Presentation: MAR's Top 100 of the 2000's (Sunday 11am EST)

A prison drama, a crime saga, a character study - Jacques Audiard’s gritty, grounded style is a perfect fit, with an occasionally impeccably employed touch of flickering magic realism. Looking at organized crime, the immigrant, cultural role-playing, manipulating control, impairments to your advantage, alliances - Audiard has discussed these themes across A Self Made Hero, Beat That My Heart Skipped, Dheepan, etc. Tahar Rahim gives a star-is-born performance, a compelling and shifting perf; Niels Arestrup in support is great, all impotent rage and desperately high-minded.

High School is a mess. The students and angry and stupid and don't even know what they want, they would just shoot whatever target sticks. Mean Girls brought a new twist to the typical high school trope, not holding back its mean spirit, thus becoming an icon which we just can't stop visiting again and again, and quoting on the internet to sound fetch. It is a film which is revisited by both the cinephiles and the general public because of the sheer comedic entertainment value almost unmatched by most movies in these modern days of cinema, complemented by the effortless performances in the ensemble and the still celebrated screenplay from which we quote on a daily basis to sound cool, more than 15 years after its release. There's always new aspects in it to discover, from the sociological themes which parallel this world which is becoming more of a fuck up day by day to the tiny amusing details, not to mention the already present tongue in cheek humor which remains fresh to this day.

This movie punched me in the face. It was awesome.

Finally a good “District” movie. Where the first 8 films failed, this one delivers a fantastic experience with an excellent lead performance from real-life human-person-turned-into-a-weird-shrimp-grasshopper-creature-thing (talk about method acting, DDL could never!), Sharlto Copley (if he’s from Africa…why is he white??), and his co-star, Alien (no, not that Alien).

District 9 (sponsored by ‘9 Lives’ cat food) graces us with a cinematic orgasm of practical, yet effortlessly effective visual and audio effects. And its celebrated screenplay was described by the then-late Roger Ebert: “Reading the words of this script was like making love to the very paper on which they were printed. Ow, now I’m riddled with paper cuts...all over my body, but damn if it wasn't worth it,” to create a gripping tale of Homo sapiens vs Extra-terrestrials and how we should all just learn to get along.

And let’s get real, this is the most inspired Best Picture nomination since Babe. If you can get over the irresponsible parallels of Wikus’ (Copely) mask-shaming ideologies (referring to the face mask: “You don't need that, man. Only sissies wear that. You don't need that,”) then watch this foking great movie and spread its gospel!

I haven’t seen it in 9 or 10 years, which is probably reflected in how little I actually make sense in this review, so please go watch it again (yes, a second time, since you should have already watched it mid-paragraph when I first told you) and get back to me with notes so I can then go back in time and rewrite this review to actually make sense. Thank you.

And if mhynson27 actually posted this garbage in the thread, then please ban his IP - AT ONCE. What was he thinking asking me to write a review in the first place??.

After watching Jason Bourne kick ass in a variety of different ways, run from everyone and their grandmother, and try to find out who the hell he is for two movies... we now watch him do these same things… except better. The stakes are at their highest, the action is immaculate, and that goddamn ending owns.

Borne out of the savage pen of Nick Cave, The Proposition is as moody and melancholic as any song off the Birthday Party album. Set in the blasted wastes of 1880s Australia, Cave—along with his frequent collaborator, director John Hillcoat—sets the stage for a grisly revenge fantasia redolent with violence . . . and yet there is a sweetness to it as well, an almost elegiac tone that is even more impactful than the vicious displays we see on-screen.

The story is simple, yet almost a Biblical parable: on-the-run outlaw Charlie Burns (Guy Pearce at his steeliest) is captured along with his beloved younger brother Mikey. While Charlie is in chains, he is presented with an offer—the titular proposition—by Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone at his most commanding). If Charlie accepts the deal, he and Mikey will walk free, absolved of their crimes. But if Charlie refuses, then Mikey will hang on Christmas Day. The proposition? Charlie must track down and murder his other brother, Arthur (Danny Huston), the bloodthirsty ringleader of the Burns gang. Charlie accepts, and the countdown begins.

The beauty of the film is staggering—Australia has never looked better than under cinematographer Benoit Delhomme’s eye. The dialogue is poetic, speaking to Cave’s roots as a balladeer, and the score that he and Warren Ellis provide is positively haunting. The performances are majestic, one and all (Winstone and Emily Watson, who plays Stanley’s adoring yet undeniably fish-out-of-water wife, stand out in particular). And Hillcoat’s direction is sharp as a skinner’s blade, knowing precisely when to cut and where. And when it cuts, you damn sure bleed.

It’s generally quite beyond me how Pedro Almodovar routinely manages to make films so colorful, melodramatic, structurally precise, dreamy, satirical, darkly comic yet sensitive and humanistic. Talk to Her is among his most beautiful and moving in this regard. It’s also some pretty fucked up shit. Gracias, señor.

A great deal of what is on this movies mind can be gauged simply by reading the title. Kim Ki-Duk's contribution to South Korean cinemas explosion upon the world stage in 2003 is an expansion of that. Through laying out with minimal use of dialogue a simple story of the endless cycle of life they manage to convey so much. To pull off that trick, conveying deeper thoughts through narrative simplicity with next to no concessions for anyone unwilling to come up with the answers themselves is no easy feat to execute without seeming very much like a case of the emperors new clothes, yet it's always been Kim's speciality, and here he's in the zone. I mentioned before the 2003 birth of the Korean golden age, unlike the other 3 pillars of that momentous year - Oldboy, Memories of Murder and A Tale of Two Sisters, this movie revels in economy, Kim's magic trick is accomplishing as much as any of those movies do by doing about a quarter as much. I think the easiest way to sum up is for this restless young monk to steal the words of a wiser old one - "The protagonist in this film is life, and the antagonists are time and change. Nor is it that simple, because to be alive, you must come to terms with both of those opponents." Life, Kim Ki-Duk dares to suggest, is simple... Unless you're living it.

To call this merely a “superhero movie” is an insult. This is a movie about identity. About what it actually means to be a superhero. Peter Parker is broke. His Aunt May is losing her house and there’s nothing he can do for her. He lives in a shitty apartment with a shittier landlord. He can’t even hold down a pizza delivery job. He’s behind in his schoolwork. The love of his life has a new man.

Is all this superhero shit worth it? A complicated question… but there’s one thing that I know for sure:

Capeshit will never reach these heights again.

Featuring touchy subject matter and a cast that was relatively unknown at the time, few involved in the production of The Hurt Locker probably expected it to win the Academy Award for Best Picture at the time of production. There's plenty to praise from Kathryn Bigelow's captivating direction that often makes the viewer feel like a 4th member in this team to the incredibly intense bomb defusal sequences and the excellent chemistry between Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, and Brian Geraghty. The war genre is a crowded one, but The Hurt Locker manages to create a unique experience unlike many others.

A feast of color, Volver finds Pedro Almodóvar where he’s the most at home: in the middle of the entanglements of strong, real women. In this fascinating tale of ancestry, mortality and sisterhood, the Spanish director never loses sight of what gives depth to this story: as tempting as the more explosive, hysterical moments might be, he always finds moments of reflexion in which the deeper truths come out. Its feet on the ground is embodied by the tour-de-force performance by Penelope Cruz, who here balances a more salt of the earth persona with a fiercer side.

This may just be Pixar's funniest film, and thanks to its colourful cast of characters, it's not just limited to Billy Crystal's hysterical vocal performance either. And of course, it has no shortage of their usual heartwarming moments. The creative, detailed world-building, a fantastic screenplay filled with tons of wit, the strong supporting cast and smart storytelling make Monsters, Inc. one of the best Pixar films.

Mysterious Skin is an incredibly powerful film dealing with the difficult subject of child molestation and the different effects it can have on the abusee. Araki handles the sensitive material with great care crafting a movie that at times is hard to watch but always holds you with a firm grip. The final scene is absolutely devastating yet leaves you on a possibly somewhat hopeful note. The cast elevates the film - captivating performances across the board, led by a magnificent, career-best turn by Gordon-Levitt. Standout soundtrack as well, haunting and beautiful.

A 9/11 movie being released a mere several years after the actual tragedy occurred was a notion that didn't sit right with a lot of people when Paul Greengrass's United 93 premiered. America was still deep into its healing process at the time, and some feared a Hollywood film would simply sensationalize the event. Fortunately, that's not what we got at all. Indeed, the most striking thing about Greengrass's return to biographical filmmaking is just how non-sensationalized and stripped down it is. No major Hollywood actors are to be found anywhere in this picture; instead, a cast of relative unknowns appropriately portray the average Joes and Janes who found themselves facing an unthinkable fate on that day that is now etched into the annals of history- a day that seemed just like any other to those unassuming souls.

The commitment to authenticity bleeds through in every frame. Greengrass's hand-held, guerilla-style of filmmaking lends itself very well to the story, which is a sprawling whirlwind of tension, suspense, political intrigue, and action, marvelously edited by the Oscar-nominated team of Claire Douglas, Richard Pearson, and Christopher Rouse. One cannot discuss United 93 without discussing its final act, which is perhaps one of the most heart-racing, harrowing final acts to any movie ever. The fact that we the audience already know the ultimate fate of Flight 93 and its passengers does not hinder these moments from being edge-of-your-seat suspenseful and lump-in-your-throat heartbreaking. It's one of the saddest endings ever, full stop, but more than that its one of the most poignant. And I think that's the true miracle that Greengrass was able to pull off with this remarkable film, being able to turn what could've easily been a piece of sensationalized propaganda into a reverent ode to the fallen heroes of the 21st century's defining event.

One of the most difficult tasks for a director is to get the moviegoer as close to the film as possible. If you watch a film it's one of the most exciting things if you can almost grip the atmosphere and you feel as close to the scenery and characters as possible. In "Diving Bell and Butterfly" Julian Schnabel pulls off a rare trick. Cause for some minutes you are the main character. After a stroke Jean-Dominique Bauby is only able to move his left eyelid and the camera films the first scenes just as we would have the same so very limited field of vision. Added we also get to hear Bauby's thoughts and so get a better impression than in a conventional way of the sad fate of Bauby.

The camera changes though and we get to see his tries to learn to communicate with his environment only through his eye, a truly inspirational story. The second, more traditional approach of telling this film, now helps in a very emotional way. Mathieu Amalric gets it done to move the viewer despite he can show almost no (visible) emotion in his role and is added by a fantastic supporting cast, lead by Marie Jose Crozee and of course there is a heartbreaking part by Max von Sydow as Bauby's father. The cinematography of Janusz Kaminski and a very beautiful chose soundtrack help making this an unforgettable emotional journey.