Your Best (and Worst) Movie of the Decade

It was probably a month or two ago when I was reading The Sports Guy on ESPN and he proclaimed "Almost Famous" as the greatest movie of the 00s. My first reaction was, "Was that movie even released in the 00s?" Turns out it was released in 2000. Seems kind of cheap then to name it the best movie of the entire decade.

Since we're just about done with 00s, I suppose it's safe to begin discussing what your favorite movie of the decade was and what your least favorite was. So have at it--what was your favorite movie of the 2000s--and your least favorite? (It should be obvious that it should be a movie released from 2000-2009, not an earlier one you didn't get around to seeing until the 2000s.)

My choice for favorite is "The Dark Knight" because I saw it six times in the theater when it came out, I can pretty much watch it every day, and I quote from it relentlessly. In what could be known as "The decade of the superhero movie" it was the best of the bunch. (At least in my opinion "Watchmen" comes in a close second on that front.) It's really no contest for me. (And I haven't seen "Almost Famous.")

I'm far less certain what my least favorite movie of the decade would be. There's so much to choose from: two awful "Star Wars" prequels, two dreadful "Matrix" sequels, the completely unnecessary "Indiana Jones" sequel, and many awful superhero movies like "Ghost Rider," "Hancock," and "The Spirit." And however many stupid movies from M. Night Shaymalan.

I think though I'd give to the Coen Brother's update of "The Ladykillers." When I rent a movie I usually watch it twice to pick up on anything I missed, but I couldn't bear to watch that movie a second time. It was completely unfunny and tedious and I was glad when the last villain finally bought it so the thing would end. There probably are movies with much worse acting, effects, and so forth but given the reputation of the Coens and the film's star Tom Hanks, this was a complete dud. Everyone involved should have known better.

That is all.

Comments: 20

Adelaide M. Sep 30, 2009, 11:33am EDT

I have no idea what the best movie would be, The Dark Knight would be up there but I've seen a ton of great movies from this decade. I have no question as to what would be the worst movie though, Donnie Darko. I hate that movie with a passion.

Paul M. Sep 30, 2009, 11:39am EDT

I liked Donnie Darko more before I read the IMDB FAQ that explains it. It was fun to come up with crackpot theories what it was supposed to mean. The director's "Southland Tales" is a thousand times worse. It's probably my third least favorite behind "The Ladykillers" and "Signs."

Adelaide M. Sep 30, 2009, 11:49am EDT

Oh Signs was bad too, don't get me wrong. I think I must have been in a really bad mood when I saw Donnie Darko. I can't even explain how much I hate that movie. I hate Willow too but that's not from the 2000's but it ranks right up there for me.

Mental note to never see The Ladykillers. I've actually never heard of it, but maybe that's a good thing...

Paul M. Sep 30, 2009, 11:59am EDT

Oh God, Willow. That scene where people turn into pigs still haunts me. Ewwwww. BTW, one funny thing about watching "Donnie Darko" now is you get to see Seth Rogen (one of the guys who brought you "Superbad" and "Knocked Up") playing the bully's generic henchman.

Adelaide M. Sep 30, 2009, 12:02pm EDT

The pig scene in Willow I always found particularly amusing. My ex loved that movie(hence why I can even discuss it at length in the first place). He happened to be a cop so I always found the people turning into pigs rather hilarious, him not so much. :)

I'd heard Seth Rogan was in that movie, but I can't say I'm going to watch it again to find him so I'll just take your word for it.

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A. F. Stewart Sep 30, 2009, 12:24pm EDT

My favourite would be The Dark Knight as well and Crank would rank as a close second.
My least favourite movie would probably be Australia. I just couldn't enjoy it despite Hugh Jackman.

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Nippy Katz (not his real name) Patriotic Troll of Gather Freedom Sep 30, 2009, 12:59pm EDT

Y2K quibble. The decade began with 2001. :)

Paul M. Sep 30, 2009, 1:43pm EDT

I can understand making that distinction with centuries and millenia, but it makes no sense for decades. 2000 is clearly part of 2000s just like 1980 would be part of the 80s and so on. It makes no logical sense to say 2000 is part of the 90s or 1980 is part of the 70s.

Nippy Katz (not his real name) Patriotic Troll of Gather Freedom Oct 1, 2009, 12:14am EDT

1 - 10, 11 - 20,...there's no year zero. Makes perfect logical sense to me.

Paul M. Oct 1, 2009, 8:43am EDT

If there's no 0 then the first decade was nine years. It's a moot point since no one went around saying, "Hey, it's year 1!" You'll never get me to say the number 2000 is part of the same grouping as 1990-1999.

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Dan Fryye Sep 30, 2009, 1:46pm EDT

My best and worst is one in the same... I love wacky dark comedy (off the beaten path stuff, so, sorry if you're only talking about mainstream stuff) and a friend of mine gave me a copy of this independent movie titled Wearing Hitler's Pants. It was the best and worst all rolled into one, a silly, meandering dark movie.

Paul M. Sep 30, 2009, 2:27pm EDT

Dang, I can't add that to my Blockbuster queue.

Dan Fryye Sep 30, 2009, 4:21pm EDT

Nope. Not at blockbuster. Not to say it's for everyone anyway. It long and painful, but still damn funny. Like I said worst/best wrapped into one.

Dan Fryye Oct 1, 2009, 2:10pm EDT

Hi Paul M. FYI. I did find a trailer for this one on the net. I tried entering the URL in this box but it was too long. If interested, go to the "internet archive" and search Wearing Hitler's Pants trailer. The trailer is kind of interesting to watch.

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Sarah (I want points) Sep 30, 2009, 2:30pm EDT

No one probably cares what movie I like best and worst, because my taste is so different from everyone else's...

Paul M. Sep 30, 2009, 2:35pm EDT

No one cares what movies I like either, but that's never stopped me.

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Chas Andrews Sep 30, 2009, 4:31pm EDT

Let me think about this one and I'll get back to ya. Thanks for posting to Chas Reviews.

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Tory H. Sep 30, 2009, 9:27pm EDT

Oooh, good article.

Hmm. I dunno what I'd say for best and worst... I enjoyed 300 a lot. Doomsday was pretty horrible. So maybe those two?

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Rachel D. Sep 30, 2009, 11:08pm EDT

I really liked 'The Dark Knight' too - but wasn't Gigli in this decade? I've heard that 'All About Steve' is really horrible, but I haven't seen it. I'd have to agree that 'The Spirit' was pretty lousy too. Honestly, the years are a blur and I don't think I could tell you what decade movies were made in!

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Risa G. Oct 7, 2009, 1:30pm EDT

I liked Dark Knight but didn't think it was the best movie I've seen in years. I agree that Almost Famous was really good (I saw it on HBO a few months ago). I don't see alot of movies in the theatre these days - mainly kids movies OR action flicks with my son. I would say that "Click" with Adam Sandler was pretty bad, not sure if it was the worst though. Best is difficult but how about "Juno" for one. It was one of the best flicks I've seen in years. Well acted, great story, won an Oscar for its script, and Ellen Page rocked. I also thought that even though "Superbad" was hysterical, it was very childish and didn't have much of a story line that hasn't been done before. So it might go in my worst category. More cons than pros in my book. Then again, I'm over 45 and if I was a teenager or in my twenties I would probably feel it was one of the best. I guess it depends on your age group and what you feel is great and bad.

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Your Best (and Worst) Movie of the Decade

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