We live in an IMDB world where many people feel The Dark Knight is better than Citizen Kane and Casablanca and Apocalypse Now and the list goes on. While IMDB’s top 250, alongside a myriad of other baffling “best movies ever lists,” aren’t necessarily cataclysmic, they’re enjoyable to poke fun at.

Naturally, any list objectifying art is inherent silly, yet ranking and listing has become a religious exercise in futility many of us constantly partake in. That’s why I’m rebooting The History of Film (which was originally founded at Duke & the Movies). The goal of this feature is to unite staff, friends, and readers of Movie Mezzanine together into forming an eclectic “top 10” from each decade in cinema.

Today we start with the 2000s. Next month we’ll delve into the 1990s, so on and so forth. Everyone has a month to post their list in the comment section below. Before the next edition of this feature goes out, I’ll tally up the votes and publish the results. Thank you in advance for voicing your opinions. Now to begin, my 10 favorite films from the 2000s …

Sam Fragoso, Editor-In-Chief

1.) 25th Hour

2.) Almost Famous

3.) Before Sunset

4.) High Fidelity

5.) No Country for Old Men

6.) Sideways

7.) Up In The Air

8.) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

9.) Brick

10.) Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

Staff of Movie Mezzanine:

Tom Clift, Co-Founder

1.) United 93

2.) Memento

3.) Kill Bill

4.) American Psycho

5.) Requiem for a Dream

6.) Gone Baby Gone

7.) Up

8.) Lucky Number Slevin

9.) The Dark Knight

10.) City of God

Jake Cole, Senior Editor

1.) A.I. Artificial Intelligence

2.) Love Exposure

3.) The Intruder

4.) Syndromes and a Century

5.) Miami Vice

6.) Sparrow

7.) Yi Yi: A One and a Two

8.) INLAND EMPIRE

9.) Inglourious Basterds

10.) Platform

Corey Atad, Everything

1.) No Country for Old Men

2.) The Prestige

3.) Inglourious Basterds

4.) Punch-Drunk Love

5.) The Incredibles

6.) Zodiac

7.) Hot Fuzz

8.) Kingdom of Heaven

9.) In Bruges

10.) Zoolander

Natalie Zutter, NYC Correspondant

1.) Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2

2.) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

3.) Love Actually

4.) Before Sunset

5.) Mean Girls

6.) Moulin Rouge!

7.) Serenity

8.) Signs

9.) Eurotrip

10.) Finding Nemo

Danny Bowes, NYC Correspondant

1.) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

2.) City of God

3.) The Lives of Others

4.) Children of Men

5.) The Motorcycle Diaries

6.) Infernal Affairs

7.) There Will Be Blood

8.) I’m Not There

9.) Om Shanti Om

10.) Criminal

Peter Labuza, NYC Correspondant

1.) Mulholland Drive

2.) There Will Be Blood

3.) Cache

4.) A.I.: Artificial Intelligence

5.) Zodiac

6. ) Climates

7. ) Syndromes and a Century

8. ) 25th Hour

9. ) Ten

10.) Solaris

Tina Hassannia, Toronto Correspondant

1.) The Wind Will Carry Us

2.) In the Mood for Love

3.) Yi Yi: A One and a Two…

4.) Offside

5.) Los Angeles Plays Itself

6.) Hunger

7.) Cache

8.) Still Life

9.) Zodiac

10.) Mullholland Dr.

Kevin Ketchum, Austin Correspondant

1.) There Will Be Blood

2.) The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

3.) The Dark Knight

4.) No Country for Old Men

5.) The Assassination of Jesse James

6.) Brokeback Mountain

7.) The Fountain

8.) Children of Men

9.) The Hurt Locker

10.) The New World

Christopher Runyon, LA Correspondant

1.) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

2.) The Fountain

3.) Spirited Away

4.) Punch-Drunk Love

5.) Mulholland Dr.

6.) Synecdoche, New York

7.) Up

8.) A.I. Artificial Intelligence

9.) Fish Tank

10.) The New World

Kristen Sales, LA Correspondant

1.) Dancer in the Dark

2.) Werckmeister Harmonies

3.) Mulholland Dr

4.) Adaptation

5.) Kill Bill

6.) Tropical Malady

7.) The New World

8.) Zodiac

9.) There Will Be Blood

10.) Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

Russell Hainline, LA Correspondant

1.) No Country for Old Men

2.) Children of Men

3.) Adaptation

4.) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

5.) There Will Be Blood

6.) WALL-E

7.) School of Rock

8.) Murderball

9.) Wet Hot American Summer

10.) Apocalypto

Andreas Stoehr, DVD/Streaming Reporter

1.) Mulholland Dr.

2.) My Winnipeg

3.) Tropical Malady

4.) Spirited Away

5.) Punch-Drunk Love

6.) A Serious Man

7.) Zodiac

8.) Talk to Her

9.) Julia

10.) Inside

Friends of Movie Mezzanine:

David Ehrlich, Film.com

1.) Lost In Translation

2.) Dancer in the Dark

3.) Mulholland Drive

4.) Werckmeister Harmonies

5.) Yi Yi: A One and a Two

6.) There Will Be Blood

7.) In the Mood for Love

8.) Best of Youth

9.) The Son

10.) The 40-Year Old Virgin

Ethan Anderton, First Showing

1.) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

2.) Almost Famous

3.) Children of Men

4.) The Lord of the Rings

5.) Good Night, and Good Luck

6.) District 9

7.) Lost in Translation

8.) Catch Me If You Can

9.) Punch-Drunk Love

10.) Shaun of the Dead

Matt Goldberg, Collider

1.) Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang

2.) Memento

3.) The Fountain

4.) The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

5.) Pixar (I know it’s a bit of a cheat, but I can’t pick just one)

6.) Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy

7.) Shaun of the Dead

8.) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

9.) Pan’s Labyrinth

10.) There Will Be Blood

James Ward, Visalia Times Delta



1.) There Will Be Blood

2.) City of God

3.) Pan’s Labyrinth

4.) Inglourious Basterds

5.) The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

6.) Hedwig and the Angry Inch

7.) Mysterious Skin

8.) The Aviator

9.) Lost in Translation

10.) Wonder Boys

Brandon Rohwer, Tribeca Film Festival



1.) Fantastic Mr. Fox

2.) There Will Be Blood

3.) The Wrestler

4.) Shaun of the Dead

5.) No Country for Old Men

6.) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

7.) Kill Bill

8.) Team America: World Police

9.) Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

10.) Once Upon A Time In Mexico

Katey Rich, CinemaBlend

1.) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

2.) In The Mood For Love

3.) Children of Men

4.) WALL-E

5.) Moulin Rouge!

6.) There Will Be Blood

7.) The Royal Tenenbaums

8.) No Country for Old Men

9.) Mean Girls

10.) The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

Allison Loring, Film School Rejects

1.) Crazy Heart

2.) Walk the Line

3.) The Dark Knight

4.) The Departed

5.) Gone Baby Gone

6.) O Brother, Where Art Thou?

7.) Moon

8.) I Heart Huckabees

9.) Ocean’s Eleven

10.) Up In The Air

Ryan McNeil, The Matinee

1.) Goodnight and Good Luck

2.) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

3.) No Country for Old Men

4.) Pan’s Labyrinth

5.) The Hurt Locker

6.) WALL-E

7.) Moulin Rouge!

8.) Traffic

9.) Talk to Her

10.) Requiem for a Dream

Jordan Raup, The Film Stage

1.) Children of Men

2. The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford

3.) No Country for Old men

4.) The Fountain

5.) The New World

6.) In the Mood For Love

7.) Zodiac

8.) A Serious Man

9.) Lost in Translation

10.) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Carrie Rickey, The Philadelphia Inquirer

1.) Grizzly Man

2.) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

3.) High Fidelity

4.) Lost in Translation

5.) Moolade

6.) My Architect

7.) Pan’s Labyrinth

8.) The Social Network

9.) Up

10.) Whale Rider

Eric D. Snider, Movies.com

1.) Memento

2.) The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

3.) Requiem for a Dream

4.) Moulin Rouge!

5.) The Royal Tenenbaums

6.) Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

7.) The Incredibles

8.) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

9.) There Will Be Blood

10.) In the Loop

Ryland Aldrich, Twitch

1.) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

2.) There Will Be Blood

3.) Let the Right One In

4.) I’m Not There

5.) The Wackness

6.) Reprise

7.) Spirited Away

8.) Lost In Translation

9.) Donnie Darko

10.) DiG!

Steve Greene, CriticWire

1.) Zodiac

2.) Children of Men

3.) Inglourious Basterds

4.) Synecdoche, New York

5.) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

6.) There Will Be Blood

7.) Atonement

8.) Fantastic Mr. Fox

9.) Finding Nemo

10.) Inside Man

Scott Mendelson, The Huffington Post

1.) The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

2.) Almost Famous

3.) Memento

4.) Frailty

5.) Shanghai Knights

6.) Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle

7.) Munich

8.) Akeelah and The Bee

9.) Meet the Robinsons

10.) Speed Racer

Rob Hunter, Film School Rejects

1.) 3-Iron

2.) (500) Hundred Days of Summer

3.) Amelie

4.) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

5.) Fish Story

6.) Inglourious Basterds

7.) Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

8.) Memento

9.) Wet Hot American Summer

10.) Wonder Boys

Michal Oleszczyk, Roger Ebert’s Far-Flung Correspondant

1.) Uzak

2. Y Tu Mama Tambien

3.) 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days

4.) Irreversible

5.) The Barbarian Invasions

6.) Mullholland Dr.

7.) The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

8.) A History of Violence

9.) Junebug

10.) Children of Men

…..

Now it’s your turn to contribute readers. In the comment section below, provide your top ten of the 2000s (2000-09), ordered from 1 – 10. Again, we thank you.