Ten years ago, well before this Dead Letter venture, a friend of mine asked me what I thought were the best movies of the aughts, which were ending then. I broke mine down into genres, as there were hundreds if not thousands of ranked lists out at the time. With this decade coming to an end I thought it would be fun to do that again while also looking over the previous decade’s list. I did all these in alphabetical order, no overlap. An asterisk denotes a particular favorite of mine.
ACTION
2000s
City of God*
The Departed
No Country for Old Men
Honorable Mention: Kill Bill
Time Will Have to See: Inglourious Basterds
I think this seems about right. I also think time has been good to the Basterds.
2010s
The Marvel Cinematic Universe
Hell or High Water
Mad Max: Fury Road
Okay, the MCU, might be a cop-out. Technically it started in the 2000s, but it really became a “thing” in the 2010s, with the Avengers. If I had to pick one though, I’d go with Black Panther or Winter Soldier. Sometimes less folks in capes is better. I should admit that the action genre isn’t really my bag.
ANIMATION
2000s
The Incredibles
Persepolis
The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Honorable Mentions: Shrek, Waking Life, Ratatouille*, The Simpsons Movie
These are pretty solid choices. Shrek maybe hasn’t aged well after too many sequels. Shrug.
2010s
Coco
Kubo and the Two Strings
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse
I’m think we may need to move away from considering “animation” as a separate genre. Spider-verse was one of the best action movies of the decade, and Kubo might be the best “adventure” film. Persepolis would be sorted as drama. Were-Rabbit as comedy, etc.
COMEDY
2000s
40 Year Old Virgin
Little Miss Sunshine
Lost in Translation
Honorable Mentions: Best in Show, Super Troopers, Dodgeball*
Time Will Have to See: Tropic Thunder
I think those top three stood the test of time. I don’t know about Tropic Thunder, there was probably a recency bias on that one. I’m still a big fan of Dodgeball.
2010s
Bridesmaids
The Grand Budapest Hotel
What We Do in the Shadows
Honorable Mention: The Lobster, Sorry to Bother You, Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil
With the folks in capes becoming more bankable this last decade, comedy kind of went to the wayside. There are a fair amount of movies that are “funny” but I wouldn’t call them exclusively comedies. Wolf of Wall Street, Thor: Ragnorok, and The Nice Guys are examples of that.
CULT
2000s
Donnie Darko
Bubba Ho-Tep
Hedwig and the Angry Inch*
Yeah, this seems about right. The Room hadn’t quite become The Room yet. Wet Hot American Summer seems to be an omission, though.
2010s
Attack the Block
Drive
Green Room
Honorable Mentions: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Twin Peaks: The Return*
Admittedly, I still need to see Mandy. And as for Twin Peaks, I know, I know- everybody and Wendy’s (yes, really) has an opinion on whether or not this is a “film,” hence honorable mention.
DRAMA
2000s
Little Children*
Talk to Her
Mulholland Dr.
Honorable Mentions: Mystic River, Traffic
I think I could’ve lumped Mulholland Dr. into cult, but I was probably avoiding the whole overlap thing. I still feel Mystic River doesn’t quite get it’s due, though Clint Eastwood got really curmudgeonly over the last decade, so that doesn’t help. Little Children is still a great film that I don’t think many watch these days.
2010s
BlackkKlansman
Carol
Moonlight
Honorable Mention: 45 Years
There are a lot of dramas still these days, but they mostly gear toward the “Academy Award” genre. These have that to a degree, but they are still amazing.
HORROR
2000s
28 Days Later
Let the Right One In
Shaun of the Dead*
Honorable Mention: The Devil’s Backbone
Okay, sure. The Descent seems missing though.
2010s
Get Out
Hereditary
It Follows
Honorable Mentions: Cabin in the Woods, The Conjuring Cinematic Universe, The Witch
If any genre “won” this decade, it was probably comic book movies, but a close second would be horror. We, as a society, were/are dealing with some stuff and horror is often one of the best avenues to exorcise those demons. Time will have tell about the various Stephen King adaptations of this decade.
ROMANCE
2000s
Brokeback Mountain*
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Lars and the Real Girl
Honorable Mention: High Fidelity
Reading this over, I kind of roll my eyes at my previous self for being “hilarious.” Solid flicks though.
2010s
Call Me By Your Name
Shape of Water*
Crazy Rich Asians
Honorable Mention: Amour
The hilarity continues. I almost lumped Carol in here, but for some reason decided it felt more suited to drama.
TEEN
2000s
Juno
Mean Girls*
Superbad
I don’t know if Juno was as lasting as I thought. Maybe, maybe not. Mean Girls and Superbad seem to have stuck around. I was working at a high school at the time, so I was around the intended audience a lot. I wrote the original list while showing Backdraft to a forensic science class during finals week.
2010s
Easy A
Edge of Seventeen
Lady Bird
Honorable Mentions: It’s Kind of a Funny Story, Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl
I’ve only recently started working with teenagers again, and movies haven’t come up as much so far. Maybe TV won this genre this decade. John Hughes, even with all his faults, left a hole that still remains. I still need to see Book Smart and Eighth Grade, I suspect one of those would have ended up in the top three.
AND THE REST
2000s:
Fantasy: Pan’s Labyrinth
Music: Almost Famous*
Sci Fi: Children of Men*
War: The Hurt Locker, Letters from Iwo Jima
In 2009, I didn’t have 3 pics for these genres, so I just listed the top ones. I stand by these still.
2010s
Fantasy: Beasts of the Southern Wild*
Music: Inside Llewyn Davis, La La Land
Sci Fi: Arrival*
War: Dunkirk
I need to see Under the Skin. That may have been a strong contender for sci fi.
OVERRATED
2000s
Crash
The Lord of the Rings
Slumdog Millionaire
There Will Be Blood
Despite being full of mid-20s snark, even mid-30s me agrees here.
2010s
Just about any Paul Thomas Anderson film
The Social Network
Whiplash
I think PTA is a gifted and talented filmmaker, but something about his movies always comes off as either disingenuous or inauthentic. That’s just my opinion, it’s fine if you think I am wrong. I was never very impressed with The Social Network. I get why people think it’s a big deal, though. I’m not a big fan of the “jerk makes a lot of money and still stays a jerk” genre, even if it’s based on a true story. Maybe I’d appreciate it more if it made a difference in society, but it didn’t.
This decade, like the one before and most likely the one after, had its hits and misses. However, I think cinema is going to an exciting place and comparing these last two decades just gets me more excited. Genres wax and wane, it’ll be interesting to see what the next decade shakes out.
-Andrew