Some of our favorite critics made out their best of the decade lists. Here they are:
MIKE D'ANGELO (The Man Who Viewed Too Much)
1) Memento
2) The Man Who Wasn't There
3) Afterschool
4) Dogville
5) Silent Light
6) State and Main
7) In the Mood for Love
The Prestige
9) 25th Hour
10) Primer
Comment:
There won't be much love hereabouts, I'm guessing, for Christopher Nolan, my choice for Filmmaker of the Decade in a walk. In "Memento" and "The Prestige"—and also in "The Dark Knight," to a lesser but still impressive degree (for a studio tentpole, anyway)—Nolan is working at a level of philosophical ambition that dwarfs nearly all of his contemporaries; I know of no two recent films that speak as profoundly to what makes us human, viz. our deep but mostly unacknowledged need for continual self-deception. But he isn't a personal filmmaker (strike one) or a formalist (strike two), and he's fundamentally more interested in ideas than in people (yer outta there!). So, no, these movies aren't sensual or intimate or pointillist. Merely brilliant.
ED GONZALEZ (Slant)
1) Mulholland Dr.
2) In the Mood for Love
3) The New World
4) Femme Fatale
5) Inland Empire
6) The Company
7) L'Enfant
Two Lovers
9) Rachel Getting Married
10) In the City of Sylvia
J.R. JONES (Chicago Reader)
1) Wendy and Lucy
2) Vera Drake
3) The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
4) Away From Her
5) Gosford Park
6) Donnie Darko
7) Summer Hours
In the Bedroom
9) Waking Life
10) Palindromes
Comment
The hell with this--bring on the teens.
KARINA LONGWORTH (BlogSpout)
1) Punch-Drunk Love
2) A Christmas Tale
3) Friday Night
4) Silent Light
5) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
6) The New World
7) My Winnipeg
Marie Antoinette
9) Dancer in the Dark
10) Ocean's 13
NOEL MURRAY (Onion AV Club)
1) The Royal Tenenbaums
2) There Will Be Blood
3) No Country for Old Men
4) The Prestige
5) Morvern Callar
6) 25th Hour
7) Crimson Gold
Adaptation
9) Spirited Away
10) A Prairie Home Companion
NATHAN RABIN (AV Club)
1) 25th Hour
2) The Squid and the Whale
3) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
4) Big Fan
5) Sideways
6) The Dark Knight
7) Idiocracy
There Will Be Blood
9) Zodiac
10) The Royal Tenenbaums
JONATHAN ROSENBAUM (Chicago Reader)
Best Film of the Decade -- A.I. Artificial Intelligence
NICK SCHAGER (Slant)
1) The New World
2) Mulholland Dr.
3) Zodiac
4) There Will Be Blood
5) Trouble Every Day
6) In the Mood for Love
7) Three Times
Femme Fatale
9) The Royal Tenenbaums
10) Memories of Murder
AMY TAUBIN (Film Comment)
1) Spider
2) Inland Empire
3) 2046
4) La Commune (Paris, 1871)
5) A History Of Violence
6) Zodiac
7) In Praise of Love
Donnie Darko
9) Elephant
10) Fat Girl
SCOTT TOBIAS (Onion AV Club)
1) 25th Hour
2) In the Mood for Love
3) Before Sunset
4) Yi Yi
5) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
6) No Country for Old Men
7) There Will Be Blood
Zodiac
9) Dogville
10) WALL-E
ARMOND WHITE (New York Press, Professional Armond White)
1) A.I.: Artificial Intelligence
2) Femme Fatale
3) Broken Sky
4) War of the Worlds
5) Munich
6) Together
7) George Washington
Happy-Go-Lucky
9) The Darjeeling Limited
10) Everlasting Moments
Comment
Cowardice, cliques and herd-mentality thinking have destroyed criticism--if not damaged democracy--but good films get made anyway. Good luck finding them.
IndieWire Critics’ Poll
Here is their ranking for Best of the Decade. Mulholland Drive secures a strong almost 50 point lead over In the Mood for Love but with five more ballots. On my side with A.I.? Jonathan Rosenbaum AND Armond White. Two steps forward...
1 Mulholland Dr. (288/38)
2 In the Mood for Love (239/32)
3 Yi Yi (177/23)
4 There Will Be Blood (168/29)
5 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (161/23)
6 The New World (133/19)
7 Before Sunset (104/20)
8 Zodiac (100/17)
9 Platform (97/12)
10 Artificial Intelligence (91/12)
Edited By Sabin on 1261510207
1 Mulholland Dr. (288/38)
2 In the Mood for Love (239/32)
3 Yi Yi (177/23)
4 There Will Be Blood (168/29)
5 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (161/23)
6 The New World (133/19)
7 Before Sunset (104/20)
8 Zodiac (100/17)
9 Platform (97/12)
10 Artificial Intelligence (91/12)
Edited By Sabin on 1261510207
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IndieWire Critics’ Poll
Best Picture
35 Shots of Rum
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Headless Woman
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Police, Adjective
A Serious Man
*Summer Hours
Two Lovers
Up
Best Director
Oliver Assayas, Summer Hours
*Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Claire Denis, 35 Shots of Rum
James Gray, Two Lovers
Lucrecia Martel, The Headless Woman
Best Actor
Matt Damon, The Informant!
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Tom Hardy, Bronson
Joaquin Phoenix, Two Lovers
*Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
Best Actress
Arta Dobroshi, Lorna’s Silence
Charlotte Gainsbourg, Antichrist
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Maria Onetto, The Headless Woman
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
*Tilda Swinton, Julia
Best Supporting Actor
Peter Capaldi, In The Loop
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Christian McKay, Me and Orson Welles
Paul Schneider, Bright Star
*Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Best Supporting Actress
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Anna Kendrick, Up In The Air
Melanie Laurent, Inglourious Basterds
*Mo’Nique, Precious
Samantha Morton, The Messenger
Best Original Screenplay
*Joel & Ethan Coen, A Serious Man
Tony Gilroy, Duplicity
James Gray & Ric Menello, Two Lovers
Corneliu Porumboiu, Police, Adjective
Lynn Shelton, Humpday
Quentin Tarantino, Inglorious Basterds
Best Adapted Screenplay
Wes Anderson & Noah Baumbach, Fantastic Mr. Fox
Tom Ford & David Scaerce, A Single Man
*Armando Iannucci, Jesse Armstrong, Tony Roche & Simon Blackwell, In the Loop
Peter Morgan, The Damned United
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air
Best Foreign Language Film
35 Shots of Rum
The Headless Woman
Police, Adjective
Still Walking
*Summer Hours
Best Documentary
*Anvil! The Story of Anvil
The Beaches of Agnes
The Cove
La Danse
Of Time and the City
Edited By Big Magilla on 1261500230
Best Picture
35 Shots of Rum
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Headless Woman
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Police, Adjective
A Serious Man
*Summer Hours
Two Lovers
Up
Best Director
Oliver Assayas, Summer Hours
*Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Claire Denis, 35 Shots of Rum
James Gray, Two Lovers
Lucrecia Martel, The Headless Woman
Best Actor
Matt Damon, The Informant!
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Tom Hardy, Bronson
Joaquin Phoenix, Two Lovers
*Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
Best Actress
Arta Dobroshi, Lorna’s Silence
Charlotte Gainsbourg, Antichrist
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Maria Onetto, The Headless Woman
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
*Tilda Swinton, Julia
Best Supporting Actor
Peter Capaldi, In The Loop
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Christian McKay, Me and Orson Welles
Paul Schneider, Bright Star
*Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Best Supporting Actress
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Anna Kendrick, Up In The Air
Melanie Laurent, Inglourious Basterds
*Mo’Nique, Precious
Samantha Morton, The Messenger
Best Original Screenplay
*Joel & Ethan Coen, A Serious Man
Tony Gilroy, Duplicity
James Gray & Ric Menello, Two Lovers
Corneliu Porumboiu, Police, Adjective
Lynn Shelton, Humpday
Quentin Tarantino, Inglorious Basterds
Best Adapted Screenplay
Wes Anderson & Noah Baumbach, Fantastic Mr. Fox
Tom Ford & David Scaerce, A Single Man
*Armando Iannucci, Jesse Armstrong, Tony Roche & Simon Blackwell, In the Loop
Peter Morgan, The Damned United
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air
Best Foreign Language Film
35 Shots of Rum
The Headless Woman
Police, Adjective
Still Walking
*Summer Hours
Best Documentary
*Anvil! The Story of Anvil
The Beaches of Agnes
The Cove
La Danse
Of Time and the City
Edited By Big Magilla on 1261500230