2009 was not the end of the decade, not unless you think 2000 was the first year of it; that’s like counting to 10 by starting at 0. Nonsensical. Yet still the internet was inundated with various ‘best of’ lists with everyone wanting to give their 2 cents as to what were the high points of the 9 year old decade (how’s that for an oxymoron?). So now the genuine end of the decade is upon us I’ve decided that all 4 of my dedicated blog readers will want to know exactly what my opinion is of, what is essentially, my first decade with cinema (I’m only 18, you know). I simply wrote down all of which I thought were the most powerful films and I came to this number. Also worth noting is that these films are in no particular order, other than chronologically and (if released in the same year) alphabetically.

Minority Report – 2002 – Director: Steven Spielberg – Written by: Scott Frank & Joe Cohen – Starring: Tom Cruise, Max von Sydow, Colin Farrell

Spielberg released 7 films in the Noughties; some good (Munich), some not so good (Indiana Jones). Based upon a Philip K. Dick short story Minority Report is Spielberg at his best. Teaming up for the second time in the decade with much-maligned Tom Cruise, Spielberg helps him gives one of the best performances of his career as the accused, on-the-run John Anderton and Colin Farrell is deliciously seedy as Danny Witwer who doubts the ‘flawless’ system that manages to predict murders before they happen. The main themes of Minority Report are the classic philosophical questions surrounding free will vs. determinism. One of the main questions the film raises is whether the future is set or whether free will can alter the future. As Max von Sydow’s Lamar Burgess states “We don’t choose the things we believe in; they choose us.” The running time should read ‘140 breathless minutes’ as the film continues at a break-beck pace, yet it never loses sight of where it’s headed with each chase scene jacking up the heart rate like a dose of adrenaline in the arm. It’s as good a film as the Jaws and Saving Private Ryan director has ever made. Trailer.

Oldboy – 2003 – Director and Writer: Park Chan-wook – Starring: Choi Min-sik, Yu Ji-tae, Kang Hye-jeong

Incest. A claw hammer. Live octopus-eating. These aren’t the things you think of when classic films come to mind but Oldboy changed all that. Released as part of director Park Chan-wook’s Revenge Trilogy which also features Lady Vengeance and Sympathy for Mr Vengeance. Oldboy is the highlight of one of the best trilogy of modern times that already comes with a Quentin Tarantino seal of approval. The film follows the story of one Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) who is locked in a hotel room for 15 years without knowing his captor’s motives. When he is finally released, Dae Su finds himself still trapped in a web of conspiracy and violence. Min-sik is sensational in capturing the loneliness of Dae-su and how alienated he becomes from the world during his 15 year incarceration, it’s a sign of the fantastic script that within 5 minutes of the film beginning we feel his pain, anguish and suffering. With a twist almost guaranteed to knock your socks off Oldboy is an entirely visceral experience that deserves lauding for the levels of the human heart which it strips bare with each passing minute. Trailer.

The Aviator – 2004 – Director: Martin Scorsese – Written by: John Logan – Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett and John C. Reilly

In a decade where biopics were as popular as ever Martin Scorsese certainly took me by surprise with The Aviator. Based around mysterious millionaire Howard Hughes we watch him from childhood until his obsessive compulsive disorder consumes his life and everything in between. If Day-Lewis has the performance of the decade with There Will Be Blood then silver medal must go to DiCaprio as Hughes (Jamie Foxx be damned!). From his early 20’s filming Hells Angels to building the much-maligned Hercules flying boat DiCaprio captures every gesture and tick as though channeling Hughes himself. The film boasts the very definition of an all star cast with Alan Alda, Ian Holm, Alec Baldwin and Cate Blanchett all adding different facets to Hughes blessed but cursed life. Yes, it is essentially a PG version of his life events but you’re so compelled you don’t care and want the film to go on long past DiCaprio fades to black muttering The way of the future over and over. Praise is, of course, due to Scorsese who manages to show Howard Hughes’s slow deterioration to his condition expertly. Close ups of rare meat. Running water. Dusty brooms. If you didn’t know that Martin Scorsese made The Aviator you might think it was the calling card of a neophyte visual genius. Trailer.

Downfall – 2004 – Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel – Written by: Joachim Fest and Traudl Junge – Starring: Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Corinna Harfouch

Downfall is a dangerous film. For anyone born after WW2, and indeed many born before, Hitler is described to us a the epitomy of evil; the embodiment of evil. A man almost solely responsible for bringing about the most deadly conflict in the history of the world, not to mention a whole-sale slaughter of Jews. In Downfall (or Der Untergang to give it its German title) director Oliver Hirschbiegel humanizes the mass-murderer to a point where we pity the deluded dictator. Not so much acted, as embodied by Bruno Ganz we get a harrowing view of what might have been in the last days of the Third Reich. This moral, would-be biography of Hitler is to insist that the monster was not invariably monstrous — that he was kind to his cook and his young female secretaries and was surrounded by loyal subordinates. We get the point: Hitler was not a supernatural being; he was common clay raised to power by the desire of his followers. But is this observation a sufficient response to what Hitler actually did? It’s a powerful film, that no amount of youtube parodies can nullify. Trailer.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – 2004 – Director: Michel Gondry – Written by: Charlie Kaufman – Starring: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Mark Ruffalo

The writer-director duo between Charlie Kaufman and Michel Gondry respectably had no peers this decade for sheer originality. The pair worked together for 3 of Gondry’s films in the Noughties, starting with Human Nature (2001) and finishing with Science of Sleep (2006). It was middle film The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind that gets all the attention and rightly so. The sophomore effort by Gondry married style and substance to create what is one of the best romantic comedies of all time. It’s a film that has 75% of it taking place in somebody’s memory. It’s a trippy and original yet moving take on love with its deliberately disorientating time-jumps. The duo often found themselves at the brunt of criticism calling them ‘gimmicky’ and ‘pretentious’. But here they finally find the right combination of high-concept and humanity, taking the what-if idea of a company that lobotomizes the lovelorn into territory that’s funny, painful, poetic and unsettlingly weird. Oh, and it’s also Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet’s best performances of the decade. Fact. Trailer

Batman Begins – 2005 – Director: Chris Nolan – Written by: David S. Goyer and Chris Nolan – Starring: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Cillian Murphy

It’s due to Marvel creations Spiderman and X-Men that the superhero truly became a genre unto itself but it is DC creation Batman who gives the genre serious critical clout. The Dark Knight gets all the praise but it all started with Batman Begins back in 2005. Headed by then-up-and-coming director Chris Nolan this was the first proper, dark comic book adaptation. Based around the idea of fear it shows the origins of Batman in a way left untouched by the Burton/Schumacher series. Taking inspiration from the darker Batman comics such as Year One and The Dark Knight Returns its dark, but never relentless and is easy to enjoy and love. Christian Bale dons the batsuit and finally gives it the intensity it deserves, he’s backed up by an all-star supporting cast includng Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman and Katie Holmes with Liam Neeson taking on his tried-and-tested role of mentor albeit with an interesting twist. Cillian Murphy isn’t Heath Ledger but has that perfect air of villainy and cut-throat tactics. Fantastic cinematography and a superb score bolster what could be seen, at points, a flimsy plot. Sinister, brooding and a tour de force. Trailer.

Kingdom of Heaven: Directors Cut – 2005 – Director: Ridley Scott – Written by: William Monahan – Starring: Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Jeremy Irons

Now if you have seen the original, cinematic version of Kingdom of Heaven you are probably in a state of shock that such a mediocre film could make it onto my list. Do not fear. You see the Directors Cut is an entirely different film altogether and ranks up there with Alien and Blade Runner as one of Ridley Scott’s best films. When first pitched the studio expected an historical action-adventure much akin to the highly successful Gladiator. Indeed all promotions tied in with Kingdom of Heaven made heavy use of the ‘from the director of Gladiator’ tag. This isn’t what Scott had in mind and his directors cut finally restores his original vision. That is a film which, though it has action sequences, is really a muse of the nature of religious conflict using the Crusades as a parable for modern times. Scott himself has stated that the theatrical version is merely the ‘action-packed trailer’ for the real film. With the extra 45 minutes (running the film to a total 194 minutes) each character is fleshed out that little bit more with the real benefit being Eva Green who is given reasoning behind her actions and choices. Edward Norton is, quite simply, brilliant as dying King Baldwin IV and the film is so good not even Orloondo Bland’s mediocre central performance can stop it from being a thing of arresting beauty and philosophical questioning. Trailer.

The New World – 2005 – Director and Writer: Terrence Malick – Starring: Colin Farrell, Q,Orianka Kilcher, Christian Bale

It’s always been a popular story line: man goes undercover with natives, grows to respect their ways and practices, then sides with the natives against the evil imperialists. Off the top of my head I can name 3 films which used this storyline in the Noughties alone (The Last Samurai, Avatar and The New World) but it is the latter which nails the potentially cliched plot. It is a unique film based around the life of mythical Native American Pocahontas and how America became colonized. It has all the aspects of what makes Malick’s films so brilliant; the potentially cliche romanticism is written so it feels like a breath of fresh air, the cinematography is some of the best committed to celluloid and Q’Orianka Kilcher is nothing short of a revelation at the tender age of 16. “It’s difficult to write a great short poem.” says renowned critic and The New World champion-in-chief Mick LaSalle “It’s difficult to write a great long novel. But to write a great long poem that’s the size of a great long novel – one that makes sense, doesn’t flag and is exponentially better than the short poem or the long novel ever would have been – that’s almost impossible.” With his 4th feature length film Malick managed to do that, with images. Trailer

Children of Men – 2006 – Director and Writer: Alfonso Cuaron – Starring: Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine

Alfonso Cuaron’s Children of Men paints an unforgivably bleak view of a future in which all women are infertile. This has led to the collapse of society as we know it; a police state, refugees being rounded up like cattle and suicide kits being handed out on demand. When I sat down in the cinema I was entirely unprepared for what unfolded before me. The performances across the board are flawless but it’s Caine who excels most in his supporting role. Channeling 70’s era Lennon he plays the lovable hippie to such a degree you forget you’re watching Caine and what higher praise can you bestow upon an actor? Cuaron packs his film with visual references to The Holocaust, the Second Coming of Jesus and Guantanamo Bay but they’re never so overt that you’re overwhelmed, rather they are in the background, ever-present whilst the story holds the foreground and continues its inexorable pace. You don’t just view the car-ambush scene, you live in it. This is Cuaron’s true talent, the ability to create world in which you so throughly believe. It’s a nativity story for the pessimistic generation. View my full review here. Trailer

Letters From Iwo Jima – 2006 – Director: Clint Eastwood – Written by: Iris Yamashita – Starring: Ken Watanabe , Kazunari Ninomiya, Tsuyoshi Ihara

For once Hollywood shows the other side of the Pacific conflict and the results are heart-breaking. For decades now both the Nazi’s and the Japanese have been vilified for World War 2. They’re given not a shadow of depth other than ‘they are evil’ and are offed by the dozen whilst Americans are flag-waving, gun-toting soldiers for freedom. With his WW2 double feature (Flags of our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima are considered companion pieces, both showing the two sides of the Battle of Iwo Jima) Clint Eastwood has sought to correct years of stereotypes in one fell swoop. The Japanese soldiers are in an extreme state of plight, many die of dysentery and they have little or no food and they display a different kind of bravery from the American soldiers. Suicide may not seem the noble thing to do to the Americans but for better or worst it was the only choice for so many soldiers. They were just pawns in a battle of Kings and Queens. Trailer

Pan’s Labyrinth – 2006 – Director and Writer: Guillermo Del Toro – Starring: Ivana Baquero, Doug Jones, Sergi Lopez i Ayats

Guillermo del Toro’s dark fairy tale revolves around a girl’s retreat from the harshness of her life into a fantasy world of mythical creatures and magical quests, only to find that her refuge is as brutal as reality. Taking place in the Spanish Civil War, Pan’s Labyrinth is the greatest fantasy film of all time. A villain who is sure to haunt any child’s nightmares with his cold, calculated precision; fantastic cinematography from beginning to end and believable characters all combine to make a fantasy so rich and believable you just want to delve right in. Del Toro understands the shadowy power of folk stories in which wicked stepparents dispose of unwanted youngsters, where witches and demons lurk behind kindly faces, and where the end of childhood is paved with blood and shattered illusions. His film ranks with the best examinations of children’s inner lives, but be warned: Its haunting insights are best left to adults. Trailer

United 93 – 2006 – Director and Writer: Paul Greengrass – Starring: Clare Douglas, Richard Pearson, Christopher Rouse

What has loomed largest over the decade was 9/11 and the War on Terror that followed. Although many have tried (Redacted, Lions for Lambs, Green Zone) only one film has accurately, or at least cinematically, shown life in Iraq post-2003 invasion (The Hurt Locker). And although many have dealt with 9/11 by addressing its repercussions rather than the incident itself (Remember Me, World Trade Center, Reign Over Me) only one film has had pulled off the attack itself with visceral, gritty realism and that is Paul Greengrass’s United 93. Using a mix of actors and real people playing themselves we get a real sense of the urgency and panic that so many must have felt that September morning. Greengrass doesn’t try to explain the motives behind it, or get too political. What United 93 is, is a testament to the bravery of the people on board that plane and nothing more. Rather than attempt poetry Greengrass knows that with a such a heart-breaking true story, prose will do. Trailer

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford – 2007 – Director and Writer: Andrew Dominik – Starring: Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Sam Rockwell

The eclectic, visceral and raw Chopper burst onto the scene in 2000 bringing with it Eric Bana and writer-director Andrew Dominik. It took him 7 years to release his follow-up to the lauded film with 2 of those being stuck in post-production hell. What finally emerged took everyone in the film industry by surprise. After years of toiling The Assassination of Jesse James is a film set in 1880 but incredibly relevant to our modern celebrity culture. Centered around America’s first nationwide celebrity (and first nationwide villain) it deals with fame, infamy and living up to the expectations that the public can bestow upon revered figures. The film shows Dominik possesses unusual cajonas for a director with his first reputably budget; firstly we know from the title how the film we end so the viewers spend time asking themselves why the assassination happens and not if. Secondly the film is meandering and pondering but it’s pace is deliberate as Dominik eeks out the tension from every scene, every inflection and tick. It doesn’t hurt the film that you could literally frame any shot and it would take pride of place on your wall. Nor that it hosts some of the best performances of Pitt’s established and Affleck’s beginning career. Read my full review here. Trailer

King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters – 2007 – Director: Seth Gordon – Starring: Steve Wiebe, Billy Mitchell, Walter Day

Easily the shortest film on the list (a brisk 79 minutes) this doesn’t stop King of Kong being one of the best. It’s premise is decidedly uninspiring; watch the 2 best Donkey Kong players duke it out to see who can break the world-record, but it’s an enthralling work. Luckily director Seth Gordon taps into the over-arching themes that surround the documentary: the dangers of obsession, what it really takes to make it in America and the rise of gaming into a nigh-on gladiatorial conflict of double-crossing and intense public focus. In a decade where gaming truly came to forefront like never before King of Kong serves as a reminder that these age-old obsessions have been around for longer than you would believe. It’s also thanks to King of Kong that we’re left with a quote that could turn out to be indicative of our times: “competitive gaming, when you wanna attach your name to a world-record, when you want your name written into history, you have to pay the price!” Some could say that this strive for the world record in, what is by todays standards, an ancient video game is a victim of Sayre’s Law but dammit if this isn’t interesting, searing film-making about a conflict, regarded in some circles as herculean. Trailer.

There Will Be Blood – 2007 – Director and Writer: Paul Thomas Anderson – Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Dillon Freasier

There Will Be Blood is an incredibly difficult film to watch. Daniel Plainview is a character as disgusting as he is enthralling and Johnny Greenwood’s score flitters with just being down-right offensive to our ears. But it all works. With There Will Be Blood, Anderson crafted an anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist, anti-religion film that revels in its own monstrosity. It is the Citizen Kane of our era as we watch a man be consumed by greed and duke it out with alleged half-brothers and evangelists. It features not only the most sparse and unforgiving cinematography but the performance so far of the 21st century. In a decade where lines as instantly quotable as ‘Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.’ and ‘terminate… with extreme prejudice.’ are few and far between ‘I drink your milkshake!’ has become a parlance of the greed which has so crippled our times for future generations. All the great films seep into our media consciousness without us even realising it and only 3 years after its release Plainview is a name synonymous with greed and oil, in the same way Kurtz has become synonymous with Vietnam. Film-making at its most powerful and uncompromising. Read my full review here. Trailer.

Zodiac – 2007 – Director: David Fincher – Written by: James Vanderbilt – Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr.

Based upon Robert Graysmith’s warts-and-all collection of facts surround the mysterious Zodiac killer, David Fincher’s adaptation isn’t a film about the serial killer himself, as much as it is about how it can effect so many lives and how obsession can be the downfall of any man. We follow Jake Gyllenhaal (as Graysmith), Mark Ruffalo (Inspector Dave Toschi) and Robert Downey Jr (Paul Avery) as they each react from the infamous serial killer many killings. The film transports you to San Francisco in the late 60’s and 70’s and is one of the few examples of digital film-making enhancing a film, rather than ruining it (I’m looking at you Public Enemies). Mark Ruffalo is a revelation as Toschi and for the first time since Donnie Darko Gyllenhaal manages to carry a film without seeming burdened. The film though, isn’t perfect; just as I become more and more interested with Ruffalo’s character the film becomes more about Gyllenhaal but still the 2 hour 40 minute running time breezes past and with it, you too feel like you’ve delved into the labyrinth of clues, partial evidence and mystery which has so fascinated the American public with the Zodiac case. Read my full review here. Trailer.

Let The Right One In – 2008 – Director: Tomas Alfredson –Written by: John Ajvide Lindqvis – Starring: Kare Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar

Try as you might vampires, as of late, are everywhere. Thanks to inane author Stephanie Meyer writing the Twilight series there has been an influx of vampire-orientated media. Let The Right One In can takes its place firmly in the latter column. Although, really, it isn’t a vampire film much like Twilight isn’t really a vampire film. That’s where the similarities end though. It’s rare enough for a horror film to be good; even rarer are those that function as genuine works of art. Let the Right One In is one of those films – an austerely beautiful creation that reveals itself slowly, like the best works of art do. The simplicity of the story allows Swedish director Tomas Alfredson to focus on these two pre-teen characters with a penetrating insight that not only makes it a great vampire film but a great coming-of-age film as well. At its core, the film is, simply, a human story, a pensive meditation on the transcendent possibilities of human connection. Most of all, it’s a film that sticks with you, and whose stature will continue to grow in the decades to come. Trailer.

Synecdoche, New York – 2008 – Director and Writer: Charlie Kaufman – Starring: Philip Seymour-Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams

It’s hard to even pronounce Synecdoche, New York (the word is a grammar term that indicates a part of a thing standing in for the whole) never mind give a brief synopsis. Philip Seymour-Hoffman is a play director and given an impossibly large grant in order to put on something of unparralled beauty and truth. So begins the films descent into outright madness. Samantha Morton lives in a house constantly on fire; tattoos wilt; plays-within-plays-within-plays begin to breakout as the film goes on. With numerous themes involving death, decay and jungian psychology with miniature paintings and impossible warehouses Kaufmans script is as barmy as it is brilliant. The opening day of the film in fact takes place over several months and what appears to be a linear film, isn’t that linear: time is both elongated and concentrated in equal measure. In Synecdoche, allusions and weird slippages push through the cracks of dialogue, with characters mishearing, misspeaking and generally failing to communicate, all while taking on one role or another, both in their “real lives” and in the increasingly bizarre play at the film’s center: Kaufman’s imaginary garden. Trailer.

WALL-E – 2008 – Director: Andrew Stanton – Written by: Andrew Stanton & Jim Reardon – Starring: Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin

WALL-E caught me completely off guard. I’d heard all the rave reviews (to be expected with ever Pixar release these days) and I expected another thoroughly entertaining film that would engage my heart but not my mind. How wrong I was. With WALL-E they reached the pinnacle for what it is possible for animated films to be able to achieve. Here was a film, aimed at children, that has the first half pass by virtually dialogue free and harks back to the era of silent cinema when physical comedy was deemed an art. Never has a box with binoculars for eyes been such an engaging protagonist. The cinematography is as good as any film in this list thanks to ‘visual consultant’ Roger Deakins having his watchful eye over details like focus, heat haze and realistic lighting. When stripped down to its bare-bones it’s all a biblical metaphor for Noah’s Ark with Axiom being the Ark and EVE being the dove. It’s a film with no discernible villain other than humanities laziness and how technology is making us all more lazy. How’s that for a moral story to all the children who saw WALL-E and spend their lives consumed by iPods, Playstations and the internet. Trailer.

The Social Network – 2010 – Director: David Fincher – Written by: Aaron Sorkin – Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake

What better way to finish the decade than with a film that encapsulates the phenomenon that engulfed it? Try as you might, in the latter half of the decade you couldn’t avoid Facebook as it exponentially expanded to encompass the world. With The Social Network, Fincher shows how it all began in a Harvard dorm room back in 2004 and how a Shakespeare-esque tragedy ensued as two former best friends duke it out in our generations gladiatorial arena: court. Lambasted upon its announcement The Social Network received acclaim and box-office success in the way that had always alluded Fincher before. The cast is flawless to a man with Jesse Eisenberg playing Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg with an autistic edge and over bite. That may not be how he is reality, but it’s how we imagine him to be. Justin Timberlake and Andrew Garfield also excel as polar opposites, each vying for Mark’s friendship and appreciation. The score is what brings the film together however, with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross matching Fincher’s cinematography with it’s darkness and tenacity. At times it’s minimal, barely noticeable but at others it’s an affront to your ears yet it never stops being beautiful and gives this film the extra edge needed with a script that takes place almost solely in front of computers or court rooms. Read my full review here. Trailer.