Favorite Movies of the Decade: 15 - 11

Today brings us round 3 of the favorite movies section of my Slices of Fried Gold: The Decade Edition project. So far, I've unveiled numbers 25 through 16 in my list, with today bringing us to 15 through 11. An interesting list, and one that brings us two Danny Boyle and Alex Garland collaborations, two animated films, and one story of the single greatest news anchor that has ever lived. An intriguing trio if I do say so myself.

Before we get started, here are links to day 1 and day 2 of this, and below is the list to date.

25. Up
24. In Good Company
23. In Bruges
22. Everything is Illuminated
21. The Departed
20. Wall-E
19. Snatch
18. About a Boy
17. The Constant Gardener
16. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring


15. Sunshine (Directed by Danny Boyle, written by Alex Garland)

Sunshine is a bizarre film in many ways. Chiefly, its effortless genre-hopping is very rare to see, and it is especially rare to see any semblance of success with this. This film starts out as a dreamy sci-fi film, edges into 2001 style psychological space film, and then moves into Event Horizon class horror thriller by the very end, yet never sacrifices quality throughout. Even at the very end, we're given a curveball, a haunting and completely gorgeous curveball, but a curveball no less.

The fact that this film is very difficult to pinpoint save the grand umbrella of sci-fi is not lost upon me, but however you classify it this is an out and out success. Danny Boyle and Alex Garland once again collaborated to form a brand new take on a tired genre to give us a memorable, beautiful, and chilling sci-fi flick about saving humanity from the sun burning out. The cast is a top to bottom standout, with the standout being the surprising Chris Evans, breaking out from his Human Torch past to steal every scene he's in as the enigmatic and passionate Mace. Throw in brilliant camera work from Alwin Kuchler and another stellar score from John Murphy (with help from Underworld), and this is perhaps the best straight sci-fi film of the decade.


14. Howl's Moving Castle(Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki - 2004)

While many would choose Miyazaki's own Spirited Away as his greatest film of the decade (and who could blame him? it's a stellar film), I prefer his work on Howl's Moving Castle. Howl's is a story of two highly disparate people - of a cursed young woman named Sophie, pushed into old age prematurely by a vile witch and off to find the great and insecure young wizard Howl to cure her ills. Howl is a haunted man, and a man who is slowly but surely cruising along a path of self-destruction. Somewhat predictably though, both find resolution to their problems in each other.

But this film is no predictable romance. This is a story of many wondrous things, whether it be a home that travels on its own legs, a talking flame, hilarious young proteges, evil witches, and completely gorgeous vistas as illustrated by the master Miyazaki himself. Miyazaki is one of the only hand drawn animators going today (in terms of feature length films), and if I were other animators, I would have gotten out of the game as well. The detail and power he gives his illustrations are unmatchable, with John Lasseter (the king of Pixar) perpetually stating that Miyazaki-san is one of the greatest influences upon their work at Pixar. This is perhaps the finest example of his career, the most prominent jewel upon a most glorious crown, and an utterly brilliant addition to a unparalleled resume.


13. Anchorman (Directed by Adam McKay, written by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay - 2004)

Comedy is often a genre that people do not know how to rate properly. They're often discounted for being occasionally non-sensical, often completely absurd, frequently juvenile, and some would even say infantile. Anchorman is, without a doubt, all of these things. Yet it also is the single funniest movie I've ever seen, and the most effortlessly quotable movie to have come out of the decade. Whenever Will Ferrell releases a movie, he's trying to recapture the magic that came from this movie, but quite frankly, it's impossible.

It's science.

Whenever you combine the most precious of elements of film into one brilliant comedy filled with improvisation and genius, which, in this case, means Will Ferrell (I don't know how to put this but I'm kind of a big deal), Paul Rudd (60% of the time, it works every time), David Koechner (when this is all said and done we should get an apartment together), Steve Carrell (I love lamp!), Vince Vaughan (Dorothy Mantooth is a saint!), Jack Black (that's how I roll), and many many more. This is basically the greatest example of comedic synergy ever, and it will be difficult to find a movie that makes me laugh harder more consistently.


12. Finding Nemo (Co-directed by Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich, written by Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson and David Reynolds - 2003)

Another example of Pixar brilliance, with this one being the under the sea adventures of a clown fish (Albert Brooks) and his moderately obnoxious travel partner (Ellen DeGeneres) as they try to make it all the way to Australia to rescue his son. While it's frequently simply a hilarious romp, it also packs the emotional power that we've grown accustomed to from Pixar. This isn't just an under the sea buddy comedy, this is a tale about being a father and being a son. This is about the lengths you're willing to go to save your family. It's emotional dynamism makes it high on the totem pole of Pixar's successes.

The fact that it is also hilarious, has some of the best voice acting in Pixar history, and that Thomas Newman absolutely brings it on the score is all the better. This really proved that Pixar could really do anything, as they imbued these aquatic creatures with more life and vitality than most live action filmmakers could ever hope to accomplish.


11. 28 Days Later (Directed by Danny Boyle, written by Alex Garland - 2002)

After bursting upon the scene in 1996 with Trainspotting, Danny Boyle hit a cold spell. He was starting to look like a flash in the pan after most hated A Life Less Ordinary (I love that movie though) and The Beach, but with this film Boyle came back onto the scene. With three other massive successes in the Best Picture winning Slumdog Millionaire, the previously talked about Sunshine, and Millions, Boyle in many ways was one of the most successful directors of the decade. However, this film really is what got it started, as Boyle turned the genre of zombie horror on its head with one simple alteration: fast zombies.

While that was a huge change in its own right, the fact that he paired this original turn with a powerful story of a lost man finding a new family and trying to protect that family in a horrible situation is all the more incredible. While George Romero effectively brought the zombie genre to the forefront with his Living Dead series, Boyle was one of the first directors to layer the film with actual terror and emotional resonance ever. A lot of that came from the script for Garland, the stellar lead performances (namely Cillian Murphy and Brendan Gleeson), and an utterly original and haunting score by John Murphy. All in all though, it's one of the best examples of a genre that is increasing in popularity with each passing decade.

Best of 2007 (Movies edition)

As this is the first of the three (or potentially four, depending if I get saucy and do comics) Best of 2007 lists that I'm going to do, I'm going to preface it with a bit of a warning. Anyone that knows me knows that I love things like that. I love lists. I love sharing my opinion (I am writing on a blog afterall). This is the logical step when you think about it. Which is why over the next two days I will be releasing my top 10 for movies, TV, and comics and a super impressive top 30 (!!!) list of CD's in 2007.

Of course I will not write about all of them, I was thinking top 3 on the smaller trio and maybe a top 5 or 10 on the CD one, but nothing too crazy. I just feel as if I have to do this. Feel free to share things you've liked this year. I love checking out new things, so go to town folks!

For movies, I kind of think it was a bit of a weak year. Last year had a number of absolute knockouts, starting with Children of Men, and moving on to other amazing movies like the Departed, Pan's Labyrinth, Little Miss Sunshine, and Letters from Iwo Jima. There was a lot to love last year. This year, there really wasn't a movie that I walked out of and felt as if I could immediately say "I think this is one of my five or ten favorite movies ever."

There was a lot to very much like, but not a whole lot to absolutely love.

However, I want to preface this with the fact that there are a lot of movies I still need to see before really judging that. I want to see There Will Be Blood, Atonement, Sweeney Todd. the Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, and a number of others. Maybe the knockouts will be in that list or beyond. Who knows. But below are the movies I thought were the best of the year.

1. Sunshine (Directed by Danny Boyle; Written by Alex Garland; Starring Cillian Murphy and Chris Evans)

This and the following pick may not make the top 10 of my all time favorites, but they are definite top 15 contenders. This movie brilliantly combined sci-fi, drama, action, and bizarro psychological thriller all into one fusion genre. It was like 2001 meets Event Horizon, but without the boredom of the former and the ridiculousness of the latter. Even better, it improved in my mind thinking more of it, plus I have the feeling it will only grow with repeat viewings.

Cillian Murphy and the majority of the cast were predictably great, but the real surprise in the cast was Chris Evans of Cellular and Fantastic Four fame. He really stepped it up in this and proved that he could in fact really display different sides besides arrogance and incredulity.

One of the best parts about it as well was the music. The music set the ambiance perfectly, and the combination of electronic act Underworld and 28 Days Later composer John Murphy were absolute perfection.

For those interested, here is a brief plot synopsis by yours truly: The Sun is extinguishing. The Earth is dying. In a last ditch hope, Earth gets together a team to use a massive nuclear bomb to reignite the Sun (as implausible as it sounds, I actually read up on it and this is in fact possible...in theory). The first team fails mysteriously, so a second and final attempt is joined midway through their journey in the attempt to figure out what happened to the first team and to attempt to complete the mission.

That's some hot stuff right there.

2. Waitress (Directed and Written by Adrienne Shelley; Starring Keri Russell and Nathan Fillion)

This is just a simple movie about a woman who is living a life that is going no where with a terrible husband and who has a baby on the way whom she is terrified for (because it has to come into this life) and angry at (because it makes her have to stay with her husband). Her life is turned upside down when she meets the new OB/GYN in town, and from there the plot goes and goes into a brilliant coming of age tale (albeit one that takes place slightly later in life than usual).

There is one point that needs to be made before anything here. Keri Russell gives the best performance by any actress this year. No one is even talking about her for an Oscar this year, but she should be bandied about as much as anyone (especially considering the crap class of actresses this year!). She makes Jenna as three dimensional and real as this character could possibly be, and she's funny and touching and perfect.

Nathan Fillion is also fantastic (as always, Browncoats do it better), and the rest of the cast (including a terrifying Jeremy Sisto, an amusing Shelley and Hines, and a wonderful Andy Griffith) bring their A game as well. Shelley does an amazing job crafting a movie that could easily fall into the trap of sappy and overly saccharine, but she dodges that bullet entirely. Sadly enough, she was killed after the film was completed, so we can never see anything else from her, but at least she got this incredibly personal feeling film out before.

3. No Country for Old Men (Written and Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen; Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, and Javier Bardem)

The third best movie this year in my opinion, but it had the best opportunity of any of them to be an all time great. It is absolutely perfect for 17/18ths of the movie. I loved every bit of it for that. But frankly, I did not grasp the ending. Someone explained it to me well, and I think on repeat viewings it could become my favorite of the year, but where I sit right now makes it the third best.

It's the story of a normal guy (Brolin) who finds a large stash of drug money, and the trail of death and destruction that follows him as the force of nature that is Anton Chigurh (Bardem) tracks him during every waking moment. When you get deeper, its about a lawman (Tommy Lee Jones, doing what he does) dealing with the changing nature of his job, and about how every person involved with the law is always surpassed by the ruthlessness of criminals. Its an extremely engrossing movie on the surface, and I feel as if (as I said) with repeat viewings it will just grow as the subtext is delved into more.

However, regardless of getting subtext or not, Anton Chigurh is pretty much the scariest villain ever and Bardem deserves the Oscar for the role, and the Coen Brothers once again have crafted a sickly funny and intense crime drama in the vein of their previous glories like Fargo. Fantastic movie.

4. Juno (Directed by Jason Reitman; Written by Diablo Cody; Starring Ellen Page and Michael Cera)

5. Stardust (Dir. by Matthew Vaughn; Written by Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn; Starring Charlie Cox and Claire Danes)

6. Enchanted (Directed by Kevin Lima; Written by Bill Lima; Starring Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey)

7. The Bourne Ultimatum (Directed by Paul Greengrass; Written by Tony Gilroy and Scott Z. Burns; Starring Matt Damon (MATT DAMON!)

8. Zodiac (Directed by David Fincher; Written by James Vanderbilt; Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey Jr.)

9. 3:10 to Yuma (Directed by James Mangold; Written by Hallsted Welles and Michael Brandt; Starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale)

10(tie). Ratatouille (Directed by Brad Bird; Written by Brad Bird; Starring Patton Oswalt and Lou Romano)

10 (tie). Once (Written and Directed by John Carney; Starring Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova)