More lists of 2000s movies this time from directors/indie filmmakers. Feel free to ignore them!
Joe Dante (director: âGremlinsâ)
No order
âMulholland Driveâ
âChildren of Menâ
âPanâs Labyrinthâ
âIdiocracyâ
âSpeed Racerâ
âShaun of the Deadâ
âInglorious Basterdsâ
âRatatouilleâ
âBattle Royaleâ
âGangs of New Yorkâ
Parker Finn (writer/director: âSmileâ)
âRequiem for a Dreamâ
âCatch Me If You Canâ
(Spielberg firing on all cylinders â about as close as you can get to a perfect movie.)
âThe Ringâ
â24 Hour Party Peopleâ
âA Tale of Two Sistersâ
âChildren of Menâ
âZodiacâ
âThere Will Be Bloodâ
âRachel Getting Marriedâ
âEnter the Voidâ
Michael Felker (writer/director: âThings Will Be Differentâ)
âTHE AVIATORâ
Saw this in theaters with my dad. I distinctly remember him whispering to me before it started, âAny time you see a Martin Scorsese movie, you may be seeing the greatest movie ever made.â And for awhile, this was the greatest. Everything I learned about crafting a compelling but flawed protagonist came from this film. The brief white flashes into Howard Hughesâ obsessive psyche and crippling anxiety genuinely still move me to this day.
Nora Finghschneidt (writer/director âThe Outrunâ)
Other films of that decade that cannot go unmentioned: REPRISE (Joachim Trier, 2006), THE RETURN (Andrei Petrowitsch Swjaginzew, 2003) , I KILLED MY MOTHER (Xavier Dolan, 2009), THE WHITE RIBBON (Michael Haneke, 2009), THE SQUID & THE WHALE (Noah Baumbach, 2005), THE DEPARTED (Martin Scorsese, 2006)
Annie Hamilton (actor: âBetween the Templesâ)
âThe Gangs of New Yorkâ/âThe Aviatorâ
Can watch these two cuties any day any time. Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous entertainment. I had a great âAviatorâ poster, but I wasnât allowed to hang posters in my room, so I kept it under my bed and would pull it out to view it before I went to sleep.
âCatch Me If You Canâ should be on here too â I know Iâm cheating â but I cant put it on the header cus itâs Spielbergâs not Scorseseâs. My friends like to joke that itâs the only movie Iâve ever seen start to finish (at one point, this mightâve been true..)
Robert Kolodny (director: âThe Featherweightâ)
11. âThe Aviatorâ (Scorsese)
Spiritually, Scorsese is my personal saint of cinema and it would be disingenuous to not include him here. âThe Aviatorâ is a staggering film in so many ways, so fully grandiose and echoing with adoration for the history of cinema. It also belongs to a personal favorite sub-genre of âpower hungry eccentric geniuses going over the edgeâ. Other entries in that genre include: âThe Red Shoes,â âThere Will be Blood,â âTĂĄr,â and âCitzen Kane.â
Joe Lynch (director: âSuitable Fleshâ)
âTHE DEPARTEDâ (Martin Scorsese, 2006) â At the time I thought the film was lower-key Marty, itself a remake of the fantastic Japanese thriller INFERNAL AFFAIRS. But itâs that moment when he and editor Thelma Schoonmaker abruptly cut the iconic Dropkick Murphyâs track after a montage to start a casual conversation with an old lady at a doorstep, I knew they were taking the studio star-vehicle potboiler to avant-garde heights only Scorsese could get away with. Seriously, any other director making the shot and edit choices he does in this would have been kicked off the lot or kicked out of the edit room. Itâs a Hollywood âOne For Themâ that kinda backfired in that he made one of my favorite films in his filmography. Of the movies Scorsese directed in the 00âs, this is the one I revisit at least once a year.
Neil Marshall (co-writer/director: âDuchessâ)
INCEPTION
Perhaps the first intellectual blockbuster of the modern age. Christopher Nolan dared to try something new, dense and complex, challenging audiences to think for themselves in a time of largely being spoon-fed. And they loved him for it.
McG (director: âUgliesâ)
In no particular orderâŠ.
âThe Dark Knightâ
âAmĂ©lieâ
âGladiatorâ
âThe Royal Tenenbaumsâ
âThere Will Be Bloodâ
âCasino Royaleâ
âSnatchâ
âThe Incrediblesâ
âThe Departedâ
âSlumdog Millionaireâ
Alex Saks (producer: âIt Ends with Usâ)
3. âThe Departedâ Watch this film every Christmas, by myself, since it came out. Canât explain why. Do not read into that.
ALTERNATES!!!
Devil Wears Prada
Training Day
Michael Clayton
You Can Count on Me
Legally Blonde
Oceans 11
Big Fish
Anchorman
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Little Miss Sunshine
Chicago
Blood Diamond
Children of Men
There Will Be Blood
Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Dark Knight
Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Wedding Crashers
Wall-E
An Education
Rob Savage (director: âThe Boogeymanâ)
Ginger Snaps (John Fawcett, 2000)
Werckmeister Harmonies (Béla Tarr, 2000)
Unbreakable (M. Night Shyamalan, 2000)
Bully (Larry Clark, 2001)
Metropolis (Rintaro, 2001)
Solaris (Steven Soderbergh, 2002)
Lilya 4-Ever (Lukas Moodysson, 2002)
Morvern Callar (Lynne Ramsay, 2002)
In This World (Michael Winterbottom, 2002)
Sweet Sixteen (Ken Loach, 2002)
The Triplets of Belleville (Sylvain Chomet, 2003)
The Return (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2003)
The Aviator (Martin Scorsese, 2004)
Mysterious Skin (Gregg Araki, 2004)
Cache (Michael Haneke, 2005)
Lady Vengeance (Park Chan-wook, 2005)
Wolf Creek (Greg McLean, 2005)
The Hills Have Eyes (Alexandre Aja, 2006)
Red Road (Andrea Arnold, 2006)
Requiem (Hans-Christian Schmid, 2006)
Silent Light (Carlos Reygadas, 2007)
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik, 2007)
Rec (Jaume BalaguerĂł, Paco Plaza, 2007)
Lake Mungo (Joel Anderson, 2008)
Where the Wild Things Are (Spike Jonze, 2009)
Jessica M. Thompson (director: âThe Invitationâ)
âA Beautiful Mindâ (2001) â I feel this kicked off a feverish run of biopics (âRayâ, âWalk the Lineâ, âThe Aviatorâ, âThe Queenâ, âLa Vie en Roseâ, âMilkâ all quickly followed), and I am here for every single one of them. This was such an illuminating and searing insight into the fractured mind of a genius. (Also, what a one-two Russell Crowe had!)
Jeff Wadlow (co-writer/director âImaginaryâ)
âTHE DEPARTEDâ (2006)
I love Martin Scorsese, but I have a slightly controversial opinion â this is his best movie. Donât get me wrong, Iâm a huge fan of GOODFELLAS, TAXI DRIVER, RAGING BULL (the list goes on and on), but if I had to pick one to re-watch right now, it would be THE DEPARTED. Itâs just such an amazing concept (based on 2002âs INFERNAL AFFAIRS) and Scorese is at the top of his game. You can feel him bringing to bear all the tools heâs had as a filmmaker over the years, and he assembled a truly jaw-dropping cast. From Leonard DiCaprio giving one of his best performances, to Matt Damonâs awesome turn as a villain (what other director could get Damon to do that?), to all the supporting players (Vera Farmiga, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, Mark Wahlberg â and so many more), and to finally Jack Nicholson, giving arguably his final iconic performance (apologies to THE BUCKET LIST, which came out a year later) â this is Scorsese at his best.
Source