The MoFo Top 100 of the 2000s Countdown

60. Batman Begins (100 points) - Tried to rewatch this recently but turned it off, has dated terribly, a real stinker.
59. The Secret in Their Eyes (102 points) - absolutely fantastic film. Think it was on my list.

Have seen so far: 13 - Batman Begins - A good batman movie but not a big fan of the batman stuff, more of a spiderman fan
Have not seen so far: 33

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Moviefan1988's Favorite Movies
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I watched Batman Begins once and thought it was decent, but never had any desire to watch it again. It probably doesn't help that I only watched it after having seen The Dark Knight.

I haven't seen The Secret in Their Eyes.

Seen: 24/42

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I have...issues with Begins.

Never heard of the other one

I haven't seen Batman Begins, but in spite of not being a superhero film fan, I'm still eager to watch it.

The Secret in Their Eyes is quite good, though it didn't make my ballot. Here's what I wrote on it for a HoF:

This film is at its best when it explores the impact Liliana Colotto's murder has on the various characters. There are direct effects such as Ricardo waiting at a train station every day in hopes of catching the killer and indirect effects such as the long-term effects the case has on Esposito, which lasts for decades. And, of course, there's Isidoro Gomez's shocking fate which I can't talk about without spoiling it. Watching how the murder case effected the three characters was one of the film's main highlights for me. I found their stories thought-provoking and tragic, specifically Esposito's since his relationship with Irene was handled really well. In addition to their on-screen chemistry, I found their inability to express their attraction to each other quite tragic. Unlike other films I've seen with a romance sub-plot, this aspect didn't feel unnecessary or tacked on. I was also impressed with the camerawork and editing. While the soccer stadium sequence that unfortunately didn't involve a helicopter was the main setpiece for me, I appreciated other scenes as well like the dreamy opening or the way the film handled the flashback structure. Though the film jumped back and forth between 1999 and the mid-1970's a number of times, these cuts were edited into the film quite seamlessly, showing subtle visual cues that the setting changed such as the de-aging effects in Esposito's hair. Overall, not sure how often I would want to revisit this film, but I enjoyed quite a bit about it.

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IMDb
Letterboxd

• I've seen Batman Begins only because I've got the DVD during some sale. It turned to be not that bad. Interesting adventure. I think, this is the only of the new era Batman which is worth watching. Skip the others.

• Never heard The Secret in Their Eyes but watching at the image given here I recognize the actor on the poster - Ricardo Darín. I've seen two other movies recently, starring him in the lead.

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stats
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Seen 21/42.
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My list:
#4. Snatch [#71.]
#9. Amores perros [#81.]
#14. The Man Who Wasn't There [#84.]

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(seen one pointers 3/38)

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"Population don't imitate art, population imitate bad television." W.A.
"You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." M.T.

Only seen Pirates of the last five, hated it

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Yea I think it's the best of the 3 and voted accordingly.

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It took me about half a dozen tries to watch all of Batman Begins, because I just didn't like anything about it. For years I've been considering going back and giving it another chance, but my room mate (who has watched it multiple times) assures me that my opinion will not change, so it's probably a waste of time.

I haven't seen The Secret in their Eyes, and only really know about it because I was creeping on the Hall of Fame thread it was nominated in.

Seen: 22/42

My List:
08. Mother (2009) - #96
10. Iron Man (2008) - #83
11. Paprika (2006) - #64
16. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) - #76
25. Bon Cop, Bad Cop (2006) - 1-pointer

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The Secret in Their Eyes is a solid thriller and entry for this countdown.

Haven't heard of the other one.

Not much to say about the last four. They all get a thumbs up from me and would be in the 3-3.5/5 range.

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"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

Critics

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Critics thoughts on our #60, Batman Begins...



It currently has an 84% Certified Fresh Tomatometer score among critics, and a 8.2/10 score on IMDb (with 1,400,000 votes).

Roger Ebert gave it ★★★★ and said:

"I said this is the Batman movie I've been waiting for; more correctly, this is the movie I did not realize I was waiting for, because I didn't realize that more emphasis on story and character and less emphasis on high-tech action was just what was needed. The movie works dramatically in addition to being an entertainment. There's something to it."

While Geoff Pevere, of the Toronto Star, said:

"Apart from the lumbering pacing and embalmed tone, the movie is densely forested with oaken dialogue, wasteful in its casting...and incoherently over-edited in its action sequences."

As for our MoFo reviewers, @aronisred said:

"In all honesty this is my favorite superhero movie of all time. The first half of the movie is some of the best cinema of all time. It juggles lot of concepts and themes. Loss, pain, survivors guilt, rage, aimlessness and whole lot of themes. All while making it epic in scope."

Meanwhile, @Iroquois said:

"Despite clearly being set up as a building block towards a bigger and better sequel, it still holds its own well enough in a way that other origin-story superhero movies could definitely stand to replicate."

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Critics

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Critics thoughts on our #59, The Secret in Their Eyes...



It currently has an 89% Certified Fresh Tomatometer score among critics, and a 8.2/10 score on IMDb (with 203,000 votes).

Roger Ebert gave it ★★★★ and said:

"The Oscar means your chances of seeing this film are much increased. You won't regret it. This is a real movie, the kind they literally don't make very much anymore."

While Wesley Morris, of the Boston Globe, gave it ★½ and said:

"When developments take a turn for the grisly, the movie takes a proud turn for the mawkish. This might have worked as a kind of romance or a political thriller, but, unlike, say, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,’ it hardly succeeds as both. The secret here is that the movie is rather tasteless. It has the high, slightly nauseating stink of perfume on garbage."

As for our MoFo reviewers, @Takoma11 said:

"The entire film operates under a fascinating interplay of reality, memory, and fiction. The question of perspective and point of view, both in the literal and figurative sense, haunts almost every scene. Esposito is telling his version of the story. And as he writes and has conversations with Irene and Ricardo, he must reconcile his own reality with theirs."

Meanwhile, @Torgo said:

"This is a gripping and beautiful movie that is bound to make you reflect on any empty years you've had, the cause of the emptiness and which one is the worst."

Trailers

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Any clue soon?

Batman Begins is pretty good. It wouldn't crack my top 50 for this decade however.

Secret in Their Eyes was pretty average to me to be honest.

Awards

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Now to the awards received by Batman Begins...

• Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film
• Saturn Award for Best Screenplay (Christopher Nolan & David Goyer)
• Saturn Award for Best Actor (Christian Bale)
• Golden Schmoes Award for Favorite Movie of the Year
• MTV Movie Award for Best Hero (Bale)

Among many others.

As for The Secret in Their Eyes, it won...

• Academy Award for Best Foreign Film (Argentina)
• Almost swept the Silver Condor Awards in Argentina
• Almost swept the Clarín Entertainment Awards
• Silver Ariel Award for Best Latin-American Film
• Goya Award for Best New Actress (Soledad Villamil)

A thumbs up for 3-3.5 movies?!? This is the 100 best though!

Still no film from my list

I like The Secret in their Eyes quite a bit, I considered it for my list, it would have made a top 30.

I rewatched Nolan's whole filmography this year and even though I liked most of his films, I didn't really love any. He has great ideas, but he has blend characters and I find that characters are what's most important to me when I watch a movie. My 2 favorite Nolan are Dunkirk and Dark Knight Rises

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60. Batman Begins : Yet another recent viewing - The Dark Knight kind of puts this and Dark Knight Rises in the shade, but thinking about it, I have to admit it's a pretty impressive film. I don't think I rated it too highly at the time - I saw the final stretch as a little too hectic and unfocused, and the film is the only one out of the three without one clearly defined villain. It also carries the baggage of being an origin story - the other two get going from the very start. Nevertheless, Chris Nolan builds a dark and desperate world, with a Gotham that finally wouldn't be out of place in our universe and a vulnerable and tortured Bruce Wayne. We also get the Scarecrow for the first time in a feature film, and the visual effects of his hallucinogen might be my favourite aspect of the whole movie. This has a fantastic score - one of the standout features of the entire trilogy - and the 'Batmobile' this time has had a novel makeover as another feature which adapts to reality. I've seen this a few times now, and feel like it might be an age before I watch it again, but as far as superhero films go I'll admit that Batman Begins is superior to most - this didn't make my list though.

59. The Secret in Their Eyes : This film did make my list. Watched it again in preparation for this countdown, which confirmed it in my eyes as one of the films of the decade. An epic story which is part murder mystery, part romance and part political allegory. I love the cinematography and visuals, the complexity woven into the script, the acting, the score and just about everything else about it. Argentinian cinema is a huge blank spot for me - this film is basically the only one I know of, but it's quality sure makes up for lack of quantity. It won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film of 2009, and I recommend it highly to anyone who hasn't seen it. Don't watch the American remake - and if you've seen the American version, ignore it - it's just about a completely different film, and substandard. One of the best films about justice, love, friendship and politics I've seen. It was #16 on my list.

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Films I've seen : 32
Films that have been on my radar : 6
Films I've never even heard of : 4

Films from my list : 6

#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)

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