Joe: Okay, we need to have an epic conversation over gtalk.
Steve: Ok
Joe: We can’t do it right now, will have to wait until we have time because it’s epic.
Topic: Best movie from 01.01.00 until 12.31.09.
Considering I can’t foresee anything amazing coming out in the next six months I feel safe having a conversation about the last 9.5 years.
Steve: I think this needs to be a multi-part conversation.
Which we can start today and continue until the end of the year.
Joe: Sounds good, but I think you can see we need time carved out for this.
Steve: Yeah.
I gotta do shit right now anyway.
24 hours later…
Steve: The first ten years of the 2000s will be gone soon.
Joe: That’s true. And there have been quite a few movies over the last 110+ months.
Steve: I think to start with…
Lord of the Rings.
I’m not even sure I could imagine what popular culture would look like today if those movies hadn’t been the greatest movies ever.
Joe: Very true, but I think they should be treated as one film because they are one story.
Steve: Perhaps. They were shot all at the same time and they were based on books that were originally intended to be published as one.
But I still say they’re different movies.
And if forced to choose a best one, I’d say Return of the King.
Joe: Agreed.
But, before we get too much into specifics of movies, we should pick either categories or criteria.
Steve: Okay, as long as we agree up front that Return of the King is unquestionably the greatest movie of the past ten years.
Overall.
Joe: You can’t compare Lord of the Rings to Little Miss Sunshine.
I don’t think we can have that discussion just yet.
Steve: Yes you can.
You can compare how much they affected you and how much they affected the world.
Joe: Okay, I refuse and I argue that Speed Racer, a fucking piece of shit film I didn’t even see is the best movie ever, fuck you Steve.
Steve: Wow.
You’re trying to make an argument of it here.
Joe: Okay, I’m calm now.
Steve: Alright, we both know we’re going to end up back at LotR, but let’s start throwing out some great movie titles.
Joe: Anyway, I think we should go top 5, then top in each genre, then best film ever of 2000 – 2009 which will most likely be Return of the King.
Steve: Okay.
Agreed.
Joe: Gladiator
Steve: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Pan’s Labyrinth. Shrek. Munich. Cinderella Man. O Brother Where Art Thou. Pirates of the Cariibbean. Memento. Spider-Man 2. The Passion of the Christ. The Royal Tenenbaums. Iron Man. Batman Begins.
Joe: Hey.
Steve: The Dark Knight
Joe: Slow down.
Okay, here’s the thing, I think if a film has a terrible sequel, it should diminish it some.
For example, Pirates of the Caribbean was good, and number 2 was good, but number three was a turd sandwich.
Steve: Hmm… Maybe.
Joe: It really only applies to Pirates.
Steve: Though I’m pretty comfortable igoring 2 and 3
You can’t have 2 without 3, but 1 works as a standalone.
And it was darn good.
Joe: Well, then we have to discuss story. For example, Matrix 2 and 3 were so bad that Matrix 1 almost sucks by proxy (although that wasn’t a 2000′s film).
Steve: Right, but again. You can ignore the sequels.
Joe: I agree with you, but if we’re talking total package, bad sequels should at least be weighted by like 5%.
Steve: Those two trilogies follow the same pattern.
Joe: No, because Pirates 2 was decent.
Pirates 3 made out with Sierra Mist.
Steve: Right, but stay with me here. One great movie that you can watch by itself.
Followed by a sequel that you couldn’t.
And finished off with a second sequel that was the crappiest thing ever dreamt of by man.
If you wanted to argue that Pirates 3 diminished Pirates 2, I’d have to agree.
Since Pirates 2 had no ending.
But I’m not sure I’m ready to say it diminished Pirates 1.
Joe: …Well, it’s not a huge point, but Dark Knight makes Batman Begins better by association, and the LOTR films are great as stand alones or together.
However, in the extreme case, all three shitty new Star Wars films damage the original 3 by proxy.
In a really serious way, a way that hurts everyone between the ages of 25 and dead
Steve: Yeah, I guess there is some spillover there.
Joe: So, it’s not as bad with Pirates, but I still think it hurts just a bit.
Anyway.
Steve: Okay, maybe.
Joe: Little Miss Sunshine.
Is there a total list we can look at?
Steve: http://digitaldreamdoor.nutsie.com/pages/movie-pages/movie_00s.html
Here’s a partial.
Joe: Holy crap, Old Boy is on the list here.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Steve: Yeah, I know.
So is Episode III
Not the most intelligent list ever.
But helpful to look at.
Hotel Rwanda.
Which I still haven’t seen.
Joe: You know what sneaks on the list?
Oceans 11.
Steve: Yup
Sin City.
Juno.
Joe: Yeah, Juno.
Okay, are you ready for number 1 and number 2 which need to fight it out.
Steve: Ok.
Joe: Return of the King vs. Dark Knight.
Really, those are my top two.
With Gladiator close behind.
Steve: Return of the King easy.
Joe: Mmmmm don’t know.
Steve: Dark Knight is definitely up there, but it doesn’t even begin to approach the epic scale of Return of the King.
And no way does Gladiator rank higher than Passion of the Christ.
Joe: I disagree.
Passion is hard to judge because we’re both Christians, although maybe that counts.
Steve: You’ve always had a disproportionate love of Gladiator.
Joe: Because it’s amazing.
Steve: Dude, you never want to watch any movie that’s not Gladiator.
Joe: Not true.
Steve: It was a great movie, but it’s not on par with these others that we’re talking about.
Joe: I didn’t suggest it was on par with Dark Knight or LotR.
Steve: It just doesn’t touch as many emotional beats as LotR or Passion.
I don’t think Passion is hard to judge.
It made over $600 million in the theater.
That’s not what happens to “Christian” movies.
Joe: I agree, but this wasn’t just a Christian movie, and besides, Da Vinci Code made 600 million, so that just means people are dumb.
Anyway. Okay, my top for now seem to be (in no order yet): Gladiator, LotR.
Passion.
Dark Knight.
Juno has amazing rewatchability.
Steve: Alright, I’ll duplicate that and throw in Fellowship.
I’ll not put Two Towers in the top few.
But the other two for sure.
Joe: Well, I’m just counting LotR as a whole, but we’re in agreement.
Steve: Donnie Darko?
Joe: mmmm.
It was good, but nothing epic about it.
Really good, but not quite there.
Steve: Okay, I just thought of something that made me want to declare a new rule.
Before it comes up.
Rule is: We will not treat animation as a “genre.”
Animation is a medium, not a genre.
Joe: I think I’d agree with that.
Oh, I know it’s not the best, but Anchorman.
Isn’t that in the 2000′s?
Steve: Yeah, that’ll definitely be in the top five comedies.
You know what else we haven’t mentioned?
X-Men 2.
Joe: Oh yeah.
Steve: Before Dark Knight came out, I still had my money on X-Men 2 to be the greatest superhero movie of all time.
Joe: Best non-Batman super hero movie.
Right.
Steve: Hellboy.
Casino Royale.
28 Days Later.
Joe: No Casino Royale.
Fighting that one.
Steve: Actually, everything by Danny Boyle.
How can you fight Casino Royale?
Joe: I watched 30 minutes and couldn’t keep going.
Steve: It’s the best Bond film since Connery.
Are you sure you’re not talking about Quantum of Solace?
That one was lame.
Joe: Well, A. not a Bond fan and B. Didn’t like it.
Nope, talking about Casino Royale.
Steve: Well fuck you.
It’s on the list.
Joe: Nope, it’s off, fuck you harder.
Hey, is there a copy of Kill Bill as one big film?
Steve: Double fuck with a cattle prod.
It’s on.
Joe: It’s off, you get fucked by Mt. St. Helens’ dick.
Steve: Ow.
Joe: Kill Bill, one film?
Steve: Kill Bill isn’t on the list no matter how you edit it.
Joe: I agree, just wondering.
Steve: Yeah, I don’t know.
Was it ever one film?
I thought the whole thing was an experiment in spreading a three act structure over two films.
Joe: Well, the original concept (the “original concept created for marketing purposes”) was that it was one film and needed to be cut up into two for length.
Steve: An experiment that might have worked if the movies had been good.
Joe: Anyway.
You may not like this one but…
The Prestige.
Really good film.
Steve: Yeah, that movie was good.
Definitely worth paying to see.
But I don’t think it’ll make the tops of our lists.
Joe: mmmm…Guess not, but it’s really good and I could watch it over and over.
Steve: The Incredibles.
Finding Nemo.
Joe: I’ll say yes on both of those.
Okay, I’m way behind on work. Let’s postpone until a later date. I think the next conversation we come up with a top 20.
Steve: Okay, agreed.
