No, James Cameron's Avatar is not on the decade best list. I just had to briefly mention it, and it wasn't worth a separate post. Yeah, that's right. I really didn't see anything that all the enthusiastic reviewers saw. Yeah, it was colorful and had impressive 3D effects, but a masterpiece those do not make. All of its story beats were predictable, every character was flat, the world well designed but without any global scope until the very end (sort of. Turns out Jake recruits from around the world in the course of one full day). Cameron clumsily throws the audience exposition and plot development so that we can get on to seeing his beautiful world, but it doesn't impress for 2 and a half hours.
On to the list.
So let's just pretend I started with #101. I totally forgot to include a movie higher on the list, so I'm correcting it. It was Lord of the Rings. Yeah, I'm dumb.
76. Together (Lukas Moodysson, 2001) - A light-hearted, but moving story of commune life and basic human emotions.
75. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (Park Chan-wook, 2005) - The first in the vengeance trilogy but not released in the U.S. until well after Oldboy, it's a quiet, cold meditation on desperation and violence.
74. Knocked Up (Judd Apatow, 2007) - A deeply hilarious and affecting tale of growing up and taking responsibility, beautifully told by Apatow with fantastic performances from all involved.
73. Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008) - A dark as hell child vampire story loaded with atmosphere.
72. What Time is it There? (Tsai Ming-Liang,2002) - The greatest from Thai master. Wonderfullydepicts the loss in distance and the sense of fear and uncomfortability in being a fish out of water.
71. Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright, 2004) - A great buddy/zombie comedy
70. Cache (Michael Haneke, 2005) - A quietly devastating examination of past regrets resurfacing.
69. Pulse (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 2005) - Impossibly convoluted and confusing, but scary as fucking hell.
68. My Winnipeg (Guy Maddin, 2008) - Maddin's "autobiographical" farce of life in his hometown, is hypnotic and hilarious, and even its blatant falsehoods ring true in the spirit in which they're presented.
67. Kill Bill vol. 2 (Quentin Tarantino, 2004) - The dialogue filled, spaghetti flavored volume is my preffered film. It has all the emtional content in the series, while also having the great action. The final confrontation is one of the decade's best scenes.
66. Rules of Attraction (Roger Avary, 2002) - Yeah, I've always loved the shit out of this movie. It perfectly maintains the spirit of Ellis' original text, while making it wonderfully cinematic. It's vapid and superficial at first glance, but reveals layers of deep sadness in its satirical tone.
65. Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, 2006) - Highest reviewed film of the decade. Bam.
64. The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001) - The dysfunctional family drama of the decade showed Anderson's ultra-stylized look at its most successful.
63. Adventureland (Greg Mottola, 2009) - A great story of post-grad loss of self with perfectly written and developed characters.
62. Hero (Zhang Yimou, 2004) - A Rashomon style tale of political assissanation in Ancient China. It has some of the most beautiful cinematography in film history.
61. Lilya 4-ever (Lukas Moodysson, 2003) - Moodysson left behind happy filmmaking to craft what might be the most bleak film I've ever seen. A young girl gets wrapped up in sex trafficing to predictably depressing results. It's an almost perfect film, but I don't know if I could ever watch it again.
60. The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky, 2008) - Aronofsky's minimalist tale of a washed up wrestler is heartbreaking in its quieter moments and totally sob-worthy in its bigger ones. It earns every tear.
59. The Squid and the Whale (Noah Baumbach, 2005) - Brutally honest and personal story of impressionable youth.
58. 28 Days Later (Danny Boyle, 2003) - A bleak, wandering post-apocalyptic masterpiece.
57. Brick (Rian Johnson, 2006) - Perfectly transplants classic noir into a modern highschool setting to create a fantastic, hard-boiled tale of murder and drugs.
56. Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001) - A loveletter to Paris and the joy of cinema. It smartly sacrifices a traditional story arc to bask in the joy and fun of its characters.
55. Summer Hours (Olivier Assayas, 2009) - A beautiful study of family bonds and a family's relationship with material items from the past.
54. You Can Count on Me (Kenneth Lonergan, 2000) - Perfect performances from Laura Linny and Mark Ruffalo elevate this already great story of two siblings who come head-to-head when their ideals and plans for the future clash.
53. The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005) - Suck it, bitches. This film is absolutely beautiful.
52. Zodiac (David Fincher, 2007) - Fincher's obsessive masterpiece is getting even better with age. Is any other film a more perfect reflection of its maker?
51. The Edge of Heaven (Faith Akin, 2008) - A multi-storied tale of identity, forgiveness, and prejudice in Germany and Turkey.
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