A hodgepodge of Critics Awards, Decade listings, Shortlists, Nominations Rammed into One Post

As I technically have seven days to finish my own Decade List (more on the progress of that later on), I'm going to throw a bunch of end-of-the-year shit your way with little commentary, though you'll notice a lot of similarities below. I'm distracted enough as it is. Firstly, the LA Film Critics Association have named their awards for 2009 this afternoon. The New York Film Critics Online is, according to Twitter, in the midst of theirs right now (Correction: They were when I started writing this; they've finished and named, curiously, Avatar as the best film of 2009. Full list here). Here's the LAFCA:

Picture: The Hurt Locker, d. Kathryn Bigelow
Runner-Up: Up in the Air, d. Jason Reitman
Director: Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Runner-Up: Michael Haneke - The White Ribbon [Das weiße Band]
Actor: Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
Runner-Up: Colin Firth - A Single Man
Actress: Yolande Moreau - Séraphine
Runner-Up: Carey Mulligan - An Education
Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds
Runner-Up: Peter Capaldi - In the Loop
Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique - Precious
Runner-Up: Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air
Cinematography: Christian Berger - The White Ribbon
Runner-Up: Barry Ackroyd - The Hurt Locker
Production Design: Philip Ivey - District 9
Runner-Up: Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg - Avatar
Music Score: T-Bone Burnett, Stephen Bruton - Crazy Heart
Runner-Up: Alexandre Desplat - Fantastic Mr. Fox
Foreign Film: Summer Hours [L'heure d'été], d. Olivier Assayas, France
Runner-Up: The White Ribbon, Germany/Austria/France/Italy
Documentary/Non-Fiction: (tie) The Beaches of Agnès [Les plages d'Agnès], d. Agnès Varda; The Cove, d. Louie Psihoyos
Animated Film: Fantastic Mr. Fox, d. Wes Anderson
Runner-Up: Up, d. Peter Docter, Bob Peterson

The Boston Society of Film Critics also dished out their awards today. They are as follows:

Picture: The Hurt Locker, d. Kathryn Bigelow
Director: Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Actor: Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker
Actress: Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia
Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds
Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique - Precious
Ensemble Cast: (tie) Precious; Star Trek
Screenplay: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen - A Serious Man
Cinematography: Barry Ackroyd - The Hurt Locker
Foreign Film: Summer Hours [L'heure d'été], d. Olivier Assayas, France
Documentary: The Cove, d. Louie Psihoyos
Animated Film: Up, d. Peter Docter, Bob Peterson
Editing: Bob Murawski, Chris Innis - The Hurt Locker
New Filmmaker: Neill Blomkamp - District 9
Use of Music in a Film: Crazy Heart

The Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association named their winners on 7 December. They are as follows:

Film: Up in the Air, d. Jason Reitman
Director: Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Actor: George Clooney - Up in the Air
Actress: Carey Mulligan - An Education
Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds
Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique - Precious
Ensemble Cast: The Hurt Locker
Breakthrough Performance: Gabourey Sidibe - Precious
Adapted Screenplay: Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner - Up in the Air
Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds
Foreign Film: Sin Nombre, d. Cary Fukunaga, Mexico/USA
Documentary: Food, Inc., d. Robert Kenner
Animated Film: Up, d. Peter Docter, Bob Peterson
Art Direction: Nine

Over the weekend, the Australian Film Institute, also known as AFI, handed out their annual awards, with Warwick Thornton's Samson & Delilah claiming the Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay (by Thornton), the Young Actor Award (for both leads, Marissa Gibson and Rowan McNamara), Cinematography, Sound and the AFI Members' Choice Award. Other winners include Balibo, which nabbed prizes for Adapted Screenplay (David Williamson, Robert Connolly), Editing, Actor (for Anthony LaPaglia) and Supporting Actor (Oscar Isaac). Kudos also to my favorite gals from Muriel's Wedding, Rachel Griffiths and Toni Collette, for each taking home an award for Best Supporting Actress in Beautiful Kate and the International Best Actress Award for The United States of Tara, respectively.

The other AFI (the American Film Institute) named their 10 Best Films of 2009 today, in alphabetical order (note that only American films are eligible): Coraline [d. Henry Selick], The Hangover [d. Todd Phillips], The Hurt Locker [d. Kathryn Bigelow], The Messenger [d. Oren Moverman], Precious [d. Lee Daniels], A Serious Man [d. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen], A Single Man [d. Tom Ford], Sugar [d. Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck], Up [d. Peter Docter, Bob Peterson] and Up in the Air [d. Jason Reitman].

The British Independent Film Awards were dolled out over a week ago, but I didn't have the time to post it then. I am especially pleased at the recipient of the Best Director Prize. The major winners below; full list here:

Film: Moon, d. Duncan Jones
Director: Andrea Arnold - Fish Tank
Douglas Hickox Award (for Directorial Debut): Duncan Jones - Moon
Actor: Tom Hardy - Bronson
Actress: Carey Mulligan - An Education
Supporting Actor: John Henshaw - Looking for Eric
Supporting Actress: Anne-Marie Duff - Nowhere Boy
Most Promising Newcomer: Katie Jarvis - Fish Tank
Screenplay: Armando Iannucci, Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Tony Roche - In the Loop
Documentary: Mugabe and the White African, d. Lucy Bailey, Andrew Thompson
Foreign Independent Film: Let the Right One In [Låt den rätte komma in], d. Tomas Alfredson, Sweden

Sacha Gervasi's Anvil! The Story of Anvil was the surprise winner at the International Documentary Association's gala last week. Despite its growing fan base, the film was not short-listed for the Academy Award Documentary category. Also, Thanks to the Alternative Film Guide for providing a schedule for all the upcoming critics and industry awards (check this link). Tomorrow: the New York Film Critics Circle and the San Francisco Film Critics, as well as both Chicago and my hometown St. Louis' "nominations." Both Chicago and STL will announce their official winners on 21 December. And, for those with award frenzy (I can't count myself as one of them this year, even though I'm spending all this time posting these listings), the Golden Globe nominations will be announced on Tuesday, the 15th.

The Golden Globes have listed their record-breaking 69 foreign language films that will be eligible for that category's 5 nominees, announced on Tuesday. Among the qualifying films (full list here via Variety): About Elly [d. Asghar Farhadi], Ajami [d. Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani], Baarìa [d. Giuseppe Tornatore], Broken Embraces [d. Pedro Almodóvar], No puedo vivir sin ti [d. Leon Dai], City of Life and Death [d. Lu Chuan], Eden Is West [d. Costa-Gavras], The Girl on the Train [d. André Techiné], The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo [d. Niels Arden Oplev], I Killed My Mother [d. Xavier Dolan], Lebanon [d. Samuel Maoz], The Maid [d. Sebastián Silva], Micmacs [d. Jean-Pierre Jeunet], Mother [d. Bong Joon-ho], Police, Adjective [d. Corneliu Porumboiu], A Prophet [d. Jacques Audiard], Rudo & Cursi [d. Carlos Cuarón], Samson & Delilah [d. Warwick Thornton], The Secret in Their Eyes [d. Juan José Campanella], Thirst [d. Park Chan-wook] and The White Ribbon [d. Michael Haneke].

Now onto decade proceedings. The Onion's A.V. Club ranked their 50 Best Films of the '00s on 3 December. Their top 10 is below, but you can check out all 50 plus commentaries on their website.

01. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004, d. Michel Gondry, USA
02. 25th Hour, 2002, d. Spike Lee, USA
03. There Will Be Blood, 2007, d. Paul Thomas Anderson, USA
04. No Country for Old Men, 2007, d. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, USA
05. Memento, 2000, d. Christopher Nolan, USA
06. Spirited Away, 2001, d. Hayao Miyazaki, Japan
07. Kill Bill, Vol. 1, 2003, d. Quentin Tarantino, USA
08. Capturing the Friedmans, 2003, d. Andrew Jarecki, USA
09. The New World, 2005, d. Terrence Malick, USA/UK
10. Children of Men, 2006, d. Alfonso Cuarón, UK/USA/Japan

Also of note, take a look at Michael Atkinson at Zero for Conduct's 50 Best Films of the '00s. His top 10 are below, but the full list can be found here.

01. La commune (Paris, 1871), 2000, d. Peter Watkins, France
02. What Time Is It There?, 2001, d. Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan/France
03. Werckmeister Harmonies [Werckmeister harmóniák], 2000, d. Béla Tarr, Ágnes Hranitzky, Hungary/Italy/Germany/France
04. Adaptation., 2002, d. Spike Jonze, USA
05. 2046, 2004, d. Wong Kar-wai, Hong Kong/China/France/Germany
06. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004, d. Michel Gondry, USA
07. Time of the Wolf [Le temps du loup], 2003, d. Michael Haneke, Austria/France/Germany
08. Battle in Heaven [Batalla en el cielo], 2005, d. Carlos Reygadas, Mexico/France/Germany/Belgium
09. Caché, 2005, d. Michael Haneke, Austria/France/Germany/Italy
10. Inland Empire, 2006, d. David Lynch, USA/Poland/France

Reverse Shot has their Best of the Decade proceedings in medias res, counting down from 20 for the rest of the month. They're up to #16 with Olivier Assayas' Summer Hours [L'heure d'été]. So far, they have the following: Joel and Ethan Coen's No Country for Old Men at #17, Cristi Puiu's The Death of Mr. Lăzărescu [Moartea domnului Lăzărescu] at #18, Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men at #19 and Terence Davies' The House of Mirth at #20. To keep up with their countdown, check this link periodically.

For all your film list needs, please check out David Hudson's posts at The Auteurs' Notebook, which rounds up a seemingly mind-boggling collection of film writings, from the elite to the 0ccasional middle-brow. Also on The Auteurs' Notebook, Adrian Curry ranks the best posters of the decade (film quality notwithstanding). As he told me, he loves "negative space," so keep that in mind... his collection is uniformly excellent (though I could maybe do without the entire third row of runners-up). The gorgeous, haunting image of Naomi Watts' shedding a tear (what she does best) on the poster for Michael Haneke's Funny Games remake tops the list (see above).

And finally, a bit of musical lists to close this entry. The A.V. Club made lists for both the decade and 2009; 50 for the '00s, 25 for '09. The top 10s of both lists are below:

The '00s

01. The White Stripes - White Blood Cells, 2001
02. Kanye West - The College Dropout, 2004
03. Radiohead - Kid A, 2000
04. OutKast - Stankonia, 2000
05. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, 2002
06. The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday, 2005
07. Modest Mouse - The Moon & Antarctica, 2000
08. Arcade Fire - Funeral, 2004
09. Jay-Z - The Blueprint, 2001
10. The National - Alligator, 2005

Two-Thousand-and-Nine

01. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
02. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
03. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
04. Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer
05. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
06. Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
07. P.O.S. - Never Better
08. Converge - Axe to Fall
09. Brother Ali - Us
10. Andrew Bird - Noble Beast

Slant Magazine also dropped a pair of 2009 music lists, one for albums, the other for singles. It's almost not worth mentioning due to their #2 pick in the album section, but aside from that, their spell- and fact-checker was out sick, as they misspelled the title of their #1 album of 2009 and referred to Bat for Lashes' album by the wrong solar entity. Regardless, here's their 10 Albums and Singles. Full list here.

LPs

01. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
02. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz! [ugh]
03. Patrick Wolf - The Bachelor
04. Bat for Lashes - Two Suns
05. St. Vincent - Actor
06. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
07. Japandroids - Post-Nothing
08. Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II
09. Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career
10. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

Singles

01. Animal Collection - "My Girls" [Merriweather Post Pavilion]
02. Lady GaGa - "Poker Face" [The Fame]
03. Phoenix - "1901" [Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix]
04. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Zero" [It's Blitz!]
05. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Heads Will Roll" [It's Blitz!]
06. Major Lazer featuring Mr. Lexx and Santigold - "Hold the Line" [Guns Don't Kill People... Lazers Do]
07. Grizzly Bear - "Two Weeks" [Veckatimest]
08. Camera Obscura - "French Navy" [My Maudlin Career]
09. Dirty Projectors and David Byrne - "Knotty Pine" [Dark Was the Night]
10. Girls' Generation - "Gee" [Gee]

Millennium Mambo, Part 5

Glenn Kenny amends his own "70 Greatest Films of the Decade" by adding another 30, because, as he says, "my best-of-the-decade list of 70 slighted (inevitably, I insist) at least two dozen other worthy works, if not more, I hereby consider my readers' suggestions, and my own memory lapses, and give you thirty more outstanding motion pictures of the last decade." Check his site for the additional 30, but I was happy to see the inclusion of Gus Van Sant's Paranoid Park, Neil Marshall's The Descent, Hou Hsiao-hsien's Flight of the Red Balloon and Cristi Puiu's The Death of Mr. Lăzărescu.

The Onion's A.V. Club rolled out their second '00 list with "The Best Bad Movies of the '00s." Some of the obvious losers (The Happening, Battlefield Earth) made the list, as well as a few surprises (hello, The Perfect Man!). You can indulge in all the schadenfreude here, but keep in mind, they had to make the tough decision of narrowing down all the terrible Nicolas Cage and Uwe Boll films down to one a piece. That in itself could fill all 15 slots (I think, I'm not going to bother checking).

Millennium Mambo 4: The Onion A.V. Club's 20 Performances of the Decade

Few will dispute that Daniel Day-Lewis' turn in Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood is the performance of the decade; even if you can think of a better one, could you really be upset to find him at the top of such a poll? The Onion A.V. Club polled their staff and came up with 19 more:

01. Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview, There Will Be Blood, 2007
02. Heath Ledger as Ennis Del Mar, Brokeback Mountain, 2005
03. Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Neil McCormick, Mysterious Skin, 2004
04. Samantha Morton as Morvern Callar, Morvern Callar, 2002
05. Billy Bob Thornton as Ed Crane, The Man Who Wasn't There, 2001
06. Peter Sarsgaard as Charles Lane, Shattered Glass, 2003
07. Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman, American Psycho, 2000
08. Paul Giamatti as Harvey Pekar, American Splendor, 2003
09. Julianne Moore as Cathy Whitaker, Far from Heaven, 2002
10. Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh, No Country for Old Men, 2007
11. Mickey Rourke as Randy “The Ram” Robinson, The Wrestler, 2008
12. Jeff Daniels as Bernard Berkman, The Squid and the Whale, 2005
13. Naomi Watts as Betty Elms/Diane Selwyn, Mulholland Drive, 2001
14. Anamaria Marinca as Otilia, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days [4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile], 2007
15. Björk as Selma Jezkova, Dancer in the Dark, 2000
16. Laura Linney as Samantha “Sammy” Prescott, You Can Count on Me, 2000
17. Edward Norton as Monty Brogan, 25th Hour, 2002
18. Denzel Washington as Alonzo, Training Day, 2001
19. Mark Ruffalo as Terry Prescott, You Can Count On Me, 2000
20. Anne Hathaway as Kym, Rachel Getting Married, 2008

Of the 20, 3 won Oscars for their performances, 5 were nominated but didn't win, 7 are female, 1 is in a non-English language role, 12 are Americans and, as is the case for most decade lists so far, 0 are from the year 2009.

Millennium Mambo, Part 3

More on the Best of the Decade list round-up from Mike D'Angelo and the Skandies, which was actually posted earlier this month (and which I thought I had already mentioned, but... I guess not) and from Glenn Kenny. D'Angelo and the Skandies listed 20 films and 20 performances, with Lars von Trier's Dogville and Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood topping the respective lists. First, the films:

01. Dogville, 2003, d. Lars von Trier, Denmark/Sweden/UK/France/Germany/Norway/Finland/Netherlands, Lionsgate
02. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004, d. Michel Gondry, USA, Focus Features
03. In the Mood for Love, 2000, d. Wong Kar-wai, Hong Kong/China/France, USA Films/Criterion
04. Mulholland Drive, 2001, d. David Lynch, USA/France, Universal Studios
05. There Will Be Blood, 2007, d. Paul Thomas Anderson, USA, Paramount Vantage/Miramax
06. The New World, 2005, d. Terrence Malick, USA/UK, New Line
07. Memento, 2000, d. Christopher Nolan, USA, Newmarket Films
08. 25th Hour, 2002, d. Spike Lee, USA, Touchstone
09. Yi yi: A One and Two, 2000, d. Edward Yang, Taiwan/Japan, Fox Lorber/Criterion
10. No Country for Old Men, 2007, d. Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, USA, Paramount Vantage/Miramax
11. Before Sunset, 2004, d. Richard Linklater, USA, Warner Independent
12. Silent Light [Stellet licht], 2007, d. Carlos Reygadas, Mexico/France/Netherlands/Germany, Palisades Tartan
13. Kill Bill, Volume 1, 2003, d. Quentin Tarantino, USA, Miramax
14. Werckmeister Harmonies [Werckmeister harmóniák], 2000, d. Béla Tarr, Ágnes Hranitzky, Hungary/Italy/Germany/France, Facets
15. Irréversible, 2002, d. Gaspar Noé, France, Lionsgate
16. Zodiac, 2007, d. David Fincher, USA, Paramount
17. Ghost World, 2001, d. Terry Zwigoff, USA/UK/Germany, United Artists
18. The Man Who Wasn't There, 2001, d. Joel Coen, USA/UK, USA Films
19. Trouble Every Day, 2001, d. Claire Denis, France/Germany/Japan, Lot 47 Films
20. Gerry, 2002, d. Gus Van Sant, USA, Miramax

And the performances...

01. Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
02. Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
03. Naomi Watts, Mulholland Drive
04. Imelda Staunton, Vera Drake
05. Isabelle Huppert, The Piano Teacher [La pianiste]
06. Summer Phoenix, Esther Kahn
07. Björk, Dancer in the Dark
08. Laura Dern, Inland Empire
09. Mathieu Amalric, Kings and Queen [Rois et reine]
10. Daniel Day-Lewis, Gangs of New York
11. Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
12. Christian Bale, American Psycho
13. Billy Bob Thornton, The Man Who Wasn't There
14. Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
15. Laura Linney, You Can Count on Me
16. Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
17. Q'orianka Kilcher, The New World
18. Julianne Moore, Far from Heaven
19. Peter Sarsgaard, Shattered Glass
20. Aurélien Recoing, Time Out [L'emploi du temps]

I don't have much to say about either list, aside from... Summer Phoenix? Really? Above Björk? Well, not just above Björk, but on the list altogether. I remember her lead performance in Arnaud Desplechin's English-language Esther Kahn to lack quite a bit. I'm still planning on revisiting that one before the year ends, so I'll let you know then. And I've complained enough about Ghost World; unless it starts showing up a lot more often, I'm keeping mum.

Glenn Kenny's list covers his "Seventy Greatest Films of the Decade," in alphabetical order from A.I. to Zodiac. Of the nice surprises on the list: Catherine Breillat's Fat Girl, Steven Soderbergh's The Girlfriend Experience (which I don't think was a bit of personal bias, despite the fact that he played one of Sasha Grey's johns), Azazel Jacobs' The GoodTimesKid, Lucrecia Martel's The Headless Woman, Brad Bird's The Incredibles, Clint Eastwood's Invictus (which he can't talk about yet... but this inclusion isn't stirring any interest in me as Gran Torino is also on his list), Lynne Ramsay's Morvern Callar, Jacques Rivette's The Duchess of Langeais, Hong Sang-soo's Night and Day, Olivier Assayas' Summer Hours and Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon. I spotted a few other Best of the Decade lists floating around, but most of them were deplorable, so I'm not going to waste posting/linking to them.

I also meant to thank Eric over at IonCinema for first directing me toward the TIFF list I posted yesterday, and please do check out out Blake Williams' blog, who also included TIFF's picks for the 1990s, which was topped with Víctor Erice's The Dream of Life [El sol del membrillo], still without a DVD release in the US, and included my favorite first-time viewing of a not-2000-era film in 2009, Olivier Assayas' L'eau froide. Thanks guys. Now, on to some writing of my own...

Millennium Mambo, Part 2-ish

Two more big lists have been published asserting the finest films of the decade. The haughtier of the two came from The Toronto International Film Festival Cinematheque, which surveyed a group of "film curators, historians, and festival programmers" and named, in a surprise move, Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Syndromes and a Century the best film of the 2000s. I'm in agreement with almost their entire list, aside from Claire Denis' Beau travail (not because I don't absolutely adore the film, but because by my own regulations, it counts as a 1999 film) [Abbas Kiarostami's The Wind Will Carry Us falls into the same place for me], Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth (which is fine, but doesn't need to be that high) and Elephant, which should not be listed above Gerry (or Paranoid Park, which isn't on the list). I also don't have much affinity for I Don't Want to Sleep Alone, I'm Not There., Alexandra or Saraband (from what I remember of it), but that's part of the joy in lists like these, no? The list is as follows, with plenty of ties, the US distributor if applicable is listed after the title for assistance:

01. Syndromes and a Century, 2006, d. Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand/France/Austria, Strand Releasing

02. Platform, 2000, d. Jia Zhang-ke, China/Hong Kong/Japan/France, New Yorker Films

03. Still Life, 2006, d. Jia Zhang-ke, China/Hong Kong, New Yorker Films

04. Beau travail, 1999/2000, d. Claire Denis, France, New Yorker Films

05. In the Mood for Love, 2000, d. Wong Kar-wai, Hong Kong/China/France, USA Films/Criterion

06. Tropical Malady, 2004, d. Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand/France/Germany/Italy, Strand Releasing

07. (tie) The Death of Mr. Lăzărescu [Moartea domnului Lăzărescu], 2005, d. Cristi Puiu, Romania, Tartan Films
07. (tie) Werckmeister Harmonies [Werckmeister harmóniák], 2000, d. Béla Tarr, Ágnes Hranitzky, Hungary/Italy/Germany/France, Facets

08. Éloge de l'amour [In Praise of Love], 2001, d. Jean-Luc Godard, France/Switzerland, New Yorker Films

09. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days [4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile], 2007, d. Cristian Mungiu, Romania, IFC Films

10. Silent Light [Stellet licht], 2007, d. Carlos Reygadas, Mexico/France/Netherlands/Germany, Palisades Tartan

11. Russian Ark, 2002, d. Aleksandr Sokurov, Russia/Germany, Wellspring

12. The New World, 2005, d. Terrence Malick, USA/UK, New Line

13. Blissfully Yours, 2002, d. Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand/France, Strand Releasing

14. Le fils [The Son], 2002, d. Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Belgium/France, New Yorker Films

15. Colossal Youth [Juventude Em Marcha], 2006, d. Pedro Costa, Portugal/France/Switzerland, Criterion (unreleased as of yet)

16. (tie) Les glaneurs et la glaneuse [The Gleaners & I], 2000, d. Agnès Varda, France, Zeitgeist
16. (tie) In Vanda's Room [No Quarto da Vanda], 2000, d. Pedro Costa, Portugal/Germany/Switzerland/Italy, Criterion (unreleased as of yet)
16. (tie) Songs from the Second Floor [Sånger från andra våningen], 2000, d. Roy Andersson, Sweden/Norway/Denmark, New Yorker Films

17. (tie) Caché, 2005, d. Michael Haneke, France/Austria/Germany/Italy, Sony Pictures Classics
17. (tie) A History of Violence, 2005, d. David Cronenberg, USA/Germany, New Line
17. (tie) Mulholland Drive, 2001, d. David Lynch, France/USA, Universal Studios
17. (tie) Three Times, 2005, d. Hou Hsiao-hsien, Taiwan/France, IFC Films

18. Rois et reine [Kings and Queen], 2004, d. Arnaud Desplechin, France, Wellspring

19. Elephant, 2003, d. Gus Van Sant, USA, HBO Films

20. Talk to Her [Hable con ella], 2002, d. Pedro Almodóvar, Spain, Sony Pictures Classics

21. (tie) The Wind Will Carry Us, 1999/2000, d. Abbas Kiarostami, Iran/France, New Yorker Films
21. (tie) Yi yi: A One and Two, 2000, d. Edward Yang, Taiwan/Japan, Fox Lorber/Criterion

22. Pan's Labyrinth [El laberinto del Fauno], 2006, d. Guillermo del Toro, Mexico/Spain/USA, Picturehouse/New Line

23. (tie) L'enfant, 2005, d. Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Belgium/France, Sony Pictures Classics
23. (tie) The Heart of the World, 2000, d. Guy Maddin, Canada, Zeitgeist
23. (tie) I Don't Want to Sleep Alone, 2006, d. Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan/Malaysia/China/France/Austria, Strand Releasing
23. (tie) Star Spangled to Death, 2004, d. Ken Jacobs, USA, Big Commotion Pictures

24. The World, 2004, d. Jia Zhang-ke, China/Japan/France, Zeitgeist

25. (tie) Café Lumière, 2003, d. Hou Hsiao-hsien, Japan/Taiwan, Wellspring
25. (tie) The Headless Woman [La mujer sin cabeza], 2008, d. Lucrecia Martel, Argentina/France/Italy/Spain, Strand Releasing
25. (tie) L'intrus [The Intruder], 2004, d. Claire Denis, France, Wellspring
25. (tie) Millennium Mambo, 2001, d. Hou Hsiao-hsien, Taiwan/France, Palm Pictures
25. (tie) My Winnipeg, 2007, d. Guy Maddin, Canada, IFC Films
25. (tie) Saraband, 2003, d. Ingmar Bergman, Sweden/Italy/Germany/Finland/Denmark/Austria, Sony Pictures Classics
25. (tie) Spirited Away, 2001, d. Hayao Miyazaki, Japan, Studio Ghibli/Disney
25. (tie) I'm Not There., 2007, d. Todd Haynes, USA/Germany, The Weinstein Company

26. Gerry, 2002, d. Gus Van Sant, USA, Miramax

27. (tie) Distant [Uzak], 2002, d. Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey, New Yorker Films
27. (tie) Dogville, 2003, d. Lars von Trier, Denmark/Sweden/UK/France/Germany/Norway/Finland/Netherlands, Lionsgate
27. (tie) The Royal Tenenbaums, 2001, d. Wes Anderson, USA, Touchstone/Criterion

28. (tie) Alexandra, 2007, d. Aleksandr Sokurov, Russia/France, Cinema Guild
28. (tie) demonlover, 2002, d. Olivier Assayas, France, Palm Pictures

29. (tie) Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, 2001, d. Zacharias Kunuk, Canada, Lot 47 Films
29. (tie) Goodbye, Dragon Inn, 2003, d. Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan, Wellspring

30. (tie) Longing [Sehnsucht], 2006, d. Valeska Grisebach, Germany, N/A
30. (tie) Secret Sunshine, 2007, d. Lee Chang-dong, South Korea, N/A
30. (tie) Vai e Vem [Come and Go], 2003, d. João César Monteiro, Portugal/France, N/A
30. (tie) Far from Heaven, 2002, d. Todd Haynes, USA/France, Focus Features

So to tally... directors with more than one showing: Apichatpong Weerasethakul (3), Hou Hsiao-hsien (3), Jia Zhang-ke (3), Gus Van Sant (2), Todd Haynes (2), Tsai Ming-liang (2), Aleksandr Sokurov (2), Claire Denis (2), Guy Maddin (2), the Dardenne brothers (2), Pedro Costa (2). Only 5 of the 54 are unavailable on DVD in the US, though both Pedro Costa films are planned (or at least strongly rumored) to be coming from Criterion. However, in looking at the list, there is a wave of sadness, seeing studios that are no more like New Yorker Films, Wellspring/Fox Lorber, USA Films, Lot 47 Films and Picturehouse, as well as ones that have fallen from grace but still existing in a smaller form like Palm Pictures and (meh) Miramax and New Line. Of course, a number of fabulous distribution studios have opened throughout the past ten years, from Cinema Guild, IFC Films, Benten Films and Oscilloscope as well as Palisades Tartan's restarting of the Tartan library, which brought Silent Light to screens this year. The biggest showing though for the studios still thriving would have to be Strand Releasing, who released 5 of the films above, including the "newest" of the lot, Lucrecia Martel's brilliant The Headless Woman [La mujer sin cabeza]. I wonder if it's an oversight that no 2009 film made the list or if the TIFF crowd was being overzealous with getting that list out. Also, notice only 2 documentaries and 1 short made the list, something I'm sure a handful of other lists will make up for.

Anyway, onto List #2 for Time Out New York, which polled a number of Big Apple-ish film critics, including Andrew Grant, Karina Longworth, Aaron Hillis and Kevin B. Lee (their individual top 10s can be found via this link). The list rounded to 50, but I'll only post the top 30 here, so you can check out the write-ups and #31-50 on their site.

01. Mulholland Drive, 2001, d. David Lynch, USA/France, Universal Studios
02. There Will Be Blood, 2007, d. Paul Thomas Anderson, USA, Paramount Vantage/Miramax
03. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004, d. Michel Gondry, USA, Focus Features
04. The New World, 2005, d. Terrence Malick, USA/UK, New Line
05. In the Mood for Love, 2000, d. Wong Kar-wai, Hong Kong/China/France, USA Films/Criterion
06. Yi yi: A One and Two, 2000, d. Edward Yang, Taiwan/Japan, Fox Lorber/Criterion
07. Dogville, 2003, d. Lars von Trier, Denmark/Sweden/UK/France/Germany/Norway/Finland/Netherlands, Lionsgate
08. Zodiac, 2007, d. David Fincher, USA, Paramount
09. A Christmas Tale [Un conte de Noël], 2008, d. Arnaud Desplechin, France, IFC Films/Criterion
10. Friday Night [Vendredi soir], 2002, d. Claire Denis, France, Wellspring
11. Spirited Away, 2001, d. Hayao Miyazaki, Japan, Studio Ghibli/Disney
12. American Psycho, 2000, d. Mary Harron, USA/Canada, Lionsgate
13. Inland Empire, 2006, d. David Lynch, USA/Poland/France, Absurda
14. Trouble Every Day, 2002, d. Claire Denis, France/Germany/Japan, Lot 47 Films
15. Domestic Violence, 2001, d. Frederick Wiseman, USA, Zippora Films
16. Punch-Drunk Love, 2002, d. Paul Thomas Anderson, USA, Columbia Pictures
17. Gosford Park, 2001, d. Robert Altman, UK/USA/Italy, Universal Studios
18. Femme Fatale, 2002, d. Brian De Palma, France/USA, Warner Bros.
19. I'm Not There., 2007, d. Todd Haynes, USA/Germany, The Weinstein Company
20. The Mad Songs of Fernanda Hussein, 2001, d. John Gianvito, USA, Extreme Low Frequency Productions
21. Brokeback Mountain, 2005, d. Ang Lee, USA/Canada, Focus Features
22. Synecdoche, New York, 2008, d. Charlie Kaufman, USA, Sony Pictures Classics
23. The Death of Mr. Lăzărescu [Moartea domnului Lăzărescu], 2005, d. Cristi Puiu, Romania, Tartan Films
24. I Heart Huckabees, 2004, d. David O. Russell, USA/Germany, Fox Searchlight
25. Inglourious Basterds, 2009, d. Quentin Tarantino, USA/Germany, The Weinstein Company/Universal Studios
26. Kings and Queen [Rois et reine], 2004, d. Arnaud Desplechin, France, Wellspring
27. Oldboy, 2003, d. Park Chan-wook, South Korea, Tartan Films
28. Before Sunset, 2004, d. Richard Linklater, USA, Warner Independent
29. Songs from the Second Floor [Sånger från andra våningen], 2000, d. Roy Andersson, Sweden/Norway/Denmark, New Yorker Films
30. Children of Men, 2006, d. Alfonso Cuarón, UK/USA/Japan, Universal Studios

While Time Out's list is certainly more US-centric than TIFF's, I can't find much bad to say about a list that includes Brian De Palma's Femme Fatale in the top 20 (and even included one film I'd never heard of: The Mad Songs of Fernanda Hussein... another highlight of checking out lists as these, if only that particular DVD wasn't already out-of-print). I don't know how I feel about Inglourious Basterds as the highest ranked 2009 film (and, in fact, the only one). The remainder of the list contains some real surprising and/or underrated treasures like Ramin Bahrani's Man Push Cart, Michael Mann's Miami Vice and Lukas Moodysson's Lilya 4-ever [Lilja 4-ever], as well as some contemptible ones like The 40-Year-Old Virgin (and, yeah, Donnie Darko). The only film that absolutely does not belong on the big 30 is I Heart Huckabees, while a few dangle on that line (American Psycho, Brokeback Mountain), keeping my personal preference against a couple out of the mix. So here's to the close of the '00s! More list, I'm sure, are on hitting the "printer" right now. I can't wait to hear what Cahiers du cinéma rounds up.

Other Decade Round-Ups: UK Times Online, Pitchfork

Organizing and ranking the work of the '00s is probably the main focus of a lot of publications right now, and so far I've only stumbled on two of them (one thanks to Adrian Curry). The UK Times Online made their 100 Best Films of the Noughties, as per UK release, with some surprising and frankly unfortunate choices. Any list that includes Paul Haggis' Crash is automatically tossed in the bin for me... even if Michael Haneke's Caché does top the list. Their list is predictably UK-biased, though the only British-helmed films whose placements I can get down with are the two Bourne films. You can read the entire list here, but below you'll find their top 20:

1. Caché, 2005, d. Michael Haneke
2. The Bourne Supremacy, 2004 / The Bourne Ultimatum, 2007, d. Paul Greengrass
3. No Country for Old Men, 2007, d. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
4. Grizzly Man, 2005, d. Werner Herzog
5. Team America: World Police, 2004, d. Trey Parker
6. Slumdog Millionaire, 2008, d. Danny Boyle
7. The Last King of Scotland, 2006, d. Kevin Macdonald
8. Casino Royale, 2006, d. Martin Campbell
9. The Queen, 2006, d. Stephen Frears
10. Hunger, 2008, d. Steve McQueen
11. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, 2006, d. Larry Charles
12. The Lives of Others [Das Leben der Anderen], 2006, d. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
13. This Is England, 2007, d. Shane Meadows
14. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days [4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile], 2007, d. Cristian Mungiu
15. Downfall [Der Untergang], 2004, d. Oliver Hirschbiegel
16. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004, d. Michel Gondry
17. Brokeback Mountain, 2005, d. Ang Lee
18. Let the Right One In [Låt den rätte komma in], 2008, d. Tomas Alfredson
19. United 93, 2006, d. Paul Greengrass
20. Donnie Darko, 2001, d. Richard Kelly


Pitchfork really jumped the gun, posting the 200 best albums of the 2000s in October, topping their list with Radiohead's Kid A (snooze). It's a mostly solid list, though I never bought into the hype surrounding bands like Arcade Fire, The White Stripes or Panda Bear (being a big Animal Collective fan, I tried). Usually they're sticklers for the actual first release of an album but included Sigur Rós' Ágætis Byrjun, which came out in '99 in Iceland. You can find #21-50 here, #51-100 here, #101-150 here, #151-200 here. The annotated Top 20 is here, but the list is below:

1. Radiohead - Kid A, 2000
2. Arcade Fire - Funeral, 2004
3. Daft Punk - Discovery, 2001
4. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, 2002
5. Jay-Z - The Blueprint, 2001
6. Modest Mouse - The Moon & Antarctica, 2000
7. The Strokes - Is This It, 2001
8. Sigur Rós - Ágætis Byrjun, 2000/1999
9. Panda Bear - Person Pitch, 2007
10. The Avalanches - Since I Left You, 2000
11. Ghostface Killah - Supreme Clientele, 2000
12. The White Stripes - White Blood Cells, 2001
13. OutKast - Stankonia, 2000
14. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion, 2009
15. The Knife - Silent Shout, 2006
16. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois, 2005
17. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver, 2007
18. Kanye West - Late Registration, 2005
19. Spoon - Kill the Moonlight, 2002
20. Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights, 2002