A Loss for Words

How on Earth does Fahrenheit 9/11 make the number one spot as the top film of the past decade? The British news outlet, The Telegraph, recently compiled a list of the Top 100 films of this past decade. The list was chosen by The Telegraph's three staff film critics, and I've gotta say, if this list was the best our past decade had to offer, then it was a sad decade in film indeed.

Of course I believe the complete opposite. There were many fantastic films from this past decade, many of which didn't even make their list. Then you have movies like Fahrenheit 9/11 or Mamma Mia on there (both of which were coincidentally in the Top 10), and I'm left completely baffled.

The movies that one would think would be obvious picks, and possibly even near the top of the heap, either weren't on there or were far down the list. The only Harry Potter film to make the list was The Sorcerer's Stone, no mention of Prisoner of Azkaban at all. The only Lord of the Rings film on the list was Fellowship. Spider-man made it, but its far superior sequel did not; where as Batman Begins missed the mark completely, and its sequel, The Dark Knight was only in the 40s. The only Spielberg film from this past decade to make it was Munich, neither Minority Report nor Catch Me If You Can. The Departed only clocked in at the 60s, which is a crying shame, the same goes for Miyazaki's Spirited Away (no sign of Howl's Moving Castle at all). And can I please ask how Knocked Up beat Miyazaki? Or how Avatar, a film that hasn't even been released yet, already made the list?

Whew! I think you can gather I'm not a supporter of this list, I just think it failed to give the full scope of this past decade in film. As well, it always frustrates me that with lists like these, the people who decide these lists tend to throw the films released more recently higher upon the list. Like if they were debating who would be number 40 or 39, a film from 2002 or 2009, they'd most likely give the higher spot to the more recent film because it's more recent on their memory. Am I the only one who has ever noticed this trend?