The Best Films of 2000-2009

FILM #18: 'Slumdog Millionaire' (2008)

The Oscar winner that very nearly went straight to video...Danny Boyle's look at slum life in India comes vividly alive at every winning turn.

THE 100 BEST FILMS of 2000-2009:

FILM #17: 'Le Temps qui Reste' ('Time to Leave') (2006)

Directed by Francois Ozon, this 81 minute French film explores the darkest moment of human life: knowing the time when one is to die. Romain (Melvil Poupaud)is a photographer who finds out that he has an inoperable tumor. The doctor tell him that even with chemo he has a 5% chance of remission. He decides to literally shut down everything and be as painfully honest to his emotions with the little time he has left.

That means breaking up with his boyfriend, silently accepting his fate and visiting his grandmother one last time. She is the only one he confides in and it is at this point of Poupaud's gritty performance that we see an eerie inner piece. Along the way, he sleeps with a couple and passes his entire fortune to his unborn child.

Straightforward enough but through Romain and the French culture we are witness to shocking intimacy and sadness that most American films just simply cannot unearth.

Life is Sweet! Nice to Meet You (Lightspeed Champion) (2010)

'Here a Track, There a Trap'


It’s an unsuspecting gaffe how the very first line of Life is Sweet! Nice to Meet You—‘nothing seems to be happening/except a shift from your world’-- sums up the entire feel of Devonte Hynes’, aka Lightspeed Champion, newest reinvention. The world he mentions on Dead Head Blues is not one inhabited by anyone other than himself apparently but such is the curse of the burgeoning genius. Yes, that’s right, Hynes is a musical genius, as much as Connor Oberst is and Andrew Bird and even bigger titans like Spenser Krug and Prince.

For the un-initiated, Hynes burst unto a solo career two years ago with Falling Off the Lavender Bridge, a self-conscious pop-rock project that hinted at his emerging talent. Trust me; it’d take others years to dust up brilliant tracks like Galaxy of the Lost and Tell Me What it’s Worth first time around much less ever. Before the solo outing though he was a member of dance-punk band Test Icicles and interconnecting this entire period was a plethora of online bootlegs and recordings…seriously, ad nauseum stuff.

What this is symptomatic of though is the restlessness that courses through his brain. Hynes’ approach to pop is jittery at best but when he merges it with rock then he becomes an entirely different musical beast. Falling Off the Lavender Bridge, for all its faults, at least accomplished this. This new album though, like a harsh AA meeting, has found him sobered up to the point of painful straightness. Now, instead of pop-rock experimentation, we’re limited to boring adult fare like the aforementioned Dead Head Blues.

Of course, being genius-based, it’s not a bad album by any stretch but it won’t have critics declaring him the new Beck either. For rock geeks like Hynes that is what counts though: due recognition of his art. But then that’s the problem with Life is Sweet! Nice to Meet You; its ultra serious musical landscape designed for you the listener to recognize it as such and nothing else. Which is sad because, at twenty-three, with the rabid producer’s resume he’s compiled so far, Hynes can rest assured that we consider him prolific. Maybe what he lacks now is just the raw data needed (life experiences) to people his songs. Falling Off the Lavender Bridge at least could cull from that but here he’s juxtaposed growth with grasp but left out anything personal to make a crucial connection. Thus, Life is Sweet! Nice to Meet You can’t hold a candle to, say, Patrick Wolf’s last gem, The Bachelor.

Speaking of Wolf, both artists still share a slavish admiration of others. It’s great to look up to innovators like David Bowie and Madonna but it’s another thing to actively try to relive their careers. Wolf is still guilty of such duplicity on a visual level whereas Hynes is still entrenched in audio guilt. So, Life is Sweet! Nice to Meet You wears its idols on its sleeves and that causes serious overlap and identity crises. Middle of the Dark is a quasi-Queen pop number that shows a glimmer of originality but it’s trapped under so much Freddie Mercury self-consciousness that it ends up being the most frustrating thing here. Romart is genetically lined by the presence of Oberst; in fact if this wasn’t a Lightspeed Champion album, I’d swear it was a new Bright Eyes (Connor Oberst’s band) track.

When Hynes rests his heroes though the music comes across more naturally: Sweetheart builds nicely into a living, breathing thing with vocal urgency and guitars crashing all around. There’s Nothing Underwater fits snugly too into an original space where he manages all the little tweaks effectively. Madame Van Damme oozes wry humor; the type that could have sexed up the album much more effectively than his gender-inappropriate lyrics. Even Faculty of Tears (‘if he’s so evil/ then/ why does he like to kiss’) shows spurts of the obvious brilliance this young man can conjure, lyrically and musically. All four tracks point to the need for Hynes to step out of shadows that he’s been at pains to present on a grand scale for so long; time now to breathe the music instead of merely re-interpreting it. I’ll go even further to state that Hynes will overhaul both Bird and Oberst once he starts to get laid and realize that the guitar is more than just a handy prop. With that crazy, cropped hairdo of his and thick-lens glasses, he’s got the look. Now it’s time for him to go forth and seek the complimentary swagger.
RATING: 6.5/10

THE 100 BEST FILMS of 2000-2009:

FILM #16: 'Borat' (2006):

A mocumentary of sort, 'Borat' is the vehicle for its star Sacha Baron Cohen to portray his immense comedic talents. Sure enough, 'Borat' is offensive, lewd, stunningly frank yet totally captivating. The type of satire and comedy involved is akin to the reality-based sketches of Monty Python.

Cohen plays Borat Sagdiyev, a Kazakhstani TV personality who comes to America with his producer, Azamat (Ken Davitian) to basically explore Western culture. He then discovers Baywatch star Pamela Anderson and goes in hot pursuit of her. Along the way, he tours America and uncovers the real state of things by interaction to some politicians, special-interest groups and rednecks. Of course the trick is that those interviewed were not aware of the true nature of the project and that within itself is a huge coup for this daring yet brilliant film.

THE 100 BEST FILMS of 2000-2009:

FILM #15: 'The Simpson Movie' (2007)

A long overdue victory lap for America's most consistent and clever animated comedy.

THE 100 BEST FILMS of 2000-2009:

FILM #14: 'Let The Right One In' (2008)

Vampire films seldom foray into 'best of' lists anymore but this Swedish gem doesn't seek to pander to excessive adolescent needs but examines the bare essentials needed to survive such a stage in life. 'Let The Right One In' is about Eli and Oskar, two outcasts in society. She is the vampire and he is the bullied youth. Based on John Ajvide Lindqvist's novel, the film takes its cues on the reality of their situations. So the endless bullying that Oskar endures results in him moving from victim to violator, right under his mother's nose without her suspecting a thing. Eli's need of blood to keep alive is masterfully played out in a sequence of scenes that are gritty and portray real terror.

Both come to form an unusual alliance because Eli doesn't view Oskar as food and besides after her 'father' Hakan dies, he becomes her only source of companionship. The sexual connotation of this bond is disturbing enough but it parallels the ease in which it is welcomed in the society. What ensues is pure art and accomplished in inescapable silence. Though the film doesn't adapt some of the more morbid plots of the novel, director Tomas Alfredson manages to keep the tension going full speed ahead.

THE 100 BEST FILMS of 2000-2009:

FILM #13: 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' (2000)

For many of us, this was the first real karate film that we saw two women fight. I mean, real all-out war and not just over a man but over a principle. Director Ang Lee doesn't earn kudos there alone but for the exquisite tale of denied love, revenge and foolish youth. No one will ever forget that bamboo trees fight scene or the eloquence of the swords in action or the ease with which the storyline emerges and deftly restructures everything. A true masterpiece, 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon', will be what comes to define Lee's work for generations to come.

THE 100 BEST FILMS of 2000-2009:

FILM #12: 'Persepolis' (2007--08)

Directed by Marjane Satrapi and based on her own memoirs, this witty animated film loudly presents a perspective of Iran most Westerners would be seeing for the first time. Clearly the title character--like Miss Satrapi--is from the upper educated class but that doesn't make the writing less authentic. In an age where Pixar is defining the way 3D animation can be juxtaposed to great story-telling, its heartening to see the old 2D stuff still holding its own.

More stunning though is the in-depth analysis of life in Iran. What Satrapi makes clear is that the lives of the youngsters are the same anywhere they are and that it takes more than a revolution to alter that. Her story is also caustic and brilliant in the satire juxtaposed to the comedic interference of divinity in the state of things and sexual tension. References to other cultural icons (Michael Jackson, 'Che' Guevera ect) and the suppression of the Western life is explored exquisitely throughout the ninety-plus minutes that we watch Persepolis grow up to the point of becoming her own woman and, finally, our headstrong feminist hero.

THE 100 BEST FILMS of 2000-2009:

FILM #11: 'United 93' (2006)

Nearly ten years after the horrific events that brought down the Twin Towers, Paul Greengrass' film feels just as fresh and disturbing. I still feel this was the best film released in 2006 because Greengrass' signature tension makes watching the action almost unbearable. Utilizing real aviation personnel and relatives of those who perished adds authenticity but the sequential order that he assembles is simultaneously non-judgmental and sacrosanct.

THE 100 BEST FILMS of 2000-2009:

FILM #10: "Amores Perros" (2000)

Jagged in its flashbacks and with obvious homage to Pulp Fiction, Amores Perros consistently and brilliantly challenges film convention. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's direction is simply sublime as he tackles three interlinked vignettes that explore cause and effect, greed and envy, ambition and family life. It also deals with consequences of actions that touch not just your own situation but the lives of others. Inarritu's style is disjointed , poetic and captures the perfect Latino, smarmy ethos that has come to be expected: blood stir-fries into a frying pan, ect.

The first vignette slyly deals with family strife so intense that the brothers end up clobbering each other, in essence over a woman. The second vignette centers of Valeria (Goya Toleda), a supermodel who is having an affair with a married man. Opposite the apartment where they live is a giant poster of her leggy beauty but this soon becomes a curse after a car crash leaves her in a wheelchair. The third vignette deals with El Chivo (Emilio Echevarria) and his abandonment of society. All three stories are brutal in the depiction of human life yet stunningly tender towards dogs...

THE 100 BEST FILMS of 2000-2009:

FILM #9: No Country for Old Men (2007)

Adapted from the Cormac McCarthy novel, the film settles into its 1980 West Texas landscape poetically and, in the form of the local sheriff, Ed Tom Bell (the ever solid Tommy Lee Jones) philosophically. Brilliantly directed by the Coen brothers (Joel & Ethan), ‘No Country for Old Men’ is a thrilling expose on the changing value of violence and the slow realization of such. The attention to detail is sheer poetic and, like the film itself, volatile: Chigurh shoots Carson Wells (Woody Harrelson) while the telephone rings and then speaks to Moss mindful to lift his legs as Wells’ blood spreads thickly on the floor. The beauty of the film though lies in its conviction that one repudiates violence at one’s own peril and that we have to acknowledge its presence as a way of life. Sheriff Bell realizes the enormity that faces him and has no option but to admit openly that the level of crime is beyond his handling. Chigurh is the killer of a new time, one that can walk away unscathed to fight new battles or at least pay his way out of complicity. He, not the law, is the one with his hand on the pulse of this new world. That makes ‘No Country for Old Men’ frighteningly real and a modernistic take on the evolutionary process of crime that will likely smudge our paranoid lives, one way or the other.

THE 100 BEST FILMS of 2000-2009:

FILM #8: 'Moulin Rouge' (2001)

With 19th century Paris and its nightlife as the backdrop, Moulin Rouge perfectly captures the essence of human need versus desire. Nicole Kidman earned her first real critical recognition as Satine,the ambitious courtesan. She clearly wasn't ideal for such a role but as the film progresses we literally see her coming into her own. Baz Luhrmann's dizzy direction subdues its wow factor after an hour but it is afterwards that the love story takes true shape and starts to unspool. The songs are chaotic, loud and non-traditional but its lovely energy and a huge plus. BUt it is Kidman that rises most effectively especially when required to take duplicitous action. The scene where she lashes out at Zidler (the ever excellent Jim Broadbent)is stunning and shows how quickly her ambition turns to love.

Unlike most musicals, Moulin Rouge risks everything by segueing into real drama. Not content to be faithful to source material, Luhrmann earns full marks for presenting something fresh and contemporary. We get to see the various characters as complicated human beings they really are and not just mere one-dimensional products for the audience's amusement. No other musical in the decade dared to keep its ethos so firmly rooted in reality.

THE 100 BEST FILMS of 2000-2009:

FILM #7: 'The Dark Knight' (2008)

Undoubtedly the best comic book adaptation ever and forever immortalized Heath Ledger as the sadistic Joker. Don't be fooled though that his masterful performance is the only brilliant thing about the film. Critics have raved about it because of Christopher Nolan's impeccable direction of this moralistic tale. The peformances are uniformly great: Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent (aka Two-face) is an underrated yet sublime performance. Whereas previous Batman films were merely comedic and not too designed towards real menace,Dent is allowed to violently transform by loss then rage into the very monster he sets out to rid Gotham City of. Gary Oldman loses himself as Commissioner Gordon, a man who sacrifices much and often to meager returns. Then there is Ledger of course, as the Joker, a cautionary reference about what can go so very wrong in a non-caring society. A deserving Oscar winning role for a timeless performance and a great film that shows that comic adaptation can work just as well as anything else out there.

THE 100 BEST FILMS of 2000-2009:

FILM #6: "The Hours" (2002)

Based on Michael Cunningham's Pulitzer Prize winning book, the film basically shows the effect of the novel 'Mrs. Dalloway' has on three women (including the author Virginia Woolf). A tremendous task in print but translated succinctly unto screen without as much as a glitch. As Woolf, Nicole Kidman transforms into a dowdy unrecognizable entity and delivers, through a scene at train-side, some stunning work. Julianne Moore's aesthetics works wonderfully as tormented 1950s housewife Laura Brown and then there's the peerless Meryl Streep as the modern woman who keeps everything together as Clarissa Vaughan. The acting is top notch, especially Ed Harris as Richard, a writer dying of AIDS.

Stephen Daldry directs the interconnecting scenes with such mastery and punctuates it all with a thrilling score by Phillip Glass. Armed with this juxtaposition the film demands a sort of intimate attention from viewers. It's all interlinked by several factors but the resonant point is that we all have surges of despair, hopelessness and even self-doubt. The sadness of how all three main characters deal with these personal tragedies can be heartbreaking but also one can choose happiness and carry on. A hard choice to be sure but one that is as vital as breath.

THE 100 BEST FILMS of 2000-2009:

FILM #5: "Pride & Prejudice" (2005)

The film that made Keira Knightley a star and what a revelation she was as Jane Austen's heroine Elizabeth Bennett. Austen's novel has been adapted several times before but what this film manages to juxtapose so superbly is the state of relations in 18th century England to how things are currently. The nuances of the characters are very familiar especially surrounding the issue as marriage. The issue of love and its choice though is wonderfully creased in Knightley's performance and in stark contrast to that of her mother, Mrs Bennet (played with great frivolity by Brenda Blethyn).

The film also shows the awkwardness associated with the stern austerity of the times and how characters steel themselves or rebel against what is expected from them. There is a winning out of the heart and not the strictly sane choices one must make. Beneath its formality and even Judi Dench's awesome and small role as Lady Catherine de Bourgh is a reality that the love of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy (Matthew MacFadyen)must face and overcome. In the end, the story is timeless and a winning formula to make a great film. The adaptation though isn't afraid to shed its starchy inclination to look beneath personalities to reveal the living, breathing thing that is hidden beneath.

THE 100 BEST FILMS of 2000-2009:

FILM Four:Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

The film is pretty much akin to 'American Beauty' in theme and style but 'Sunshine' manages to gather towards a collective likeness of characters and a sympathethic centre. Acceptance here is won the hard way. This is because the Hoover family, despite all their flaws, is pretty damned likable. The scope of the acting brilliantly manages to make this possible. Breslin absolutely shines and there's hardly a female lead that can charge into physical despair as ungainly or quickly as Collette. Kinnear has the look of a man desparately trying to remain calm while his fears slowly consume him.

The most sublime aspect though is the pageant itself. After barely just registering Olive in the show, even Steve realises the error of doing so. The pageant has a talent section but centres mostly on physical beauty. As the decidely imperfect audience claps on their perfect, doll-like girls parading in swim-wear and gowns, "Little Miss Sunshine" hits its darkest cues. When Olive dedicated her dance routine to her grandfather, the emcee asks of his location, Olive matter-of-factly replies that 'he's in the trunk of our car'. Of course grandpa had died the night before of a drug overdose and they had 'kidnapped' the body from the hospital and stored it in the back of the van. Olive hasn't yet learned shrewdness on this level. Sh'e more astute with her competition however: sensing her chance of winning slipping, Olive does an astonishing dance/strip routine to MC Hammer's 'U Can't Touch This' record. The moment, while totally humorous, presents a challenge to so many societal norms and raises impertinent questions but doesnt dwell on them. All these instances involve Olive as the main reason of change but it's a change of idealism for the others, not for her. Her desire to win or at least to be the most competitive she can be finally rips through the crafted fabric of confliction that surrounds her childhood. To this end, all parties directly involved in her life recognise the blame they share and accept it humbly. They realise how confusing their secular actions have been on her all along. The film tries to patch this issue up by having Steve finally choosing to support his kid, and by extension his flawed family unit over his own blinding and selfish ambition. What it isn't able to band aid however is how greatly the damage to Olive has already manifested.

THE 100 BEST FILMS of 2000-2009:

FILM THREE: "4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days" (2008)


Winner of the prestigious 2007 Palm d'Or, the film which tackles teenage abortion was directed and produced by Cristian Mungiu. Set on the dying days of Communist Romania, "4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days" achieves perfectly what one is to expect from a foreign-language film: a mirror into the soul that links us all. In Otilia (Anamaria Marinca) we are introduced to the thinking mind of a young woman who becomes her friend's (Gabita) only hope out of an abortion. Both actresses shine as naive yet tough-thinking women trapped in a circumstance that is new to them and one that will have dire consequences even if it cements their complicated friendship.

Through it all though, Olitia has grown up and starts to envision a future whereas Gabita retreads into herself. We see the naked truth lurking through actions and Mungiu lays it all on the line in a non-judgmental way. Yet, one cannot watch this masterpiece and view the issue of abortion the same again nor view the grimy contacts and values being eroded as merely essential to build this plot. No, we're witnessing the lives of millions of women around the world and the pain and ultimate personal price being paid.