#7. The Royal Tenenbaums

(2001) ...Dir. Wes Anderson

I know, I know. Being a Royal Tenenbaums fan is way played-out. Everybody and their brother and their brother's dog loves this movie, right? Well there's a reason for that. Reason: it's a great movie.

I could take this opportunity to redundantly list the merits and achievements of this film, but that'd be lame. Instead, I'd like to solicit answers to the following questions:

1. Is The Royal Tenenbaums the best film Wes Anderson has made? If not, what is?
2. While it would be a big stretch to call Anderson one of my favorite directors, I do feel like I can count on him to consistently make very good films. Even his "worst" films are still pretty darn good. Which begs the question: is Wes Anderson the best filmmaker of his generation?

I've got my own answers to both of these questions, but I'd be interested to know what everybody else thinks first. So hit up that comment thread. Aint No Snob's going interactive. Yeah.

#8. Sexy Beast

(2001) ...Dir. Jonathan Glazer

"Oh yeah. Bloody hell. I'm sweating here. Roasting. Boiling. Baking. Sweltering. It's like a sauna. Furnace. You can fry an egg on my stomach. Ohh. Who wouldn't lap this up? It's ridiculous. Tremendous. Fantastic. Fan-dabby-dozy-tastic."

Sexy Beast opens with what may be my favorite first scene in film history. When I started making this list, I was a little bit shocked to learn that the movie is only nine years old. I sincerely feel like it has been a part of my cinematic consciousness forever (granted, I haven't been alive and conscious of movies long enough for nine years to be so negligible).

I'll forever love Ray Winstone for his turn as retired English gangster Gal Dove (as if Winstone's track record isn't pretty damn solid, as is). All supporting performances more than measure up to the impeccably written dialogue, but Ben Kingsley is most impressive as Don Logan, one of the nastiest motherfuckers you'll ever see on screen. Just you wait.

My disclosure of this Decade List has proven incredibly fitful. Two weeks ago I posted my Honorable Mentions and I've only just made it to #8, publishing each subsequent post with no regularity whatsoever. As a preface to that list of Honorable Mentions, I mentioned that some movies on this list have taken on a sort of legendary quality in my mind, have become so near to my heart and embedded in my memory that I can no longer be trusted to fairly assess or discuss them. A less neurotic person might call them Favorites.

Sexy Beast is doubtlessly one of my Favorites. So instead of blathering on and on, I'll just shut up and let you watch it for yourself. You're welcome.

#9. United 93

(2006) ...Dir. Paul Greengrass

Some people are able to watch films and detach themselves completely from the subject matter. They just observe the images and sounds, see how they're put together, and decide if the movie works or doesn't work. Me? I'm not very good at that.

So when United 93 opened in April 2006, I made a conscious decision to avoid it. Not because I was disinterested, but because I felt that dramatizing a 9/11 storyline would be a serious mistake. The most likely result of recreating a horrific scenario--the inflicted wound still fresh, no less--would be a cheapening of the lives lost. And, oh yeah, 9/11 was totally fucked. I had absolutely no intention of revisiting that day, only to risk seeing the whole gut-wrenching (yet somehow sacred) event disgraced by an ill-made film. Such was my line of thinking. So I skipped it.

The film eventually left theatres, of course, but I kept hearing about it. Kept hearing that instead of feeling cheap, the film possessed an almost unbelievable realness; a disarming authenticity. As more and more overheard feedback continued to erode my rational reason for ignoring the film (i.e., that it was inevitably doomed to fail), I began to realize that I was just being a coward. I, like many Americans, simply wanted to push the story of United 93 from my mind. I wanted to pretend that it had nothing to do with me and just leave it to history.

Not being one to casually accept behaving like a complete pussy, I checked United 93 out from the library, invited over my homey Jason Ryan, and we sat in silence for the next 111 minutes as a perfect film played on the television. United 93 had to be perfect. It had to feel real. And Paul Greengrass (an Englishman, interestingly) nailed it. He gave the United States the single best narrative film about the single most horrifyingly jarring event in our country's history.

I'd be willing to bet that the vast majority of the American public still hasn't seen this film. And I think that's due primarily to the fact that the vast majority of Americans can't bear to face 9/11 again. I can appreciate that. I avoided seeing this film for the very same reason. But I was wrong.

United 93 is required viewing. I don't mean required for film fans, I mean required for EVERYONE. See it.

#10. In the Mood for Love

(2001) ...Dir. Wong Kar-Wai

The first time I tried to watch In the Mood for Love, I fell asleep (such is the price of staying up to watch movies while the rest of the world has already gone to bed). Fortunately, I had the good sense to try again.

The second-most beautiful film of the decade (to Flight of the Red Balloon), the second-best love story of the decade (to my as-yet unnamed but perhaps obvious #4 film), and my second-favorite Wong Kar-Wai film (to Chungking Express, unoriginally), In the Mood for Love has the undesirable distinction of being the first runner-up in a number of categories. And so it occupies the #10 spot on my list, despite likely deserving better. Just wait: I'll watch it again in next month and be back here writing some desperate apology for ranking it so low.

BEST OF THE DECADE: #11-25

11. The American Astronaut (2001) ...Dir. Cory McAbee--Criminally underseen. Make your world a better place; watch it tonight.

12. Caché (2005) ...Dir. Michael Haneke

13. Amélie (2001) ...Dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet

14. Lake of Fire (2007) ...Dir. Tony Kaye--Ever seen a documentary which caused you to seriously reexamine a belief you had previously considered unassailable? I have. It's called Lake of Fire.

15. Flight of the Red Balloon (2008) ...Dir. Hou Hsiao Hsien--Absolutely, without a doubt, the most beautiful film of the decade.

16. El Aura (2006) ...Dir. Fabián Bielinsky--Bielinsky died not long after making this, his second feature film. We're all lucky he made two great movies while he could.

17. Ghost Dog: the Way of the Samurai (2000) ...Dir. Jim Jarmusch

18. Hunger (2008) ...Dir. Steve McQueen--Yes, it tops my Best of 2009 list, but was apparently released in the US in 2008. Can't follow my own rules all the time, can I?

19. City of God (2003) ...Dir. Fernando Meirelles

20. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) ...Dir. Julian Schnabel

21. WALL-E (2008) ...Dir. Andrew Stanton

22. Shotgun Stories (2007) ...Dir. Jeff Nichols--Being a man in America can be a lot more difficult than you might imagine. [Michael Shannon is an incredible actor, by the way.]

23. Downfall (2005) ...Dir. Oliver Hirschbiegel--Hitler was a human being. And that's a rather terrifying thing to face.

24. Why We Fight (2006) ...Dir. Eugene Jarecki--Find out why the US will never stop fighting wars.

25. Wet Hot American Summer (2001) ...Dir. David Wain--"I want you inside me."

Top Ten coming soon. Promise.