A Decade Of Awesome: Movies

So much of this blog has been concerned with my pop culture obsessions of various sorts that I can’t resist compiling my own best-of lists for the past decade. Over the next few days, I’ll present the books, movies, music, TV shows, and comics that, over the last decade, earned my personal ranking of “awesome”. I can’t guarantee that each list will contain ten items; it could be more or less. Because I can’t be bound by your rules, man.

We’ll start with movies. In no particular order:

1. Ghost World (2001) –This indie film asked audiences to sympathize with a smart-ass misanthropic teenager and a lonely, misanthropic middle-aged man living in the wastelands of suburbia. And somehow, it works. Thora Birch and Steve Buscemi are essentially decent people whose carefully cultivated scorn for the trappings of suburban life also leaves them isolated and unsure how to remedy the situation. Based on the graphic novel of the same name, the movie is a nuanced exploration of what it means to be alone in twenty-first century America. 
2. X2: X-Men United (2002)–This decade saw Hollywood try to work box office alchemy on the marginalized superhero comic. A lot of those efforts resulted in miserable failure (see Electra) or dull mediocrity (see Superman Returns), but the sequel to the promising X-Men gets nearly everything right. Freed from the plodding exposition of the original, it can focus on the price of being different in a world that values conformity (best line from the movie: “Have you tried not being a mutant?”). We had never seen a film that felt so authentic in its treatment of how everyday people might fear and even hate the superheroes who watch over them.
3. The Lives of Others (2006)–The Bush administration did everyone the huge favor of confirming the paranoid fantasy that the government was entirely willing and capable of eavesdropping on us. It was against this backdrop that this movie debuted, telling the story of an agent for the East German secret police unwittingly begins to sympathize with the activist playwright he has under surveillance. It’s a taut thriller that is also a devastating account of the costs of a total surveillance society on both the watchers and the watched. But it also implies that we can never fully grasp the consequences of our actions until we have the perspective of time. 
4. Children of Men (2006)–A science fiction that feels incredibly immediate and relevant; it tells the story of a near-future where humans have inexplicably stopped having children and most of the world has descended into a final suicidal fit of self-destruction. England survives as an authoritarian and xenophobic nation that herds its immigrants into grim ghettos that foment revolution. Clive Owen gives a bravura performance as a cynical everyman who is thrust into the role of protector for a young and pregnant immigrant woman. The harrowing combat scene that serves as the film’s climax is one of the most masterful filmed sequences of the decade. 
5. Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (2004)–It’s a stoner comedy that’s fully cognizant of the fact that toking up isn’t a hobby limited to white guys who play hackeysack and listen to Phish. Harold and Kumar are typical American twentysomethings who find themselves embarking on a bizarre road trip as they search for a White Castle where they can satisfy a scorching case of the munchies. Along the way, they meet racist cops, flatulent college girls, and a hilarious Neil Patrick Harris who can’t stop talking about hooking up with some strippers. Good, stupid, unclean fun.
6.  A History of Violence (2005)–Oh, look, another movie based on an obscure comic book! Viggo Mortenson plays a seemingly normal guy with a normal family living in a normal Midwestern town. A brutal series of events gradually causes his family to question everything they thought they knew about him. The film is a violent study of whether we are truly capable of changing who we are. Ed Harris is great as a mobster with a reptilian stare and William Hurt chews up the scenery with gusto. And every film student should study the sex scenes between Mortenson and Maria Bello as prime examples of how to capture raw passion on film.
7. Brokeback Mountain (2005)–All the jokes about the “gay cowboy movie” couldn’t rob this epic movie of its grandeur and humanity. In some ways, the story is deeply traditional Hollywood fare. Two people fall in love after a chance encounter, but societal disapproval keeps them apart through the years save for a few surreptitious encounters. The fact that these lovers are two men isn’t beside the point, but it’s also not a movie defined by the gayness of its characters. Heath Ledger will be primarily remembered for his role in The Dark Knight, but it’s this role that underscores his talents as an actor and the tragedy of his death.
8. The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003)–Technically, these are three separate films, but they are properly viewed as three parts of a sprawling narrative. Peter Jackson and his co-writers showed a keen understanding of the difference between books and movies when they adapted the Tolkien trilogy for the screen. They created a series of movies that are faithful adaptations of the books without being slavish in their devotion. The artistry on display here–everything from the pastoral beauty of the Shire to the epic battles to Gollum’s physicality–is breathtaking, but it’s the writing that gives these movies their heft and substance.