Mr. Carnelian's Entirely Subjective Guide to 21st Century Cinema

[Mr. Carnelian]

I've been talking with Formalhaut a lot recently about good films, and about which films we each really like. That - combined with the fact I'm very opinionated, enjoy writing, and don't get to write quite as much as I'd like - has led, in a roundabout way, to this:

Mr. Carnelian's Entirely Subjective Guide to 21st Century Cinema

I've picked one film that I've seen to represent each year of the 21st century. E.g. the pick for 2000 is a film that first came out in 2000, the pick for 2001 a film that came out in 2001, and so on. I've tried to pick an interesting variety, but it IS skewed towards science-fiction and fantasy.

Every day for the next two and a half weeks, I aim to post an entry for each year of the century, starting with 2000 (for those tempted to argue that the century actually started on 1 Jan 2001, just don't).

Whilst it's no secret to those that know me well that I'm partial to a "so bad it's good" film (thouroughly recommend the glorious garbage that is Gods of Egypt to any connoisseurs of the entertainingly awful), I've picked out films that I think of as "good" films.

And now, onto 2000: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

The first wuxia (kung-fu fantasy, an enduringly popular genre in China) film to really break the Western market, Crouching Tiger is a truly beautiful film. It codified the framework which later imitators (House of Flying Daggers, Hero), eager to echo its success, would follow: tragic romance, balletic fight scenes and a visually sumptuous evocation of Imperial China as a lost Golden Age.

Absolutely one to watch in the original Chinese with English subtitles, due to the character-led nature of the film. The power of the main cast's performances are somewhat lost in the dubbed version. This is particularly evident in the case of Zhang Ziyi, who plays troubled martial arts prodigy Jen Yu, living a double-life as a demure aristocrat's daughter by day and a fierce bandit by night.

Those eager to see more of Michelle Yeoh's Yu Shu Lien, a tough and capable warrior and businesswoman carving a path through a society inclined not to take independent women seriously, should consider watching the 2016 sequel, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny. Although inferior to the original, and rehashing many of the same themes and ideas, Yeoh's reprisal of Yu Shu Lien, now world-weary from the events of the first film but rediscovering her passion and her sense of duty and honour by its end, makes it worth the watch.

7616076159

[charliepanayi]

It is nuts how successful Crouching Tiger was - I mean it's great, but a foreign-language arthouse film doesn't exactly scream 'commercial'. I love the bit where Jen takes out an entire bar after some guys try to pick a fight, followed by a scene where the bruised patrons claim they were attacked unprovoked.

[Wolf Kanno]

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was a such a great film and started an interesting renaissance for Hong Kong style cinema especially in the West.

[Bubba]

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a great film and worthy choice for best film in 2000. For me personally that year I'd have to give it to Gladiator. Russell Crowe's best film by far and not forgetting the late, great Oliver Reed. Soundtrack was amazing too.

[Mr. Carnelian]

2001: Legally Blonde

Those who haven't seen Legally Blonde might think from the poster and the film's glossy aesthetic that Legally Blonde is a dumb piece of fluff. But, just as with the main character, Elle Woods, you shouldn't judge things just on their appearance. Legally Blonde is just as witty as it is funny, one of the few "girl-power" comedies worth mentioning in the same sentence as the earlier film Clueless.

Channeling the same energy as Alicia Silverstone in Clueless, Reese Witherspoon delivers a perfectly pitched comedic performance as an archetypal Valley Girl who turns out to have more smarts and heart that anyone expects.

7616276163

[Shauna]

This is legit one of my favourite movies.

[Cell]

Honestly find Crouching Tiger a visual treat but doesn't hold up on a rewatch.

[Freya]

Legally Blonde is such a great movie. It's such a good take on the lady thing. That you can be feminine and still use said expertise to win a court case. you don't have to be "one of the guys" to do well. I think I will watch this soon actually. Thanks for the reminder!

[Wolf Kanno]

Not a bad choice and Legally Blonde has held up well over the years. Though for me personally, if I was going to choose best film for 2001, I feel my choice would either be Moulin Rouge, Amelie, or The Royal Tenenbaums. Honestly, looking at just a quick list, 2001 was a great year for films.

[charliepanayi]

Mulholland Drive is the undisputed king of 2001.

[WarZidane]

Pshaw, you say it's skewed towards science fiction and fantasy, then your 2001 pick is not Lord of the Rings, shame on you :p

[Mr. Carnelian]

Not a bad choice and Legally Blonde has held up well over the years. Though for me personally, if I was going to choose best film for 2001, I feel my choice would either be Moulin Rouge, Amelie, or The Royal Tenenbaums.

To be clear, I never claimed that this would be a list of the "best" films from each year, just a reasonably varied list of "good" films.


Pshaw, you say it's skewed towards science fiction and fantasy, then your 2001 pick is not Lord of the Rings, shame on you :p

There may or may not be a Lord of the Rings film coming up at some point. I couldn't possibly comment..... :shifty:

[Mr. Carnelian]

2002: Chicago

"And all that jazz!"

A fast-paced, all-singing, all-dancing romp, Chicago follows two "jazz killers" in their search for fame and a not-guilty verdict. Full-spirited performances from all the leads - as well as a memorably fun turn by Queen Latifah as a prison warden/saucy jazz lounge singer - help to convincingly conjure up a world where getting into the papers as good as ensures a not-guilty verdict (as long as you're a beautiful woman). That in turn, quite naturally, leads to a career as a jazz singer.

Ridiculous, yes, but the film has so much drive and energy that you'll completely buy it.

7617776178

[charliepanayi]

I usually love musicals, but could never get into Chicago. I don't think it helps that Moulin Rouge came out just a year earlier and Renee Zellwegger can't really sing. John C. Reilly is as great as ever in this though.

[Cell]

2002 - not habla con ella :cry:

[Wolf Kanno]

Way to be a hipster Mr. Carnelian, going for some artsy musical no one has ever heard of when the clear winner of best film in 2002, if not the 21st century, was Ghost Ship!

76181
I kid of course. Chicago really was one of the best films of 2002. Though Spider-Man was pretty chill even if it's a bit cheese ball nowadays and The Two Towers was easily the best of the LotR trilogy. While there were a few great art house pieces released this year. 2002 always felt like a let down compared to 2001 for me.

[Bubba]

2001 - Spirited Away
2002 - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

2001 was a tough choice for me. A Beautiful Mind was a great film in 2001 but the Ghibli classic gets my vote. I mean I could've gone with LOTR for years 2001-2003 as it's my favourite film trilogy but thought I'd just stick with the best film of the three for 2002.

BTW Mr Carny, you should totally do a 'least favourites' thread to run alongside this... just to see how many times Attack of the Clones is mentioned.

[Cell]

can i just resolve this thread for everyone

2000 - Commando
2001 - Commando
2002 - Commando
2003 - Commando
2004 - Commando
2005 - Commando
2006 - Commando
2007 - Commando
2008 - Commando
2009 - Commando
2010 - Commando
2011 - Commando
2012 - Commando
2013 - Commando
2014 - Commando
2015 - Commando
2016 - Commando
2017 - Commando
2018 - Commando
2019 - Commando

[Mr. Carnelian]

2003: Return of the King

If you haven’t watched the Lord of the Rings films, go do it.

Whilst Two Towers is actually my favourite of the three, there’s no denying that Return of the King was a fine conclusion to the trilogy. Epic in every sense of the word: one of the true “Event” films of the early 21st century.

It proved as popular with critics as with audiences, cleaning up on the awards circuit. Comparisons with Avengers Endgame are easy to draw, but time will tell whether Endgame enjoys the same success come next awards season.

7619476195


2004: Howl’s Moving Castle

One of my very favourite Studio Ghibli films, this is a fine place to start for those unfamiliar with their output.

A magical tale of romance and identity set in a fantastical version of 19th century Europe. After a young woman called Sophie, a hat-maker in a chocolate-box Germanic town, has a magical encounter with a wizard, she finds herself cursed with old age by a witch. Encountering the wizard again, she finds a place in his Moving Castle, a sprawling, steampunk contraption which walks across the rolling hills of the idyllic countryside on metal legs.

Driven by emotion, the plot powers through a series of visually arresting settings, often gleefully leaving logic by the wayside. Those familiar with another director, Terry Gilliam, should have some idea what to expect. Our leads have a tendency to lurch, dreamlike, from location to location, and much like the eponymous Baron of Gilliam’s The Adventures of Baron von Munchausen, the age of the female lead, Sophie, visibly shifts as she grows in confidence.

7619676197

[charliepanayi]

There's no way in hell Endgame deserves to clean up with awards like LOTR did (and it won't). Lost in Translation, Master and Commander and City of God are all great films from 2003 as well. The LOTR trilogy has had lots of copycats since it came out (including The Hobbit) and nothing else has come close.

2004 - the wonderfully inventive Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, aka the last time Jim Carrey was a good actor.

[Wolf Kanno]

I figured a Lord of the Rings film would the hit the list eventually, granted I liked the first two films better than Return of the King. I think my favorite film of 2003 was easily Tim Burton's Big Fish. I didn't even really know what to expect when I went in to see it and that film still clings to me. It captured a part of his style we haven't really seen since his 80s debuts like Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Edward Scissorhands, and Beetlejuice.

Howl's Moving Castle is such a wonderful film and I find it odd that the film is rarely spoken of in more professional circles whereas it seems like every Ghibli fan I know ranks it as one of their best films.

[charliepanayi]

I think Howl's Moving Castle is one of Miyazaki's weaker films (maybe his weakest), there's some very fun supporting characters but the plot is weak and the ending is pure deus ex machina nonsense. It's like they suddenly realised they had to wrap up the film very quickly.

[Wolf Kanno]

Honestly the Deus ex Machina thing happens a lot in his films, I felt Spirited Away pulled the same stunt with it's ending. Of Miyazaki's personal films, I feel Ponyo is one of his weaker ones, though I still enjoyed it. Of Studio Ghibli in general, I feel Tales of Earthsea is the obvious weak link from the studio as it never felt like it really had a point while trying to do too much.

Howl for me simply had a great cast of characters and I felt that what it took from the book it was based on, it did a great job with. Howl's setting really feels like a setting taking right out of Miyazaki's imagination.

[Mr. Carnelian]

2005: Brokeback Mountain

The second film on my list directed by Ang Lee. Like Crouching Tiger, this film also centres around a tragic romance.

There’s long been a homoerotic undercurrent in the cowboy film genre, but in this film that current comes to the surface. Ennis and Jack are two handsome “cowboys” (shepherds, technically, but let’s not quibble) irresistibly drawn to each other. Unfortunately, there’s no happy ending in store for these two in their socially conservative and homophobic society.

Desperately sad: it’s one of the few films to ever bring me to tears. Definitely worth watching, but keep the tissues handy!

7619876199

[charliepanayi]

Poor Heath Ledger :(

[Mr. Carnelian]

2006: Pan's Labyrinth

Ask someone to name a Guillermo del Toro film, and chances are this will be what they think of.

In this dark fairytale set in 1944 Spain, fantastical horror is mirrored by the horrors of war. Not a film for the faint of heart, as neither the potrayal of the world of fantasy into which young Ofelia is drawn nor war-torn Spain pull any punches.

The scene in which Ofelia ventures into the relam of the Pale Man - a chilling, bloodthirsty figure who sees through eyes in his hands - is a particularly memorable moment.

7620576206

[Wolf Kanno]

2005-2006 were both busy years for me, so I didn't really watch as much as I would like.

For 2005, of the few flicks I caught that year, I would give it to Corpse Bride as my favorite. I know some people view it as inferior to The Nightmare Before Christmas, but honestly, I felt it was a spectacular film and probably the last film Tim Burton worked on in some capacity that I actively enjoyed.

As for 2006, I wholeheartedly agree with Pan's Labyrinth. It was a worthy successor to Del Toro's Devil's Backbone and frankly the combination of Spanish politics and traditional grim European folklore all framed together under a traditional fairy tale changeling story was really clever. I absolutely love Del Toro's visual design for the film and it still makes me mad that no one in the film industry wants to green light this man doing an adaption of H.P. Lovecraft's In the Mountains of Madness.

[charliepanayi]

Children of Men is probably my favourite of 2006, another great film from Alfonso Cuaron and it remains just as depressingly relevant as ever.

[Mr. Carnelian]

2007: Hot Fuzz

"No luck catchin' them killers, then?"

Simon Pegg is the fish-out-of-water London cop relegated to seemingly sleepy rural Gloucestershire, playing opposite Nick Frost as his sweet but naive local partner. The cheerfully useless local police assure Pegg's Sergeant Angel that some kids sneaking a pint at the local is the most action he's likely to see. But things aren't what they seem...

Pegg and Frost are, as always, a great double-act, and in particularly fine form in this genuinely funny action comedy. Rarely has rural England been so well lampooned.

7621976220

[charliepanayi]

Hot Fuzz - about the only film to have Jim Broadbent as a villain!

2007 saw two absolute masterpieces for me in No Country for Old Men (featuring Javier Bardem's terrifying hitman with an even more terrifying haircut) and There Will Be Blood.

[Wolf Kanno]

I think my fave film of 2007 was the film adaption of Persepolis, a graphic novel which is such a fun and daring take on life growing up in Iran after the fall of the Shah and the rise of the Ayatollah. I especially liked that the film did it's best to maintain the feel of the original graphic novel's art. Fun and insightful about the authur's life.

[Cell]

Going to give a shout out to This is England for 2007, cracking film.

[Bubba]

2003: Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl - Perfect Piratey fun!
2004: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - The best HP film by a long way
2005: Walk the Line - I love Johnny Cash and Joaquim Phoenix was incredible
2006: Pan's Labrinth - Agree with Mr C this was a stunning film
2007: 3:10 to Yuma - My favourite western of all time

[Mr. Carnelian]

2008: Wall-E

A thoroughly charming offering from Pixar, starring the adorable Wall-E, a waste-disposal robot. All alone on a junk-choked Earth, Wall-E spends every day fruitlessly moving garbage around. But, an encounter with high-tech scout EVE leads Wall-E on an adventure across space to rescue the human race.

There's a good amount of fun to be had in the film's on-the-nose skewering of consumerism. The people on the spaceship Axiom spend all their time in floating chairs watching TV and trying whatever the intrusive advertisements tell them to try.

However, for my money the earthbound section of the film is by far the most poignant. As part of his daily routine, Wall-E picks out interesting pieces from the literal mountains of garbage to add to his collection, returning every evening to his garbage truck home to marvel at the oddities of our civilisation and try to make sense of them.

7622476225

[Bubba]

Some cracking entries in 2008... In Bruges, Gran Torino, The Hurt Locker. Though I'm gonna have to go with the greatest Batman film by quite a distance...

2008 - The Dark Knight.

[charliepanayi]

The Hurt Locker was 2009

I really like The Dark Knight and The Wrestler in 2008, but my favourite from that year is the Japanese film Still Walking

[Bubba]

The Hurt Locker was 2009

No it wasn't. It was 2008.

Either way it was still a great film. Kathryn Bigelow is an amazing Directress.

[Cell]

Strange Days is my favourite Bigelow film, which always gets me weird looks.

[charliepanayi]

The Hurt Locker was 2009

No it wasn't. It was 2008.

Either way it was still a great film. Kathryn Bigelow is an amazing Directress.

OK, it's a bit of both, premiered at a festival in 2008 but didn't come out in the US/UK until 2009. It beat Avatar (released in 2009) to Best Picture which is why I think of it as 2009.

[Mr. Carnelian]

2009: Moon

Sam Bell is a miner on the Moon, all alone except for the company of an AI. An old-fashioned small cast sci-fi, Moon is a meditation on loneliness cast in the same mould as Solaris and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The interactions between the protagonist and a watchful AI, as well as the brilliantly realised retro aesthetic help to hammer home the evocation of 2001. It's to Moon's credit that it comes off fairly well in this deliberately drawn comparison, though it lacks the sweeping catharsis of the Kubrick classic.

Iin a film centred on one character, a strong performance from the lead is essential. Sam Rockwell absolutely delivers, providing a compelling performance as the isolated Sam Bell.

7622876229

[Cell]

Moon is a great film.

Really enjoyed Bronson that year.

[Wolf Kanno]

2008 was a pretty stellar year for films, but my fanboy is going to kick in to gear hear and I'll second Bubba on The Dark Knight being my favorite movie of that year. Fantastic performance by Heath Ledger and the film is actually just good as an actual film and not just as a comic book property.

2009, I really wanted to see Moon, I may need to rent it sometime and catch up. My choice for 2009 is easily Caroline. I love Neil Gaimen and this is a pretty eerie and well executed stop motion flick, with a good story.

[Mr. Carnelian]

2010: Black Swan

A thrilling, over-the-top portrayal of obsession and its cost. Natlie Portman delivers one of the stand-out performances of her career as a ballerina whose increasing command of her art is matched by an increasing loss of control, as she channels all of her frustrations into mastering the dual role of White Swan and Black Swan in the famous ballet Swan Lake.

Some excellent cinematography results in a pervading sense of claustrophobia throughout. Even in open or exterior spaces, Portman's Nina Sayers seems locked in, with no escape.

7624276243

[charliepanayi]

Black Swan is brilliantly insane, it's a total Frankenstein's Monster of other films but it's a lot of trashy fun. 2010 has one of my favourite films of this decade in The Social Network, another drama with a heart of stone that David Fincher does so well, with an amazing Aaron Sorkin script.

[Wolf Kanno]

Totally missed out on Black Swan. I was busy changing jobs and going back to school in 2010 so I missed out on a lot of films that year. Hell, even the films I did see are all kind of trashy. I would have loved Scott Pilgrim if I didn't feel like Michael Cera was a really bad choice for the character of Scott and made the whole film feel off, and I'll give props for Hot Tub Time Machine being ridiculous but surprisingly thoughtful and "so bad, it's good" quality. I feel my only choice I can give is for Tron Legacy. While it takes some serious liberties from the source material and goes all existential on the viewer, I enjoyed the visuals and absolutely loved the soundtrack by Daft Punk. Hardly the best film of the year, but of what I actually watched, it was my favorite film of the year.

[Cell]

My only issue with Black Swan is that at times it feels like Aronofsky's just gone Perfect Blue was cool, let's just do that with real actors. Which isn't bad at all, as Perfect Blue is fantastic.

Winter's Bone was a massive surprise for me, Jennifer Lawrence has never lived up to what she did in that film.

Also a huge shout out to the enjoyable Unstoppable.

[Mr. Carnelian]

2011: A Dangerous Method

Whilst it might seem odd to compare a film about the development of the professional and personal three-way schism between the influential psychoanalysts Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud and Sabina Spielman to a Western, A Dangerous Method resembles nothing as much as a Mexican standoff. Viggo Mortensen's Freud is the old gunslinger defending his dominance, Michael Fassbender's Jung is the second-fiddle jockeying for the top spot, and Kiera Knightley's Sabina is the young gun neither saw coming.

In a film with no immediately obvious lead, the sense of a three-way duel continues in terms of Mortensen, Fassbenders and Knightley's acting. Which actor can make the most of their screen-time? The three offer very distinct performances. Mortensen opts for a pompous gravitas which initially intrigues, but lacks the power necessary to make up for his more limited screen-time. Fassbender goes for an enigmatic, quiet intensity, but like Mortensen, is somewhat one-note. The mens' decision to use a single, well-honed weapon proves a mistake when going up against Knightley, who comes out all-guns blazing and doesn't stop firing until the credits roll. She's certainly no sharpshooter, and has her share of misses, but the shots that land are enough, for my money, to ensure her victory.

7625076251

[charliepanayi]

2011 - another Japanese film by Hirokazu Kore-Eda, in this case I Wish. Few directors have managed to get such great performances out of children. A delightful if at times somewhat sad film.

[Wolf Kanno]

Ah 2011, the year my father and I had strong opinions about best picture for the Oscars. He wanted War Horse to win, my pick for 2011 won instead.

The Artist was a clever film about a by gone age with strong performances all around especially when you consider there's maybe two actual lines of spoken dialogue in the whole film. My dark horse choice for the year was Rango, a quirky animated film that combines elements of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Spaghetti Western, and children's animated flicks. It was a surprisingly fun and surreal film.

[Mr. Carnelian]

2012: Skyfall

Although I've personally got a soft spot for the older, campier Bond films, the grittier take of the Daniel Craig era isn't without its merits. Skyfall is widely seen as the best Bond film of recent years, which I'd definitely agree with. Going into any detail about the plot seems a bit redundant: if you've seen a Bond film before, you'll have a pretty good idea what to expect. One distinguishing point worth mentioning is Judi Dench's M, given much more to do here than usual, and providing a great deal of the film's emotional heft.

7625776258

[charliepanayi]

2012 - The Avengers

I know everyone hates Joss Whedon these days for being the schlubby equivalent of Tiger Woods but this is easily the best MCU film which basically helped turn the MCU from success to juggernaut.

[Wolf Kanno]

2012 was a pretty stellar year for film. Skyfall was easily the best of the Daniel Craig era Bond films, Avengers cemented the MCU's dominance, The Dark Knight Rises was a nice conclusion to Nolan's Batman trilogy, we got the deliciously "so bad it's good" Dark Shadows film from Burton and Depp.

But two of my fave directors gave me a film this year. Tarantino followed up Inglorious Bastards with the phenomenal Django Unchained which was fun romp through the old west with some great acting. Course, I'm going to have to give this to Wes Anderson and his film, Moonlight Kingdom. Anderson's films are just a treat to watch and he's one of the few directors who I feel balances all the cinematic components that make film such a powerful medium. I feel it's one of his more underrated films.

[charliepanayi]

Moonrise Kingdom is amazing

I'm also a huge fan of Kathryn Bigelow's gripping Zero Dark Thirty (Jessica Chastain was robbed at the Oscars!)

[Mr. Carnelian]

2013: Under the Skin

A simple premise, intriguingly executed. Scarlett Johannsen is an enigmatic alien stalking the streets of Glasgow. She entices her male victims and draws them back to her lair, where they are mysteriously disassembled for no obvious reason.

Don't go into this expecting any clear answers or resolutions: this isn't that kind of film. The fact that Under the Skin is shorter than the 2 hours plus which has become the standard for blockbusters definitely works in its favour. The film's eerie ambiguity could easily become tiresome, but for me Under the Skin doesn't outstay its welcome.

7626076261

[charliepanayi]

Under the Skin is amazing, the scene on the beach is one of the most chilling things I've ever seen, and Scarlett Johansson is terrific in it. My 2013 choice is another film of hers, Spike Jonze's Her (no, not a film about Ann from Arrested Development), which is probably my favourite film of this decade. With Joaquin Phoenix in particular on top form it's a beautifully observed look at relationships, love and artificial intelligence and like Under the Skin has an excellent score.

[Cell]

I went to the cinema to see Under the Skin and was pretty much the only person who walked out totally nonplussed by it. It looked and sounded amazing, but it felt like art for art's sake rather than a film. It wasn't horrible by any means but it just left me cold.

[Mr. Carnelian]

2014: Guardians of the Galaxy

"I am Groot".

It is a truth universally acknowledged that everyone with any sense loves a fun, intergalactic space adventure. Guardians is a breezy, entertaining romp with an engaging main cast of rogues and ne'er do wells with hearts of gold. One of the film's notable achievements is how it manages to nod to its influences - Star Wars and Indiana Jones amongst them - without ever feeling too cloyingly nostalgic. It feels at once like a throwback, but also fresh, which is no easy feat to pull off.

Consistently enjoyable to both watch and listen to throughout, thanks to its kitschy, colourful aesthetic and precision-targeted retro soundtrack. It's easily one of my favourites of Marvel's ever-expanding output.

7626276263

[charliepanayi]

2014 - I'd probably choose either Boyhood or Whiplash, the former a hugely impressive achievement assembled over a dozen years and the latter a thrilling take on obsession with an final 10-15 minutes that left me breathless

[Wolf Kanno]

2013 was not a year for films for me. I missed out on the film that was probably up my alley in the way of The Wolf of Wall Street. which I still haven't fully watched but have enjoyed what I've seen. I really wanted to see Under the Skin, but never even heard about it until years later. May add that and Black Swan to my list of films I need to catch up on.

The few films I did see included some of Marvel's weaker sequels in Iron Man and Thor. I think for me, Pacific Rim was my fave film of the year. It was a nerdy film that only 30-year-olds with the heart and mind of a 13-year-old could appreciate. The special effects were awesome and the humor was good even if the drama always felt forced. More of a film for the sake of being fun.

As for 2014, Guardians was certainly the surprise hit for me and my peers. It still stands as one of the better Marvel films of the MCU. The Lego Movie was also a surprise hit and probably the only good one in the new franchise they're making due to it's surprisingly existential fourth wall breaking ending.

For me though, the best two films of the year come down to Captain America: Winter Soldier and Wes Anderson's Grand Budapest Hotel. Both phenomenal films in my opinion, with the former perfectly merging the schlocky comic book trappings of the super hero film with s 60s inspired Cold War film. It is easily my favorite MCU film. The latter film doesn't really need much introduction. If you've watched any other Wes Anderson film, you know what to expect, but we got some really great performances by Ralph Fiennes nd Tony Revolori. Speaking of films I missed this year, I also wanted to check out Birdman, which I just couldn't seem to find the time to see, but I love Michael Keaton and the subject matter and film style sounded right up my alley. This was also the year I had to bear witness to what is most likely my least favorite movie of the decade, if not the 21st century in general, which was Maleficent. Nothing makes my blood boil faster than discussing this awful Malfoy in Leather Pants fanfic film.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

Your posts, Wolf Kanno, remind me that I still need to watch Wales Anderson’s newest movie.

[Mr. Carnelian]

2015: Mad Max - Fury Road

Remakes and reboots are two-for-a-penny these days, but if you're going to do it, follow Fury Road's example and do it right (see also 2012's highly underrated Dredd). Although Tom Hardy's Max is supposedly the lead, Charlize Theron steals the spotlight, showing off her action chops as determined road-warrior Furiosa.

An extended postapocalyptic chase sequence par excellence, Fury Road sees our protagonists chased across the desert by a menagerie of crazed fanatics, including a red jumpsuited guitarist riding a monster truck composed primarily of speakers. Oh, and his guitar periodically shoots flame. All in all, it's a glorious and entirely bonkers punk-rock opera of a film, as relentlessly kinetic and brutal a spectacle as Cirque du Soleil on meth.

7626576266

[The Captain]

Fun journey through the films of the 21st century so far!

Rather than go through a list of what I thought was the best film of each year, I'll just choose the ones that have stayed with me the most though there is some overlap:

2000: Almost Famous - Still a top 5 favorite film of all time for me. A movie every teenager and their parents should watch together.
2001: Y Tu Mama Tambien - One of Cuaron's best and not the only one of his on this list.
2002: City Of God - Haunting, sweeping, depressing and uplifting all at once.
2003: LOTR: ROTK - Remains the only film I ever snuck into and watched a 2nd time right after the first screening ended because I wasn't ready to leave Middle Earth yet. The Beacon lighting scene still gives me chills.
2004: Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind - So wise, so inventive, so much to say about memory, loss and love.
2005: 40 Year Old Virgin - Finally cemented Steve Carell as the comedic genius we all kind of knew he was already. Between this and Anchorman.
2006: Children of Men - My favorite film of the last 20 years. Even more important today.
2007: There Will Be Blood - PTA and DDL's finest work.
2008: In Bruges - Some of the best dialogue Tarantino never wrote.
2009: Up - The four minute sequence "Married Life" is quite possibly Pixar's greatest achievement and I readily admit to weeping at the movies when it ended. I was not the only one.
2010: The Social Network - Also WAY ahead of it's time in showing the dark side to Facebook.
2011: A Separation - Tree of Life was visually the most dynamic thing I saw that year but A Separation is Farhadi's masterpiece.
2012: The Master - A tour de force of actors (Hoffman, Phoenix, Adams) though a lot of strong choices this year including DDL as Lincoln, Craig and Bardem in Skyfall and Leo in Django
2013: (Tie) Her and Wolf of Wall Street - Two entirely different movies and I can't break the tie because both offer such wildly different versions of the world, one melancholy but uplifting, the other a black comedy showing the beating bloody heart of capitalism.
2014: A Most Violent Year - Oscar Isaac channeling early Al Pacino and a never better Jessica Chastain. Yes please. Boyhood was remarkable as an achievement as well.
2015: Mad Max Fury Road: As Barney might say, "just hook it to my veins!". Special shoutout to The Lobster for being so wonderfully inventive and to The Big Short for making the depressing funny.

Will update the rest when we get there.

Take care all.

[charliepanayi]

Fury Road is astonishing, those chase sequences are something else. I like how Tom Hardy slips back into his Bane voice by the end too :D

2015 - Inside Out. Pixar's best non-Toy Story film. Who would have thought I'd get so upset over an imaginary friend?

[Wolf Kanno]

Yeah, I will agree that Fury Road was a great film and one of my biggest regrets of that years is that I didn't watch it in a theater because the film was just made to be seen on the big screen. I also don;t understand the whining about Max not being as prominent in the film, because he's only really the heart of the story in the first film and the later two Gibson films had him playing the wild card helping out the more quirky and personable side characters the film mostly revolved around. Fury Road was hardly any different in that way.

My choice for best film is either Mad Max: Fury Road or Tarantino's Hateful Eight, which was a fun western film with some great acting and that usual cartoonish violence Tarantino is known for. I also would give a shout out to Ant-Man, which despite its original director leaving the project and the film getting redone to fit more in line with the MCU was a surprisingly fun caper movie and introduced us to the only true "every man" of the MCU franchise.

[Cell]

I still don't get the praise Hateful Eight gets. It's Tarantino's worst film by a distance to me.

Big Short, Anomalisa and Slow West were my faourites of 2015.

[Bubba]

I personally hated Black Swan though I seem to be in the minority. I haven't been convinced by any of Darren Aronofsky's films and I've seen quite a few. I'll probably get round to watching Requiem for a Dream at some point which is supposedly his best. After watching the car crash that was Mother! though I'm not in any rush.

Hey these lists are subjective though and I reckon I'll be the only one with Limitless as my 2011 best film :lol:

2009 - Avatar
2010 - Inception
2011 - Limitless
2012 - Silver Linings Playbook
2013 - Specific Rim
2014 - Interstellar
2015 - The Martian

[Freya]

Fury road is actually what inspired my novel lmao which inspired an entire series. Except i thought "Mad max.. but on ice, in snow and winter!"

[charliepanayi]

I personally hated Black Swan though I seem to be in the minority. I haven't been convinced by any of Darren Aronofsky's films and I've seen quite a few. I'll probably get round to watching Requiem for a Dream at some point which is supposedly his best. After watching the car crash that was Mother! though I'm not in any rush.

Hey these lists are subjective though and I reckon I'll be the only one with Limitless as my 2011 best film :lol:

2009 - Avatar
2010 - Inception
2011 - Limitless
2012 - Silver Linings Playbook
2013 - Specific Rim
2014 - Interstellar
2015 - The Martian

Watch The Wrestler, it's very different to all those other films

[Mr. Carnelian]

2016: Your Name

A fantastical body-swap romance, Your Name is a coming-of-age story of love, loss and fate. Mitsuha and Taki are the two young people going all Freaky Friday, with both finding themselves waking up one morning in the other's body and then living out a day in their shoes, a situation that then repeats itself periodically over the coming months. However, unusually for a body-swap film, after some initial body humour the situation isn't played for laughs. Rather, the two are fascinated by the glimpse into each other's very different lives, and find themselves drawing closer together despite being hundreds of miles apart.

Your Name is very much a tale of two Japans. The busy metropolis of Tokyo and the soundtrack's frequent use of fast-paced J-pop contrast with sleepy, rural Itomori, where traditional music accompanies ancient ceremonies. Likewise, beneath the film's glossy modern sheen lies something more mysterious and ancient, as Mitsuha and Taki gradually discover the key to their situation is to be found in ancient folklore.

An unexpectedly haunting and beautiful film, and one of my very favourites. Highly recommended.

7627276273

[charliepanayi]

2016 - Manchester by the Sea

I thought this film was going to be devastating, but I didn't know the half of it. What's most amazing is the film also managed to be quite funny in places, how they managed the balance is incredible. Casey Affleck deserved his Oscar and Michelle Williams should have won too.

[Mr. Carnelian]

2017: Blade Runner 2049

Blade Runner 2049 had high expectations to meet, following up one of the 20th century's most highly regarded cult classics. Fortunately, it lives up to the challenge, providing a tale of identity both grandiose and thought-provoking.

One of Blade Runner 2049's great achievements is that it still feels like Blade Runner, despite largely disregarding the first film's noir atmosphere in favour of leaning more heavily into cyber-punk and throwing in generous lashings of post-apocalypse. A lot of this is thanks to the film's aesthetic, which not only evokes the visual mood of the original, but also builds upon it, sometimes in surprising and unexpected ways.

7627476275

[charliepanayi]

Blade Runner 2049 is far, far better than any Blade Runner sequel has any right to be.

2017 - Dunkirk
Even with The Dark Knight under his belt, I wasn't entirely sold on Christopher Nolan until I saw this. I left the cinema, and I jumped when a drop of rain landed on me as I was still so shaken up from watching it.

[Cell]

Always thought Blade Runner 2049 was a dumb premise that was incredibly well directed with an aesthetic Ridley would be proud of.

[Mr. Carnelian]

2018: Annihilation

Turns out, I really like psychological thrillers with Natalie Portman as the lead (see also, Black Swan). After her husband inexplicably appears at their house months after being declared Missing in Action and then promptly drops into a coma, Portman's Lena is drawn into the project he was working for. This project is an attempt to understand/destroy "the Shimmer" a mysterious and ever-growing area centred around an asteroid crash site, in which the laws of nature no longer seem to apply.

Film buffs might be tempted to write off Annihilation as a gender-swapped version of Andrei Tarkovsky's 1979 film Stalker, but whilst there are a lot of surface similarities, at the core of each film is something quite different. Both feature a group of troubled individuals journeying through a strange, altered landscape in a quest to reach the mystery at its centre. However, whilst Stalker plays around with the nature of desire and how desire shapes us, Annihilation deals much more directly with questions at the heart of our notions of identity. What does it mean to be "you"? Is a copy or an echo of you also you? If so, might that echo be able to become more than you? How far can you be transformed before you cease to be you?

Both the world around Lena and her group and the interior world of their minds become haunted by doubling and mirroring the further they venture, culminating in a bone-chilling encounter at the heart of the Shimmer. I absolutely love sci-fi, so I admit that I'm biased, but for my money Annihilation is not only one of the best sci-fi films of this century so far, but one of the best films of the century so far, full stop.

7627776276

[charliepanayi]

2018 - Roma/Eighth Grade

Alfonso Cuaron's beautifully done 1970s drama is easily the best thing Netflix have put their name to thus far, and cements him as a genius director. And Eighth Grade is a hugely sympathetic look at being a teenager in the present day and at social anxiety.

[Cell]

2018: Annihilation

Turns out, I really like psychological thrillers with Natalie Portman as the lead (see also, Black Swan). After her husband inexplicably appears at their house months after being declared Missing in Action and then promptly drops into a coma, Portman's Lena is drawn into the project he was working for. This project is an attempt to understand/destroy "the Shimmer" a mysterious and ever-growing area centred around an asteroid crash site, in which the laws of nature no longer seem to apply.

Film buffs might be tempted to write off Annihilation as a gender-swapped version of Andrei Tarkovsky's 1979 film Stalker, but whilst there are a lot of surface similarities, at the core of each film is something quite different. Both feature a group of troubled individuals journeying through a strange, altered landscape in a quest to reach the mystery at its centre. However, whilst Stalker plays around with the nature of desire and how desire shapes us, Annihilation deals much more directly with questions at the heart of our notions of identity. What does it mean to be "you"? Is a copy or an echo of you also you? If so, might that echo be able to become more than you? How far can you be transformed before you cease to be you?

Both the world around Lena and her group and the interior world of their minds become haunted by doubling and mirroring the further they venture, culminating in a bone-chilling encounter at the heart of the Shimmer. I absolutely love sci-fi, so I admit that I'm biased, but for my money Annihilation is not only one of the best sci-fi films of this century so far, but one of the best films of the century so far, full stop.

7627776276

Nobody I know has seen this and it's utterly criminal. Seriously underrated film.

[Wolf Kanno]

Some good choices so far, still need to watch Annihilation. I'm the only sci-fi/horror fan among my group that go see movies together, so I often have to catch some of these films after the fact.

2016 - I think I may have to give this to the seriously underrated Kubo of the Two Strings, a gorgeously animated film by equally underrated Laika Animation studio. For a kids film, there is some serious drama and a very moving story about growing up and the bond stories give between parents and children.

2017 - Going to concur with Blade Runner 2049, the rare sci-fi non-comic book films I got to see that year in the actual cinema. The visual and music was great, had some nice cyberpunk moments as well. My only beef with the film is that the plot is too similar to Armitage III and I felt that series handled the matter a bit better. still a stellar flick. My secondary choice would be Thor: Ragnarok which was a fun and visually killer film.

2018 - Call me a fanboy, but my fave film of 2018 is another Wes Anderson film, Isle of Dogs was a fun film similar to Fantastic Mr. Fox in animation style with Anderson's usual quirky aesthetics and mood, combined with his usual dry wit. Bonus points that all the Japanese characters speak only Japanese for most of the film, and the story was really amusing and charming.

[Cell]

I just watched Embrace of the Serpent and it's a potential shout for my film of 2015 now.

[Bubba]

2016 - Arrival
2017 - Get Out
2018 - Coco

I've never seen a sci-fi film quite like Arrival. I'm a big fan of Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner too (the latter in strictly non-Avenger roles). This film stayed in my head quite a long time after watching.

I first saw Daniel Kaluuya in the Black Mirror episode Fifteen Million Merits. He shone in that but was in even more impressive in Get Out. Jordan Peele did a great job as a first-time director too.

Coco literally has me bawling my eyes out every time I watch it. So much so that whenever my son is watching it I have to leave the room at certain points.

[The Captain]

2016: Moonlight. The visuals and the deeper messages of this movie are still stunning a few years removed and they announced Barry Jenkins as a filmmaker to be reckoned with. Also shoutout to Paterson, which featured a never better Adam Driver.

2017: The Rider. Another gut punch of a movie, with a quiet dignity and grace that fits in with the beautiful relationships and animals it represented. Based on a true story and featuring mostly non actors to boot. If you get the chance, really check out this film. Get Out, Logan and Lady Bird made for a really strong year.

2018: Mission Impossible: Fallout. Everything I could possibly ever want in an action movie. Tom Cruise literally inventing new stunts to prove yet again that his goal might be to die onscreen. If Beale Street Could Talk and Sorry To Bother You are also worth highlighting.

2019: So far, with half a year in the books, I'd say the best films I've seen are The Last Black Man In San Francisco, John Wick 3 and When They See Us. A lot coming up that I'm excited to see.

Take care all.

[SeasideArms]

Going to concur with Blade Runner 2049, the rare sci-fi non-comic book films I got to see that year in the actual cinema. The visual and music was great, had some nice cyberpunk moments as well. My only beef with the film is that the plot is too similar to Armitage III and I felt that series handled the matter a bit better. still a stellar flick. My secondary choice would be Thor: Ragnarok which was a fun and visually killer film.

That movie was amazing! I just got to see it a few days ago. I don't know if it's because the movie is just that good, or whether it's because I'm one of those few people who didn't really like the original, but I feel like this movie is overall better than the original and that it had a better and more interesting story and characters. I guess it would be unfair to say it had better visuals, too, because the technology back then just didn't allow for more and because it created that visual style while the sequel just built on it, but I feel like even if you break the visuals down to their concepts, the sequel had a lot of visuals that were more memorable, like that Elvis scene. That's something they could have probably done back in the day, too. They had those holograms in Star Wars which looked kinda like that.


Nobody I know has seen this and it's utterly criminal. Seriously underrated film.

I don't know why I feel so ehh about that movie. I saw it and was really into it for a while (particularly during that one scene... you know the one) But looking back on it, it feels kinda inconsequential. I don't know why.