Obviously some of you won't agree with my choices, but it's not like I just threw this up as an afterthought. I did research and everything. Now there's a worrying thought.
THE BEST 10 DRAMA FILMS OF THE DECADE
10: THE LOVELY BONES (2009)
Peter Jackson
Starring
Saoirse Ronan
Mark Wahlberg
Rachel Weisz
Stanley Tucci
I don't care that a lot of people hated this film, I loved it. It's not the kind of film you'd put on for a Saturday night in with the wife, like "Hey honey let's watch the film about the peadophile with a bottle of red". It is however a really touching and moving film about a family torn apart by a tragedy.
Special shout out to Stanley Tucci and the art director who both did a phenomenal job. I can't really make jokes about this film. It's about a peadophile.
9: WAKING LIFE (2001)
Richard Linklater
Starring
Julie Delpy
Ethan Hawke
Walking Life is kind of crazy and when I first got a hold of it, I'd never seen anything like it. The film was shot digitally and then animators came in and drew stylised lines and colours over each frame. It's breathtaking. The film follows no real storyline and like Linklaters' earlier film slackers is just a collage of different stories with a slight thread going between them.
An added bonus is the inclusion of Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke reprising their roles from the amazing Beyond Sunrise. Linklater would later use the same technique on the awesome A Scanner Darkly and yes, this is the same man that directed School of Rock and Bad News Bears.
8: HOLLYWOODLAND (2006)
Director
Starring
Ben Affleck has had a mixed career. When he's good, he's very good, but when he's bad you want to rip your eyes out before your blinded by the giant cleft in his chin. In this he plays the jaded George Reeves (the man who played Superman in the old TV serials) in the years leading up to his death. Adrien Brody is the private investigator who tries to look a little further into his death as the film unfolds through a series of flashbacks.
In my favourite scene Ben Affleck is confronted by a child with a gun who doesn't think it'll hurt him because he's superman. It is by far his best acting performance. Fuck Good Will Hunting, but I have to admit he was the bomb in Phantoms.
7: CITY OF GOD (2002)
Director
Starring
City of God is the rather terrifying story of gang culture in Brazil. It's been a few years since I sat down to watch it but it still sits with me. From the opening scene of an armed gang chasing a chicken through the streets leading Rocket to believe they're after him, it doesn't stop. If you haven't seen it or the following TV series City of Men (which was then made into a film) you need to get a hold of it. Zod demands it.
6: THE CONSTANT GARDENER (2005)
Fernando Meirelles
Starring
Ralph Fiennes
Rachel Weisz
Danny Huston
Bill Nighy
The second film on the list for both Fernando Meirelles and Rachel Weisz. I forget how many good films she's been in. Probably something to do with the Mummy series. Anyway she plays a humanitarian who becomes involved with diplomat Justin Quayle played by Ralph Fiennes. After she is found dead and he begins to unravel some of the details he becomes determined to get to the bottom of her murder.
I can't believe this is the only Ralph Fiennes film on the drama list, he's one of the best actors working at the moment. We'll just forget about Clash of the Titans. FUCK YOU 3D.
5: ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (2004)
Director
Starring
Oddly this is the only showing for Kate Winslet in this top ten, a fantastic performance from her as usual and an amazing one from Jim Carrey. He's one of those bastards that can do some serious acting and comedy. Kind of like Tom Hanks, the cunt. Sure not all his comedy films are funny and not all his serious films are any good but the guy continues to move easily from one to the other.
The film mainly takes place in the mind of Joel Barnish (Jim Carrey) as the memories of his former girlfriend are erased from his mind by the firm Lacuna Inc. It's a truly beautiful film about relationships, how we deal with the good times and the bad. If you haven't seen it, you need to. Even if it's just to see the many different hair colours of Kate Winslet. It's like Titanic never happened. Insert joke about Lacuna here.
4: BLACK SNAKE MOAN (2006)
Director
Starring
Justin Timberlake in a good film shocker. Actually I really enjoyed Southland Tales too but apparently I was the only one. To be honest Samuel L. Jackson and Christina Ricci have been in their fair share of crap too. This film works though. Christina Ricci is a crazy nymphomaniac who's dumped on the side of the road and found by Samuel L. Jackson, a deeply religious farmer and awesome blues guitarist. He nurses her back to health, his techniques may be a little off the wall but they work for the crazy bitch.
Great movie... Bugger I've just realised I missed out Secretary and I bloody loved that. This doing a top ten thing is a cunt when you keep remembering films half way through. I'll be doing this next December at this rate. Fuck my balls.
Bugger it, like Harold and Kumar I've come too far. Just so you know if I'd remembered about it before now it would have been in here. Damn. Just make it joint 4th... Can I do that. Hell I can do what the fuck I want. It's my blog. I'm not gonna write anything about it. Just check the fucker out. It's awesome and Maggie Gyllenhaal is hot.
3: GRAN TORINO (2008)
Clint Eastwood
Starring
Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood is a Legend. From a bit part in Revenge of the Creature from the Black Lagoon he's become not only one of the best actors around, but also one of the best directors. I don't know how he does it but his films just keep getting better the older he gets. I went to see this in the cinema and I loved every minute of it. He plays a racist old guy who's sick and tired of his neighbourhood getting fucked over by gangs. When he starts protecting his neighbour from a local gang he becomes a hero, but also gets a lot of trouble coming his way.
There's a lot of films like this going around, but this is one of the best. Eastwood has said it's his last acting role which is a damn shame. I'll leave you with a line from the film that only Clint Eastwood could get away with. "Oh, I've got one. A Mexican, a Jew, and a colored guy go into a bar. The bartender looks up and says, "Get the fuck out of here.""
2: HARRY BROWN (2009)
Daniel Barber
Starring
Michael Caine
Emily Mortimer
David Bradley
Michael Caine has never won an oscar for a lead role. Seriously he's won for best supporting actor twice but never for a lead role. It's a travesty, not as much of a travesty as Jaws 4 but you get my point. In this his neighbourhood has fallen foul to a group of youths. After the death of a friend he takes it upon himself to clean it up.
It has a lot in common with Gran Torino and I think a lot of people ignored this film because of it. I prefer this though as it speaks to me more, living in a crappy neighbourhood in the UK myself. Obviously it's not as bad as the one depicted in the film but it's something I can relate to. The performances are amazing and it was only the directors first full length film. But lets face it if you're going to have anyone in your first movie, you may as well have Michael bloody Caine.
1: THE BOY IN STRIPED PYJAMAS (2008)
Director
Starring
When I first saw this film I genuinely thought it was a kids film. By the end of it I was standing on my couch screaming at the TV. There's something about seeing the horror of a concentration camp through a child's eyes that made it more horrific for me. The relationship between the two boys is so believable and the performances throughout just blew me away. It's a film that stuck with me for a couple of days after I watched it, and that rarely happens.
Hope you enjoyed the list. There's more to follow over the next few days before I get back to the weekly reviews. As a wise man once said "Snootch to the motherfuckin nootch".
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