Thief FTW! Well done, sir, thanks for the massive effort.
Both
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (#9) and
No Country for Old Men (#23) made my list.
Fellowship is (by consensus, apparently) the best of that trilogy, and while
No Country is not my favorite Coen Bros. film even from the decade, it's worth its place. Here's what I wrote about it back in the day:
As much as it is about anything, No Country is about fate. Relentless, remorseless fate, sweeping humanity along a "dismal tide." But the film has nothing more to say about fate than that fate is and that free will is probably, at best, an illusion. There are two coin tosses in the film. In one, a man plays the toss, but doesn't know the stakes. In another, a woman, knowing the stakes, refuses to play. Who wins, who loses? Who lives, who dies? Fate decides.
Fate is embodied in Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), a relentless, remorseless killer whose quirk is that he disdains ordinary guns for a hydraulic air gun. The breath of death, if you will. More Rutger Hauer's Hitcher than Hannibal Lecter, Chigurh appears from nowhere in west Texas and begins killing and does not stop, and when local Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) stumbles across the two million dollars that survived a drug deal shootout, Chigurh tracks him with a deliberateness that is more fitting to the walking dead than to a live assassin; indeed, by the film's end Chigurh acquires a shuffling gait of which George Romero would be proud.
Did Moss--floating in on the tide--have a choice in his fate? Maybe, but even he doesn't believe it, telling his wife: "Things happen. Can't take 'em back." And once he starts his path is set. He believes, at times, that he can choose his destiny, but over and over it is made clear that he cannot. He's even told it. But he doesn't know it, and he never learns it.
Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) has grown old enough--through his own devices, maybe, but probably by chance--to learn it, and he oversees the proceedings with the detachment of one who is unhappy about life's meaninglessness, but who has come to terms with it. Invited to accompany investigative revisits to crime scenes, he demurs, seeing little point in combing over the petty details of life's atrocities. Bell sees the tide coming in, and he'd best prefer not to get wet by it.
There is a cold calculation to the film that I can't help feeling let down by. It is a marvel, in a way, filled with exquisite moments, Coenesque touches, as in the shot of smoky light filtering slowly through a blown-out hole. The tension is incredible, and achieved through exquisite timing. The actors, Jones in particular, are mesmerizing. And at the heart of it all is an empty space.
These are the films from the list I haven't seen:
Werckmeister Harmonies, Mother, Caché, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Paprika, The Secret in Their Eyes, Yi Yi.
Finally, here is my full list, with notes for the DNPs:
1. Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001) (#91)
2. Mulholland Drive (2001) (#4)
3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) (#6)
4. Before Sunset (2004) (#42)
5. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005) (#86)
6. Primer (2004) (DNP) I thought this
might make it. Carruth may be a garbage person but his debut film is stellar.
7. You Can Count on Me (2000) (DNP) Another top film that I thought had a chance to sneak in. Lonergan is possibly too low key a filmmaking presence though, with only 3 films (one with an almost invisible release) in the past 20 years.
8. Memento (2000) (#11)
9. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) (#2)
10. Chicago (2002) (DNP) This one finished in 102-110, I think? Anyway, this is just tons of fun.
11. A Serious Man (2009) (#66)
12. Pan's Labyrinth (2006) (#7)
13. Spider-Man 2 (2004) (#61)
14. Ratatouille (2007) (#23)
15. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005) (#78)
16. Memories of Murder (2003) (#27)
17. American Splendor (2003) (DNP) Not surprised this didn't make it, but not only is it a fine film, I have a personal fondness for its subject. Back in the '80s when I was a nerdy kid (as opposed to now, when I am a nerdy adult), every summer I would go to the Dallas Fantasy Fair to buy comics and hang out with comic pros as much as they would tolerate. Harvey and Joyce in particular were really kind beyond call or reason to a very awkard teen, and I've always appreciated it.
18. Once (2007) (DNP) Another #102-110, IIRC. No ******** in this one.
19. X2: X-Men United (2003) (DNP) One of my favorite comic book films, slightly better than the first in the series. It's all downhill from here, though!
20. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) (#8)
21. In the Bedroom (2001) (DNP) Longeran looks prolific next to Todd Field, who made one more movie after this then vanished. Though he does seem to have something coming out later this year. I can't help but think if he'd made more films that this one would be better remembered.
22. Chicken Run (2000) (DNP) Just a little love for Aardman.
23. No Country for Old Men (2007) (#1)
24. The Dark Knight (2008) (#10)
25. 49 Up (2005) (one-pointer)