Dir: David Cronenberg
Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts
David Cronenberg had made a string of great films in the '80s although they never achieved anything more than cult status. But over the past few years, Cronenberg has proven that he's a more than capable mainstream director. And why wouldn't he be? Eastern Promises was his second mainstream film and collaboration with the brilliant Viggo Mortensen. Mortensen is in top form here as the intimidating Russian gangster and David Cronenberg elevates what could have been a rather average crime/thriller into one of the best films of 2007. The film also contains a solid performance from Naomi Watts and, for the ladies, you might enjoy the scene where Viggo Mortensen fights a guy while completely naked... I definitely did not enjoy that... why would I? I wouldn't!
59. Thank You for Smoking, 2006, USA
Dir: Jason Reitman
Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Katie Holmes
Thank You for Smoking was Jason Reitman's first full-length film and it's still his best, albeit by a slim margin. Smoking features a fantastic, dominating performance by Aaron Eckhart who wasn't really well-known by American audiences at the time. It also didn't hurt that Thank You for Smoking has a plethora of great supporting actors filling in for the smallest of roles. Whether it's the reliable JK Simmons, Rob Lowe, or Robert Duvall. Combine that with a hell of a script adapted from a Christopher Buckley novel by Jason Reitman and you have a great film. I've probably said that a few times before but that's because it's hard to write over 40 of these things.
58. Little Children, 2006, USA
Dir: Todd Field
Cast: Kate Winslet, Patrick Wilson
It's easy to get lost into the strange suburban world that is in Little Children. The characters are well-rounded and the story is immediately engrossing. The film concerns a couple of people living in the suburbs of Boston and the film slowly twists and combines their stories in very odd and shocking ways. Probably the most surprising aspect of this movie is the performance by Jackie Earle Haley. Former child star turned to creepy pedophile... his acting in this movie will stick with you for a long time. Todd Field directs this movie in such a formal way that it's almost as if you're reading a book on screen. It's just so layered and detailed and particular, yet it's also shot beautifully as was Todd Field's first film.
57. Iron Man, 2008, USA
Dir: Jon Favreau
Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Jeff Bridges
Iron Man is one of the most pure forms of summer blockbuster entertainment to come out in the last decade. Containing a true comeback performance by Robert Downey Jr. who has now become a bonafide action star, which would've been hard to imagine back in the '90s. I remember some people were a bit uncertain about Downey Jr. taking on this role, but it actually made perfect sense. Thanks in part to Jon Favreau, we finally had a superhero movie where the superhero was actually fun. Sure, I love Nolan's Batman and Bruce Wayne is quite the suave, sophisticated guy, but wouldn't you rather wanna party with Tony Stark? I know I would. The movie moves along much like any introductory superhero film as it shows how Tony Stark came to be Iron Man. The writers do a great job with this film and kept us entertained all the way to the end.
56. Black Hawk Down, 2001, USA
Dir: Ridley Scott
Cast: Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor
One of the few good war movies of the last decade is also one of the few good Ridley Scott movies of that decade. Scott had a really inconsistent decade in the 2000s and even some of his better movies had a lot of flaws such as Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven. But, Black Hawk Down is a great example of what Ridley Scott can do with some really solid material. You know you're going to get a highly technically proficient movie when Ridley Scott is at the helm, but the raw, natural look to this movie is what makes it a big winner in my eyes. There is also some great performances all around including, surprisingly enough, from Josh Hartnett. The movie deals with the near-disastrous mission with American troops being sent down to Somalia for a mission and it immediately goes from bad to worse within the day. The movie, in straight-forward fashion, delves briefly into several of the troops' lives. It's not about one soldier in particular, but all of them combined. And the movie does a great job of weaving in and out of different stories and characters. I would easily put this movie behind Alien and Blade Runner as one of Ridley Scott's best movies.
55. Gangs of New York, 2002, USA
Dir: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis
This long, sprawling film by one of the all-time greats is a lot to take in at first. Leonardo DiCaprio's first collaboration with Martin Scorsese was not taken too lightly by most Scorsese fans even though the film generally had a positive reception by most people. But it's not fair for anyone to have to be pinned against an actor like Daniel Day-Lewis, let alone Leonardo DiCaprio. Day-Lewis's performance is just terrifying as Bill the Butcher, but I would say that Leo holds his own pretty well in the movie as it is a very tough role to nail. But furthermore, Gangs of New York tells one hell of a story and Scorsese, of course, does a great job portraying it on screen. It may not be his best work, but it's highly underrated* and definitely deserves to be among these other great films on this list.
*I know that the film was nominated for like 10 Oscars at the time, but I'm talking what people think of the film now.
54. Kill Bill, vol. 1, 2003, USA
Dir: Quentin Tarantino
Cast: Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu
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53. Kill Bill, vol. 2, 2004, USA
Dir: Quentin Tarantino
Cast: Uma Thurman, David Carradine
When you put the Kill Bill volumes together, you have a masterpiece. But they're two separate volumes so they have to be lower on this list. The fact of the matter is that both volumes show two sides of Tarantino's strengths. Volume 1 shows his great knack for shooting highly stylized action scenes in very entertaining ways while volume 2 showcases his knack for writing brilliant dialogue. Overall, the story to these movies is very simple and straight-forward. But Tarantino does not tell it in a straight-forward way, why would he? He never does. Tarantino always elevates the material he writes once it gets put onto the big screen and it's what he does with the Kill Bill series. But, they are separate movies. I have always felt, and still feel, that if Tarantino would've edited these two volumes together that you would have a bonafide masterpiece, no doubt about it. Together, these films have everything you could ever want in a Tarantino movie. In this case, the whole is truly greater than the sum of its parts. Nevertheless, Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Lucy Liu, among others are all fantastic and fun to watch in these movies. I know there are Quentin Tarantino detractors out there, but I am definitely not one of them. I wouldn't consider myself a Tarantino fanboy, but I just get a kick out of his films and can watch them over and over.
52. The 40-Year-Old Virgin, 2005, USA
Dir: Judd Apatow
Cast: Steve Carell, Paul Rudd
Some Apatow haters might hate me for placing a movie of his so high on this list, but I have to. I have seen The 40 Year Old Virgin too many times not to include it on this list. I think the movie is absolutely hilarious and brilliant all the way through and it, right away, shows Apatow's penchant for writing very vulgar, but human characters. The reason why this movie works so well is because of Steve Carell's great performance and the seemingly never-ending amount of improvised dialogue that goes on with the supporting actors in this film. That would include Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, and Romany Malco. I could listen to these characters talk all day. And I prefer Virgin over Knocked Up, in particular, because I feel that 40 Year Old Virgin never loses sight on the main thing it's supposed to do - be funny. Whereas Knocked Up kinda loses that edge after awhile even though it's still a good film in its own right. Then Funny People continues that path, although that was intentional. Anyway, I love these characters, I love all the dirty jokes, I love how the story unfolds, and by the time the film ends with everyone singing "Age of Aquarius," it's hard not to want to relive this movie for another 2 hours.
51. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, 2000, Taiwan/Hong Kong
Dir: Ang Lee
Cast: Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: a true martial arts near-masterpiece from the very eclectic Ang Lee. The movie drew the interest of American audiences across the country as they were dazzled and amazed by the film's groundbreaking special effects and stunt work. But the most shocking aspect of the movie is the fact that the majority of the action scenes do not contain any CGI whatsoever. I never understood why Hollywood insists on going the CGI route when Crouching Tiger proves that you can have breath-taking action scenes without it. And I'm not using the word "breath-taking" loosely. It really is. You also have a wonderful romance between the film's two main characters Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh, plus a great performance from Zhang Ziyi. While this is no doubt a great martial arts film, Ang Lee adds to the movie a very necessary human element which really sets it a part from other martial arts films.
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