Videotapes didn’t do it, DVDs didn’t do it, and even the recent recession didn’t do it; nothing can kill the power of the movies, which this year brought in more than $10 billion at the domestic box office alone — a first — as the number of theatrical releases surged from 373 in 2000 to more than 600 in the past two years (and still more than 500 this year). Have movies gotten better? It’s debatable, but perhaps not since the pre-TV era has the art form been so central to American conversation. Post film critics Lou Lumenick and Kyle Smith sat down to mull the best films of the decade that’s about to end.
LIST: BEST MOVIES OF THE DECADE
PHOTOS: BEST MOVIES OF THE DECADE
Kyle Smith: Looking at my list, I’m startled by how many movies seem to be written in the same key — of 9/11. Even two movies that aren’t about it have an oblique relationship to that day. “Amélie,” which I saw maybe two or three weeks after the attack, is an incandescently beautiful fairy tale about a Paris that doesn’t exist but ought to (and was eerily subdued after 9/11 because the decline in air travel denuded the city of visitors). And of course Steven Spielberg’s “A.I. Artificial Intelligence,” which came out two months before 9/11, contains those haunting images of a deserted World Trade Center still standing more than 2000 years in the future.
Lou Lumenick: Yes, “A.I.” is almost painful to watch for that reason. And Ground Zero right after the attack is in the background for much of Spike Lee’s best and one of his least-seen movies, “The 25th Hour,” which is about a drug dealer about to go to jail. The flick that takes on that awful day most directly, with the greatest artistry, is Paul Greenglass’ “United 93.” His Bourne movies are pretty amazing, but the ending of “United 93” is about as unforgettable as it gets in this decade. Unfortunately, there is no comparable film about the war. I guess “The Hurt Locker” is the best of them, but it didn’t even make it to our top 10 lists this year.
Smith: I liked all of your choices but one — I’m mystified by your inclusion of “The 25th Hour,” which is an uninvolving mystery with a corny last-second twist, all dressed in an unearned world-weariness. Who cares if this drug dealer goes to prison? As for “The Lord of the Rings” series, let’s face it: It’s basically an adventure about elves and goblins. “United 93” is a huge, emotionally overwhelming movie about how air traffic controllers and mid-level military officers and even ordinary jet passengers suddenly found themselves joined together to defend America. Watching it back to back with one of the most stirringly patriotic movies ever made, “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World,” I saw similarities. Today’s rugby players and air-traffic professionals seem to me the direct descendants of those feisty, indomitable 19th-century tars.
Lumenick: Well, if I were going to include a Russell Crowe movie, he wouldn’t be accompanying Paul Bettany on the fiddle. I’d go with the far more rousing, richly imagined “Gladiator,” the sort of movie MGM would have made back in the day if CGI were available. And I truly think the Rings trilogy is the “Gone With the Wind” of the decade, with a filmmaker hellbent to bring a huge hunk of literature to the screen on his own terms. God knows it inspired countless inferior fantasy franchises, including “Golden Compass,” which sank the New Line guys who bankrolled “Rings.” And then there’s Harry Potter, which is continuing to mint money straight into the teens despite the fact that only the third installment is worth watching more than once.
Smith: I have no problem with the fantasy genre, as witness “Batman Begins,” but it’s about much more than a guy and his cape. It rebooted the superhero movie and paved the way for “The Dark Knight” in the strongest, thorniest, most mature ongoing political allegory in the blockbuster domain. Two films that are almost microscopic in their vision, on the other hand — the Irish love story “Once” and the rock memoir “Almost Famous” — succeed beyond all likelihood with their passion for character and engagement with musical beauty.
Lumenick: I’m in a real minority here, but I still prefer the Tim Burton Batmans. And speaking of décor-oriented directors, I treasure the dysfunctional whimsy of “The Royal Tenenbaums” and its French spinoff, “A Christmas Story.” I’m with you totally on “Almost Famous.” I look forward to the distant day that my daughter, who has seen it about 500 times, shares it with her daughter — if for no other reason to prove that, once upon a time, Kate Hudson actually appeared in a good movie. Happy new year.
More at nypost.com/blogs/movies
THE LISTS:
10 years and countless films later, the aughts produced a bumper crop of great movies. Here are Kyle Smith’s and Lou Lumenick’s top picks of the decade.
Kyle Smith:
1. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
2. United 93 (2006)
3. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
4. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
5. Batman Begins (2005)
6. Amélie (2001)
7. Once (2007)
8. Team America: World Police (2004)
9. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
10. Almost Famous (2000)
Lou Lumenick:
1. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
2. The 25th Hour (2002)
3. Zodiac (2007)
4. Wall-E (2008)
5. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
7. Almost Famous (2000)
8. United 93 (2006)
9. Up in the Air (2009)
10. LOTR Trilogy:
The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
The Two Towers (2002)
The Return of the King (2003)