The MoFo Top 100 of the 2000s Countdown
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No votes. Good to see I wasn't far off when it came to my recent Ang Lee comment - not sure if Brokeback qualifies as his masterpiece but it's certainly up there as far as his remarkable filmography goes. Assassination... is pretty good as well, though I've never quite considered it out-and-out great.
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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0
I really just want you all angry and confused the whole time.
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Some days, Mark drops one of the best posts on MoFo in the history of the site. Today is one of those days...
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Seen Brokeback Mountain, liked it a whole lot, but it didn't make it into my list. One of those that I cut last.
Heard great things about The Assassination..., but never seen it. Rented it once on Redbox, but the disc was damaged, and I haven't tried again for some reason.
This is where I'm at...
Seen: 36/50
Heard great things about The Assassination..., but never seen it. Rented it once on Redbox, but the disc was damaged, and I haven't tried again for some reason.
This is where I'm at...
Seen: 36/50
My ballot:
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Brokeback Mountain had a tremendous impact on me when it first came out, and on two sides of the coin.
I saw the film in its opening weekend in a movie theater with my sister in Chicago. The vibes, my gosh, the vibes. A gay love story on the big screen with *gasp* yes, actual sex. A film that delicately balanced the internal and external factors that made gay relationships fraught and even dangerous. Gay characters who were masculine, not despite being gay, but just because that's who they are. The audience was there for it. There was a sense of FINALLY. It was some of the same feeling I felt from the audience when I went to see Black Panther.
Then many months later I was working in a video store in a small town in Iowa and the film was released to DVD. Do you know how many times I heard the word "disgusting", "sick", or witnessed a repulsed curl of the lip from customers? One man told me that he wouldn't be able to watch the movie unless he was wearing a thick coat, or something to that effect, implying that the film would literally make him dirty. It was just a year before a gay classmate of mine was beaten up for being gay, so badly that his jaw had to be wired shut. 2005 was the year that six couples in Iowa who had been denied marriage licenses filed a lawsuit about it.
When the Oscars rolled around, many members openly admitted that they refused to watch Brokeback Mountain. When it lost out Best Picture to the "hey, everyone's kind of racist!" Crash, oof.
The film is gorgeous and well-acted from all of its leads. It's not a film I tend to think of as being one of my favorites, but when I made my list, I did so by simply writing down films and then looking at the next movie and slotting it above anything I liked it more than. To my shock, Brokeback Mountain just kept hanging in there. It finished as my #5.
Assassination of Jesse James is a really beautiful film. It's based on a book by Ron Hansen (a great author), and the film manages to capture the dreamy logic and flow of his writing. It didn't make my list, but it's a film I adored seeing in the theater and I can easily see why many would count it as a favorite.
I saw the film in its opening weekend in a movie theater with my sister in Chicago. The vibes, my gosh, the vibes. A gay love story on the big screen with *gasp* yes, actual sex. A film that delicately balanced the internal and external factors that made gay relationships fraught and even dangerous. Gay characters who were masculine, not despite being gay, but just because that's who they are. The audience was there for it. There was a sense of FINALLY. It was some of the same feeling I felt from the audience when I went to see Black Panther.
Then many months later I was working in a video store in a small town in Iowa and the film was released to DVD. Do you know how many times I heard the word "disgusting", "sick", or witnessed a repulsed curl of the lip from customers? One man told me that he wouldn't be able to watch the movie unless he was wearing a thick coat, or something to that effect, implying that the film would literally make him dirty. It was just a year before a gay classmate of mine was beaten up for being gay, so badly that his jaw had to be wired shut. 2005 was the year that six couples in Iowa who had been denied marriage licenses filed a lawsuit about it.
When the Oscars rolled around, many members openly admitted that they refused to watch Brokeback Mountain. When it lost out Best Picture to the "hey, everyone's kind of racist!" Crash, oof.
The film is gorgeous and well-acted from all of its leads. It's not a film I tend to think of as being one of my favorites, but when I made my list, I did so by simply writing down films and then looking at the next movie and slotting it above anything I liked it more than. To my shock, Brokeback Mountain just kept hanging in there. It finished as my #5.
Assassination of Jesse James is a really beautiful film. It's based on a book by Ron Hansen (a great author), and the film manages to capture the dreamy logic and flow of his writing. It didn't make my list, but it's a film I adored seeing in the theater and I can easily see why many would count it as a favorite.
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I haven’t seen Brokeback Mountain and kinda forgot all about it. Shoulda watched it for this list.
I’ve seen Jesse James. It’s good but man I felt that runtime.
I’ve seen Jesse James. It’s good but man I felt that runtime.
Stats: Pit Stop #5
This is the fifth pit stop (50), mid-point of the countdown, so here are our stats so far:
Decade Breakdown
And 2005 got back on top! but 2000 is close behind.
Director Breakdown
Two more added to the list, but more to come!
Genre Breakdown
Genre continues to be all over the place, but thrillers seem to be on top.
And finally, 14 of the 50 films are foreign, and since there were no animated films on this batch, we remain at 4 animated films.
This is the fifth pit stop (50), mid-point of the countdown, so here are our stats so far:
Decade Breakdown
- 2000 = 10
- 2001 = 7
- 2002 = 2
- 2003 = 3
- 2004 = 4
- 2005 = 11
- 2006 = 1
- 2007 = 4
- 2008 = 3
- 2009 = 5
And 2005 got back on top! but 2000 is close behind.
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)
Two more added to the list, but more to come!
Genre Breakdown
- Musical = 1
- Biopic drama = 4
- Romantic drama = 4
- Horror = 3
- Coming of age = 2
- Thriller = 7
- Drama/mystery = 2
- Comedy drama = 5
- Action comedy = 2
- Epic, war drama = 1
- Psychological drama = 3
- Animated drama = 2
- Animated comedy = 2
- Superhero action = 4
- Crime = 4
- Western/Neo-western = 2
- Science fiction = 1
- Martial arts = 1
Genre continues to be all over the place, but thrillers seem to be on top.
And finally, 14 of the 50 films are foreign, and since there were no animated films on this batch, we remain at 4 animated films.
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I admired AoJJ when I saw it (the Deakins cinematography helps immensely), but I've never felt the urge to revisit it, despite owning a copy. I feel this way about a lot of the more acclaimed films of the decade. mark f.'s post is making me think I'll sour on it with a rewatch (the things he cites are some of things that leave me cold on modern arthouse style), so I'll perhaps leave it as a pleasant memory for the time being.
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Brokeback Mountain's first act was pretty damn slow, but it gradually got better and the third act tied things together perfectly. 92. But not my favorite Ang Lee movie. Crouching Tiger and Life of Pi are my favorites. I even admit I enjoyed Sense and Sensibility slightly more (I've seen all of these at least twice).
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Yes! The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
was my number one movie! As soon as the countdown was announced I knew this would be my #1. I don't think I've been more impressed with a film's near perfection.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
I loved the choice of slow story telling combined with the documentary style of voice over narration. It's an effective way of telling the tale of the assassination of Jesse James, as it felt very personal. I liked the way the point of view was from Robert Ford and not Jesse James. This kept Jesse as an enigma and that's how the film presented him as, a man of mystery.
The look of the film is pure artistry, the colors are de-saturated to give a vintage look and feel to the film. Backing that up is slow camera movement with long scene takes and smooth scene transitions that often focus on scenery to allow the viewer time to digest what they've just seen.
One of the most amazing things about this movie was the use of blurred (out of focus) panels on the sides of some of the shots...like in the photo I used above. I've been noticing this trend on still photography in the last couple of years, but never had seen this done in a movie before. This film might be the genesis for that movement...The blurred edges aren't just ascetics, they work to focus attention on the subject in the center of the frame while ignoring the information on the edges that have been blurred. I think that's so cool!
The spoken dialogue between the characters was perfect vernacular for the 1880s. Not many movies get this common man's language & style of speaking correctly. Notice there's no F bombs and when they talk sex talk, they use phrases and terms that would be common in the 1880's, but not today. The scriptwriter deserves an Oscar!
Generally I'm not a huge fan of Brad Pitt but he was perfect here as the quiet yet sometimes animated, dark and enigmatic man of violence...who's also a caring family man. Pitt extruded this hidden dangerous streak that scarred the hell out of his men. I believed he was dangerous so it worked.
Cassey Affleck was equally amazing in this. The movie is told from his perspective and damn he deserved an Oscar too. I thought he was great in Manchester by the Sea but I liked his performance here even better. He's so good at letting the audience inside his head, that I felt like I was in his shoes. He's so natural and real on screen. The rest of the cast was exceptional and kudos goes to the director for keeping all the performances in balance with the subtle style of the film.
The Assassination of Jesse James is one of the most perfect films I've seen.
was my number one movie! As soon as the countdown was announced I knew this would be my #1. I don't think I've been more impressed with a film's near perfection.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
I loved the choice of slow story telling combined with the documentary style of voice over narration. It's an effective way of telling the tale of the assassination of Jesse James, as it felt very personal. I liked the way the point of view was from Robert Ford and not Jesse James. This kept Jesse as an enigma and that's how the film presented him as, a man of mystery.
The look of the film is pure artistry, the colors are de-saturated to give a vintage look and feel to the film. Backing that up is slow camera movement with long scene takes and smooth scene transitions that often focus on scenery to allow the viewer time to digest what they've just seen.
One of the most amazing things about this movie was the use of blurred (out of focus) panels on the sides of some of the shots...like in the photo I used above. I've been noticing this trend on still photography in the last couple of years, but never had seen this done in a movie before. This film might be the genesis for that movement...The blurred edges aren't just ascetics, they work to focus attention on the subject in the center of the frame while ignoring the information on the edges that have been blurred. I think that's so cool!
The spoken dialogue between the characters was perfect vernacular for the 1880s. Not many movies get this common man's language & style of speaking correctly. Notice there's no F bombs and when they talk sex talk, they use phrases and terms that would be common in the 1880's, but not today. The scriptwriter deserves an Oscar!
Generally I'm not a huge fan of Brad Pitt but he was perfect here as the quiet yet sometimes animated, dark and enigmatic man of violence...who's also a caring family man. Pitt extruded this hidden dangerous streak that scarred the hell out of his men. I believed he was dangerous so it worked.
Cassey Affleck was equally amazing in this. The movie is told from his perspective and damn he deserved an Oscar too. I thought he was great in Manchester by the Sea but I liked his performance here even better. He's so good at letting the audience inside his head, that I felt like I was in his shoes. He's so natural and real on screen. The rest of the cast was exceptional and kudos goes to the director for keeping all the performances in balance with the subtle style of the film.
The Assassination of Jesse James is one of the most perfect films I've seen.
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Haven't seen Brokeback Mountain, but it's been on my watchlist for some time. I'll probably get around to it eventually.
I have seen The Assassination of Jesse James..., but that was a while ago and I don't remember it too well. I do remember enjoying the film though.
I have seen The Assassination of Jesse James..., but that was a while ago and I don't remember it too well. I do remember enjoying the film though.
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Brokeback Mountain didn’t do much for me. Maybe cause I ain’t gay. Relax y’all, just kidding. If I can do that in 2021 without getting canceled. 
Anyway, yeah, and as for The Abnormally Long Titled Movie I’ve seen it once and actually really liked it but I seem to have forgotten about it and how it played out and why I even liked it. So I guess a rewatch is due at some point.
Anyway, yeah, and as for The Abnormally Long Titled Movie I’ve seen it once and actually really liked it but I seem to have forgotten about it and how it played out and why I even liked it. So I guess a rewatch is due at some point.
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Brokeback Mountain is my #1 film, and I was really hoping to see it place somewhere in the top ten. Ang Lee’s best film in a mostly solid filmography, it’s a moving story.
That final line just stops me cold every time. As Ennis looks at the jacket he keeps as a reminder, full of regret and says simply “Jack, I swear.” And when those final guitar cords starts up…..
It’s poignant and devastating all at once.
Assassination of the long titles is a good film as well, with a great cinematography too. Didn’t make my ballot, but was considered briefly.
That final line just stops me cold every time. As Ennis looks at the jacket he keeps as a reminder, full of regret and says simply “Jack, I swear.” And when those final guitar cords starts up…..
It’s poignant and devastating all at once.
Assassination of the long titles is a good film as well, with a great cinematography too. Didn’t make my ballot, but was considered briefly.
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Critics
Critics thoughts on our #52, Brokeback Mountain...
It currently has an 87% Certified Fresh Tomatometer score among critics, and a 7.7/10 score on IMDb (with 343,000 votes).
Roger Ebert gave it ★★★★ and said:
Critics thoughts on our #52, Brokeback Mountain...
It currently has an 87% Certified Fresh Tomatometer score among critics, and a 7.7/10 score on IMDb (with 343,000 votes).
Roger Ebert gave it ★★★★ and said:
"Brokeback Mountain could tell its story and not necessarily be a great movie. It could be a melodrama. It could be a "gay cowboy movie." But the filmmakers have focused so intently and with such feeling on Jack and Ennis that the movie is as observant as work by Bergman. "While Fernando F. Croce, of CinePassion, said:
"Lee can't tell the difference between criticizing oppression and turning out an oppressed work. The time-spanning narrative might as well have ended in 1982 with the release of Making Love, because that's about how far back the movie sets gay cinema."As for our MoFo reviewers, @michaelcorleone said:
"I think this movie is extremely underappreciated and misunderstood. It's not a gay cowboy movie. It's a classic depiction of love itself, and an absolute artistic triumph... Anyone who truly has a passion for movies should see this. Who knows? Maybe they'll learn something about love."Meanwhile, @KeyserCorleone said:
"Brokeback Mountain is slow to start, but it leads up to a satisfying and touching conclusion which leaves you hurt for a while."
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Critics thoughts on our #51, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford...
It currently has a 76% Certified Fresh Tomatometer score among critics, and a 7.5/10 score on IMDb (with 176,000 votes).
Roger Ebert gave it ★★★½ and said:
Critics thoughts on our #51, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford...
It currently has a 76% Certified Fresh Tomatometer score among critics, and a 7.5/10 score on IMDb (with 176,000 votes).
Roger Ebert gave it ★★★½ and said:
"Dominik ... opens up his camera to the far horizons, showing how small a man might feel unless he did something to make his mark. The cinematography is by Roger Deakins, who ... shows the modern West as also in need of hard, unforgiving men to stand up to the landscape. Brad Pitt embodies Jesse James' mythic stature as if long accustomed to it; Casey Affleck plays the kid like Mark David Chapman, a nobody killing the one he loves."While J.R. Jones, of the Chicago Reader, said:
"Moseying along for 160 minutes, this revisionist western by writer-director Andrew Dominik makes a wan attempt to present the Jesse James legend as the dawn of celebrity culture in America."As for our MoFo reviewers, @mrtylerdurden said:
"This is a hauntingly gorgeous film with images that stick in your head. The story is interesting and has some really interesting twists and turns near the end. I really enjoyed all the performances in this movie and thought they were great. I highly recommend this film to anyone who enjoys watching a quality motion picture. One of the best I've seen in a while"Meanwhile, @Iroquois said:
"While The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford isn't quite on the level of Hillcoat's [The Proposition], it's still a dependable example of a revisionist Western. Though it may tread familiar ground and feel longer than it really needs to be, it is fortunately buoyed by a solid ensemble cast, some artfully prosaic writing, and some appropriately striking visual and aural contributions."
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Adding to @mrblond's stats on notable actor recurrences... (Wes Anderson is responsible for a good bunch of these)
*(bold means leading part)
- Brad Pitt (#51*, #68, #71)
- Christian Bale (#60*, #79*, #99)
- Willem Dafoe (#70, #79, #98)
- Philip Seymour Hoffman (#73, #90)
- 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*)
- Cillian Murphy (#60, #88*)
- 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)
*(bold means leading part)
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Brokeback is pretty good but wasn’t in contention for my list.
Assasination is astounding and my #11. Very cool story told well and acted perfectly. In contention for my favorite movie to look at.
Assasination is astounding and my #11. Very cool story told well and acted perfectly. In contention for my favorite movie to look at.
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