Top Films of The Decade (2000-2009) by Year

Here I have compiled roughly every movie that I can remember seeing from the decade spanning from 2000-2009. I ranked each film based roughly on how I felt about them at the time that I saw them combined with how I feel about them now. Because of this, there is a lot of leeway in the ranking – it is obviously subject to my fragile memory in combination with other factors like maturation, aging, and the development of a critical understanding. That said, this should provide a rough snapshot of a decade in films from my perspective as well as a general foundation for my criticism.

It should also be noted that not all rankings are alike. For instance, I really kind of like the vast majority of the movies that I saw from 2007, so even though Bridge to Terabithia is only my 16th favorite movie from that particular year, I still liked it, and if fact, liked it quite better than some films that are ranked higher in their respective years I.e. my number 16 from the year 2003 is Open Water, which I thought was a really rather terrible movie. It is harder to get a sense of where those particular love/like/dislike/hate lines are drawn in each year, but I feel like this is still a more fulfilling format than simply a top 10 list – which is customary for most professional critics. This way you at least know which films I saw in a given year (and hence, which I didn't that you think should have made my top 10), and how the other films I saw in a given year stack up against those.

2000

1. Wonder Boys
2. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
3. Almost Famous
4. Memento
5. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
6. Cast Away
7. Snatch
8. Erin Brockovich
9. Chicken Run
10. Meet The Parents
11. Requiem for a Dream
12. X-Men
13. Remember the Titans
14. Pay it Forward
15. The Perfect Storm
16. Jesus' Son
17. The Road to El Dorado
18. What Women Want
19. Coyote Ugly
20. Shanghai Noon
21. The Patriot
22. The Emperor's New Groove
23. Me, Myself & Irene
24. The Ladies Man
25. Unbreakable
26. Charlie's Angels
27. Road Trip
28. Little Nicky


2001

1. The Royal Tenenbaums
2. Waking Life
3. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The
4. Monsters, Inc.
5. Shrek
6. Moulin Rouge!
7. Ocean’s Eleven
8. I Am Sam
9. A Beautiful Mind
10. A Knight's Tale
11. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
12. Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone
13. Cowboy Bebop The Movie: Knockin' on Heaven's Door
14. Zoolander
15. Vanilla Sky
16. Monster's Ball
17. Donnie Darko
18. Serendipity
19. Behind Enemy Lines
20. Ali
21. Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back
22. Life as a House
23. The Mexican
24. The Mummy Returns
25. K-Pax
26. Osmosis Jones
27. Legally Blonde
28. Super Troopers
29. Rush Hour 2
30. Hannibal
31. Shallow Hal

2002
The Rules of Attraction
1. Spirited Away
2. The Pianist
3. Gangs of New York
4. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The
5. Punch-Drunk Love
6. Bowling For Columbine
7. About A Boy
8. The Bourne Identity
9. The Rules of Attraction
10. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
11. 8 Mile
12. Austin Powers in Goldmember
13. Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets
14. 40 Days & 40 Nights
15. Jackass: The Movie
16. A Walk to Remember
17. John Q
18. Mr. Deeds
19. Resident Evil
20. One Hour Photo
21. The Tuxedo


2003

1. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The
2. Kill Bill Vol. 1
3. Fog of War, The
4. Finding Nemo
5. Lost in Translation
6. Big Fish
7. X-2: X-Men United
8. Mystic River
9. The Matrix Reloaded
10. Cold Mountain
11. Old School
12. The Animatrix
13. Shanghai Knights
14. Underworld
15. The Matrix Revolutions
16. Open Water
17. Just Married

2004

1. Kill Bill: Volume 2
2. Incredibles, The
3. The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
4. Sideways
5. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
6. Spider-Man 2
7. Fahrenheit 9/11
8. Hero
9. Shrek 2
10.The Terminal
11. Spanglish
12. Collateral
13. Mean Girls
14. The Aviator
15. The Passion of the Christ
16. Garden State
17. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
18. Ray
19. Coffee and Cigarettes
20. The Manchurian Candidate
21. Closer
22. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
23. Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
24. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
25. Super Size Me
26. Saved!
27. Ella Enchanted
28. Finding Neverland
29. Beyond The Sea
30. 50 First Dates
31. Secret Window
32. Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow

2005

1. Brokeback Mountain
2. King Kong
3. Munich
4. Crash
5. Batman Begins
6. Howl's Moving Castle
7. The 40-Year-Old Virgin
8. Walk The Line
9. Cinderella Man
10.Tim Burton's Corpse Bride
11.Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
12. Sin City
13. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
14. Capote
15. Charlie & the Chocolate Factory
16. Robots
17. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
18. Mr. and Mrs. Smith
19. The Aristocrats
20. Memoirs of a Geisha
21. Wedding Crashers
22. March of the Penguins
23. The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe

2006

1. Pan's Labyrinth
2. Children of Men
3. Departed, The
4. United 93
5. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
6. Fountain, The
7. Little Miss Sunshine
8. Casino Royale
9. Monster House
10. An Inconvenient Truth
11.Dave Chappelle's Block Party
12.The Illusionist
13. Who Killed the Electric Car?
14. The Devil Wears Prada
15. Jesus Camp
16. Half Nelson
17. Little Children
18. Over the Hedge
19. Lucky Number Slevin
20. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
21. Cars
22. Clerks II
23. X-Men: The Last Stand
24. The Good Shepherd
25. Superman Returns
26. The Da Vinci Code
27. Happy Feet
28. Eragon

2007

1. There Will Be Blood
2. Once
3. Ratatouille
4. No Country for Old Men
5. Juno
6. Knocked Up
7. Grindhouse
8. Sweeney Todd
9. Lars and the Real Girl
10. Sicko
11. Superbad
12. The Golden Compass
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
14. Michael Clayton
15. Darjeeling Limited, The
16. The Bridge to Terabithia
17. Simpsons Movie, The
18. Ocean's 13
19. Sunshine
20. Beowulf
21. 300

2008

1. WALL-E
2. The Wrestler
3. The Dark Knight
4. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
5. Milk
6. Waltz with Bashir
7. Iron Man
8. Frost/Nixon
9. Kung Fu Panda
10. Hellboy II: the Golden Army
11. W.
12. Bolt
13. Burn After Reading
14. Quantum of Solace
15. Slumdog Millionaire
16. Rachel Getting Married
17. Vicky Cristina Barcelona
18. Role Models
19. Step Brothers
20. Doubt
21. Zack and Miri Make a Porno
22. Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist
23. The Reader

2009

1. Fantastic Mr. Fox
2. Inglourious Basterds
3. Up in the Air
4. A Serious Man
5. Hurt Locker, The
6. District 9
7. Up
8. Coraline
9. Education, An
10. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
11. The Princess and the Frog
12. Star Trek
13. Avatar
14. Watchmen
15. Precious
16. Ponyo
17. Crazy Heart
18. Hangover, The
19. Bruno
20. Public Enemies
21. Where the Wild Things Are
22. Monsters vs Aliens
23. Terminator: Salvation
24. Paul Blart: Mall Cop