A-List: The Ten Best Movies of the 2000s
By Josh Spiegel
November 20, 2009
KRISTEN STEWART! OHMYGOD! ROBERT PATTINSON! OHMYGOD! NEW MOON NEW MOON NEW MOON, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD!!!
OK, now that I've got your attention, and your page views, let's get down to this week's A-List, the first part of, in some ways, a four-part series: the best movies and television shows of the 2000s. Yes, this is not the most original idea, and it is not the only list you're going to find here on the Interwebs, but hopefully, this list will anger and incense enough of you as to get the bile up. Before we begin my list of the 10 best movies of the 2000s, I wanted to go through a couple ground rules and list out some movies that would go on the honorable mention list for me.
First of all, the most important note is this: this list is created solely by me, and represents my opinion. By this time next year, the staff of Box Office Prophets will be preparing a Best Of list of movies, TV, books, and more. I'll take part in those lists, but this one is just me. Thus, though you may get angry or love my choices and rankings, remember, all the credit and blame can be focused on yours truly. Second, some of you may have wisely noted that it's still November, just about time for Thanksgiving; this means, of course, that I have not yet seen some of this year's so-called top films, including A Serious Man, An Education, and upcoming releases such as The Lovely Bones and Nine. However, my top ten list features no films from this year, partly because it's hard to say how much of an impact they have had over only a few months.
Lastly, before we get to the bottom five on my list, numbers 10-6, I wanted to list some movies that made it close to being in my top ten, but got eked out by a few more sterling choices, or movies that hold a more solid place in my heart. Among the movies on my list of honorable mentions are Memento, The Lives of Others, Adaptation., Punch-Drunk Love, Zodiac, Up, The Hurt Locker, Once, Sideways, United 93, Let The Right One In, The Wrestler, and WALL-E. Something else worth noting before we go any further: as much as I love them, as famous as they are, and as iconic as they may be, none of the Lord of the Rings movies are on this list. They're great, I love them, but no, they're not on the top 10 or on the honorable mentions. So get out your tar and feathers, folks. Let's get to the first part of this top 10. Editor's Note: Part Two will be posted as the regular A-List column for next week (i.e. sometime around Thanksgiving).
10. The 40-Year Old Virgin
You're about ready to break down my door, aren't you? How could this raunchy comedy about...well, a 40-year-old guy who's never had sex top my list as opposed to a depiction of heroism on one of this country's most tragic days, or a meta dramedy about writer's block, or even a tale of true vampiric love? Though I have laughed harder at a few movies this decade (Elf and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy), there is no question in my mind that The 40-Year Old Virgin is also sweet, incisive, mostly realistic, and extremely, extremely funny. Here is the film that cemented Steve Carell's stardom, the film that made Judd Apatow something of a household name, the film that proved to mainstream audiences that Jane Lynch is a gifted comedienne (yes, there was a career for her before Glee), and the film that managed to begin with a man waking up to something of a raising of the proverbial flag and end with a Bollywood number.
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