Scott's list of the top films of the decade - First Entry

    This is a list of personal preference. It is not necessarily a list of what I think the greatest or most important films are of the past decade.  It also isn’t simply my favorite movies of the past decade. I consider my opinions of films to be a balance between the pleasure of good art and the enjoyment of good entertainment.  Additionally, I determine the films worth based on the context of what it is attempting to accomplish. Planet Terror, for example, would never be considered a great movie by film critics, but it was never trying to be an Oscar contender. It was trying to be a gloriously ridiculous zombie flick paying homage to the genre classics from another decade; it achieved that goal with superb execution. In short, I consider the overall greatness of the film and the entertainment value all within the context of what the film was trying to do. All of which is entirely subjective so I don’t know why I bother trying to explain. All that is important is that you know that this list… is an absolute good. (Name that movie!)

    Oh, and I’ll go down the list all through the month of January. So stay tuned for the rest on the list. But let us begin with the worst of the best of the 00’s.

Up (2009):

     I had a hard time choosing between this, my favorite Pixar movie to date, and Memento for the number 10 spot. The critic in me said: “Memento is a far more important feature film that put a new spin on the narrative structure on blah blah blah.” I loved Memento… I love Christopher Nolan (see #3 on the list); but I have seen Up about five and half times now and each time my heart is hooked on the perfect love story of Mr. Fredrickson and Ellie. This movie is just one of the shining examples of why Pixar is the king of animation: they make good story-telling look easy. It is simple but multilayered with perfect character/plot development –almost everything comes full circle by the final act. Not to mention the story is beautifully crafted with bright colors, stirring music, and great voice acting. Sure there are some weaker talking dog puns thrown in (not that there isn’t genuine humor to be found), but the story is so beautifully woven for me to care.

    Favorite moment: Tie between the perfect silent montage depicting  the life Ellie and Mr. Frederickson shared together and the moment at the beginning of the final act when Mr. Fredrickson discovers Ellie completed her scrap book and he begins to uproot all of his prized possessions in order to embrace his new adventure.

    Pixars magic, though it began in the 90’s, must be addressed; for in the past decade this studio has given us Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars (my least favorite), Ratatouille, and WALL-E. I don’t think the world realizes how rare it is for a production company, which could so easily shove out crap and still make a hefty profit, to care so deeply about good storytelling. And it is beyond obvious, through their work alone, that the good people at Pixar are a passionate bunch.  Bless you Pixar.

 - By Scott