Noughty movies
March 26, 2018 5:38 PM   Subscribe

Brett Easton Ellis is not a big fan of 21st Century cinema, but Peter Bradshaw is. Here's why the 2000s is his favourite film decade. Here's a bonus round from the BBC that you've probably seen before. And one response to that.
posted by spaceburglar (34 comments total) 11 users marked this as a favorite
 
is this the thread where we talk about the best film made in the 2000s? i will begin.

there will be blood was the best film made in the 2000s. thank you for your time.
posted by JimBennett at 5:51 PM on March 26, 2018 [7 favorites]


I'm not sure where you're getting that Ellis is not a fan of recent films. Nine out of ten of his list of favorite films are old but so would mine be and I don't hate 21st century films; I don't think that they've been around long enough to be properly evaluated. I do love There Will be Blood but is it better than Days of Heaven? I don't know, it's really too soon to tell; ask me again in ten years or so.
posted by octothorpe at 6:04 PM on March 26, 2018


there will be blood was the best film made in the 2000s. thank you for your time.


Pshaw. It's not even the best American film in its year of release. That would be No Country for Old Men.
posted by dobbs at 6:15 PM on March 26, 2018 [16 favorites]


Counterpoint: Why 1999 was the Best Year in Movie History
posted by J.K. Seazer at 6:22 PM on March 26, 2018 [2 favorites]


Pshaw. It's not even the best American film in its year of release. That would be No Country for Old Men.

doesn’t even compare in my estimation, but hey give it twenty years and one of us will be right. and if we’re talkin coens a serious man is the superior film.
posted by JimBennett at 6:23 PM on March 26, 2018 [1 favorite]


I would consult him for advice on, oh, best places to throw up during a book tour appearance; movies don't come to mind
posted by thelonius at 6:30 PM on March 26, 2018 [5 favorites]


octothorpe, B.E.E has been fairly consistent in this opinion throughout his podcasts. Unfortunately I couldn't find any written material to back this up, and I should be more specific, it's particularly US cinema he is disheartened by --- but struggles to think of other examples that could be rightfully used in film school.
posted by spaceburglar at 6:30 PM on March 26, 2018


Difficult and confusing thread for me, firstly because I dislike the Guardian’s film reviews in general and Bradshaw in particular, but thought that was a fun and well-argued piece of contrarianism; secondly because as much as I prefer the Coens to PT Anderson, I rewatched TWBB recently and I think there’s a strong argument for it over NCFOM (which is itself amazing, and much more accessible).

Anyway, the confusion and stress is balanced out by the many films in the various links that I now really want to see, so thanks for the post!
posted by chappell, ambrose at 6:43 PM on March 26, 2018 [1 favorite]


That list by Ari Mattes is (delightfully) bonkers!
posted by materialgirl at 6:48 PM on March 26, 2018


Being disagreeable is pretty much BEE’s job, so... *shrug*.
posted by Artw at 6:52 PM on March 26, 2018


One of the most awkward experiences of my cinema-going life happened while watching A Serious Man.

When the film came out in the wake of the financial crisis, I was extremely poor and living in a lovely European city by the sea, along with lots of other similarly poor people also in their early twenties, all of us half-heartedly trying to make ends meet and generally feeling like a Lost Generation, reliving the 1920's in glorious technicolor sunshine, except with extra cocaine and different shoes.

One relatively cheap pleasure was to go a little way up the coast where there was a mostly deserted shopping mall. In the mall was a cinema, which at the time was the only place in or near to the city that showed foreign films with subtitles, rather than dubbing. So this became a pretty regular treat with my girlfriend if we had the money, and if we were really flush we'd grab Burger King on our way in and eat it during the film.

I should note at this point that the cinema wasn't an arthouse place - far from it. It was a mall cinema in the middle of nowhere, part of a national chain, and the head office had clearly decided that they might as well have one cinema in the city that catered to people wanting to watch films with subtitles, and it might as well be this one, since nobody went to it anyhow. My abiding memories of the place are that it wasn't cleaned very regularly, so there was always a lot of popcorn on the floor, and that they frequently had problems with the sound that were so severe that they'd have to stop the movie and give everyone their money back. Films were mostly blockbuster stuff, although prior to A Serious Man, we'd also seen Antichrist there. (Our first date, and I'd insisted on seeing it instead of The Hangover. Despite the baby scene, the scissors scene, etc, the date somehow went well. Maybe because my girlfriend had been a classically trained violinist pre-crisis? She spent the rest of our relationship humming lascia ch'io pianga from the soundtrack.)

So, in keeping with our tradition, we went to a midweek, mid-afternoon showing and, thanks to a last-minute decision that we could afford Burger King, we strolled in late, having already missed the golem scene.

The place was full. Completely booked out.

We made half of a row stand up to let us in and then, once we sat down, we had to eat all of the Burger King that we'd bought (we weren't in a financial position to waste food). Rustling paper bags, smells and all.

Despite a couple of years of slumming it, my middle-class background rushed back with a vengeance. You probably could have seen my face glowing in the darkness. I spent the entirety of the (remaining) runtime wishing that I could have disappeared through a crack in the sticky popcorn-littered floor.

Still, great film though.
posted by chappell, ambrose at 8:04 PM on March 26, 2018 [7 favorites]


Want to know why the 2000s were such a good decade? A big part of it is a numbers game. International production grew steadily, supported by strong investment, which also benefitted indie productions stateside. The effect of the financial crash on that investment is plain in the data, but we've since recovered from it.

Will people look back at the 2010s with the same glowing reverence that these articles have for the 2000s? It's certainly possible, with films like Call Me By Your Name (2017), Moonlight (2016), Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), Boyhood (2014), Twelve Years A Slave (2013), It's Such A Beautiful Day (2012), A Separation (2011), and Inception (2010) on the list (admittedly, not everyone will agree with all of those picks, but that's fine - there are plenty of other films to choose from).

Certainly, the decades feel different (name your ten best performances from the 2000s, vs. from the 2010s, and compare the number of white men in each), but there's no denying that both decades are overflowing with spectacular films.
posted by belarius at 11:04 PM on March 26, 2018 [3 favorites]


The 10s have already surpassed the 00s, for me anyways. I'm no pro critic but I watch way too many and am constantly updating personal best of lists and most of the 00 movies have gradually faded off. In The Mood For Love, Chlldren of Men, Inland Empire and Inglorious Basterds are the only ones that have really held their own - even There Will Be Blood and No Country, generally held up as the twin towers for the decade, while great, always felt like I'm supposed to love them more than I do.
posted by mannequito at 11:50 PM on March 26, 2018


> "Pshaw. It's not even the best American film in its year of release. That would be No Country for Old Men."

In 2007? No Country for Old Men? There Will Be Blood? Nah.

Enchanted.

I'm not joking.
posted by kyrademon at 1:46 AM on March 27, 2018 [6 favorites]


Want to know why the 2000s were such a good decade? A big part of it is a numbers game. International production grew steadily, supported by strong investment, which also benefitted indie productions stateside.

I completely agree and will say the 2010s are going to be fine too thanks to international production and the growing number of new, non-white guy, voices in movies. Major studios are in a shake up mode, where their old ways of business are reaching an end and they haven't (yet?) managed to stabilize and control the industry like they had previously. With lots of demand for new product in streaming markets, that brings opportunity for experimenting in ways which haven't been seen since the collapse of the old Hollywood studio system and regrowth of world wide film production that led to such huge changes in film in the 60s and 70s, before the control could be regained by the big companies.
posted by gusottertrout at 2:39 AM on March 27, 2018


Some of my favorites from that decade are:
The Fall: IMDB, trailer, Offscreen, a visually luscious story about stories
In the Cut: IMDB, trailer, Senses of Cinema, Jane Campion's erotic thriller
Pulse: IMDB, trailer, Slant, a horror film about people fading away
Shadow of the Vampire: IMDB, trailer, AV Club, a film about Murnau trying to create Nosferatu, except the star is a real vampire
The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra: IMDB, trailer, 1000 Misspent Hours, a parody of 50's sci-fi/horror films
posted by heatvision at 3:29 AM on March 27, 2018 [2 favorites]


Shouldn't the words "so far" appear somewhere in this discussion?
posted by Paul Slade at 4:51 AM on March 27, 2018


My maybe top ten for the 2000s:

- In the Mood for Love
- Children of Men
- Up
- Pan's Labyrinth
- Adaptation
- Zodiac
- Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
- I'm Not There
- Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
- No Country for Old Men
posted by octothorpe at 4:52 AM on March 27, 2018 [2 favorites]


Wrong !! wrong!! wrong!!

Everybody knows Hot Fuzz is the best movie of the 2000s.
posted by Pendragon at 5:19 AM on March 27, 2018 [13 favorites]


I admire Olivier Assayas's decision to cheat and have twenty top-10 movies involving a seven way tie for third place.
posted by fleacircus at 5:36 AM on March 27, 2018 [2 favorites]


Haha yes, heatvision, Lost Skeleton of Cadavra is absolutely one of the most hilarious things I've seen. Not merely a parody, but an absurdist masterpiece imho. Highly recommended!
posted by sapagan at 6:06 AM on March 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


if we were really flush we'd grab Burger King on our way in and eat it during the film.
YOU MONSTER.
posted by pxe2000 at 6:38 AM on March 27, 2018 [3 favorites]


Grumpybear69's entirely unqualified list of the best so far in the 2010s:

- Take Shelter
- Birdman
- Under The Skin
- The Lobster
- Fast & Furious 6
- Mad Max: Fury Road
- It's Such A Beautiful Day
- Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
- Spy
- Get Out

This list may be different after I get around to seeing:

- Moonlight
- 12 Years A Slave
- A Separation
- An Incredible Woman
posted by grumpybear69 at 7:57 AM on March 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


doesn’t even compare in my estimation, but hey give it twenty years and one of us will be right. and if we’re talkin coens a serious man is the superior film.

This conversation is ridiculous. Fast and Furious came out that year.
posted by maxsparber at 8:13 AM on March 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


Get with the program, grumpybear. Were talking about the best movies from the naughts, not the tens.
posted by Pendragon at 8:31 AM on March 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


I was just being contrarian, Pendragon, like the article! But if I must:

- Mulholland Dr
- Spirited Away
- Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
- Almost Famous
- Eternal Sunshine
- Adaptation
- Let The Right One In
- Hot Fuzz
- Donnie Darko
- Talk To Her
posted by grumpybear69 at 8:36 AM on March 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


God I love these threads. More to watch!

Just want to add Trance, from 2013. IMDB, trailer

Auctioneer conspires with thieves to steal a painting. Gets hit in the head, forgets where he's stashed it, they hire a hypnotherapist to help him recover the memory.

THAT'S NOT WHAT THE MOVIE IS ABOUT.

My all time favorite film, at the moment. Brings me to tears every time I watch it. Masterful. Not from the 00's. Don't care.
posted by ZakDaddy at 9:40 AM on March 27, 2018


heatvision, I agree, Shadow of the Vampire is such a fun movie.
posted by jouke at 10:35 AM on March 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

It’s a perfect film.

I like grumpybear’s list, but Children of Men needs to be on it. I’d probably take out Talk to Her, which I know I saw but I can’t remember a moment of. Something about a coma?

Saddest Music in the World, anyone?

Also, Y Tu Mamá También. If you’re going to rip off Truffaut, you might as well do it right.
posted by mr_roboto at 10:37 AM on March 27, 2018 [4 favorites]


Ghost Writer is one of my most favourite movies.
posted by jouke at 10:38 AM on March 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


Just stopping by to go to bat for 35 SHOTS OF RUM (2008) directed by Claire Denis, a movie that has both haunted me and kept me awestruck since I first viewed it ca. 2010.
posted by dreamlanding at 11:35 AM on March 27, 2018


Bradshaw is right. Movies have never been better. I used to be obssessed with the films of the 70s, but amazing stuff is being done right now, by the indies, by the studios, internationally (chinese film right now is amazing! If you haven't seen a touch of sin watch it tonight!) and on television. It's a good time to escape into the screen and forget that the world is going to hell.
posted by dis_integration at 12:27 PM on March 27, 2018


Donnie Darko

Donnie Darko‽ It was an overconfident student film swinging for David Lynch, and missing.
posted by acb at 1:13 PM on March 27, 2018


Oh, my bad, posted a comment without a list, dopey me. Here's ten of my favorites that had trailers and need some more love:

(English Titles)
Syndromes and a Century
A Town Called Panic
Beeswax
Head-On
Police, Adjective
Domino
I am Love
Goodbye, Dragon Inn
Interkosmos
A Peck on the Cheek

Oh what the hell, I'm gonna go with Assayas rules:
demonlover, Offside, The Taste of Tea, Lourdes, Movern Callar, Oxhide II, The Pope's Toilet, Werckmeister Harmonies, Mad Detective, Big Man Japan
posted by gusottertrout at 1:53 PM on March 27, 2018


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