The MoFo Top 100 of the 2000s Countdown

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1. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
2. Zodiac (2007)
3. WALL·E (2008)
4. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
5. The Prestige (2006)
6. 28 Days Later... (2002)
7. Match Point (2005)
8. Paprika (2006)
9. Up (2009)
10. Cast Away (2000)
11. Finding Nemo (2003)
12. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
13. Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
14. Sunshine (2007)
15. XXXXXXXXXXXXX
16. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)
17. A History of Violence (2005)
18. The Dark Knight (2008)
19. Moon (2009)
20. Coraline (2009)
21. Broken Embraces (2009)
22. Volver (2006)
23. Talk to Her (2006)

24. The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
25. Brand Upon the Brain! A Remembrance in 12 Chapters (2007)


8 films didn't make the cut which likely should have..


Frankly I blame this boards lack of doing noir lists as 5 of the 8 films are neo-noirs and amazing works that likely should have been acknowledged.



I actually didn’t vote for Eternal Sunshine, but I had to go in and make sure I didn’t cause I might as well have… it’s a great film and I think I’ve seen it twice at least.*

I love Kaufman and his unique voice in cinema. Always pushing his creativeness and how to make movies, both as a director and as a writer.

I love high concept films when done right and this is an example of one done right.



Victim of The Night
Since others have posted and the Top 5 coming up, I thought I'd share:

1. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - No.53
2. (This will make the Top 5)
3. The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou - No.98
4. The Devil's Backbone - No.75
5. O Brother, Where Art Thou? - No.21
6. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 - No.14
7. Lost in Translation - No.32
8. The Incredibles - No.36
9. The Royal Tenenbaums - No.35
10. Ocean's Eleven - No.68
11. Casino Royale - No.37
12. Amélie - No.16
13. Children of Men - No.17
14. (I didn't think this had a chance but I think it's very good)
15. (I knew this had no chance but is one of my favorite movies)
16. Ratatouille - No.23
17. (Quite possible we'll be seeing this yet)
18. Juno - No.89
19. (Just a very niche personal favorite)
20. Pan's Labyrinth - No.7
21. Let the Right One In - No.29
22. (Made me laugh a lot)
23. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - No.76
24. Shaun of the Dead - No.20
25. Unbreakable - No.62

Honestly, I had trouble cobbling together 25 films I thought were transcendent or close to it from that decade but most of these I think are good movies.



I haven't seen Spotless, only bits of it, and never got around to seeing it.

So, I will, instead, reveal #19 on my list--




Romain Duris plays a furious, emotionally calloused young man who is a bit of a real sh#t real estate man who beats people/squatters out of possible money-making buildings. With a con artist father and a deceased mother who was once a great pianist with severe mental issues. He is caught between the crashing influences of both as a chance meeting inspires him to, once more, take up the piano. He attempts to become a concert pianist like his mother while walking away from the criminal world that is his life.
Great film. Didn't make my list, but I can absolutely understand why it made yours.



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
getting twitchy now.
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You know, for like the last 20 or so pages I've been beating my head against a wall wondering how on earth you all could predict that Nick Nolte flick would land in the top 10 here. In my mistake, you've all at least gained some level respect back after I realized.

Mulholland Falls was released in 1996, thus ineligible.
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That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again

Mulholland Falls was released in 1996, thus ineligible.
lol, Holden. You n me gotta meet up one day so I can better introduce you to my ... random associative sense of humor.

Oh, and I probably missed the release date cuz of Jennifer Connelly constantly getting in the way of that particular point. One of several, I'm sure. But I am terribly giggly that someone picked up my reference!




I was beating my head trying to figure out "what Nick Nolte film are they talking about??" but yeah, Mulholland Falls was a film. I don't remember it at all
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lol, Holden. You n me gotta meet up one day so I can better introduce you to my ... random associative sense of humor.

And you have to understand that I don't need much of an excuse to happily post pictures of Jennifer Connelly.



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again

And you have to understand that I don't need much of an excuse to happily post pictures of Jennifer Connelly.
I'm liking you more and more with each post. I vote Jennifer Connelly should be our next countdown theme.



I'm liking you more and more with each post. I vote Jennifer Connelly should be our next countdown theme.


Here is some early campaigning for the eventual, problematic Film Noir list: do check out Dennis Hopper's The Hot Spot (1990).



Didn't care much for Eternal Sunshine when I watched it years ago. Been meaning to give it another shot since I've become more tolerant of goofy characters.



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
I agree very much with "strangely unromantic." Best argument, maybe, is that it's supposed to be, because the relationship in it isn't actually a particularly good or healthy one, and it's about hanging onto something like that even when you shouldn't. This, to my mind, makes it more potent, even if it completely changes what's supposed to be good about it.
Admittedly, I haven't seen this one in a few years but I do not remember it being romantic in a sense of romantic love. Maybe as a romanticized ideal of what one would hope love is (could have been?) after losing the relationship. It's easy to look back and pine for what's lost while overlooking all that worked against the relationship from day 2.

I agree that I don't think their relationship was very healthy, but there's a weird panic that can develop, after the fact, when deciding to excise one from your life. I think this movie did an excellent job of translating that for the screen showing how chaotic, irrational, and desperate such a panic can be. All while keeping potentially very deep and dark emotions on an approachable level for the general, non-obsessively depressive, audience through the playfulness of his memories and visually captivating (IMO) effects and set transitions.

We all tend to try to hold on to things we are familiar with, even if those things are destructive. This guy is just stuck in that and will likely realize very soon after why they left each other to begin with. Hopefully, the character will be in a better, clearer headspace to find a more mature path for closure at that time. I think it's great if the viewer reads all this as romantic, but I've always been more interested in how the cinematic elements all come together to magnify and offer a window into confusing this panic with an overly romanticized idea of lost love.

...my take anyway. Still made my list, so neener neener, chicken deener.



I'll unveil 2 more. Man on Fire was my number 1. It made the millennium list, but it didn't have a shot in hell here. I'm probably even the only one who voted it, but it's the most badass Denzel performance and that includes Training Day.

About Elly was my 25 and it's among my favorite foreign films. It could have certainly been higher on a different day, but then again the 2000s is loaded with favorites for me.

1. Man On Fire (2004)
2. Mystic River (2003)
3. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
4. Gladiator (2000)
5.
6.
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.
23. A Beautiful Mind (2001)
24. Sideways (2004)
25. About Elly (2009)

Raul, I'm not one to reveal my entire list before the end, but because you revealed your #1, I'll say that Man on Fire made my list also. I love that movie and think it's one of Denzel's finest performances.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is another film that I've watched most of and enjoyed but something happened to interfere with finishing it. It hasn't showed up again after that last airing on a cable channel I've had and I've searched but to no avail. I will keep trying because I have to know how it ends. I only had about 20 minutes to go on the movie and I hate not finishing a movie!

#2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 8
#3. The Dark Knight 10
#4. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 15
#5. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl 63
#8. Unbreakable 62
#10. Million Dollar Baby 57
#15. Shaun of the Dead 20
#18. The Royal Tenenbaums 35
#20. Iron Man 83
#21. Finding Nemo 44
#22. Fantastic Mr. Fox 70
#23. The Descent 80
#25. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang 76
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Eternal Sunshine just missed my list after a rewatch for the countdown. The love is very real. It is romantic. I've been there. Actually, I'm kind of there right now to be honest. A second chance after an attempt to erase it. Drawn back together, our flaws and all. I won't get too deep in the details but I think it's real, right, this film. I should have included it instead of leaving it off assuming the film would make the top 10 without me.
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Trivia




Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind



Did you know that...
  • screenwriter Charlie Kaufman tried to leave the project after Memento was released? He was worried that the themes of memory and "erasure" were too similar, but one of the studio heads, Steve Golin, made him complete the script.
  • Elijah Wood and Mark Ruffalo improvised most of their lines?
  • Kate Winslet said in an interview to Empire magazine that this was her favorite performance?
  • Jim Carrey, who was suffering from a depressive episode when they were about to start filming, has said that director Michel Gondry told him once "you are so beautiful right now. You are so broken... please don't get well."? Carrey said about a decade later about it "that's how ****ed up this business is."




I forgot the opening line.
6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind : Achingly poignant, this film really hits me hard every time I watch it and really is the apex of Charlie Kaufman's creative mind with Michel Gondry somehow producing a film that grows with stature as time goes by. Jim Carrey's ability to completely transform himself into the shy and old-fashioned Joel opposite Kate Winslet's free-spirited Clementine really proved to me his acting ability - The Truman Show hadn't been that great a leap from the parts he usually plays. Overall, a good chunk of this film takes place in the mind of Joel as he travels back in time and his memories are erased, only then realising the value of them and desperately trying to save them. Our memories serve a purpose - especially the bad ones, so the thought of humans being able to recklessly rub them out is a frightening vision of the future. This is remedied by Kirsten Dunst's character, and the choice both Joel and Clementine decide to make at the end of the film. The method used to portray the destruction of memories is inventive and feels very much like the inner workings of the mind - dreamlike and ghostly. But most importantly of all, this is a love story - one that follows a path heretofore unexplored with endings and beginnings in places that we don't at first realise. It's a beautiful film - and my #4.

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Films I've seen : 82
Films that have been on my radar : 7
Films I've never even heard of : 6

Films from my list : 15 (+2)

#6 - My #4 - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
#11 - My #5 - Memento (2000)
#12 - My #12 - In the Mood for Love (2000)
#32 - My #7 - Lost in Translation (2003)
#39 - My #17 - Sideways (2004)
#43 - My #2 - Adaptation (2002)
#49 - My #8 - Dancer in the Dark (2000)
#51 - My #6 - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
#56 - My #20 - In Bruges (2008)
#59 - My #16 - The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)
#66 - My #9 - A Serious Man (2009)
#71 - My #23 - Snatch (2000)
#78 - My #13 - The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005)
#84 - My #21 - The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
One pointer - World's Greatest Dad (2009)
#102 - My #10 - Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
#109 - My #19 - Michael Clayton (2007)
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