Added by cloften on 26 Jan 2010 08:50

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Best Movies from 2000-2009

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Decade: Rating: List Type:

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

9016

8.2

8.9

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King... (2003)

With that said, look what we have at number one, a fantasy movie with sword fighting and battle scenes, some of the most amazing battle scenes ever. However again we have inspirational heroes, redemption, love, sacrifice—the best themes for epic great movies. The scenery is beautiful, the effects and acting are superb (you can’t review a whole bunch of movies and not use the word superb). At some point I will likely write an entire column on each movie in the overall top 10, a column still in development but is listed here. When that comes I will have more to say about this series, but I will end with this. I can watch all nine hours of these movies (over the course of a couple of weeks) and when it is over, think, “I want to see that again.” They are that inspiring to me.

cloften's rating:

6639

7.8

8.5

Gladiator (2000)

Russell Crowe, nuff said. They are remaking Robin Hood. Who would want to see that? Me, because I found out that Russell Crowe is in it. Some people accuse me because of my fascination with this, Braveheart and Lord of the Rings that all it takes is some good sword fights and battle scenes for me to love a movie. However, not on this list, 300 and Troy. Gladiator has an inspiring plot with a tragically cursed and then redeemed hero. You want to a better stronger man after having watched it.

cloften's rating:

7834

8.3

The Dark Knight (2008)

There is no way, no way that you could remake the Batman movies from the late 89-97 and make them better. They started great, ended terribly and we should just lock that door. If you do, you should at least have the good sense to not remake the Joker character. Jack Nicholson closed the door there for sure. I was wrong with a vengeance on all accounts. Christian Bale, whom I didn’t know, has been incredible. Not only for playing Batman and Bruce Wayne both well (which is hard to do, ask George Clooney), but also for giving us the best Batman voice ever. Heath Ledger in Dark Knight was brilliant and is quickly moving up the all-time list, very quickly.

cloften's rating:

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

9655

7.6

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl...

This more than anything is a tribute to two things. One, how incredible Curse of the Black Pearl is and how amazing Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow is. Could he be my all time favorite movie character? Only time and another inane blog column will answer that question. Black Pearl was the kind of movie that was specifically designed for me. We walked out of that movie and my wife looks at me and says, “Well, we will be owning that as soon as comes out on DVD.” And we did.

cloften's rating:

4191

7.4

7.9

The Bourne Identity (2002)

Someday there will be a list dedicated to the question of what action movie character would win in an ultimate showdown. (Eliminating people with superpowers, including jedis) Anyway, the man on top of that list for me right now is Jason Bourne. He would win and not even get sweaty. Beyond just being cool action movies, they are intellectual with complex interesting characters.

cloften's rating:

8748

7.3

7.8

Shrek (2001)

To be a great animated movie, you have to be funny and simple for kids and at the same time have deeper humor for adults. The pop culture references in all of these movies are a lot fun. Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Antonio Banderas are hilarious. The three of them are funny in every scene where they banter together. The third movie drags the franchise down a little, but the first two are so strong, it didn’t matter.

cloften's rating:

2390

6.3

7.2

The Passion of the Christ (2004)

If this were a list of movies that moved me emotionally, I am not sure there would be a number two. If there were, the gap between one and two would be enormous. I know that it was very gory. However, the story is that. Gibson and Caviezel brought the story to life in a realistic and visual way that moved me deeply. It was a solid 20 minutes before I could talk about it, and I took my small group with me and we were headed to my house for a discussion. This movie belongs on its own list. I had no idea where to put it, but it needed to go on this list somewhere. 7 it is. That’s a Biblical number, right?

cloften's rating:

5215

7.5

7.9

Iron Man (2008)

It really would not surprise me if this movie makes its way higher up this list and into contention to my overall favorite movie list at some point. I am racking my brain trying to come up with the reasons why I love this movie in comparison to other superhero movies. The answer keeps coming back Robert Downey, Jr. He was perfect for that role. Total cad has a life changing experience and become a cad who is now a superhero. That was perfect casting. There is one more answer. The special effects are very cool. (Didn’t I tell you not to judge me?)

cloften's rating:

1289

7.3

7.8

Remember the Titans (2000)

“Attitude reflect leadership, Captain.” Boom. I know that this movie is as predictable as it gets. I don’t care. I feel inspired every time that I watch it. Football inspiration plus social/societal inspiration equals a great movie. I know what you’re thinking. What about Blind Side? Haven’t seen it yet. I’m sorry. Don’t judge me

cloften's rating:

5250

8.4

Memento (2000)

A little intense for some people and very hard to follow for others. The first time I watched this with my wife, we had to pause it a lot for “what?” moments. The story is told in reverse order which is great. Plot twist is even better. The fact that when it’s over you are left asking, “wait, what happened?” is the best. I know a lot of you haven’t seen this. It is worth your time.

cloften's rating:

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While I can appreciate that Million Dollar Baby was a good movie. I am not typically a fan of the poignant, artistic, make me a better person movies. So if you have stumbled upon this post expecting something along the lines of a ranking of Cannes winners and Oscar nominees then you are in the wrong place. Transformers and Fantastic Four were on my rough draft list, so there you go. Despite that you will see a few Oscar winners here, mostly because the 00’s demonstrated a shift for the Oscars to reward movies that people actually watch. How novel.

One more note. I am lumping series of movies that came out together as one entry. This can both help a movie, but it can also hurt a movie as well. A great first movie can be tainted by mediocre or too many sequels and pull the whole franchise down. I had to group franchises together because otherwise, 5 of my top 10 movies would have been Batman and Lord of the Rings movies. Seriously. No really, seriously.

P.S. Star Wars Episodes II and III are nowhere on this list. That’s sad. Sad that one of the most eager fans of that series didn’t like either of those movies well enough for them to bump Shrek or Iron Man. I wish that they would make more, just because I would love to have a better taste in my mouth.