Topic Video For 2023
Added 2023-11-01 21:00:02 +0000 UTCI have been wanting to do maybe a Favorite Movies of the Early 2000s video for fun sometime at the beginning of next year. Thought I would ask you guys to name a favorite film, or a few from the year 2000-2009 that you love, and why. Hopefully you'll help me narrow down my own list in some ways.
Comments
Love Exposure (2008) is a film that deserves to be mention too. It's 4 hours long, and I saw it only once years ago, but let me tell you - it's a blast. From unique Japanese director - Sion Sono.
Oskitello
2023-11-06 16:19:46 +0000 UTCI always thought sweet romcoms were pretty good in that early period of 2000s Kate & Leopold Serendipity Sweet November Something gotta give Hitch leapfrog After 911, increasing use of Internet, social media we began to lose our innocence that made those ones good
Ferdinand
2023-11-04 06:58:44 +0000 UTCI almost forgot... Amer (2009) is another one worth checking out.
Oskitello
2023-11-03 15:37:23 +0000 UTCMulholland Drive (2001) David Lynch's opus magnum. Examination of film as an illusion that goes deep into viewer's subconscious. What's so great about Lynch is that his movies are open to interpretation. R.I.P. Angelo Badalamenti who got the director's mood. Genius performance from Naomi Watts. 2003 was a significant year for Korean cinema. "Oldboy" and "Memories of Murder" are examples of that. Memories of Murder tells a story about serial killer investigation based on true events. If you like Zodiac (who doesn't?), you will probably enjoy this movie. First time I saw it years ago and the ending stuck to my mind. Final frame is mesmerizing. Entire piece is unforgettable experience. One of the best Korean films. Oldboy - I like strong opening scenes. A beautiful film in its ugliness and brutality which reflects throughout the story and cinematography as well. Revenge plot is entertaining and cathartic to a viewer. Directed by Park Chan-wook, enough said. V for Vendetta (2005) I don't know a graphic novel so I can't compare, but I assume it's one of the better adaptations. Enjoyed Hugo Weaving's voice acting, which delivers some poetic lines. Natalie Portman is pretty good. I'm engaged in topics that movie presents. Memorable action sequences. The mask looks cool. Ip Man (2008) There's a lot of elegance to Wing Chun. Donnie Yen was a perfect casting to perform this martial arts style. Very good direction. Excellent fight choreography and music. Pathos might be too heavy to bear at times. Ong Bak 2 (2008) Cliche plot but full of superb fight scenes, especially in third act. I like the setting - climatic wildness of Thailand. Tony Jaa at his prime. Sequel went more into spiritual journey. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) Not one of my favorites, but I enjoy direction, over the top action sequences & grotesque violence. It's fun. Inglourious Basterds (2009) Uneven film, however I like it for what it is. I'm interested in watching it whenever it's on TV. Honorable mentions: - Let The Right One In (2008) - Zodiac (2007) - There Will Be Blood (2007) - The Prestige (2006) - Grindhouse: Death Proof (2007) - Casino Royale (2006) - Zombieland (2009)
Oskitello
2023-11-03 08:03:49 +0000 UTCI think Good Night, and Good Luck (2005) is a great film that I don't hear a lot of people talk about. I didn't know who Edward R. Murrow was before this movie, so I’m really glad I could be introduced to him in this way. To me, it's a really interesting work about standing up for what you believe in and following through with those beliefs. It has a great atmosphere, character, and dialogue. I strongly recommend it.
DevTheWiser
2023-11-03 04:53:06 +0000 UTCThe Dark Knight captain america the winter soldier avengers endgame 25th hour
Herbert Baker
2023-11-02 20:28:47 +0000 UTCI can talk about five movies from that period. They aren’t necessarily in my Top 10, but they’re definitely ones that stayed with me long after I saw them. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) Though all three films often get considered as a single work, Peter Jackson’s first entry into The Lord of the Rings trilogy is, for me, the most wondrous, thrilling, least unwieldy, and surest in vision of them all. True, it takes a good long while for it to make its way past all the exposition (Tolkien’s tome is a clunky beast chock full of detail and digression, and there’s no way around that), but once it gets going it’s a compelling watch that you never want to end (as opposed to Return of the King, which you want nothing to do but end). It helps that all the characters are together on a single, streamlined journey; you don’t see Jackson buckle so much under the pressure of having to dexterously juggle so many elements. Because for that, he’s at his most confident and capable in marshaling his film together. And because it deals with the elvin regions of Middle-earth more so than the human regions, Fellowship is the most beautiful and enchantingly ethereal vision put forward; you remember more images from this film than any other. The only thing to be said against it is that it lacks the presence of Gollum, the most arresting character of the story, but it makes up for it with haunting moments from the likes of Gandalf and Boromir. The Lord of the Rings is one of the grand visions of 21st century cinema, and Fellowship contributes to that more than any other. Far From Heaven (2002) To be honest, though he’s a gifted filmmaker, I never took to the hothouse 1950s melodramas of Douglas Sirk. While they hold some of the most beautifully vivid Technicolor images ever made (especially All That Heaven Allows), they were simply too over-the-top to be taken seriously. They were soap opera made by a talented visual stylist. In his homage, Todd Haynes refined that lush, classicist style, toned down the melodramatics, and created the greatest film that Sirk never made. Uncannily evoking the atmosphere of 1950s cinema, Far From Heaven dives into a few of the hot-button social issues that Sirk liked to explore (racism), and a few that he couldn’t (homosexuality, interracial romance). In weaving them together into a story of a respected suburban nuclear family, Haynes, utilizing the film grammar established by Sirk, tells an exquisitely moving story of that family’s downfall and eventual collapse. The result is less soap opera than a quietly lacerating drama of desire. Julianne Moore gives one of her finest performances, effortlessly evoking the 1950s aura of a housewife under duress. And Dennis Quaid was never better as a husband torn asunder by want. Brokeback Mountain (2005) I can’t help but feel that this film never entirely escaped unscathed from being rendered a punchline back when it was first released, which doomed it to underrated status, despite the acclaim and nominations. This is one of the great tragic romances in American cinema, in large part because Ang Lee takes the traditional structure of that genre and, with a dose of sober realism, transposes it to the rural desolation of Middle America. What makes Brokeback Mountain so effectively moving has less to do with it promoting gay love and more to do with providing one of the greatest lived-in portraits of shabby, quietly desperate lives of lower and middle class people in the Midwest. When love takes hold and cannot flourish, the tragedy is felt all the more because you know that these characters are never going to have anything better in their lives ever again. Thus, in avoiding any didactic political statements, the film more universally shows how love, between any two people, must never be denied. Though his macabre, inspired Joker grabs all the attention, this is to me Heath Ledger’s crowning achievement of his all-too-brief career. And Gyllenhaal matches him perfectly as the lover whose boyish optimism goes sour with disappointment over the years. Together they evoke nothing less than a Brando and Clift pairing that never was. The Lives of Others (2006) After Rear Window, Blow-Up, and The Conversation, you would think that there would be nothing left to cover on voyeurism and surveillance, but The Lives of Others manages to do just that. On the surface, this espionage thriller, about a Stasi captain who bugs the apartment of an artist couple in East Germany in order to find cause for arresting them as enemies of the state, plays as a straightforward condemnation of the oppression conducted by the government on its political dissidents, but the film’s true subject is about the relationship between surveilling and watching films. Ulrich Mühe, in a poignant, extraordinarily subtle performance as the captain, shows us a gradually emerging humanity as he becomes invested in the couple he’s spying on as he gets to know them, compellingly evolving from cold-hearted enforcer to guardian angel. In inverting the message of past films about looking into strangers, The Lives of Others demonstrates how stories of other people can bring forth empathy in yourself. Zodiac (2007) David Fincher’s best film—an absorbing, fetishistically detailed docudrama about the investigation into the notorious Zodiac Killer by numerous cops, reporters, and amateur sleuths—may seem like yet another one of his baroque delvings into the human darkness that leads to serial murder, but what he’s really looking into this time around is the obsession that consumes people with wanting to unearth the mystery that surrounds true crimes committed—who did it and why. Zodiac is in many ways a tougher film than Se7en or The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo despite their more graphic nature, because it understands that sometimes the mystery can never be truly solved, and that life has to go on despite the chilling knowledge that evil can be encountered anywhere and everywhere. Gyllenhaal, Ruffalo, and Downey give some of their finest performances; I’ll take the latter two’s riveting parking lot confrontation over any of their Avengers films. And now I’ll list some films over the decade that I’ve liked or loved, and a few that I need to see again in order to make up my mind about them. 2000 Sexy Beast Memento Werckmeister Harmonies Unbreakable Black Hawk Down—to be re-evaluated 2001 Mulholland Dr. Gosford Park Moulin Rouge!—to be re-evaluated Conspiracy Spirited Away Donnie Darko 2002 Lilya 4-ever The Pianist 25th Hour City of God Femme Fatale (guilty pleasure) Irréversible May Punch-Drunk Love—to be re-evaluated 2003 Dogville—to be re-evaluated Oldboy Lost in Translation Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World 2004 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Sideways Collateral Vera Drake Before Sunset Spider-Man 2 Mysterious Skin 2005 The 40-Year Old Virgin Capote Match Point—to be re-evaluated The Squid and the Whale Thank You for Smoking 2006 Children of Men—to be re-evaluated Borat Miami Vice—to be re-evaluated Red Road Rescue Dawn Black Book The Host 2007 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days No Country for Old Men There Will Be Blood—to be re-evaluated The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead Michael Clayton 2008 WALL-E Forgetting Sarah Marshall Let the Right One In The Headless Woman The Hurt Locker—to be re-evaluated The Wrestler Milk Happy-Go-Lucky 2009 The Messenger Up in the Air Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans The Hangover Drag Me to Hell In the Loop Dogtooth
Bennett Oliver
2023-11-02 03:52:16 +0000 UTCMy top 5: 5. There Will Be Blood 4. Hot Fuzz 3. Paprika 2. Oldboy 1. (tie) Mulholland Drive/Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Jared Angcanan
2023-11-02 01:39:13 +0000 UTC"Mulholland Drive" for David Fincher whose mastery of enigmatic abstraction was able to spark the imagination of the mainstream masses. Nobody seemed to get it, but it touched on something that was begun in "Lost Highway." "Revenge of the Sith," as a rather befitting end to the prequel trilogy and the darkest Star Wars thus far. "The Departed," because everybody dies.
Atticus Xey
2023-11-02 01:22:47 +0000 UTCwall-e
Herbert Baker
2023-11-01 23:19:47 +0000 UTC* Memento (2001) - One of the greatest puzzle box movies ever made featuring some of Nolan’s most interesting characters. Engrossing, funny, and ultimately tragic. Pearce, Moss, and Joey Pants all give career best performances. Perhaps Nolan’s best twist ending. * A.I. (2001) - For me, Spielberg’s masterpiece, a darker more existentialist take on Pinocchio that explores similar themes to Blade Runner when it comes to the similarities between machine and man. Features one of the greatest child performances ever from Haley Joel Osment. * Zodiac (2007) - Fincher’s magnum opus, the ultimate “investigation of an investigation” as Ignatiy would put it. We become as glued to the case as the characters in the film and feel all the ups and downs with them along with the unsatisfying conclusion. * No Country For Old Men (2007) - Perfection all around from the script to the direction. A modern-day western that bemoans the amoral, violent America, that has come with the new millennium. Javier Bardem crafts one of the greatest villains 21st century. Tommy Lee Jones’s final monologue will stay with you long after seeing it. * Synecdoche, New York (2008) - Kaufmann’s directorial debut is a huge swing that lands for me. Another examination of the human mind this time focusing on how we see the world and cope with the ups and downs in life. Phillip Seymour Hoffman gives one of his best performances as Caden. Funny, sad, and surreal with a poignant ending.
Stephen
2023-11-01 23:09:39 +0000 UTCThere are so many to choose from, I'll just throw out some random good ones - Donnie Darko, Memento, Cast Away, The Rules of Attraction, Paprika, The Darjeeling Ltd, LOTR The Two Towers, Into the Wild, 28 Days Later, Gladiator, This is England & Secretary.
Ross Skilton
2023-11-01 22:57:25 +0000 UTCMy favorites from this time we’re mostly Coen brothers: the man who wasn’t there, no county, burn after reading and a serious man. If I had to pick one, it might be the man who wasn’t there. When you boil it down to a few words, it’s about a barber who wants to be a dry cleaner. And that’s what I love about the Coens, they take an idea so mundane, add their characters and world building and suck you in. I’ve probably seen that movie a dozen times now.
Shaeffer Holt
2023-11-01 22:46:55 +0000 UTCProbably my least favorite decade in cinema history. Outside of Pixar and Lord of the Rings, there was so much corporate drivel, particularly in comedy and horror, and very little of quality and the independent industry wasn't as prominent as it was in the 1990s or the 2010s. Things may have been less politically in your face but they were just as low on the IQ scale. Pixar would make up most of my list by default so not counting them, my favorites would be Y Tu Mamá También, Before Sunset, Mulholland Drive because duh, Million Dollar Baby which is Clint Eastwood's magnum opus as a director, Lake Mungo which is an Australian horror mockumentary that is on par with The Blair Witch Project and so beautifully put together that it would definitely fool an average person to think it's real, and Drag Me to Hell which I rewatched before Halloween and forgot how hilarious and incredibly entertaining it is.
Wolfman Brandon
2023-11-01 22:02:43 +0000 UTCI've got two. Oldboy (2003) - Visceral, genuinely shocking and razor sharp filmmaking. It's a movie that is genuinely unforgettable from its distinct style, totally dedicated performances and of course absolutely mind bending and stomach churning final act. It's also incredibly funny, an attribute I don't think it always gets enough credit for. To me, this is the movie that showed the West that South Korea is a force to be reckoned with in turns of their cinematic prowess even if that talent isn't formally recognized until Parasite's historic awards run a couple years ago. Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001) - The Mexican erotic drama that breaks your heart as much as it titilates. A movie about the growing pains that come with sexual discovery and the transition from teenage to young adult. It's a movie that grows with you because just when you stop empathising as much with the two main characters, you find so much to learn from their older traveling companion Luisa who, the more I watch this movie, becomes more and more of my focus. It's beautiful, sexy and full of this rich melancholy that I just absolutely love.
Tyler Shobe
2023-11-01 21:23:27 +0000 UTCI’m gonna say Y tu mama tambien because it’s a delicate film that (at first) seems to be a simple story about male friendship but it slowly becomes about masculinity and dominance - a struggle that can connect to the natural rowdiness of male teens. The woman they go on the trip with has all the power to bring the two friends together and drive them apart. Sorry for the ramble, I just really love this film.
Shane Palamara
2023-11-01 21:21:59 +0000 UTCI just rewatched The Last Samurai and was really shocked at how awesome that movie is. I don’t think I appreciated it as a teenager but truly every element of the movie is in service to its romantic past vs modern corruption narrative. I didn’t even realize Cruise’s character is an alcoholic — quite literally sick from western influence. Or how each action set piece coincides to show his further loyalty to Kasumoto over his own origins. I think that movie has only gotten better as the sentiment toward western society has become more skeptical. Otherwise, I think Kill Bill vol. 1 is an obvious pick. That’s another movie I rewatched this year. That movie has like 5 iconic set pieces and just as many memorable soundtrack songs. Might be one of Tarantino’s best. The style is so bizarre. Like a YouTube video almost. I’m sure plenty of people will mention the popular picks but some others that are dear to my heart. History of Violence began Cronenberg’s drama period. The dialogue is a little corny but it’s such a distinct story and atmosphere. I guess he only started making those movies because his body horror stuff kept flopping but it’s still good. Eastern Promises even moreso. A Scanner Darkly is a slept on Linklater movie that is probably the best PKD adaptation ever. I was going to add more but mobile cuts me off. That’s good enough I guess.
Arthur Augustyn
2023-11-01 21:21:52 +0000 UTCI think this is a great idea! One of my favorites is Best in Show. It’s hard to believe that many of the funniest scenes are completely ad-libbed.
Henri J. Mertens
2023-11-01 21:04:15 +0000 UTC
