Top 30 Films of the Noughties

The high-point in the decade in my opinion: The Dark Knight still stands as the greatest superhero movie ever made. Growing form it's comic book roots, director Christopher Nolan plants a brilliant grittiness throughout the film that adds both the emotion and fun that many comic book movies miss. Not to mention one of the greatest performances ever put to celluloid in the form of Heath Ledger's Joker.

A darkly comic story of two hitmen who have to hide out in Bruges after a job goes wrong. This movie came out of nowhere and took me by surprise. The greatest thing this film achieves is really the way it blends a hilariously dark style of humor with a very likeable an emotional story. The two hitmen are played to perfection by Farrel and Gleeson, and Ralph Fiennes turn as the Villainous mobster boss is also great.

Tarantino has been one of my favorite directors since Pulp Fiction, and here he created his best movie since that 90s masterpiece. Following the interlining stories of a cinema owner out for revenge, a horrific Nazi inspector called "the jew hunter" and a band of soldiers led by Brad Pitt, Tarantino manages to both deliver on the expected excess of over the top violence and glee-ful style, while at the same time telling his most complex and most mature story yet.

I've never really liked the Coens, and still don't, but for one movie the brothers seemed to hit everything on the mark. The story is about Josh Brolin who just so happens to find a stash of money, and gets involved with the criminal dealings of psycho gangster Javier Barden. This movie features some of the finest directing I've ever seen with some of the most tension filled sequences I've ever witnessed in a film. And while many people are a bit angry at the very open ended ending, I think it's great and concludes the story nicely.

Although I generally consider both volumes of Tarantino's revenge epic a single movie, if I had to rank them I'd say the second installment is just a tad bit better. Continuing the story of the Bride (Uma Thurman) who is after the man who once nearly killed her on her wedding day: Bill (David Carradine in a career best performance). The story concludes nicely while managing to include the emotion and complexity that the first volume was lacking.

As I said above, I believe this volume is lacking a bit when it comes to story and emotion, but it makes up for it by being easily the best action movie of the decade. Uma Thurman goes on a killing spree to try to avenge the assassin squad that once shot her and left her for dead on her wedding day. The action is brilliant, and there's a really nice colorfulness to all of the sets and shots: not Tarantino's best movie, but definitely his most watchable.

My favorite comedy of the decade stars Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson as the title characters in this comedy version of the hit 80s TV series. Theres plenty of laughs, alot of which comes from the excellent supporting cast which features people such as Vince Vaughn, Will Ferrel and Chris Penn. The movie is a real laugh a minute, without ever seeming overdone or desperate.