The 100 best -- and the 98 worst -- of the '00s

As the decade comes to a close, I decided to retrieve my Top 10 lists for each year -- both the best and the worst. Unfortunately for people who like nice round numbers, I didn't see a whole lot of bad movies this year (intentionally, I may add), so I only have eight titles on my 2009 Worst list. So we're left with a grand total of 100 terrific pictures and 98 terrible time-waters instead of an even 200. But let's not quibble over those details.

Here they are, the classics and the clunkers of the past 10 years...


2000 Best:
1. "Chicken Run"
2. "Gladiator"
3. "You Can Count on Me"
4. "The Virgin Suicides"
5. "Almost Famous"
6. "Dancer in the Dark"
7. "The Gift"
8. "Best In Show"
9. "Beyond the Mat"
10. "Erin Brockovich"


2000 Worst:
1. "Battlefield Earth"
2. "Get Carter"
3. "Highlander: Endgame"
4. "The In Crowd"
5. "Bait"
6. "Beautiful"
7. "Supernova"
8. "Bored Silly"
9. "The Skulls"
10. "Down to You"


2001 Best:
1. "In the Bedroom"
2. "Shrek"
3. "The Dish"
4. "Panic"
5. "Monsters, Inc."
6. "Amores Perros"
7. "Memento"
8. "Ghost World"
9. "Amelie"
10. "The Royal Tenenbaums"

2001 Worst:
1. "Tomcats"
2. "The Wash"
3. "Riding in Cars with Boys"
4. "Joe Dirt"
5. "Dr. Dolittle 2"
6. "Head Over Heels"
7. "3000 Miles to Graceland"
8. "Sweet November"
9. "15 Minutes"
10. "Domestic Disturbance"


2002 Best:
1. "Chicago"
2. "The Hours"
3. "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"
4. "Spirited Away"
5. "Bowling for Columbine"
6. "Adaptation"
7. "Insomnia"
8. "Tribute"
9. "Thirteen Conversations About One Thing"
10. "Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner)"

2002 Worst:
1. "Rollerball"
2. "Crossroads"
3. "The Master of Disguise"
4. "Frank McKlusky, C.I."
5. "Femme Fatale"
6. "The Adventures of Pluto Nash"
7. "Bad Company"
8. "Sorority Boys"
9. "Dragonfly"
10. "Half Past Dead"

2003 Best:
1. "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
2. "American Splendor"
3. "Big Fish"
4. "Spellbound"
5. "Pieces of April"
6. "Winged Migration"
7. "Whale Rider"
8. "Finding Nemo"
9. "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"
10. "Capturing the Friedmans"

2003 Worst:
1. "Boat Trip"
2. "Bad Boys II"
3. "Gigli"
4. "My Boss's Daughter"
5. "From Justin to Kelly"
6. "Cold Creek Manor"
7. "Kangaroo Jack"
8. "Basic"
9. "The Life of David Gale"
10. "Hollywood Homicide"

2004 Best:
1. "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"
2. "Kinsey"
3. "Sideways"
4. "Hero"
5. "Kill Bill, Vol. 2"
6. "The Incredibles"
7. "Spider-Man 2"
8. "Million Dollar Baby"
9. "Maria Full of Grace"
10. "The Polar Express"

2004 Worst:
1. "Surviving Christmas"
2. "The Whole Ten Yards"
3. "New York Minute"
4. "Paparazzi"
5. "SuperBabies: Baby Geniuses 2"
6. "Godsend"
7. "Little Black Book"
8. "Catwoman"
9. "My Baby's Daddy"
10. "Darkness"

2005 Best:
1. "Brokeback Mountain"
2. "March of the Penguins"
3. "Murderball"
4. "The Constant Gardener"
5. "Capote"
6. "Batman Begins"
7. "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"
8. "Rent"
9. "A History of Violence"
10. "The Squid and the Whale"

2005 Worst:
1. "Mindhunters"
2. "Aeon Flux"
3. "Hide and Seek"
4. "Boogeyman"
5. "The Fog"
6. "Undiscovered"
7. "King's Ransom"
8. "Must Love Dogs"
9. "In the Mix"
10. "Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous"

2006 Best:
1. "The Queen"
2. "Little Children"
3. "Volver"
4. "The Departed"
5. "Little Miss Sunshine"
6. "Half Nelson"
7. "United 93"
8. "Jesus Camp"
9. "Slither"
10. "Dreamgirls"

2006 Worst:
1. "Material Girls"
2. "Date Movie"
3. "BloodRayne"
4. "Ultraviolet"
5. "When a Stranger Calls"
6. "Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector"
7. "Little Man"
8. "Tristan and Isolde"
9. "Stick It"
10. "Basic Instinct 2"

2007 Best:
1. "There Will Be Blood"
2. "Control"
3. "Juno"
4. "Lust, Caution"
5. "Into the Wild"
6. "Atonement"
7. "Hot Fuzz"
8. "The Wind That Shakes the Barley"
9. "No Country for Old Men"
10. "Lars and the Real Girl"

2007 Worst:
1. "I Know Who Killed Me"
2. "License to Wed"
3. "Are We Done Yet?"
4. "Thr3e"
5. "Primeval"
6. "Redline"
7. "P.S. I Love You"
8. "The Reaping"
9. "The Number 23"
10. "Premonition"

2008 Best:
1. "Slumdog Millionaire"
2. "Revolutionary Road"
3. "The Wrestler"
4. "The Dark Knight"
5. "WALL*E"
6. "In Bruges"
7. "Young@Heart"
8. "Happy-Go-Lucky"
9. "Man on Wire"
10. "The Vistor"

2008 Worst:
1. "The Hottie and the Nottie"
2. "The Love Guru"
3. "Made of Honor"
4. "Witless Protection"
5. "88 Minutes"
6. "One Missed Call"
7. "Beer For My Horses"
8. "In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale"
9. "Four Christmases"
10. "Repo! The Genetic Opera"

2009 Best:
1. "Stilyagi (Hipsters)"
2. "Up in the Air"
3. "An Education"
4. "The Hurt Locker"
5. "Up"
6. "A Single Man"
7. "(500) Days of Summer"
8. "Anvil! The Story of Anvil"
9. "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' By Sapphire"
10. "In the Loop"

2009 Worst:
1. "Transylmania"
2. "Fired Up"
3. "Confessions of a Shopaholic"
4. "New in Town"
5. "Knowing"
6. "The Informers"
7. "Fanboys"
8. "Paranormal Activity"

The best -- and the rest

So it's time again to sort through the year's best and worst films, but this time around I have a strange situation in front of me. My favorite movie of the year was never released in America. So I can tell you about it, I can show you clips on YouTube -- and yet I know if you didn't it see at the Toronto International Film Festival in September or at the Chicago International Film Festival in October, or at some other festival somewhere your odds of seeing it in a theater are probably pretty slim.

That's because "Stilyagi (Hipsters)" has yet to find an American distributor, even though it won best picture in the Nika awards, the Russian equivalent of the Academy Awards. It wowed the audiences in Toronto and Chicago, too. Director Valery Todorovsky's electrifying musical comedy-drama combines familiar elements from "Footloose," "West Side Story," "Grease" and "Hairspray" in a story set against the backdrop of 1955 Moscow, where a gang of jazz-loving teens in candy-colored clothes and carefully coiffed hairdos shake up Soviet society, in which gray is the favorite shade of fashion designers. Here is a hint of how good this film is: I understand perhaps five words of Russian, yet I watched "Stilyagi" all the way through without the benefit of subtitles and still had a sensational time (thankfully, the story is not exactly Tolstoyesque in terms of its complexity).

So that was my top choice of 2009. But let's get down to a few films you might have actually seen. Here come this year's 10 best:

1. "Stilyagi (Hipsters)"

2. "Up in the Air"

3. "An Education"

4. "The Hurt Locker"

5. "Up"


6. "A Single Man"

7. "(500) Days of Summer"


8. "Anvil! The Story of Anvil"

9. "Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire"


10. "In the Loop"

And a bunch of worthwhile runner-ups (in alphabetical order): "Adventureland," "Adam," "Bright Star," "Broken Embraces," "The Class," "Coraline," "The Damned United," "District 9," "Drag Me to Hell," "Duplicity," "Every Little Step," "Fantastic Mr. Fox," "The Hangover," "The Informant!," "Inglorious Basterds," "It Might Get Loud," "It's Complicated," "Julie & Julia," "Me and Orson Welles," "The Messenger," "A Serious Man," "The September Issue," "The Young Victoria," "Zombieland."

I'm not bothering with a comprehensive 10 Worst list this year because, frankly, much of this year I actively avoided seeing anything I assumed I wouldn't like. After I stopped reviewing full-time at the end of May, I made a promise to myself I would not waste my time watching lousy films (unless there was a paycheck attached). So I missed out on "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," "Land of the Lost," "Imagine That," "Year One," "Dance Flick," "G-Force," "The Ugly Truth," "All About Steve" and many others that will undoubtedly find their places on other Worst of the Year lists. As for the awful films I did wind up seeing, I would dearly like to get back the 12 hours of my life squandered on:


1. "Transylmania"
2. "Fired Up"
3. "Confessions of a Shopaholic"
4. "New in Town"
5. "Knowing"
6. "The Informers"
7. "Fanboys"
8. "Paranormal Activity" (the year's most overhyped "phenomenon," a bad home-movie that was almost as "terrifying" as "The Hannah Montana Movie"; bring on the backlash)

I had thought of tacking on "Obsessed" and "2012" to make it a perfect 10 -- but I have to admit those two turkeys provided so many unintentional laughs I have to admit they were actually kind of fun to sit through.

"It's Complicated"

Writer-director Nancy Meyers is one of the best friends an actress can have. Not only does she know how to craft substantial parts and write witty lines, she also realizes women don't automatically lose their appeal once they reach that much-murmured-about "certain age." So in "It's Complicated," Meyers unleashes a new sex kitten: Her name is Meryl Streep.

Read the full review here.

"Sherlock Holmes"

Forget about deerstalker hats and 7 percent solutions. They have no place in the world of "Sherlock Holmes" as envisioned by director Guy Ritchie.

Instead this Sherlock -- portrayed by Robert Downey Jr. as a peculiar cross between an effete eccentric and a rough-and-tumble adventurer -- participates in bare-knuckle boxing matches, dives out windows into the chilly waters of the Thames and even allows his trusty associate, Dr. Watson (Jude Law), to sock him in the nose when Holmes goes too far. Obviously, we're a long, long way from the cinematic heyday of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.

Read the full review here.

"Up in the Air"

The pervasive influence of lobbyists, teenage pregnancy and joblessness are nothing to laugh about. Yet director Jason Reitman has made three very funny films -- "Thank You for Smoking," "Juno" and "Up in the Air" -- addressing these topics. "Air," in which George Clooney plays a suave hatchet man who happily wields the ax when namby-pamby corporate types don't want to do their own dirty work, is the best of the bunch, a movie that manages to keep you laughing even as it slowly breaks your heart.

Based on Walter Kirn's novel of the same name, "Air" examines the world of Ryan Bingham (Clooney), a guy who jets around the country jettisoning workers from their offices. How does Bingham sleep at night? Quite comfortably, for the most part; he sees himself as a solitary man on a mission. Insults from his victims bounce off of him and their hysterical tears just roll off his back.

In an environment that regularly puts profits ahead of people, Ryan Bingham is a hero. But is this someone we really want to get to know? Yes, Reitman insists.

As "Air" unfolds, Bingham begins to look more and more like the lost son of C.C. Baxter, the status-seeking accountant Jack Lemmon played in director Billy Wilder's 1960 Oscar-winner "The Apartment." Baxter curried favor with his bosses by loaning his bedroom out to executives who needed a private getaway for illicit affairs; Bingham willingly does managers' dirty work for them in exchange for a generous salary. Baxter wanted to climb the ladder, but Bingham has even loftier dreams: He wants to rack up millions of frequent-flier miles to savor the premium perks they bring.

If Bingham is sounding more and more like a thoroughly loathsome personality, that's not the way Reitman sees him and it's certainly not the way Clooney plays him. "Air" realizes there is often a gap between what someone does for a living and who they really are -- and despite his outwardly impressive appearance, Bingham is not Mr. Success. His non-stop travel is a convenient cover for the way he runs away from commitments, from his family, from anything that reeks of stability. "Last year, I spent 322 days on the road, which means I had to spend 43 miserable days at home," he says in his narration. If home is truly where the heart is, Bingham would prefer to leave his in his barely furnished apartment.

In the hands of an actor less capable than Clooney, Bingham might be a very cold fish indeed. But Clooney uncovers the man's humor and wisdom, even his charm. So by the time Bingham finds himself involuntarily shackled to a take-charge trainee named Natalie (the outstanding Anna Kendrick), we find ourselves feeling sympathy for him. And when Bingham encounters Alex (Vera Farmiga), who's almost his equal when it comes to racking up time on the road, we start to hope maybe Bingham has found his perfect match.

"Air" might also be seen as a companion piece to Clooney's earlier "Michael Clayton," another story in which a seasoned pro suddenly realizes the life he's been enjoying is no longer viable. Like Clayton, Bingham begins to question what lies ahead, especially now that Natalie and Bingham's disturbingly upbeat boss (Jason Bateman) are pushing the idea of firing employees through video conferencing instead of going through all the trouble of doing it face-to-face. "The slower we move, the faster we die," Bingham tells an audience in one of his motivational seminars. "We are not swans -- we are sharks." And if Bingham is forced to settle down, he may well be a dead duck.

Reitman and co-writer Sheldon Turner have sandwiched some marvelously witty dialogue into this screenplay, and Clooney, Kendrick and Farmiga make sure every line hits its target. While Kendrick's Natalie embodies every awful trait of the recent bright-eyed business school grad (from the solemn stare to the curt tone she uses when addressing people she doesn't want to know), she's using those tactics to hide a deep well of insecurities. Like a little girl dressing up in Mommy's clothes, she has the right essentials but she doesn't quite know how to put it all together yet.

Alex is another story. Farmiga portrays her as a slick, seen-it-all veteran of the corporate wars who dresses classy, talks sassy and moves through a room as if she fully expected everyone to be watching her. "You're so pretty," Natalie gushes in a rare moment of candor. "You're exactly what I wanna look like in 15 years." Although Alex is too polite to tell Natalie she's got a long way to go, that sentiment flashes across Farmiga's eyes.

When I first saw "Up in the Air" at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, I was so impressed by the performances and the splendid writing I initially overlooked one of the film's most distinctive qualities: Even though its central figure is a man, this movie is a veritable goldmine of superb roles for women. In addition to Alex and Natalie, both of whom turn out to be just as complex as Bingham, there's also Bingham's borderline-neurotic sister, Julie, expertly played by the versatile Melanie Lynskey. In her uneasy phone conversations with her brother, you can hear many years of disappointments and let-downs, and when she asks Bingham to help her with a project for her wedding reception the concept she's come up with is both nutty and, when you think about it, truly sad. While her brother bounces all over the country, Julie and her fiance (Danny McBride) can't even scrape together enough money for a honeymoon trip.

That increasingly wide gap between the haves and the have-littles lingers in the background of "Air" as Bingham contemplates charting a new course for himself. At least he's in control of his own fate: The people he's thrown out of work have little more than Bingham's freeze-dried inspirational slogans and the prospect of an unemployment check to comfort them. But, as this captivating comedy-drama reminds us, nothing is permanent.

"Nine"

For film director Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis) the line between fantasy and real life has become so blurred it's practically non-existant. As he drifts through the jet-set scene in 1965 Rome, his past, his present and his fantasy life swirl around him like the constant cloud of cigarette smoke in which he's cocooned himself. His late mother (Sophia Loren) is just as much a part of his reality as his disillusioned wife, Luisa (Marion Cotillard), and his overeager mistress, Carla (Penelope Cruz), and his goddessy leading lady/muse, Claudia (Nicole Kidman). Caught up in his own hype and crushed by the pressure of creating something new, Guido has become the star of his own psychosexual cabaret -- and it's about time he cleaned up his act.

Directed by Rob Marshall ("Chicago"), "Nine" is a eye-filling, somewhat loose adaptation of the 1982 Broadway musical inspired by Federico Fellini's 1963 film "8½." Fellini served up surrealistic scenarios that left viewers' heads buzzing; Marshall dishes out sexy song-and-dance segments that will send 'em running to the nearest cold shower. Problematic and uneven as a character study, "Nine" functions best as a racy variety show (each of Guido's women gets her own number, except for Luisa, who gets two) with Guido as the somewhat mystified master of ceremonies. Guido's faithful costume designer and surrogate nanny Lilli (Judi Dench) serves as the stage manager, while American fashion journalist Stephanie (Kate Hudson) plays the part of the alluring chorus girl who can't wait to jump on the casting couch.

Guido bounces pinball-like between the various ladies in his life -- stopping off along the way to revisit the blowsy/brassy prostitute (Fergie) who gave him his first lessons in love -- while trying to come up with some sort of a viable idea for the new film he's supposed to start shooting in a few days' time. It's pointless to ask why a studio would green-light a movie with no script; Guido, we are regularly reminded, is a genius whose producers encourage him to "write with your camera." Apparently, artistic self-indulgence was not only accepted in 1960s Italy, it was bankrolled.

Given that Marshall has staged most of the musical interludes on the soundstage of Fellini's famous Cinecitta Studios, it's a bit bewildering that he doesn't show any real evidence of Guido's much-celebrated work. About the closest we get to understanding what the Contini catalog contains is Stephanie's tribute to him, "Cinema Italiano," in which she adoringly oozes praise for his directorial style. "I love the speedy little cars, the hip coffee bars, the sleek women in Positano," she wails. "Guido's the ultimate oumo Romano!"

As far as his creative vision is concerned, we'll have to take her word for it. But if we're talking about the ultimate Romeo, well, Guido can definitely qualify as a contender. Although he claims to want to be a faithful husband, he can't seem to cut Carla loose, he aggressively flirts with Stephanie and he obviously entertains fantasies about Claudia in his spare time. If the movie had been 10 minutes longer, perhaps he would have finally gotten around to seducing Lilli as well.

By pushing Guido's carnal urges to the forefront and leaving us in the dark about his skill as a filmmaker, screenwriters Michael Tolkin and the late Anthony Minghella have handed Day-Lewis a character that's difficult to truly like, much less identify with. Guido spends most of the movie trying to dodge his responsibilities and commitments: He runs away from the set; he leaves Luisa to suffer in solitude; he sneaks away from Carla when she's at her most vulnerable, etc. He's not so much a man of action as a man of evasion, and after a while that becomes rather wearying to watch, even though Day-Lewis often finds the comic possibilities in Guido's muddled morality.

"Nine" has also deleted all but two of Guido's songs, which makes little sense since Day-Lewis proves to be a capable enough vocalist and, in the stage version, those solos supply background information that fill out Guido's psyche. Without them, Guido is almost as much a mystery as his work-in-progress.

Thankfully, the women step in to save the show. Cotillard wrings every possible drop of heartbroken resignation out of "My Husband Makes Movies," in which Luisa tries to justify her position as Guido's cheerleader and companion and, although devotees of the show may be furious Luisa's "Be On Your Own" has been bumped in favor of a new song titled "Take It All," Cotillard delivers the torchy number in scorching style. Kidman's quivery alto gives a sweet sincerity to the gorgeous "Unusual Way," although breaking up the ballad with dialogue nullifies much of its power. Similarly, Loren's lullaby "Guarda La Luna," another piece written for the film, is pretty but feels extraneous.

Fergie lets loose with a full-throttle version of "Be Italian" -- backed up by a troupe of tambourine-shaking tramps -- and Dench, trotting around in a mile-long red feather boa, puts plenty of wry razzle-dazzle into "Folies Bergere."

As for Cruz's rendition of "A Phone Call From the Vatican," it's a gold-plated show-stopper. Sliding down electric-pink curtains, writhing around on a mirrored floor and swinging from ropes, Cruz is both voluptuous, volcanic and the dancing definition of va-va-voom. Sure, it's only a movie, but don't be surprised if you find yourself shouting, "Encore!"

"An Education"

In 1961, London had yet to see the arrival of The Beatles or Twiggy or Mary Quant; in director Lone Scherfig's "An Education," it seems much closer to Sedate London than the Swinging London it would become by mid-decade. So it's no wonder culture-starved 16-year-old Jenny (Carey Mulligan) would be quickly swept away by David (Peter Sarsgaard), who is twice her age, drives a sleek sportscar, knows all the finest nightclubs and showers her with gifts.

Unfortunately, excitement and enlightenment can come at a high cost, something journalist Lynn Barber learned first-hand; her recently published memoir "An Education" is the basis for Nick Hornby's skillfully detailed screenplay. (Some character names were changed to protect both the innocent and the guilty).

Read the full review here.

Visit the official movie website (and hear some of the cool soundtrack music) here.