LFR Top 100 of the 2000's (100-81)

There have been a number of top movie lists of the decade coming out, so I decided to do my own. How do I think it is different? These are all films that I have rated 8-10 and would watch again. Many reviewers put movies on their list that were artsy or just not coming you would want more than once.

I'll be presenting this in 5 parts of 20 films as we count down. So let's get going:

100. Murderball (2005) [8/10]
This is a documentary about the US paraplegic rugby team following them as they prepare for the Paraplegic Olympics. There is great character development and some good background stories. It was also nominated for an Oscar.

99. The Lives of Others (2006) [8/10]

Taking place in East Berlin in 1984, this Foreign Oscar winner was a fantastic German spy movie about the secret police conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover. Very intense.

98. Hot Fuzz (2007) [8/10]

A British comedy featuring Simon Pegg about a top London cop who is transferred to a small town because he is making everyone else look bad. There are some great slapstick moments and action scenes. If you liked this one check out Shaun of the Dead

97. Burn After Reading (2008) [8/10]

The Coen Brothers dark comedy about several Gym employees that try and take advantage of finding a cd with CIA sensitive material on it by selling it to the Russians. Featuring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand, and Richard Jenkins, this all-star cast is just fun to watch.

96. Shooter (2007) [8/10]

Mark Wahlberg plays an ex-marksman who is lured into action when he is asked to help stop a plot to kill the president. When he gets double-crossed the film gets really exciting as he goes after the person who set him up. A film that is easy to forget about because it hasn't been mentioned around awards. Wahlberg is excellent and the film is exciting, have the popcorn ready.

95. Meet the Parents (2000) [8/10]

A film that will be remembered 50 years from now and on all top comedy lists. With Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, and Owen Wilson you are just being naive if you leave this one off. I would expect all of the readers know about this one, if you don't like it, it is probably because you have seen it too many times.

94. Departures (2008) [8/10]

Daigo has spent his life playing the Cello, it joins an orchestra that quickly goes out of business and he is forced to move home to find work. Responding to an ad for what he thinks will be a Travel Agency [Departures] he is coaxed into learning the trade of preparing the dead for funerals. This Japanese Oscar winner is fantastic, it has a great mix of drama and comedy and the characters are developed very well.

93. Phone Booth (2002) [8/10]
When this film came out it was a joke, "A movie about a phone booth... come on!" An introduction to Colin Farrell, this film shows that you can have make an action movie where the main character is stuck one one place. With the voice of Kiefer Sutherland as the bad guy, the fans of "24" will find this strangely familiar.

92. Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) [8/10]

The film that brought Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie together, with support from Vince Vaughn. They are a married couple who are bored with their marriage. They are both assassins and unaware of each others real work; until they are hired to kill each other... A fun action movie and with a PG-13 tag you can watch this with some of the kids.

91. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) [8/10]
Straight from imdb: "A murder mystery brings together a private eye, a struggling actress, and a thief masquerading as an actor." With Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer, you might find that Iron Man wasn't Downey's first good movie.

90. Miami Vice (2006) [8/10]

Now that we are all familiar with Colin Farrell after Phone Booth, this remake of a classic tv series teamed up with Jamie Foxx this is a pretty good action movie. I won't lie though, it introduced me to the band Mogwai which is the real reason I loved this film.

89. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007) [8/10]
Philip Seymour Hoffman & Ethan Hawke are brothers who decide to rob a jewelry store, when everything goes wrong we step backwards in time scene by scene to see just how and why they got into this situation. It won a number of awards for best Ensemble but with no Oscar or Globe nominations this one fell through the cracks. Worth checking out.

88. Narc (2002) [8/10]

Jason Patric plays an undercover narcotics officer who is investigating the death of another undercover officer. If you like cop movies you will probably like this one. Ray Liotta is excellent as Henry.

87. Role Models (2008) [8/10]

Seann William Scott and Paul Rudd team up in this big brother movie and we get or first look at the talented Jane Lynch who is better known for her current role on "Glee". With Elizabeth Banks this is a pretty funny line up. Don't take it seriously and you might enjoy it.

86. Traffic (2000) [8/10]

With an all-star cast and 4 Oscars in the bag you can't go wrong with this film. Many would have this much higher on their list since it includes Michael Douglas, Benicio Del Toro, Don Cheadle, Salma Hayek and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Hard subject matter, don't take the kids...

85. 28 Days Later... (2002) [8/10]

A zombie movie that takes place in the UK, this revived zombie movies in the early part of the decade spawning remakes of Dawn of the Dead and may others. A good scary flick, avoid the sequel.

84. Almost Famous (2000) [8/10]

This film won best the best screenplay Oscar, and is in several critics top 10 of the year. I found the story fun, the acting fun, but not that good. This movie is every kids dream though, to follow a rock band around and write an article about it.

83. The Proposal (2009) [9/10]
A 9/10 that might be out of order with some of the leading films. Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds are excellent, but like most romantic comedies it will fade with time. This is the best romantic comedy Hollywood has put out in some time though.

82. Anger Management (2003) [8/10]

The film that showed that Adam Sandler could be taken as a serious comedian. Just like Jim Carrey had to make the jump from Ace Ventura, Sandler had to make a transition from his Billy Madison days. With a great performance from Jack Nicholson this is a must see comedy from this decade.

81. Gladiator (2000) [8/10]
Winner of 5 Oscars, in the imdb top 100 films of all time, and one of the only epics to succeed this decade. This Russell Crowe Roman gladiator film is excellent. This one will be remembered from a long time to come.

1/5th of the way there, how many have you seen? What are you waiting to see on this list? 2007 was the best year in film this decade with 4 films already listed. The next twenty will be out later this week. If you want to cheat here is the full list: http://www.listsofbests.com/list/69876-top-100-of-the-00-s

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