Over the weekend The Times of London jumped the gun by posting their list of the top 100 films of the decade. We agree with ArtsBeat’s Dave Itzkoff, who noted that their roundup, while diverse, feels “more provocative than definitive.” (In fact, if this kind of sweeping survey tends to get you worked up, you might be better off reading GreenCine’s list of the 25 most disturbing movies instead.) After the jump, we’ll reveal their top 10, along with a few films we think got the shaft.
Their picks:
10. Hunger (Steve McQueen, 2008)
9. The Queen (Stephen Frears, 2006)
8. Casino Royale (Martin Campbell, 2006)
7. The Last King of Scotland (Kevin Macdonald, 2006)
6. Slumdog Millionaire (Danny Boyle, 2008)
5. Team America: World Police (Trey Parker, 2004)
4. Grizzly Man (Werner Herzog, 2005)
3. No Country for Old Men (Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, 2007)
2. The Bourne Supremacy / The Bourne Ultimatum (Paul Greengrass, 2004, 2007)
1. Hidden (Caché) (Michael Haneke, 2005)
Who we think got shafted: Amelie (not ranked); Brokeback Mountain (17); The Dark Knight (43); Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (16); Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (not ranked; Lost in Translation (39); The Pianist (not ranked); There Will Be Blood (63); any of the Lord of the Rings films (The Return of the King was the only one on the list and ranked at 50);
But these are just off the top of our head. Who do you not see on their list who deserves to be there? Are you surprised the Bourne movies made it so high up? Or that Team America cracked the top five, and topped Slumdog? Do you think it’s just a difference between British and American tastes? That would help explain Casino Royale… Most importantly, do you feel like all ten of their selections will be just as watchable in twenty or so years?
Comments (7)
This is really the silliest list I’ve seen thus far. This is my tweet as soon as I saw it:
http://twitter.com/katetropa/status/5536412772
And to elaborate further:
Napoleon Dynamite (not ranked); Wedding Crashers actually makes it IN the list, ranking 90 OVER Battle Royal/Amores Perros/ House of Flying Daggers/An Inconvenient Truth.
Surely they jest.
The Royal Tenenbaums at 88?? (and the only W.Andersen)
Memento at 68?! This is a groundbreaking film.
Brick (not ranked)
And then:
BAD SANTA?? at 54??
Knocked Up?? at 49??
I am done with this list.
Pulp Fiction should be at the top of this list !!!! It’s a classic in every cinematic sense of the word… Even if you have seen it once or a thousand times. Bruce Willis, John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson, and the madman/genius of a director, Quentin Tarantino are at the peak of their game with this one….
Pulp fiction=90′s so can’t be on the list, but I agree with 1st post the list seems a very odd (Team America=4???? how did that even happen), and you can tell they tried to appease every demographic and created a half-ass list which seems like they just picked a whole bunch of big movies and randomly ordered them.
who the hell wrote this list? this is the best films of the decade for dummies — or what?!
Best movies have to be on a list because of what they are but also what they represent and how they affect other filmakers.
BRICK… Mysterious Skin… Amelie… Donnie Darko… Frida… Eternal Sunshine…. so many … but none on the list above!!!
I agree with Kate!!!
NO, no, no. Hi all, British man here. It’s got nothing to do with differing tastes between Brits and Yanks.
The Times is an upper class rag with no idea and no connection with popular culture in the Uk.
Where are the Tarentino movies? Where are the Lord of the rings? There are many movies missing from the list.
what about sleuth? the 2007 one.
City of God, anyone? The Lives of Others?
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