<<Please here to insert playful banter about everyone on the Internets am doing lists of decade bests.>>
Bronze Medals
Thank You For Smoking – Jason Reitman’s first outing is too smart by half, and that’s why I love it. I haven’t seen Up in the Air yet, but I can’t wait to see where he goes from here.
Spider-Man – If only for the sequence where Peter first figures out his powers. The rest of the movie is so-so, but that ten-minute-long span is as close as you’ll ever get to capturing joy on film.
The Devil’s Rejects – This movie has enormous, swinging balls. Everyone I know hates it. Everyone I know is WRONG.
Shaun of the Dead – Spaced was too embryonic, Hot Fuzz too over-the-top. Shaun was that team’s sweet spot. A little too pleased with itself at times, but God, the zaniness is infectious.
Ratatouille – Anything Brad Bird made would have gone on this list. Not to undercut this flick, of course — it’s wonderful and nuanced and speaks right to your heart.
Thunder in Paradise – The new acid test for comedies: did it make me laugh more than Thunder in Paradise?
Pirates of the Caribbean – Just the first one. And maybe the second. But not the third. No, the third was dreadful like cabbage shit is dreadful. But from Captain Jack Sparrow’s first great swashbuckling, Errol Flynn escape to his apparent death in the maw of the Kraken, I was 100% on board.
Sin City
Planet Terror – Robert Rodriguez is another product of the ‘90s I came to late. While he spends too much time making crap kids movies, he also made Sin City and Planet Terror, two guilty pleasures which I will watch over and over until the day I die.
Big Fish – In between Tim Burton’s big, noisy, garish spectacle pieces (here comes Alice in Wonderland!), he occasionally stops to make thoughtful little character pieces like this. This is why I fell in love with the guy in the first place. Not to be missed by Burton fans.
The Hangover – One of the few movies to pass the Thunder in Paradise acid test. (To wit: “Did this movie make me laugh more than Thunder in Paradise?”) This movie even cracked Andrea up, and as we know, she only likes comedies where everyone dies in the end.
Waking Life – As someone who has tried his hand at rotoscoping, let me tell you, it ain’t easy. The metaphysical dialogue tends to drone on after a while, but if you tune out, you’re at least assured of some great visuals.
Tomorrow: The Silver Medalists!