Films of the Decade: 100-51

Just a few notes before we get started. This list is part one of two of a Top 100 films of the past decade. For films to qualify they had to have been released in the UK between 2000 and 2009, I have also decided to include only one film from a franchise so you will only see one spider-man, one Bourne, one Bond and so on. So without further ado here's the first part of the countdown from 100 to 51.

100. Ocean's 11 (2001)Dir: Steven Soderbergh

This film was slick,clever and just plain cool as it reinvented the heist genre for a new decade. It saw George Clooney's Danny Ocean form a band of crooks to rob three casinos in one night. The script plays out beautifully never letting us know what's going on until the very end. It also made a headline star of George Clooney meanwhile giving established stars like Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts a chance to refresh their image. Stylistically pleasing, Ocean's 11 isn't exactly thought-provoking cinema but at the same time its certainly very good at what it does. Forget the two mediocre sequels and remember how brilliant the original really was.

99. Wonder Boys (2000)Dir: Curtis Hanson

A personal favourite of mine this features Michael Douglas at is best as an English professor trying to finish his latest novel while finding an odd protege and continuing an affair with his boss. Douglas is extremely compelling while Tobey Maguire is excellent as the troubled student and Robert Downey Jr. provides brilliant support as Douglas' gay literary agent. Well structured and thoughtful, this was Curtis Hanson's very personal project between his stylish 20s crime thrillers and his rap musicals for me this is one of Hanson's best.

98. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005)Dir: Tommy Lee Jones

One of the little films that could, this western saw the directorial debut of its star Tommy Lee Jones as a cowboy whose friend, the titular Estrada had been killed and Jones was after justice and a proper burial for his friend. This was a real old school western based on revenge and a promise made between friends, Jones captured the essence of Sergio Leone in his direction and there was also a brilliant support role for Barry Pepper as the border control officer who kills Estrada and gets taken captive by Jones. Although there wasn't a promised western revival this did sow the seeds for another western film that rederfined the genre. But this was simple film-making at its best.

97. Super Size Me (2004)Dir: Morgan Spurlock

An example of how documentary film making changed in the last decade as Morgan Spurlock decided to see what would happen if he ate nothing but McDonalds meals for 30 days. The results, as you can imagine, were shocking the meals actually did things to his internal organs and it took him a few months to lose the weight that he had put on. Spurlock was an entertaining narrator and almost someone you could relate too rather than someone who preached at you. The film had little suprises in terms of targets but was very well made and thoughtfully put together.

96. Zatoichi (2003)Dir: Takeshi Kitano

Another film that harks back to a Goldne age this time to the old kung fu films. With Beat Takeshi playing the legendary Zaiotichi, a blind wanderer the action was built up thoughtfully and executed brilliantly with tightly choreagraphed fight sequences. But this was also extremely well written with characters that you could root for and actually very funny. These kind of fims don't come along as much as they did, which is a shame, but then it does make us appreciate fine film-making even more.


95. Best in Show (2000)Dir: Christopher Guest

Christopher Guest of course will always be best known as one third of Spinal Tap but during the noughties he created a string of spoof films ranging in quality. From Waiting to Guffman to A Mighty Wind to For You Consideration, the best however was this dog show spoof which saw him assemble his players for the first time. We had Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara as a put-upon couple, Jennifer Coolidge as a gay gold-digger and best of all Fred Willard as the hilarous dog show commentator. Guest's humour isn't for everyone but he always writes a good balanced script full of characters you can root for.

94. Minority Report (2002)Dir: Stephen Spielberg

Spielberg had an arkward decade - War of the Worlds, The Terminal, Catch Me If You Can; all had certain elements of greatness but also lacked in certain areas of storytelling. But this all out sci-fi actioner from the director harked back to his earlier films while building on a distopian society of the future in which crimes a pre-told and advertising and product placement is rife. Tom Cruise played his standard man on a mission type role but it was Colin Farrell who really impressed for the first time as the antagonist of the piece. Filmed sometimes in bright colours and other times through a bleak lens, Spielberg was able to capture the not too distant future in this very well made and entertaining film.

93. An Inconvenient Truth (2006) Dir: Davis Guggenheim

Al Gore went from vice president to oscar winner with this film which was an essentially a slide show on global warming. What made it so winning was Gore's charm and passion for his cause was immense. The small sketches that split up Gore's large speeches were entertaining but this was an interesting, powerful and thought-provoking documentary which try to tackle a very real issue that is effecting our society. Still don't think it should've won that Best Song Oscar though.

92. The Counterfeiters (2007) Dir: Stefan Ruzowitzky

The first ever Austrian film to win the best foreign language film at The Oscars this one actually focuses on a Nazi war effort. Tensley plotted we follow the adventures of the men who try and stay alive in a Nazi concentration camp by forging money for the officers. This is drama at its best as Ruzowitsky directs a very interesting piece of history giving us the style and feeling of the time and creating some very real characters in the process.

91. Traffic (2000)Dir: Steven Soderbergh

In the early years of the decade, Soderbergh made three films one was Erin Brokovich a feelgood tale of female empowerment, one we've already seen was Ocean's 11 and the third was this tale of interwining stories about how drugs effect lives. So Michael Douglas is the governer appointed to spearhead the war on drugs but finds out his daughter is a cocaine addict. Meanwhile Catheirne Zeta Jones plays the wife forced to try and keep her husband's drug business going while he's been jailed and Benicio Del Toro plays the morally amibigous Mexican cop a role for which he won an Oscar. Shot in a bleak yet colourful way Soderbegh makes us question our feelings towards the way we handle drug dealers and drug addicts, this film also won him his most deserved Best Director Oscar.

90. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)Dir: Andrew Dominik

Returning to the Western this one came out of the leftfield to surprise people. Although the big star name in this was Brad Pitt as Jesse James, the real star his was Casey Affleck who finally came out from underneath his brother's shadow to play the man who shot Jesse James. The beauty of this film is the great camera work from the legendary Roger Deakins who is able to capture the American west beautifully as the story continues. Although perhaps a little overlong this still harks back to the extrovegant John Ford westerns of old and totally dserves a place on the list.

89. Spiderman 2 (2004)Dir: Sam Raimi

The 2000s was definitely the year of the franchise as each summer we got more and more sequels, prequels and threequels. While the original Spider-man redefined the superhero genre focusing on the characters behind the masks I found a little bit flabby in places. However the second one felt a lot fresher and dealt with the questions about how do you maintain a normal life and still be a superhero? That is what Maguire's Peter Parker has to deal with in this film. Alfred Molina, meanwhile, shows real heart as Doc Ock the scientist who becomes evil after he loses his love when his experiment goes wrong. Reality mixed with comic book fantasy has never worked as well as in this film and although its a little cheesy at times it still is able to deal with real life issues in kind of a fun way, everything you want from a summer blockbuster.

88. Tsotsi (2005)Dir: Gavin Hood

While Slumdog Millionaire transported us to Mumbai and City of God let us follow Brazilian street gangs, Tsotsi really gave us a feel of life on the streets of Johannesburg. The titular Tsotsi is the teenage head of a street gang who frequently robs the richer members of the city, during a carjacking he accidentally kidnaps a baby and then struggles to know what to do with it. Hood's film takes place over six days as Tsotsi is forced to re-examine his life. Simple in story but fantastically shot we are given a real portrait of teenage street gangs in South Africa, a brilliant film and deserved winner of the best foreign language Oscar.

87. Knocked Up (2007)Dir: Judd Apatow

If there was one king of comedy over the second half of the decade it was Judd Apatow who as a writer, producer and director gave us a raft of new comedy stars and a combination of gross-out comedy and heart. Apatow first started on TV with two shows that were canned after one season - Freaks and Geeks and Underclared and then along came his first feature the 40 Year Old Virgin. Although it was second feature, Knocked Up that made him a big name and made a star out of Seth Rogen as the slacker who gets career girl Katherine Heigel pregnant and then has to decide what to do next. It was a coming of age film for twentysomethings as well as a romantic comedy as well as feature plenty of blokey banter between Rogen and his roommates. Vey funny but more than that it was sweet and made us think about the moments that define us and what it means to be a grown-up.

86. Together (2000)Dir: Lukas Moodysson

Moodyson's first film of the decade continued where Show Me Love finished off by giving us another slice of Swedish smalltown life again featuring on a bunch of characters unsure of there place in life. This one was set in 1975 and focused on a man living in a commune who bought his sister and her two young children to live with him. Themes of sexuality, first love and belonging are all explored in this very darkly funny character piece with great performances from an ensemble cast. Moodyson is a master of creating humour out of everyday feelings and characteristics and Together demonstrates that more than any other film he has made this decade.

85. Moulin Rouge (2001)Dir: Baz Lurhmann

A crazy idea that kind of worked. Lurhmann played with the boundaries of the musical genre to create a brand new idea incorporating popular music into an old fashioned romance between a penniless writer and an exotic showgirl. This was glitzy and glamourous but also featured old-school storytelling and some brilliant singing and dancing. It also made Nicole Kidman a headline name for the first time.

84. Goodbye Lenin (2003)Dir: Wolfgang Becker

The words German and Comedy rarely go together but they did for this very funny satire as a boy has to pretend to his very frail mother that the Berlin wall did not collapse and that East Germany is very much still alive. Featuring a cracking lead performance by Daniel Brul as the son desperate to keep his mothers dreams alive this had a very good script and excellently evoked memories of early nineties Germany.

83. Control (2007)Dir: Anton Corbijn

Biopics don't come much more real than this as we explored the life of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis. From his early days to putting the band together and meeting his wife to his later days where he goes off the rails and starts to miss gigs and irritate his band mates. The film, which is filmed entirely in black and white, evokes a bleak landscape and a troubled lead played with perfection by newcomer Sam Riley who didn't just do an impression of Curtis but made the role his own. Overall this told a tale of a musical icon whose light burnt out too soon.

82. Y tu mama tambien (2001)Dir: Alfonso Cuaron

A very stylised and funny Mexian comedy this bought Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal together for the first time and made them both very succesful as two boys who go on a road trip with a slightly older lady and get up to plenty of mischief on the way. Cuaron's direction is extremely frantic but at the same time gives us a sense of purpose as the two boys both learn things about themselves and their relationship. It is of course very sexy as well but at its heart is a coming-of-age story of two friends and the impact that this trip will have on both of them. Seeing as how racy this film is it is very surprising that Cuaron went on to direct a Harry Potter film three years later.

81. I’ve Loved You So Long (2008)Dir: Philippe Claudel

Phillipe Claudel's drama has a great script which gives as a very flawed character from the beginning and bit by bit reveals certain elements of her character. Kristen Scott Thomas gives, in my opinion, her best performance to date, as a woman who has just been released from prison after killing her child. The film builds on people's perceptions of her character and how our judgments are sometimes wrong all in all a very well made and well executed drama.

80. The Orphanage (2007)Dir: Juan Antonio Bayona

Bayona's creepy thriller managed to be lot scarier than most Hollywood horror movies this decade. The film follows Laura, who buys the orpahange that she was raised in for herself and her husband to raise their adopted son who has HIV. While the parents plan to open the orphanage for disabled children, the son starts to see imaginary friends and then disappears. Bayona builds up the tension little by little and goes for small shocks throughout the film before giving us the big revelation at the end. It takes a lot for a film to capture the imagination and enthrall you as much as The Orphanage did me which says a lot of the ensemble cast as well as the stunning cinematography.

79. Whale Rider (2002)Dir: Niki Caro

Supposedly a 'family film' Niki Caro's movie about a young girl trying to fit into a mainly masculine Maori culture speaks more about heritage and gender culture than most adult films. The film gave 13 year old Keisha Castle Hughes an Oscar nomination for her stunning portrayal of Pai who is the first girl to be the ancestor of the legendary Whale Rider who is traditionaly the chief of their clan. The film deals with the struggle between Pai and her grandfather who thinks the downfall of their society is beginning with Pai being a girl. As well as Hughes' mature realistic portrayal of Pai the film is beautifully shot and there is a lesson for us all to learn about love and acceptance in it.

78. Moon (2009)Dir: Duncan Jones

I've already spoken about this film in my Films of 2009 but just to say that Ducan Jones' movie was one of the movies that redefined sci-fi in 2009. Its very chlaustrophobic setting combined with a stellar performance from Sam Rockwell made this a true modern classic.

77.Dancer in the Dark (2000)Dir: Lars Von Trier

Lars Von Trier has made a name for himself as a revolutionary director and he proved this in two films he directed this decade. First up was this part-musical, part-fantasy set in a small town commmunity it starred Bjork who surprised a lot of people in her honest portrayal of a small town factory worker who's going blind but wants to look after her son. The songs are very unique but Bjork makes them work a very warm and visually stunning film this blurred the boundaries between old school musical and contemporary storytelling.

76. Royal Tennenbaums (2001)Dir: Wes Anderson

Although Wes Anderson hit the big time at the end of the Noughties with Rushmore, Royal Tenenbaums is his biggest and arguably his best work. Focusing on an extremely disfunctional family the film manages to extract great performances from its astounding ensemble cast most notably Gene Hackman in his last great role as well as Luke Wilson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Affleck, Angelica Huston and Bill Murray. Every character has certain flaws and that is why we follow them even though some are quite unpleasant. The soundtrack on this film is astounding as is the art direction, the Tenenbaum house in particular is very intricitely styled. At its heart though is a film that explores family dynamics in a very odd and modern family.

75. High Fidelity (2000) Dir: Stephen Frears

One of my personal favourites is the film which is like a romantic comedy for guys. An adaptation of Nick Hornby's bestseller the action is placed in Chicago rather than London as Rob Gordon looks back over his exes and tries to cope with his recent break-up. John Cusack gives his only truly great performance of the decade as Rob and holds the whole film together while Jack Black grabbed the attention for the first time as shop employee Barry. The soundtrack rocks out and the film speaks to men everywhere about relationships and life in general.

74. Ten (2002)Dir: Abbas Kirostami

After taking a course on Iranian film I became a big fan and this film in particular, directed by master filmaker Kirostami, was particularly impressive. This film explores what it means to be a woman in modern day Iran and it features a female taxi driver's conversations with ten different passengers. The film explores themes of gender, religion, family and love all within the confines setting of a vehicle and brilliantly captures the confined environment of the woman simply named 'driver'.

73. Dogville (2003)Dir: Lars Von Trier

Another Von Trier film this time a more starry affair as Nicole Kidman stars as a woman on the run from the mob who is accepted into a small Colardao town. Themes of allieniation are explored as the town begins to punish Kidman more and more. The cast, which also includes Paul Bettanny, James Caan and Lauren Bacall, are all fantastic but the real quality of this film lies in its bareness having all its house constructed on a massive sound stage we can see the entirety of Dogville in one fell swoop.

72. Adaptation (2002)Dir: Spike Jonze

After teaming up together on Being John Malkovich, director Spike Jonze and writer Charlie Kauffman teamed up once again for this very original idea where Kauffman presented a dramatised version of himself trying to adapt an unadaptable book - The Orchid Thief . We also see the book's author researching it and her meeting and falling in love with orchard hunter John Laroche. The film is entirely surreal as we meet Kauffman's fictional identical twin and see the romance between author Susan and Laroche. The film is filled with great performances Nic Cage is great as the twins while Meryl Streep reinvents herself as Susan and Chris Cooper won an Oscar as Laroche. What was a failed adaptation actually became a really funny and really original film whic paved the way for another Kauffman movie that would come two years later.

71. Battle Royale (2000)Dir: Fukasaku Kinji

Bloody horror or social commentary, Kinji's film sees Beat Takeshi give a compellingly chilly performance as a teacher who makes a class of children kill each other on an island because he's tired of insolence. Great acting and well written this is memorbale for its shock value as well as its brilliant camerawork. This is something that would only exist in Eastern cinema I couldn't even imagine a Hollywood remake of this.


70. Up (2009)Dir: Pete Docter and Bob Peterson

Again one that was mentioned in the 2009 list, Up will continue to be memorable for its first 10 minutes of an emotional journey however there is a lot to enjoy throughout the film especially the talking dogs. Not Pixar's best but still better than most live action movies.

69.Juno (2007)Dir: Jason Reitman

After his satirical Thank You For Smoking, Jason Reitman directed a film scripted by former stripper Diablo Cody. Juno is a story of teenage pregnancy which sees the titular character decide to give up her baby to a professional couple who are desperate for a baby. The film is great because of Cody's Oscar winning script as well as the ensemble cast giving great performances most notably Ellen Page as Juno, Michael Cera as the baby's father and suprisingly Jennifer Garner as the adoptive mother. A great style and a unique feel, Juno is one indie film that managed to break out into the main stream.

68. A Serious Man (2009)Dir: Joel Coen

Another one that was mentioned recently, The Coens film is like a Yiddish American Beauty. Full of beautifully shot sequences and a great central performance from Michael Stuhlberg who was this weekend robbed off an award by Robert Downey Jr's OTT Sherlock Holmes. Not a big film like the Coens' recent work this is much more reminiscent of their earlier more subtle works and that's why it stands out as a modern classic.

67. The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)Dir: Walter Salles

A story of a young Che Guevara on an eight month journey around Latin American on a battered old bike. The highlights of this film are the stunning photography catching a truly life-changing journey and the two performances from Rodrigo Le Sera as the sidekick Alberto Granada and especially Gael Garcia Bernal as Guevara. A great script shows us a young Che and it gives us a view of what Central America was like in the late 1930s.

66. District 9 (2009)Dir: Neill Blomkamp

Another recent one, this sci-fi movie which comments on the Arpatheid as prawn-like aliens are sectioned off into a South African camp - the District 9 of the title. The film comments on acceptance and allienation and is just a very original film in its style and message and a lot better than the over-hyped Avatar. Plus the lead performance from Shartlo Copley hasn't been highlighted enough an accomplished performer who surprsingly has just started acting.

65. United 93 (2006)Dir: Paul Greengrass

In the latter part of the decade films started to deal with the tragic story of the two planes crashing into the two towers of the World Trade Center. While Oliver Stone's World Trade Center was an overly emotional film about fire-fighters starring Nic Cage, it was the Greengrass' non-starry United 93 which best captured the event. Set almost entirely on one of the planes that crashed in the World Trade Center, we see in real time the realisation from all the passengers that they are actually going to die at the hands of terrorists. The fact that there are no recognisable actors in the cast adds to the feel of realism in the film and the tense cinematography is just brilliant. Greengrass marked himself out as one of the best directors of the last decade and this film is just a great study of one of the most memorable and tragic events of the last ten years.

64. Shrek (2001)Dir: Andrew Adamson

Shrek was a breath of fresh air when it started a complete antidote to the Disney fairytale movies this was the first film to rival Pixar in the computer generated animation genre. For the two people who haven't seen it, the film focuses on grumpy green Scottish ogre who is the antihero of a piece which starts out as a classic fairytale and on the way dispells all the myths that Disney has tuaght us. Eddie Murphy had a career resurgance of soughts voicing the wise-cracking donkey while Mike Myers delivers his only good performance of the decade as Shrek. Funnier than most live action comedies and at times darkly satrical especially for U movie, this one is definitely for the whole family.

63. Munich (2005)Dir: Steven Spielberg

The other of Spielberg's decent films of the decade this depicted the five men who were tasked to kill the men responsible for killing eleven Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich olympics. Incredibly dark in tone and shot in a very disjointed style this one of Spielberg's less Spielbergy films. There are two great performances one from Eric Bana and the other from a pre-Bond Daniel Craig who give us the impression of two of the men who are unsure if the eye-for-an-eye technique is the right way to approach their mission. Incredibly powerful stuff from one of the best directors of all time.

62. Pirates of the Caribbean (2003)Dir: Gore Verbinski

The ultimate popcorn flick of the decade, Pirates of the Caribbean was a complete surprise for most, a film based on a ride at Disneyland starring among others the elf from Lord of the Rings, the girl from Bend it Like Beckham, Miles from This Life and Gareth from The Office. As we all know this mainly survived on the performance from Johnny Depp as the Keith Richards-esque Jack Sparrow one of the worst pirates of all time, in fact Depp was that good that he was nominated for an Oscar. The action scenes are incredibly well shot and the script is very witty indeed. It has become slightly tarnished thanks to two very average sequels but the original still stands up as one of the best blockbusters of all time.

61. Before Sunset (2004)Dir: Richard Linklater

The sequel that no-one saw coming as Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke reunite nine years after 1995's Before Sunrise as the two people who spent one day and night together in Vienna. Both of them have since grown up Hawke has become an author writing a book about the first movie while Delpy has dipped her foot into various careers. Before Sunset has more of the same as the first film and tries to answer the questions of what happens when we meet the one that we thought had got away years ago? The script is better than before as both actors helped contribute to it and what we get is an incredibly romantic and funny, romantic comedy with a very open-ending. Will we get a third film in another nine years to see what happened to Jesse and Celine? Or will their fate be left ambigous forever more?

60. Crash (2005)Dir: Paul Haggis

Not to be confused with the sex-in-cars film of the nineties, Paul Haggis' Crash was a tale of race in modern day California. An ensemble cast played interconnected characters who all had their preconceptions of race changed in one way or another. Stand-outs in the cast include Matt Dillon's racist cop whose views change throughout the film, Sandra Bullock's senator's wife and Don Cheadle as the chief of police. Brilliantly scripted and tensley filmed this judges people's preconceptions of what it means to be of another race in our increasingly multi-cultural society. For me it rightly beat Brokeback Mountain to the best film prize at The Oscars and has a lot to say about modern society.

59. Shaun of the Dead (2004)Dir: Edgar Wright

British comedy films, especially those featuring ex-sitcom stars, are notoriously bad. Therefore this comedy zombie film starring Spaced's Simon Pegg and Nick Frost was such a breath of fresh air. This mainly is all about one man stuck-in-a-rut trapped with a slobbish best mate and about to lose his girlfriend his life changes during a zombie attack and he is forced to become a hero. This is one of the comedy films of the decade thanks to some brilliant one-liners, great direction from Wright and mainly that scene where they clobber the old man to death with the pool cues to the sounds of Don't Stop Me Now by Queen.

58. Grizzly Man (2005)Dir: Werner Herzog

A film that explores our relationship with nature and how far we should take it is explored in this documentary from Werner Herzog. Herzog tells the tale of Timothy Treadwell who lived among grizzly bears in Alaska for many years before in 2003 they eventually killed him. Grizzly Man features plenty of self-filmed footage of Treadwell trying to tame the bears and how they ultimately came to kill him and his girlfriend. Herzog brilliantly presents the footage weaving between the story of Treadwell and interviews with people who knew him and saw it coming. This is a great story and a study of our mortality and how far we should push our natural instincts. A great documentary should reveal a subject we don't know about and make us challenge our preconceptions and this does both.

57. House of Flying Daggers (2004)Dir: Yimou Zhang

Themes of betrayal, love and war are all captured beautifully in Zhang's martial arts epic. The film features some great acting most notably from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon's Ziyi Zhang as a dancer captured by two captains who they think can lead them to the revolutionary faction - The House of Flying Daggers. This features some spectacular choreography as well as breathtaking Oscar-nominated cinematography and is one of the best martial arts movies of all time.

56. Gosford Park (2001)Dir: Robert Altman

Robert Altman always manages to subvert different genres and this time he does it with the murder mystery. Set in the 1920s and based losely on La règle du jeu and featuring an ensemble cast we see Michael Gambon's lord-of-the-manor get murdered and we are presented with a large list of suspects. Julian Fellows' script perfectly compliments Atlman's direction and the whole thing is lavishly designed. Most of the performances are outstanding most notably Eileen Atkins' household manager, Helen Mirren's cook and Maggie Smith's eccentric aristocrat in fact the only weak link is Stephen Fry's bumbling detective. Greatly plotted and brilliantly directed Gosford Park recreates the style of the old-fashioned murder mystery and gives it a modern day twist.

55. The Hurt Locker (2008) Dir: Katherine Bigalow

Also featured in my list of the year so I won't ramble on. The Hurt Locker is the best film about the Iraq war focusing on a bomb disposal squad its lack of big name actors and its compelling cinematography means we actually are engrossed and believe in this tale of three men trying to survive war and themselves.

54. This is England (2006) Dir: Shane Meadows

After several small movies, Shane Meadows won crtical acclaim in 2004 with revenge thriller Dead Man's Shoes before hitting the big time with This Is England a story of a skinhead gang and the young boy who joins them. Meadows is able to capture the feel of a dissatisfied 1980s and weaves together political and social unrest with a comic of age story. Stephen Graham is brilliant as the mixed-up racist skinhead Combo but it is Thomas Turgoose who delivers a superbly mature performance (he was 13 at the time) as Shaun. This for me was one of the best British films of the decade as it was funny, violent and extremly compelling and marked Meadows out as one of our finest new directors.

53.Changeling (2008) Dir: Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood continued to establish himself as one of the finest directors of all time during the noughties. Although he only directed himself a few times (Million Dollar Baby, Gran Torino) he was able to capture any time period perfectly and this 1920s-set drama is just one example. As the mother whose son goes missing, Angelina Jolie is frankly superb often carrying the film single-handedly. We get themes of police corruption, loss of identity and the struggle for justice during the film and we are transported into an unjust landscape. This is just a superbly directed piece of film-making and is captivating from beginning to end.

52. Casino Royale (2006)Dir: Martin Campbell

After The World is Not Enough and 2002's Die Another Day the Bond franchise had started to become a parody of itself. Luckily in 2006 Bond was rebooted and given new life thanks to Martin Campbell's direction and a suave and sophisticated but at the same time dramatically savvy actor in Daniel Craig. Although Judi Dench still featured as M, everything else felt new as Bond become more stylised and thoughtful instead of formulaic. The scenes at the beginning of the film and in the casino were just fantastic and it was brilliant to see a Bond that didn't end on a happy note. Although Quantum of Solace wasn't a satisfactory follow up at least Casino Royale showed us that Bond could change for the better.

51. Good Night and Good Luck (2005) Dir: George Clooney

Finisihing off this first round of films is this taught film about the McCarthy witchunts of the 1950s and the news team who set to uncover the truth. This was truly spectacular film-making, shot entirely in black and white and almost exclusively in the newsroom it was all the more surpsing to find this was directed by Doug Ross from ER. Yes George Clooney turned director (and co-writer) and his second film behind the lens was arguably his best. He was able to get the best from a stunning ensemble cast notably David Strathairn as news anchor Edward R Murrow as well as from Jeff Daniels, Robert Downey Jr, Patricia Clarkson and himself. Eye-opening in its depiction of its subject matter, Good Night and Good Luck is just excellent storytelling and an example of dramatic film-making at its finest.

Stay tuned for part two of the list.

Films of the Year: 2009

Here are my Top 25 of films that have been released in the UK from 1st January 2009 to 31st December 2009.

25. Kisses

Two of the films on this list feature juvenille relationships and this is the most traditional of the two. Set in and around Dublin this follows the journey of two children next door neighbours Kylie and Dylan both of whom have turbulent home lives and agree to run away together to find Dylan's brother. The film's central narrative is about them trying to find Dylan's brother who ran away from home and the difficulties they have in finding him. The film changes from black and white into full colour as Kylie and Dylan get to Dublin and changes back at the end after they return home. Dealing with themes of immigration, prostituion and homelessness, Kisses isn't an easy ride but the relationship between the two children is very sweet indeed and their chemistry is better than some of the big Hollywood romance pairings. At just over an hour it is a little short but then it may have outstayed its welcome if it had been any longer sweet-natured and gritty at the same time, Kisses is definitely one to check out if you haven't seen it yet.


24. Messrine: Killer Instict

One of the coolest films of the year, the first part of the Messrine double bill saw Vincent Cassell tackle the role of one France's most notorious criminals Jacques Messrine. This was reminiscent of old school crime films of the 1970s and 1980s such as Serpico and Scarface and even had a bit of Bonnie and Clyde in there for good measure. While Cassell's performances has to be one of the best of the year the supporting performances were good too notably from Ludvine Sagner and Gerard Deperdeu as Messrine's gangster contact. Tough to watch at times but always compelling Killer Instinct was superior to its sequel Public Enemy No. 1 which was still a cracker and both were better than this year's other disappointing crime biopic - Public Enemies.

23. Big River Man

This year's 'human interest' documentary was all about Martin Strel a Slovakian man who has made it his passion to swim. The big selling point of this film is that Strel isn't particularly athletic and is a heavy drinker. Strel is more a subject than an active part of this film as he is very monosyllabic and is often seen sitting down in his underwear watching T.V. when he's not swimming. His son is in awe of him and narrates the film while the only other main character is a slightly hickish admirer of Strel who thinks Strel is the last superhero. Strel is an extremely likeable character even though he does unlikeable things and oftern risks his own life just to swim while drinking whisky. A documentary is as only as good as its subject matter and Big River Man had a very good subject.

22. Broken Embraces

Penelope Cruz had a very good 2009, winning an Oscar for her role in Woody Allen's likeable but mediocre Vicky Cristina Barcelone but also reuniting with Pedro Almodovar the man who describes her as his 'muse' for this very good film about film-making. Mixtures of a revenge thriller with a farce and commentary about the film industry this is one of Almodovar's most commercial films yet while at the same time retaining his strong themes about sexuality and especially disability. As you would expect, Cruz dazzles in her role as a wannabe actress and trophy wife an old, rich man who begins an affair with a director. Lluis Homar is equally good as the egotistic director who is made blind by events that are narrated throughout the film. This being a film about film-makers there is also some good blurring off texts as we see the film-within-the-film Girls and Suitcases is shown in different ways throughout Broken Embraces and is just one of the treats of many of this little cracker of a movie.

21. Funny People

I have to say that if I was ranking the first half of Funny People it would be higher in the list but the film got bogged down in its second half. Saying that though this was Judd Apatow's most personal project to date and Adam Sandler's best since Punch-Drunk Love. A comedy about comedians wouldn't be everyone's thing but the first half of this film in which Sandler's comedy movie star finds out he's dying and hires Seth Rogen's junior stand-up to be his assistant. This was very funny and moving but its in the films second half in which Sandler pursues his old love that things get silly. The fact Apatow feels the need to cast his family again seems a little self-indulgent and even though Eric Bana pops up near the end and steals the show most of this felt forced. Apatow manages to reign it back to a satisfying conclusion but despite its faults this was still very funny, touching and original. Apatow just needs to learn to edit and his next film could be a comedy hit.

20. Fish Tank

Uncomprimisingly gritty and surprisingly heartfelt at the same time Andrea Arnold's second cinematic feature saw her hit the big time. Focusing on dis-satisfied teenager Mia and her aspirations to be a dancer this was a look at the dead-end lifestyle given to a lot of children in council estate Britain as Mia was destined to go to a special school and had a very dis-intereseted mother. Katie Jarvis was absolutely outstanding as Mia delivering a very real performance and great passion both in delivery and in the dance sequences. The film also succeded in its filming of a very bleak Britian with the block of flats where Mia lives being given an almost institution-like feel. While people are waxing lyrical about American female directors taking over the Brits can show that they can do it just as well.

19. 500 Days of Summer

Some people found this unbearably smug and others found in delightful I think I fell somewhere in the middle. This film was very clever in its approach of relationships blurirng the lines between happiness and misery. As we see Joseph Gorden-Levitt falling in love with the Zoey Deschanel's titular Summer and then be dumped by her in the space of five minutes. The skipping between days was a nice little neat narrative device and there were some nice stylistic touches as well as cracking soundtrack (although did they have to use The Temper Trap twice?) The film was held together by Levitt who finally shed the image of the little kid from 3rd from the Sun giving us a rounded performance as a normal guy in love like a kind of less neurotic Woody Allen.

18. Gran Torino

This is said to be Clint Eastwood's final feature which is just as well as he seems to be struggling to speak. But that's doing him a disservice as he plays almost Dirty Harry the senior years as a man who despises everyone but eventually gains respect for his Korean neighbours. Eastwood proves he still has it as we see a man whose prejudices are challenged as his emotional barriers break down and he forms a new family. Although the direction may not be as tight as on his previous three features this seems to be a much more personal project. Although one question Clint, Did you really have to sing at the end?

17. Thirst

First of two vampire films but that's not hard in the year we had the second Twillight movie: New Moon, Cirque de Freak: The Vampire's Assistant and Lesbian Vampire Killers. However this Korean effort form the director of Old Boy stands out for me for its impeccable cinematography as well as its themes about religion, lust and violence. Kang-ho Song is brilliant as the priest who gets a blood transfusino and turns into a vampire corrupting an unhappy girl in his plight. The film is sexy and shocking with some really brutal scenes and a heartbreaking conclusion. Not for the squeamish but this is a vampire film without any of the prentesion.

16. Anvil: The Story of Anvil

Almost like a real Spinal Tap this focused on the true story of the band Anvil, who were the fore-runners of the whole metal scene precedding Motorhead, Metalicca and others but this proves that what is really needed is timing. We follow Anvil as they try and get their fanbase back in a poorly organised tour around Europe and then recording a new album. At its heart is a film about friendship and hope, if the end of the film doesn't bring a tear to your eye then what's wrong with you?

15.Zombieland

Hands down the best straight comedy of the year. Twinkies, a gun-toting Woody Harrelson and Bill Fucking Murray this had it all. Jesse Eseinberg brings his nervous charm to a role that requires him to be the fall guy to Harrelson's fast talking zombie destroyer. But like with all good comedies it has a big heart behind the big laughs and it makes you question what being in a family means. The only criticism I have is it was way too short I could've at least done with fiftenn more minutes of laughs.

14. Goodbye Solo

A film about the trouble that immigrants have finding work that doesn't involve driving taxis actually turns into a lovely film about friendship. The friendship here is between African cab driver Solo and long in the tooth Westerner William. This film isn't a big deal but it warms the heart without be particularly patronising and features two stunning lead performances.

13. Coraline

For fans of Nightmare Before Christmas everywhere as its director Henry Sellick adapts Neil Gaiman's gothic classic in all its stop-motion glory. Funny and scary in equal measure this was made for the cinema as it is visually stunning in an eerie way it is also has an excellent voice cast in among others Ian McShane, Teri Hatcher and French and Saunders.

12. In the Loop

The Thick of It comes to the big screen with the same amount of laughs but more Peter Capaldi swearing. Although it struggles for a feature-length story it still has the same magic that made the TV show such as success. Malcolm Tucker really suits the big screen and it helped that Capaldi had a brilliant foil in Tom Hollander. It was nice to see James Gandolfini doing farce as well as an American general.

11.Star Trek

JJ Abrams was always going to completely change the Star Trek format thankfully it was for the better. The young cast all boil down elements of the original characters and make them their own with Zachary Quinto's Spock a particular highlight. Although it falls down towards the middle there's enough action and decent storytelling for this to be the blockbuster hit of the year.

10. Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire actually managed to be an Oscar-winner that deserved it as it wasn't a traditional Oscar film neither was it 'the feelgood film of the year'. This story was so well told and the slums of Mumbai so-well shot that it was hard to put it this low on the list but it has lost some of its originality a year after its realease. Still this is still going to be touted as a modern classic and earned Danny Boyle a well deserved Best Director statuette.

9.An Education

A story of pre-Beatlemania slighty-stuffy Britain, this is alledgelly based on real-life events and shows the rebellion of a young girl who has been leading the same path for all her life and gives into the temptation of an older man and a new life. Nick Hornby's script is very witty but is also heartfelt at the right moments and there is a great support performance from Alfred Molina. But this was 24 year old Carey Mulligan's show as Jenny she captivates and holds the viewer's attention from beginning to end hopefully the Oscar buzz will pay-off because this performance deserves to be recognised.

8. Up

Up's first ten minutes are some of the best in cinema history as we follow the life of o man from childhood to old age in the space of a couple of minutes. Although there is still high quality in the film it becomes a standard Pixar film when the old man is forced to bond with boy scout Russell. Witty and heartbreaking and focusing on themes of love, loss and second chances this wasn't as good as Wall-E but still brilliant.

7. A Serious Man

The Coen Brothers are nothing if not versetile. After the thrilling No Country for Old Men and the broad comedy of Burn After Reading we get Jewish surburbia in the 1970s. Its a testament to the Coens that they can make the story of a very average middle aged man engaging and it was also very brave of them to have their first ten minutes completely in Yiddish. The non-starry cast is ably lead by Michael Stuhlberg who displays a cavalcade of emotions as the put upon Larry Gopnick. The real star of this though was the stylised nature of the small-close knit houses brilliantly filmed as ever by Roger Deakins. This is the best study of suburbia since American Beauty and this was a lot funnier as wlel.

6. Moon

This was the year of the sci-fi film as there was something for everyone and that was no more evident than in Moon. David Bowie's son Duncan Jones' first feature showcases one of the best male performances from Sam Rockwell as he plays Sam an astronaut sent on a mission that has taken too long. The film deals with themes of family, identity and isolation and also has a nice voice performance by Kevin Spacey as the ship's robot. For those who are fans of 2001, Silent Running and Logan's Run, Bowie Jr.'s film is for you.

5. Adventureland

This year's Superbad which isn't surpising as its by the same director. But Greg Mottola's third feature sees him grow up a little bit more as the original (not the new) Michael Cera, Jesse Eissenberg plays a high school graduate forced to work in an amusement park in the 1980s. While retaining some of the Superbad humour this is more heartfelt and clever and features some great supporting performances from Twilight's Kristen Stewart, Knocked Up's Martin Starr and shockingly Ryan Reynolds as the handyman who refuses to grow up. Not playing on the nostalgia element too much this was a funny and charming sleeper hit.

4. The Hurt Locker

We've had a lot of films about the Iraq war - Rendition, Redacted, Lions for Lambs but none of these felt like they captured the essence of the war. Thankfully Katherine Bigelow returned with a great story about the soldiers fighting the fight and whether war is addictive or not. The film was shot in a very realistic shaky style focusing on a bomb-disposal squad the tension duirng the bomb defusing scenes were incredibly tense. Casting three non-familiar faces in the leads was a stroke of genius and in this day and age this certainly strikes a chord and makes you think about what's going on in the rest of the world.

3. District 9

A film where South African soldiers fight giant prawn martians doesn't really sound that appealing but with its themes of unjust war and hints to the Arpetheid, District 9 gave us something special. Shot as a mock-documentary to start off with this later became a character piece focusing on a hapless company man forced to turn against his own and work with the aliens. Although not on the scale of say Star Trek or Avatar, District 9's action sequences still work within the confines of the story and Sharlto Copley became an unlikely star in the lead role. Just really enjoyable and engaging District 9 was a decent sci-fi yarn with something to say.

2. Let the Right One In

Juvenille romance meets the vampire craze in this Swedish masterpiece as we explore the life of 12 year old Oscar a boy who is bullied at school and ignored at home. He meets Ellie who he falls in love with but then finds out she's a vampire the story between these two kids is so sweet the vampire story almsot becomes superfulous. There are some cracking scenes most notably the swimming pool finale and both of the young actors are so natural they make the film seem even more realistic. It's a shame that the Americans can't leave well alone and have to adapt good European cinema because most audiences can't be bothered with the subtitles.

1. The Wrestler

One of the first films I watched this year and it stuck with me throughout. Mickey Rourke was completely robbed off his Oscar as Randy 'The Ram' Robinson was the part he was born to play. Completely authentic throughout Robinson was a performer who had his heydays in the 1980s and was constantly trying to recapture the wrestling magic he once had. Rourke was totally captivating as he tried to rebuild his relationship with his daughter and struggle to keep doing the one thing he knew how to do - wrestle. Rourke also had impeccable chemistry with Marissa Tomei as the stripper with a heart as well as with Evan Rachel Wood who played his daughter. The wrestling sequences looked great on screen especially the garbage brawl against the Necro Butcher. Well-structured and compelling from beginning to end, this film never once dips and tells a great story that rings a bell as there are so many ex-wrestlers who have to live this life. Lets just hope that Rourke can build on this and start his career again.

Okay I now its very belated but soon the film blog will look back at the noughties and the top 100 films of the previous decade.

Review: 17 Again

A kind of reverse-Big this was Zac Efron's Post-High-School-Musical let-see-what-you-can-do vehicle. Although Matthew Perry puts in a very decent performance as the adult version of Mike a brow-beaten dad who out of duty married his high school sweetheart this is Efron's show. Although not meeting the same standard of Tom Hanks' performance in Big he still does quite well in capturing some of Perry's mannerisms. The script does Efron no favours being quite weird in that Mike's daughter and wife both fall in love with the teenage version of him and the bonding with the son storyline is often put on the backburner. The more likeable storyline is the sub-plot in which Mike's friend and faux-father Ned tries to date the principal (played by Jan from the Office).

Although there are some bright spots in the film and Efron gives it his all this is all too predictable and unfunny to be a great film in the way Big was. Leslie Mann phones it in as Perry's wife while the casting of 23 year old Michelle Trachtenburg as Perry's daughter pushing believability through the window. This will appeal to teenage girls everywhere but for anyone not obssessed by Zac Efron avoid this.

Review: Sugar

Having greatly enjoyed Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck's debut Half Nelson, I was greatly looking forward to their second film Sugar. The film certainly starts well as young Dominican Miguel journeys to Kansas to play baseball. The first two thirds of the film play out like a traditional sports film with Miguel shown as a great pitcher in the Domincan Republic but struggling when he gets to the U.S. We are also presented with a fish-out-of-water type story where Miguel struggles to cope with his new host family an elderly baseball-obsessed redneck couple. I found it was the final third of the story where Fleck and Boden struggled to finish as Miguel leaves Kansas for New York after being frustrated with his playing.

Although I enjoyed the performances from the unkown cast of mainly Hispanic actors, it was the whole structure of the thing and Miguel's journey that troubled me. He was meant to be someone who loved and trained to be a baseball player but then found he was more at home playing baseball for fun and making tables. The love story between Miguel and his host families uber-religious granddaughter seems a little tagged on and although the message seems to be 'do what you love but don't let it take over you' it still seemed that there was something lacking in Sugar which was present in the great Half Nelson.

Review: Night at the Museum 2

Having quite enjoyed the first Night at the Museum film but at the same time hearing it on a loop at the video shop where I used to work, I was anticipating the second installment with trepedation. And this was quite justified thanks to the slapdash nature of it. In the first film at least Stiller's character was likeable and juvenille enough to sustain a film in which he was trying to deal with the supernatural nature of the museum while at the same time trying to reconnect with his son. However this time the film has scrapped any aspect of humanism from Stiller and instead gone for cheap laughs and a bit of history for the kids.

The characters from the first film played by Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan, Robin Williams and Ricky Gervais have been overshadowed by two new faces. The first Hank Azaria best known for his Simpsons voices here putting on another silly voice as an Egyptian leader. While Amy Adams as Amelia Earheart is incredibly annoying and the weird relationship she has with Ben Stiller is a little disturbing seeing as she is a waxwork. Fairing better are Superbad's Bill Hader as General Kuster and Christophre Guest as Alexander the Great while various actors from the U.S. Office pop up for one or two line cameos and Jonah Hill steals a very funny scene from Stiller.

Overall this is an okayish family film but it is no way as good as the first film which had heart and structure where this just has its eyes on the cash its going to get from large audiences who enjoyed Night at the Museum 1.

Review: Colin

Colin's reputation as a film preceeds it thanks to its meagre budget of just £45. Writer/Director Marc Price shot his film entirely on a hand-held Panasonic Mini-Dv Camcorder and found his actors on Social-Networking webstites. It is hard to judge Colin against other films because of its low budget but it does actually contain some good ideas. At the start of the film Colin is bitten by a friend and then he turns into a zombie. The first 20 or 25 minutes of the film are almost dialogue free as we see the zombie-stricken world through Colin's eyes. The second-half of the film then deals with Colin's family trying to get him to remember who he was before the film finally turns into a traditional zombie film with the survivors trying to kill the zombies.

Colin has a great central performance from Alistair Kirton who holds the film together vrey well giving Colin some character even though he has little dialogue apart from at the start and end of the film. The other performances feel a little amateurish but that's because they are but Price is a good enough director to get the most out of his actors. The main problem I have with Colin is not the filmic aspects, which are surprisingly good given the budget. It is in fact the script which is low on character development after 90 minutes of watching I feel I knew very little about Colin despite the introduction of his sister and mother. This is interesting seeing as the script would've cost nothing to make but is the weakest elment here.

Overall though for a debut director and given the money he had, Colin is an enjoyable low-budget horror movie which is actually better than some of the starrier horror films around today. The kind of community aspect of the film is seen at the end of the credits where Price thanks all the people who helped him out in various ways with make-up, food and locations (the scary house, the non-scary house). Based on this Price has a very promising future as a director but he might want to leave the script-writing to someone else on his second feature.

Review: Bride Wars

I basically watched this so I could take part in the Mark Kermode challenge to find ten films worse than Bride Wars released this year. After watching Bride Wars its hard to imagine that feat being made possible. The main problem with Bride Wars is that most of the characters are so one-dimensional that its hard to care. Anne Hathaway is a pushover and Kate Hudson is driven and they have to learn not to be. Their grooms are interchangeable while Hudson's brother played by Jake from One Tree Hill is a walking chiseled-jaw. In fact the only likeable character is the teacher played by Kirsten 'Third Rock from the Sun' Johnson who we're supposed to think is a self-involved slob but is actually the only person to show some depth. The worse character in the whole piece is the wedding planner/narrator played by Candice Bergen who claims that women are dead before they get married. It's like feminsim didn't even happen.

The so-called comedy sequences involving blue-hair and an oompa-loompa-esque spray tan are horrendous. Lessons are learnt at the end, but most of those lessons are learnt by the audience about ten minutes into the film. An ambigous ending means that a sequel possibly entitled Baby Wars could be next. I sure hope not. Deoid of any humour or emotion this certainly isn't a romantic (or any other) comedy. Unless you're watching it to take part in the Dr. K challenge avoid it like Swine Flu.