(10) Fast Five

Jeremiah White:  What a way to kick off the Top 10!

Jeff Hart:  VROOM VROOM!

Jeremiah White:  Reuniting characters from the previous four installments, Fast Five felt like more than a shameless retread, it felt like a celebration of the thrill seeking franchise’s success, and excess. Everything about Fast Five is bigger than its predecessors: the stunts, the cast, the score, the biceps. In many summer blockbusters, that would mean a bloated, unenjoyable mess, but in the case of Fast Five, bigger is better.

Jeff Hart:  I know I bitched yesterday about the inclusion of 30 Minutes or Less as a credibility destroyer and Fast Five definitely sits outside my personal Top 10, but c’mon. It was awesome. Who cares about artistic merit when The Rock is spitting out shards of glass and power-slamming Vinny-Dees? Sometimes you just want to shut off your brain.

(9) Another Earth

Jeff Hart:  Here’s the third part of this year’s trio of cataclysm movies, along with Take Shelter and Melancholia, and it was the only one to make your list. Why?

Jeremiah White:  I was taken with the effortless and simple storytelling, and the lack of schmaltz despite a plot that could have been drenched in it.

Jeff Hart:  Another Earth is a poignant blending of science fiction with drama. Here’s this world-changing event, another planet just like ours hanging in the sky, and yet all the big sci-fi repercussions are cleverly handled through background noise and television broadcasts. Against this high concept backdrop we get a very relatable story of grief, penance, and redemption.

(8) Young Adult

Jeff Hart:  I was wary of Young Adult going in mainly because of the presence of screenwriter Diablo Cody. I was worried that the dialogue would be cute to the point of inhuman, like a retread of Juno.

Jeremiah White:  Definitely not. Cody left all the home-skillets out of this one.

Jeff Hart:  Jason Reitman surely knows that male midlife crisis movies are still all the rage, yet it’s rare to get a female equivalent. Charlize Theron has the range to really pull this role off, going from despicable to funny to vulnerable to pathetic. Thanks to Theron, Young Adult is bursting with those Curb Your Enthusiasm type moments of awkwardness so painful you want to turn away. Her relationship with Patton Oswald, who is quietly becoming a reliable dramatic actor, is sweet and human without ever becoming overly sentimental.

(7) The Tree of Life

Jeremiah White:  It’s difficult to talk about Tree of Life as one complete movie. The various sections of Terrence Malick’s 2 hour 20 minute epic could be easily divided and presented separately, and the scope is so large (creation of life to present day) that it can feel a bit unwieldy. However, the early section, which is basically a video art installation about the evolution of life, features such a variety of images, and is so packed with grandiose beauty, that it’s simply impossible for the eye to grow bored. And then the middle section, which focuses on a family in the 50s, brings the past to life with remarkable detail and manages to be completely engrossing with only the slightest traces of exposition and plot. It’s pure experience.

Jeff Hart:  Tree of Life has the unique honor of being the first Malick film I’ve been able to watch in a single sitting without falling asleep.

Jeremiah White:  Congratulations.

Jeff Hart:  Thanks. Look, there were points during the middle section where I thought this could be the best movie of the year; that its artistry elevated it above anything else I’ve seen this year and maybe beyond. That section is gripping, the editing is masterful. It’s the closest approximation to swimming through another person’s memory that you’re likely to find on film. But then Malick insists on closing on an overtly spiritual note, bombarding viewers with all the most hackneyed visual metaphors for an afterlife in existence. A beach? A mysterious white light filled doorway? A bridge? Come on. Did he credit the series finale of Lost for inspiration? That final misstep kept it out of my Top 10.

Jeremiah White:  That Lost bit is a low blow.

(6) Warrior

Jeremiah White:  Director Gavin O’Connor is fond of describing Warrior as “intervention in a cage.” There’s no doubt that a smart script, compelling characters, and powerful lead performances from Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton make Warrior great. But it’s ostensibly about an MMA tournament, and it’s a first rate sports movie in its own right.

Jeff Hart:  It’s too bad this came on the heels of last year’s overrated The Fighter, because Warrior is definitely the superior film. It might be the best sports movie since Rocky. There’s a certain amount of suspension of disbelief necessary to get us into the final showdown, but that comes easy thanks to strong performances from Hardy, Edgerton, and Nick Nolte.

Jeremiah White:  I was particularly impressed with how exciting the tournament was, despite a relatively small number of fighters. Every bout is different and memorable, with hard-hitting action and an attention to strategy. The use of two main characters makes the tournament results much less predictable, and the final match is genuinely suspenseful.

(5) The Guard

Jeff Hart:  Superficially, if you believe the spotty American marketing, The Guard is a fish-out-of-water buddy cop comedy starring Don Cheadle as an American FBI agent forced into working with Brendan Gleeson’s eccentric small town Irish cop. It nails down all the important elements of that genre with relative ease.

Jeremiah White:  They're a great pair, and the evolution of their relationship from antagonistic to cooperative to friendly feels natural and earned.

Jeff Hart:  But the real star here is Gleeson who, along with writer/director John Michael McDonagh, has created the latest entry in the pantheon of great detectives. Gleeson’s character is fully-formed, unique in his worldview, and just enigmatic enough that I’m dying to see another of his misadventures. This is probably how people felt after reading the first Hercule Poirot novel or something. Except Gleeson is hilarious.

(4) Attack the Block

Jeremiah White:  I don’t think I had more fun watching a movie all year. Ill-equipped humans battling alien invaders is a frequent occurrence in Hollywood, but when a British street gang takes on wild animals from outer space in Attack the Block, the action and humor feel organic despite such a contrived premise. While Super 8 may look every bit like a Spielberg movie, Attack the Block may be the more fitting tribute as it sparkles with imagination and adventure.

Jeff Hart:  I don’t think Attack the Block’s youth gang has the necessary sense of wonder to really fit the Spielberg tribute mold. Spielberg would never dare begin in such a cynical place. But Attack the Block does reflect some of those early Spielberg projects – like Gremlins and Goonies – that were more about rollicking adventure than sentimentality. I grew up on those movies. Attack the Block, while more targeted at grown-up kids like us, could still end up being one of those monster adventure favorites for the new generation. At the very least, it’s an instant cult classic.

(3) Martha Marcy May Marlene

Jeff Hart:  This was my #1 movie of the year for the very simple reason that weeks after seeing it, I still want to talk about it. I’ve had so many conversations about M4 over the last few weeks and each of those conversations has revealed a different way of interpreting the film’s events. The way the narrative floats along, blending present with memory and reality with paranoid fantasy, makes for a captivating experience. I was constantly ill-at-ease during M4, and yet I didn’t want it to end. I think that’s one of the biggest compliments I can pay the film; that I wanted another 30 minutes. Also, Elizabeth Olsen? Wow.

Jeremiah White:  Yeah, she’s great. You might describe her performance as a revelation, if that revelation is that a member of the Olsen family is actually talented.

Jeff Hart:  Zing. Olsen deserves Best Actress consideration. Sarah Paulson and John Hawkes really bring it as well.

(2) Drive

Jeff Hart:  As cool as it gets, right?

Jeremiah White:  Totally. Let me pull on my leather typing gloves while staring stonily into the distance.

Jeff Hart:  Drive proved to be a really divisive film this year, disappointing a lot of people suckered in because they thought they’d be getting car chases and maybe Ryan Gosling tearfully embracing Carey Mulligan on a beach. Instead, they ended up with Nicholas Winding Refn’s moody 70s exploitation tribute, with its weird retro music and horrifying ultra-violence. It still amazes me that a movie like Drive, which might have more style than substance but is still very much an art-house flick, got such a major release.

(1) Super

Jeremiah White:  What a shocker!

Jeff Hart:  I did not see that coming!

Jeremiah White:  Even as I was putting the finishing touches on my list, I didn’t expect to be putting Super at #1. But ultimately, Super is the movie that I feel the most passionately about recognizing. It’s a sharp piece of entertainment, with smart super hero humor and engaging action sequences. But there’s so much more to unpack! Writer/director James Gunn shines a harsh light on the super hero fantasy. What kind of a person would deem themselves worthy of acting as judge and jury? Who has the stomach to willingly enter into a world of constant violence (represented onscreen by a mix of splatter film gore and visceral brutality)? In this case, the answer to both questions is a self-pitying, ineffectual dimwit with a moral superiority complex, played expertly by Rainn Wilson.

Jeff Hart:  The answer is also a hyperactive super-fan with delusions of invincibility as played by a maniacally intense Ellen Page. She’s the kind of person that Super would ostensibly appeal to: the Kick-Ass worshipper that relishes casual violence and lives for escapist fantasy. Gunn’s film is so energetic and colorful, so poppy and free-wheeling, that it’s extremely disquieting when the realization finally hits just how fucked up this twisted idea of super heroics is. All of a sudden, you realize you’ve been watching a genre critique.

Jeremiah White:  In the midst of a super hero fad entering its second decade, and with many interpretations opting for grittier, more psychological approaches, and movies like Kick-Ass espousing a sort of “we can all be heroes” philosophy, Super feels incredibly timely. It’s a dynamic, bold, thoroughly entertaining and surprisingly thought-provoking oddity. Nothing made me more excited about filmmaking in 2011.

In the interest of full disclosure, here are our editors' Top 20 lists along with the point totals they assigned each film:

Jeremiah's Top 20:
1) Super (30)
2) Drive (25)
3) Attack the Block (23)
4) The Tree of Life (22)
5) Martha Marcy May Marlene (21)
6) The Journals of Musan (19)
7) Warrior (19)
8) Another Earth (17)
9) The Guard (17)
10) Young Adult (16)
11) Win Win (15)
12) Fast Five (15)
13) 30 Minutes or Less (12)
14) Blackthorn (10)
15) Cedar Rapids (9)
16) The Future (8)
17) Beats, Rhymes and Life (8)
18) Carnage (5)
19) Midnight in Paris (5)
20) We Need to Talk About Kevin (4)

Jeff’s Top 20:
1) Martha Marcy May Marlene (29)
2) Drive (26)
3) The Guard (25)
4) Warrior (23)
5) Super (22)
6) Attack the Block (22)
7) Young Adult (20)
8) Another Earth (19)
9) Take Shelter (18)
10) We Need to Talk About Kevin (17)
11) The Tree of Life (15)
12) Meek’s Cutoff (14)
13) Melancholia (12)
14) Shame (10)
15) Fast Five (8)
16) Midnight in Paris (6)
17) Beginners (6)
18) Win Win (3)
19) Blackthorn (3)
20) Rubber (2)

Jeff Hart:  Let's do a brief introduction!

Jeremiah White:  Go for it.

Jeff Hart:  2011 was a weird year for films. The usual end-of-year Oscar bait films really sort of suck this year, so we ended up with a lot of strange stuff on this list; indies that haven't gotten their due, mostly. Overall, there were a lot of really great movies, but nothing that really jumped out to me as a surefire Best Movie of the year.

Jeremiah White:  We both got behind The Social Network last year. This time, we didn't have a consensus #1. I think that made for a more provocative list. I can almost guarantee that no other site on the entire internet will share our Best Movie of the Year.

Jeff Hart:  The prevalent theme in film this year seemed to be the end of the world. There are three films on my list that deal explicitly with a literally Earth-changing event, and a bunch of others that are powered by smaller world-shattering tragedies. Filmmakers be nervous, yo.

Jeremiah White:  That's not so much a pattern on my list. I'm noticing I leaned toward genre tweaks this year. Some filmmakers played in familiar territory this year and really got it right. Those were my favorite movies.

(20) Shame

Jeff Hart:  I had a lot of problems with Shame. The shaggy long takes employed by director Steve McQueen often left his actors looking lost and the film ultimately charts a very predictable addiction narrative, but Michael Fassbender’s performance is too brave to ignore. It won him our title of Badass of the Year. It isn’t a film I could see myself sitting through again. That might be a compliment.

Jeremiah White:  I’ll second your gripes, especially with an ending that seems to undo the nuance of the first two acts. Still, for much of its runtime, Shame is an intriguing portrait of addiction and disconnect in the 21^st century. And yes, Fassbender is great.

(19) Midnight in Paris

Jeremiah White:  Woody Allen’s 2011 entry may not end up being particularly noteworthy in a legendary career that has spanned six decades, but it’s extremely easy to like. It’s attractive, charming and funny, and smartly wastes no time on the why’s and how’s of Owen Wilson’s time traveling. It’s a straightforward love letter to Paris, the artistic minds of the 1920s, and romanticism in general.

Jeff Hart:  At times, that love of romanticism makes Midnight in Paris a bit too precious, but the thrill of gallivanting with Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald makes up for it.

Jeremiah White:  Too precious, huh? Maybe you’d prefer the cynicism of Whatever Works?

Jeff Hart:  Don’t be stupid. WHO WANTS TO FIGHT?

(18) 30 Minutes Or Less

Jeremiah White:  Maybe I’m overcompensating for the critic disdain and audience apathy, but I really liked 30 Minutes. A lot.

Jeff Hart:  You’re probably overcompensating. Every year you have one of these credibility destroying picks that undermine our entire list. Last year it was MacGruber.

Jeremiah White:  Ah, one of my proudest moments as a critic. I’m fine with overcompensating on the behalf of Ruben Fleischer’s sophomore effort. It balances action and comedy better than anything in recent memory, the five leads all deliver, and references to the best 80s action movies abound.

Jeff Hart:  Yeah yeah, and even at 83 minutes long, the first act feels like filler. I enjoyed 30 Minutes as much as… well, pretty much anyone who isn’t you, but this isn’t a landmark cinematic achievement.

Jeremiah White:  That’s exactly what they told Will Forte.

(17) Melancholia

Jeremiah White: Basically, any movie with Kirsten Dunst nude moon-bathing was assured to make your Top 20, right?

Jeff Hart:  Well, yes. If Spider-Man 3 had featured 200% more Dunst staring moodily into the ether without a shirt on, it would’ve been my movie of the decade. Baser inclinations aside, this latest entry in the Lars Von Trier catalog of manic depressive horror shows is as visually enthralling as it is unsettling. Melancholia is a crushingly hopeless affair for much of its runtime, something to wallow in, which makes the feeling of optimism generated by its apocalyptic conclusion bafflingly wonderful.

Jeremiah White:  Eh. Nothing about Melancholia felt remotely human to me. As usual with Von Trier, the characters seem like nothing more than vehicles for his depression.

(16) Blackthorn

Jeremiah White:  Back in April, Blackthorn looked like a shoo-in for the year’s best Western. But 2011 was still young, and that title might ultimately belong to the film that landed one spot higher. Still, if you’re looking for a traditional Western, this little bit of revisionist history that imagines an elderly Butch Cassidy coming out of retirement is the best the past year has to offer.

Jeff Hart:  Plus there’s Jaime Lannister as a Robert Redford era Cassidy for Game of Thrones fans!

Jeremiah White:  There is, and beautiful landscapes, a gruff but likable protagonist, a few pulse-quickening action sequences (including one showstopper of a centerpiece), and some heavy themes like mortality and the inexorable march of time.

(15) Meek’s Cutoff

Jeremiah White:  So we learned this year that the Oregon Trail is a lot worse than the computer game would have us believe.

Jeff Hart:  No kidding! Although it seems natural to call Meek’s Cutoff a Western and compare it to its neighbor Blackthorn, Kelly Reichardt has made a film that doesn’t naturally fit into any genre. Meek’s Cutoff is probably best described as a bleak feminist existential thriller.

Jeremiah White: They should put that on the poster.

Jeff Hart:  It’s a slow moving experience that certainly won’t be for everyone. If you can handle the pacing, Reichardt’s barren vistas drip with atmosphere and the characters, despite having little dialogue, are exceptionally well drawn.

(14) Win Win

Jeremiah White:  Admittedly, Win Win is the kind of feel good movie I usually avoid. The troubled teenager, the economically strapped family that takes him in, the elderly character suffering from dementia. But it manages to be warm and fuzzy without feeling manipulative or melodramatic. Plus, the comedy of Paul Giamatti, Jeffrey Tambor and Bobby Cannavale as high school wrestling coaches is worth the price of admission alone.

 Jeff Hart:  Yeah, this is a serious case of feel-goodery, but sometimes that can be a good thing. Like you said, the cast is strong, and the script is tight enough that the happy ending feels earned. There's enough of an edge to Giamatti and newcomer Alex Shaffer's performance to keep things interesting. Also, the wrestling scenes are good.

(13) Take Shelter

Jeff Hart: The other the-end-is-nigh entry on this half of the list, Take Shelter is much more accessible than its companion Melancholia. Anchored by a forceful performance from Michael Shannon, Take Shelter takes the fear and uncertainty strangling Middle America and turns it into nightmarish visions of a coming apocalypse. Instead of joining The Tea Party, Shannon builds a bunker.

Jeremiah White:  I don’t want to spoil the ending as hopefully Take Shelter will find a larger audience soon – it’s definitely a film worth seeing – but it left me disappointed. So much of the film is spent by the audience trying to get into Shannon’s head. The process of determining whether he’s a madman or a prophet is integral to the experience. I didn’t like having the answer spelled out for me.

Jeff Hart:  I agree with that. Take Shelter would’ve been a much more intriguing film had it ended right after Shannon and Jessica Chastain (also excellent, good year for her) decide whether or not they should emerge from the bunker. I mean, that dimly lit bunker blow-up was maybe the most nail-biting scene of the year for me. Everything that follows is a touch much, but it’s still great and I’m looking forward to more from director Jeff Nichols.

(12) Journals of Musan

Jeremiah White:  Journals of Musan was easily my favorite viewing experience of the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival. It’s a dark and depressing look at a North Korean defector who finds himself friendless and broke in South Korea. I never felt that writer/director/star Jung-bum Park was punishing the audience, as there is humor and excitement to break things up, but undoubtedly its greatest achievement is in conveying the depth of Park’s loneliness and isolation.

Jeff Hart:  I also really enjoyed Musan, but it wasn't something that jumped out at me when I was making my final list. Unfortunately, I just don't remember much about Musan. Truly great films will stick with you.

Jeremiah White:  Yeah. Like 30 Minutes or Less.

(11) We Need To Talk About Kevin

Jeff Hart:  Never has a young mother throwing her poopy-pants toddler against the wall felt so cathartic!

Jeremiah White:  That’s dark.

Jeff Hart:  Seriously. In a year that saw a lot of dreamlike puzzle-box films, Kevin is a freaking nightmare. Tilda Swinton is excellent as usual as a mother grappling with the world’s worst case of nature vs. nurture after her demonic offspring commits a heinous act of violence. Unsettling literally from its opening frame, Kevin is the kind of movie that I love because it’s artful, dark, and begs for further discussion.

Jeremiah White:  Rarely do art and horror mesh so well. For all the vileness in it, Kevin avoids exploitation. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but it’s worth it.

CONTINUE TO #10-1

(10) Blue Valentine

Jeff Hart: The only reason this movie doesn’t rank higher on our joint list is because you’re afraid of your emotions.

Jeremiah White: Yeah, I’m dead inside.

Jeff:  Blue Valentine is a great film. It is beautifully shot, artfully constructed, and anchored by two raw performances from Ryan Gosling and Michele Williams. If they weren’t up against stunt performances from Colin Firth and Natalie Portman, I’d say Gosling and Williams would be shoo-ins for Oscar victories. These relationship dramas have a tendency to slip into melodrama, but Blue Valentine avoids that. It feels very natural and real, often painfully so.

Jeremiah: I have nothing bad to say about Blue Valentine. The performances are extremely raw, and, our earlier joke aside, if anything is making me slow to fully embrace Blue Valentine, it's that it is too real, and left me feeling a bit worn out. Blue Valentine is a difficult movie to watch, but one that everyone should.

(9) The Kids Are All Right

Jeff:  As we discussed yesterday, lesbians were totally in this year and so were films about unconventional families. Trendy or not, The Kids Are All Right is an extremely effective dramedy. The writing is smart, the granola California setting is rendered lovingly, and the performances all deliver, especially Annette Bening.

Jeremiah:  Seeing this after all the hype, I fully expected to enjoy it, but not embrace it. The one thing I really wasn't ready for was how funny it is. From humorous dialogue to hilariously awkward moments to a cinematic sense of humor (the quick cutaway to the raunchy sex scene is priceless), The Kids Are All Right's comedy is almost equal to its drama. And Julianne Moore and Annette Bening, similar to Gosling and Williams, deserve credit for completely inhabiting the skin of their characters.

(8) True Grit

Jeremiah:  I think you made a great point…

Jeff:  Thank you!

Jeremiah:  …in our review, that the Coens usually bring more originality and subversion to their genre fare. It does feel like something is missing from True Grit. Their playfulness perhaps, for lack of a better word. But with that loss comes one of their most entertaining and cohesive efforts yet.

Jeff:  Yeah, even what I consider to be a sort of buttoned-down effort from the Coens is still top notch. Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon are both at the top of their game and newcomer Hailee Steinfeld holds her own and then some.

Jeremiah:  Plus, there’s a Barry Pepper sighting.

Jeff:  Gotta love the B-Pep.

Jeremiah:  Are we calling him that now?

Jeff:  Yes.

(7) The Chaser

Jeff:  We originally considered The Chaser ineligible for this list because it snuck into American theaters at the end of last year, but then this dude Roger Ebert named it one of his best foreign films of 2010, so…

Jeremiah:  Can’t argue with Ebert.

Jeff:  No, the man bends time and space. Anyway, I’m happy to include The Chaser. It's a subversive thriller that bends genre in ways mainstream Hollywood just won’t stand for. I was shocked by The Chaser – shocked! – and that’s something that rarely happens to me at the movies, because I’m so cool and cynical.

Jeremiah: The Chaser is like a full season of a TV show that follows a single case all crammed into a movie, and it examines the case on a variety of levels, from the criminal to a pimp to the whole police force. It's like The Wire, and that's the best TV show ever.

(6) Youth in Revolt

Jeff:  LET THE MICHAEL CERA PORTION OF THE COUNTDOWN COMMENCE!

Jeremiah:  Wow, when did we turn into such big Michael Cera fans around here?

Jeff:  I don’t know, but I think maybe we should consider renaming the site Cera Culture. Anyway, Youth in Revolt is criminally underrated, and probably the funniest movie I saw all year. Yes, even funnier than MacGruber. Unless we’re totally wrong about this, and I doubt we are, this should be headed for cult status.

Jeremiah:  Yeah, this is definitely the funniest movie I saw all year. And it's a smart teen comedy to boot. I can't believe I was somehow hoodwinked into believing that this was a huge failure when it came out. The anti-Cerites in the media and internet community are on notice!

(5) Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Jeremiah:  I’m shocked I ranked this higher than you. You were initially much more in love with it. What happened? The pressure of making your year-end list “respectable” get to you?

Jeff:  My tastes have evolved.

Jeremiah:  For all the things I think Scott Pilgrim could have maybe done better, it still remarkably finds a balance between off-the-wall innovation and teenage wistfulness. With so many graphics and 2 second long scenes, I was kind of shocked at how emotionally invested I ended up being. And unlike most cinematic nostalgia-thons, Scott Pilgrim avoids being saccharine.

Jeff:  I will admit Scott Pilgrim dropped out of my personal Top 5 as the year went on, but that was really only to make room for a Michael Cera movie I liked better. I agree with everything you said and can't wait to see this again on DVD. I stand by the statement I made back when we reviewed this that Scott Pilgrim was the best movie of the summer...

(4) Inception

Jeff: ...not Inception!

Jeremiah:  Between this and The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan has basically set a new standard for the summer blockbuster. Inception is undoubtedly a blockbuster at its heart, but it’s the kind that reminds us that doesn’t have to be a dirty word. Inception’s heist movie mechanics simultaneously feel familiar and revolutionary, which makes for a very entertaining, and wild, ride that’s easy to latch onto.

Jeff:  I’ll cop to being a bit of an Inception hater, although that’s mostly as a result of two kinds of Inception fans that I can’t stand. The first kind are the frothing-at-the-mouth super fans that think Inception is some landmark achievement, when it’s really only Nolan’s 4^th best movie. The second kind are the oh-man-what-part-was-a-dream people that somehow let Inception confuse them, as if the movie doesn’t contain near constant exposition. It’s not that complex!

Jeremiah:  So you’re judging a movie based on its fanbase.

Jeff:  YES! And I know that’s wrong. Putting all that aside, I did enjoy Inception. It’s visually captivating, a great summer blockbuster, and I can’t knock Nolan who is one of the most interesting mainstream directors working. I walked out of the theatre liking Inception. It’s good. But let’s all take a deep breath, okay?

(3) Exit Through The Gift Shop

Jeff:  Exit Through The Gift Shop should be required viewing for anyone with even a passing interest in movies or art, and you’re not reading this if you’re not one of those people, so Netflix this if you haven’t seen it already. There’s absolutely nothing else like it. Banksy has crafted both a relentlessly entertaining documentary and a brilliant conversation piece. If this was only about the ascension of street art, it would still be worth watching, but it’s so much more than that. How much of the documentary is true? What does it say about art? There’s so much going on here worth talking about.

Jeremiah: Posing some sort of "what is art?" question is a great way to get me to tune out and start daydreaming about video games. Exit Through The Gift Shop avoids that in two ways: 1) it never actually poses that question, and it doesn't even approach the subject until very late in the movie (even though it's the most thought provoking treatment of the nature of art that I can recall) and 2) it basically admits that maybe art is all really just a joke, a bunch of bullshit. And it all makes perfect sense because of the rebellious, iconoclastic nature of street art.

(2) The American

Jeremiah:  Film is primarily a language of images, and The American is a fantastic example of that. Almost everything the audience needs to know is conveyed through visuals.

Jeff:  I loved The American. It's a gorgeous film, much more quiet character study than action movie. It takes this lovingly photographed Italian landscape and forces viewers to look at it through the eyes of Clooney's hitman-in-crisis. Everything becomes simultaneously beautiful and ominous. It's a wonderful, subdued performance from Clooney, very against type.

Jeremiah:  He's still pretty badass.

Jeff:  Yeah, I think he does a controlled slide at one point. Don't fuck with The American.

(1) The Social Network

Jeremiah:  I think it’s safe to say we both consider this the movie of the year.

Jeff: Absolutely, and not just because of what is on the screen, but because of what is says about the world in 2010.

Jeremiah:  Thanks, Peter Travers. Seriously though, The Social Network is the standard “American dream” tale told through the lens of the millennial decade, and it’s as visually striking and verbally articulate as anything I saw all year. This was an easy decision for me.

Jeff:  I briefly flirted with ranking Exit Through The Gift Shop number one as both that and The Social Network are what I consider definitively 2010 films, films that could have only arrived at this point in time. Ultimately though, Social Network is just too strong from top to bottom. The Fincher/Sorkin teaming is formidable, Jesse Eisenberg's performance is near flawless, and all that combines into compelling cinema.

Jeremiah:  And how about that Andrew Garfield, huh? After a year of introducing himself to film fans through small movies and British movies, he explodes into the major leagues with another quiet, nuanced role that provides most people with the only hero in this sordid tale (not me, I'm a Zuckerberg guy).

Jeff: The only complaint I have is that The Social Network doesn't star Michael Cera.

There you have it, the Culture Blues Top 20 Movies of 2010. Jeff and Jeremiah's individual lists are below. Afterward, let's all meet in the comments section to discuss the irrational Michael Cera backlash, the merits of Inception, and just how awesome The Social Network is.

Jeff's Top 20:
1) The Social Network
2) Exit Through the Gift Shop
3) Blue Valentine
4) The American
5) Youth in Revolt
6) The Kids Are All Right
7) Scott Pilgrim vs The World
8) Inception
9) The Chaser
10) The King’s Speech
11) True Grit
12) Cyrus
13) Winter’s Bone
14) The Fighter
15) I Love You, Phillip Morris
16) Greenberg
17) Animal Kingdom
18) Black Swan
19) Dogtooth
20) Hot Tub Time Machine

Jeremiah's Top 20:
1) The Social Network
2) The American
3) Inception
4) Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
5) Exit Through the Gift Shop
6) I Love You, Phillip Morris
7) True Grit
8) Youth in Revolt
9) The Chaser
10) The Fighter
11) Black Swan
12) The Kids Are All Right
13) Cyrus
14) Chloe
15) Blue Valentine
16) MacGruber
17) Hot Tub Time Machine
18) Animal Kingdom
19) Operation: Endgame
20) The Next Three Days

(20) Greenberg

Jeff Hart: Let’s start this countdown off with a genre near and dear to my heart. Angsty white people problems!

Jeremiah White: I’m getting pretty tired of these tweedy midlife crisis movies.

Jeff: You’re going to make me cry. I liked Greenberg, obviously more than you did. Yes, the white male learning to love again with the help of a manic pixie dream girl narrative is getting played out, but I think director Noah Baumbach brought a fresh enough take to merit inclusion on our list. Or at least a fresh enough character.

Jeremiah: You’re talking about Ben Stiller. Of Meet the Fockers.

Jeff: Ben Stiller of Zoolander, yes. He’s great. His Roger Greenberg is very much a hard-to-love asshole. Not hard-to-love in that Zach Braff way, like oh he’s totally adorable, just a little bit withholding. Greenberg is legitimately a prick with emotional issues that Greta Gerwig’s sweet can’t-understand-why-she’s-even-interested young Florence doesn’t just come along and iron out. Baumbach and Stiller mesh really well, creating one of my favorite characters of the year.

(19) MacGruber

Jeff:  Ugh.

Jeremiah:  What?

Jeff:  I liked MacGruber, but come on.

Jeremiah: MacGruber is a damn funny flick, and one of the best action movie spoofs you’ll ever see. And it overcomes being based on a very limited (and funny) SNL sketch and Kristen Wiig’s waning powers of comedy. What more could you want?

Jeff:  A time-traveling hot tub, for starters. I feel that, by including MacGruber, we’ve lost all credibility.

Jeremiah:  Or maybe we’ve gained credibility. Think about that.

(18) Chloe

Jeremiah:  Chloe dips its toes into a few different jacuzzis, but ultimately it’s a smart throwback to the 90s erotic thrillers I grew up on, but with more ambiguity and better acting. Having Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore sign on was a real boon for a movie that could have come off as cheesy, cheap titillation.

Jeff:  It really toes the line of cheap titillation though, especially down the stretch. There’s just not enough erotic thrillers these days, so it gets definite points for that.

Jeremiah:  I don't want to get into specifics of the story, so I'm going to tread lightly. The final act is not the strongest, but Chloe continues to evolve and surprise right up until the final scene, without betraying its own twisted logic or going too far overboard.

(17) Animal Kingdom

Jeff:  The Australians didn’t exactly break new ground with Animal Kingdom. It’s a crime drama constructed from a lot of familiar parts that come together extremely well. James Frencheville communicates a great deal of emotion with very few lines, and Jacki Weaver is that rare actress that can pull off both motherly and insidious.

Jeremiah:  Also, Guy Pearce with a mustache.

Jeff:  On a side note, I just want to point out that Animal Kingdom is way better than A Prophet. I've seen the latter getting a lot of hype on other lists. I liked it fine, but in terms of foreign crime dramas deserving our plaudits, Animal Kingdom is head and shoulders above A Prophet.

(16) Winter's Bone

Jeff:  This would actually make a great double feature with Animal Kingdom. Both are movies about teenagers growing up emotionally isolated and eventually getting sucked into the family crime business. I don’t know who coined the term hillbilly noir for Winter’s Bone, but it’s apt. Here we’ve got a strong lead performance from Jennifer Lawrence in a unique setting, tightly plotted, both playing to the noir genre and against it. I think it should’ve been ranked higher on our list. Why didn’t you like it more?

Jeremiah:  Hillbilly noir does seem like an apt description. The thing about noir is that if the setting and atmosphere and characters don't grab you, you can easily be lost to the tide. Plots are often meandering, labyrinthine and anticlimactic. The rural Missouri setting is a good one, but the strong sense of place established early on didn't pay off enough for me. The series of disconnected meetings with family members felt more like a collection of scenes than a stroll through the neighborhood. And considering the hefty load they placed on Jennifer Lawrence's shoulders, I don't think they gave her much of a role to play. She's a strong, self-sufficient female character but I didn't find her intriguing. I liked Winter's Bone, but I didn't feel at all passionate about it.

Jeff:  I suppose those are fair complaints, although I don't agree with any of them. I liked Winter's Bone better on second viewing. Maybe it helped that I didn't have to worry so much about keeping track of the plot, that let me better enjoy the characters, and the immaculately detailed Ozarks setting. Maybe you should watch it again and then we can retroactively improve its standing.

(15) The King's Speech

Jeff:  I know we’re going to reveal our individual Top 20s in tomorrow’s post, but something needs to be pointed out now. You ranked MacGruber ahead of The King’s Speech.

Jeremiah:  I didn’t have The King’s Speech ranked at all.

Jeff:  You’re a philistine.

Jeremiah:  Everything about The King's Speech just feels like Oscar bait in the worst way, right down to the premise which sounds dreary and laughable at first. There's never any doubt about where this movie is going, or even how it's going to get there really. Of course, the Academy is sure to eat up this rote, inspirational yarn.

Jeff:  Maybe it is manipulative. Regardless, I don’t think there’s any denying how committed Colin Firth’s performance is or how beautiful the movie looks throughout. The friendship between Firth and Rush worked for me. Sure, there are some moments where the music swells and you can tell director Tom Hooper is laying it on a little thick. What do you expect? Ho-hum, the stutterer just inspired a nation, big whoop? No! We need big triumph music! It’s uplifting.

Jeremiah:  I actually thought the final speech was pretty restrained in terms of triumph. The King's Speech is a very good movie with two excellent lead performances, but they played it too safe to get me excited.

(14) Black Swan

Jeremiah: Right after the movie I consider to be safe Oscar bait of this list, we come to the movie you previously called "a very calculated awards grab." Do you feel any differently now?

Jeff:  I'M THE SWAN QUEEN!

Jeremiah:  It was a lot of fun watching Natalie Portman go crazy and start to rip her own body apart. Black Swan isn’t the deepest or most gripping movie around, but psychological thrillers are rarely made this well.

Jeff:  Ok, seriously. I have an honest critique to make here, because my opinion of this movie has slightly changed since we first reviewed it.

Jeremiah:  Let's hear it.

Jeff:  I'M THE SWAN QUEEN!

(13) The Fighter

Jeremiah:  Despite a relatively small amount of actual boxing, this is a straight up sports movie (it’s like Rocky!). Kind of surprising considering it’s directed by David O. Russell. It’s a good reminder that sports movies can actually be excellent films, cheesiness intact.

Jeff:  Agreed. This is what I'd consider an adult sports movie. It takes the very standard underdog triumphs against great odds narrative and steeps it in white trash Bostonians and crack addiction. The characters are much more carefully drawn than you get in, say, a Rocky, and I'd credit that to Russell.

Jeremiah:  That Christian Bale guy is pretty good.

Jeff:  Yeah, wow, great performance. Like Colin Firth in The King’s Speech and Natalie Portman in Black Swan, I think Bale delivers a performance here that elevates the entire film.

Jeremiah:  Better crackhead:  Dicky Eklund or Tyrone Biggums?

Jeff:  Biggums.

(12) Cyrus

Jeff: Here's another midlife crisis movie, but one that I think we can both get behind. Cyrus was really surprising for me, mostly because I had no idea how far it might be willing to go. When John C Reilly and an excessively terrifying Jonah Hill go to war, I wasn't ruling out anything, even murder. It's a pretty rare feat for a comedy, even one as dark as Cyrus is, to be so unnerving. Cyrus is a startling mix of the funny and the frightening.

Jeremiah:  I think what impressed me most about Cyrus was how they were able to take situations and conversations we've seen play out so, so many times before and make them fresh and interesting. The three main characters are all imbued with enough neuroses, emotional problems, intelligence and sensitivity to keep the interactions rewarding and surprising. And after his disastrous attempt at being a leading man in Get Him To the Greek, this has put a little bit of the shine back on the Jonah Hill apple for me.

Jeff:  Yeah, he's definitely better served as a supporting player. However, Cyrus proved that Hill can be more than just the lovable fatass, too.

(11) I Love You, Phillip Morris

Jeremiah:  I was completely won over by this unconventional love story. Jim Carrey’s conman is larger than life yet still believable and sympathetic, and the whole movie has a terrific energy that propels it forward from the opening moments until the closing credits.

Jeff:  Yeah, Phillip Morris was great for all those reasons. It’s the first good project for Jim Carrey since Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, it’s a rare appearance of Ewan McGregor the actor, and it’s really really funny. With this being such a good year for lesbians – there are two movies with prominent lesbian storylines in this half of the countdown alone – why was it so hard for a comedy about gay guys to find an audience?

Jeremiah:  It might be trite and cliche to say, but it's true; America is super liberal when it comes to lesbians and total homophobes when it comes to men. Everyone wants to see Mila Kunis eat out Natalie Portman, but no one wants to see Jim Carrey mercilessly rail a biker type from behind. It's hypocritical.

Does including MacGruber in a list of the Best Movies of 2010 make Jeff and Jeremiah trailblazers, or morons? Should Winter's Bone have ranked higher? What is more blatant Oscar bait, The King's Speech or Black Swan? Let us know what you think in the comments, and check back tomorrow for #10-1.

Welcome to our ongoing discussion of the best films of the decade, where every movie on our list will be praised by one writer, and then torn down by another. You can catch up with 50-36 here and 35-21 here.

(20) Brick

PRO: I've always been a sucker for film noir. Brick, director Rian Johnson's debut feature, transplants all the classic noir elements (from femme fatale, to incomprehensible gumshoe lingo, and even some Bogart style slapping) from shadowy back alley into the modern high school. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of shadows in Brick - Johnson's vision is beautifully rendered in the smoky style of classic capers. Some might argue that Brick is a gimmick flick to which I respond: yeah, so what? Featuring a breakout performance by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and a plot that would make Dashiell Hammett swoon, Brick succeeds in what it sets out to accomplish; a punchy update of the noir style, with all the panache left intact. Not to mention that Brick introduced the world to Johnson, a major talent to watch in the decade to come. There was nothing else like it this decade.  (Jeff)

CON: Sharp dialogue, entertaining performances and a great visual style. So what went wrong? Writer/Director Rian Johnson is never able to satisfactorily marry his hardboiled noir yarn with its suburban high school setting, and the movie suffers greatly for it. Things occasionally gel and the movie soars, but it’s far too often that an awkward line or a moment that rings false knocks it back down. An ambitious and promising, but ultimately just adequate, debut that doesn’t have a place on this list. His follow up The Brothers Bloom on the other hand... (Jeremiah)

(19) Collateral

PRO: Collateral is part thriller, part action movie and part low-key drama about a stranger in Los Angeles and his daydreaming cab driver. Michael Mann’s desolate nighttime L.A. shown through grainy video has been rendered downright chilly by the time Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise yield the road to wolves. Stripping away his movie star wackiness, Cruise nails the role of an unerringly professional hitman, while Foxx’s performance perfectly conveys the kind of man who plans and works for years to attain a dream he isn’t actually bold enough to grasp. Tight and arresting the whole way, Collateral is that rare movie that successfully balances well-crafted character work with pulse-quickening action pieces. (Jeremiah)

CON: Aw man, you guys like my movie? That means a lot to me. Collateral is what really launched me into the mainstream consciousness. It’s basically the reason that I won my Oscar for playing that blind dude. Huh? Oh, you want a little of that? She take my money – ha, that’s all you get for free, catch the rest at the Palms! If you like Collateral, you’d probably really enjoy my other joints like Stealth, Miami Vice, and The Soloist. Check ‘em out! (Jamie Foxx)

(18) Black Book

PRO: Paul Verhoeven was a top-notch director with an almost flawless filmography throughout the seventies and eighties. He hit the big time after his Orwellian masterpiece Robocop, and then inexplicably proceeded to make almost two decades worth of shit movies. For example, you may have been unfortunate enough to watch Basic Instinct, Total Recall, or Showgirls! Black Book is his triumphant return to quality with a fast paced tight WWII spy thriller centered around the Dutch Resistance spy ring infiltrating Nazi command. It’s scary, sexy, fun and an all around good time as long as you don’t dwell too much on that whole holocaust thing. (Carl)

CON: This movie was pretty good. I found it a little hard to focus on it though. See, I’ve been having this recurring dream. It’s about Mars. I go there, and I find out that I’m not who I think I am, and I shove surgical equipment into doctors, and I meet an alien resistance leader that pops out of some guy’s stomach, and I say “See you at the party, Richter,” and I… free Mars. Oh wait, that’s not a dream. That’s Total Recall, and it’s way better than this movie. (Jeremiah)

(17) Punch Drunk Love

PRO: If I had my druthers, this would be the #1 movie on this list. PT Anderson's Punch Drunk Love was my favorite viewing experience of the last decade. I saw it in theaters more than any other movie (one of those times with PTA in attendance – get some). Ostensibly a romantic comedy, Punch Drunk takes awkwardness and anxiety to new extremes. I challenge you to sit through this movie without developing sweaty palms or a face sore from cringing. The effect this movie has on its viewers is due in no small part to Jon Brion's ferociously quirky score that propels along Anderson's socially inept characters.  Punch Drunk establishes Adam Sandler as a new generation's Bill Murray, the crying clown whose inherent goofiness masks a deep-seeded sadness. Sandler deconstructs the man-child persona that made him famous with gleeful aplomb, instilling Billy Madison with pathos and a terrifying violent streak. I'm going to go ahead and say it: Sandler deserved a fucking Oscar. I’m a nice man, I mind my own business, so you tell me that’s that before I beat the hell from you. (Jeff)

CON: People will tell you about the visceral nature of this film. How every decision by Paul Thomas Anderson makes you feel the anxiety being experienced by the characters. Well, yeah. But it’s also fucking annoying. Plain and simple. This movie is only for people who like their love stories as painfully quirky and unrealistic as possible. If you can relate to this movie, I highly doubt you could sit still long enough to watch it, much less go out in public to see it at a theater. Freaks. (Jeremiah)

(16) Mean Girls

PRO: Any movie that brings "Boo, you whore." into the cultural lexicon deserves a place on this list.  Mean Girls is culturally significant because it is universal.  Everyone went to high school, and everyone recognizes most of the characters in this movie (I myself have been involved in a three-way calling attack or two).  The descriptions of the different groups of people at lunch tables ("Asian Nerds," "Cool Asians," "Sexually Active Band Geeks") are frighteningly accurate.  The concept of throwing someone into high school with no knowledge of the social politics involved is fresh and original.  The "Jingle Bell Rock" and "stop trying to make 'fetch' happen.  It's not going to happen." sequences are as iconic as they come.  Through the laughter, however, it makes us ponder our own behavior in our teenage years.  Hopefully, it's made an amoral teenage girl or two see the error of her ways.  Powered by a tolerable performance by Lindsay Lohan, a shockingly good performance by Lacey Chabert and an Oscar-worthy performance by Rachel McAdams (yeah, I said it, Cate Blanchett), Mean Girls is infinitely enjoyable and re-watchable.  (Bill)

CON: Our standards have gotten so low that this is what passes for a teen classic now? What’s heralded as a sharp script is about as insightful as an after-school special. The jokes are predictable, boring and in some cases downright pathetic in their lameness. “High school is like a jungle. And I used to live in the jungle.” The only reason this movie must be preserved is to prove to future generations that Lindsay Lohan was actually something like a normal person once. They’ll never believe it. (Jeremiah)

(15) Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring

PRO: As I began to write this entry I did some research into fantasy movies before LOTR. Outside of Willow, Labyrinth, and maybe The Never Ending Story the pickings are just plain awful. Thank God Peter Jackson made these movies, especially when you consider the fact that directors like Lucas and Spielberg did nothing but botch their attempts at making blockbuster spectaculars this decade. The quality of Jackson's trilogy of epics is unmatched and a real blessing, the attention to detail and craftsmanship practically peerless. Over the indomitable length of 558 minutes (683 extended) Jackson accomplishes the rare feat of adapting beloved source material and having it be universally acclaimed by critics and fans alike. There is so much of these movies that is memorable: the epic battles (Minas Tirith), the amazing Andy Serkis (Gollum), the stunning New Zealand backdrop, mixed with award winning set design & CGI, and a fantastic ensemble cast; most of all the flawless representations of the universal themes of friendship and the Hero's journey. (Giovanny)

CON: I hate The Lord of the Rings. Hate it. I'm disturbed that it is ranked at all, much less nearly cracking our top 10. Let's get a few things straight: The books suck. That's right, nerds, I'm shitting on your precious source material. Tolkien had all the writing skill of L Ron Hubbard without any of Hubbard’s sense of irony. Father of modern fantasy my ass. You think some other dude wouldn’t have come up with goblins and talking trees? The only interesting character in the entire mess is Boromir, and he’s killed off in the first part for being too morally ambiguous. Tolkien has a big problem with ambiguity, that’s why those two hobbits never bone. And by the way, the hobbits are just a metaphor for Tolkien’s repressed sexual relationship with super-Christian CS Lewis. Did I just blow your mind?  Lets see, what else? Gandalf is stupid. If you’ve got a giant falcon just waiting around, why didn’t you fly the stupid ring into the volcano and save everyone some heartache? Peter Jackson? Overrated hack. Gollum? Don’t get me started on Gollum. The people who like this movie all hate The Phantom Menace and Jar-Jar Binks. Well, that makes you hypocrites. Seriously, I could keep going, so if you’re interested in reading more you can e-mail me for my 30 page thesis on why this movie sucks. That’ll be a more economical use of your time than sitting through this atrocity’s protracted final act again (so many false finishes it makes The Matrix finale look well plotted). Ugh. Strider is pretty badass though. (Jeff)

(14) There Will Be Blood

PRO: There Will Be Blood is part tragedy and part horror movie.  Daniel Plainview's descent into sociopathic madness is one of the most engaging stories I've ever seen on film.  From the first sound he makes, gasping for air after falling down a well and breaking his leg, you know that this movie is really "going there" and will be an extraordinary experience.  Daniel Day-Lewis' performance is so intense and personal that it feels downright voyeuristic watching him be destroyed by fellow con-man Eli Sunday's conniving, his son's sudden deafness, his supposed half-brother's betrayal and obviously, his own greed.  The writing is wildly quotable, and the direction and cinematography are impeccable.  Clocking in at 158 minutes, it is certainly not a short film, but the plot moves at a rapid pace.  Paul Thomas Anderson changed up his lax editing style from his 90's movies Boogie Nights and Magnolia, cutting out anything that doesn't move the story along.  As a result, every scene feels iconic.  The movie even sounds incredible, with a brilliant score by Jonny Greenwood and a couple well-placed pieces by Arvo Pärt and Brahms.  Each subsequent viewing reveals more and more of the brilliance of this film.  I have a feeling that There Will Be Blood will be one of few films from this era that will stand the test of time as an American masterpiece. (Bill)

CON: Oil, milkshakes, Daniel Day Lewis with another non- descript accent, creepy deaf kid and an evangelical preacher.  That is the movie in a nutshell and I just saved you 2 hours and 40 minutes of your life.  I love Paul Thomas Anderson’s work, but this movie was paced wrong (in other words too long). And where is the story? I couldn’t shake the fact that there was too much melodrama.  I feel as if PTA built a movie around two terrific sequences -  DDL’s milkshake scene and his confessional.  Everything else was just filler.  (Cheese)

(13) The Departed

PRO: Most readers of our site should know by now that I hate Massachusetts. It is not something that's rational, right, nor something I am particularly proud of, but for most of my life I boycotted Sam Adams, Cheers reruns, Paul Revere (except the Beastie Boys song, but they're from Brooklyn) and all other things MA. Everything was going just fine... Then Scorsese had to go and direct The Departed, and suddenly my fortress of enmity had been compromised. This decade will be known as Scorsese's "DiCaprio era", and their two previous team-ups (Gangs of New York, The Aviator) each had their own merits, but they pale in comparison to the American epic tragedy that was released in 2006. This film weaves a tale of double and triple crosses that keeps one riveted, yet never gets convoluted. As you watch it unfold, you find yourself short of breath as our protagonist inches closer to his unmasking (and inevitable doom) all in an effort to catch his prey. Even the presence of actual sons of New England Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg doesn't ruin this movie... To be honest, Wahlberg's accent is one of my favorite things about it. (Giovanny)

CON: Put simply, The Departed isn't Infernal Affairs. I question anyone that can laud Scorsese remake (dirty word, but that's what it is) without first checking out the vastly superior original. What did Scorsese bring to the table here? An unnecessary amount of head blood and brain spray? The quaint American idea that good will eventually prevail over evil? Mark fucking Wahlberg? This movie is bullshit. (Jeff)

(12) Sin City

PRO: Movies based on comic books are all the rage these days. And usually pretty bad. As a comic book fan I always begrudgingly fork over the dough to watch my childhood heroes defaced, defiled and molested by the clown in the ice cream truck that calls itself Hollywood. Sin City was able to transcend the Hollywood comic hero shit movie making machine through the talents of its three main contributors: Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. Sin City is shot in a black and white, while incorporating green screen and computer technology, to give the film the textures of Miller’s original comic vision. Sin City is breathtakingly gorgeous in its visual presentation and just plain fun in its classic comic book noir storytelling. (Carl)

CON: I guess the nitwits that put this list together are overlooking the fact that I invented all these techniques that Sin City gets so much praise for. I can only assume that my vastly superior movie will be in the as yet unrevealed top 10. See, I was making green screen pop while Robert Rodriguez was still busy dicking around with Spy Kids. And it was wholesome, too. You bet Jude Law doesn’t go and rip anybody’s wiener off. (Kerry Conran, director of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow)

(11) Moon

PRO: Easily one of the most satisfying cinematic experiences of my decade, Moon is just about perfect. It’s the only movie I can remember recommending to everyone for months after I saw it. It’s thought provoking and deeply moving. It tells a very specific, succinct story yet explores universal themes with depth that kept me talking about it for hours after walking out of the theater. Sam Rockwell is essentially the only actor in the movie and that isn’t a detriment in the least. This is a stunning debut from director Duncan Jones who also crafted the basic story. Revisiting entries on this list has reminded me that movies rife with psychological themes often end up very slow, deliberate and/or boring. Moon brilliantly avoids this pitfall and remains entertaining, captivating and vital for its entire runtime. (Jeremiah)

CON: Moon proves to me that I can hate Kevin Spacey in any capacity.  It promised to be somewhat of a reboot of the sci-fi genre on film, but it "borrows" too many elements from 2001: A Space Odyssey and Solaris and brings too little originality to the table.  The scenes with Sam Rockwell (who gives a fine performance) playing against himself are distracting and downright hokey.  Save yourself the trouble, and block off three hours to devote to Tarkovsky's (or even Soderbergh's) Solaris instead. (Bill)

See our Top 10 Movies of the Decade here.

Welcome to our ongoing discussion of the best films of the decade, where every movie on our list will be praised by one writer, and then torn down by another. Catch up on entries 50-36 here.

(35) Amores Perros

PRO: The gritty, violent struggles of Mexico’s varying social classes are at the heart of Alejandro González Iñárritu’s 2000 masterpiece, Amores Perros, but surprisingly, the ruthlessness and the violence are often the least appealing aspects of the film. The movie follows three separate story arcs (all dealing with dogs) that eventually connect as a result of coincidence, and some would argue, fate. If it sounds like a familiar--even tired--technique at this point, it’s because Iñárritu would employ similar management of characters and plots in his next films, 21 Grams and Babel.  But Perros is far harsher and more visually aggressive than those. The characters are developed around the violence, not in spite of it. After the explosive success of Pulp Fiction nearly a decade earlier, moviegoers seemed determined to discover a Quentin Tarantino for the new millennium; and filmmakers seemed determined to copy his style. Amores Perros is in the Tarantino mold perhaps more than any other film of the past ten years, but it’s stylized enough to seem wholly unique, and far less derivative than anything Tarantino has ever done. (Burgman)

CON: It’s in Spanish. (Jeremiah)

(34) Kung Fu Hustle

PRO: Kung Fu Hustle is just about perfect! Stephen Chow hit a high mark with this fantastical story of a loser turned kung fu master. Incredible action, comedy, music and dance! This movie is a smorgasbord of over a hundred years of filmmaking in one magnificent feature. Borrowing heavily from the kung fu classics from Hong Kong, with a Tarantino-esque wit, Mel Brooks’ slapstick and Busby Berkeley’s flair for the spectacular, Kung Fu Hustle is a startling and surprising masterpiece. Although, a mainstay in the Hong Kong film industry with a plethora of great films under his belt (ie: Shaolin Soccer) Chow has yet to deliver another film on this level. We can only hope that Chow (writer, actor, director and kung fu master) will do another soon. (Carl)

CON: I love Kung Fu movies. I love Stephen Chow’s Shaolin Soccer. But, if I had to give a tagline to Kung Fu Hustle it would be: Kung Fu meets So You Think You Can Dance.  Not what I am looking for in a Kung Fu flick. If I want martial arts and dancing in my movies, I’ll go watch Only The Strong with the underrated Mark Dacascos for the 500^th time. (Cheese)

(33) American Psycho

PRO: Christian Bale’s performance as an axe wielding, chainsaw chucking mad man rightfully earned him a spot on our 16 Biggest Badasses of the Decade list. I suppose it’s not all that hard to channel when you’re a raging lunatic in real life. If Bale is anything short of a 10 in this role, American Psycho falls flat on its face. But it doesn’t because he nails it. Look at that badass picture! Bale as Patrick Bateman is animalistic and murderous, but at the core, insecure and sad. What’s truly scary is that I feel like we all know someone exactly like this. Or maybe it’s just me. And maybe I’m just specifically thinking of this one guy. Yikes. (Jason)

CON: American Psycho amounts to little more than the idea that the materialistic and narcissistic 80s could create an introverted sociopath like Patrick Bateman. Bale’s willingness to dive in with reckless abandon pays off and there are some amusing riffs on corporate culture and 80s excess (the business card scene is a classic), but the movie never forms an engaging narrative, never offers any genuinely interesting characters and, beneath the sex and gore, is very shallow.  (Jeremiah)

(32) Idiocracy

PRO: You'd have to go all the way back to Michael Roemer's The Plot Against Harry to find another comedy as unjustifiably dismissed and forgotten.  Nevertheless, Idiocracy remains the essential document of American life during the seemingly endless two-term reign of Dubya.  And, as the inexorable rise of Sarah Palin proves, Idiocracy is just barely science fiction, which makes it as disturbing as it is funny.  The cast is uniformly excellent, particularly Terry Crews ("Break it down, Camacho!") and Maya Rudolph.  The greatest revelation, though, is Luke Wilson, whose sheer blankness serves the plot perfectly.  There's no doubt that Mike Judge's anti-corporate streak isn't doing his career any favors, and it's undoubtedly why the film was buried, but in a world (yes, I'm slipping into movie trailer-speak here) where rampant commercialism is the norm, his willingness to bite the hand that feeds is an absolute joy.  This is truth to power on a level we haven't seen since Stephen Colbert spoke at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner.  To top it all off, the soundtrack prominently features Buck Owens - so how can you go wrong?  A truly remarkable achievement.  Even if no one else does, I genuinely care whose ass it was and why it was farting. (Kieran)

CON: How like the Liberals to portray America as a country slowly circling the drain while they turn on the faucet. To paint Americans as dumb, crude and fat all while their fascist, communist regime led by a black muslim conspires to turn us into dependent, overgrown toddlers nursing at the teat of big government.  Indeed, the great irony of this Idiocracy, is that it could only be the result of a liberal run America. We would never be reduced to such a crippled state in a free market freedomocracy where undeniable facts and inherent forces of nature like trickle down, the invisible hand, manifest destiny and distrust of black people would lift us up to prosperity. Shame on you, Mike Judge. (Rush)

(31) Requiem for a Dream

PRO: You don't always have to leave a theater feeling good about a movie for it to be great. In fact, in the case of Requiem for a Dream, you may walk out of the darkness feeling, gross, disturbed, and downright sick to your stomach. Taking place over the span of three seasons, Requiem for a Dream depicts the ruin of addiction and self-delusion on a cross section of individuals ranging from friends to lovers and family. It’s a movie about drugs, consequences, and (aptly) dreams that does not try to redeem itself, nor its characters; instead it compels you to watch as an elderly widow deals with dementia and dysmorphia... As a junkie loses his arm to amputation... And, of course, there is always the whole ass-to-ass bit. Requiem keeps your knuckles white, your jaw tight, and maybe, just maybe, it will scare you away from heroin. (Giovanny)

CON: No. No thank you, never again. I won’t challenge the artistic merits of Requiem for a Dream, but I’d rather get addicted to heroin and lose my arm than ever watch this movie again. It’s a brutally unpleasant viewing experience not for the faint of heart, and I am the faint of heart. I’m just going to chill out and listen to my 30 Seconds to Mars albums, if that’s cool with everybody. (Jeff)

(30) The Proposition

PRO: Man, that is some bleak shit! There is no rainbow at the end of The Proposition, a movie about an outlaw brother, played meticulously by Guy Pierce, caught between the choice of killing one brother in order to save the life of his other brother. Bleak, I say! This film was shot in the desolate Australian outback and set in the late 1800s when Australia was teeming with degenerates and still in the early stages of taming the land and its people. From dreary shots of the outback at dawn to the raw acting from a superb cast, everything in this movie follows the grim theme to a tee. Nick Cave had a great decade and his screenplay for the Proposition was perhaps his highest point. (Carl)

CON: The Proposition starts with a premise that promises loads of drama and conflict, and then quickly stumbles into dull and forgettable territory. With too much aimless soul searching and not enough outlaw action, The Proposition is mostly praised because hipsters refuse to accept that musician Nick Cave isn’t a master screenwriter yet. It’s not that The Proposition is a bad movie, not at all. But it did nothing to separate itself from similar prestige westerns of the decade like Open Range, Appaloosa and 3:10 to Yuma. (Jeremiah)

(29) 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days

PRO: Like any Romanian abortion movie, Cristian Mungiu's 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days is hardly a pleasurable viewing experience.  It's the story of Otilia (Anamaria Marinca) helping her college friend Gabita (Laura Vasiliu) arrange an illegal abortion in Communist Romania during the 80s.  Obviously, lots of bad things happen along the way.  What makes this a great movie is that it does not pander to many Western conventions of filmmaking.  There are no big plot twists.  The girls do not tearfully proclaim their friendship to one another.  Instead, Mungiu serves us up long sequences of post-rape vagina washing and post-abortion fetus disposal.  This is simply a portrait of human misery (and ultimately, survival) under the kind of oppression that we Americans can luckily only vaguely understand.  Fueled by Anamaria Marinca's unflinching, remarkable performance (something that the likes of Nicole Kidman could only dream of), 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days is awkward to watch, but not easy to forget.  Bring a date. (Bill)

CON:  It’s in Romanian. (Jeremiah)

(28) Synecdoche, New York

PRO:  Synecdoche, New York is a chronicle of the remainder of a man's life after his wife unceremoniously leaves him for a more glamorous life and takes his daughter.  It is a movie so ambitious that I almost believe that (writer and director) Charlie Kaufman simply adapted every thought he's ever had into a movie.  Above all else, this is a movie about the human experience.  Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is an everyman, experiencing an augmented version of what everyone goes through.  Kaufman tells the story through dream logic, which makes it both goofy and devastating.  Led by Phil Hoffman and supported by a Fellini-esque "dream team" of actresses (Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener, Dianne Wiest, Emily Watson, Hope Davis and Jennifer Jason Leigh), this is simply a wet dream for anyone who loves great actors. While this is a great film, it is certainly not a film for everyone.  It will confuse and annoy anyone who sees movies primarily for entertainment.  As it should.  If you are able to suspend reality, however, and open yourself up to seeing dark sides of yourself reflected on the screen, it will exhilarate and devastate you.  (Bill)

CON: I have a theory that people like to watch Charlie Kaufman movies because it makes them feel smarter than everyone else. I know people who have seen Synecdoche, New York ten times and do you know why? Because they still haven’t figured out what the fuck is going on. If you have two and a half hours of your life that you can devote to feeling morose and suicidal then this is your movie.  By the way, the title is pronounced Schenectady and not Syn-e-douche like I thought it was until 3 days ago.  That right there should tell you how pretentious this movie is.  The “Charlie Kaufman is a genius” train went off the tracks shortly after Being John Malkovitch and has not made its way back. (Cheese)

(27) Spider-Man

PRO: When Spider-Man hit theaters, the modern age of super hero movies began. Sure, X-Men came first, but Spider-Man is what made true believers out of fanboys and civilians alike. Sam Raimi was the perfect man to give Spidey the charming mixture of camp, irreverent humor and, ultimately, gravitas. He delicately balanced respect for the source material with decisions that moviegoers could swallow (be real, NO high school student could design Spidey’s “webbing”). Tobey Maguire and Willem Dafoe were more than capable of lending humanity and vulnerability to their characters, not only without their costumes, but in spite of them. Their rooftop conversation is a high point of the film, the series, and the current crop of comic book movies. With an established director new to blockbusters, and the ability to tell a meaningful story while still offering all the sheer entertainment expected of a summer blockbuster, Spider-Man paved the way for the likes of Batman Begins and Iron Man. (Jeremiah)

CON: This movie was just not memorable to me on any level. I saw it as a freshman in college, so that probably has something to do with the fuzziness. But if you’re going to be this high up on a list of movies spanning an entire decade, I should at least be able to remember something. I got nothing.  (Jason)

(26) The Dark Knight

PRO: Although people generally assume that the Batman movies are filmed in New York City, much of The Dark Knight was filmed in Chicago- some of it very close to my apartment. Sure this makes me a little biased (nothing like being able to point out Bruce Wayne’s penthouse condo… down the street), but I think it’s safe to say that this movie earned this spot, and perhaps belongs significantly higher. Christopher Nolan’s gritty take on a deeply conflicted superhero who doesn’t win is refreshing and well done. Anything that could be said about Heath Ledger’s once-in-a-lifetime (literally) performance was laid out by commenter John P here. I’ll concede that it’s maybe a little far-fetched to think that Bruce Wayne would be in love with Maggie Gyllenhaal, but Katie Holmes sucks at life so I’ll deal. (Jason)

CON: I don’t get it. Really? People like this? I mean sure, everybody digs explosions and fight scenes and car chases, but what makes this one better? Heath Ledger? Yeah, he’s pretty good at playing a make-up wearing creep with a lisp (and a gay cowboy), but is that enough to make this movie good? My first big problem is with the scene at the end on the boats with the prisoners and guards. C’mon? This is supposed to be some morality tale but fails miserably through its ridiculousness. And what about where Batman and Commissioner Gordon, after invading the rights of everyone’s privacy to stop a terrorist (think Patriot Act), they then decide the public is too stupid to know the truth about Batman not being a bad guy? Huh? This reeks of some bullshit right wing rationalization that Limbaugh, Beck and O’Reilly scream about daily. But I guess most vigilantes are douchebags. Whatever, you can only take a comic book superhero movie …so serious. (Carl)

(25) The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

PRO: Usually, I like my movies topping out at around 86 minutes. Anything longer than that just becomes a chore. That’s why my love for The Assassination of Jesse James, Andrew Dominik’s 160 minute follow-up to the much more economical Chopper (also good), is so bizarre. Jesse James is a gorgeous film with a slow-burning plot that will likely turn off viewers who enjoy their westerns with a little more punch and a lot less navel-gazing. It was a good decade for westerns; movies like the aforementioned The Proposition, Appaloosa, and 3:10 to Yuma all helped reignite a flagging genre. But none of those films deconstructed the genre with such precision. As usual, Casey Affleck is brilliant, but he is outshone by a tightly-wound Brad Pitt who eschews his usual goofy charm for a portrayal of a paranoid, sociopathic Jesse James for whom violence always seems a hairsbreadth away. The inevitable confrontation between Pitt’s James and Affleck’s Ford was one of my favorite film moments of the decade. (Jeff)

CON: This is a gorgeous film, but it is a classic case of style over substance.  The script is dry and lifeless.  The film is unbearably slow.  The actors do their best to make it worthwhile (especially Casey Affleck), but ultimately this is an excruciating and unrewarding viewing experience. (Bill)

(24) Amelie

PRO: Amelie is a movie that dares you to not be a cynical asshole for 122 minutes. Directed by French genius Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Delicatessen and the amazing City of Lost Children), Amelie is the wondrous story of an introverted Parisian with an overactive and delightful imagination. Over the course of the 2 hour-plus journey through her life, we are treated to a tale full of warmth, love, and the foibles of eccentricity. Dizzyingly directed, populated by a motley of French fascinations, and wonderfully scored by Jan Tielsen, Amelie is full of the sort of moments that make you consider just exactly how dead you are inside, but still has you leaving the theater with an appreciation for the smallest glories of existence. Something must also be said about the timely nature of its November 2001 release date, as this movie seemed to be the perfect distraction from the concerns that were gripping our nation. (Giovanny)

CON: It’s in French. (Jeremiah)

(23) Ocean's Eleven

PRO: Popcorn entertainment at its best and most artful. While so many blockbusters in the past decade have relied on over the top action, ridiculous CGI and thumping pop soundtracks, Ocean’s Eleven is better than them all with flawless direction, smooth, witty dialogue, cool as hell performances and an expertly told heist story. It’s a near perfect example of giving the audience all the right information at all the right times, never showing or withholding too much. A pure heist movie that doesn’t attempt to be something more or to push an agenda, it is simply the story of a bunch of professional criminals taking down the house. The joy when they get away with it is as affecting as any teary eyed confession in a somber indie drama, and as they all leave the fountain one by one, it’s so bittersweet that it’s impossible to not want to see this gang ride together again, even though all that’s waiting is Ocean’s Twelve (vomit) and Ocean’s Thirteen (pass). (Jeremiah)

CON: Why does this movie exist?  It's not the worst thing ever, but it's at best a mediocre, obnoxious, circle jerk-y waste of time.  (Bill)

(22) Snatch

PRO: Full of colorful characters, snappy dialogue and delightful British accents, this movie is unique in a clearly manufactured and yet not at all irritating way. It’s got all the eccentric hoodlums, tangled storytelling and simultaneously humorous and unsettling violence of so many inferior films. What separates Snatch is the way that director Guy Ritchie pushes the manic energy to the breaking point, and somehow manages to hold it all together. It’s essentially a never ending series of encounters between disparate unsavory elements. No character, dynamic or set up is lingered on long enough to wear out its welcome, and by the end you are left with memorable characters, lines and situations numerous enough to rival the Coens’ landmark, aimless caper The Big Lebowski. (Jeremiah)

CON: Jason Statham’s dopey character in Snatch makes him totally unbelievable as badass Frank Martin in The Transporter series. That pisses me off. Also, you have to watch Snatch with subtitles just to understand what the hell Brad Pitt is saying. That’s actually kinda cool, but it makes me think about how Hero didn’t make the list and that REALLY pisses me off.  (Jason)

(21) No Country for Old Men

PRO: Finally the Oscars got it right! After years of the best films being ignored, the Academy pulled its collective head out of its collective ass and in 2007 gave the best picture award to the actual best picture. It was a confounding moment for sure. The same group of people who think Reese Witherspoon is a good actress actually liked this complex morality tale told with perfect ease from the Coen Brothers. No Country for Old Men is good on so many levels but it has to be Javier Bardem’s performance that is the most memorable. The Coens have been consistently delivering great movies for decades now, and although No Country is not my personal favorite of theirs it is nice to see them get some much deserved and long overdue recognition. (Carl)

CON: The fact that the Coen brothers made me hate this movie pisses me off. The hype surrounding their movie was inescapable; there were Oscar nominations (it did win Best Picture), it was number one on numerous lists (thankfully not this one), and it was being parodied everywhere you looked (a true sign of relevance in America). In the end, however, the level of disappointment I experienced as the credits rolled was downright infuriating. Unlike some of the classic Coen films (most notably the Big Lebowski), this movie is the very opposite of satisfying, and not in some head-scratching, there's-a-twist, makes-you-think fashion, but in a "Why the fuck did they ruin their movie in the last half hour fashion"? It parallels the ending of The Sopranos... Lazy and unforgivable. (Giovanny)

We dig in to the Top 20 with 20-11.

Movies are a big thing around the Culture Blues offices. We’ve all seen lots of them. Some of us have even studied them, or at least read books about them. But above all else, we are passionate about them. So, when it came time to compile a list of our favorite movies of the decade, well, things got downright contentious. We managed to come up with a comprehensive list representing consensus picks as well as personal favorites. But that didn’t make everyone happy, so in order to acknowledge that every movie has its champions and its detractors (and to try to please all of our faithful readers), every movie on our list will be praised by one writer, and then torn down by another. Get ready for informed opinions, ignorant prejudices and blatant personal insults.

(50) Infernal Affairs

PRO: The casual movie-goer might know Andrew Lau’s Infernal Affairs better as the Hong Kong version of The Departed. That's an unfair minimizing of a superior film. Look at it this way: everything that's good about The Departed was lifted directly from Affairs, and everything that sucks (like Mark Wahlberg's plastic booties) was added by Scorsese and company. Affairs is a tightly wound crime-thriller with engaging performances, particularly by Tony Leung (the Chinese Leonardo DiCaprio), and none of the quaint ideas of justice popularized by its American reimagining. (Jeff)

CON: This movie isn’t long enough and it’s too confusing and there is too much moral ambiguity and not enough people get shot in the head at the end of it. (Martin Scorsese)

(49) Serenity

PRO: Joss Whedon’s Serenity is the decade’s best example of the internet’s populist nerd power. Born from FOX's sci-fi western Firefly that was yanked from the air after only 6 episodes (some of which were even aired out of order), Serenity is essentially the series finale fans of the show never received. In his feature length directorial debut, Whedon manages to recreate the small screen charm of Firefly and infuse it with a Hollywood blockbuster sensibility (read: glossy explosions and better stunts). Fast-paced storytelling, lovable characters, and typical Whedon snark – Serenity is one of the decade’s most thrilling experiences, one both fans of the show and newcomers will enjoy. (Jeff)

CON: Where’s the “Hands of Blue,” Joss?   Where’s Book, Joss? Why did you make a movie with River Tam as the main plot point when she was the most uninteresting character on the show, Joss?   Why did you make a movie that just seemed like another episode of Firefly? Good job conning Universal into giving you a budget to make a motion picture based on a TV Show that was cancelled way too soon. Bad job in shitting out a script with a storyline that gives the “Firefly” no closure at all. (Cheese)

(48) Kingdom of Heaven

PRO: Let me preface this by saying that the cut of Kingdom of Heaven released in theatres was fairly disappointing.  But the Director’s Cut released on DVD is another story. 20^th Century Fox should've trusted a talented filmmaker like Ridley Scott. He was able to tell Bill Monahan’s complete story. Bill also wrote The Departed another of our top 50 films. (Spoiler Alert!)  The battle scenes and cinematography are far superior to other battlefield heavy movies of this decade like Troy and Alexander. (Cheese)

CON: A second rate sword epic, Kingdom of Heaven tries to make do with Orlando Bloom in the kind of role that Russell Crowe would normally get. It noticeably strains to not offend anyone which is pretty tough when dealing with the Crusades and you could probably describe the plot to someone in about 30 seconds even though it’s over 2 hours long – don’t even get me started on the Director’s Cut. A movie that should only be seen if you are absolutely dying for some adequate battle scenes and extreme violence. (Jeremiah)

(47) Forgetting Sarah Marshall

PRO: Comedy made a comeback this decade with the rise of Judd Apatow’s clique, the emergence of bro comedies, and the popularizing of man-children. Utilizing the best elements from all those trends is Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Unabashedly a labor of love by writer/star Jason Segel, Sarah Marshall gives us the biggest laughs of the so-called Apatow comedies, but also manages something much rarer: a man-child protagonist that is sympathetic throughout. It bears mentioning that a Jonah Hill/Russell Brand pseudo-sequel is in the works and will likely tarnish the memory of Sarah Marshall. But that isn’t until next decade. (Jeff)

CON: Jason Segel’s penis. (Cheese)

(46) Hedwig and the Angry Inch

PRO: Let's face it: musicals are generally fucking terrible. They're usually from an antiquated time, feature horribly saccharine renditions of melody-slaughtering songs, and often involve plots like "It's a show about putting on a show." Outside of a few examples, I consider the entire genre to be a waste. Hedwig and the Angy Inch is THE Gender Bending King/Queen of the noughties musical landscape. For those unfamiliar, Hedwig is the film adaptation of a once off-broadway show about an East German transgender singer. It's a heart-warming story about love, sex-change operations, and rock & roll that is shot brilliantly, acted superbly, and full of some truly great Stephen Trask penned songs. You should really do yourself a favor and wipe the memory of The Music Man from your brain by watching this movie. (Giovanny)

CON: What’s wrong with this? (Jeff)

(45) Pan's Labyrinth

PRO: I was working at a movie theatre when Pan’s Labyrinth came out and was lucky enough to watch a press only advance screener of the film a couple of months before its US release. In the middle of the week on a cold winter afternoon I sat alone in the theater and watched the movie before my shift started. I was completely absorbed. Pan’s Labyrinth perfectly embodies the transfixing sadness of reality and the magic of imagination. I laughed out loud, nervously gripped my chair and more than once found myself wiping tears from my eyes. This is what movie watching should always be like.  (Carl)

CON: What was sold as a dark, scary fantasy movie turns out to be a lame fairy tale with all the clichés: young heroine, evil stepparent, a toad. And the marketing blitz gave away the only good part of the movie, the creature designs. Can someone please tell Guillermo del Gordo to go back to making Blade movies? (Jeremiah)

(44) Donnie Darko

PRO: Anyone with even cursory knowledge of young adult literature will know that there is no shortage of great books for teenagers.  Films, though, are another matter.  This dearth of worthwhile material is precisely what makes Donnie Darko an experience to be cherished.  Stay clear if you can’t handle movies about the big stuff - loneliness, love, mental illness, and the inexplicable nature of reality.  If you’re up for it, though, this film handles those very subjects in the most sensitive, lucid, and humane way imaginable.  The lukewarm response to Southland Tales and The Box could potentially mean that Richard Kelly will never deliver another gem of this caliber, but with Donnie, at least, he gave us one for the ages. (Kieran)

CON: In my years as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Oxford University, I have had the distinct misfortune of being subjected to some absurd theories, unbelievable hypotheses and ludicrous truths; none more disheartening to me than that there are people on this celestial body that not only enjoy Donnie Darko, but believe it makes some sort of sense. Far too much mental energy has been expended attempting to decipher this movie, and of course, the director has his own interpretation. The whole "tangent universe" concept is not too far-fetched, but when combined with the pure nonsense of the "living reciever" being manipulated by a dead man in a rabbit suit via the fourth dimensional construct (water!?!?!), the logic of this movie becomes equal to that of a "baked" student wasting his parent's money as they lay out on the quad. (Giovanny)

(43) Equilibrium

PRO: Gun-kata. Do I need to say more than that? Okay. Kurt Wimmer’s Equilibrium released in 2002 on about 300 screens, stayed in theaters for all of three weeks, and barely grossed over a million dollars. The green screen futuristic settings often look cheesy and the special effects are only a grade or two above a SciFi SyFy channel production. So why number #43? Because Equilibrium is the most consistently badass action movie of the last decade. Its plot rests heavily on a made up martial art known as gun-kata whose practitioners have mastered dodging bullets, and bouncing bullets, and basically treating guns like an extension of themselves. There are also swords involved. Christian Bale, in full-on steely eyed psycho mode, shoots and slashes his way through hordes of dystopian soldiers, dispatches Taye Diggs (best part), and proceeds to one of the craziest final-fights in cinematic history. Low budget, yet limitlessly ambitious and overflowing with unadulterated awesomeness, as action movies go Equilibrium outshines all of its big budget competition. (Jeff)

CON: OK, Kurt Wimmer. So, 90% of your movie is lifted directly from our literary classics, and you’ve added an unbeatable and unflappable action hero protagonist and thrown in a preposterous firearm based martial art. Great job, wanker. (George Orwell and Aldous Huxley)

(42) Gone Baby Gone

PRO: These days, detective stories are often drenched in irony, self aware references and super charged noir influences, so the straight forward plot of Gone Baby Gone is a breath of fresh air. One of the movie’s greatest attributes is that rather than present itself as just another case, or attempt to achieve an epic significance through a massive conspiracy or something, it happily sits somewhere in the middle. A case that is important to the detective without being too personal and that presents him with a final decision that seems nearly impossible to make even though the “right” choice is never in question. And it made Ben Affleck relevant again. How awesome is that?! (Jeremiah)

CON: While I am happy that Kevin Smith um… I mean Ben Affleck…  co-wrote another script, this is Affleck’s first foray into directing and for a debut it was good.  The movie had some amazingly ridiculous twists, a lot of speechifying, and the murder of defenseless children.  These are three very big negatives,  in my opinion. But that being said Ben Affleck was the shit in Phantoms! (Cheese)

(41) Grizzly Man

PRO: While the masses in 2005 drooled over comedies about stunted male maturity (Wedding Crashers, 40-Year Old Virgin) and escapist-cinema at its best (Batman Begins, Sin City) Wernor Herzog released Grizzly Man, a film that was more grippingly serious and non-escapist than any other documentary—or film—of the decade. Herzog’s profile of the life and death of Timothy Treadwell, a hands-on Grizzly bear aficionado in the vein of animal handlers like the late Steve Irwin, effectively bent the documentary rules. The story is told in linear reverse (SPOILER: Treadwell dies within the first few minutes), it makes us care about an individual who was patently unprofessional and foolhardy in his methods, and, perhaps most impressively, it is pieced together from Treadwell’s own home movies.  It hasn’t sparked a million imitators like other documentaries of the decade (Super Size Me, March of the Penguins), but that only proves that Herzog is a master who can’t be touched, and Grizzly Man is a tour de force that can’t be duplicated. (Burgman)

CON: Frankly, Treadwell had it coming. Shouldn’t have fucked with us. Everybody thinks it’d just be so much fun to live with grizzly bears – like we’re lovable stuffed animals that just want to root through garbage and fall out of trees onto trampolines. Like we just want to wear those little Russian hats and ice skate. Sure, we’re adorable, but life with us is no picnic. We will seriously eat you. (Bears)

(40) The Host

PRO: Simply put, The Host is the best monster movie of the decade. I suppose that isn’t saying much considering its closest competition would probably be Cloverfield, but the absolute ineptness of one only underscores the prowess of the other. The Host remembers what is most important with any horror film – giving viewers characters they can care about. The family dynamics in The Host range from hilarious to heartbreaking and lend a sense of gravity to the movie’s numerous scares. Perhaps more impressive than the human element is The Host’s inhuman element; the CGI effects are brilliant and clever (they used real world tricks, such as dumping metal weights into water, to capture the CGI monster’s effects on his environment). How often this decade could you lump such profuse praise on both a film’s characters and its special effects? (Jeff)

CON: I’m pitching a fit because my last minute lobby to get Jet Li’s Hero included in this list was a total dud. Granted, The Host is not from the same country, nor is it even the same genre. But its got subtitles and the whole time I watched it all I could think about was how awesome Hero is. I mean, The Host was an all right movie… but screw this. (Jason)

(39) I Heart Huckabees

PRO: A lot of people call David O. Russell’s existential comedy I Heart Huckabees pretentious. Other, less verbose viewers, call it assholeish. I’ve never understood why. I do, in fact, love Huckabees. For me, it is always funny, something I’ve rewatched numerous times over the last decade. Nothing gets me like Mark Wahlberg’s performance as a philosophical meathead/fire fighter. He rides his bike to fires! What about Dustin Hoffman’s speech about the blanket? Or the dinner scene? What happens in a meadow at sunset? Everything. For me, I still enjoy Huckabees as much as when I first saw it, in a small theater in Buffalo with half the audience walking out and a smattering of boos.  (Jeff)

CON: I fucking hate Huckabees. What a piss poor pretentious movie for idiots who enjoy their existentialism spoon-fed to them by whining super rich white people horribly “acting” like whining middle class white people. A movie about “what it all means” should never be so blatantly obvious as to its motives. See Garden State for another example of this kind of trite bullshit. These are the kind of movies assholes take girls to so they can show how deep and sensitive they are before the roofies and the date rape. This movie should really be on the list for 50 worst movies of the decade! (Carl)

(38) O Brother, Where Art Thou?

PRO: I didn’t love O Brother Where Art Thou upon my first viewing but on the subsequent fifty or so times since I have fallen deeply in love with it. Its rewatchability stems from the many cinematic gems found within. The Coen Brother’s delivered another taut and flawless script with excellent casting centered around the most charming man in the world: George Clooney. Although, extremely overrated and often annoyingly smug about his perfect life, Clooney plays the cornball main character with gusto.  The gorgeous scenery and inexplicable platinum-selling soundtrack perfectly set the stage for the Coen’s comedic magical realism.  (Carl)

CON: Kitschy restagings of classic tales are a godsend for those who have run out of ideas. This film’s awkward, stilted humor, annoying characters and dreadful pace make it a struggle to get through. Not to mention they keep singing that same fucking song!  (Jeremiah)

(37) Best In Show

PRO: I personally am tired of every comedy out there being from “The guys who brought you the 40 Year Old Virgin.” Or “the guy who was the key grip in Knocked Up." How many people are eating from the Judd Apatow dinner table right now?  Best In Show is an intelligent, funny movie with colorful characters, each with their own unique voice. This is a movie that I can turn on at any point during its course and know that I will be laughing within 2 minutes. (Cheese)

CON: Christopher Guest has spent the past decade and a half trying to convince everyone that he was the main creative force behind the classic This is Spinal Tap by churning out mockumentaries that are pale imitations of the original. Wating for Guffman was good but he probably should have quit after that. From dog shows, to folk music to never-was actors, with each release the targets get easier, the bits get less memorable and the laughs get less frequent. Hang it up, Guest. You can no longer take it to 11. (Jeremiah)

(36) Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

PRO: Comedy is a lot like pornography.  You got a hard on?  Then it’s good porn.  You Laughed?  Then it’s funny.  Borat made me laugh.  A lot.  In fact, it made me laugh more than any other mainstream comedy released in the last ten years.  Frankly the brothers Farrelly should be ashamed.  I’ll take it a step further, though, and say that, along with being hilarious, Borat is an exceptionally clever film that is, by turns, insightful, frightening, shocking, and even touching.  Make no mistake, Sacha Baron Cohen is unquestionably the inheritor of Andy Kaufman’s legacy, and that’s just about the highest praise I can give to anyone. (Kieran)

CON: Sacha Baron Cohen is a very talented man, and The Ali G Show was brilliant. But his movies are less about his talents and more about shocking people who are too dim to realize they’re being made fun of. Some will tell you that it’s a smart satire of the world we live in. I’m telling you it’s nothing more than Tom Green redux. (Jeremiah)

The list continues with entries 35-21.