Nick's Top 10 Films of the Decade

There will be plenty of best of the decade lists coming out in the coming weeks. To get a head start on all of that, here are my top ten films of the last decade.

1. Mulholland Drive (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0166924/) – I know some people just hate this movie but to me this was just a brilliant piece of filmmaking by David Lynch. I watched it and then immediately had to re-watch it just to see if I could figure out what I just saw. Amazing performances in what I now think is Lynch’s masterpiece. (Of the many Oscar oversights over the years, I will never understand how someone could think A Beautiful Mind was a better movie then Mulholland Drive, but oh well.)

2. United 93 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0475276/) – This is just another amazing piece of filmmaking. I dare you to watch this and not think it is a documentary. This is truly a tragic film and one that I don’t know if I can ever bring myself to watch again. It brought the events of 9/11 right back upon viewing and I know a lot of people avoided this movie because (and I truly get this) who wants to re-live those feelings. With all that said, this movie is simply a masterpiece.

3. 28 Days Later – (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0289043/) – To me what made this movie so amazing is it took a genre that has been made to death in zombies and gave us a fresh take on it. Also, when the film makes a left turn in the third act (and if you’ve seen it you know what I am talking about) it is scarier than any zombie eating your brains. I didn’t dig the sequel as much, but judged on its own 28 Days Later is truly remarkable

4. Traffic (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0181865/) – I know some people don’t like this movie as well, and I truly don’t get it. To me this was an addictively watchable film. So many stories and so many points of view yet somehow Soderbergh melds it all together to make a movie that I could re-watch a thousand times.

5. Capturing the Friedmans – (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0342172/) – This was in my mind the best documentary of the decade. If you haven’t seen it, I implore you to rent it. It sucks you right into the hell that was the Friedmans life at the time of the arrests. It doesn’t state weather they feel Jessie is innocent or guilty, and after watching it I still don’t know. But, because of all the home movie footage that was shot, it gives you a rare glimpse into a family as it falls apart.

6. The Royal Tenenbaums (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0265666/) - This is Wes Anderson’s last really good film. Here everyone gives great performances but, Gene Hackman just steals it. I still love that last scene with Ben Stiller and Hackman riding on the back of the garbage truck right before Royal passes away. It always hits me right in the gut. This movie gets better and better each time I watch it.

7. O’ Brother Where Art Thou? (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0190590/) - I am a Cohen Brothers fanatic so, of course I have to include at least one from the boys. If you watch this movie and it doesn’t put a smile on your face then you need to have your pulse checked. So funny and so much fun to watch, it is simply impossible not to like.

8. American Splendor (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0305206/) – I don’t know what it is about Harvey Pekar, but I just find him and his stories interesting. You could not have picked a better actor then Paul Giamatti to play Pekar. This is another one that in the end it leaves you with a very warm feeling somehow despite Harvey’s somewhat bleak views on life.

9. Frailty – (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0264616/) - This won’t make many ten best lists but, I had to include it in mine. Joyce and I went to the movies not knowing what we wanted to see. We picked this for I am still not sure what reason, and we both walked out amazed at just how good it was. This is a movie that keeps you guessing right until the end and pays off with a great finish.

10. The Bourne Identity (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0258463/) – The first in the Bourne series is still my favorite. This is a great action flick that from the first scene doesn’t let up until the credits roll. The whole series was really done well and tied together nicely. I still give a slight edge to the first one but all three are really good.

Honorable Mention: Memento, There Will Be Blood, No Country For Old Men, Almost Famous, Bad Santa, Bully, Secretary, Spiderman, Best in Show and Snatch.

Netflix Reviews

I haven’t written a blog in awhile (I am going through some serious writers block right now) so, I figured maybe if I write a ten second review of the last ten Netflix films I caught that may start the creative juices flowing again. Anyway, here goes.

Hellcab – I rented it because it was filmed in and around Chicago. I can’t say it was a bad movie and it is an interesting premise, but in the end it just wasn’t that great and the ending was a tad to melodramatic for me.

Charley Varrick – I have always been a huge Jack Lemmon fan. I also really liked Walter Matthau but never spent enough time watching his films. This is one of his from the 70’s that I never saw. Somehow even if it is a tad dated, it still works. A good cops and robber’s movie that kept me interested the entire time.

21 Grams – I am a big Sean Penn guy yet somehow I never got around to peeping this film. That was a mistake and Penn as usual gives a solid performance as does Benicio Del Toro. Even if it is a downer, it is still a very good movie.

The Foot Fist Way – I really dug East Bound and Down, the HBO series starring Danny McBride as Kenny Powers. So, that led me to check out the movie that launched his career, The Foot Fist Way. It is a flick made on a shoestring budget but, if you are a fan of his HBO series you will like this one.

The Towering Inferno – I saw this as a little kid but remembered nothing about it. I figured a movie with Paul Newman, Steve McQueen and O.J. Simpson had to have some redeeming qualities. And it did. A bit long, but still interesting enough and worth a rental for the 70’s of it all.

The Seventh Sign – I watched a lot of movies in the 80’s in Dell’s basement that because I had one too many cans of Stroh’s I don’t remember much of. This was one of those films. So, I figured I would re-watch it and see if I liked it or not. Well, this was a swing and a miss. I won’t say it sucked but, it is not worth one’s time. There is a reason time forgot about this one.

Charlie Wilson’s War – I am not a big Tom Hanks guy and I loathe Julia Roberts. Yet, I enjoyed this movie. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is again the balls here. A movie based on a true story about one time Texas congressman Charlie Wilson who while he was a flawed man did some truly great things.

A/k/a Tommy Chong – The fact that Tommy Chong served time in jail for selling bongs over the internet is just further proof that the Regan era war on drugs is a complete failure. At some point doesn’t common sense take over? At least as Chong says, it gave his career a boost and made him something he never thought he would be, a crusader.

Betrayed – I read a book awhile back about the shooting death of Alan Berg, a talk radio host who was shot and killed in Denver by a group of white nationalists. Two movies were made based on that shooting. One was the very good Eric Bogosian film Talk Radio. The other was this one which was not as good. If you have never heard about the case, I suggest reading the book it is better than either film.

One False Move – I saw this movie back in the day at Harlem Corners. Yet, all I could remember about it was that it starred Bill Paxton. (Who for one reason or another I actually like.) This movie is interesting enough but not as good as I remembered it if that makes any sense.

The MIxed CD

A lot of times I will find old cd’s that are left in a client’s pc’s cd rom after I have upgraded them. That happened again today as I was going through some equipment I brought back from my trip to Wisconsin a couple of months ago. It is a mixed cd that someone took to the time to create to get them through their workday, here is what was on it.

Track 1 – Dream On, Aerosmith – God I fucking hate Aerosmith. They have been living off of what they put out a million years ago and truth be told even that stuff wasn’t that great. Then they sold out like no other band in history. (Am I the only one that remembers the Britney Spears and Stephen Tyler Walk this Way duet during halftime of the Oakland – Tampa Bay super bowl?) Dream On was a decent track oh, the first 10,000 times I heard it.

Track 2 – The End, The Doors – Really? I mean I love the Doors as much as the next guy, but The End? Nothing like breaking up the monotony of a routine workday then a song about Jim’s oedipal complex issues.

Track 3 – How Long, The Eagles – Oh, you know where I am going with this one. In all my years on this planet I will never get the fascination with the shit merchants that make up the most over rated band in American music history, The Eagles. Maybe you have to be from California to get them? The lyrics to this song in particular are so 7^th grade poetry class worthy that I seriously have to ask someone to try to defend this one.

Track 4 Tiny Dancer, Elton John – Okay this cd had to come out of a chick’s old computer right? I mean even if you are male and like this song to admit so, calls into question oh so many things.

Track 5 – Wonderful Tonight, Eric Clapton – If you went to a wedding between the years 1987 and 1997 I can guarantee this song was played at some point in the evening when for whatever reason this tune came back into the mainstream consciousness. It isn’t a bad ditty per say, it is just that now since it has been so overplayed it has lost any sentimentality it ever had.

Track 6 Touch of Grey, The Grateful Dead – Of all the great Dead jams, this is what you pick to listen to at work? This is the official song of the Grateful Dead poser fan club. To say they mailed it in on this one is an understatement.

Track 7 – Stairway to Heaven, Led Zeppelin – I am not kidding. I mean didn’t they have classic rock radio stations where this lady grew up? If anyone can come up with a more over-played song I would love to hear a nomination.

Track 8 – Tuesday’s Gone, Lynard Skynard – She almost makes up for all her past misdeeds by the inclusion of this one. I won’t nuke it because I can’t.

Track 9 – Wish You Were Here, Pink Floyd – To listen to Pink Floyd in any place other than an insomnia ward can be harmful to your health. Pink Floyd is the perfect example of a band in which every member is insanely talented and then goes out and produces some of the most overblown, overproduced music imaginable. If there was a band that is the Bizarro Clash it is Pink Floyd.

Track 10 – Forever Young, Rod Stewart – Do I even have to make a comment on this one? It is a strange world out there and hey, to each their own. But, if you like this one you really need to open up your personal musical library. This is the worst Rod Stewart song. That is like being the worst Michael Bay movie.

Track 11 – Last Dance with Mary Jane, Tom Petty – I have to admit I kind of like this one. I am not a huge Tom Petty guy. I don’t dislike him or particularly like him. This song does not hurt nearly as much as many of the other tracks so, I will give it a pass.

Track 12 – Baba O’Reilly, The Who – Well, I will never diss the Who. They are the perfect rock and roll band. Again, this is a tad of an obvious choice but I won’t nuke it other than to say if the Who were a bike, Baba O’Reilly would be its training wheels.

Track 13 – Who Are You, The Who – Wow two Who songs to close it out. Not my favorite jam by the guys but, again I cannot nuke it.