Best everything of the decade
EDIT: I'm probably going to completely redo the whole moviefilm section o' this because I've gotten to rewatch a few movies and I plan on seeing a couple more I missed in the next few weeks. I realized that some stuff needs moved around after all that. Impetus being that I'm submitting a list of best films of the decade to The Spotless Minds and I want to do it right.
Commence regular post.
Decade isn't over but whatever. Decade is a man made term and we can make it mean whatever.
Since blogs probably won't exist outside of professional "blogging" and on whatever has replaced Facebook/Twitter in ten years, I figure this is my only chance to get a best of the decade thing to you, the reader.
I considered starting this earlier and actually spending some time on this thing. I then decided "Man, what a hassle; not gonna do it." Then I decided, as above, that I won't have the opportunity again. "Let's do it to it" as they say. In other words, there are major omissions I won't notice until whoops it's too late.
There are a couple things you should know about the lists. They are ranked in general order of least most aweseom to most most awesome. So, it isn't set in stone and things would be in slightly different order depending on my mood. At the very least, this is a just a collection of things I think are pretty great.
My biggest concern is not the order in which I ranked everything. I am more concerned that I picked stuff from the late 2000s because they are fresh. Or maybe I was intentionally leaving late 2000s things off their respective lists because I expect my love of them to be fleeting. I hope I was able to avoid all that nonsense but I doubt it.
Video Games
I am one of those "gamez can be art" people which means I'm the nerdiest of all video game players. Sorry sports and FPS games. Just push my chest, ask me what kind of faggot am I and go play something published by Electronic Arts. I'll be over here not dating the prom queen.
10. Portal
I miss puzzle games. Not Tetris "puzzle" games, but actual puzzle games which were pretty big in the NES era (Adventures of Lolo, Fire N Ice, Kickle Cubicle, etc.). It is most fortunate for me that something like Portal comes along and everyone gets a chance to see how fun they are. Well, fun and frustrating.
Unlike classic puzzle games, there is a story better than "Save the thing from the thing." I'd probably rank this higher if nerd things like "The cake is a lie" wasn't basically the call of the wild nerd roaming the plains of the local Gen Con.
9. Mega Man 9
If you know me personally, you know I like the NES more than you. So, this is no real surprise. Mega Man has basically been a stale franchise since, oh, let's say Mega Man 3. It's built on formula. Why not just throw out the most un-new game possible that is still new? Stale franchise or not, I still played the hell out of this and consider it maybe the best in the series since Mega Man 2.
8. The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker
The first Zelda game since The Legend Of Zelda where exploration is actually really important. Sure, A Link To The Past is my favorite Zelda but that sense of exploration just isn't there. Couple the exploration with completely awesome graphics and the game is just amazing. Also, it is a Zelda game which means it's all ready pretty great to begin with (which is why I preordered this before even owning a Gamecube).
Part of me wants to put Ocarina Of Time: Master Quest on this list because it technically came out after 2000 and the sense of amazement I felt when I first saw Hyrule Field in the original Ocarina Of Time was that powerful. That would be cheating though.
7. Silent Hill 2
Why are things made this scary and why did I put myself through this half a dozen times? Trying to make sense of both questions probably involves trying to make sense of the game itself.
6. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Not the shock of GTA3 and not the polish of GTA4. More side games than GTA4 but not as bloated as San Andreas. Somewhere in the middle of these is Vice City. It's maybe the the most solid and most fun of the entire GTA series. If I were being honest with myself, I'd probably include Vice City and GTA4 on here. I guess I'm not. So, only Vice City made it.
True story alert: I made up a dentist appointment so I could leave work and buy this game on release day.
5. Ico
A game so special that I literally couldn't even play it a second time for a few years after completing it. An example of minimalism story telling and beautiful graphics. There are maybe half a dozen plot advancing cut scenes throughout the game and it still affects you.
4. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
You know how Loveless essentially let everyone know that shoegazing existed and destroyed it simultaneously because no one could ever equal it. That is what the Metal Gear series did with stealth espionage games. MGS3 is the highlight of the series making it quite the gem indeed.
Snake Eater wasn't just a step forward from MGS and a huge step forward from MGS2. It took every quibble from the first two Solid games and corrected them. Everything that you didn't even realize was a flaw was improved and it seems stunning in retrospect.
And then you remember there is a man that can control bees for some reason and you just say, "uuuuughhhh."
3. Shenmue II
True story: The day a friend of mine got Shenmue for his Dreamcast, I literally almost called into work to watch him play. I didn't, but damn I was close. Number of times I have called into work for any reason since that day: three. So, Shenmue was pretty fucking awesome.
I bought an XBox so that I could play Shenmue II because Microsoft's exclusivity rights in the US (this is why Shenmue II failed in my opinion) and because I'm not nerd enough to import games. Shenmue II was totally worth it. So, Shenmue II was pretty fucking awesome.
WHERE IN THE HELL IS SHENMUE III?
The last quarter of Shenmue is nothing but talking to a girl (video games giving video game dorks their first opportunity). So, it's not quite blockbuster material but did you see that ending? It's like Agent Cooper's doppleganger smashing a mirror with his face and Sledge Hammer blowing up California put together for twists.
WHERE IN THE HELL IS SHENMUE III?
Guess why I will not buy a Sega product for the rest of my life (no seriously)?
2. Braid
This is just, I mean, wow. So much thought put into this, I mean, the game play itself is a metaphor for the story. Man, it is just so amazing. When Soulja Boy says that there's no point to the game, I literally get angry. That's how awesome it is and it's only $15. GET IT NOW!
Jonathan Blow could develop nothing but direct ports of E. T. for the rest of his life and I would probably get excited.
Not about a bomb.
1. Shadow Of The Colossus
While Jonathan Blow gets a free pass for any game he makes in the future that sucks, Fumito Ueda (director of Shadow Of The Colossus AND Ico) could literally fart in my face and I'd be all right with it. You know why? Because he is the director of Shadow Of The Colossus AND Ico.
Shadow Of The Colossus takes minimalism potentially further than even Ico which only has a handful of cutscenes throughout. Shadow essentially works this way
"Fight this monster"
"I fought the monster. Now what?"
Repeat 15 more times
Ready to buy it yet? Trust me on this. It's worth your time. Shadow Of The Colossus is basically the colossus and everything else is standing in its shadow (how's that for mature symoblism?).
Television Shows
10. Pushing Daisies
If you can get beyond how twee Pushing Daisies is, and that is a massive hurdle, you'll find a wonderful show. Pushing Daisies about as saccharine as a sneezing baby panda and a tired kitten struggling to stay awake set on repeat for an hour. So, prepare yourself if "cutesy" isn't part of your lexicon.
The show is basically a supernatural murder mystery of the week which doesn't sound all that sweet. But the gruesome murders are just set up for a love story, food porn, Kristen Chenoweth (and her breasts), knitting, pop up books, basically everything that anyone might possibly consider thinking about describing as "just darling."
Push passed all that and it's such a fun show. It has so many quick, subtle and hilarious moments that even the average person would have to get swept up in it. Pushing Daisies made me laugh at a spit take (which was also adorable) and that's something. I'd sit through just about anything sugary if it can make something like a spit take work.
9. Dancing With The Stars
I just love the art of dance! Couple that with the thrills associate with all reality television and what a combo! It's more than that though as if that wasn't a big enough bang fer yer buck! You get some of your favorite celebrities in on the action. So, we're really upping the ante and this is just the idea stage. Seeing it in action is a whole 'nother level. And this is on free, over the air television?
"I call that a bargain. The best I ever had!!!!!" - The Who.
Just kidding. I don't watch this.
9. Curb Your Enthusiasm
Curb Your Enthusiasm makes a pretty strong case that society has, on one level, come to its senses. Simply by existing, Curb Your Enthusiasm proves that we, as a society, can finally admit what I have known all along: George Costanza is the best character on Seinfeld, not Kramer. I'm glad to know you finally caught up with me. Curb isn't quite The George Costanza Show, but it's the closest thing we've got.
8. Gilmore Girls
Just shut up. SHUT UP. There is nothing wrong with a man in his 20s loving Gilmore Girls is great. Well, maybe not the last season when Sherman-Palladino was pseudo forced out and the characters became annoying quirk fests that all the non-fans think the cast had been for all the previous seasons except, to make the new, lamer versions of the cast seem less annoying, they add Rory's two art school friends and oh my god how lame could it be.
Of course, it's hard to argue that the losing Sherman-Palladino was the worst thing ever since her last season in control involved a lengthy plot regarding a long lost daughter. I swear it was well written. I promise. Gah. How can I defend this?
Is it less emascualting if I say Lauren Graham was really hot as my defense (and skip using the word "heartwarming" which it totally was)?
PS - Kelly Bishop and Edward Herrmann are perfectly cast.
7. Futurama
Futurama is exactly what The Simpsons is supposed to still be...except in space. It's not as funny as The Simpsons in its heyday, but I'd take it over what we've been getting since season nine.
What Futurama has been able to do is not just be really, really funny is also be extremely heartbreaking. I like that, on occasion, Futurama throws you for a loop by not knowing what's coming. You want to laugh your ass off? How about crying because a blackhole just destroyed someone's chance at love?
6. Lost
Lost is proof that networks shouldn't be involved with television. Conjecture: ABC is responsible for almost every problem that affected Lost.
Had Lost gotten the shorter run the creators wanted from the beginning, would we have suffered through the overly long second and third seasons? Would we have wasted time on the Jack/Sawyer/Kate love triangle (worst part of the show)? Maybe we would have and maybe not. I'm sure some Lost obsessives could answer better than I could.
All I know is that Lost got way better when the creators said, "We want this end date and we're wrapping shit up." So, I'll just blame the suits on this one. Sure, hating on Lost is part of the appeal but I totally prefer liking things.
5. It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
Hilarious and boring has a very thin line separating them when the line is shock value. Always Sunny sees the line and walks right up to it while rarely crossing it (unlike Family Guy which practically bought property on the wrong side). It's an amazing feat because you don't even notice how disgusting the characters are until later. "Was I just laughing at child molestation? Yeah, I guess I was."
Better than the shock value is how the characters interact. If one character supports something wholeheartedly, another hates that thing wholeheartedly and that's where the true beauty rests. It's five characters serving themselves as much to prove their only friends wrong as much to prove themselves right. It's amazing seeing stubborn assholes argue snap decisions with such vitriol.
4. Arrested Development
Unpopular opinion: Fox cancelling Arrested Development is the best thing to happen to Arrested Development and its fans. Allow me to explain.
It is not possible to keep that pace forever. It isn't. Even the third season had some minor faults. Beyond that, how long is something like "Her?" going to be funny? Would AD have stayed great for another few seasons? Maybe. Or maybe we'd be sitting here wondering why AD squandered all its good will like The Simpsons started doing in season 9. I'd rather have a really short, wonderful show than a longer show running on empty after a few years. And here's proof that I'm right:
3. The Office (UK)
Perfect. Not joking there isn't a single misstep in the series. Yes, the final five minutes of the Christmas special are a total tonal shift from the preceeding 445 minutes. The ending isn't even deserved by three of the four main protagonists but who the fuck cares. It's still perfect. You all ready got one perfect ending with the second series.
PS - US Office is kind of a turd accept for that Michael/Holly relationship which was the best thing in the entire five years of US Office.
2. Freaks And Geeks
I have a soft spot for television shows that realistically portray nerds on television (psst - this is because I'm a nerd in real life). Not the nerds that Saved By The Bell had, but the real nerds that exist. Freaks And Geeks is the best portrayal of nerds in high school ever.
More than geeks, Freaks and Geeks also--get this--has "freaks" in the stoner, non-sideshow way. As someone that made the Lindsey like transition from geek to freak, yeah, this show gets me pretty hard. Hard enough that only having half a season air this decade makes in #2 for me.
Also, Bill Haverchuck is my favorite television character right after George Costanza. Back to the realism for a second. Bill Haverchuck is the most visibly obvious geek on the show and is even written as the biggest geek on the show. Despite that, he is definitely not the smartest character. In fact, he's probably closer to the bottom in intelligence which is just not going for the stereotype. But it isn't pushing him in the opposite direction for false character either. It's just being realistic which is probably what helped get it cancelled.
PS - The moment in television history that made me wince the most is Sam Weir wanting to back out of Dungeons & Dragons. Then someone asks him if he'll play as Logan with them and I remember that I played Advanced Dungeons & Dragons as a kid as a character named Logan once.
1. The Wire
It's the best show ever. So, being the best of the decade is a given.
Most television shows don't respect themselves, their characters or their audiences. It's why we have catchphrases and Steve Urkels. Go for the easy, familiar material. No sense in anyone being challenged.
For the creators of The Wire and hopefully larger audiences in the future, this isn't the case. They don't make it easy on themselves or the viewers. They have respect for everyone, even the fictional characters, and everyone is challenged. Everyone is put through the ringer and everyone is explored unflinchingly. The writers, the characters and the audience.
Just do yourself a favor and watch it. Give it two episodes (the first episode is too doofy, cop show stereotype to be representative because "CAN YOU HEAR MY DICK?!?!?!" and symbolism so thick and hamfisted that the credits should be a slo-mo shot of a guy literally pissing into the wind). The second episode should alleviate all fears even if it has some bad bits (McNulty sure is a drunken Irish cop!).
Challenge: watch the first two episodes and then don't spend all your waking time waiting to watch the next 58 as soon as humanly possible.
Albums
For a music geek, I don't follow music news like I should. I don't read Pitchfork or Rolling Stone or NME or whatever the hip magazine is these days. I get into the trends well after the hip kids have moved onto whatever I currently think is weird and scary. The music I spent the most time enjoying in the past decade may not even be from this decade or even my lifetime. For every major album listed here, assume there were 20 albums from 20 years ago I was digging as much (typically).
Where possible, I have included links to Lala.com where you can legally hear the album for free. I think you have to sign up but, other than a few emails a month, it is commitment free.
I have also decided to list a song (or sometimes more than one) that is a pretty good starter for the album if you haven't heard it yet (I recommend listening to everything on all of them). I may not have picked the best or even my favorite song from the album, I typically picked something I felt was representative.
20. Beck - Sea Change
A great album but I prefer Beck in mildly humorous sample mode. If you just got dumped and want to mope around or something, this is the go to Beck album because Devil's Haircut doesn't quite work on that front.
Track of choice: Guess I'm Doing Fine
19. Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam
Not Pearl Jam's best by a longshot. Maybe it doesn't deserve to be here because it's not truly "great." Maybe I should drop it and move the half dozen albums that nearly made this up a spot. All I know is I jammed the hell out of this for the first few months of release.
The key to enjoyment is don't look at the cover and let a bunch of dudes in their 40s rock more than most dudes in their 40s are allowed to rock. Let Pearl Jam finally make an album that's not overwrought with their "oh, woe is me" lyrics and is, in fact, kind of positive in places. Then never listen to Backspacer because who the hell cares about Backspacer?
Track of choice: Life Wasted
18. Beck - Guero
Legit probably my favorite Beck album. I know Odelay is a thing but, I don't know, beyond the singles it doesn't move me. Maybe I never got into Odelay soon enough but Guero is such a great album that I'll give it the nod. Depending on how down I am, this could switch places with Sea Change in a heartbeat.
Track of choice: Hell Yes
17. Tool - Lateralus (no link, sorry)
Until 10,000 Days was released, every Tool album made all their preceding albums seem like parp in comparison. 10,000 Days comes out and I think, "I guess so." Maybe I lost my interest in Tool or maybe I was expecting too much. It was the first Tool album to not blow me away and, as such, Lateralus is the album to love. It's metal for people that aren't into Vikings. If you are looking for something heavy without being too wankery.
Track of choice: Parabol/Parabola
16. Burial - Untrue
It's kind of hard for me to say something about instrumental electronic beyond, "Pretty great."
"Pretty great."
Track of choice: Etched Headplate
15. The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan
As great as White Blood Cells and Elephant are, both have some weak patches. Get Behind Me Satan doesn't. The highs aren't as high but those boring bluesy songs don't get in the way of a solid album. If I were doing more albums, White Blood Cells might make it. If Elephant had half the tracks, Elephant might make it.
Track of choice: Blue Orchid I guess
14. Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights
hay new york you know what will help you get over 911? a joy division cover band!
Turn On The Bright Lights is an album of its time which just so happens to be post 9/11 New York. I don't know why but it puts me right in that time period and fills me with that weird feeling that permeated most of us until some time in 2002. It's cathartic feeling that way about September 11th again because most of us spent the next few years hating Bush and Giuliani for using September 11th as a reason to push for anti-abortion laws and tap our phones.
Track of choice: NYC
13. Kanye West - 808s And Heartbreak
Kanye takes douchebaggery to the point of it actually being assholish but I listen to his music. As soon as he puts out a spoken word album, I'll give a shit about his dongish tendencies. Until then, the guy knows how to make music.
The "educated" hipsters will say that The College Dropout is the better album and, were it Jesus Walks on repeat a dozen times, I'd be on board. 808s and Heartbreak is Kanye's Blood On The Tracks: stripped down to the raw post-break up nerves only a life in showbiz can produce. It's never going to get out from under the beats and ego of his preceding albums but who cares?
It's interesting that, at his most open and emotional, Kanye West is still extremely misogynistic.
Track of choice: Welcome To Heartbreak
12. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
Yeah, the album loses focus a couple times but the peaks are still pretty great. The highlights are certainly strong enough to raise the weak spots. Even if that's not a strong enough selling point, it's a concept album (or at least four songs) about fighting robots with karate. If that doesn't get you to listen, why do I even know you?
Track of choice: Do You Realize?? (yes, the second question mark is part of the title)
11. AFX - Chosen Lords (sowwy, no links)
"Pretty great"
Track of choice: Fenix Funk 5
10. Radiohead - In Rainbows
I have a weird fascination with non-pop groups put out their version of a pop album. You know, like when The Velvet Underground released Loaded despite being the 1960s version of noise rock? In Rainbows isn't some big statement like OK Computer or Kid A. It's just a bunch of really great songs.
Track of choice: Videotape
9. LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver
This just has a great energy and catchy songs that are surprisingly deep for catchy, energetic songs. It tricks you into thinking it's nothing but dance songs. Then it hits you that there is something there beyond dance music.
Track of choice: All My Friends
8. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
What can be said about this that hasn't been said? Wilco strips rock to its roots or something. There is something strange about singing about Ashes of American flags immediately after September 11. It's bold and weird which is exactly what Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is.
Track of choice: Jesus, etc.
7. Portishead - Third
When will we be far enough away from Dummy to admit that it isn't all that great? I enjoy it but Third was the first Portishead album I loved. The second half is so all over the place jumping from the extremely aggressive Machine Gun to the fragile Deep Water but it manages to stay in the same melancholy area.
Track of choice: We Carry On
6. Björk - Vespertine
This is quite the intimate album. I don't mean intimate in the sexual sense even though the album is more deserving of the title "Songs About Fucking" than Big Black's "Songs About Fucking." It's intimate in that it is seeing someone at their most open. This album is the musical equivilant of sitting in a cabin wrapped in a heavy blanket next to a fireplace in the middle of a blizzard...or doing it.
Track of choice: Hidden Place
5. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
I can't even believe how much I listened to this album. It's not much like anything I've bothered to listen to more than a couple times. Despite its extremely poppy sound, it's dark as hell. Not many people willing to put their marriage falling apart into music make it this obvious. The specifics never make it to the final album because any number of reasons. Too scared to expose yourself, too personal to be popular to a big enough audience, too whatever to whatever. Hissing Fauna gets pretty personal and it's all the better for it.
Track of choice: Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse
4. Sigur Rós - ()
Naming and album () is maybe the most pretentious thing ever. It's even worse than leaving something untitled. Then it just made sense to me. The album is separated into two halves that are similar but completely opposed. Like a set of parentheses, each half of () is its mirror opposite pointing toward the other and completing itself.
Track of choice: You really need to listen to the whole thing in one sitting to "get" it.
3. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Mountain/folk music with perfect harmonies? It worked! It's also the most addicting listen of the last few years.
Track of choice: Blue Ridge Mountains
2. Arcade Fire - Funeral
Even before I could pay attention to the lyrics, I was right there getting punched in the stomach by the maudlin arrangements of Funeral. Funeral easily sneaks into your head and pushes you into this weird place that is a mix of loss and hope.
Track of choice: Rebellion (Lies)
1. Radiohead - Kid A
Stereotypical choice as all get out for best of the decade. It's like picking Sgt. Pepper for best of the 60s. Maybe in 30 years, Kid A will be seen as the Sgt. Pepper of the 2000s. The only difference is that Kid A is the fucking jam and Sgt. Pepper never deserved its reputation other than being extremely representative of a small time period.
It doesn't move me like it did a few years ago but the mountains on the cover will call me again. I'll be there in that world of Kid A again. And I'll go, "yeah, still a better choice for best of the decade than Sgt. Pepper is for the 60s."
Track of choice: Man, I don't even know. Just play the whole thing if you haven't heard it yet (AKA live on Mars).
Movies
For an emotionless loner, I have a lot of movies about love and relationships in my favorites of the decade. In my defense, I don't have any really schmaltzy romantic movies.
This is the section where I'm most worried I left out the best stuff of the decade. I'll never see all the movies I need to see. List is mostly compiled of movies that struck me emotionally and left an impact.
20. Lars And The Real Girl
For the goofiest premise in a while, this is a serious look at a quiet, 27 year old living in a garage. How is the story of a man in love with a sex doll not creepy as hell? Every time where it could easily wander into being too weird to work, it stops and moves on.
19. Moon
Hard science fiction films don't come our way often. See them when we are lucky enough to get them. It's not 2001 but it's still an awesome film. It covers a lot of the standard science fiction ideas (nature of life, loneliness, etc.) but it covers them well.
18. District 9
This is probably one of those movies that doesn't make it to a best of the decade list if it came out a few years before the end of the decade. Yes, Sharlto Copley's performance is deserving of an Oscar. Yes, it's a science fiction movie with a larger message (like all good science fiction). Yes, it looks like a $60 million dollar movie on a $30 million dollar budget.
Yeah, it probably deserves to be on a list of the top of the decade somewhere even if it's not placed this high.
17. Clovenfield [sic]
Do I need to say that I watched monster movies a ton as a kid or does including this make that point for me? My middle school years meant every Friday night would find me at home watching MonsterVision on TNT because it never occurred to me that there was something better to be doing with my life.
For all my indifference toward J. J. Abrams, Clovenfield is one of the most fun movies of the decade. It's maybe not Snakes On A Plane level fun, but oh there is something about pretty New York hipsters getting trampled to death.
16. Requiem For A Dream
Movies don't get this intense very often. So intense that watching this again may never happen for me. It portrays addiction and the ensuing struggle so accurately that it's all too much for me.
15. Synechdoche, New York
I keep meaning to watch this again because it's streaming on Netflix. I had to see it in theaters based entirely on Charlie Kaufman's name on the script (you know, the guy that wrote the 1977 2000 episode of Get A Life). When I left, I wasn't sure how I felt and I still don't know for certain. It's definitely the movie Kaufman was been working toward for years. It's the most ambitious movie of the decade. For that, it deserves a spot in spite of it's minor flaws.
14. Yi Yi
Life is small moments. This is nearly three hours of small moments for one family in Taiwan and it is beautiful.
13. Half Nelson
This movie is a bit too after school special to be a considered great. It's not proper after school special material because no one gets better or gets help. I love Ryan Gosling in this. I don't know why this got me so hard but it was stunned silent after watching this.
12. WALL·E
WALL·E is the most sexist movie of the year in that furthers the stereotypes of our patriarchal, male dominated society for children. The male robot is a hunter gatherer. The female is the sole protector of life which she keeps in her belly. Once the woman becomes a literal incubator, her only goal in life is achieved and she can be functionally dead.
Why is a story of two robots one of the most enjoyable love stories of the decade?
11. Oldboy
The average revenge flick puts you in the mind of the revenger of vengeance by simply showing you the bodies of his wife and kids killed for no good reason by local thugs. Oldboy lets you find out, with the protagonist, that things happen for a reason. A totally fucked up reason but a reason nonetheless.
But what sets Oldboy apart from others in its genre is that it all seems purposeful. It touches on some pretty out there subjects. It gets pretty dark. It gets pretty violent. It never feels like it's trying to shock you even though a synopsis of the movie is shocking.
10. The Royal Tennenbaums
What resonates most with me in Wes Anderson movies is that no one is really dealing with the emotional things going on around them. Things happen and everyone is pretty distant the whole time. Emotions rarely get to the surface. The Royal Tennenbaums is probably the strongest example of this in Anderson's work.
9. There Will Be Blood
I can't defend this movie. So, don't ask me what it's all about. I can't tell you other than some vague stuff about a descent into obsession and losing your soul on the way down.
I saw this in theaters and thought it was an okay movie with some pretty solid craft. I bought it on blu-ray because it was really cheap and I was struck dumb by it. Why is watching a complete asshole obsess over being the best, small time oil driller stunning? It just is.
8. Lost In Translation
Movie opens with a shot of Scarlett Johansson's butt.
7. No Country For Old Men
If you will permit me, I'd like to go back to the previous movie for a minute because, let's face it, Scarlett Johansson's butt is unspectacular when compared to literally everything else on Scarlett Johansson's body.
I am a sucker for films where people are in the midst of vague existential crises and they find stability in each other. Most movies today are about how people are ultimately alone and will never find a like sole. So, just seeing those same types of people connect in any way is better than the bland landscape of crap where most movies exist.
I am also a bit of a sucker for Bill Murray's effortless performances that dot his career. The ones where he appears to have stumbled into a movie set, the cameras kept rolling and Bill Murray plays himself or at least that image of Bill Murray that people have (GhostBusters, this, Stripes, Garfield: A Tale Of Two Kitties).
I am a sucker for love stories that aren't romantic comedies or schmaltzy crap that only happens in movies with John Cusack.
I am a sucker for anything with My Bloody Valentine anywhere near it.
7. No Country For Old Men (for real this time)
For all the buttholes that knock the ending, the movie is about Tommy Lee Jones. Watch it again. The Brand from Goonies/Tony "Ultimo Badass or sumpin" Sugar beef is just a for instance of things Tommy Lee Jones sees that make him realize there is no country for this old man. The opening narration sets it all up. The movie is better once you realize that.
Also, Anton Chigurh is one of the best performances of the last few years. Its understated simplicity betrays being a remorseless, amoral murderer. It's much more striking than the typical evil killer that can't be stopped until he accomplishes his goal.
6. Before Sunset
The movie least likely to have or in least need of a sequel is Before Sunrise. The ambiguity of the ending what elevates it above the average will they or won't they movie. So the idea of a sequel is blasphemous. After a few minutes, any blasphemous thoughts are out the window. It's a natural progression and the characters are so believable that you are with them again in the moment. Somehow, Before Sunset is better than Before Sunrise which puts it on a short list of films that aren't worse than the original.
5. Mulholland Dr.
First, this was a television pilot. A fucking television pilot. Can you believe this was going to be a series? I mean, holy shit, this was meant for television. What in the world was ABC thinking with this one? They cancelled David Lynch's last television effort and he gained, to my knowledge, no critical or audience acclaim. How is this a thing to be mesmerized by and love when it never should have made it out of the meeting room?
This came along when my love for David Lynch was at it's peak which helps cement it's place on the list. It couldn't have come at a better time for me. Lynch continues his exploration into the life of a disturbed, emotionally tortured woman and escapism fantasy. This time, it works better than ever.
4. The New World
First of all, Terrence Malick. That should be all you need to know. Secondly, maybe the most beautifully shot film of the decade which having Terence Malick attached should be a given. The exploration of new land as metaphor for love.
3. In The Mood For Love
Just schmaltzy enough to work as a romance film. Realistic enough to work for people without vaginas. It's as passionate a look at unrequited love as we're likely to see. There is something about seeing these two people follow the rules when they have every reason to break them.
2. City Of God
more like a city that needs more god if you ask me!
1. Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
Eternal Sunshine is almost two hours of proving why people say, "If I had it to do all over again, I'd wouldn't change a thing." We wouldn't. People don't change. Even with the benefit of hindsight, we do the same things over again.
This movie is filled with those little moments tucked away in everyone's memory that we don't need to discuss. That's what makes this such a powerful movie. It's keen look inside all of us.
Also, Eternal Sunshine tricked me into thinking Jim Carrey wasn't a complete waste of time which is pretty notable.
Well, that's it for everything. If you disagree, feel free to be wrong.
Commence regular post.
Decade isn't over but whatever. Decade is a man made term and we can make it mean whatever.
Since blogs probably won't exist outside of professional "blogging" and on whatever has replaced Facebook/Twitter in ten years, I figure this is my only chance to get a best of the decade thing to you, the reader.
I considered starting this earlier and actually spending some time on this thing. I then decided "Man, what a hassle; not gonna do it." Then I decided, as above, that I won't have the opportunity again. "Let's do it to it" as they say. In other words, there are major omissions I won't notice until whoops it's too late.
There are a couple things you should know about the lists. They are ranked in general order of least most aweseom to most most awesome. So, it isn't set in stone and things would be in slightly different order depending on my mood. At the very least, this is a just a collection of things I think are pretty great.
My biggest concern is not the order in which I ranked everything. I am more concerned that I picked stuff from the late 2000s because they are fresh. Or maybe I was intentionally leaving late 2000s things off their respective lists because I expect my love of them to be fleeting. I hope I was able to avoid all that nonsense but I doubt it.
Video Games
I am one of those "gamez can be art" people which means I'm the nerdiest of all video game players. Sorry sports and FPS games. Just push my chest, ask me what kind of faggot am I and go play something published by Electronic Arts. I'll be over here not dating the prom queen.
10. Portal
I miss puzzle games. Not Tetris "puzzle" games, but actual puzzle games which were pretty big in the NES era (Adventures of Lolo, Fire N Ice, Kickle Cubicle, etc.). It is most fortunate for me that something like Portal comes along and everyone gets a chance to see how fun they are. Well, fun and frustrating.
Unlike classic puzzle games, there is a story better than "Save the thing from the thing." I'd probably rank this higher if nerd things like "The cake is a lie" wasn't basically the call of the wild nerd roaming the plains of the local Gen Con.
9. Mega Man 9
If you know me personally, you know I like the NES more than you. So, this is no real surprise. Mega Man has basically been a stale franchise since, oh, let's say Mega Man 3. It's built on formula. Why not just throw out the most un-new game possible that is still new? Stale franchise or not, I still played the hell out of this and consider it maybe the best in the series since Mega Man 2.
8. The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker
The first Zelda game since The Legend Of Zelda where exploration is actually really important. Sure, A Link To The Past is my favorite Zelda but that sense of exploration just isn't there. Couple the exploration with completely awesome graphics and the game is just amazing. Also, it is a Zelda game which means it's all ready pretty great to begin with (which is why I preordered this before even owning a Gamecube).
Part of me wants to put Ocarina Of Time: Master Quest on this list because it technically came out after 2000 and the sense of amazement I felt when I first saw Hyrule Field in the original Ocarina Of Time was that powerful. That would be cheating though.
7. Silent Hill 2
Why are things made this scary and why did I put myself through this half a dozen times? Trying to make sense of both questions probably involves trying to make sense of the game itself.
6. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Not the shock of GTA3 and not the polish of GTA4. More side games than GTA4 but not as bloated as San Andreas. Somewhere in the middle of these is Vice City. It's maybe the the most solid and most fun of the entire GTA series. If I were being honest with myself, I'd probably include Vice City and GTA4 on here. I guess I'm not. So, only Vice City made it.
True story alert: I made up a dentist appointment so I could leave work and buy this game on release day.
5. Ico
A game so special that I literally couldn't even play it a second time for a few years after completing it. An example of minimalism story telling and beautiful graphics. There are maybe half a dozen plot advancing cut scenes throughout the game and it still affects you.
4. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
You know how Loveless essentially let everyone know that shoegazing existed and destroyed it simultaneously because no one could ever equal it. That is what the Metal Gear series did with stealth espionage games. MGS3 is the highlight of the series making it quite the gem indeed.
Snake Eater wasn't just a step forward from MGS and a huge step forward from MGS2. It took every quibble from the first two Solid games and corrected them. Everything that you didn't even realize was a flaw was improved and it seems stunning in retrospect.
And then you remember there is a man that can control bees for some reason and you just say, "uuuuughhhh."
3. Shenmue II
True story: The day a friend of mine got Shenmue for his Dreamcast, I literally almost called into work to watch him play. I didn't, but damn I was close. Number of times I have called into work for any reason since that day: three. So, Shenmue was pretty fucking awesome.
I bought an XBox so that I could play Shenmue II because Microsoft's exclusivity rights in the US (this is why Shenmue II failed in my opinion) and because I'm not nerd enough to import games. Shenmue II was totally worth it. So, Shenmue II was pretty fucking awesome.
WHERE IN THE HELL IS SHENMUE III?
The last quarter of Shenmue is nothing but talking to a girl (video games giving video game dorks their first opportunity). So, it's not quite blockbuster material but did you see that ending? It's like Agent Cooper's doppleganger smashing a mirror with his face and Sledge Hammer blowing up California put together for twists.
WHERE IN THE HELL IS SHENMUE III?
Guess why I will not buy a Sega product for the rest of my life (no seriously)?
2. Braid
This is just, I mean, wow. So much thought put into this, I mean, the game play itself is a metaphor for the story. Man, it is just so amazing. When Soulja Boy says that there's no point to the game, I literally get angry. That's how awesome it is and it's only $15. GET IT NOW!
Jonathan Blow could develop nothing but direct ports of E. T. for the rest of his life and I would probably get excited.
Not about a bomb.
1. Shadow Of The Colossus
While Jonathan Blow gets a free pass for any game he makes in the future that sucks, Fumito Ueda (director of Shadow Of The Colossus AND Ico) could literally fart in my face and I'd be all right with it. You know why? Because he is the director of Shadow Of The Colossus AND Ico.
Shadow Of The Colossus takes minimalism potentially further than even Ico which only has a handful of cutscenes throughout. Shadow essentially works this way
"Fight this monster"
"I fought the monster. Now what?"
Repeat 15 more times
Ready to buy it yet? Trust me on this. It's worth your time. Shadow Of The Colossus is basically the colossus and everything else is standing in its shadow (how's that for mature symoblism?).
Television Shows
10. Pushing Daisies
If you can get beyond how twee Pushing Daisies is, and that is a massive hurdle, you'll find a wonderful show. Pushing Daisies about as saccharine as a sneezing baby panda and a tired kitten struggling to stay awake set on repeat for an hour. So, prepare yourself if "cutesy" isn't part of your lexicon.
The show is basically a supernatural murder mystery of the week which doesn't sound all that sweet. But the gruesome murders are just set up for a love story, food porn, Kristen Chenoweth (and her breasts), knitting, pop up books, basically everything that anyone might possibly consider thinking about describing as "just darling."
Push passed all that and it's such a fun show. It has so many quick, subtle and hilarious moments that even the average person would have to get swept up in it. Pushing Daisies made me laugh at a spit take (which was also adorable) and that's something. I'd sit through just about anything sugary if it can make something like a spit take work.
9. Dancing With The Stars
I just love the art of dance! Couple that with the thrills associate with all reality television and what a combo! It's more than that though as if that wasn't a big enough bang fer yer buck! You get some of your favorite celebrities in on the action. So, we're really upping the ante and this is just the idea stage. Seeing it in action is a whole 'nother level. And this is on free, over the air television?
"I call that a bargain. The best I ever had!!!!!" - The Who.
Just kidding. I don't watch this.
9. Curb Your Enthusiasm
Curb Your Enthusiasm makes a pretty strong case that society has, on one level, come to its senses. Simply by existing, Curb Your Enthusiasm proves that we, as a society, can finally admit what I have known all along: George Costanza is the best character on Seinfeld, not Kramer. I'm glad to know you finally caught up with me. Curb isn't quite The George Costanza Show, but it's the closest thing we've got.
8. Gilmore Girls
Just shut up. SHUT UP. There is nothing wrong with a man in his 20s loving Gilmore Girls is great. Well, maybe not the last season when Sherman-Palladino was pseudo forced out and the characters became annoying quirk fests that all the non-fans think the cast had been for all the previous seasons except, to make the new, lamer versions of the cast seem less annoying, they add Rory's two art school friends and oh my god how lame could it be.
Of course, it's hard to argue that the losing Sherman-Palladino was the worst thing ever since her last season in control involved a lengthy plot regarding a long lost daughter. I swear it was well written. I promise. Gah. How can I defend this?
Is it less emascualting if I say Lauren Graham was really hot as my defense (and skip using the word "heartwarming" which it totally was)?
PS - Kelly Bishop and Edward Herrmann are perfectly cast.
7. Futurama
Futurama is exactly what The Simpsons is supposed to still be...except in space. It's not as funny as The Simpsons in its heyday, but I'd take it over what we've been getting since season nine.
What Futurama has been able to do is not just be really, really funny is also be extremely heartbreaking. I like that, on occasion, Futurama throws you for a loop by not knowing what's coming. You want to laugh your ass off? How about crying because a blackhole just destroyed someone's chance at love?
6. Lost
Lost is proof that networks shouldn't be involved with television. Conjecture: ABC is responsible for almost every problem that affected Lost.
Had Lost gotten the shorter run the creators wanted from the beginning, would we have suffered through the overly long second and third seasons? Would we have wasted time on the Jack/Sawyer/Kate love triangle (worst part of the show)? Maybe we would have and maybe not. I'm sure some Lost obsessives could answer better than I could.
All I know is that Lost got way better when the creators said, "We want this end date and we're wrapping shit up." So, I'll just blame the suits on this one. Sure, hating on Lost is part of the appeal but I totally prefer liking things.
5. It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
Hilarious and boring has a very thin line separating them when the line is shock value. Always Sunny sees the line and walks right up to it while rarely crossing it (unlike Family Guy which practically bought property on the wrong side). It's an amazing feat because you don't even notice how disgusting the characters are until later. "Was I just laughing at child molestation? Yeah, I guess I was."
Better than the shock value is how the characters interact. If one character supports something wholeheartedly, another hates that thing wholeheartedly and that's where the true beauty rests. It's five characters serving themselves as much to prove their only friends wrong as much to prove themselves right. It's amazing seeing stubborn assholes argue snap decisions with such vitriol.
4. Arrested Development
Unpopular opinion: Fox cancelling Arrested Development is the best thing to happen to Arrested Development and its fans. Allow me to explain.
It is not possible to keep that pace forever. It isn't. Even the third season had some minor faults. Beyond that, how long is something like "Her?" going to be funny? Would AD have stayed great for another few seasons? Maybe. Or maybe we'd be sitting here wondering why AD squandered all its good will like The Simpsons started doing in season 9. I'd rather have a really short, wonderful show than a longer show running on empty after a few years. And here's proof that I'm right:
3. The Office (UK)
Perfect. Not joking there isn't a single misstep in the series. Yes, the final five minutes of the Christmas special are a total tonal shift from the preceeding 445 minutes. The ending isn't even deserved by three of the four main protagonists but who the fuck cares. It's still perfect. You all ready got one perfect ending with the second series.
PS - US Office is kind of a turd accept for that Michael/Holly relationship which was the best thing in the entire five years of US Office.
2. Freaks And Geeks
I have a soft spot for television shows that realistically portray nerds on television (psst - this is because I'm a nerd in real life). Not the nerds that Saved By The Bell had, but the real nerds that exist. Freaks And Geeks is the best portrayal of nerds in high school ever.
More than geeks, Freaks and Geeks also--get this--has "freaks" in the stoner, non-sideshow way. As someone that made the Lindsey like transition from geek to freak, yeah, this show gets me pretty hard. Hard enough that only having half a season air this decade makes in #2 for me.
Also, Bill Haverchuck is my favorite television character right after George Costanza. Back to the realism for a second. Bill Haverchuck is the most visibly obvious geek on the show and is even written as the biggest geek on the show. Despite that, he is definitely not the smartest character. In fact, he's probably closer to the bottom in intelligence which is just not going for the stereotype. But it isn't pushing him in the opposite direction for false character either. It's just being realistic which is probably what helped get it cancelled.
PS - The moment in television history that made me wince the most is Sam Weir wanting to back out of Dungeons & Dragons. Then someone asks him if he'll play as Logan with them and I remember that I played Advanced Dungeons & Dragons as a kid as a character named Logan once.
1. The Wire
It's the best show ever. So, being the best of the decade is a given.
Most television shows don't respect themselves, their characters or their audiences. It's why we have catchphrases and Steve Urkels. Go for the easy, familiar material. No sense in anyone being challenged.
For the creators of The Wire and hopefully larger audiences in the future, this isn't the case. They don't make it easy on themselves or the viewers. They have respect for everyone, even the fictional characters, and everyone is challenged. Everyone is put through the ringer and everyone is explored unflinchingly. The writers, the characters and the audience.
Just do yourself a favor and watch it. Give it two episodes (the first episode is too doofy, cop show stereotype to be representative because "CAN YOU HEAR MY DICK?!?!?!" and symbolism so thick and hamfisted that the credits should be a slo-mo shot of a guy literally pissing into the wind). The second episode should alleviate all fears even if it has some bad bits (McNulty sure is a drunken Irish cop!).
Challenge: watch the first two episodes and then don't spend all your waking time waiting to watch the next 58 as soon as humanly possible.
Albums
For a music geek, I don't follow music news like I should. I don't read Pitchfork or Rolling Stone or NME or whatever the hip magazine is these days. I get into the trends well after the hip kids have moved onto whatever I currently think is weird and scary. The music I spent the most time enjoying in the past decade may not even be from this decade or even my lifetime. For every major album listed here, assume there were 20 albums from 20 years ago I was digging as much (typically).
Where possible, I have included links to Lala.com where you can legally hear the album for free. I think you have to sign up but, other than a few emails a month, it is commitment free.
I have also decided to list a song (or sometimes more than one) that is a pretty good starter for the album if you haven't heard it yet (I recommend listening to everything on all of them). I may not have picked the best or even my favorite song from the album, I typically picked something I felt was representative.
20. Beck - Sea Change
A great album but I prefer Beck in mildly humorous sample mode. If you just got dumped and want to mope around or something, this is the go to Beck album because Devil's Haircut doesn't quite work on that front.
Track of choice: Guess I'm Doing Fine
19. Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam
Not Pearl Jam's best by a longshot. Maybe it doesn't deserve to be here because it's not truly "great." Maybe I should drop it and move the half dozen albums that nearly made this up a spot. All I know is I jammed the hell out of this for the first few months of release.
The key to enjoyment is don't look at the cover and let a bunch of dudes in their 40s rock more than most dudes in their 40s are allowed to rock. Let Pearl Jam finally make an album that's not overwrought with their "oh, woe is me" lyrics and is, in fact, kind of positive in places. Then never listen to Backspacer because who the hell cares about Backspacer?
Track of choice: Life Wasted
18. Beck - Guero
Legit probably my favorite Beck album. I know Odelay is a thing but, I don't know, beyond the singles it doesn't move me. Maybe I never got into Odelay soon enough but Guero is such a great album that I'll give it the nod. Depending on how down I am, this could switch places with Sea Change in a heartbeat.
Track of choice: Hell Yes
17. Tool - Lateralus (no link, sorry)
Until 10,000 Days was released, every Tool album made all their preceding albums seem like parp in comparison. 10,000 Days comes out and I think, "I guess so." Maybe I lost my interest in Tool or maybe I was expecting too much. It was the first Tool album to not blow me away and, as such, Lateralus is the album to love. It's metal for people that aren't into Vikings. If you are looking for something heavy without being too wankery.
Track of choice: Parabol/Parabola
16. Burial - Untrue
It's kind of hard for me to say something about instrumental electronic beyond, "Pretty great."
"Pretty great."
Track of choice: Etched Headplate
15. The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan
As great as White Blood Cells and Elephant are, both have some weak patches. Get Behind Me Satan doesn't. The highs aren't as high but those boring bluesy songs don't get in the way of a solid album. If I were doing more albums, White Blood Cells might make it. If Elephant had half the tracks, Elephant might make it.
Track of choice: Blue Orchid I guess
14. Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights
hay new york you know what will help you get over 911? a joy division cover band!
Turn On The Bright Lights is an album of its time which just so happens to be post 9/11 New York. I don't know why but it puts me right in that time period and fills me with that weird feeling that permeated most of us until some time in 2002. It's cathartic feeling that way about September 11th again because most of us spent the next few years hating Bush and Giuliani for using September 11th as a reason to push for anti-abortion laws and tap our phones.
Track of choice: NYC
13. Kanye West - 808s And Heartbreak
Kanye takes douchebaggery to the point of it actually being assholish but I listen to his music. As soon as he puts out a spoken word album, I'll give a shit about his dongish tendencies. Until then, the guy knows how to make music.
The "educated" hipsters will say that The College Dropout is the better album and, were it Jesus Walks on repeat a dozen times, I'd be on board. 808s and Heartbreak is Kanye's Blood On The Tracks: stripped down to the raw post-break up nerves only a life in showbiz can produce. It's never going to get out from under the beats and ego of his preceding albums but who cares?
It's interesting that, at his most open and emotional, Kanye West is still extremely misogynistic.
Track of choice: Welcome To Heartbreak
12. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
Yeah, the album loses focus a couple times but the peaks are still pretty great. The highlights are certainly strong enough to raise the weak spots. Even if that's not a strong enough selling point, it's a concept album (or at least four songs) about fighting robots with karate. If that doesn't get you to listen, why do I even know you?
Track of choice: Do You Realize?? (yes, the second question mark is part of the title)
11. AFX - Chosen Lords (sowwy, no links)
"Pretty great"
Track of choice: Fenix Funk 5
10. Radiohead - In Rainbows
I have a weird fascination with non-pop groups put out their version of a pop album. You know, like when The Velvet Underground released Loaded despite being the 1960s version of noise rock? In Rainbows isn't some big statement like OK Computer or Kid A. It's just a bunch of really great songs.
Track of choice: Videotape
9. LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver
This just has a great energy and catchy songs that are surprisingly deep for catchy, energetic songs. It tricks you into thinking it's nothing but dance songs. Then it hits you that there is something there beyond dance music.
Track of choice: All My Friends
8. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
What can be said about this that hasn't been said? Wilco strips rock to its roots or something. There is something strange about singing about Ashes of American flags immediately after September 11. It's bold and weird which is exactly what Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is.
Track of choice: Jesus, etc.
7. Portishead - Third
When will we be far enough away from Dummy to admit that it isn't all that great? I enjoy it but Third was the first Portishead album I loved. The second half is so all over the place jumping from the extremely aggressive Machine Gun to the fragile Deep Water but it manages to stay in the same melancholy area.
Track of choice: We Carry On
6. Björk - Vespertine
This is quite the intimate album. I don't mean intimate in the sexual sense even though the album is more deserving of the title "Songs About Fucking" than Big Black's "Songs About Fucking." It's intimate in that it is seeing someone at their most open. This album is the musical equivilant of sitting in a cabin wrapped in a heavy blanket next to a fireplace in the middle of a blizzard...or doing it.
Track of choice: Hidden Place
5. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
I can't even believe how much I listened to this album. It's not much like anything I've bothered to listen to more than a couple times. Despite its extremely poppy sound, it's dark as hell. Not many people willing to put their marriage falling apart into music make it this obvious. The specifics never make it to the final album because any number of reasons. Too scared to expose yourself, too personal to be popular to a big enough audience, too whatever to whatever. Hissing Fauna gets pretty personal and it's all the better for it.
Track of choice: Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse
4. Sigur Rós - ()
Naming and album () is maybe the most pretentious thing ever. It's even worse than leaving something untitled. Then it just made sense to me. The album is separated into two halves that are similar but completely opposed. Like a set of parentheses, each half of () is its mirror opposite pointing toward the other and completing itself.
Track of choice: You really need to listen to the whole thing in one sitting to "get" it.
3. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Mountain/folk music with perfect harmonies? It worked! It's also the most addicting listen of the last few years.
Track of choice: Blue Ridge Mountains
2. Arcade Fire - Funeral
Even before I could pay attention to the lyrics, I was right there getting punched in the stomach by the maudlin arrangements of Funeral. Funeral easily sneaks into your head and pushes you into this weird place that is a mix of loss and hope.
Track of choice: Rebellion (Lies)
1. Radiohead - Kid A
Stereotypical choice as all get out for best of the decade. It's like picking Sgt. Pepper for best of the 60s. Maybe in 30 years, Kid A will be seen as the Sgt. Pepper of the 2000s. The only difference is that Kid A is the fucking jam and Sgt. Pepper never deserved its reputation other than being extremely representative of a small time period.
It doesn't move me like it did a few years ago but the mountains on the cover will call me again. I'll be there in that world of Kid A again. And I'll go, "yeah, still a better choice for best of the decade than Sgt. Pepper is for the 60s."
Track of choice: Man, I don't even know. Just play the whole thing if you haven't heard it yet (AKA live on Mars).
Movies
For an emotionless loner, I have a lot of movies about love and relationships in my favorites of the decade. In my defense, I don't have any really schmaltzy romantic movies.
This is the section where I'm most worried I left out the best stuff of the decade. I'll never see all the movies I need to see. List is mostly compiled of movies that struck me emotionally and left an impact.
20. Lars And The Real Girl
For the goofiest premise in a while, this is a serious look at a quiet, 27 year old living in a garage. How is the story of a man in love with a sex doll not creepy as hell? Every time where it could easily wander into being too weird to work, it stops and moves on.
19. Moon
Hard science fiction films don't come our way often. See them when we are lucky enough to get them. It's not 2001 but it's still an awesome film. It covers a lot of the standard science fiction ideas (nature of life, loneliness, etc.) but it covers them well.
18. District 9
This is probably one of those movies that doesn't make it to a best of the decade list if it came out a few years before the end of the decade. Yes, Sharlto Copley's performance is deserving of an Oscar. Yes, it's a science fiction movie with a larger message (like all good science fiction). Yes, it looks like a $60 million dollar movie on a $30 million dollar budget.
Yeah, it probably deserves to be on a list of the top of the decade somewhere even if it's not placed this high.
17. Clovenfield [sic]
Do I need to say that I watched monster movies a ton as a kid or does including this make that point for me? My middle school years meant every Friday night would find me at home watching MonsterVision on TNT because it never occurred to me that there was something better to be doing with my life.
For all my indifference toward J. J. Abrams, Clovenfield is one of the most fun movies of the decade. It's maybe not Snakes On A Plane level fun, but oh there is something about pretty New York hipsters getting trampled to death.
16. Requiem For A Dream
Movies don't get this intense very often. So intense that watching this again may never happen for me. It portrays addiction and the ensuing struggle so accurately that it's all too much for me.
15. Synechdoche, New York
I keep meaning to watch this again because it's streaming on Netflix. I had to see it in theaters based entirely on Charlie Kaufman's name on the script (you know, the guy that wrote the 1977 2000 episode of Get A Life). When I left, I wasn't sure how I felt and I still don't know for certain. It's definitely the movie Kaufman was been working toward for years. It's the most ambitious movie of the decade. For that, it deserves a spot in spite of it's minor flaws.
14. Yi Yi
Life is small moments. This is nearly three hours of small moments for one family in Taiwan and it is beautiful.
13. Half Nelson
This movie is a bit too after school special to be a considered great. It's not proper after school special material because no one gets better or gets help. I love Ryan Gosling in this. I don't know why this got me so hard but it was stunned silent after watching this.
12. WALL·E
WALL·E is the most sexist movie of the year in that furthers the stereotypes of our patriarchal, male dominated society for children. The male robot is a hunter gatherer. The female is the sole protector of life which she keeps in her belly. Once the woman becomes a literal incubator, her only goal in life is achieved and she can be functionally dead.
Why is a story of two robots one of the most enjoyable love stories of the decade?
11. Oldboy
The average revenge flick puts you in the mind of the revenger of vengeance by simply showing you the bodies of his wife and kids killed for no good reason by local thugs. Oldboy lets you find out, with the protagonist, that things happen for a reason. A totally fucked up reason but a reason nonetheless.
But what sets Oldboy apart from others in its genre is that it all seems purposeful. It touches on some pretty out there subjects. It gets pretty dark. It gets pretty violent. It never feels like it's trying to shock you even though a synopsis of the movie is shocking.
10. The Royal Tennenbaums
What resonates most with me in Wes Anderson movies is that no one is really dealing with the emotional things going on around them. Things happen and everyone is pretty distant the whole time. Emotions rarely get to the surface. The Royal Tennenbaums is probably the strongest example of this in Anderson's work.
9. There Will Be Blood
I can't defend this movie. So, don't ask me what it's all about. I can't tell you other than some vague stuff about a descent into obsession and losing your soul on the way down.
I saw this in theaters and thought it was an okay movie with some pretty solid craft. I bought it on blu-ray because it was really cheap and I was struck dumb by it. Why is watching a complete asshole obsess over being the best, small time oil driller stunning? It just is.
8. Lost In Translation
Movie opens with a shot of Scarlett Johansson's butt.
7. No Country For Old Men
If you will permit me, I'd like to go back to the previous movie for a minute because, let's face it, Scarlett Johansson's butt is unspectacular when compared to literally everything else on Scarlett Johansson's body.
I am a sucker for films where people are in the midst of vague existential crises and they find stability in each other. Most movies today are about how people are ultimately alone and will never find a like sole. So, just seeing those same types of people connect in any way is better than the bland landscape of crap where most movies exist.
I am also a bit of a sucker for Bill Murray's effortless performances that dot his career. The ones where he appears to have stumbled into a movie set, the cameras kept rolling and Bill Murray plays himself or at least that image of Bill Murray that people have (GhostBusters, this, Stripes, Garfield: A Tale Of Two Kitties).
I am a sucker for love stories that aren't romantic comedies or schmaltzy crap that only happens in movies with John Cusack.
I am a sucker for anything with My Bloody Valentine anywhere near it.
7. No Country For Old Men (for real this time)
For all the buttholes that knock the ending, the movie is about Tommy Lee Jones. Watch it again. The Brand from Goonies/Tony "Ultimo Badass or sumpin" Sugar beef is just a for instance of things Tommy Lee Jones sees that make him realize there is no country for this old man. The opening narration sets it all up. The movie is better once you realize that.
Also, Anton Chigurh is one of the best performances of the last few years. Its understated simplicity betrays being a remorseless, amoral murderer. It's much more striking than the typical evil killer that can't be stopped until he accomplishes his goal.
6. Before Sunset
The movie least likely to have or in least need of a sequel is Before Sunrise. The ambiguity of the ending what elevates it above the average will they or won't they movie. So the idea of a sequel is blasphemous. After a few minutes, any blasphemous thoughts are out the window. It's a natural progression and the characters are so believable that you are with them again in the moment. Somehow, Before Sunset is better than Before Sunrise which puts it on a short list of films that aren't worse than the original.
5. Mulholland Dr.
First, this was a television pilot. A fucking television pilot. Can you believe this was going to be a series? I mean, holy shit, this was meant for television. What in the world was ABC thinking with this one? They cancelled David Lynch's last television effort and he gained, to my knowledge, no critical or audience acclaim. How is this a thing to be mesmerized by and love when it never should have made it out of the meeting room?
This came along when my love for David Lynch was at it's peak which helps cement it's place on the list. It couldn't have come at a better time for me. Lynch continues his exploration into the life of a disturbed, emotionally tortured woman and escapism fantasy. This time, it works better than ever.
4. The New World
First of all, Terrence Malick. That should be all you need to know. Secondly, maybe the most beautifully shot film of the decade which having Terence Malick attached should be a given. The exploration of new land as metaphor for love.
3. In The Mood For Love
Just schmaltzy enough to work as a romance film. Realistic enough to work for people without vaginas. It's as passionate a look at unrequited love as we're likely to see. There is something about seeing these two people follow the rules when they have every reason to break them.
2. City Of God
more like a city that needs more god if you ask me!
1. Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
Eternal Sunshine is almost two hours of proving why people say, "If I had it to do all over again, I'd wouldn't change a thing." We wouldn't. People don't change. Even with the benefit of hindsight, we do the same things over again.
This movie is filled with those little moments tucked away in everyone's memory that we don't need to discuss. That's what makes this such a powerful movie. It's keen look inside all of us.
Also, Eternal Sunshine tricked me into thinking Jim Carrey wasn't a complete waste of time which is pretty notable.
Well, that's it for everything. If you disagree, feel free to be wrong.
posted by Dave at 12:53 PM
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