The Best and Worst Movies of the Decade

[Bill the Butcher]

Great list.

But yeah, you're right. I am extremely shocked with your #21 pick on the 25 Worst Movies of the Decade. I've officially labeled you insane. And not because I think it's the greatest movie ever, but because it certainly isn't one of the worst of the decade.

However, your label is temporary. I have thrown it onto my Netflix queue so I can rewatch it. I may change my mind. But don't count on it.

And if I were to make my own Worst Movies of the Decade list, Alexander would've been #1. Just terrible.

[Triple-S]

13. Driven (2001) - Found this Sly Stallone/Burt Reynolds movie while surfing channels one boring post-football Sunday. Should have just watched infomercials.

Damn depressing too. I always thought that making a movie on Indy Cars or Nascar would be easy to make in looking cool and having a half-decent story line. Nope. Paul Page (who you can hear at 2:40) is a badass announcer (youtube clips on him doing the Indy 500 in the mid-90's and the guy comes off as the Brent Musburger of Motorsports) and deserve/d to be in a better movie than this crap. Just a terrible, terrible movie.

Also, why no hate for "The Final Destination" movies? Another crappy film with death scenes that defy laws of physics.

[Guest]

Also, why no hate for "The Final Destination" movies? Another crappy film with death scenes that defy laws of physics.

Never watched any of them, so they couldn't make the list even though I know they sucked.

Hell, you could easily make a Bottom 100 list just out of stupid slasher flicks, Eddie Murphy movies, movies produced by McMahaon and the WWE, and all those "satire" movies like Epic Movie, Meet the Spartans, Disaster Movie, etc.

But that would be too easy.

[British_Pharaoh]

Also, why no hate for "The Final Destination" movies? Another crappy film with death scenes that defy laws of physics.

Never watched any of them, so they couldn't make the list even though I know they sucked.

Hell, you could easily make a Bottom 100 list just out of stupid slasher flicks, Eddie Murphy movies, movies produced by McMahaon and the WWE, and all those "satire" movies like Epic Movie, Meet the Spartans, Disaster Movie, etc.

But that would be too easy.

I thought the first one was great

the rest are horrific

[swerb]

Great freaking column Mitch

[justmebd]

Great Column Mitch. And you are insane, but that's okay.

The Only pick of yours I truly went "Whaaaattttt!!!" for was Slumdog Millionaire. I couldn't stomach more than 10 minutes of that movie, one of the very few I just shut off and gave up on. (The other was Final Fantasy, and Brighton Beach Memoirs would've been on that list, but I was twelve and stuck at the theater with my mother, so I couldn't leave).

I thought you had Green Street Hooligans about 10 slots too low. Great Effin Film.

Oceans 11 and HGTTG are not guilty pleasures, they're AWESOME!!

Wayne's World 2 is a guilty pleasure. (I love that movie, don't ask me why. Christopher Walken cracks me up in that movie, and Dell, the British Roadie, has to be one of my favorite supporting characters EVER).

As for worst movies, you've obviously never seen "Happyness." Don't watch it. You'll hate yourself afterward. It has this really great, really funny opening scene, and then the rest of the movie is a complete train wreck of attempts at being arty and edgy that just make you want to vomit and then turn yourself into the police for probably breaking a few laws.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

Dude............ O' Brother Where Art Thou, in the 80's? That movie got robbed by the vastly overrated Gladiator, and it's still not getting any respect.

Still a awesome column though.

[jb]

Thanks Mitch! A public service and a huge help npow that the weather has turned to crap. You also saved me from some major mistakes.

My only beef is Moulan Rouge as a guilty pleasure. Horrific. Dude.

Hey - quick question - what is your opinion of M Knights first three flix?

[Guest]

Thanks Mitch! A public service and a huge help npow that the weather has turned to crap. You also saved me from some major mistakes.

My only beef is Moulan Rouge as a guilty pleasure. Horrific. Dude.

Hey - quick question - what is your opinion of M Knights first three flix?

I will assume your "first three" starts with "Sixth Sense", and not a couple of Indies that no one saw.

Loved "Sixth Sense".

Liked "Unbreakable" a lot.

Thought "Signs" was pretty good until the weird ending.

Strange thing with that cat. Started mainstream with a great movie, and every movie since has been worse than the last one.

[jack_tors]

Great list Mitch, especially enjoyed the worst movies and the guilty pleasures. You are spot on with the worst movies, only change I would make is to move Smoking Aces up (this movie was god awful and I wanted to punch my friend for saying it was awesome) and Poseidon down some (this movie was semi enjoyable in the Imax theater where I saw it).

As for the pleasures, you nailed it.. I havent seen them all but Oceans, Taken, Italian Job are damn good.. Plus Love Actually is a very underrated movie. Good actors, good story, overall a very enjoyable film ( and it scores monster points with the ladies).

[jfiling]

The best of list is only missing City of God, which I'm guessing you haven't seen yet.

[British_Pharaoh]

The best of list is only missing City of God, which I'm guessing you haven't seen yet.

What he said and also 'Das Experiment' the second best German film after Downfall, with some of the same actors


missing in the worst was 'The Eye'
Jessica Alba shower scene didn't really make up for it

also i would have expected 'Teeth' to be on there
I heard that was ludicrous

[aoxo1]

My Name is Bruce.

[Erie Warrior]

Loved the props for 25th Hour. Great movie not many have seen.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

Loved the props for 25th Hour. Great movie not many have seen.

Yep. So is Green Street Hooligans.

[mrburns]

Bravo. Very comprehensive, and very impressive.

Any time a list is involved, especially one with this many options, there are minor quibbles. I have only one major beef: Kill Bill belongs on this list. I know Tarantino can be very polarizing, but there weren't 100 better movies. C'mon man!

That said, really outstanding stuff. Loved seeing The Departed so high. I got in a heated argument New Year's Eve because I listed The Departed as my top movie of the decade.

[motherscratcher]

Loved the list. I liked it enough that I'm just going to pretend that The Bucket List isn't on it. A list like this is a very difficult thing to do.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

That said, really outstanding stuff. Loved seeing The Departed so high. I got in a heated argument New Year's Eve because I listed The Departed as my top movie of the decade.

I'd agree with this. That movie was a masterpiece. Scorsese is such a good director, he makes me look forward to watching DiCaprio act. The last 45 minutes is like a runaway train.

Cannot wait for Shutter Island.

[waborat]

Great reading as usual Mitch, as I always look forward to your lists (as does my NetFlix queue)...

I'll throw in my 2 pennies:

-Couldn't agree more with your 2 best of the decade
-Nice to see some big love for Iwo Jima, 25th Hour and Hotel Rwanda (this would be in my top 10)
-I'm shocked that you have Bank Job & Million Dollar Baby in the bottom 5 though
-Little surprised that you think there were 100 better films then any of the following: American Gangster, Kill Bill, Watchmen, Wrestler, Blood Diamond, Walk the Line, Aviator, Last Samurai, Gangs Of NY, Unfaithful, Training Day, Frailty
-I'm glad to say that I've only seen 3 on your "Worst List"
-Watched half of the "Guilties" and liked em all (including, gulp, Moulin Rouge)

Now please move #6 & 8 out of the top 10 and that next Starbucks is on me

[Guest]

Great reading as usual Mitch, as I always look forward to your lists (as does my NetFlix queue)...

I'll throw in my 2 pennies:

-Couldn't agree more with your 2 best of the decade
-Nice to see some big love for Iwo Jima, 25th Hour and Hotel Rwanda (this would be in my top 10)
-I'm shocked that you have Bank Job & Million Dollar Baby in the bottom 5 though
-Little surprised that you think there were 100 better films then any of the following: American Gangster, Kill Bill, Watchmen, Wrestler, Blood Diamond, Walk the Line, Aviator, Last Samurai, Gangs Of NY, Unfaithful, Training Day, Frailty
-I'm glad to say that I've only seen 3 on your "Worst List"
-Watched half of the "Guilties" and liked em all (including, gulp, Moulin Rouge)

Now please move #6 & 8 out of the top 10 and that next Starbucks is on me

Move "Childen of Men" and "Juno" out of the Top 10???? NFW. (That's the advantage of it being MY list )

For some of the others...

American Gangster - Not in the top 100 because they had too many falsehoods in a "true" story. Cinderella Man got knocked down for that same reason, but it was only one lie...the villification of Max Baer.

Kill Bill - Very good...but flawed enough to not make it.

Watchmen - Very good, but not better, IMHO than the others I have there.

Wrestler - Bored me to tears. Rourke was great, but just wasn't that impressed with the movie.

Blood Diamond - See my review...I liked Leo and the concept, and then the movie went to pot in the end as a weird action/thriller where they were busy shooting all the little boys they were soooo concerned about in the first half of the film.

Walk the Line & Aviator - not a huge fan of biographies, as they always end up in the format of "and this happened...and then that happened...and then something else". Most also play too loose with the facts, which really pisses me off. Both of these movies were good, not great.

Last Samurai & Gangs of NY - Case could be made for top 100...but not quite in my book, even though I enjoyed both of them.

Training Day - Good action flick...ridiculous plot.

Unfaithful & Frailty - yuck. And that Diane Ladd is sooo old and skanky

[British_Pharaoh]

Training Day - Good action flick...ridiculous plot.

I love Training Day

got in on DVD for 4 quid

One of Denzel's best roles, played brilliantly

[British_Pharaoh]

Let's begin kicking ourselves



truly one of the best opening scenes of the decade as well

[hermanfontenot]

I love Training Day

got in on DVD for 4 quid

One of Denzel's best roles, played brilliantly

Training Day was only watchable because of Denzel. He carried that movie like LeBron carried the 2005-06 Cavaliers.

[waborat]

Let's begin kicking ourselves



truly one of the best opening scenes of the decade as well

Hey BP, we've just finished the '00s on this side of the pond

[waborat]

I love Training Day

got in on DVD for 4 quid

One of Denzel's best roles, played brilliantly

Training Day was only watchable because of Denzel. He carried that movie like LeBron carried the 2005-06 Cavaliers.

You can say that about a lot of movies though Herm...

DDL in There Will Be Blood, Penn in Milk, Hanks in Gump, etc...

Take any of them out of the flick and I'm turning the channel to Seinfeld reruns

[British_Pharaoh]

Let's begin kicking ourselves



truly one of the best opening scenes of the decade as well

Hey BP, we've just finished the '00s on this side of the pond

Oh

is it really THAT old now?

[British_Pharaoh]

Woah 96???


reeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllyyyyyyyyyyyy?????

[Cerebral_DownTime]

I love Training Day

got in on DVD for 4 quid

One of Denzel's best roles, played brilliantly

Training Day was only watchable because of Denzel. He carried that movie like LeBron carried the 2005-06 Cavaliers.

You can say that about a lot of movies though Herm...

DDL in There Will Be Blood, Penn in Milk, Hanks in Gump, etc...

Take any of them out of the flick and I'm turning the channel to Seinfeld reruns

I think the plots of those movies are a wee bit better written than Training Day. Ethan Hawke played what had to be dumbest cop on the planet. How many crimes was he gonna allow Denzel to commit?

[waborat]

I love Training Day

got in on DVD for 4 quid

One of Denzel's best roles, played brilliantly

Training Day was only watchable because of Denzel. He carried that movie like LeBron carried the 2005-06 Cavaliers.

You can say that about a lot of movies though Herm...

DDL in There Will Be Blood, Penn in Milk, Hanks in Gump, etc...

Take any of them out of the flick and I'm turning the channel to Seinfeld reruns

I think the plots of those movies are a wee bit better written than Training Day. Ethan Hawke played what had to be dumbest cop on the planet. How many crimes was he gonna allow Denzel to commit?

Better written? Probably

More entertaining? Nah

BTW, unfortunately heard of too many naive EH's from my blue buddies (although yes, not to THAT extreme)

[Erie Warrior]

got in on DVD for 4 quid

You got ripped off, 4 of those bad boys are worth way more than a crappy cop movie. Frailty was awesome.

[hermanfontenot]

You can say that about a lot of movies though Herm.

True.

But I give Denzel extra credit because he's done this before- lifted a movie above the sum of its parts.

Man on Fire, for example.

[Guest]

You can say that about a lot of movies though Herm.

True.

But I give Denzel extra credit because he's done this before- lifted a movie above the sum of its parts.

Man on Fire, for example.

I'm thinking the same thing about "The Book of Eli" next week.

Could be meh based on the script...but when you've got Denzel AND Gary Oldman...I think it's going to be worth watching.

[Doc]

I don't think it deserves it's own thread, but it probably places in my top 100 for the decade...Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs.

Picked it up on BluRay today, and I'm blown away. Looks amazing and it's pretty darn funny for a cartoon. I thought Up was going to run away with my cartoon of the year, but Cloudy is pretty close. While it may lack compared to Up's (and Pixar movies in general) storyline, it more than makes up with 90 minutes of stunning visuals and non stop entertainment. I picked it up on a whim and wasn't disappointed.

[British_Pharaoh]

got in on DVD for 4 quid

You got ripped off, 4 of those bad boys are worth way more than a crappy cop movie. Frailty was awesome.

5/10

very good for a first try Erie

[mistero]

Did I misread that, Pearl Harbor on the bad list? Sure the love triangle plot and Ben Affleck were a total drag on the film but the war scenes especially of the attack itself more than make up for it. And Kate Beckensale??? En fuego!

Shame on you sir.

[jb]

Did I misread that, Pearl Harbor on the bad list? Sure the love triangle plot and Ben Affleck were a total drag on the film but the war scenes especially of the attack itself more than make up for it. And Kate Beckensale??? En fuego!

Shame on you sir.

Mysterio, I never thought a WW2 movie could be pure boredom; until this POS came out.

Yeah, K8 B is a hottie, but that flick was an upper decker. Has Affleck ever bneen ion anything ever good?

He 's as wooden as Chris Bale. Hayden Christiansen even laughs at their lack of range.

[Guest]

Did I misread that, Pearl Harbor on the bad list? Sure the love triangle plot and Ben Affleck were a total drag on the film but the war scenes especially of the attack itself more than make up for it. And Kate Beckensale??? En fuego!

Shame on you sir.

Mysterio, I never thought a WW2 movie could be pure boredom; until this POS came out.

Yeah, K8 B is a hottie, but that flick was an upper decker. Has Affleck ever bneen ion anything ever good?

He 's as wooden as Chris Bale. Hayden Christiansen even laughs at their lack of range.

Benjy is ahwight when he plays a rip-off of his real life...ie a spoiled, wooden, pretty boy (see also; "State of Play", "Changing Lanes", and "Hollywoodland".

Now that I think of it...how in the hell did I overlook "Daredevil" when it came to my Worst List?

Josh Hartnett has simply sucked in everything he's done other than "Lucky Number Slevin". (He sucked in "Blackhawk Down", but he wasn't onscreen enough so that you would have noticed).

[Triple-S]

Pearl Harbor's CGI and the attack scenes were done really well.

The problem is, they should have just simply ripped off the whole script of "Tora, Tora, Tora" and just went from there. It would have been a much better movie, instead of the lame sappy love story we were all presented with.

[mistero]

Was Affleck in Goonies? Nevermind.

How about Dogma and Mall Rats? Any credit for them gems?




Come on Mitch!

[Larvell Blanks]

Was Affleck in Goonies? Nevermind.

How about Dogma and Mall Rats? Any credit for them gems?




Come on Mitch!

I gave him a pass for this role alone

[hermanfontenot]

I think it's hilarious that they shoehorned a love triangle into a movie about Pearl Harbor. Dude, it's Pearl Fucking Harbor!!! That's not enough of a story?

[Ziner]

Mitch, hope you dont lead me wrong. Just adjusted the netflix queue of movies I have yet to catch. Coming up is Closer, Munich, Letters of Iwo Jima, and Michael Clayton. Im just going to work my way down the list of anything I find remotely exciting and then circle back for the ones that I dont.

[mistero]

Make sure you have a box of kleenex ready when you pop Closer into the DVD player, just saying.

[peeker643]

Make sure you have a box of kleenex ready when you pop Closer into the DVD player, just saying.

I assume for crying and sniffling? No other reason, right?

Pup watches a lot of movies with kleenex at hand and he never seems sad.

Just wondering.

[Guest]

Mitch, hope you dont lead me wrong. Just adjusted the netflix queue of movies I have yet to catch. Coming up is Closer, Munich, Letters of Iwo Jima, and Michael Clayton. Im just going to work my way down the list of anything I find remotely exciting and then circle back for the ones that I dont.

I'd say the Kleenex would most be necessary for Munich...especially the scene where they depict the final executions of the Israeli hostages. (That would be for the sniffling part...not the drooling over Natalie Portman as a stripper part).

You've got four somber movies there, Ziner...just don't come out of them wanting to put Dr. Khevorkian on speed dial.

I'll try to give a couple of comparisons to give you some indication of whether you'll like any of these.

Munich. If you really liked Schindler's List, you'll not regret renting this.

Closer. Fascinating movie about four very interesting characters who aren't that likable. Nowhere near as much of a downer as "Leaving Las Vegas", but an intense character study. Don't know if you saw "Revolutionary Road", but there are a lot of similarities...not in plot, but in how people are looked at in the film.

Letters From Iwo Jima. Fans of Blackhawk Down or We Were Soldiers will love this. So much better than "Flags of our Fathers". I'm about 100% sure you'll love this one.

Michael Clayton. Another character study, with a mystery thrown in. If there are any of these four that will cause you to write obscene things about me once you see it, this would be my guess (but I won't walk away from my recommendation...and Clooney does NOT play Clooney here...he's pretty much a loser still trying to trade in off his looks and charm, and not doing it very well).

[Guest]

Was Affleck in Goonies? Nevermind.

How about Dogma and Mall Rats? Any credit for them gems?




Come on Mitch!

Yeah...should have included any Kevin Smith movie in the "doesn't suck" category.

[swerb]

Make sure you have a box of kleenex ready when you pop Closer into the DVD player, just saying.

I assume for crying and sniffling? No other reason, right?

Pup watches a lot of movies with kleenex at hand and he never seems sad.

Just wondering.

[swerb]

Mitch, hope you dont lead me wrong. Just adjusted the netflix queue of movies I have yet to catch. Coming up is Closer, Munich, Letters of Iwo Jima, and Michael Clayton. Im just going to work my way down the list of anything I find remotely exciting and then circle back for the ones that I dont.

Dude, those are four excellent flicks. Enjoy.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

I think it's hilarious that they shoehorned a love triangle into a movie about Pearl Harbor. Dude, it's Pearl Fucking Harbor!!! That's not enough of a story?

C'mon.... You know kids these days, they have no attention spans for useless crap like actual "History". I blame the pot.

[Ziner]

Munich. If you really liked Schindler's List, you'll not regret renting this.

As much as someone can "like" Schindler's List I "liked" it. Found it more fascinating and interesting than enjoyment, but I think that is pretty much how that works.

Closer. Fascinating movie about four very interesting characters who aren't that likable. Nowhere near as much of a downer as "Leaving Las Vegas", but an intense character study. Don't know if you saw "Revolutionary Road", but there are a lot of similarities...not in plot, but in how people are looked at in the film.

Wasnt a huge fan of Revolutionary Road, found it pretty bad actually, however it was the plot that I didnt like more than the people.

Letters From Iwo Jima. Fans of Blackhawk Down or We Were Soldiers will love this. So much better than "Flags of our Fathers". I'm about 100% sure you'll love this one.

I am pretty confident I will like this one too. I think the reason I havent caught it yet is most of the movies I have watched for the last few years have been with the girlfriend (now wife) she doesnt like movies like this, but tough shit for her. I watched the Holiday twice with her this holiday season so she owes me.

Michael Clayton. Another character study, with a mystery thrown in. If there are any of these four that will cause you to write obscene things about me once you see it, this would be my guess (but I won't walk away from my recommendation...and Clooney does NOT play Clooney here...he's pretty much a loser still trying to trade in off his looks and charm, and not doing it very well).

I like Clooney, after watching the netflix preview it seems like one I will like.