10) Night Watch (2004)
Timur Bekmambetov's adaptation of the brilliant Night Watch series of books is a huge, bombastic peice of film art that came out of Russia like a bat out of hell. Watching this movie, with it's interactive subtitles and crazy visuals, is a new way to experience films on the big screen. Timur has shown his visual abilities earlier in the lists, but this was his first film that most Americans had seen and thankfully enough people saw it to justify bringing him to Hollywood and make films in my native language... yeah I am selfish like that.
9) National Treasure (2004)
I am a Nicholas Cage fan, I don't understand the people that hate on the man. He is such a watchable character and this was one of his biggest main stream hits of the decade. National Treasure had all the elements that were lacking in the recent Indiana Jones sequel and the brilliant conceit that the American landmarks ad historical places hold secrets to grand treasure was executed to perfection. The supporting cast also help make this a fun film going experience as any chance to watch Harvey Kitel and Sean Bean is worthwhile.
8) Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Edgar Wright made the first ever Zom-Rom-Com (Zombie Romantic Comedy) and as odd as that sounds it was brilliant. It has a British cast that boasted Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Bill Nighy before they were every day names in America and writing that is just as much of a skewering of Zombie movies as it was of Romantic Comedies. This was a film so plain awesome that it has joined the list of films that if I were to pass it on TV, I am personally obligated to watch finish it, and I would love it every time.
7) Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
The first Pirates of the Caribbean movie hit out of left field. I worked at a movie theater/restaurant when this film came out and every night for it's first 7 days I was either working the movie or watching the movie. It was just infectious. Great action, great writing, great locals and a career defining performance by one of the greatest actors of our generation. This film had all of the swashbuckling fun that had been missing in film for a long time. Plus it was the first time cinema goers got a look at Zoe Saldana, whom I predicted big things for at the time.
6) Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
Sometimes film goes beyond simple storytelling and moves into a world of high art. Pan's Labyrinth is the highest artistic achievement of the decade. Simple, complex, lyrical, sad, sweet, scary, inspirational and profound, these are all words that define this film and you could probably keep going on. This film was a big upset winner at the Oscars in 2007 and reaffirmed my respect for the Academy after a few years of poor choices. If you haven't seen this movie, please do, you will thank me shortly after it ends.
5) The Departed (2006)
The biggest stretch in my Action/Horror films list. Martin Scorsese's most recent gangster film represents the triumphant return of the greatest gangster film director returning to top form. It is no surprise that Marty finally won his Oscar for this layered tale of double crossing and rats. Boston allows for an interesting new backdrop for a director that usually sticks to New York, and the all star cast, that doesn't include De Niro, Pesci or Sorvino, are all great in their roles. The stand outs in this film are Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Wahlberg, both f whole disappear in roles they clearly loved to play.
4) Grindhouse (2007)
Probably the best film (films?) destroyed by the worst release/marketing in the history of cinema. Why on earth do you release a dark and gritty double feature with so much horror and death on Easter weekend! It was a supermely stupid move, as was marketing the film as a double feature but not mandating putting both films on the marquee. If people had the choice to see both films for one price, or just one or the other for one price then I think you would have seen many more people interested in checking out at least a portion of this work. As it stands both films are going to live on separately, but in my mind, Grindhouse was one of the better film going experiences of the decade.
3) American Psycho (2000)
Christian Bale's star making role as a Huey Lewis loving serial killer is the kind special connection of character and actor that comes so rarely. He was born to play this part and thank dickens he was ready and available when they were making the film. The 80s back drop was perfect for the tone of the story and, beyond Bale, the cast is really great in this film. This film has some of the best kills I have ever seen on screen, and Bale really shows the other slashers in cinema how to kill a prostitute with a chainsaw. 10 out of 10 for style!
2) Drag Me To Hell (2009)
Sam Raimi spent most of the decade with the web-slinger, and one of those films already made my top 10 comic book films list, but the best thing he made in the last 10 years is Drag Me To Hell. An all together scary, funny, thrilling and exhilarating piece of work that doesn't want to be anything more then a great Sam Raimi flick and succeeds with panache. My favorite film of 2009, my favorite score of 2009 and one of the better cinema going experiences in the decade, putting it this high is a no brainer.
1) Kill Bill Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 (2003/2004)
Kill Bill might very well be Quinton Tarintino's masterpiece. It is huge and sprawling, the narrative is so massive that it needs to be split into chapters and even into 2 films, but Tarintino juggles it all with such care and grace. There are revenge films and then there is Kill Bill, it transcends the sub-genre and becomes work that is more like a comfy quilt then a movie. It is sown together out of pieces of other films, other genres, even animation,but the end result is a warm experience that makes you want to keep watching it forever. Tarintno might have made more popular films, but this is his best.
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