Paste Magazine: The 50 Best Movies of the Decade (2000-2009)

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If comparing music from Gillian Welch and Outkast in our 50 Best Albums of the Decade is like apples and oranges, ranking films like Amélie, The Dark Knight and Mulholland Drive is more like apples, ice cream and foie gras. But despite the wild variety among our 50 Best Movies from 2000-2009, each is an exquisitely made, exceptionally satisfying piece of cinema that we believe will endure well after the decade has ended. There are masters like Martin Scorcese and Lars Von Trier, and relative newcomers like Fernando Meirelles and Anna Boden. There are documentaries, comedies and dramas, as well as animated films and even a super-hero flick. Mirroring a decade of globalism, the filmmakers are from the United States, New Zealand, Taiwan, Germany, Ireland, France, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Denmark, Romania, Thailand, Brazil, and nearly every part of the U.K. Let these be our recommendations for your Netflix queue. Personally, after reading the loving descriptions in these pages, I’ve already got films I missed the first time around—like Syndromes and a Century and Beau Travail—on the way. —Josh Jackson, Paste editor-in-chief

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  1. 4 -

    The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

    2001, in 31 top lists Check
  2. 13 -

    The Dark Knight

    2008, in 27 top lists Check
  3. 6 -

    The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

    2003, in 29 top lists Check
  4. 42 -

    Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi

    2001 — a.k.a. Spirited Away, in 39 top lists Check
  5. 7 -

    Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

    2004, in 28 top lists Check
  6. 5 -

    The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

    2002, in 26 top lists Check
  7. 15 -

    Mulholland Dr.

    2001 — a.k.a. Mulholland Drive, in 26 top lists Check
  8. 19 -

    Memento

    2000, in 27 top lists Check
  9. 27 -

    El laberinto del fauno

    2006 — a.k.a. Pan's Labyrinth, in 33 top lists Check
  10. 11 -

    No Country for Old Men

    2007, in 23 top lists Check
  11. 14 -

    There Will Be Blood

    2007, in 20 top lists Check
  12. 2 -

    Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain

    2001 — a.k.a. Amélie, in 27 top lists Check
  13. 1 -

    Cidade de Deus

    2002 — a.k.a. City of God, in 22 top lists Check
  14. 35 -

    Kill Bill: Vol. 1

    2003, in 18 top lists Check
  15. 41 -

    Donnie Darko

    2001, in 21 top lists Check
  16. 43 -

    The Departed

    2006, in 20 top lists Check
  17. 9 -

    Lost in Translation

    2003, in 19 top lists Check
  18. 16 -

    Up

    2009, in 16 top lists Check
  19. 36 -

    Kill Bill: Vol. 2

    2004, in 9 top lists Check
  20. 12 -

    The Royal Tenenbaums

    2001, in 8 top lists Check
  21. 34 -

    Ratatouille

    2007, in 14 top lists Check
  22. 37 -

    Little Miss Sunshine

    2006, in 7 top lists Check
  23. 24 -

    Dogville

    2003, in 14 top lists Check
  24. 3 -

    Almost Famous

    2000, in 9 top lists Check
  25. 29 -

    Caché

    2005, in 15 top lists Check
  26. 26 -

    O Brother, Where Art Thou?

    2000, in 6 top lists Check
  27. 17 -

    Juno

    2007, in 12 top lists Check
  28. 30 -

    A History of Violence

    2005, in 11 top lists Check
  29. 21 -

    4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile

    2007 — a.k.a. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, in 13 top lists Check
  30. 8 -

    Beau travail

    1999, in 15 top lists Check
  31. 22 -

    Elephant

    2003, in 10 top lists Check
  32. 25 -

    Traffic

    2000, in 7 top lists Check
  33. 47 -

    Hotel Rwanda

    2004, in 10 top lists Check
  34. 50 -

    Grizzly Man

    2005, in 9 top lists Check
  35. 32 -

    Once

    2007, in 4 top lists Check
  36. 33 -

    Gosford Park

    2001, in 6 top lists Check
  37. 52 -

    High Fidelity

    2000, in 3 top lists Check
  38. 40 -

    Billy Elliot

    2000, in 7 top lists Check
  39. 31 -

    Man on Wire

    2008, in 6 top lists Check
  40. 28 -

    Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai

    1999, in 7 top lists Check
  41. 44 -

    L'enfant

    2005 — a.k.a. The Child, in 8 top lists Check
  42. 53 -

    The Squid and the Whale

    2005, in 5 top lists Check
  43. 10 -

    Le fils

    2002 — a.k.a. The Son, in 5 top lists Check
  44. 20 -

    Sang sattawat

    2006 — a.k.a. Syndromes and a Century, in 6 top lists Check
  45. 23 -

    In the Loop

    2009, in 2 top lists Check
  46. 45 -

    The Last King of Scotland

    2006, in 1 top list Check
  47. 48 -

    Whale Rider

    2002, in 5 top lists Check
  48. 46 -

    In America

    2002, in 1 top list Check
  49. 18 -

    Half Nelson

    2006, in 2 top lists Check
  50. 38 -

    Junebug

    2005, in 1 top list Check
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Last updated on Mar 26, 2012; source