Saturday, August 21, 2010

My Top 25 of the Aughts- An Addendum

Before I announce my favorite film of the past decade (announcement scheduled for tomorrow), I'd like to share a few miscellaneous thoughts on the list I've made. First off, my list was compiled on the basis of international premiere rather than U.S. theatrical release, which eliminated a number of films that which bowed in the late 1990s but didn't make it here until 2000 or so. Andrew Bemis is currently compiling a poll of favorite films from the 2000s based on domestic release date, and I've submitted a list to him which, along with most of the top 10 I've listed here, also includes Audition and Beau Travail- both great films which didn't meet the requirements for this countdown, but which definitely deserve mention when talking about tbe best films I saw in the last ten years.

Additionally, when I made this list I decided to only include single films rather than franchises, so that eliminated such notable works as the Kill Bill saga and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. These have always been tricky cases as far as list-making is concerned, since both are essentially multi-part films rather than free-standing units. But whatever they are, they are nonetheless some of the seminal films of the last decade.

Finally, there's Dogtooth, a film that I saw well after I firmed up this top 25 list, but which in my eyes definitely deserves to join its ranks. Rather than trying to squeeze it into the list in media res, I've decided to leave it out for the time being, with the plan to add it in at a later date. The reasons for this are twofold. First, I didn't want to cause confusion in readers by making it look like I was juggling positions on this list while I was unveiling it. But more importantly, I honestly think it's the kind of movie that requires multiple viewings to really be appreciated. With one exception, I've watched every film on this list more than once, and each of them benefit from this process, along with a certain amount of time passing to allow the film's contents to turn over in my brain for a while. Once I get the chance to see Dogtooth again, I'm confident that it will assume a prominent position among my favorite films of the 2000s. But I'm willing to wait for this to happen.

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