MASTER LIST #19: The 101 Best Films of the 2000s

On the heels of perusing so many "best of the decade" lists, I do get the impression that there is much more from this decade I need to see (particularly from Asia and Eastern Europe); I have passion for all these films listed, but I'm still left with a needling and probably wrongful suspicion that movies are a dying art form. I'm not making excuses here, but the fact is that, unless one is granted admission into the somewhat cloistered world of film festivals and metropolitan movie houses, the chance to see projected on screen films by, for instance, Thailand's Apichatpong Weerasethakul or Taiwan's Hou Hsiao-hsien is somewhat close to nil. Even so, I feel confident that the majority of these titles stand strong as the best of this most recent, tumultuous, sometimes exasperating era in cinema. We can be thankful that the first 10th of the 21st gave us the opportunity to see stunning work from old hands like David Lynch, Michael Haneke, Quentin Tarantino, Darrin Aronofsky, Joel and Ethan Coen, Gus Van Sant, Jean-Pierre and Luc Darden, Mike Leigh, the crew at Pixar, Clint Eastwood, and Lars Von Trier. And the decade introduced us to thoughtful new talents like Kelly Reichardt, David Gordon Green, Paul Greengrass, Andrew Dominick, Richard Kelly, Todd Fields and Shane Meadows, among many others. And so, now, with my eventual growth in tastes perhaps to come (it's always a work-in-progress), here are my choices for the best movies of the aughties, in order of preference according to (1) personal affection, (2) historical influence, and (3) overall quality:

1) The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005)
2) Mulholland Dr. (David Lynch, 2001)
3) The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominick, 2007)
4) The House of Mirth (Terrence Davies, 2000 (U.K./France/Germany/U.S.))
5) United 93 (Paul Greengrass, 2006)
6) Russian Ark (Alexandr Sokurov, 2002 (Russia/Germany))
7) Moulin Rouge! (Baz Luhrmann, 2001)
8) You Can Count On Me (Kenneth Lonergan, 2000)The Fountain (Darrin Aronofsky, 2006)
9) Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009 (U.S./Germany))
10) Elephant (Gus Van Sant, 2003)
11) Old Joy (Kelly Reichardt, 2006)
12) Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly, 2001)
13) Nobody Knows (Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2005 (Japan))
14) No Country For Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007)
15) The Fountain (Darrin Aronofsky, 2006)
16) The Fall (Tarsem Singh, 2008)
17) There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
18) Million Dollar Baby (Clint Eastwood, 2004)
19) The Piano Teacher (Michael Haneke, 2001 (Germany/Poland/France/Austria))
20) L'Enfant (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, 2005 (Belgium/France))
21) Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2002)
22) Vera Drake (Mike Leigh, 2004 (U.K))
23) Grizzly Man (Werner Herzog, 2005 (U.S./Canada))
24) Children of Men (Alfonzo Cuaron, 2006 (Japan/U.K./U.S.))
25) A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg, 2001)
26) The Brown Bunny (Vincent Gallo, 2003)
27) Dancer in the Dark (Lars Von Trier, 2000 (Denmark/Germany/Netherlands/U.S./U.K.))
28) In The Bedroom (Todd Fields, 2001)
29) All The Real Girls (David Gordon Green, 2003)
30) Max (Menno Meyies, 2002)
31) Cache (Michael Haneke, 2005 (France/Austria/Germany/Italy))
32) The Lives of Others (Florian Henkel von Donnersmark, 2006 (Germany))
33) Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson, 2009)
34) Grindhouse (Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, 2007)
35) Happy-Go-Lucky (Mike Leigh, 2008 (U.K.))
36) Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story (Michael Winterbottom, 2006 (U.K.))
37) Before Sunset (Richard Linklater, 2004)
38) Ghost World (Terry Zwigoff, 2001)
39) Capturing the Friedmans (Andrew Jarecki, 2003)
40) Synecdoche, NY (Charlie Kaufman, 2008)
41) To Be and To Have (Nicolas Philibert, 2002 (France))
42) Little Children (Todd Fields, 2006)
43) Y Tu Mama Tambien (Alfonzo Cuaron, 2002 (Mexico))
44) Requiem for a Dream (Darrin Aronofsky, 2000)
45) Day Night Day Night (Julia Loktev, 2007)
46) In The Mood For Love (Wong Kar-Wei, 2000 (Hong Kong))
47) Napoleon Dynamite (Jared Hess, 2004)
48) Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2001)
49) Time Out (Laurent Cantet, 2002 (France))
50) Bright Star (Jane Campion, 2009 (U.K./Australia/France))
51) Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008 (Sweden))
52) Wendy and Lucy (Kelly Reichardt, 2008)
53) Monsters Inc. (Andrew Stanton, 2001)
54) George Washington (David Gordon Green, 2000)
55) The Fog of War (Errol Morris, 2003)
56) Catch Me If You Can (Steven Spielberg, 2002)
57) In America (Jim Sheridan, 2003)
58) Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005)
59) Zodiac (David Fincher, 2007)
60) O Brother Where Art Thou? (Joel & Ethan Coen, 2000)
61) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
62) The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2009)
63) Bad Santa (Terry Zwigoff, 2003)
64) Paranoid Park (Gus Van Sant, 2008)
65) No End In Sight (Charles Ferguson, 2007)
66) Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (Larry Charles, 2006)
67) Sideways (Alexander Payne, 2004)
68) Mystic River (Clint Eastwood, 2003)
69) Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (Peter Weir, 2003)
70) Birth (Jonathan Glazer, 2004)
71) Scott Walker: 30 Century Man (Stephen Kijak, 2008 (U.K.))
72) Inland Empire (David Lynch, 2006)
73) Black Hawk Down (Ridley Scott, 2001)
74) 8 Women (Francois Ozon, 2002 (France))
75) This is England (Shane Meadows, 2007 (U.K.))
76) A Serious Man (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2009 (U.S./U.K./France))
77) The Son (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, 2003 (Belgium/France))
78) Ratcatcher (Lynne Ramsay, 2000 (Scotland))
79) City of God (Fernando Merilles, 2003 (Brazil))
80) The 40-Year-Old Virgin (Judd Apatow, 2005)
81) The Wrestler (Darrin Aronofsky, 2008)
82) Hedwig and the Angry Inch (John Cameron Mitchell, 2001)
83) Dogville (Lars Von Trier, 2003 (Denmark/Sweden/France/U.K./Germany/Netherlands))
84) Unbreakable (M. Night Shamalyan, 2000)
85) Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lenders (James D. Scurlock, 2006)
86) Oldboy (Park Chan-wook, 2003 (South Korea))
87) Still Walking (Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2008 (Japan))
88) Downfall (Oliver Hirschbiegel, 2004 (Germany))
89) Thanksgiving (Alex R. Johnson, 2001)
90) Series 7: The Contenders (Daniel Minahan, 2001)
91) Anvil!: The Story of Anvil (Sacha Gervasi, 2009)
92) The Squid and the Whale (Noah Baumbach, 2005)
93) 12 (Lawrence Bridges, 2002)
94) The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke, 2009 (Austria/Germany/France/Italy))
95) The Incredibles (Brad Bird, 2004)
96) American Splendor (Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, 2003)
97) Somers Town (Shane Meadows, 2009 (U.K.))
98) Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright, 2004 (U.K.))
99) Hustle and Flow (Craig Anderson, 2005)
100) In Bruges (Martin McDonagh, 2008 (U.K.))
101) Sunshine (Danny Boyle, 2007 (U.S./U.K.)

Master List #18: The 101 Best Films of the 1930s

Even though the planet's mired in a similarly decade-defining depression, the movies of the 1930s are rooted so distantly away from the noisy present that watching them makes one obsess over how much life has seemingly since wriggled backwards or hence. They really feel not of this earth. Their striking opulence and risky experimentation; their steadfast dedication to amusement (there are more comedies, musicals, love stories, action movies, horror tales and animated works on this list than on the roster of any other decade I've examined); their directorial, craft, and acting confections--all float fathoms above the well-moneyed drabness we're seeing screened today; when you see a '30s movie, you're absolutely transported elsewhere--that is, if you give them the proper attention. (For those who may exclaim "I don't like old movies": my heart goes out to ya but a word of advise: forget about the pace of the editing, the less-"real" acting style, and the quietude and REALLY pay attention to the unusual--hell, mind-blowing--quality of these movies). To boot, they're entertaining and smart--and I'm taking it incredibly easy on the hyperbole here.

Largely message-less (and when messages were sent to audiences, they often arrived in the unlikely packaging of Duck Soup and Modern Times), these 101 movies transmit rich emotions all their own--a toasty glow and snazzy rap that's impossible to recreate. The era gave light to directorial greats like Chaplin, Hawks, Hitchcock, Ford, Whale, Curtiz, McCarey, Eisenstein, Browning, Vigo, Renoir, Lang, Wyler, Capra, Disney, Dave Fleicher, and even the infamous Leni Riefenstahl. Then, on screen, you see James Stewart, John Wayne, the Marx Brothers, Boris Karloff, Greta Garbo, Vivian Leigh, Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, Clark Gable, Vivian Leigh, W.C. Fields, Jean Harlow, Myrna Low, William Powell, James Cagney, Peter Lorre, The Little Rascals, Edward G. Robinson, Mickey Mouse, Betty Boop, Popeye, King Kong, Ingrid Bergman, Bette Davis and...sheesh, you could go on and on. It don't matter if these movie don't make your heart palpitate like a modern Michael Bay epic: obviously, with such a glittery roll call, the 1930s ranks as very nearly the greatest decade ever for film achievement. So here, evaluated by (1) overall quality, (2) historical importance, (3) influence, and (4) personal affection, are my choices (with one-line synopses to be added later):

1) City Lights (Charles Chaplin, 31)
2) Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (Frank Capra, 39)
3) Stagecoach (John Ford, 39)
4) Duck Soup (Leo McCarey, 33)
5) Gone With The Wind (Victor Fleming/David O. Selznick et al., 39)
6) Vampyr (Carl Th. Dreyer, 32)
7) Twentieth Century (Howard Hawks, 34)
8) The Bride of Frankenstein (James Whale, 35)
9) Modern Times (Charles Chaplin, 36)
10) The Adventures of Robin Hood (Michael Curtiz, 38)
11) Grand Illusion (Jean Renoir, 38)
12) Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (David Hand/Walt Disney, 37)
13) 42nd Street (Lloyd Bacon, 32)
14) Queen Christina (Rouben Mamoulian, 33)
15) M (Fritz Lang, 31)
16) Alexander Nevsky (Sergei Eisenstein & Dmitri Vasilyev, 38)
17) The Music Box (James Parrott, 32)
18) L'Age D'Or (Luis Bunuel, 30)
19) The Tale of the Fox (Wladyslaw and Irene Starewicz, 30)
20) Freaks (Tod Browning, 32)
21) Frankenstein (James Whale, 31)
22) The Private Life of Henry VIII (Alexander Korda, 33)
23) Zero For Conduct (Jean Vigo, 33)
24) L'Atalante (Jean Vigo, 34)
25) Olympia (Leni Riefenstahl, 38)
26) Fury (Fritz Lang, 36)
27) The Old Mill (Wilfred Jackson/Walt Disney, 37)
28) It Happened One Night (Frank Capra, 34)
29) Young Mr. Lincoln (John Ford, 39)
30) The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming et al., 39)
31) Scarface: The Shame of a Nation (Howard Hawks, 31)
32) The 39 Steps (Alfred Hitchcock, 35)
33) The Awful Truth (Leo McCarey, 37)
34) King Kong (Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack, 33)
35) It's A Gift (Norman Z. McLeod, 34)
36) Top Hat (Mark Sandrich, 35)
37) The Criminal Code (Howard Hawks, 31)
38) The Rules of the Game (Jean Remoir, 39)
39) The Blue Angel (Josef von Sternberg, 30)
40) The Public Enemy (William Wellman, 31)
41) All Quiet on the Western Front (Lewis Milestone, 30)
42) The Lady Vanishes (Alfred Hitchcock, 38)
43) Nothing Sacred (William Wellman, 37)
44) A Night at the Opera (Sam Wood, 35)
45) Dinner at Eight (George Cukor, 33)
46) The Front Page (Lewis Milestone, 31)
47) Triumph of the Will (Leni Riefenstahl, 35)
48) The Thin Man (W.S. Van Dyke, 34)
49) Bringing Up Baby (Howard Hawks, 38)
50) Gunga Din (Howard Hawks, 39)
51) Lost Horizon (Frank Capra, 37)
52) Gulliver's Travels (Dave Fleischer, 39)
53) I Am A Fugitive From a Chain Gang (Mervyn LeRoy, 32)
54) Sylvia Scarlett (George Cukor, 35)
55) Wuthering Heights (William Wyler, 39)
56) The Petrified Forest (Archie Mayo, 36)
57) The Old Dark House (James Whale, 32)
58) Murder (Alfred Hitchcock, 30)
59) Pygmalion (Anthony Asquith, 38)
60) Little Caesar (Mervyn Leroy, 31)
61) My Man Godfrey (Gregory LaCava, 36)
62) I Love to Singa (Tex Avery, 36)
63) Things to Come (William Cameron Menzies, 36)
64) Popeye the Sailor (Dave Fleischer, 33)
65) Babes in Arms (Busby Berkeley, 39)
66) Way Out West (James W. Horne, 37)
67) Minnie the Moocher (Dave Fleischer, 32)
68) Captain Blood (Michael Curtiz, 35)
69) A Midsummer Night's Dream (William Dieterle & Max Reinhardt, 35)
70) Boudu Saved From Drowning (Jean Renoir, 32)
71) Mr. Deeds Goes To Town (Frank Capra, 36)
72) The Most Dangerous Game (Irving Pichel & Ernest B. Schoedsack, 32)
73) Ferdinand The Bull (Walt Disney, 38)
74) Intermezzo (Gustaf Molander, 36)
75) Monkey Business (Norman Z. McLeod, 31)
76) The Band Concert (Wilfred Jackson/Walt Disney, 35)
77) Destry Rides Again (George Marshall, 39)
78) Alice in Wonderland (Mervyn LeRoy, 33)
79) Angels with Dirty Faces (Michael Curtiz, 38)
80) These Three (William Wyler, 36)
81) Dead End (William Wyler, 37)
82) Ninotchka (Ernst Lubitsch, 39)
83) Horse Feathers (Norman Z. McLeod, 32)
84) Island of Lost Souls (Erle C. Kenton, 32)
85) The Hunchback of Notre Dame (William Dieterle, 39)
86) Goodbye Mr. Chips (Sam Wood, 39)
87) Sons of the Desert (William A. Seiter, 33)
88) Mutiny on the Bounty (Frank Lloyd, 35)
89) The Mystery of the Wax Museum (Michael Curtiz, 33)
90) Of Human Bondage (John Cromwell, 34)
91) A Tale of Two Cities (Jack Conway, 35)
92) Bored of Education (Gordon Douglas/Hal Roach, 35)
93) Dodsworth (William Wyler, 36)
94) The Bat Whispers (Roland West, 30)
95) The Green Pastures (Marc Connelly & William Keighley, 36)
96) A Day at the Races (Sam Wood, 37)
97) Man on the Flying Trapeze (Clyde Bruckman, 35)
98) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Norman Taurog, 38)
99) The Big House (George W. Hill, 30)
100) The Champ (King Vidor, 31)
101) Flowers and Trees (Walt Disney, 32)

2009 Movie Diary--Late May to Late August

I have to clear my MOVIE DIARY sidebar, so I'm committing it to posterity as an entry into the body of my blog. I review each film in fifteen words or less (which is harder than one might think). The best movies are marked with 2 stars. Anyway, from mid-May 2009 to late August 2009 (from bottom to top), I watched:

**Village of the Damned (creepy kids abound in staid but entertaining 60s British horror/sci-fi classic)
Planet of the Apes (season one) (TV adaptation of famed series is kid-friendly fun)
**The Office (season 4) (Remains the best sitcom on TV, for my money; brilliantly filmed and acted)
**Easy Living (Opulent screwball, written by Sturges, with blustery Edward Arnold and always-charming Jean Arthur)
Gommorah (What's all the hoopla about? Feels real, but never engages)
Trans Siberian (Brad Anderson thriller seems stupid initially, but damn if it doesn't pull the rug out!)
Nothing But The Truth (torn-from-headlines story makes it feel a bit TV-movie, but Kate Beckinsale's performance is beyond reproach)
**Adventureland (not riotous like Mottola's "Superbad," but better; sweet, real, impeccable period detail, perfect soundtrack; terrific)
**Alice in Wonderland (1933) (Paramount-produced all-star vehicle is surrealistic wonder, thanks to idiosyncratic performances and trippy costume/makeup/production design)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (season 4) ("Producers" subplot captivates, but irritainment quotient almost makes David's series jump the shark)
**Scott Walker: 30 Century Man (Directorially inventive documentary about secretive American singer/songwriter/producer whose genius has defined decades of British music)
**For All Mankind (Moon-landings doc sports pristine footage, narrated by astronauts; mesmerizing, but "It's amazing" comments get tiresome)
Play It As It Lays (Hollywood hate, 60s-style; it ain't The Bad and the Beautiful)
**The 7th Victim (Val Lewton's Greenwich Village-set Satan-fest is typically brilliant; I love Kim Hunter's bottom lip)
Public Enemies (Aside from mesmerizing Stephen Lang--who also has best lines--absolutely zero to recommend here)
Whatever Works (musty Woody Allen effort's another downfall notch; Larry David's unimpressive, but Evan Rachel Wood's luminous)
Romance and Cigarettes (Ambitious film inspired by "Pennies From Heaven" fails via substandard story; Walken excels in wasted cast)
**The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis De Sade (AKA "Marat/Sade") (Cinema's truest depiction of insanity, with amazing songs and direction by Peter Brook)
**Swamp Thing (Comic-booky as all get out, directed with heart by Wes Craven)
**Blue Velvet (Remains a masterpiece)
Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust (TV doc-flavored, but still enlightens to genoside's long-taboo cinematic status)
**Mad Men (Season 2) (Just keeps getting better and better; one of the greatest TV series of all time)
**The Hurt Locker (Best film made about Iraq War features Bigelow's exacting direction and Jeremy Renner's star-making lead)
I've Loved You For So Long (Sometimes dull, extremely mopey French film enlivened by radiant Kristin Scott Thomas and Elsa Zylberstein)
I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With (Terrible title mars Jeff Garlin's funny, sweet movie about fat man looking for love)
Live Free or Die Hard (Fun but absolutely ridiculous actioner takes John McClane's invulnerability as far as can go)
Next Stop, Greenwich Village (Good to see early Walken, but Mazursky's 50's-era tale is too twee for my tastes)
Invaders From Mars (Menzies' visually resplendant interpretation of a now ho-hum sci-fi script)
**The Staircase (Brilliant 8-part true-crime miniseries shows what kind of defense money buys, even with obvious guilt)
The Carol Burnett Show (9 disc set) (Smart vaudvillian comedy is superb, but gaudy musical numbers deserve unceremonious dropkicking)
Eye of the Tiger (The very definition of 80s action cheesiness, with Busey, Kotto, and Cassell)
Frozen River (Leo is believable in lead but writer Courtney Hunt fails to direct to material's potential)
**Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (Tells well a story you only think you know; excellent period footage, too)
**Pulling (season 1) (Saucy femme-driven Britcom is sharp comeback to stupidity of "Sex and the City")
Ghosts of Mars (Carpenter's final big-screen outing too dumb to even be taken lightly; dates his talents terribly)
**Citizen's Band (Demme's layered, beautifully cast tale of CB-obsessed outcasts is completely captivating)
Last Embrace (Jonathan Demme's attempt to run with Hitchcock comes closer to really bad De Palma)

**[rec] (Spanish horror film, remade as Quarrentine, is riveting genre entry--the best in many years)
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (John C. Reilly excels in not hysterical spoof of rock bio films, with excellent songs)
**White Lightning (Terrific hooch-slinging southern noir with charismatic Burt Reynolds and greasy Ned Beatty)
**Crime of Passion (Excellent domestic noir with harried Barbara Stanwyck getting cop husband Sterling Hayden in hot water)
The Dying Gaul (Ho-hum melodrama enlivened by always reliable Peter Saarsgard and Patricia Clarkson)
**One-Trick Pony (Energetic Robert M. Young music biz drama requires that you REALLY like writer/star/composer Paul Simon)
**The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom (Crushing comic leads from Holly Hunter, Beau Bridges in Michael Richie's tale of trailer-trashy ladder-climbing)
**Blast of Silence (Allan Barron's low-budgeter deserves credit for its masterful shot set-ups and 60s NYC locations)
The Three Musketeers (The Ritz Brothers are the highlight of this routine Allan Dwan entry)
**Synecdoche, NY (Definitely not for everyone, this look at life as entertainment is absolutely amazing, and pretentious)
Razorback (Aussie horror with gigantic wild boar is extremely well-shot; suffers from weak lead, pedestrian finale)
The Ruins (Dunce-capped rehash of The Blob with Aztec plants as Blob replacements; waste of time)
**Alien (Completely contemporary-looking, even after 30 years; however, opt for original over unnecessary director's cut)
**W. (Underrated Oliver Stone dissection of Bushie Jr.s rise, with magnificent lead perf from Josh Brolin)
**Love Eternal (Glowing Cocteau adaptation of Tristan and Isolde saga; romantic and sometimes hilarious)
Revolutionary Road (stiff-necked argue-fest with DiCaprio and Winslet coming off as squabbling siblings playing dress-up; disappointing)
Entourage (Season 5) (More of the same; I respect the show, but it's ADD and depressing simultaneously)
**Forgetting Sarah Marshall (Great seeing Jason Siegel commanding; smart, hilarious--like all rom-coms should be--but often lowbrow)
September 30, 1955 (Worshipful 50s kids mourn James Dean's death; good cast, sometimes thoughful, often embarassingly silly)
Patti Smith: Dream of Life (Just because we like your stuff doesn't mean we're really interested in your life)
**Tess (Polanski's adaptation of Hardy's epic of heartbreak remains unspeakably beautiful in every way)
Shoot (The nutsiness of warmongers gets another once-over, this time with ultimately ridiculous results; begins strongly, though)
**The Big Combo (John Alton's stylized B&W images are magnificent in this perfect noir from Joseph H. Lewis)
**Attack! (Bitter Aldrich WWII slamfest with sniveling Eddie Albert, hammy Jack Palance, sly Lee Marvin)
Nobel Son (Stupidest movie EVVV-ARRRRRR)
Pickpocket (Celebrated Bresson film may be cold by design, but its distancing effects left me unmoved)
**Prime Cut (Lee Marvin kicks hick ass in sloppily entertaining potboiler co-starring slimy Hackman and cute Spacek)
**The King of Comedy (Creepy Scorsese character study, with Lewis and Bernhard invaluably supporting unusually nerdy De Niro)
**When Willie Comes Marching Home (Charming one-joke Ford romp, with Dan Dailey as frustrated WWII soldier; features gorgeous Corinne Calvet)
Up The River (Early John Ford comedic curio with Tracy and Bogart as prisonyard buddies)
**Gentleman Jim (Raoul Walsh's quaint, cartoony biopic of boxer Jim Corbett, with dashing Errol Flynn out front)
The Law (Jules Dassin's saucy Italian-set sex comedy starring an electrifying Gina Lollabrigida)
**Rear Window (watched Hitchcock's classic with my mother, and we noticed many sublime details)
**Wendy and Lucy (studied, beautiful Kelly Reichardt movie with shattering lead performance from Michelle Williams)
**Happy-Go-Lucky (another Mike Leigh masterpiece, about the pluses and perils of happiness, with terrific Sally Hawkins)
Shooting Henry Hill (laughably awful documentary about famed "Goodfellas" mobster's present-day trevails; know-nothing filmmakers emerge with crap)
**The Outlaw Josey Wales (stands as perhaps Eastwood's best directorial effort--right up there with Unforgiven)
Trouble Along The Way (playing a precocious kid, Sherry Jackson steals football comedy away from likable John Wayne)
Someone Like You (not-bad romantic comedy is lucky to have the always watchable Ashley Judd as its lead)
While She Was Out (stupid feminist revenge fantasy is poorly directed and acted)
The International (globe-hopping financial intrigue "actioner" is a complete waste of time)
Kicking and Screaming (whiny overintellectuals prove occasionally funny in typically drab Noah Baumbach film)
**Changeling (underrated Eastwood film is unrelentingly horrific, but could have been shortened)
Not Only But Always (lifeless biopic of Dudley Moore/Peter Cook proves Brits can be as fatuous as yanks)
**At Last The 1948 Show (B&W precursor to Monty Python is suitably smart and funny)
Syriana (It may be complex, but that don't mean it's smart; blah)
Sansho The Baliff (I know it's a classic, but this exquisitely photographed tale of slavery left me cold)
**Ride the High Country (Peckinpah's first masterwork speeds by at breathtaking pace)
The 2000 Year Old Man (unnecessary but still diverting adaptation of Carl Reiner/Mel Brooks comedy staple)
**Inside Moves (a tearjerking tale surrounding the highest of the low; Richard Donner's masterpiece)
**Anvil!: The Story of Anvil (so far my favorite movie of 2009: a touching tribute to brotherhood forged in metal)
**Drag Me To Hell (funny and scary return to horror genre for director Sam Raimi; Alison Lohman's a trooper)
**The Shining (Kubrick's classic about a disintegrating family is amusing and singularly well-mounted horror)
**THX-1138 (Lucas' director's cut seems like a wholly different movie--and a one-of-a-kind sci-fi gem)
**The End of Summer (Ozu's elegant swansong, with typically slow pacing, well-considered shots, and intense family dynamics)
**The Old Dark House (James Whales' followup to "Frankenstein" is weird, atmospheric, surprisingly funny; as always, Karloff is superb)
**Star Trek (doubtful that 2009 summer movies will get much better than J.J. Abrams' smart, entertaining, well-cast reboot)
Up (Pixar's newest falls into Standard Operation Procedure after brilliant first 20 minutes; disappointing)
**Dragonslayer (unjustly forgotten 1981 fantasy film is technically brilliant, but could use more dragon play)
A History Of Violence (overrated Cronenberg has jolting individual scenes and dynamic Viggo Mortensen, but disintergrates as it progresses)
**Vanishing Point (Seminal 70s action can be enjoyed on two levels: smash-em-up and elegantly photographed existentialism)
Age of Consent (florid Michael Powell finale is too 60s-Movie-like, but James Mason and nude-scuba-diving Helen Mirren shine)
**Chilly Scenes of Winter (masterpiece of malaise and barely requited love, with perfect cast and Joan Micklin Silver writing/direction)
**Shadow of a Doubt (Hitchcock's favorite of all of his films, and justifyably so; stunning acting from all)
**Hard Times (rib-cracking Walter Hill actioner about Depression-era bare-fisted fighter Charles Bronson, as minimalist as ever)
**A Kiss Before Dying (twisted Robert Wagner vehicle from the 50s, with heartthrob perfectly cast as evil, ambitious boytoy)
**The Quiet Man (John Ford's happiest, most colorful and romantic film, with lilting leads from Wayne and O'Hara)
**The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 (kinetically edited 1974 action film with great cast, slyly humorous touches, incredible David Shire score)
**Raggedy Man (40s-era romance with Sissy Spacek and Eric Roberts is a wonder; directed by Jack Fisk)
Vigilante Force (deceptively complex 1976 drive-in movie plays like western; Kris Kristofferson is a likable villain)
**Bigger Than Life (terrifying Nicholas Ray domestic drama with frantic, sweaty headcase James Mason at center)
It, The Terror From Beyond Space (early template for Alien suffers under first-act plotting but gains steam towards end)