As I sit in my room now thinking back on the barrage of wonder that this film is I cannot help but think to myself "Why, oh why didn't Matthew Vaughan direct X-men 3 instead of Brett Ratner?" Kick-Ass is one of those movies that kind sneaks up on you, or at least it did me. After Watchmen last year I was starting to feel tired of the whole deconstruction of the superhero trend in movies and then comes a film called "Kick-Ass" and I wanted very little to do with it, yet as trailers started to pop up and more footage started circulate my interest was piqued. Finally the film released to a score of praise filled reviews and a few reviews that were so appalled by the violent amoral nature of the film that they intrigued me just as much as the ones singing it's praise. So I was then officially amped for this film. What I saw on the screen was certainly not entirely what I was prepared for. Kick-Ass is the story of Dave Lizewski, an ordinary boy who dared to wonder what would happen if superheroes were really. He dons a green wet suit and couple sticks and fashions himself into an internet phenomenon. Meanwhile Damon and Mindy McCready a.k.a. Big Daddy and Hit Girl are training hard to become the real deal when it comes to superheroes. What grows from this plot is a film full of clever jabs at superheroes, intelligent commentary on the humanity behind them, and a really kick-ass action movie. Don't let the trailers fool you, there is a significant amount of heart to his film amidst all the blood letting and foul mouthed 11 year olds, but it is truly an adrenaline pumping good time outside of that heart. Much has been made of Chloe Moretz as Hit Girl the pint-sized assassin with a sailors tongue, and much should be made. This little girl steals every scene she's in and when Hit Girl goes in for the big final battle, well its like watching Neo and Trinity at the end of the Matrix shooting up all that marble. This is easily at the top of superhero pantheon with Spider-man 2, The Dark Knight, and Watchmen.
So I know it has been a few months since the last decade ended, and if you follow my facebook posts I know I posted a list on there. However there are a slight few changes I would like to make to the list so here we go, my top 10 of 2000-2009.
10. The Royal Tenenbaums by Wes Anderson
Within the past 10 years or so a few filmmakers have emerged with a strange filmmaking savvy. Without any real title to lay on them they have been unofficially called by some the American New Wave. These filmmakers include Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, Sofia Coppola, Charlie Kaufman, and Wes Anderson as well as a couple others. Each of these filmmakers has found their way onto this list at some point as you will see, but to start it off is Wes Anderson and his beautiful tale of one eccentric family in The Royal Tenenbaums. Anderson has a very literary way of telling stories, in almost all of his films he enlists the aid of narration of some sort whether it is a voiceover or text on the screen. In Tenenbaums he uses both. It is often a great pitfall to use narration out of laziness, but Anderson utilizes it with such purpose as to develop his characters in a way that what we on screen can only be a fragment of who they are. He gives his characters such depth. It is difficult in many ways to explicitly explain the draw of a film like The Royal Tenenbaums, but hopefully the clip above will give you just the right amount of understanding into the cinematic wizardry of Wes Anderson. With its tightly written script, its perfect cast, a story that is left to breathe without wandering, and an ending that avoids any sense of emotional manipulation The Royal Tenenbaums is one of the best films of our last decade.
9. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind by Michel Gondry When it comes to love stories Michel Gondry with co-writer Charlie Kaufman has crafted a fresh vision of love and heart break. The story mechanics are genius in a way Gondry would never follow up with, and Winslet gives her best performance opposite Jim Carey as Clementine the mistress of heart break. A true original, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind has yet to be topped in its form. Because of it's incredible vision and rapturous tale Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is one of the best films of our last decade.
8. Moulin Rouge! by Baz Luhrmann
Few will argue that when it comes to filmmaking not many directors have the bold, eccentric temperment of Baz Luhrman. Prior to his 2001 hit Luhrman did a small ballroom film that few saw and the extravagant retelling of William Shakespeare's Romeo+Juliet, but it was with Moulin Rouge! that he made his mark. Moulin Rouge! earns its place on this list in the same way Eternal Sunshine did by being about love in a way I hadn't seen before it. Where ESSOTM was a sad and strange film about heartbreak, Luhrmans film is a bright, bombastic, and passionate story about the saving grace of love. It is so unashamed its brash idealism, so uninhibited by reality that your soul truly soars just watching it. Because of its dedication to truth, beauty, freedom, and, above all things, love Moulin Rouge! is one of the best films of our last decade.
7. Almost Famous by Cameron Crowe Cameron Crowe's 2000 film about a young rock journalist is the best coming of age story in these past 10 years. It tracks a short time in the life of William Miller as he travels with the up-and-coming band Stillwater, falls in love with a girl, feels the cold reality of fame trickle down to him, loses his virginity, and grows up. The story is made with such a personal attachment by Crowe, who toured as a journalist as well, that every moment feels real and even the funny parts are embedded with a sense of depth and care. Because of it's honesty and heart Almost Famous is one of the best films of our last decade.
6. Kill Bill by Quentin Tarantino Counting both volumes as a singular whole Kill Bill by auteur Quentin Tarantino is a daring experiment in mainstream filmmaking. Tarantino's films are director's films, sure they are usually carried by strong performances from cult-status actors, but they are always his films. It was with Pulp Fiction that Tarantino made a name for himself, but with Kill Bill he truly let loose with an orgy of his greatest loves: westerns, kung-fu, dialogue, and Uma Thurman. Kill Bill reinvented Tarantino's sense of daring, since these two films no one can easily peg down the man behind the films. These two were closely followed in quality by Inglorious Basterds, but because they set the bar for that film I consider these more worthy of their place on this list. Because this film reawakened the world to Tarantino in a new way it is one of the best films of our last decade.
5. Where the Wild Things Are by Spike Jonze The only film from this year on the list, Where the Wild Things Are is the most significant film to close out this decade. A masterful adaptation of Maurice Sendak's beloved children's book, director Spike Jonze has created a stunning, wondrous work that understands childhood and children. It is a film filled equally with that nostalgic feeling of looking back on childhood, and that pain associated with growing up. It never talks down to children or treats them in any other way than exactly how they should be treated. For once in a movie Max feels like a little boy; he is crazy, rambunctious and out of control of his emotions, his logic makes sense for a child and he is always fantastic to watch. Something is to be said of the production design of the film, Jonze enlisted a crew of skilled designers to craft both the Wild Things and their nests on the island. A truly staggering work of art to close out these 10 years in filmmaking. Because it is truly visionary and captured my heart so profoundly Where the Wild Things Are is one of the best films of our last decade.
4. Children of Men by Alfonso Cuaron Dystopian societies are a staple in storytelling. We have seen the gray worlds of fallen cultures a thousand times over, but it is with Alfonso Cauron's adaptation of P.D. James' novel that this story cliche feels rich and new again. Utilizing the brilliance of cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki the world of Children of Men feels lived in and real through the perspective of the camera. Where the film treads familiar territory in some story or setting element its always feels new and real and exciting. Whats more is the film is an important one, one that looks closely at who we are as people and where we are headed. It doesn't make heroes out of nobodies it just lets the nobodies do something worthwhile. Children of Men may feel cold and strange, but it is one of the most striking and memorable films I have had the pleasure of watching. Because of its daring and original vision of the future of humanity Children of Men is one of the best films of our last decade.
3. Lost in Translation by Sofia Coppola
Sofia Coppola has the distinct place on this list as the only female director. Her three films have so deeply captured the sense of imprisonment that every young adult feels, but Lost in Translation has something about it that makes it so distinctly special. There is a sense of whimsy and drifting surreality that encapsulates so much of the film, so many quiet little moments that connect to make one sophisticated tapestry of mystery of friendship and a sense of love. Coppola has a great eye for comedy too that helps elate her films when they become to somber such as the call girl "lip my stockings" scene. It was hard to choose one film of her thematic trilogy, but then you remember that moment at the end when bill murray whispers in scarlet johannson 's ear and all of a sudden in that one moment of romantic mystery this film because elevated above so many others of the decade. Because of unique frame of mind, its understanding of youth, and its impeccable beauty Lost in Translation is one of the best films of our last decade.
2.There Will Be Blood by P.T. Anderson
I have long been a fan of the work of director Paul Thomas Anderson, and his staggering work in There Will Be Blood is no exception. The work here is truly one of a kind from the production design of the make-shift town and the oil wells to the beautiful cinematography to the score by Jonny Greenwood. Yet it comes down to one very pivotal thing and that thing is the performance by Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview. Here, within this film, is a performance of such powerful, and often frightening, intensity such as to never have been rivaled before or since. There Will Be Blood is an awe-inspiring, tense, disturbing, and shattering portrait of one man's search for wealth and power and the monstrosity born within him. As one of boldest, most audacious and breathtaking works of cinema There Will Be Blood is one of the best films of our last decade.
1. The Lord of the Rings by Peter Jackson
Tricked you didn't I? It is three films that hold the number 1 spot. Peter Jackson's adaptation of the revered trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien is a grand epic that details the age old battle of good vs. evil. The good side is really good and the bad side, well, they're awfully bad. By the end of the trilogy you care for each and every member of the fellowship and feel for each citizen of the kingdoms of middle-earth, well except the citizens of Mordor. Trying to some up the greatest of 9+ hours of cinematic gold in a small paragraph seems futile. I simply want to say watch these films, forget the books if you've read them, and enjoy the treat on the screen in front of you. These movies will be shown to children and adults generation after generation to come. Thank you Peter Jackson for deliver the best movies of the past 10 years. Because of its ability to remind us of the magic of movies and why we watch them the Lord of the Rings trilogy is, combined, the greatest film of our last decade.
