Top 21 Films of the 00's

It's that time of the decade again. Everyone's top (fill in the blank) lists about (fill in the blank) are flooding everyone's blogs, inboxes, and that twitter thing. I guess a decade ago newspapers and magazines were the main sources of these lists. The internets changed everything. Now we are assaulted with a never-ending barrage of top everything lists we couldn't care less about, but still read to find what we do or don't agree with.

Now that we know how insignificant these lists are, here are my top 21 films of this decade. ("21?", you say. Yep, for a few reasons: Being different is trendy now, and I didn't want to cut out Memento.) It's a mix of what I enjoyed most and what I think are artistically the best. So even though I love a movie like The Village, I know that it really isn't that good of a movie, so I left it off the list. There is no exact science to my method though. Take it for what it is. Each has a reason for it's ranking that is no longer than a sentence.

1. Lord of the Rings Trilogy - epic and powerful; visually and emotionally stunning.

2. No Country for Old Men - intense, insightful, and perfect film about evil's relentless attack on humanity.

3. The Dark Knight - a thrilling, complex, relevant film noir that, like No.2, focuses on the sometimes seemingly hopeless struggle against evil.

4. El laberinto del fauno - fairy tale for adults that speaks to the power of childlike faith.

5. Cidade de Deus - action packed and brutal; a brilliant study of "hoodlums" and crime in the City of God.

6. Children of Men - a crying baby and shouts of "Cease fire!" will send a chill down your spine after one of the longest "uncut" shots in cinema history.

7. There Will Be Blood - relentlessly dark and brilliantly acted.

8. Slumdog Millionaire - a feel-good film that also brings the horrid conditions of India's slums to light.

9. Das Leben der Anderen - brilliant look at the value of human relationship.

10. The Hurt Locker - extremely intense film about soldiers in Iraq; one of the greatest war films ever.

11. Crash - a though-provoking parable on the effects of seen and unseen racism.

12. Munich - shows the impact of committing violence, both on the individual and on the nation.

13. A History of Violence - devastating study on the nature of violence

14. Lost in Translation - an exquisite and sad romantic comedy without your typical romance.

15. The Passion of the Christ - a brutally shocking and eye-opening depiction of the physical sacrifice of our Savior.

16. Michael Clayton - a corporate legal thriller not really about corporations at all.

17. Boy A - who decides who gets a second chance?

18. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - beautiful cinematography and score.

19. Gone Baby Gone - Casey Affleck's second great performance in a row.

20. The Bourne Ultimatum - mixes action and intelligence in a style that has been ripped off multiple times since, but never duplicated.

21. Memento - Chris Nolan crashes onto the scene.

YANKEES WIN!!!

What a great feeling! I watched every playoff game, got to go to the clinching game 6 of the ALCS, and put up with Sox fans even after they got manhandled in the playoffs. And it was worth it. Standing for the final inning, cheering every pitch, and finally letting loose in Red Sox territory was unbelievable. I'm soaking up the moment. (My championship T-shirt isn't in stock now, though. I paid for it and now have to wait until they get more. Lame.) What a great game, especially for Mo, Jeter, Posada, and Pettite. Unbelievable. Don't know what else to say. It doesn't get any better than this...

Indie shot and more movies I want to see but can't...

Once - a critically acclaimed and absolutely boring movie. The small-time artist fights the odds, finds success (faster than U2 or The Rolling Stones in all likelihood), and there is a little love story thrown in. Yay. I appreciate a well-made indie film (Boy A for example), but this just isn't compelling enough to overcome it's obvious story and visual shortcomings. It has a cliched, unrealistic plot, and it doesn't help that they play whole songs that just aren't very good throughout the film. I seldom so strongly disagree with critics, but here I just can't get over the film's serious flaws to see what they (the critics) see in it.

Dan-o-Meter: 5 out of 10

In addition to the ones a few posts down:

Big Fan

Up in the Air

"Fields of Bliss"

So I just found a bunch of poems I had to write for creative writing class a few years back. I hated writing them, but some of them are kind of decent, so I figured I would post some for fun. And the funny thing is, they are all either about God, film, or the Yankees. Go figure. Here's the longest and my favorite. I'll post some shorter ones some other time.

“Field of Bliss”

The field is green with perfect blades;

The paths are carved into the earth;

The painted lines are white and straight;

For the sprint from home to first.

The sun shines down warm and clear

Upon the picture-perfect view;

And unfurls in the breeze

The brilliant hues red, white, and blue.

The stands fill up and cheers do swell:

Out come the heroes on the field

Like gladiators of this age,

But wooden are the swords they wield.

“Play ball!” The cry rings out so clear,

Throughout the place it does resound.

The batter steps towards the plate

As the pitcher climbs the mound.

The first duel begins in such a way:

The pitcher stares in for the sign.

The batter swings his club around;

Living for this very time.

All watch and wait for one to throw

The white sphere at reckless speed.

From the front to third deck up

All eyes follow that small, white bead.

In heaven are fifty thousand fans

In the time that follows this.

Watching the battle on the field

Is for them three hours of bliss.

On this field are legends made,

And on this field is sorrow felt.

Tears of loss do stain the dirt;

And shouts of triumph do ring out.

Times of joy and times of pain

Are what many must endure.

But in these trials is there found

A bliss of sport, oh so pure.

The field is torn and is now brown;

The blades of grass have gone amiss.

For this is the price it pays

To become a field of bliss.

I made a wallpaper...

So I was bored and looking for a new wallpaper for my computer. All the ones on the google were either lame or weren't widescreen, so I cracked open Photoshop and made this one. I just desaturated it and made the font, but it came out pretty good. At least I think so anyway. Latika is no longer my wallpaper, but she will always be the background of my heart...

That made no sense at all. Whatever. If you haven't seen The Hurt Locker (or Slumdog for that matter), go see it.

The Hurt Locker and other stuff

THE HURT LOCKER

Finally saw The Hurt Locker last week. It was intense and awesome, but also a bit different. First of all, there was pretty much no conventional plot. Just three soldiers defusing bombs in Iraq. Although it may have gotten bogged down a few times in between action scenes, that can mostly be blamed on waiting for next adrenaline rush, which is totally worth it, as director Kathryn Bigelow will have you gripping the armrests for most of the film.

Also, it wasn't really about the Iraq war. After the crapfest of Iraq war movies the past few years, it was nice to see a modern war film that didn't make a political statement. In that way, it is similar to Saving Private Ryan. Although that is a superior film to The Hurt Locker, both use the wars they are set in as a backdrop for in-depth looks into what causes a soldier to go to war and what keeps them going as they live through what could be the closest thing to hell on earth.

The film also confirmed what a film nerd I am. I thought the music sounded a lot like the score from 3:10 to Yuma, so I wasn't surprised to see in the credits that it was the same composer. And when the main character, Sergeant James, was shopping for cereal in the grocery store, was I the only one who noticed the camera pan from Life cereal to Lucky Charms? The scene says more in one minute than all of Michael Bay's movies combined.

Bigelow made what many are calling a masterpiece and there are numerous scenes like the one I mentioned above that speak to the level of quality filmmaking this movie reaches. I wouldn't be surprised to see it listed in the future with movies like Apocalypse Now and Saving Private Ryan as one of the great war films of all time.

Dan-o-Meter: 9 out of 10

Other stuff...

I think Joba read my last post. He is on a tear since the all-star break. Hopefully we can beat Boston this weekend and hold on to 1st place. No comments on Big Needle-y, I mean Papi, except to say that I am not at all surprised, and to be honest, don't really care. It's always fun to make fun of Red Sox fan's though, so I won't say a part of me didn't enjoy the news...

Joba to the 'pen? and movies I want to see but can't...

Joba Rules?

Should Joba be still be starting? His struggles continue to mount; his ability to win ball games, or even give the Yankees a chance to win, has decreased steadily as the season has progressed. As the Yankees head into the second half of the season with holes in both the bullpen and the starting rotation, some serious consideration must be given to what exactly should be done with Joba. His ERA+ is barely above average at 104. His walks per 9 are way up and his K's per 9 are way down, as is his velocity. Known the past few seasons to have a fastball that reached up to 102 mph on the radar gun, he now struggles to reach 94-95. Granted, he obviously conserves some energy in the starting role, but even last year his velocity didn't suffer that much. His WHIP this season is a paltry 1.56 and his innings pitched has dropped to 5.2 per start. Is it the growing pains of becoming a starter? Or is he simply not as dominant when stretched out? And what should be done with him as the second half gets under way? Or in general, considering the future of the Yankees?

A probable cause for the struggles of Joba this season are that he is simply adjusting to starting at the major league level. A pretty good pitcher named Johan Santana had numbers worse than Joba's his first two seasons in the big leagues. It takes time to develop into an ace and it is unrealistic to expect Joba to pitch dazzle right out of the gate. He has shown flashes the past few seasons of what he is capable of; now he just has to harness that in the starting role. Still, the one thing I do find troubling is his lack of velocity. If he can't recover that, I don't think he can reach his full potential.

A good starting pitcher is generally more valuable than a good reliever. A healthy starter can pitch over twice as many innings as a reliever. If given the choice, you would obviously want a good pitcher to be a starter. But Joba has merely been passable in the starting role. Not going deep into games taxes the already thin bullpen and affects future games as well. With Mariano ready to give up his position in a few season, the need for someone the slam the door in the 9th will quickly become apparent. Joba has shown that he can be as dominating as anyone in the late innings. Could he be a possible replacement? As much as I like to think about it, I don't see it happening. The front office has high hopes for young Mark Melancon. Joba was a starter in the minors and they want him to be one in the majors. Still it is something that I hope will be considered, especially if Melancon doesn't pan out.

The question still remains about what to do with him this season. With the Yanks in the playoff hunt, is it worth it to continue developing him and suffer those setbacks every five games, or should he be relegated to the bullpen until a more opportune time? As of now, I am leaning toward keeping him in the rotation. With Wang ineffective and injured and Pettite struggling as of late, the Yanks really need to fill the holes. Hughes is thriving in the bullpen and moving him back and forth from 'pen to rotation only hurts his development, in my opinion. Although Mitre, and even Igawa, could be called up to make some starts for Wang, that doesn't fill all five spots and I would rather continue to develop Joba in that fifth spot than waste the arm strength he has built up. Still, it is a tough decision. The Yanks need to make the playoffs and keeping Joba in the rotation is a possible hindrance to that goal. But the future seasons could also depend on his continued development, so, as hard as it is, it is important not to be to near-sighted.

Definitely not Transformers...

Just a few films that I really want to see, but can't due to limited theatrical releases. Hopefully I can catch them eventually. If only I was in LA...

- Captain Abu Raed. I even know someone who worked on the score for it, which I was surprised to see on IMDB. Looks fantastic.

- The Hurt Locker. I saw the trailer before all the positive reviews came pouring in and thought it looked like a good film. The critics clearly support that notion.

- The Way We Get By. Just watched the trailer. Wow.