The MoFo Top 100 of the 2000s Countdown

→ in
Tools    





Inglorious Basterds was my #1 film.

I said earlier (I think?) that I went with a mix of films I thought were objectively great, and the ones I got the most pure enjoyment over, and while there's no true common currency to measure the value of those things against one another when they seem to conflict, I did my best...and Basterds was so strong on the "enjoyment" factor that I couldn't deny it the top spot.

It's a very very good film, straight up. It was always going to be near the top of my list. What pushed it all the way up was just how many times I've put it on to watch yet again, or popped it on long enough to watch a scene or two...and how often I've ended up rewatching most of it, unplanned. That, and because it's the rare film I loved immediately the first time I saw it, and still love many watches later. A lot of my long-term favorites I have a gradually deepening appreciation for, and a lot of my best initial viewing experiences wane a little with time and distance and more analysis, but Basterds was great when I saw in the theater, just as enjoyable when I went back to see it again, and is enjoyable to this day.

Don't ask me to choose between this and Pulp Fiction. The answer depends on the day. Pulp for influence, for teaching us how to watch Tarantino, but Basterds for degree of difficulty: we already knew Tarantino, he'd been at it nearly two decades, we'd seen nearly all of his tricks, and it still managed to feel fresh.



Here's my review of the film, as well. Apropos of nothing, I remember thinking of this as one of the first reviews I wrote that I was legitimately proud of and didn't cringe at reading years later, like so many others. I'm probably just forgetting/blocking out out a half dozen before this that meet the same criteria, but whatareyougonnado.



Not adding the poster to your front page didn't help it's chances. Hell, Mean Girls is on there.
That's how Letterboxd ranks them based on "popularity". The Hangover doesn't even make the first page Also, Mean Girls >>> The Hangover
__________________
Check out my podcast: The Movie Loot!



Inglourious Basterds was my #1 and I’m thrilled it’s so high on this countdown, I’m OBSESSED with it.

Children of Men is a helluva film too. It never quite impacted me on the emotional level it was supposed to but I still appreciate it for its technical filmmaking.



2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ
That's how Letterboxd ranks them based on "popularity". The Hangover doesn't even make the first page Also, Mean Girls >>> The Hangover
I mean, it does have Rachel McAdams, but no. Now Red Eye on the other hand....



I'm curious for those who enjoy The Departed, had you seen Infernal Affairs?

Having seen the story already and in a more fun way really dinged the experience for me.
I saw Infernal Affairs after The Departed and it didn’t leave much of an impression on me unfortunately.



Movies that people know vs. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu. whoever that is.
Is this about films that people know? or films that people think are good?

...and catch up, dude.



I mean, it does have Rachel McAdams, but no. Now Red Eye on the other hand....
Red Eye making it surely would've made up Cillian Murphy the hottest actor in MoFo. Dude was in everything in the 2000s.





Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men was in my Top Ten at number seven, good for nineteen of its 302 points. P.D. James' 1992 novel brought to life by Cuarón and company, including a fantastic cast and Emmanuel Lubezki's stunning cinematography, makes for engrossing and chillingly prescient Science Fiction for grown ups. Given the pandemic we are all still dealing with and how quickly attitudes of the masses deteriorated, the 2021 England depicted in the film wasn't as big an exaggeration as some may have dismissed it as in 2006. Children of Men is a meticulously crafted piece with an emotional wallop about hope in spite of our worst nature.

I believe only six of my remaining titles are in the sweet sixteen, unless there is a minor, happy surprise lurking for me in these reveals (come on, Almodóvar!).

HOLDEN’S BALLOT
1. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (#86)
2. Dancer in the Dark (#49)
7. Children of Men (#17)
9. The Lives of Others (#41)
10. The Pianist (#31)
14. Synecdoche, New York (#46)
15. Moon (#48)
16. Fantastic Mr. Fox (#70)
17. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (#92)
18. A Serious Man (#66)
19. Adaptation. (#43)
20. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (#51)
21. Downfall (#28)
__________________
"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra



Thursday Next's Avatar
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
Movies that people know vs. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu. whoever that is.
I've seen The Death of Mr Lazarescu but I've never seen The Hangover.

Also, Avatar was somehow the biggest movie of the 2000s but now nobody ever even mentions it. It's like some kind of collective cinema-going madness turned into collective embarrassment-induced amnesia.



I still want to know who else voted for Crank: High Voltage



Honestly I haven’t, although I’ve k own about the The Departed being a remake of it upon release, I just hadn’t gotten around to it. That being said, regardless if Infernal Affairs is better, I don’t feel that should detract from The Departed value on that basis alone.

If we’re going to ding Departed, let’s do it for the overacting and the clumsy dialogue haha.
LOL. For me I think that it was to do with spending 30 minutes wondering why the story beats were SO familiar, then suddenly realizing it was because it was Infernal Affairs. And then everything about it felt like too much, but not in a good way.

When Oldboy showed up the other day I thought, "oh, that's a good one; I should've voted for it". Turns out it was my #13. Was I even awake when I submitted this thing?


And yeah, I'm not ashamed of my 2 &
3, they're there for a reason. But it's clear now that they're completely inconsequential as far as this countdown is concerned.
I was pretty sure my #4 and #6 were never going to make it. But the task was not "make a list of movies everyone else has seen and also probably loves", it was "make a list of your favorite/best films from the 2000s", so that's what I did.

You say that like it's a bad thing.
There is one Harry Potter film I think is genuinely pretty great that made my list.

I've seen both and found Scorsese's version substantially better directed and more engaging across the board. If anything, I like the extent to which he's able to make it a Scorsese movie despite working off of preexisting material.
Yes, Infernal Affairs was much better in my opinion. The Departed just exaggerated the characters mannerisms and performances. Whereas I Affairs gave much more depth and backstory.
Glad I'm not alone in preferring the original. I was genuinely curious about whether the story being overly familiar was part of why I didn't care for it and if that was the experience of other people.

Movies that people know vs. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu. whoever that is.
Well, that's the problem. The host doesn't know whats 2000. All these foreign films are just here to try to impress people like Wintertriangles and Mr Minio
You say "movies that people know", but these clearly are the movies that people here know. That's why they are on the list!

It seems strange to me to say in the same breath that films don't deserve to be on this list AND that you haven't seen them.

Without casting shade on any specific film, I think that there are film on this list that made it just because they are more widely seen, not because they are better than certain other films. For example, I'm sure everyone here has seen the Lord of the Rings films (and one of them is on my own ballot!) and as films that are good AND are widely seen, they will probably place high. But if everyone had also seen Memories of Murder or Death of Mr. Lazarescu they may also have placed really high.