Before this movie, Quentin Tarantino was, in some ways, underrated as a director. Even his most vocal advocates almost always cited the dialogue or clever remix of filmic tropes of his screenplays (also the two things his detractors usually cite), but his camera-work went largely unremarked upon. Tarantino finally unleashed the full directorial capability with a masterful piece of lean, mean action filmmaking. The story is a typically regurgitated pulp riff on revenge movies, mostly from Tarantino's beloved 1970s, but it's executed with tremendous verve and creativity. You've got the brilliant O-ren anime sequence, a kick-ass RZA score, and, of course, the undisputed champion of 00's-era action scenes, the showdown at the House of Blue Leaves. Leaving aside the delirious and expertly-staged decapitations, the pacing and blocking of that entire sequence are a thing to behold. The long tracking shot of the Bride making her way to the bathroom to get into her murderin' clothes that switches to follow Sofie Fatale headed towards the same bathroom, to the epic calling-out of the O-ren, tension drawn to the breaking point before the first cathartic gusher of blood.
2. Lost in Translation
This is a movie that seems to have dropped off of a lot of people's radar in the past five years, and that's understandable. Not only is the whole thing played in an achingly minor key, but the Orientalism is doubtlessly problematic, and it is really just the petty carping of a couple of supremely overprivileged whiners. Still, there aren't many films in the decade that communicated the alienating vastness of contemporary life as authentically as Lost in Translation. Most of us can't relate to the problems of being a washed-up millionaire actor or a globetrotting trophy wife, but we all know what it's like to walk alone through the streets of an unfamiliar city, or spend a night on the town with friends you know deep down don't really know who you are. Couple that palpable sense of place and theme with an all-world performance by Bill Murray and a central relationship that's genuinely touching without once succumbing to cliche, and you're dealing with a cinematic triumph, mopey shoegazing be damned.
3. City of God
Fernando Meirelles' epic tale of growing up in the drug-ruled midst of Rio's favelas doesn't suffer from a lack of style. City of God contains some of the most memorable, purely-cinematic sequences of the decade. The kinetic, free-for-all sensibility could come off as insensitive to the hyperviolence and poverty of the setting, but it turns out the be exactly the right choice. Because life in the favelas can't be defined solely by drugs and violence: people live there, they fall in love, they dance, they raise families, and Meirelles' film contains the multitude of that experience.
4. American Splendor
The Aughts were truly the Decade of the Schlub. The two most consistently excellent actors of the 00s were Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti, and no film encapsulated the essential predicament of the American Schlub like Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini's American Splendor. A schlub doesn't have the most brains, and he's certainly not athletic, and he's painfully aware of each and every one of his shortcomings, without possessing the wherewithal to correct them. The triumph of Harvey Pekar is that he can make his own painful inadequacies into art and, miracle of miracles, have people respond to it. It's the ultimate dream of schlubs everywhere, but in the final, aching twist, even that recognition isn't enough to end his torment, just make it bearable. That's the most a schlub can hope for in this life.
5. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
It's the signal film achievement of the decade, so I guess it deserves some appreciation. This is it.
Most completely and totally horrible movie of the decade: God and Generals. That shit will make you sterile. Revolting pro-Confederate historical revisionism, a turgid screenplay, painful over and/or under acting, lifeless (and criminally sanitized) battle scenes, all stretched out to nearly four fucking hours. Without a single redeeming feature. Well, maybe that hilarious "Southern rights for all" song-and-dance number. Apparently the Confederate army didn't bother with "don't ask, don't tell."
Horrible movies that are kind of fantastic: Dreamcatcher and Identity. Both of these movies brim over with fail, and yet have more than enough laugh-out-loud moments to make them worth watching. Most notably, the "gunphone" in Dreamcatcher and the rise of Evil Timmy in Identity.
Image of singular beauty: Andy Goldsworthy throwing a handful of snow into the air, where it holds for a moment before dissipating into the wind in the lyrical documentary Rivers and Tides
Rousing climax from an animated movie that doubles as an allegory for the labor movement: a school of fish versus a fishing net in Finding Nemo. A school of fish caught in a net. If they all swim in different directions, they're doomed. If they all pull in the same direction (with a little help from a neurotic clownfish), they can snap that fucking net right off the beam. Workers of the world, unite!
Unheralded Johnny Depp performance: Once Upon a Time in Mexico. 2003 was the year Jack Sparrow resurrected Johnny Depp's career as a big ticket Hollywood star with an Oscar nominated bit of weirdness, which overshadowed the excellent weirdness of his turn as a loopy CIA agent in Robert Rodriguez's Once Upon a Time in Mexico. The movie itself is a mess, but every time Depp is on screen, it vibrates with unpredictability. It was Depp's last chance to goof around under the radar.
Comedy sequence that made me laugh until I cried and therefore invalidates any credibility I may have as a film critic: the boxing scene from Bad Santa. Yes, it's five straight minutes of guys (and kids, and midgets) getting punched in the junk. As Bob Saget proved many years ago, the shot the groin is the lowest, cheapest form of comedy. It's also deliriously funny when it's done right, and in Bad Santa, it's done right. Also, I'm not on trial here!
Line of the Year: "Talk to the hand." --Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
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