5 Best Movies of the Decade
I watch a lot of movies. In fact I watch a lot of crap movies. Then I balance the crap out with some really artsy movies to justify the crap that I just watched. In the end the crap and the art blend together to make up a wonderful blend of crapart which french for “Bobby Finstock’s taste in everything”. Here are my five favorite movies of the decade.
5) Almost Famous
I will take this shot over the movie poster any day of the week.
A lot of people have mixed feelings about this movie. I know people who despise it completely and others that think it is the greatest movie ever made. Although I wouldn’t go as far as saying that it is in the top ten of movies ever made I would say that it was one of the five best movies of the decade. Kate Hudson gives the performance of a lifetime (which she hasn’t and will never top… well except maybe Bride Wars), we get introduced to Zooey Deschanel, Billy Crudup and Jason Lee turn in great performances making you believe they are talented rockstars… Of course it does get dragged down a notch or two because Jimmy Fallon is in it for a moment or two and Fairuza Balk is also in it which leads to the “is she or isn’t she attractive” debate which distracts you for a good half hour of the movie.
4) Anchorman
Since I love comedies I needed to have a comedy on this list. There were some pretty amazing comedies as “profanity laced” movies became okay again: Wedding Crashers, 40 Year Old Virgin, Old School, Superbad, and The Hangover all had strong runs. Honestly though I think you can interchange a lot of these movies including cast members, jokes, and stories without damaging the result. Anchorman had the humor the others did with a little tinge of complete randomness plus the characters were just owned by the people who played them.
Additionally I think Anchorman has the most quotable lines out of any comedy of the decade which gives it bonus points.
3) Million Dollar Baby
When I saw this movie in the theaters it turned me into a weepy pile of shit. I know everyone wants to blow Christopher Nolan because he knocked out some pretty solid films this decade (Memento and the Batman Series) but Clint Eastwood probably had the best run out of any director this decade even though “Invictus” is a heaping pile of flaming elephant crap.
I know a lot of people stayed away from “Million Dollar Baby” because it looks like a “sports movie” and while it does have the sports element in it the story blows away anything that has been seen in a traditional sports movie. (Except for maybe Caddyshack because a country club out of control is just awesome.) The performances were perfect and while the last quarter of the movie leaves me emotionally crippled every time I watch it I can’t recommend this movie enough.
2) The Departed
Martin Scorsese could film animals taking a shit and make a two and a half hour-long movie about it and I would go opening night. Although I still think “Goodfellas” is a superior film “the Departed” drags me in the same way Goodfellas does and I stop flipping through channels to pick up the movie no matter where it is.
Plus the scene with Jack Nicholson tossing cocaine at the various body parts of two women can’t be ignored. I think about when they filmed this scene and he probably looked at Marty S. after getting some direction and replied, “You think this is the first time I have done this?”
1) Mystic River
A lot of people think Sean Penn is a douche. His politics, his attitude, his overall demeanor as a complete dickhead all add up to a lot of people avoiding his movies. Go and watch “Mystic River” and tell me he is not the best actor on the face of the earth right now. (Johnny Depp can blow me, it isn’t hard to walk around like a drunk pirate.) Another Eastwood helmed movie that gives us the best career performances out of just about every single actor and actress in the film. Also I want to give a shout out to Marcia Gay Harden who I think is completely overlooked when people talk about this movie. (She has to be a reader, right?)
What were some of your favorite movies of the decade?
Anchorman is pure win. I love that movie.
I never get sick of it.
Same here. I love the music video of Afternoon Delight that the dvd has.
“Your aura is purple!”
I wonder if mine is more like a pea soup green?
Any one of these I can pick up in the middle and ride out…and Paul Rudd is hot, even in Anchorman.
Did you ever see the movie he is in with Michelle Pfieffer?
No…but tell me more…with this Paul Rudd mask, and is it too much to ask that you try to sound like him?
“What? You pooped in the refrigerator? And you ate the whole… wheel of cheese? How’d you do that? Heck, I’m not even mad; that’s amazing. How ’bout we get you in your p.j.’s and we hit the hay.”
The commentary between him and Baxter was enough to make me love this movie.
I personally don’t like movies that make me cry, but I will admit Million Dollar Baby was a brilliant film.
And I am sorry, I absolutely love, “Almost Famous.” But only because of Phillip Semour Hoffman. I have such a weird celeb crush on that man.
But not more than the Piven. Let’s not go crazy.
Phillip Semour Hoffman is from Fairport… In Rochester… So I am pretty sure I have ate at the same places he did while growing up.
Want to smell my hand?
I don’t find him attractive per se, just really enjoy his movies. And thanks for the hand smell offer but I think I will pass. Now, if you have eaten in a 50 mile radius of the Piven, then we can talk.
If I was 5 inches shorts and unshaven… with you drunk enough… You might not be able to tell a difference.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I’m pretty sure I’ve watched it 38342672348 times.
I have yet to figure out how it’s classified as a comedy, though…
I can’t watch a Kate Winslet movie without debating if she is fat or not.
fully agree with the Almost Famous box cover and Mystic River is a must-see … wishing Bobby Finstock a very Happy New Year!
The Departed really? I am disappointed
come on it is set in BAAAAAAHHHHSTON
The Departed. Gimme a Boston accent and I lose my mind. Plus the fact that the movie is pure genius. Excellent list.
I have lived in Boston for a year and I can’t fake one yet.
Ok, ok, movies are subjective… but Million Dollar Baby can lick the hairiest part of my ass. I hate that movie — Clint Eastwood is a great filmmaker — I hate that movie. It’s like making a film about a woman playing professional baseball… and then she has an abortion in the end; oooh, controversial. It just completely loses me.
Other than that, good list. They’re all good movies. However, if I made it The Departed would be the only one to maybe make it on, but different people like different things.
The whole death thing at the end was by far my least favorite part of the movie. I really like the characters in it. The kid that got the shit kicked out of him in the gym, Red, Eastwood’s character, and the cripple. The twist… well that was just kinda sorta there, I didn’t exactly enjoy it but because the characters were so good it actually impacted me.
That’s fair. Eastwood knows how to capture personalities through the camera. It’s just, I can’t get past the terrible ending.