Your List of Movie Lists
December 17, 2009 1:21 PM Subscribe
The Aught-O-Matic. Slate's interactive guide to the critically recognized best movies of the decade, aggregating the results from several "best of the decade" lists. It's still in the process of being updated.
The first movie on that aggregated list that I've seen is Spirited Away. I am clearly not a movie connoisseur.
posted by Caduceus at 1:42 PM on December 17, 2009
posted by Caduceus at 1:42 PM on December 17, 2009
More evidence that critical consensus and I are not exactly bosom buddies.
posted by brundlefly at 1:46 PM on December 17, 2009
posted by brundlefly at 1:46 PM on December 17, 2009
Eternal Sunshine was my favorite movie of the decade, so I'm glad that I'm in good company. Meanwhile, I hadn't heard of In Praise of Love since my first job after college, at that film's tiny distributor, talking to exhibitors on the phone begging them not to pull the movie even though nobody was coming to see it.
posted by Navelgazer at 1:50 PM on December 17, 2009
posted by Navelgazer at 1:50 PM on December 17, 2009
They ought to find a better compromise for movie series. When one person lists the Lord of the Rings trilogy and another lists them all separately, the end result is that they all get shoved much further down the list than they would otherwise.
posted by ErWenn at 1:51 PM on December 17, 2009
posted by ErWenn at 1:51 PM on December 17, 2009
Horrible Flash UI
posted by crayz at 1:52 PM on December 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by crayz at 1:52 PM on December 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
The first movie on that aggregated list that I've seen is Spirited Away. I am clearly not a movie connoisseur.
Au contraire.
posted by No Robots at 1:54 PM on December 17, 2009
Au contraire.
posted by No Robots at 1:54 PM on December 17, 2009
When one person lists the Lord of the Rings trilogy and another lists them all separately, the end result is that they all get shoved much further down the list than they would otherwise.
Yeah, I pretty much stopped paying attention when I saw Knocked Up further up the list than The Return of the King. I know that may well be a reflection of their respective popularity, but if so, that's a populace I'm not soliciting advice from, like, ever.
posted by WidgetAlley at 2:22 PM on December 17, 2009
Yeah, I pretty much stopped paying attention when I saw Knocked Up further up the list than The Return of the King. I know that may well be a reflection of their respective popularity, but if so, that's a populace I'm not soliciting advice from, like, ever.
posted by WidgetAlley at 2:22 PM on December 17, 2009
Wow. Eternal Sunshine? Wow. I mean, it really was a good movie, but best of the motherloving decade? How does that even happen?
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 2:32 PM on December 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 2:32 PM on December 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
The New World > Eternal Sunshine. That is all.
posted by basicchannel at 2:42 PM on December 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by basicchannel at 2:42 PM on December 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
Eternal Sunshine isn't even my favorite Kaufman-penned film of the decade.
posted by shakespeherian at 2:48 PM on December 17, 2009
posted by shakespeherian at 2:48 PM on December 17, 2009
I'm glad to see 4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days pretty high on the list. One of the most powerful movies I've seen
posted by graventy at 2:53 PM on December 17, 2009
posted by graventy at 2:53 PM on December 17, 2009
What an amazingly clear demonstration of the meaning of "lowest common denominator."
posted by RogerB at 2:57 PM on December 17, 2009
posted by RogerB at 2:57 PM on December 17, 2009
On my list of top list reactions of the noughties the "I am going to seize this chance to show off superior taste" reaction comes in at #1.
posted by srboisvert at 3:00 PM on December 17, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by srboisvert at 3:00 PM on December 17, 2009 [2 favorites]
No one asked me what I think the best movie of the decade was and few will care, but damnit, I need to say it aloud somewhere, so here it is:
The best movie of the decade was ... A History of Violence. I rented it the year it came out and watched it twice in two days. It's a movie that is at once perfectly of it's time and completely timeless. It's halfway up that list, so at least some one else appreciated it.
Since I saw A History of Violence, I have had recourse to think about it or relate something else to it on a monthly -- if not weekly -- basis. That means the movie has been on my mind for almost five years! That's art.
Looking over that list, the only other films that even come close are No Country for Old Men, In the Mood for Love and The Incredibles. Downfall was also excellent.
posted by thebergfather at 3:12 PM on December 17, 2009
The best movie of the decade was ... A History of Violence. I rented it the year it came out and watched it twice in two days. It's a movie that is at once perfectly of it's time and completely timeless. It's halfway up that list, so at least some one else appreciated it.
Since I saw A History of Violence, I have had recourse to think about it or relate something else to it on a monthly -- if not weekly -- basis. That means the movie has been on my mind for almost five years! That's art.
Looking over that list, the only other films that even come close are No Country for Old Men, In the Mood for Love and The Incredibles. Downfall was also excellent.
posted by thebergfather at 3:12 PM on December 17, 2009
Not so surprised that Eternal Sunshine's high up there. It's the favorite movie of a lot of people I know (including myself.) I think it appeals to a wide crowd of people (including critics) and more importantly people who enjoy it tend to enjoy it a lot. Memento's great, but I don't meet a lot of people who are like "that is my FAVORITE movie!!"
Maybe it's not #1, but I can definitely believe that it would appear high up on a lot of different lists and that would bump it up.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 3:31 PM on December 17, 2009
Maybe it's not #1, but I can definitely believe that it would appear high up on a lot of different lists and that would bump it up.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 3:31 PM on December 17, 2009
Neither The Pianist nor The Hurt Locker were even mentioned. Synechdoche, New York was only included in one list. Code 46, The Beat That My Heart Skipped? Nope. Aaaargh.
Maybe it isn't just the critics: maybe we need to be a better audience.
posted by Kinbote at 4:02 PM on December 17, 2009
Maybe it isn't just the critics: maybe we need to be a better audience.
posted by Kinbote at 4:02 PM on December 17, 2009
Eternal Sunshine isn't even my favorite Kaufman-penned film of the decade.
I think the best movie was Eternal Sunshine 2.0, aka Synecdoche, New York. Then again, I can't help but wonder how any one movie can be chosen as the designated Best Movie of the Decade.
posted by wet-raspberry at 4:09 PM on December 17, 2009
I think the best movie was Eternal Sunshine 2.0, aka Synecdoche, New York. Then again, I can't help but wonder how any one movie can be chosen as the designated Best Movie of the Decade.
posted by wet-raspberry at 4:09 PM on December 17, 2009
No Country for Old Men
I did not like this movie. At all. I went it primed to like it. But it bored me senseless. No. I'm not kidding. About twenty minutes before it was over I was so out of my mind with just wanting it to end that a rafter-shattering fart slipped out, easily audible to the whole theater. I didn't even try to blame it on frogs or spiders.
And I consider myself a knower of films. There's few films considered classics I haven't seen and I'm perfectly capable of appreciating craft even if the outcome is not entirely to my tastes.
I feel like some kind of cinematic sociopath when I keep hearing the praise heaped on this film over and over and over. There's clearly a part of me insides that's broken, because it did nothing for me.
posted by Cyrano at 5:42 PM on December 17, 2009 [3 favorites]
I did not like this movie. At all. I went it primed to like it. But it bored me senseless. No. I'm not kidding. About twenty minutes before it was over I was so out of my mind with just wanting it to end that a rafter-shattering fart slipped out, easily audible to the whole theater. I didn't even try to blame it on frogs or spiders.
And I consider myself a knower of films. There's few films considered classics I haven't seen and I'm perfectly capable of appreciating craft even if the outcome is not entirely to my tastes.
I feel like some kind of cinematic sociopath when I keep hearing the praise heaped on this film over and over and over. There's clearly a part of me insides that's broken, because it did nothing for me.
posted by Cyrano at 5:42 PM on December 17, 2009 [3 favorites]
I think the best movie was Eternal Sunshine 2.0, aka Synecdoche, New York.
I can't decide if my favorite Kaufman is Synecdoche, Adaptation, or Being John Malkovich (although that's 1999), but Eternal Sunshine isn't it. At least it's higher than Human Nature and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.
posted by shakespeherian at 5:47 PM on December 17, 2009
I can't decide if my favorite Kaufman is Synecdoche, Adaptation, or Being John Malkovich (although that's 1999), but Eternal Sunshine isn't it. At least it's higher than Human Nature and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.
posted by shakespeherian at 5:47 PM on December 17, 2009
I'm not getting the love being heaped on Sunshine at all. It was OK and quirky but didn't really stick with me at all. I liked Adaptation a lot more.
posted by octothorpe at 6:35 PM on December 17, 2009
posted by octothorpe at 6:35 PM on December 17, 2009
I am really, really disappointed that The Constant Gardener is valued by no one else but me. It's certainly not the best movie of the last decade, but it's in my top 10. Maybe because it was marketed as a thriller-whodunit (it's really sort of a long musing on the nature of self-identification). Science of Sleep is also on my list of underrated movies of the decade.
posted by muddgirl at 6:47 PM on December 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by muddgirl at 6:47 PM on December 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
Pan's Labyrinth, by a long shot - you'd probably hate it. Followed by City of God. Cheers too to History of Violence - just watched it again last night, some tight storytelling, but Viggo was not that great in the lead, so I can't say it ranks (he was much better in Eastern Promises, though the film itself is inferior to HOV).
posted by fellorwaspushed at 8:00 PM on December 17, 2009
posted by fellorwaspushed at 8:00 PM on December 17, 2009
25th Hour and A History of Violence are two of the best films of any decade.
Eternal Sunshine...? Eh, Synecdoche, New York was much better.
posted by porn in the woods at 8:24 PM on December 17, 2009
Eternal Sunshine...? Eh, Synecdoche, New York was much better.
posted by porn in the woods at 8:24 PM on December 17, 2009
OK, while we are all at it, my two pennies worth...
muddgirl - Our daughter saw The Constant Gardener and was so moved by it, she went off to Kenya to work in an orphanage, so it is a powerful movie, well worth seeing.
Cyrano - Thank heavens some one else also doesn't rate No Country For Old Men as a masterpiece. It did nothing for me either, even though I appreciated its craftsmanship.
graventy - Couldn't agree more, 4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days
deserves its high ranking as one of the best films of the decade.
My missing, unheralded film is Fateless which took the work of Nobel Prize winner, Imre Kertesz, and turned it into a cinematic essay on the Holocaust of the highest order.
But there is plenty of films to mine in this list for future watching, even though, as crayz said up-thread, the UI is dreadful.
posted by vac2003 at 8:56 PM on December 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
muddgirl - Our daughter saw The Constant Gardener and was so moved by it, she went off to Kenya to work in an orphanage, so it is a powerful movie, well worth seeing.
Cyrano - Thank heavens some one else also doesn't rate No Country For Old Men as a masterpiece. It did nothing for me either, even though I appreciated its craftsmanship.
graventy - Couldn't agree more, 4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days
deserves its high ranking as one of the best films of the decade.
My missing, unheralded film is Fateless which took the work of Nobel Prize winner, Imre Kertesz, and turned it into a cinematic essay on the Holocaust of the highest order.
But there is plenty of films to mine in this list for future watching, even though, as crayz said up-thread, the UI is dreadful.
posted by vac2003 at 8:56 PM on December 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
What about Amelie? It's somewhere on Telegraph's huge list, but I think it should be in everyone's top 20, at least.
posted by missrachael at 12:55 PM on December 18, 2009
posted by missrachael at 12:55 PM on December 18, 2009
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