Most Memorable Movie of the Decade

[Temo]

I was listening to Bill Simmons' podcast on the way to work today and he had Chris Connelly on. They raised a pretty intriguing question:

We're nearly the end of the first decade of the new millennium (yes, I know it technically goes from '01-'10, but lets pretend it goes from '00-'09). So what's been the most significant, most culturally important movie of the decade.

Let's get this straight: it's NOT the best movie, it's NOT your favorite movie, and NOT the most poignant. It's just the one that people will TALK ABOUT for years to come-- something everyone has seen and will remember. Something that everyone quotes and recognizes quotes from. So in the '90s it's probably be "The Silence of the Lambs", "Shawshank Redemption", "The Matrix", or something of the sort.

Simmons first said "Almost Famous" after considering "Gladiator", but then later changed it to "Dark Knight".

I realized that I can't decide yet. I think it's either "Brokeback Mountain", "Gladiator", or "Dark Knight". Your suggestions?

 

[Chief]

I think it's been a really lousy decade for movies.

Did some looking around and the "Lord of the Rings" films are highly regarded. Not my cup of tea, though.

Most memorable, though, would probably be Dark Knight or Brokeback Mountain.

 

[Temo]

I think it's been a really lousy decade for movies.

Did some looking around and the "Lord of the Rings" films are highly regarded. Not my cup of tea, though.

Most memorable, though, would probably be Dark Knight or Brokeback Mountain.

I agree, and so did Simmons/Connelly. Connelly made the excellent point that unlike the '90s which had quite a few memorable movies (I completely forgot T2!), the '00s were all about memorable TV shows, like "The Sopranos", "The Wire", "24", and so many more.

Those TV shows are so much more memorable than the Movies made this decade.

 

[Danny White]

 

[Temo]

Haha, yea Borat might make it... which is really a sad indication for memorable movies of this decade. Not because it's bad, but it's a comedy.

Then again, maybe it's because comedies in the '90s mostly sucked.

 

[DFWJC]

I think it's been a really lousy decade for movies.

Did some looking around and the "Lord of the Rings" films are highly regarded. Not my cup of tea, though.

Most memorable, though, would probably be Dark Knight or Brokeback Mountain.

I agree regarding the "Lord of Rings" trilogy. I wasn't a huge fan (though I saw all three), but suspect history will put them FAR, FAR ahead the Dark Knight and Brokeback.

 

[Danny White]

I was listening to Bill Simmons' podcast on the way to work today and he had Chris Connelly on. They raised a pretty intriguing question:

We're nearly the end of the first decade of the new millennium (yes, I know it technically goes from '01-'10, but lets pretend it goes from '00-'09). So what's been the most significant, most culturally important movie of the decade.

Let's get this straight: it's NOT the best movie, it's NOT your favorite movie, and NOT the most poignant. It's just the one that people will TALK ABOUT for years to come-- something everyone has seen and will remember. Something that everyone quotes and recognizes quotes from. So in the '90s it's probably be "The Silence of the Lambs", "Shawshank Redemption", "The Matrix", or something of the sort.

Simmons first said "Almost Famous" after considering "Gladiator", but then later changed it to "Dark Knight".

I realized that I can't decide yet. I think it's either "Brokeback Mountain", "Gladiator", or "Dark Knight". Your suggestions?

I thought Almost Famous was a nice movie and all, but calling it the most "memorable" movie of the decade is an absolute joke.

I would echo Lord of the Rings from a pure epic standpoint. Those are movies that will stand the test of time.

Even though I haven't seen any of these movies, I'd think that Saw was one of the most influential movies of the decade in that it largely spawned a whole new genre (or revival of a genre) of movie that probably became the most dominant genre of the decade.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

yeah, it's been a tough decade for movies

you have to go back to the Matrix to find the most memorable and influencing movie

it spawned a whole bunch of action sequences in other movies and Colombine

for this decade I'd have to go Lord of the Rings too, or Harry Potter

 

[DallasEast]

The Passion Of The Christ. Final answer.

Over the years, public conversation about the movie may increase or dip at times, but the film has a significant tie-in with seasonal television much like The Ten Commandments, etc. That alone should keep it in the public eye and discussion for several decades to come.

 

[JohnnyHopkins]

I wouldn't be too broken up if any of these were officially dubbed as the Most Memorable of the Decade:

- LOTR Trilogy was pretty masterfully done.
- No Country For Old Men
- The Last King of Scotland
- Hotel Rwanda

BUT! My personal best would probably be "The Departed". It sucked me in from beginning to end. Probably DeCaprio's finest role to date.

 

[Temo]

The Passion Of The Christ. Final answer.

Over the years, public conversation about the movie may increase or dip at times, but the film has a significant tie-in with seasonal television much like The Ten Commandments, etc. That alone should keep it in the public eye and discussion for several decades to come.

That movie was a huge deal when it came out, but I really haven't heard many reference it recently.

Maybe it's bigger in the Church-going demographic, though (which would make it memorable, since that's a large portion of the American public)

 

[Temo]

I wouldn't be too broken up if any of these were officially dubbed as the Most Memorable of the Decade:

- LOTR Trilogy was pretty masterfully done.
- No Country For Old Men
- The Last King of Scotland
- Hotel Rwanda

BUT! My personal best would probably be "The Departed". It sucked me in from beginning to end. Probably DeCaprio's finest role to date.

I'm not sure any of the last 3 you mentioned are all that into the public conscious though. They're all good movies, but again, this isn't about the "best" movies, but rather the ones that people will talk about for a long time.

"Departed" might be included, not quite sure yet.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

The Departed is a good choice

it's piqued interest in South Boston, and alot of movies including that area are being made now

 

[zrinkill]

LOTR Trilogy

 

[Bob Sacamano]

The Departed is a good choice

it's piqued interest in South Boston, and alot of movies including that area are being made now

I'd also put in a word for Spider Man

it's spawned a bunch of comic book to screen adaptations, that are coming in at a record pace

 

[AbeBeta]

Borat was my favorite comedy (although "comedy" is not accurate as it is at times biting satire)

Squid and the Whale - tremendous film that should have received a Best Picture nomination. Personally, the most memorable film for me.

Bowling for Columbine - hate MM if you want, but this one was oustanding and provocative.

 

[vta]

I doubt there could be much agreement in any way.
Most of these movies are niche and don't transcend that. I never saw one of the LOTR movies and am not interested. I never saw a Harry Potter and am not interested.

I saw the Dark Night, (as well as Batman Begins), but that fits in the comic book niche and people outside of that niche, largely don't care.

Brokeback was a well made movie and I was impressed, but it will have it's own stigma for some time and we know why.

For the most part, people have different concerns this decade and no movie has been strong enough to pull them all together and away from them.

Not to mention that movies as entertainment has seriously diminished with games and computers eating away at most leisure time.

 

[DFWJC]

LOTR Trilogy

I noticed the entire trilogy made the all-time top 100 movies list put out my Time Magazine. In historical context, it totally dwarfs something like Brokeback...or even The Dark Knight.

Someone mentioned earlier that the 1990s were far better...I agree.
Unforgiven, Shawshank, Shindler's List, maybe Pulp Fiction, etc...

 

[xWraithx]

Decade is a very hard (large) sample size to pick from... I prefer to do a year by year analysis

2000 - Memento
2001 - Donnie Darko
2002 - LOTR
2003 - Matrix or Old Boy
2004 - Kill Bill
2005 - Sin City or Batman Begins
2006 - Departed
2007 - No Country for Old Men
2008 - Dark Knight
2009 - ?

 

[Temo]

I'd also put in a word for Spider Man

it's spawned a bunch of comic book to screen adaptations, that are coming in at a record pace

See, that might be important as a movie, but was it really memorable? I saw all the spider man movies, but I can't describe a single scene that I can recall at a moment's notice.