I was ho-hum about O Brother, but mostly that was due to Clooney's mugging performance. The Homeric allusions were heavy handed, I thought.
The best
on-line reference I could find for movies only goes back to 2001, and seems to include only US releases. So I'll give my American-released top 10 of the 21st century, so to speak. These are my favorite films, the ones I enjoyed most. Note that there might be foreign films that found their way to US releases.
10.
The Good Thief. Maybe not that great in absolute terms, but a remake they at least didn't completely fuck up. The original is J-P Melville's flawless
Bob le Flambeur.
9.
24 Hour Party People. Not likely to make many other top 10 lists, admittedly, but I'm a big fan of Joy Division, Shaun Ryder, and even Steve Coogan.
8.
End of the Century. Comprehensive and definitive Ramones documentary. Enough said.
By the way, I include documentaries here. Don't see why not.
7.
Twilight Samurai. Compelling story of an aging samurai forced to into an immoral action. Beautifully shot.
6.
Audition. First of 2 Takashi Miike films on my list. For my money, he's done the most interesting work of anyone I've consistently paid attention to over the last 10 years. This movie completely shocked the hell out of me when I saw it the first time.
5.
Kill Bill Vol. 2. I loved both installments; I chose vol. 2 because of the totally awesome Pei Mai.
4.
Bukowski: Born into This. I don't really know what to say except it's Bukowski.
3.
Napoleon Dynamite. Tina, come get your ham!
2.
Happiness of the Katakuris. Miike, again. A serial killer/sitcom/musical that makes perfect sense-- again, right up to the closing sequence. My main complaint about Miike is he doesn't know how to end his movies.
1.
In the Realms of the Unreal. Once you get past the inital cutesy style of the director, this is a totally engrossing examination of
Henry Darger. Amazing story; heartbreaking.
Honorable Mention:
Sexy Beast;
Spirited Away;
School of Rock;
Who the #%&% is Jackson Pollack?; and the inimitable
Hey is Dee Dee Home?.
