Hi Outposters, I’m back with the Top 10 movies of the noughties. Let’s not waffle on and get straight to it!
2000 – Gladiator
There were a relatively decent amount of movies around at the turn of the century, but none of them come close to yet another Ridley Scott masterpiece. Gladiator not only gives us Scott at his best, but it puts Russell Crowe and Hans Zimmer at the forefront of everyone in Hollywood’s wish list. Oh boy were we entertained!
2001 – Moulin Rouge!
Yep, I chose a fruity musical love story over Lord Of The Rings. Before you all go frothing at the mouth with fury, hear me out. My wife and I had just had two kids in the space of 16 months and this was the first proper date night we had in nearly two years, so this movie has sentimental value to me and the soundtrack is killer!
We’ve recently been to the West End show in London, which dare I say was even better than the movie. I highly recommend it, especially if you want to earn “brownie” points with the missus.
Finally, I don’t like Lord Of The Rings. Watching a bunch of midgets galavanting across mountains and fields whilst moaning about the lack of breakfast is boring. I’m never going to apologize for making this decision.
2002 – Signs
Hot diggity I love this movie. This movie is more than just an alien invasion flick, it’s about faith, family, and trusting in God’s plan regardless of how utterly cruel it can be. One of King Mel’s finest performances. Gibson does a great job of showing Reverand Graham Hess’ contained fury with God after the death of his beloved wife. We see him grappling with the heartbreak, the loss of his faith, having to raise his two young children, and on top of all this, coming to terms with an inevitable alien invasion.
M. Night Shyamalan weaves all these intricate backstories around a slow build of the increasing alien sightings before delivering the goods in the final third that gives you that gut-punch twist that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Signs is one of those rare movies that I would welcome a sequel.
2003 – Master And Commander: The Far Side of the World
Wow, what a movie! Just writing this makes me want to watch it. Often described as the best Star Trek film ever made, it beggers belief that this never became a franchise. An absolute work of art from start to finish. It’s been long rumored that a prequel based on the first novel by Patrick Ness is in the works but fuck prequels, I want a sequel and I want it now!
2004 – Spider-Man 2
Oof, what a tough year! Downfall, Team America, The Incredibles, Anchorman, Primer, Dawn of the Dead, and for us British we got Layer Cake, Shaun of the Dead, and The Football Factory – which for my American brethren if you want an insight into the attraction of football and it’s tribal rivalry here in the UK, this is will be an education for you!
However, I’m going for the predictable option and choosing Spider-Man 2, one of the greatest superhero movies ever made, and one of those rare occasions where the sequel is better than its predecessor. You all know I’m a DC man, and for me, this is quite possibly the truest interpretation of one of Stan Lee’s characters. Marvel has always been about the struggles of normal day-to-day life and the public expectations for its superheroes, and Rami nailed it with this movie.
If Marvel have any sense, they would look at the current state of the endless shite they are producing, take a lesson from Spider-Man 2 and re-learn what being a Marvel superhero is all about.
2005 – Batman Begins
Yep, another superhero film, but this was back when Hollywood treated these characters with respect and the gravitas that they deserved. Back in the days before the likes of James Gunn and Taiki Watiti turned these characters into an embarrassing joke.
As with the aforementioned Spider-Man 2 and Sam Rami’s clear understanding and appreciation of the character, Christopher Nolan took the bar Raimi had set and raised it by several levels for Batman. Casting Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman and surrounding him with an ensemble of quality actors like Sir Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, and Rutger Hauer was a lesson he learned from Richard Donner, when Donner surrounded Reeve with the likes of Brando, Hackman, Cooper, and Glen Ford.
Nolan made Batman more grounded and believable, and remarkably managed to convince you that a man with billions of dollars at his disposal with an insane amount of determination and a sense of righteousness could actually become a vigilante dressed as a giant bat. Added to this were practical effects over CGI and arguably Hans Zimmer’s second-greatest score. A HUGE amount of praise goes to James Newton Howard. It all makes Batman Begins ageless.
2006 – Children Of Men
If you have never seen this movie, stop what you are doing and go and watch it! Children Of Men is one of those movies set in the near future that is so potentially accurate, that you hope it never comes true.
Sadly, with dwindling numbers of children being born in Western societies, and the endless influx of illegal immigrants flooding our countries, like 1984, I fear Children Of Men is an inevitability rather than just a depressing story about our future. Regardless, this movie is simply outstanding.
2007 – No Country For Old Men
Sweet Lord and baby Jesus this film is art. This is a perfect film from start to finish. Javier Bardem easily makes the top 10 for one of Holywood’s most intimidating, ruthless, and frankly, fucking terrifying villains in Hollywood history. I’m not eloquent enough to put this movie into words, so I’ll just round it off with… it’s fucking cinematic gold.
2008 – The Dark Knight
Yeah I know, another superhero movie but come on, this isn’t just the second greatest superhero movie ever made, it’s Michael Mann’s Heat with comic book characters. The Dark Knight is the gold standard for superhero movies. In fact, it’s so good that Hollywood simply gave up even trying to compete… except for Zack Snyder, but more about that later!
2009 – The Road
Another damn fine year with District 9, Hurt Locker, Avatar, Inglourious Basterds, Up, and Moon but The Road takes it for me. This movie is quite possibly the most disturbing and terrifying movie I have ever seen. It shows how quickly humanity will sink to our lowest depths in order to survive in a world that is ultimately unsurvivable.
There is no hope and no God is going to save us. Technically and spiritually advanced aliens are not going to miraculously appear and whisk us away to a new world. The Road shows us how the end of days will really be with humanity resorting to cannibalism, rape, pedophilia, murder, and suicide, a literal hell on earth, with only the most evil and depraved of us lasting the longest.
The Road is a movie that has had the most impact on me for as long as I can remember and the book is even fucking worse. I’ve only ever seen it twice and each time I want to revisit it, I simply can’t last more than about half an hour, I find it that disturbing. A movie that has that much of an impact more than deserves its spot as my number-one pick for 2009.
So there you go. My Top 10 of the ’00s. I hope you all lasted to the end and didn’t just get to Moulin Rouge! and then head to the comments section to call me a c**t! So far, I think this Top 10 is the most diverse I’ve made. What are your thoughts, what would you add or leave out? Hit me with it Outposters!
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