A Decade of Films of Ale: The 2000s
(Always) in Progress. My favorite 222 films from the first decade of the current century; the first 65 are ranked, the rest are listed chronologically.
To me this is a decade in which big-budget Hollywood continued it's slide into a world of dollar-chasing through endless sequels, remakes, and pandering to the lowest common denominator - so there's little from Hollywood here, at least little from the 8-figure budget department. But there is enough independent American cinema, experimental work, and continued strength in the national cinemas of France, Japan, China, Canada, the Philippines, and (especially) South Korea and Iran to make this as good a decade as any overall. Movies aren't getting better or worse - they're just getting different, and the places to find the best in cinema are still changing.
To me this is a decade in which big-budget Hollywood continued it's slide into a world of dollar-chasing through endless sequels, remakes, and pandering to the lowest common denominator - so there's little from Hollywood here, at least little from the 8-figure budget department. But there is enough independent American cinema, experimental work, and continued strength in the national cinemas of France, Japan, China, Canada, the Philippines, and (especially) South Korea and Iran to make this as good a decade as any overall. Movies aren't getting better or worse - they're just getting different, and the places to find the best in cinema are still changing.
List activity
236 views
• 1 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
222 titles
- DirectorJae-eun JeongStarsBae DoonaLee Yo-wonOk Ji-youngIn the port city of Icheon, five female friends struggle to stay close while forging a life for themselves after high school. When one of the group, upwardly-mobile Hae-ju, moves to Seoul, the other girls deal with the loss in different ways. Feeling most rejected, shy Ji-yeong finds comfort in her new friendship with rebel Tae-hee.
- DirectorJonas MekasStarsJonas MekasStan BrakhageRobert BreerDirector Jonas Mekas provides an intimate glimpse of his personal life by constructing a feature length narrative from over 30 years of private home movie footage.
- DirectorLav DiazStarsElryan de VeraAngie FerroPen MedinaThe collapse and the struggle of a poor farming clan in Philippines.
- DirectorSion SonoStarsTakahiro NishijimaHikari MitsushimaSakura AndôA bizarre love triangle forms between a young Catholic upskirt photographer, a misandric girl and a manipulative cultist.
- DirectorFranco PiavoliStarsPrimo GaburriMariella FabbrisIda CarnevaliUsing few words and gorgeous imagery, this is a poetic painting of a family, each in their own space on an August afternoon.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsKarolina GruszkaKrzysztof MajchrzakGrace ZabriskieAs an actress begins to adopt the persona of her character in a film, her world becomes nightmarish and surreal.
- DirectorLav DiazStarsYul ServoJoel TorreGloria DiazA Filipino teenager is shot to death on a New Jersey, USA sidewalk: an investigation starts and his family and friends are interviewed. Along the way, more about him is revealed and so is more about the Filipino community in America in general, including the destructive effect of the drug "shabu" on its youth. The detective who handles the case also has his own personal demons to settle with his violent past.
- DirectorGuy MaddinStarsDarcy FehrAnn SavageLouis NeginFact, fantasy and memory are woven seamlessly together in this portrait of film-maker Guy Maddin's home town of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsHaley Joel OsmentJude LawFrances O'ConnorA highly advanced robotic boy longs to become "real" so that he can regain the love of his human mother.
- DirectorClaire DenisStarsValérie LemercierVincent LindonHélène de Saint-PèreIt's Friday night--she's moving in with her boyfriend tomorrow--so she goes out, but gets stuck in traffic--where she meets a handsome stranger.
- DirectorShane CarruthStarsShane CarruthDavid SullivanCasey GoodenFour friends/fledgling entrepreneurs, knowing that there's something bigger and more innovative than the different error-checking devices they've built, wrestle over their new invention.
- DirectorEdward YangStarsNien-Jen WuElaine JinIssei OgataEach member of a middle-class Taipei family seeks to reconcile past and present relationships within their daily lives.
- DirectorCharlie KaufmanStarsPhilip Seymour HoffmanSamantha MortonMichelle WilliamsA theatre director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he creates a life-size replica of New York City inside a warehouse as part of his new play.
- DirectorRobert BeaversA stone mason works to build and repair a castle wall.
- DirectorBéla TarrÁgnes HranitzkyStarsLars RudolphPeter FitzHanna SchygullaA naive young man witnesses an escalation of violence in his small hometown following the arrival of a mysterious circus attraction.
- DirectorLaurent CantetStarsAurélien RecoingKarin ViardSerge LivrozetAn unemployed man finds his life sinking more and more into trouble as he hides his situation from his family and friends.
- DirectorSpike JonzeStarsMax RecordsCatherine O'HaraForest WhitakerYearning for escape and adventure, a young boy runs away from home and sails to an island filled with creatures that take him in as their king.
- DirectorZhangke JiaStarsTao ZhaoTaishen ChengJue JingAn exploration on the impact of urbanization and globalization on a traditional culture.
- DirectorJafar PanahiStarsMaryiam Palvin AlmaniNargess MamizadehMojgan FaramarziVarious women struggle to function in the oppressively sexist society of contemporary Iran.
- DirectorThom AndersenStarsEncke KingBen AlexanderJim BackusA documentary on how Los Angeles has been used and depicted in the movies.
- DirectorIm Kwon-taekStarsHyo-jeong LeeCho Seung-wooSeong-nyeo KimA governor's son falls in love and marries a beautiful girl, the daughter of a courtesan. Their marriage is kept a secret from the governor who would immediately disown him if he found that his son married beneath him.
- DirectorSarah PolleyStarsJulie ChristieMichael MurphyGordon PinsentA man coping with the institutionalization of his wife because of Alzheimer's disease faces an epiphany when she transfers her affections to another man, Aubrey, a wheelchair-bound mute who also is a patient at the nursing home.
- DirectorGuy MaddinStarsIsabella RosselliniMark McKinneyMaria de MedeirosA musical of sorts set in Winnipeg during the Great Depression, where a beer baroness organizes a contest to find the saddest music in the world. Musicians from around the world descend on the city to try and win the $25,000 prize.
- DirectorPeter WatkinsStarsEliane Annie AdaltoPierre BarbieuxBernard BombeauIn this war drama blurring the lines between documentary and fiction, the working class and the bourgeoisie of 19th century Paris are interviewed and covered on television, before and during a tragic workers' class revolt.
- DirectorZhangke JiaStarsHongwei WangTao ZhaoLiang JingdongA theatre troupe from rural Fenyang struggles under the decline of communism and rise of popular culture in China in the 1980s.