but I just couldn't find a place for it. Eastwood has had a great 21st Century, but this film is arguably his greatest achievement in that time. Love Morgan Freeman and Hilary Swank in this, the way Eastwood's character is slowly worn down into training this young boxer, and then letting her into his heart only for things to turn tragic. It works for me - there's enough sincerity here for the movie to get past my defenses and make me invest completely in it's characters. I might have expected this film to place even higher than 57, but if I don't vote for it then I can't rightly complain. I think this is the first Best Picture Oscar winner to show up here.

Seen 34/44
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Don't know how obvious that is, but oh-kee-doh-kee.

I do have an Eastwood film from this decade on my ballot...but it is neither of the ones that have shown.



This is the first of the ten Academy Award winners for Best Picture to make our list. From the seven previous decade lists we are averaging six Best Pictures making the cut. The 1980s is the anomaly thus far with only three titles showing (Amadeus, Platoon, and Rain Man) while the 1970s had nine of them make it (the only one to miss was Patton) and the 1960s had eight (Tom Jones and A Man for All Seasons being the no-shows). The '90s, '50s, '40s, and '30s Lists all had six make it each.

I know we are almost halfway through now which makes it perhaps easier to handicap than before the reveals started, but how many more Best Picture winners do you guess will make it? The other nine titles are Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind, Chicago, The Lord of the Ring: The Return of the King, Crash, The Departed, No Country for Old Men, Slumdog Millionaire, and The Hurt Locker.

I figure LOTR: Return of the King, No Country for Old Men, and The Departed are absolute givens. Gladiator should be there too. I don't see any way in Hell that Crash makes it and may not even be in the top 250 of our votes, one of the most derided Oscar picks in the past fifty years. I think if Slumdog Millionaire was going to show it would have shown by now. Same for The Hurt Locker, though there may well be an undercurrent of support it that I am underestimating. I think Chicago is beloved enough to make it, even if the taste and impact of Moulin Rouge! should place that Musical higher. Which leaves A Beautiful Mind. I have never thought much of that flick, which I am trying not to let color my prediction too much...but I kinda feel like if it doesn't show in the bottom fifty it isn't coming? Whatever awards season momentum bullpucky it enjoyed in early 2002...I gotta believe (or hope?) that has long evaporated?

So I am gonna guess six make it this time: Million Dollar Baby, Chicago, The Departed, Gladiator, No Country for Old Men, and LOTR: ROTK.
Think I know which one you picked. I need to see that again as I wasn't monstrously huge on it.



That's because you aren't as big of an Eastwood fan as I am.
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Awards




Now to the awards received by V for Vendetta...

  • Saturn Award for Best Actress (Natalie Portman)
  • Golden Schmoes Award for Best Actress (Portman)
  • San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Production Design (Owen Paterson)
  • Scream Award for Best Science Fiction Movie
  • SFX Award for Best Actress (Portman)


As for Million Dollar Baby, it won...

  • Academy Award for Best Picture and Director (Clint Eastwood)
  • Academy Award for Best Actress (Hilary Swank) and Best Supporting Actor (Morgan Freeman)
  • César Award for Best Foreign Film
  • Golden Globe Award for Best Actress (Swank) and Director (Eastwood)
  • Satellite Award for Best Actress (Swank) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Paul Haggis)
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Trivia




V for Vendetta



Did you know that...
  • James Purefoy was originally cast as V, but left after six weeks of filming? There are some scenes that still feature Purefoy with Hugo Weaving's voice dubbed in.
  • when V introduces himself to Evey, he uses 48 words that start with "V"?
  • the Wachowskis had prepared a draft in the 1990s, even before working on The Matrix?
  • Alan Moore, author of the graphic novel, has disowned the film adaptation? He did the same with From Hell, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and Watchmen.




Trivia




Million Dollar Baby



Did you know that...
  • the film was stuck in development hell for years before it was shot, with several studios rejecting the project even with Eastwood on board as actor and director?
  • Hilary Swank gained 19 pounds of muscle for the role?
  • Sandra Bullock was at one point attached to the lead role?




Hint, hint...

WARNING: spoilers below

Traveling the world
Traveling the city
My business is murder
But I'll even take pity

Boat, train, plane, cab
Take me to a fairytale land
or deep into hell
I'll hold your head in my hand


Short and sweet, but I need to go to sleep.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
I am SOOO enjoying, as I always do, the Countdown and the conversations and @Thief kicking serious be-hind as Host.

Here's where I stand with the recent films: Six of which I have seen out of the eight, along with one more from my List. YAY


Regarding marrying the dream world and reality using pseudo technology, Paprika, for me, knocks it out of the park for Director Satoshi Kon. A well-crafted, visually impressive collage of cohesively chaotic imagery.


Along with Dep having WAAAAY TOO MUCH fun playing a pirate, a massive plus for this film is, as his nemesis, Geoffrey Rush. For me, it truly made Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl what it is. Just all kinds of a buccaneer, high-seas pageantry that so many of us did not expect when it was heard that Disney was scraping the rum barrel by making a film from one of their age-old rides. But what a f@ckin ride it became!

Unbreakable Like so many, I cheered Sixth Sense, but by the time Unbreakable came about, I skirted it and never found the time to give it a real chance.


Raimi pretty much nailed it with our Friendly neighborhood Spider-Man 2 and his origins, and while the following do-overs were good, it seemed redundant, especially with Raimi getting it very right.
It's hard to judge #1 or #2 being a fan of both. Even if it's been a while since last seeing them, I always enjoyed Alfred Molina as Doc Ock.


Sealing the deal for the cinematic contrast DC would set itself apart from Marvel, Nolan does true justice to the Batman mythos and Detective Comics early years with Batman Begins. Dark and gritty.


The Secret in Their Eyes had a beguiling use of the murder/mystery where it almost takes second stage to the story of our leading characters. There is a subtle and refined expose to what is seen and what we miss seeing.


V for Vendetta is my #9. One of our Watch Over and Over and Over Films. A dystopian, political gambit with a vengeful ghost from its hidden past (Hugo Weaving) tops the bill with an ensemble cast that gives their all to their characters. From Natalie Portman to John Hurt to Stephen Rea and on and on.
Poignant and thoroughly entertaining.

I have not seen Million Dollar Baby though I should.




Films Watched 30 out of 44 (68.18%)
9. V for Vendetta (#58)
14. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (#76)
17. Mother (#96)
25. A Bittersweet Life (One Pointer)


One Pointers: 10 out of 38 (26.31%)
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You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
I saw Unbreakable in the theater many years ago, and I liked it. I rewatched it for this countdown, and while it still holds up, it didn't make my list. But it's definitely one of M. Night Shyamalan's best movies, possibly even #2, (only behind The Sixth Sense).

I'm in the minority of people because Tobey Maguire is my least favorite Spiderman actor, but I liked Spider-Man 2 for the story, and especially for Alfred Molina's performance as Doc Ock.

As far as superhero movies go, I prefer the Marvel movies over the DC movies, but I rewatched Batman Begins for this countdown. It was better than I remembered it, but it didn't make my list. (On a side note, I thought it was pretty impressive when I realized that Liam Neeson trained both Batman and Obi-Wan Kenobi. )

I watched The Secret in Their Eyes for the Foreign Language Movies countdown, and I liked it enough that it made my list for that countdown. While I considered it for my list this countdown, unfortunately it missed my list this time only because I don't like to watch subtitled movies. (I know that's an unfair reason not to include it, but I did buy the DVD, and I hope to rewatch it again someday.)

Even though I didn't think V for Vendetta was my type of movie, I watched it for this countdown because I thought it had a chance to make the countdown. While I was right that it wasn't my type of movie, the good news is that I didn't dislike it. It was a little too dark and violent for my taste, but it wasn't bad. (And it did make me want to watch The Count of Monte Cristo.)

I watched Million Dollar Baby a while back for a Sports Movie Tournament here, (Did we ever finish that tournament? ), and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it. I was expecting it to be just another boxing movie, but it turned out to be a great movie with a twist that hit me like a ton of bricks. I considered it for my list, but it didn't make my final round of cuts.
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Haven't Seen: The Secret in Their Eyes. Hadn't seen either version, but I think I want to tackle the original

If I had gotten to the clue in time, I would have guessed V for Vendetta for sure. The film itself is fine, a mesmerizing exploration of a futuristic Britain that has fallen into fascism and the efforts of a concerned masked patriot willing to fight for their freedom. Fell a bit short of my list (or honorable mentions), but it's well done with some good acting (Weaving, Portman, Rea, John Hurt) and thrilling action sequences.

Batman Begins is a decent intro into the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy. Christian Bale is fine as the Dark Knight, Liam Neeson is solid and Michael Caine offers able support as the experienced Alfred. The story lacked the exciting moments that the better Batman films had to offer (Batman and the underrated Batman Forever) in favor of a more brooding take on the caped crusader. Overall, I liked it but it was in no danger of making my top 25 list.

Million Dollar Baby is my number 9. Film manages to be both the story of a woman's courage and the reluctant grizzled trainer who bonds with him and a reflection of how sometimes the family you make for yourself is better than the family you have. Well acted as Clint Eastwood gives one of his best performances and Hilary Swank matches him as the determined pugilist. Throw in Morgan Freeman's understated turn with some brutal boxing sequences and some strong drama and you got a film that manages to go the distance.

My List:
6. Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
9. Million Dollar Baby
11. Spider-Man 2
HM: Remember the Titans
HM: Unbreakable



Hint, hint...

WARNING: spoilers below

Traveling the world
Traveling the city
My business is murder
But I'll even take pity

Boat, train, plane, cab
Take me to a fairytale land
or deep into hell
I'll hold your head in my hand


Short and sweet, but I need to go to sleep.
In Bruges and Up in the Air?



2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ
Hint, hint...

WARNING: spoilers below

Traveling the world
Traveling the city
My business is murder
But I'll even take pity

Boat, train, plane, cab
Take me to a fairytale land
or deep into hell
I'll hold your head in my hand


Short and sweet, but I need to go to sleep.
No clue other than In Bruges but I didn't expect that to show anymore.



A system of cells interlinked
Pan's Labyrinth and In Bruges
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