David Lynch, P.T. Anderson, David Cronenberg, Wong Kar Wai top Film Comment’s 150 Best Films of the Decade!

29Dec/0926

David Lynch, P.T. Anderson, David Cronenberg, Wong Kar Wai top Film Comment’s 150 Best Films of the Decade!

This past fall, Film Comment conducted an international poll of critics, programmers, academics, filmmakers, and others to identify the top films and filmmakers of the decade. The best films of the decade, as decided by their vote, follows, as well as a full list of voters. To read more from the respondents—including comments, films and filmmakers of the decades, and personal lists—grab a copy of the January/February 2010 issue of Film Comment magazine!

Mulholland Drive David Lynch, U.S. 2001 2808
In the Mood for Love Wong Kar Wai, Hong Kong 2000 2687
Yi Yi Edward Yang, China 2000 1833
Syndromes and a Century Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand/Austria/France 2006 1738
There Will Be Blood P. T. Anderson, U.S. 2007 1664
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu Cristi Puiu, Romania 2005 1407
A History of Violence David Cronenberg, U.S./Canada 2005 1303
Tropical Malady Apichatpong Weerasethakul, France/Thailand/Italy/Germany 2004 1301
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days Cristi Mungiu, Romania 2007 1249
The New World Terrence Malick, U.S. 2005 1223
Platform Jia Zhangke, Hong Kong/Japan/France 2000 1206
Zodiac David Fincher, U.S. 2007 1143
The Intruder Claire Denis, France 2004 1110
The Son Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Belgium/France 2002 1089
Dogville Lars von Trier, Denmark/Sweden/France/U.K./Germany/Netherlands 2003 1084
Caché Michael Haneke, France/Austria/Germany/Italy 2005 1083
Kings and Queen Arnaud Desplechin, France 2005 1080
Elephant Gus Van Sant, U.S. 2003 1036
The Royal Tenenbaums Wes Anderson, U.S. 2001 1007
Before Sunset Richard Linklater, U.S. 2004 1005
Spirited Away Hayao Miyazaki, Japan 2001 1000
The Gleaners and I Agnès Varda, France 2000 985
Goodbye, Dragon Inn Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan 2003 975
The World Jia Zhangke, China/Japan/France 2004 974
Talk to Her Pedro Almodóvar, Spain 2002 973
Inland Empire David Lynch, U.S./France/Poland 2006 960
Still Life Jia Zhangke, China/Hong Kong 2006 934
Colossal Youth Pedro Costa, France/Portugal/Switzerland 2006 929
Russian Ark Alexander Sokurov, Russia/Germany 2002 870
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence Steven Spielberg, U.S. 2001 850
In Praise of Love Jean-Luc Godard France/Switzerland 2001 834
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Michel Gondry, U.S. 2004 832
No Country for Old Men Joel & Ethan Coen, U.S. 2007 791
Werckmeister Harmonies Béla Tarr, Hungary/Italy/Germany/France 2000 778
Grizzly Man Werner Herzog, U.S./Canada 2005 777
Three Times Hou Hsiao-hsien, Taiwan 2005 767
Café Lumière Hou Hsiao-hsien, Japan/Taiwan 2003 761
Regular Lovers Philippe Garrel, France 2005 759
Blissfully Yours Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand/France 2002 713
I'm Not There Todd Haynes, U.S./Germany 2007 703
2046 Wong Kar Wai, China/Hong Kong/France 2005 700
In Vanda's Room Pedro Costa, Portugal/Germany/Switzerland 2000 654
Los Angeles Plays Itself Thom Andersen, U.S. 2003 649
Millennium Mambo Hou Hsiao-hsien, France/U.S./Spain/Greece 2001 636
La Commune (Paris, 1871) Peter Watkins, France 2000 632
The Hurt Locker Kathryn Bigelow, U.S. 2009 623
Million Dollar Baby Clint Eastwood, U.S. 2004 607
What Time Is It There? Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan/France 2001 600
demonlover Olivier Assayas, France 2002 583
The Headless Woman Lucrecia Martel, Argentina/Spain/France/Italy 2009 581
La Captive Chantal Akerman, France/Belgium 2000 580
Esther Kahn Arnaud Desplechin, France/U.K. 2000 579
Notre musique Jean-Luc Godard, France/Switzerland 2004 562
Distant Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey 2002 559
Saraband Ingmar Bergman, Sweden 2003 553
The Holy Girl Lucrecia Martel, Argentina/Italy/Netherlands/Spain 2004 550
Y Tu Mamá También Alfonso Cuarón, Mexico 2001 537
Brokeback Mountain Ang Lee, U.S. 2005 537
Children of Men Alfonso Cuarón, Japan/U.K./U.S. 2006 537
Ten Abbas Kiarostami, France/Iran/U.S. 2002 527
Silent Light Carlos Reygadas, Mexico/France/Netherlands 2007 527
La ciénaga Lucrecia Martel, Argentina/Spain 2001 511
L'Enfant Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Belgium/France 2005 511
Star Spangled to Death Ken Jacobs, U.S. 2004 508
Flight of the Red Balloon Hou Hsiao-hsien, Taiwan/France 2008 498
RR James Benning, U.S. 2007 491
The House of Mirth Terence Davies, U.K./France/Germany/U.S. 2000 484
25th Hour Spike Lee, U.S. 2002 469
35 Shots of Rum Claire Denis, France/Germany 2008 460
Summer Hours Olivier Assayas, France 2009 453
The Host Bong Joon-ho, South Korea 2007 441
Adaptation Spike Jonze, U.S. 2002 438
Lost in Translation Sofia Coppola, U.S./Japan 2003 435
Gerry Gus Van Sant, U.S. 2002 433
Private Fears in Public Places Alain Resnais, France/Italy 2006 430
My Winnipeg Guy Maddin, Canada 2007 430
Punch-Drunk Love P.T. Anderson, U.S. 2002 426
Fat Girl (A ma soeur!) Catherine Breillat, France/Italy 2001 422
The Departed Martin Scorsese, U.S./Hong Kong 2006 422
Far From Heaven Todd Haynes, U.S./France 2002 421
Donnie Darko Richard Kelly, U.S. 2001 413
Moolaadé Ousmane Sembene, Burkina Faso/Morocco/Tunisia/Cameroon/France 2004 410
Woman on the Beach Hong Sang-soo, South Korea 2006 407
Memories of Murder Bong Joon-ho, South Korea 2003 405
West of the Tracks Wang Bing, China 2003 398
Wendy and Lucy Kelly Reichardt, U.S. 2008 395
Trouble Every Day Claire Denis, France/Germany/Japan 2001 390
Femme Fatale Brian De Palma, U.S./France 2002 386
Songs from the Second Floor Roy Andersson, Sweden 2000 386
Letters from Iwo Jima Clint Eastwood, U.S. 2006 379
Gran Torino Clint Eastwood, U.S. 2008 375
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Andrew Dominik, U.S. 2007 374
Last Days Gus Van Sant, U.S. 2005 368
The Man Without a Past Aki Kaurismäki, Finland/Germany/France 2002 368
When the Levees Broke Spike Lee, U.S. 2006 360
The Best of Youth Marco Tullio Giordana, Italy 2003 358
Turning Gate Hong Sang-soo, South Korea 2002 356
24 City Jia Zhangke, China/Hong Kong/Japan 2008 352
In the City of Sylvia José Luis Guerín, Spain/France 2007 352
The White Ribbon Michael Haneke, Austria/Germany/France/Italy 2009 348
La libertad Lisandro Alonso, Argentina 2001 344
Nobody Knows Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japan 2004 343
The Pianist Roman Polanski, France/Poland/Germany/U.K. 2002 343
The Duchess of Langeais Jacques Rivette, France/Italy 2007 343
Pan’s Labyrinth Guillermo del Toro, Mexico/Spain/U.S. 2006 335
WALL·E Andrew Stanton, U.S. 2008 331
Pulse Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Japan 2001 329
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 Quentin Tarantino, U.S. 2003 328
A Christmas Tale Arnaud Desplechin, France 2008 326
Time Out Laurent Cantet, France 2001 326
Police, Adjective Corneliu Porumboiu, Romania 2009 325
Secret Sunshine Lee Chang-dong, South Korea 2007 324
Mystic River Clint Eastwood, U.S./Australia 2003 323
Morvern Callar Lynne Ramsay, U.K./Canada 2002 321
Va Savoir Jacques Rivette, France/Italy/Germany 2001 321
Head-On Fatih Akin, Germany/Turkey 2004 319
Tarnation Jonathan Caouette, U.S. 2003 318
Hunger Steve McQueen, U.K. 2008 310
Miami Vice Michael Mann, U.S./Germany 2006 309
Los muertos Lisandro Alonso, Argentina/France/Netherlands 2004 306
Eureka Shinji Aoyama, Japan/France 2000 305
Irreversible Gaspar Noé, France 2002 305
Black Book Paul Verhoeven, Netherlands/Germany/Belgium 2006 304
The Lives of Others Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, Germany 2006 303
The Secret of the Grain Abdellatif Kechiche, France 2007 301
Oldboy Park Chan-wook, South Korea 2003 300
The Piano Teacher Michael Haneke, Germany/Poland/France/Austria 2001 300
The Lady and the Duke Eric Rohmer, France 2001 299
The Incredibles Brad Bird, U.S. 2004 292
Mysterious Object at Noon Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand 2000 292
Death Proof Quentin Tarantino, U.S. 2007 288
Let the Right One In Tomas Alfredson, Sweden 2008 287
Ghost World Terry Zwigoff, U.S./U.K. 2001 275
Waltz with Bashir Ari Folman, Israel/France/Germany 2008 274
Dancer in the Dark Lars von Trier, Denmark/Germany/Netherlands/U.S./U.K. 2000 273
Kill Bill: Vol. 2 Quentin Tarantino, U.S. 2004 273
Spider David Cronenberg, U.K./Canada 2002 272
Friday Night Claire Denis, France 2002 271
Memento Christopher Nolan, U.S. 2000 270
United Red Army Kôji Wakamatsu, Japan 2007 269
I Don't Want to Sleep Alone Tsai Ming-liang, Malaysia/China/Taiwan/France/Austria 2007 264
Still Walking Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japan 2008 262
Paranoid Park Gus Van Sant, France/U.S. 2007 262
Wild Grass Alain Resnais, France/Italy 2009 261
Divine Intervention Elia Suleiman, France/Morocco/Germany/Palestine 2002 261
Gosford Park Robert Altman, U.K./U.S./Italy 2001 260
Collateral Michael Mann, U.S. 2004 259
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button David Fincher, U.S. 2008 254
13 Lakes James Benning, U.S. 2004 254
Dog Days Ulrich Seidl, Austria 2001 251

The All-Star Cast of Contributors include: Gilbert Adair, Sam Adams, Florence Almozini, Thom Andersen, Melissa Anderson, Dudley Andrew, Geoff Andrew, David Ansen, Alvaro Arroba, Anjelika Artyukh, Michael Atkinson, Miriam Bale, Alberto Barbera, Michael Barker, Margret Barton-Fumo, Jeanine Basinger, Marjorie Baumgarten, Raymond Bellour, Michael Berry, Stig Björkman, Livia Bloom, Frédéric Bonnaud, Nicole Brenez, Richard Brody, Andrew Bujalski, Joumane Chahine, Michael Chaiken, Andrew Chan, Chris Chang, Tom Charity, Paolo Cherchi Usai, Godfrey Cheshire, Li Cheuk-to, Ian Christie, Michel Ciment, Jem Cohen, Richard Combs, Mark Cousins, Noah Cowan, David Cox, Gary Crowdus, Doug Cummings, Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan, Mike D’Angelo, Evan Davis, Michel Demopoulos, Arnaud Desplechin, Sam Di Iorio, Anton Dolin, Lisa Dombrowski, Bilge Ebiri, Cheryl Eddy, David Edelstein, David Fear, Leslie Felperin, Paul Fileri, Richard Foreman, Scott Foundas, Lizzie Francke, Patrick Friel, Roger Garcia, Leonardo García-Tsao, Charlotte Garson, Susan Gerhard, John Gianvito, Eugène Green, Stefan Grissemann, Larry Gross, Haden Guest, Tom Gunning, Howard Hampton, Piers Handling, Molly Haskell, Shigehiko Hasumi, Sandra Hebron, Eugene Hernandez, J. Hoberman, Zdenek Holy, Travis Hoover, Bill Horrigan, Robert Horton, Alexander Horwath, Marcus Hu, Matthew Hubbell, Christoph Huber, Nick James, Jia Zhangke, Thierry Jobin, J.R. Jones, Kristin Jones, Kent Jones, Serge Kaganski, Laurence Kardish, Danny Kasman, Laura Kern, Dohoon Kim, Lewis Klahr, Stuart Klawans, Uri Klein, Gabe Klinger, Robert Koehler, Michael Koresky, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Jean-Marc Lalanne, Nathan Lee, Elisabeth Lequeret, Diego Lerer, Jonathan Lethem, Dennis Lim, Phillip Lopate, Jan Lumholdt, Guy Maddin, Adrian Martin, Todd McCarthy, Maitland McDonagh, Mark McElhatten, Don McMahon, Gary Meyer, Olaf Möller, Marco Mueller, Amir Muhammad, Rob Nelson, Katja Nicodemus, Geoffrey O’Brien, Mark Olsen, Damon Packard, Gilberto Perez, Jake Perlin, Vladan Petkovic, Andrea Picard, Tony Pipolo, John Powers, James Quandt, Quintín, Nicolas Rapold, Megan Ratner, Jean-Francois Rauger, Tony Rayns, Carlos Reviriego, Bérénice Reynaud, Jim Ridley, Pierre Rissient, Kong Rithdee, João Pedro Rodrigues, Jonathan Romney, Rachel Rosen, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Joshua Rothkopf, Sukhdev Sandhu, Andrew Sarris, Richard Schickel, Regina Schlagnitweit, Alex Leo Serban, Gene Seymour, Girish Shambu, Josh Siegel, Irma Simanskyte, Alissa Simon, P. Adams Sitney, Gavin Smith, Vivian Sobchak, Chuck Stephens, Bob Strauss, Chris Stults, Daniel Stuyck, Jim Supanick, Amy Taubin, José Teodoro, David Thomson, Kenneth Turan, Keith Uhlich, Noel Vera, Tom Vick, Peter von Bagh, John Waters, Ryan Werner, Brynn White, Donald Wilson, Jessica Winter, Sergio Wolf, Manuel Yáñez Murillo, Genevieve Yue, David Zuckerman

Comments (26) Trackbacks (0) ( subscribe to comments on this post )

bipple
December 29th, 2009 - 14:41

it’s surprising that A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE made it in the top 10 and Weerasethakul has two of his movies up there but vitally important directors of the decade like: Pedro Costa, Tsai Ming-liang, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Quentin Tarantino, Michael Mann, Bong Joon-Ho rank so far down.

and it’s disappointing that neither of abderrahmane sissako’s great films (BAMAKO or WAITING FOR HAPPINESS) made it on here.
Greg
December 29th, 2009 - 21:27

Hmm… no City of God? Seriously?
Michael Thorner
December 31st, 2009 - 01:12

I would have hoped STILL LIFE would have been higher on the list, as great as PLATFORM is. And in my humble opinion, INLAND EMPIRE is a superior film to MULHOLLAND DRIVE, much as I love both films. I still think the cloying score to YI YI mars an otherwise outstanding film. I believe Apichatpong Weerasethakul to be the most refreshing filmmaker to emerge in the 2000s, with BLISSFULLY YOURS being my favourite. His short films are all great too. Thanks to TIFF.Cinematheque’s programmer, Andréa Picard, I’ve been fortunate enough to see most of them.
Gene
December 31st, 2009 - 03:40

Terrific list, but Edward Yang’s YI YI is problematically identified as a film from China. If Tsai and Hou’s films are referred to as Taiwanese (as they are on this list), then that masterpiece from one of Taiwan’s greatest should be better labeled.
Ryan
December 31st, 2009 - 13:52

Seconded on the suprise at a conspicuously absent “City of God”
T.J. Moore
December 31st, 2009 - 16:57

Missing from the list: Oren Moverman’s “The Messenger” and Conor McPherson’s “The Eclipse.” I love the uneasy tension in both films. Both films have stayed in my head.
bipple
December 31st, 2009 - 17:33

it’s my understanding that in critical circles CITY OF GOD isn’t really taken seriously as an important work of cinema. it’s comparable to CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON – an entertaining movie with the pretenses of art cinema but none of the groundbreaking formal or thematic concerns of others on this list. i tend to agree.

and it is indeed a mistake to call YI YI a Chinese film… it was financed & filmed in Taiwan.
handelsaurus
December 31st, 2009 - 17:34

I easily see a few that could be replaced by CITY OF GOD (ditto) and LOVE EXPOSURE. On the other hand, I do see a lot of movies that I know I’ll need to see in 2010 …
Taylor Jones
December 31st, 2009 - 18:43

I hope the mag at least made some money by featuring “The Lovely Bones”, of all possible movies. If that even catches the casual moviegoer’s attention (the one with no interest in Weerasethakul, right), they’d more than likely read the interview in the store.
RK
December 31st, 2009 - 21:08

Am I alone in wondering why documentaries are so underrepresented here? Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, The Fog of War? I mean, weren’t the aughts an incredible time for the growth of documentary?
robinson1220
January 1st, 2010 - 20:47

WTF…#119 – Miami Vice?? If that is the case, why not include such greats as Transformers 2 or G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra?

Seriously, I agree with much of the list (especially the top 20) but had to call shenanigans on that one.
Phil
January 2nd, 2010 - 16:58

Wow. No City of God? Ubelieveable.
Destouches
January 5th, 2010 - 17:15

fincher is a joke. nothing cinematic about zodiac. looks like a bad 70s tv movie what with all those vintage vending machines and fake moustaches. polls like this, where a bunch of mummified eggheads wear their bad taste like a badge of courage, are good for one thing— giving rank and file to the truly mediocre. films today are so fucking bad that the plain ol bad ones are rendered praise worthy by asleep at the wheel critics cashing paychecks in their defense of the worsening of taste. 30 years ago half of these films would of been laughed out of the room. . . trounced. . . .ignored. cancel my subscription to the inquisition! and fuck AVATAR sure to be on FC’s 2020 list of great masterwurks of dull thud times
Eric
January 6th, 2010 - 10:04

What a great list to go through and talk about. I need to pick up my foreign film viewing frequency. I love QT, not sure how Inglourious Basterds is not on this list.

I enjoyed Miami Vice more than most as it is fine piece of work by Michael Mann but not sure if it is deserving. Impressed Collateral was recognized as well as Ghost World, The 25th Hour and Mystic River.
hammond parts
January 6th, 2010 - 18:28

Mulholland Dr.? Really? Number one?

Don’t get me wrong – I love Lynch, and love that very movie – but best film of the decade?

Then again, I’m not even sure where to start at a best of the decade list. Lots of good work all around.

As the years go on, I understand why Ebert hesitates to numerically rank his “best of the year” list.
Brian Murphy
January 7th, 2010 - 12:45

My personal favorites missing are Climates, Springtime in a Small Town, Linda Linda Linda, Trolosa, and Lady Chatterley.

But I think this list is phenomenal. It seems by far the most definitive and comprehensive list of its kind. I really liked the TIFF list but the absence of There Will Be Blood and Before Sunset made it lacking as far as a canon goes. This list on the other hand feels like an all around solid representation of essential films of the decade.
Riaz
January 11th, 2010 - 04:24

While I appreciate the fact that there are many foreign films on this list there are some choices that leave me going WTF. notably however are the omissions. Paradise Now, Everything Is Illuminated, Twilight Samurai, Inglorious Bastards, Moon, and Bad Lieutenant: Port of call new orleans, Man on Wire, son of rambo, Tokyo Sonata, Battle Royal, and thats just of the top of my head.
When movies like miami vice make a list like this I really have to question the guys behind it. That being said, we are all entitled to our guilty pleasures, and as such if a “bad” movie was genuinely entertaining then I suppose it could be included.
Ryan
January 14th, 2010 - 10:48

Surprised to see “Mystic River” down so low. It’s Eastwood’s masterpiece, and just a titan of a film, in my opinion. And “Wendy and Lucy” and “Miami Vice”: how and why did these even get on this list?
jose
January 17th, 2010 - 16:54

Meirelles should’ve been on the list. City of God and The Constant Gardener are arguably much better that The departed, Mystic River and Miami Vice for example.
jeff coe
February 8th, 2010 - 09:09

Forget “City of God” What about “The Pianist”? Some Polanski backlash, perhaps?
what?!?!?!
February 8th, 2010 - 11:34

No Soderbergh!
sonia
February 15th, 2010 - 13:06

mullholland drive#1 man without a past#94
AhAhAh!………
Paul
June 13th, 2010 - 11:23

No Lukas Moodysson? Are you on drugs?

You could easily get rid of half those shitty American films.
James Mann
June 19th, 2010 - 13:54

No Kim Ki duk at all? Seriously?
==
June 26th, 2010 - 00:11

Yi Yi is from Taiwan not China
Mike
June 28th, 2010 - 22:32

3-iron, Breath, Time, Spring Summer…