Rolling Stone's 10 Best Films of the Decade

As picked by their critic Peter Travers:

10. LOTR trilogy
9. Mystic River
8. The Departed
7. Brokeback Mountain
6. The Incredibles
5. No Country For Old Men
4. A History of Violence
3. Mulholland Drive
2. Children of Men
1. There Will Be Blood

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Switch out 'The Incredibles' for 'WALL-E' and I'm good.

I almost always disagree with Peter Travers.

There are a number of changes I'd make to this list. A History of Violence, for instance. I mean, sure, good flick, but fourth best of the decade? Huh?

I'm not even sure I'd call A History of Violence a good flick. Decent, maybe. But there's a whole lot more I'd put ahead of it. And I'm a little tired of people picking one slot for Lord of the Rings. If you really thought it was that good, clear three slots for it. If not, pick one. Nobody ever takes this lame cop-out with Star Wars.

No mention of Sin City or Spiderman, which each proved very influential to movies in this decade. Without Spiderman, there would have been no Dark Knight. And speaking of Dark Knight, where's that on his list? 28 Days Later, while perhaps not a masterpiece, revived the zombie genre (pun not intended) and introduced the entire concept of fast zombies. Danny Boyle's later films, Sunshine and Slumdog Millionaire, see no mention, even though both are hailed as masterpieces.

No mention of The Prestige, which blows A History of Violence out of the water. Nothing for The Royal Tenenbaums. Nothing for Snatch, which people are still quoting and referencing ten years later. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Let The Right One In. None of the Pirates movies. Amelie. The Aviator. Zodiac. Tons of great movies over the last ten years didn't seem to impress Travers all that much. But while I found no memorable lines and only two memorable scenes in History of Violence, he feels it was fourth best in the decade.

I also happen to hate David Lynch and think Mystic River was overrated. And, while I loved them at the time (and I mean LOVED them), I've found the LOTR movies have very low rewatchability for me. Departed, awesome, Brokeback Mountain I never saw, Incredibles was good but... yeah, okay, I guess, No Country For Old Men seems like the obligatory critics' pick, Children of Men was good, and There Will Be Blood... yeah, I liked it. Though I'd say it was Daniel Day Lewis' performance that made it really memorable, the rest was just there.

I have only seen:
10. LOTR trilogy
5. No Country For Old Men
3. Mulholland Drive
2. Children of Men
1. There Will Be Blood

I agree with Children of Men. Mulholland Drive was pretty damn good.

The thing is, the Lord of the Rings is one book, with one story, broken into three parts for size reasons. Same effectively goes for the movies. That said, if I had to pick one it would be Fellowship.

I don't think the same thing is true of Star Wars.

And I've seen everything on that list except Brokeback Mountain. I think that they're mostly fine films (I wasn't fond of There Will Be Blood and Children of Men, but I can acknowledge a certain basic level of quality to them). Top ten of the decade? That, I think, is more questionable by far. (Up, for example, is clearly Pixar's best film to date, not The Incredibles.)

These lists are always kind of dumb, though. Tastes vary dramatically and the top tier of (insert media here) is usually close enough in average quality to make selecting a small handful as the "best" largely arbitrary.

The Incredibles? You gotta be kidding me.

And I completely agree with what Roethke said.

^^ Same. It's not as though the list is titled "Best English-Language Films", but sadly that's considered to be assumed... I've seen all apart from The Incredibles and A History of Violence, but I wasn't attentive through the LOTR trilogy since I watched the movies with talkative friends. I loved were There Will Be Blood, No Country for Old Men and Mulholland Drive, admittedly.

Minor nerd quibble:

28 Days <whatever> (sequel or not) didn't introduce the concept of fast zombies. First of all, 28 Days zombies aren't real zombies (wink*wink, stay with me) and, secondly, fast zombies were the hallmark of the Return of the Living Dead franchise, which began in the mid-80's.

OT: Mulholland Drive? Are you fucking kidding me? Not only is it a kit-bashed frankenstein piece that was initially intended as a TV pilot, it's easily Lynch's worst film in about five years. I liked it better the first time when it was called "Lost Highway" and was actually interesting, but that movie came out in '97.

The rest of the list just seems like Travers picked the most "critically" palatable big box office hits.

Main reason why I don't read critics reviews, I never agree with them. /shrugs/

I've only actually seen all the way through:
10. LOTR trilogy

I saw on an airplane, but didn't have headphones:
6. The Incredibles

Of the remaining films, I've only even heard of:
7. Brokeback Mountain
5. No Country For Old Men (Though this was a while ago, and it might have been a play or a book I was hearing about. It was a play first, right?)
1. There Will Be Blood (I only know about this because of the "There Will Be Bud" parody video on YouTube).

I think it plays as a powerful mediation on redemption. Its an adult film. I like how it explores and comments upon a lot of themes of the genre (Westerns) that forms its basis.

There will be blood can kiss my fucking ass. They should give that movie to insomniacs that dont repond to strong drugs. The only cool part in that movie is when Daniel Day Dewis kills the evangilst prick with a bowling pin at the end. If you havent seen it i have just saved you precious hours of your life. I like mr Lewis, Gangs of New York should have been on the list.

OH FUCK!!! value is a great measurement for the quality of a film.

Hell, I'd love to see a critic use the OH FUCK!!!-0-meter.
Screw stars.
That's so 20th century.

I though Children of Men, Brokeback Mountain and History of Violence was all very dull and boring. Then again, I think Goodnight and Good Luck was fantastic and should be on that list but I know a few people that thought that movie was boring.

That was a great movie!

Another useless list....

These lists can only be properly made 50 years in the future. Never at the time.

no mention of requiem for a dream either? Id like to know the basis of this list. as in is it just his opinion or is it based on cultural/industry significance?