The MoFo Top 100 of the 2000s Countdown

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Mulholland Dr. is another I watched during the prep period for this countdown and, though it not making my personal ballot was probably unlikely, that rewatch did maybe gain it a couple of spots.


Seen: 68/97 (Own: 47/97)
My ballot:  


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

Still aunt Agatha-ing with the final Faildiction, chance of success just dropped 8% though.......





David Lynch’s Mulholland Dr. was #4 on the MoFo Top 100 of the Millennium List and #66 on the MoFo Top 100 Refresh.
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Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
Mulholland Dr. is another film everybody seems to love, but I only slightly like. My favorite scene is when Naomi Watts "acts" with Chad Everett. That's "real" and doesn't need twists to make commentary about Hollywood vs. reality. I guess I'm just a wet blanket, sitting all alone in the corner at this big party Lynch is having with everyone else. I do think the film is interesting and leads to some thought-provoking ideas but I'm just not fully drawn in. Sometimes I find Lynch's atmosphere and "audacity" downright silly, but I do find this one better than most.

It pretty much made sense to me the first time - at least my interpretation. Then I read the experts and their explanation deflated me and the film. Are there really any films which don't allow someone to "engage" with them? It seems that opposite ones engage people who are looking for "opposite things". I don't want my films to be spoon-fed, but I'd like to know my interpretations partially agree with what the creator intended. If not, why isn't someone's interpretation of a film as "idiotic nonsense" make as much sense as the interpretation of it as "poetic beauty"? Sorry about the comments. They're not meant as a debate or a popularity contest because I'll lose that. Just think of it as the loyal opposition saying hello and telling you to have fun as much as you can because sometimes I apparently don't.

I'll champion a normal film - my #6, The Heart of the World.


My List

1. The Incredibles
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
3. King Kong
5. Ratatouille
6. The Heart of the World
7. Downfall
8. Up
9. The Dark Knight
10. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
11. Everything Will Be OK
12. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
13. Talk to Her
14. Tell No One
15. WALL·E
16. Children of Men
17. Pan's Labyrinth
18. Spirited Away
19. The Pianist
20. A.I. Artificial Intelligence
21. Pride & Prejudice
22. Hotel Rwanda
25. City of Life and Death
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Definitely didn't vote for Mulholland. Seen it 3 times but other than Watts performance it really doesn't do all that much for me.

Wedding Crashers was my 6 and among my favorite comedies ever. The cast is perfect for me and the laughs are aplenty.

Ghost World was my 22. It is a chill movie that works really well for me and I really enjoy Birch in it. I thought it would have made this countdown, but I was wrong.

1. Man on Fire (2004)
2. Mystic River (2003)
3. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
4. Gladiator (2000)
5. Spirited Away (2001)
6. Wedding Crashers (2005)
7.
8. Iron Man (2008)
9. Casino Royale (2006)
10. Finding Nemo (2003)
11. Gran Torino (2008)
12. Crash (2004)
13. Lost in Translation (2003)
14. Inside Man (2006)
15. The Prestige (2006)
16. Up (2009)
17.
18. WALL·E (2008)
19.
20. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
21. The Dark Knight (2008)
22. Ghost World (2001)
23. A Beautiful Mind (2001)
24. Sideways (2004)
25. About Elly (2009)



Critics




Critics thoughts on our #4, Mulholland Drive...



It currently has an 84% Certified Fresh Tomatometer score among critics, and a 7.9/10 score on IMDb (with 343,000 votes).

Roger Ebert gave it ★★★★ and said:
"This is a movie to surrender yourself to. If you require logic, see something else. Mulholland Drive works directly on the emotions, like music. Individual scenes play well by themselves, as they do in dreams, but they don't connect in a way that makes sense--again, like dreams."
Meanwhile Rex Reed, of Observer, said:
"A load of moronic and incoherent garbage."
As for our MoFo reviewers, @Thief said:
"I think the way Lynch manages to pull and create emotion out of this web of seemingly unrelated and unexplainable events is simply magical, peaking with that magnificent scene at Club Silencio."
And @Citizen Rules said:
"Well...I kinda, sorta, liked it...I guess. Then again, I'm not really sure. I guess it's closer to the truth to say there was stuff I liked about it and other stuff that I thought should've been left on the editing room floor."
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Miyazaki is a director I admire more than love (with the so-far exceptions of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and My Neighbor Totoro, both of which I do love), and so while I appreciate Spirited Away, I didn't vote for it.

Mulholland Dr. was my #2--only my personal affection for Hedwig could keep it from #1. I’ll only add that the Club Silencio scene is among my favorite scenes in film ever.



A system of cells interlinked
Mulholland Drive was my #4

There was a time years ago, where this would have been a shoe-in for my #1 for the decade, and I may have even tried to sneak it onto my list twice, just to get it extra points!

Ask any old school MoFo, and they can attest to my constant prattling on about Lynch's Mulholland Drive in the years following its release; I was completely obsessed. Like @Thief, I had a somewhat similar experience with my initial viewings of the film, except that I absolutely hated it the first time I watched it. After the film ended, I grabbed the rented DVD, jumped in my car, and drove it back to Blockbuster Video to get something else to watch. I complained so loudly, the guy actually extended me a free rental that evening.

Two days later, I couldn't stop thinking about the film. So I did what any sane person would do with a film I hated when they watched it - I bought the DVD immediately! I think I watched it another 4-5 times that week, and from that very first frame on my second viewing and on forward, I considered everything about the film to be perfection.

These days, I have somewhat cooled on the film, but I still think it is a masterwork of surreal noir. I recall Roger Ebert becoming obsessed with this film around the same time I did, enough so that he was holding special screenings with his colleagues to discuss the film. At one point he said something along the lines of, and I am paraphrasing here, "Mulholland Drive is ahead of its time, and these days, is nothing but a niche oddity, worshiped in small, obsessive circles such as the one I belong to. In 20 years time, it will be recognized as the magnificent achievement in cinema it clearly is."

I think that is right about now, and here we are, at #4 overall.



"It will be just like in the movies...we can pretend to be somebody else."
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I've seen Mulholland Drive, but it was a rather long time ago and it's definitely overdue for a rewatch. My memory of the film is quite hazy, and I don't even recall how I felt about it overall.

Seen: 64/97

Since I didn't have much to say about today's reveal, I'll touch on a few more films from my list that clearly did not make the cut. Today's theme is martial arts.



18. District B13 (2004)

With one of the pioneers of parkour playing a main character, it's probably not shocking that District B13 features an awful lot of stunts that involve running, jumping, and climbing. There are a number of incredible physical feats accomplished without the assistance of wires or CG, and the whole film has this great energy to it that more than makes up for a fairly generic plot.



21.
Merantau (2009)

Speaking of basic premises elevated by impressive action sequences, I recently revisited Merantau and had to include it on my list. This was Gareth Evans' first feature film, and the debut of my favourite action star: Iko Uwais. Evans, Uwais and Yayan Ruhian would later work together on the far more popular Raid series, so fans of those films should check out where the three of them got their start.



23. Equilibrium (2002)

I have not rewatched this film in a really long time, so it's possible that it might not hold up, but considering how much I dislike Christian Bale, the fact that I still really enjoyed Equilibrium has to mean something. The cinematography was often very striking, as the dystopian science fiction elements and flashy gun fu set pieces actually went really well together.



Welcome to the human race...
Mulholland Drive was my #2. To me, it feels more like Lynch's definitive cinematic masterpiece than anything else as it finds the right balance between the various aspects that make his oeuvre as an artist so fascinating - the barely-comprehensible avant-garde, the comical surrealism, and the fundamentally human drama underneath his trademark affectations and signifiers.
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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0



Yes, I have to agree with what Iro says above - concise and well put. I also ranked it #2.

2. Mulholland Drive (2001)
3. Yi Yi (2000)
4. Werckmeister Harmonies (2000)
5. City of God (2002)
6. Caché (2005)
7. In the Mood for Love (2000)
8. WALL·E (2008)
9. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005)
11. Children of Men (2006)
13. Spirited Away (2001)
17. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
22. The Aviator (2004)
25. Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001)
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I don't remember too much of Mulholland Drive. I think there was some girl-on-girl action, and I had more positive feelings towards it than most other Lynch films. Not really my cup of tea, though.

Seen: 53/97

My Ballot:  
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Women will be your undoing, Pépé
And you're the reason I seen it too Actually several of those on there are HoF noms that I seen for the first time thanks to the people who nominated them.
I AM glad you loved it that much. A truly excellent western and d@mn fine movie
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Mulholland Drive, not on my ballot and I liked it well enough. I have no objections to it making the list, in fact I'd be surprised if it didn't place this high. I do think Lynch is one of the all time great directors.

My favorite scene in the movie was Naomi Watts auditioning for a movie role in a crowded room. I've heard actors talk about doing cold auditions like that. Geez that would be very intimidating. I loved how when she read her lines with Chad Everett the scene was one long continuous take, no edits until they were done reading their lines. Very impressive acting from her. Chad Everett wasn't bad either. I liked the guy who played the director as he looked and acted like a director.



Awards




Now to the awards received by Mulholland Drive...

  • BAFTA Film Award for Best Editing (Mary Sweeney)
  • ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress (Laura Harring)
  • Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director (David Lynch, tied with Joel Coen)
  • Chlotrudis Award for Best Director and Original Screenplay (Lynch)
  • Film Independent Spirit Awards for Best Cinematography (Peter Deming)
  • Indiewire Critics' Poll Award for Best Film of the Decade
  • National Board of Review Award for Breakthrough Performance (Naomi Watts)
  • Online Film & Television Association Award for Best Breakthrough Performance (Watts)
  • Village Voice Film Poll Award for Best Film of the Decade

Among many, many others.