Just ten years ago, we were unearthing our analog phones and covering our heads with tin foil hats while listening to Matchbox Twenty and Creed to prepare for Y2K – the day electronics would turn against us. It’s true, the new decade will arrive with considerably less dangerous fanfare and hoarding of canned goods, but it should not and does not take away from all of the films that impressed not only audiences, but the Tomatometer as well over the past ten years. With our annual Golden Tomato Awards just around the corner, RT braved the mothball-scented digital cobwebs in our archives to find some of the very best the Tomatometer had to offer this decade.
While film after film has
taken us forward with the voyagers of the Starship Enterprise, Star Trek was a
true origins story that wasn’t geared towards Trekkies, too simple for fans of
the show, or too complex for newbies. Star Trek delivered a visually
stunning brand of mainstream entertainment that propelled the series back not
only back into theaters, but the public consciousness. However, the movie had some stiff
competition, going up against the son of Mr. and Mrs. Bond and a man in a bat suit, amongst a number of others but its broad
appeal and ability to recruit a whole new generation of Star Trek fans
make it the Best Reboot of the Decade.
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We shouldn’t be surprised at all. Written and directed by Brad Bird — who showed
what he was capable of with the superb Iron Giant — The Incredibles is
a classic that succeeds in that rarest of ways; poking fun at the genre while at
the same time celebrating it and bringing something new and exciting to the
form. It’s almost like Bird read Watchmen and distilled the novel’s
premise to a pure comedic element. Fallen strongman Mr. Incredible and his wife,
Elastigirl, have been forced into a suburban life since superheroes have been
outlawed; only to return to action when crazed villain Syndrome — who’s the ultimate
fanboy — sets out to wreak revenge on those that created him.
With Bird’s impeccable sense of retro design writ colorfully in Pixar’s CG
world, The Incredibles is an artistic triumph as well as being a
dynamic action film and a seriously smart comedy — in any genre, really. It’s
an “unprecedented film that is not just a grand feature-length cartoon,” wrote
the Los Angeles Times, “but a grand feature.”
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Directing her first feature, longtime TV producer Havana Marking deserves credit
for shining a light on a cast of characters that don’t often have a voice in the
West. It’s a powerful, thought-provoking debut that’s tense, insightful,
inspiring, heart-wrenching…and true.
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A little less than halfway through the decade, indie director Alexander Payne
brought us a thoughtful and melancholy yet often hilarious road trip movie about
a failed writer (Paul Giamatti) and his soon-to-be-married college pal (Thomas
Haden Church). Miles Raymond (Giamatti) is the former of the two, a wine
enthusiast and divorcé pining for his ex-wife who decides to take his buddy Jack
(Church) on a weeklong trip through California wine country as a last hurrah
before Jack is married. The pair end up meeting a couple of women (Virginia
Madsen and Sandra Oh) along the way, and their short vacation quickly becomes
transformative for both of them. Praised for its outstanding performances and
intelligent script, Sideways was a sleeper hit, winning several awards
and helping to launch the mainstream careers of its stars.
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A lot of things turned audiences en masse away from Master and Commander when it
was theatrically released (where it didn’t even cross $100 million): its awful
title, its fondness for dialogue, and its lack of pirates. Naval officers on the
high seas? They don’t sell! Master and Commander is a lumbering character piece,
a literate blockbuster that preferred you get to know the characters before it
got into any sequel talk. It’s a movie that’s as much Russell Crowe’s as it is a
showcase for co-star Paul Bettany (who plays the temperate surgeon to Crowe’s
blustery captain), further dividing audiences who wanted simply a mindless
star-driven action flick.
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But in late 2000, director Ang Lee introduced the rest of the mainstream world
to the Chinese period epic with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and
suffice it to say that the world was immediately smitten. Truly only a “martial
arts” movie insofar as The Lord of the Rings is merely an “action
movie,” Crouching Tiger artfully blended its share of action with
gorgeous cinematography, heartfelt drama, and an epic historical setting to
craft a fully immersive tale that resonated even with those unfamiliar with the
genre. It went on to win multiple awards, including the Best Foreign Language
Film Oscar, and became the highest grossing foreign language film in American
history. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is the martial arts movie for
people who don’t watch martial arts movies, and it paved the way for other films
of a similar nature, such as 2004’s Hero and this year’s Red
Cliff.
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Worlds faced its toughest competition from The Road, where
Cormac McCarthy discovered you can wring Pulitzer-winning drama from the
post-apocalyptic aftermath — even without Kevin Costner or Mel Gibson around to
pump up the action. The Day After Tomorrow proved that nobody destroys
things with quite as much panache as Roland Emmerich. The Core combined
the dramatic might of Hilary Swank, Stanley Tucci, and DJ Qualls in a good old
fashioned blockbuster epic featuring a team of scientists, an early cameo
appearance by “unobtanium” and a daring plan to detonate nuclear bombs at the
center of the earth. And this year, Emmerich was back dreaming up new ways to
destroy the planet, turning the Mayan calendar for inspiration to use $200
million worth of state-of-the-art CGI to create its own brand of apocalyptic
charm.
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While many elements of the story’s plot was altered or removed completely, and
the movie itself not necessarily geared towards children, critics responded to
the movie’s joie de vivre and surprisingly thoughtful meditation on how to grow
up and how to do it with style. Fantastic Mr. Fox hasn’t found its audience in
theaters, but expect a cult audience in coming years when it hits the home
market. Like a good classic book, this is something kids may want to cherish and
experience again as they grow.
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At 93% on the Tomatometer, Juno also added four Oscar nominations to
its resume’, with one win going to Diablo Cody for her story about an unexpected
teen pregnancy. Not only was the story recognized, but the Juno role
ultimately catapulted Ellen Page to star status. Overflowing with wit and heart,
strong performances by Page, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, and Michael Cera
(as the baby daddy) gave critics and audiences plenty to love. Beating out some
tough competition, Juno‘s preggers five foot frame stands
tall this decade.
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Hairspray |
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That’s the dilemma Joel (Jim Carrey) and Clementine (Kate Winslet) face in this
delirious, phantasmagoric feature, which blends science fiction, comedy, and
romance with director Michel Gondry’s gonzo aesthetic and Charlie Kauffman’s
thoughtful concepts. It’s one of the trippiest movies of the decade, and yet
it’s touching and poignant — the type of movie that rewards multiple watchings
and casts a personal spell on each viewer that sees it.
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