4. “Oldboy”
Oh-Daesu, a commoner with a bad drinking habit, picked the wrong night to get wasted. On his daughter’s birthday, captors kidnap him and murder his wife, trapping him in a hotel room for fifteen years. When he exits, vengeance is on his mind, but little does he know that his captors are not finished with him. Park Chan-Wook’s most violent and propulsive entry in his Vengeance Trilogy is so startlingly and thrillingly executed that it gave the revenge picture a kick in the ass that lasted for years (and made near-contemporaries like “Man On Fire” look positively timid). Unlike other twist or revelation-laden films, “Oldboy” still rewards multiple viewings due to a tone that veers between roller-coaster ride and shock-corridor funhouse mirrors and a number of standout action sequences that would inform several bigger American films, naturally without any edge.
3. “Memories Of Murder”
Like all Bong Joon-Ho pictures, his sophomore feature-film effort —a sprawling murder-mystery procedural about a serial killer on the loose— is profound, absurd, comical and breathtaking sometimes all within a few moments. No one seems to quite expertly negotiate such discordant moods without coming off as tonally dyslexic. Song Kang-Ho (a Bong regular) stars as a bumbling, lazy local detective all too eager to pin a series of rapes and murders of local women on the first mentally disabled sap who mildly fits the description. But his case is abruptly transformed when a methodical big city detective from Seoul (Kim Sang-kyung) is sent in to assist. Predictably, their methods clash, but as the roller-coaster drama unfolds, and both police officers are faced with their own epiphanies and moral dilemmas, this zigzagging saga lands in some beautifully unexpected places.
2. “The New World”
What is man given, and what shall he take from the earth? Settlers arrive at Jamestown with unease, unfamiliar with the local natives, in this story not entirely about the mythic meeting of Pocahontas and John Smith, but also of the human nature behind colonial expansion. Unusually gun-shy, Colin Farrell’s inward John Smith is taken by the youthful spirit of the young Native girl as the settlers are enamored with the land, while we remain uncertain whether they are part of the land or vice versa. Typically poetic and gorgeously realized, like Terrence Malick’s other works, “The New World” is principally concerned with man’s grasp exceeding his reach, and the need for possessing what cannot be kept in one’s hand.
1. “Cache”
The camera always deceives in a Michael Haneke movie, a theme that’s run through his films, but reached its zenith with this suspense thriller. Daniel Auteuil and Juliette Binoche play a troubled couple who find their marriage stretched to the breaking point when they start receiving mysterious videotapes capturing the exterior of their suburban townhouse. At first seemingly like an obscure prank, the videos start to stockpile, and the couple suddenly remember dark secrets about their pasts. The film works doubly if you’re familiar with Haneke’s usual interest in French/Algerian conflicts, though it still satisfies as a conventional thriller with unspeakable depths that bubble over in nasty ways. Consider the final shot, one that twists the film on its head and offers a host of new answers and disturbing sociopolitical possibilities.
ANY list which does not include \’The World\’s Fastest Indian\’ was obviously compiled by a completely moronic imbecile!
That not so subtle dig at Spielberg\’s recent filmography makes me think it might be time for one of your in depth filmography looks.
Memories Of Murder was a 2003 film right? and Oldboy was 2004.
I\’m with you on Cache. My first Hanake film. Man that was something
I remember the first time I watched Caché I hated. I didn\’t know who was Michael Haneke. As I finally understood who the director was I just got haunted by the film.
I\’d include 40 years old virgin which is the best comedy of the decade
The Dardennes did not win two Palme in the decade. The first one was in 1998, Rosetta
Why are "Oldboy" and "Memories of Murder" in 2005? Aren\’t they films of 2003?
2005 was an unforgettable year for me. The year i moved out.. my first year away from home. i went to see WALK THE LINE BATMAN BEGINS SIN CITY KINGDOM OF HEAVEN LORD OF WAR CINDERELLA MAN
2046 and Three Times may be better than the films on the bottom half of the list.
@Gustavo H Razera Dude. Calm down. I agree with you about Spielberg, but I disagree with how you respond to a ****in top ten list. Seriously dude. Calm the **** down.
The New World takes place at Jamestown, not Plymouth Rock . . .
This one is just about perfect. Really glad to see "The Beat That Skipped My Heart" on here and the Korean films were so important to the changing landscape of film at the time – so influencial. And "Cache" was the film that finally got me hooked on Haneke. Also, Totally agree with yer assessment on Miranda July\’s film. We always need whimsical films that get it right. And I won\’t get into "Munich". You know how I feel about that one and I don\’t want to get angry tonight.
Regarding \’The New World\’, you need to replace Plymouth Rock (Massachusetts/Pilgrims) with what you meant to say which was Jamestown (Virginia/John Smith, et al). Other than that, great list.
…nothing to complain about, just two things: "Munich" is in fact a remake of TV movie — and "Downfall" became a pop-culture phenomenon (that scene especially, you know what I mean)…
I think Pride and Prejudice deserves a mention. It was probably one of the best British period pieces in the last decade. I\’d have put Brokeback Mountain and History of Violence in the top ten.
I still don\’t understand the hype over Oldboy and the other two in that trilogy. Pretty terrible, in my opinion. Still haven\’t seen: Walk the Line (James Mangold)
Sin City (Frank Miller)
King Kong (Peter Jackson)
V for Vendetta (James McTeige)
Munich (Steven Spielberg)
Cache is terrible but interestingly so. Hanake is either interestingly terrible or amazing (see White Ribbon). Which means he is better than 95% of filmmakers around today. Yeah, I said that.
History of Violence, Brokeback Mountain, Grizzly Man, New World, Squid and the Whale, Good Night, and Good Luck, Three Times, Capote, Match Point, and Broken Flowers.
My top 10
10)Old Boy, Capote, Brick, Wedding Crashers, The Beat My Heart Skipped, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Nobody Knows, Match Point, Sin City, 1)Keane with an honorable mention for most disturbing going to Hard Candy
\’"Munich" which is Spielberg\’s best (and least embarrassing) effort of the decade,"
Let me guess: you\’re one of those idiots who think Spielberg ruined Kubrick\’s work in A.I. because of the ending, not realizing the ending was Kubrick\’s idea all along.
This site remains a non-entity when it comes to criticism. Stick to the news, the only thing you\’re good at.
I know Im going up the raging river of opinion on this (and I\’m sure someone will attempt to pop my raft) but I found The New World to be like being stuck at a cocktail party full of narcissistic camera operators. I have no ride home and almost everyone in the room is standing on there own pedestal. While I\’m cornered for three hours with another legendary opinion of there ability to shoot pretty landscapes. And at any moment I could fall into the abyss of a boredom coma without them ever noticing. Nobody Knows and Lodge Kerrigans Keane would have definately squeezed into my top 10. With Keane a masterwork of hazing the barriers between sanity and reality. My heartache for those with mental illness and the lines between there reality and my perception of it have been blurred with a new compassion forever.
\’Catch Me If You Can\’ was 2002. Also, \’The New World\’ was very good. Glad to see it get some love.
So glad to see the general reassessment of THE NEW WORLD. The moment I saw it, weeks before it came out, I said it was one of the great films of the decade. I was promptly laughed at by most of my friends, including one who worked at New Line and had run the screening I was at. Glad to be vindicated by the passing years. 🙂
You guys don\’t like Catch Me If You Can ?
Oh and \’Memories of Murder\’ is brilliant. It\’s Fincher\’s Zodiac 2 years early and even better at that.
I\’m so happy with the resurgence of The New World after the tepid initial reception it had. I remember it topping so many \’best of the decade\’ lists a few years ago. Glad to see it on here as well.
Jarhead was easily my favorite film of the year. American Sniper wishes it was half as good. Rest of my list, Cinderella Man, Grizzly Man, The Squid and the Whale, Match Point, Wedding Crashers, Munich, The Matador, Proof, Wallace and Gromit and the Were Rabbit
I love this lists, keep it coming
I have to say – this list is my least favorite of the bunch so far. Several great films made the list, but the year\’s two best (in my opinion) didn\’t and some of those that made the list (I thought) shouldn\’t have been on it. I\’d remove "Oldboy" (which is good, but overrated) as well as "Junebug" and "The Beat My Heart Skipped" (both good, not great). My picks: Brokeback Mountain, A History of Violence, Cache, Grizzly Man, Munich, Good Night and Good Luck, Mysterious Skin, Match Point, The Squid and the Whale, Syriana, Kings and Queen, Tropical Malady, Memories of Murder.
Brick