(My List of) The Best Movies of the Decade, Part II

These are 15 movies that went beyond just entertaining me. They left me wide-eyed and filled with joy. I can analyze themes and hidden meanings, appreciate wonderful filmmaking, experience a great story, and, of course, sit back and be entertained. These are movies that I will always be in the mood to watch. I still get the same feeling after my 20th viewing that I had after the first time I saw these movies: Isn't life great when people make movies like this.

15. Zodiac (2007)
This period movie about the real life hunt for the Zodiac Killer captures just how maddening an investigation can be when there are so many pieces and few fit together. This movie, thankfully, is not layered with popular hit songs from the 60's and 70's to remind us that it's the 60's and 70's, but the time and atmosphere are authentically evoked. Close up shots of a wristwatch or a boot perfectly convey the ubiquitous suspicion surrounding the case and consuming the investigators struggling in vain for the answer to the Zodiac puzzle.

"Are You Watching Closely?"

14. The Prestige (2006)

A long time ago, before computers and digital effects were responsible for any unexplainable, amazing sight in a movie, there was such a thing as move magic. There was wonderment in audiences as the saw things they couldn't quite explain and wondered, "How did they do that?" The rival magicians of The Prestige live in a time of similarly amazed audiences and also at a time when science seemed capable of making anything possible. After Borden (Christian Bale) explains one of his tricks to his wife she says, "Once you know it's actually very obvious." That's also true for movies with twists and turns like this one. You could spend your time trying to figure out how everything is done and where it's all going, but I never try to figure out those things, I know I'll have a better time if, like at a magic show, I let myself be tricked.

13. Signs (2002)

There are moments in this movie that made me jump, but it's not a horror movie, it's a movie about a family and man regaining his faith. This movie is an incredible example of deliberate, precise filmmaking from M. Night Shyamalan. He builds suspense and restrains the use of special effects. But what really made this movie for me, that made it more than just an alien invasion movie is that it delves into the personal experience of the characters, especially Graham (Mel Gibson), the priest who lost his faith. The key scene in the film for me is where Graham and his brother, Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix), are talking about what the strange lights in the sky could mean and Graham tells his brother, "See what you have to ask yourself is what kind of person are you? Are you the kind that sees signs, that sees miracles? Or do you believe that people just get lucky? Or, look at the question this way: Is it possible that there are no coincidences?"

12. Lost in Translation (2003)

Sofia Coppola's story of a mid-life crisis meeting a quarter-life crisis might be more than just a love story. Or maybe, this a real love story. What I do know is that this a very intimate story about two people making a real connection with each other. In most other movies, the male lead and the female lead jump or fall into bed and deal with the consequences until they sort things out at about the 90 minute mark. These characters certainly don't do that here; there is a kiss but it comes at just the right point in the movie. Bill Murray gives his fullest, and most low key performance Bob Harris, an actor who's life seems to be stuck in stillwater. He meets Charlotte, Scarlett Johansson in her most fitting role, a newlywed that also feels adrift and lost. Their time together in Tokyo is the kind of story that you might find in somone's diary. I'm very glad I found it in a theater.

11. Adaptation (2002)

Even after watching this move I still want to be a writer. In this movie Charlie Kaufman (a real person) is hired to adapt a nonfiction book, The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean (a real book and real person) into a screenplay. His twin brother Donald (not a real person) is also a screenwriter. Adaptation manages to be very funny, sad, and even philosophical. The movie at times seems to be self aware, like in a scene where a screenwriting guru rails against voice over in movies, the movie's voice over abruptly ends. The ending is wild and unexpected but it's also says lot about movies and life, both made up and real.

"I Can't Remember to Forget You"

10. Memento (2000)

Leonard has this condition. He can't make new memories. His wife was raped and murdered by a man named John G and Leonard is on quest to find him and kill him. How does he remember this? It's tattooed across his chest. Leonard's story is told out of order, and in order, but is easy to follow. By choosing to tell the story in this way we experience life Leonard does, no more than a moment at a time and with no continuity. But, luckily Leonard has photos and notes he can trust, they're written in his own handwriting, so he can trust them, right? This movie made me think about what really makes a memory and what memories can mean to you.

9. 28 Days Later

This is not a zombie movie. Everyone in the world has been infected and overwhelmed with a very human sensation: rage. 28 Days is all it takes for the modern world to end. But the thing to fear the most in this post apocalyptic world filled with rage infected creatures is other people. At the brilliant climax of the movie Jim (Cillian Murphy) is trying to save his companions Selena and Hannah from being raped by other survivors. The rage infected "zombies" are the least of their concerns. Jim has to allow himself to become infected with rage, metaphorically, to be able to attack and kill another human being. There are thrills and scares and this is a wonderfully made movie that really is about people.

8. Punch Drunk Love (2002)
If a song could turn itself into a movie that movie would be Punch Drunk Love and it would be simple but beautiful story about two people falling in love. There are times when it can feel like the music is creating the images on screen or the images are creating the music. The vivid colors of Lena's sweaters and Barry's blue suit bring a lively, vibrant tinge to the dull toned world in which Barry lives. Barry (Sandler) is a shy person that doesn't have a handle on his emotions and is being extorted by phone sex operator. Lena (Emily Watson) is the light at the end of the tunnel; his counterbalance that allows him to come out of his shell.

"Then I Woke Up"

7. No Country For Old Men (2007)

The dreary air of the real, changing world fills the atmosphere of this movie. The Coen Brothers, like a lot of good storytellers, tend to step back and simply observe the characters and world of a story. That puts in the place of Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) who can only watch as the world changes around him. The type of crimes he sees now, the kind of villain like Anton Chigurh, he knows he can't keep up with. But what if the world has always been like that? But this is also a suspenseful chase adventure as Chigurh (Javier Bardem) hunts Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) who has a satchel full of stolen money. Javier Bardem is amazing as the specter like Chigurh, who is guided by a strict set of principles and is one of the most memorable villains I've seen at the movies in the last 10 years.

6. The 40 Year-Old Virgin (2005)

I resisted seeing this movie for a long time. It sounds like a one joke movie that Rob Schneider would be in. When I finally saw it on video I had to pause the DVD many, many times because I was still laughing from something in the previous scene. This just goes to show what talented, funny people can do with even a gimmicky premise. I was surprised and delighted by how much of the humor in the movie was dialogue and character based. All of the characters even down to the minor characters feel like full fledged people and they're funny the same way that real people are funny. This a great grown up romantic comedy that best of all has a heart.

5. The Departed (2006)

I saw this movie 5 times when it was in theaters and several more times on DVD. The Departed may be based on the Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs, but Scorsese takes the material turns it into an excellent American cops and gangsters movie. This just may be his best film since Goodfellas in 1990. And like Goodfellas, The Departed finds it's stride in showing the down and dirty day to day dealings of gangsters and cops. This isn't an opera like The Godfather. Nothing about the life of a criminal or a cop is romanticized.

4. The Dark Knight (2008)

How do you confront something that is pure evil? A force that exists only to destroy, create chaos, that has no guiding principle or ethos. That is The Joker. He's played not as a comic book villain or a caricature but as a genuine psychopath. For all his plotting and even elaborate planning, not even greed motivates The Joker; he burns the literal pile of money he receives in one scene. How can The Batman, on the other end of the spectrum, defeat The Joker without sacrificing his guiding principles? Christopher Nolan's Batman films take place in the real world; the characters, Gotham, the villains, the technology employed by Batman all feel plausible and resonate heavily. Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are the complete opposite of Joel Schumacher's Batman movies and even Tim Burton's Batman movies which also take place in a comic book world, albeit a dark one.

3. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)Here's the film that unleashed the auteurist style and sense of humor of Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson into the mainstream. I stand firmly by my claim that the Wes Anderson style has influenced current writers, directors, and TV shows and has created it's own subgenre. All the major stylistic aspects from Anderson's two previous film are found in The Royal Tenenbaums: inserts, slow motion shots, dry humor, that production design aesthetic, characters wearing their clothes like a uniform of self expression, music from the 60's and 70's. But this doesn't mean that Wes Anderson is out of ideas or repeating himself. There's just no other way he knows how to make a movie. He only knows how to be Wes Anderson. There's a scene in The Royal Tenenbaums where Margot asks if her father even knows her middle name. Royal responds, "That's a trick question. You don't have a middle name." Margot says back, "Helen." In the trailer I found that clip humorous, but when it plays in the movie it's actually a very sad moment. The Royal Tenenbaums carries, even more than his other movies, Anderson's tone of melancholy, humor, and sincerity.

2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)We get Michel Gondry's inventive, artistic, yet unpretentious style, Charlie Kaufman's equally inventive and original screenplay, and a wonderful subdued performance from Jim Carrey. The movies takes place wildly out of order and almost entirely in the mind of Joel (Jim Carrey), which means that just about anything can happen. Despite this license to run wild, the movie hold back and does not get lost in a gimmick; it retains humanity, has a deeply emotional heart, and is also an intriguing journey into the mind and memory. As his memories are erased, Joel, helpless to stop the process, begs to keep just one memory. Of course the procedure or memory erasure won't make Joel or Clementine different people; the things that drove the other person crazy are still there. Eternal Sunshine has a lot in common with Annie Hall, another inventive film about a failing relationship. And like Annie Hall I think Eternal Sunshine will hold up with viewers single or committed, miserable or happy.

1. There Will Be Blood (2007)

There is no dialogue for the first 11 minutes. No women in major, or even supporting roles. It's been called an epic. It's an epic character study of the oil man Daniel Plainview, the man that hates people. The performance Daniel Day Lewis gives in this movie is hands down one of the best I've ever seen. Paul Dano plays the rural evangelical preacher and vessel for the Holy Spirit Eli Sunday, Daniel's rival. Each enters into business with the other only for their own personal gain and become trapped in a permanent duel. Daniel Plainview is filled with hate and contempt for everyone that is not himself. Perhaps that is driving force behind his success; it is certainly the force that leads to the last third of the film. There seems to be a consensus that the last part of the film, which takes place in 1927, doesn't fit with the first two thirds but I think it's the only conclusion that a man with the life like Daniel Plainview's would have. What else could be expected from a man that shuts himself off and spends his life brooding?

But there's more to There Will Be Blood than the subtext about capitalism and religion. There's wonderful picturesque cinematography and production design that truly create the epic feel to this movie. This is writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson's fifth film. It's by far his most ambitious film. There may not be stylistic flourishes like lens flare and long tracking shots but this feels very much like a P.T. Anderson picture. Just like in all his previous films Anderson and his camera step back and allow us to observe his characters and their lives and their decisions. There's no attempt to make the characters, especially Plainview, sympathetic. We see them just as they are, flaws and all. Anderson mixes art and entertainment and despite the apparent theme of capitalism and religion and how they exploit, no didactic statement is made. We can draw what we will from the life of Daniel Plainview.