TOP TEN FILMS OF THE DECADE!!!!!

Sitting and reflecting about this decade was tough.  I was thirteen when it started, so a lot of the films that I thought were amazing didn’t really stand up now a decade later.  But I plowed through tons of flicks (much to the dismay of my wife) and present to you JEFF THE GREAT’S TOP TEN FILMS OF THE DECADE!!!!!

#10. Matrix Revolutions

People loved the Matrix.  People hate the sequels.  I see there point with the second film, as it basically did nothing but place the chess pieces for the third, but people seem to throw this one in the mix, but I LOVE it.  Messianic symbolism, awesome fight scenes, and an all in all redeeming ending, it easily makes my top ten.

#9. Spirited Away

This decade was like an animated golden age with the brilliant films by Pixar seeming to set the standard every time, but this non Pixar film out shines them all.  With brilliant visuals and storytelling Spirited Away is the crowning animated achievement of the decade.

#8. Almost Famous

This 2000 film seemed to launch the concept that there can be such a thing as a nerdy awkward protagonist, paving the way for people like Michael Cera to have a career.  This compelling story still sticks with me today, the airplane scene still brings tears to me eyes (of laughter), and it easily carves a place on my top ten.

#7. Little Miss Sunshine

God I love this movie.  It perfectly strikes that line between too dark to laugh at without feeling guilty and too light to take seriously.  Steve Carrel gives his performance of the decade as a suicidal homosexual professor.  The grandpa is an out spoken, coke snorting lunatic, and the dad is a failed “Self Help” book author.  It is amazing and should not be missed.

#6. Superbad

Every once in a while, you get one of those films that seems  have ripped a page from your childhood, and this film does EXACTLY that for me.  It’s rude, it’s crude, but it’s genius.  Jonah Hill is somehow hilarious, even though they portray that his character tries too hard to be funny (like some high school guys *cough* do) but they pull this off without annoying the audience.  McLovin is unforgettable.  The fact that Seth Rogen wrote this in high school might be why it is so sincere, which is, overall, its most endearing quality.

#5. Casino Royale

I’m a huge Bond fan.  A HUGE Bond fan.  When Goldeneye was released in ‘95 everyone was excited.  Peirce Brosnan was a kick-ass Bond (although a watermelon in a suit could have beat Dalton) and Goldeneye kicked ass.   Then every subsequent movie sucked.  I still wasn’t sure what a reboot was or why they should do them when I stepped into the theater, but when I stepped out I understood exactly why.  This movie was AWESOME.  The sequel sucked though.  Whatcha gonna do?

#4. Juno

This movie still manages to make me both laugh and cry every time I watch it, which is the true mark of a great film.  People knock it for sounding less real and more like a million stand up comics are dealing with the situations, but I think this really strikes the balance, unlike Diablo’s *cough* later films.  It’s smart, funny, warms your heart, and ultimately changes you as a person, just for watching it.

#3. Watchmen

This is the Citizen Kane of comic book movies.  It’s brilliant, beautiful, striking, and does for super hero movies what the comic book did for super hero comics.  It was faithful when it should be faithful.  It deviated when it should have deviated.  It was simply a brilliant film.

#2. The Lord of the Rings

This seems more like one complete film to me, rather than three separate ones.  It is perhaps the greatest adaptation of all time.  Tolkien fans waited for years for a faithful cinematic adaptation and Peter Jackson did not disappoint.  These films are timeless and amazing, and will be one of those that will still be watched and analyzed 50 years from now.  They are that good.

#1. The Dark Knght

This is one of the greatest films of all time.  Heath Ledger was brilliant as the Joker. His performance alone would have placed the film on this list, but its the movie’s all around package that makes it number one.  The story is dark but compelling.  Batman is the plagued individual we remember from the comics.  Chicago is shot beautifully and believably as Gotham City.  This movie should have won best picture, let alone not get a complete nomination snub.  It’s not only the greatest film of the decade, it’s one of the greatest of all time.

If you want to check out my video review of the ten shittiest movies of the decade, you can do that here.

Now, if you excuse me, I think I’m going to go wach The Dark Knight again.