OK, we're finishing this up tonight. Here's the previous entry: 10-6.
Any arguments about my list? Post a comment below, or email me at theaginghepster@gmail.com. Include a photo so I know if I could beat you up or not.
5. A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001)
First Impression:
I saw this at the (then) Mann Chinese Theater with a few of my friends on opening night. I loved it. Loved the whole idea, loved the look, loved the ending. And expected that my friends felt the same. As we were walking back toward my apartment, I said something like, "Wow, guys, great movie, right?" And there were a few moments of silence before my friend Christine muttered, "Well, the teddy bear was funny."
My point, Hepcats, is that sometimes we must go our own way. We must swim against the tide. We must be bold, so that mighty forces may come to our aid. And fuck you, A.I. was a great fucking movie. Especially the robots (NOT ALIENS, ASSHOLES) at the end.
Best Line:
Professor Hobby: [after stabbing the mecha's hand in a demonstration] How did that make you feel? Angry? Shocked?
Secretary: I don't understand.
Professor Hobby: What did I do to your feelings?
Secretary: You did it to my hand.
"Holy Shit!" Moment:
When we see the robots (NOT ALIENS, ASSHOLES) flying over the arctic landscape. Life has never seemed more pointless while watching a movie.
Pretty Girls:
Not a whole lot of females in this motion picture. David's mom is cute, I guess.
Best Scene:
Well, not the one with Robin Williams, I can tell you that right now. Speilberg just can't help himself sometimes. My favorite scene, though, is the end. He waited all that time, just for one day with his "mother". And now what?
Rewatchability: If I happen to be suffering through an existentail crisis, 10. Otherwise, probably an 8. But it is rarely otherwise.
4. No Country For Old Men (2007)
First Impression:
You know Bill Simmons, The Sports Guy, right? Before I had a chance to catch this picture, he wrote something like "I loved everything up until they showed the pool". So I'm watching it, can't get over how awesome it is, but dreading the shot of the pool. What the hell could that mean? I assumed it was Tommy Lee Jones kicking back in a pool with a mojito. This was 2007, mojitos were huge. And that really would have been off-putting. So the ending happens. And I think it's some kinda alright. What the hell is Simmons's problem. Through later reading we discover Simmons is anti-English major. Since I was one, I dunno, is that why I loved it? We didn't need to see Josh Brolin get dead to understand what happened, right?
Anyway minus five points for Simmons on that.
Best Line:
Nervous Accountant: Are you going to shoot me?
Anton Chigurh: That depends. Do you see me?
"Holy Shit!" Moment:
When Anton Chigurh totally strangles the fuck out of that cop dude. Or really anything he does.
Pretty Girls:
A solid no on that count.
Best Scene:
Anton Chigurh in the gas station is probably the most famous scene, and deservedly so I guess. But I love the scene with Josh Brolin in the hotel room, with the lights off, watching the light under the door to see if anyone's stopping there. Classic fucking suspense.
Rewatchability:
Incomplete, but right now a 9.5. I've watched it twice now, and it was even better the second time.
3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
First Impression:
For the third time in my (then) short life, Kate Winslet had made me fall in love with her. And I say this to all the straight me and gay women out there: how do you watch this movie and NOT fall in love with Kate Winslet?
Best Line:
Clementine: This is it, Joel. It's going to be gone soon.
Joel: I know.
Clementine: What do we do?
Joel: Enjoy it.
"Holy Shit!" Moment:
There's few, I just can't remember them.
SEE WHAT I DID RIGHT THERE?
Pretty Girls:
Well, duh. AH Girlfriend Emeritus Kate Winslet.
Best Scene:
In the bookstore, all the titles disappearing.
Rewatchability:
I'm going to be honest here. I've only seen this once. So it really shouldn't be up this high, right? But the feeling I had after I first saw this movie was so unique, so full of optimism and romance or some such baloney, that I went out and met my wife a week later. So that happened.
2. Kill Bill, Volumes 1 and 2 (2003/4)
First Impression:
That the first Kill Bill would end up being my Best Movie of the Aughties, hands down. (Yeah, I start thinking about this stuff early). Then I saw the second one, and I realized it would be an argument. And argument that another movie (and my awesome rule bending) later rendered moot. But still. I haven't caught Inglorious Basterds yet, and shame on me of course. But is there anyone who makes movies even half as entertaining as Tarantino? These two movies, when considered as a whole have EVERYTHING. Mmm, except boobies, I think. Again: but still.
Best Line:
Well, this is Tarantino. I could just pick a line at random. How about this:
The Bride: You and I have unfinished business.
Bill: Baby, you ain't kidding.
"Holy Shit!" Moment:
Vernita Green's daughter coming home during her fight with the Bride.
Pretty Girls:
I acknowledge Uma Thurman's beauty while confessing that she's never really done it for me. Tall, thin, pale and blonde. We're gonna go ahead and call that TTPB here from now on. Not my thing. Lucy Liu, though. Now we're cooking with gas.
Best Scene:
After you've watched all these amazing set pieces, The Sandwich Scene comes along and just fucks you in the head. How good is this scene? When David Carradine forgot to have a backup plan this summer, almost every obituary mentioned it.
Rewatchability:
10.5. Bonus half point for being able to just click over during a commercial if you're watching something else, and knowing you'll be seeing something cool.
1. What Happens In Vegas (2008)
First Impression:
Sometimes you see a movie that just speaks to the inner depths of your soul. You had all these feelings that you could never quite explain, until you saw a masterpiece of pure cinema that
Naw, I'm fucking with ya again. I've never even seen this movie. As far as you know.
Here:
1. The Dark Knight (2008)
First Impression:
I posted on my fantasy league message board (I RULE) "I have just watched my favorite movie since Pulp Fiction." And I then watched it another five or six times to make sure. And now it's on HBO every night, so I have to check in once in a while to make sure it's still awesome. It is.
Best Line:
Alfred Pennyworth: Because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.
"Holy Shit!" Moment:
Aw man, that whole chase scene. Especially when the Batcycle or whatever does a flip against the building. Also when everyone shows up to save Harvey, instead of Rachel. Also every scene with the Joker.
Pretty Girls:
Well, this is the $65,000 question, isn't it, Hepcats? Is Maggie Gyllenhaal pretty? Some claim her as a crush. Some call say she has a face like a pig. Being supremely talented, I can see both sides. And I saw: I don't know. I really don't. Sometimes she looks hot.
Sometimes she looks awful.
Even in this one movie. So we'll go with "No one as pretty as Katie Holmes" for this, while remembering that Katie Holmes almost single-handedly ruined Batman Begins.
Best Scene:
A lot of people didn't like the scene with the two ferries. I thought it was brilliant.
But I'm gonna go with Every Scene With The Joker.
Rewatchability:
10. Damn straight.
So there's my Top 25 Movies of the Aughties, keeping in mind I haven't yet seen "Inglorious Basterds", "Up in the Air", "Avatar", "(500) Days of Summer", or "What Happens in Vegas" (or have I?)
Thanks, Hepcats, that's one more Best of the Aughties (Albums), but I might not get to that till after the new year. And maybe we'll do books. I dunno.
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