Last week, our review of the Noughties included its choice of best albums, films and the most influential books. It triggered a huge response on our blogs. Here is a small selection
THE 20 BEST FILMS
DONALD CLARKE
1 There Will Be Blood (2007)
2 Hidden/Caché (2005)
3 Spirited Away (2001)
4 Mulholland Dr (2001)
5 Let the Right One In (2009)
6 In the Mood for Love (2000)
7 Far From Heaven (2002)
8 Hunger (2008)
9 Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
10 Brokeback Mountain (2005)
11 Lost in Translation (2003)
12 The White Ribbon (2009)
13 Wall-E (2008)
14 Oldboy (2003)
15 I’m Not There (2007)
16 This Is England (2006)
17 A Serious Man (2009)
18 Team America: World Police (2004)
19 A History of Violence (2005)
20 Primer (2004)
This Is England?Jaysus, but it was awful. The Wedding Singerwith skinheads (funny hair, funny clothes, funny politics). And as for There Will Be Blood– it builds and builds and builds, then Paul Dano gets hit, then it fizzles out to nothing. Let the Right One Inwas amazing though. alexkintner
1 There Will Be Blood
2 The Lives of Others
3 Adaptation
4 Brokeback Mountain
5 The Sea Inside
Derek
Some glaring omissions: The Proposition; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Lord of the Rings(any); Synecdoche, New York; Memento; City of God; Touching the Void; Bus 174; Red Road JF
Can't believe Wall-Eis on the list. Without doubt Upis a far superior film. Sean Scally
Most unfathomable omission – City of God. Plus no film involving either Charlie Kaufman or Philip Seymour Hoffman? Me disagrees. Most unfathomable inclusion – A History of Violence. Cronenberg's worst film since Crash. Murta
As end-of-decade lists go, Donald's is pretty spot on. Okay, so City of Godwasn't on there, but it's nice to see something like Spirited Awaymake the grade instead. I usually disagree with lists by the third pick, but I got to 20 on this one with no complaints. Loughlin
Children of Men(2006) should surely get a nod – the long takes of the siege and in the car are incredible, and it was a great film regardless. From a personal standpoint, American Psycho(2000) should get in there for making an unbearably dull book into an absolute riot. Finally, the list fails to include a balls-out comedy – Anchorman(2004) is, for better or worse, the Airplane!of the decade and the most quoted film of the decade. bateman
I'm sure that is probably the most agreeable list in the coming avalanche of movie top 10s, Donald. But look at these gems you missed! 28 Days Later, Casino Royale, Ivans XTCand, as mentioned already: United 93, Requiem for a Dream, City of God. And Team America?Surely Boratcrammed a lot more laughs in? Donal
1 No Country for Old Men(best book adaptation; best cinematography; best casting; best script)
2 Children of Men(best edge-of-seat sequence)
3 City of God(best slum move)
4 Memento(best time distortion move plus best opening scene)
5 The Lives of Others(most sobering move)
6 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind(best poster plus best snow-on-beach scene plus best delayed opening title)
7 Sexy Beast(best unexpectedly good movie)
8 Being John Malkovich(best movie starring John Malkovich)
9 Insomnia(most underrated movie)
10 The Beat That My Heart Skipped(can't remember this, so best title)
Vincent
***
THE TOP 20 ALBUMS
TONY CLAYTON-LEA, JIM CARROLL AND LAUREN MURPHY
1 Arcade Fire Funeral (2005)
2 Arctic Monkeys Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not (2006)
3 The White Stripes Elephant (2003)
4 Bon Iver For Emma, Forever Ago (2007)
5 Fleet Foxes Fleet Foxes (2008)
6 Gillian Welch Time (The Revelator) (2001)
7 Brendan Benson Lapalco (2002)
8 Antony and the Johnsons I Am a Bird Now (2005)
9 Cathy Davey Tales of Silversleeve (2007)
10 Interpol Turn on the Bright Lights (2002)
11 Ryan Adams Heartbreaker (2000)
12 The Strokes Is This It (2001)
13 The Avalanches Since I Left You (2000)
14 PJ Harvey Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea (2000)
15 Amy Winehouse Back to Black (2006)
16 Ash Free All Angels (2001)
17 Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009)
18 Sigur Rós Ágaetis Byrjun (2003)
19 Doves The Last Broadcast (2002)
20 Elbow The Seldom Seen Kid (2008)
ON THE WHOLE I think many would agree with at least 50 per cent of the list which is a very good result guys, however I am mystified at the non-appearance of Kid A, by Radiohead – even if you hate it you have to see it's a very significant album, surely? drsean
Just one omission would be Richard Hawley Coles Cornerfrom 2005 and I'd totally agree with Cathy Davey being on the list. Mr Savage
Ash?? Surely that's a wind-up? Chalkie
Think you missed out on quite a few important ones: Bloc Party's Silent Alarm, LCD Soundsystem's Sound of Silver, Modest Mouse's We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, Arctic Monkeys' Favourite Worst Nightmare(second album is better than first), Franz Ferdinand's debut, surely a Kings of Leon album, Daft Punk Alive. Cathy Davey is highly over-rated. To be mentioned is one thing. To be in the top 10 is ridiculous. Fair play for not having a U2 album tho! Páraic
Gah, why isn't [insert band title here] even in the list? Their [insert album number] album [insert album name] was easily one of the best albums of the decade, if not ever. Why are [artist whose album ranks highly on the list] so high? They shouldn't be on it at all, never mind at [the number]. The author should really [phrase implying the author is "out of touch" with the cool kids]. G Suther
This is the readers’ top 20, going on the first 200 comments – based on positive comments and lists. It may not be 100 per cent scientifically correct, but close enough:
1 Radiohead – Kid A
2 Arcade Fire – Funeral
3 LCD Soundsystem – Sound Of Silver
4 Radiohead – In Rainbows
5 Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
6 Sufjan Stevens – Illinoise
7 The Strokes – Is This It
8 Bright Eyes – I'm Wide Awake This Morning
9 Daft Punk – Discovery
10 Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
11 Gillian Welch – Time (The Revelator)
12 Panda Bear – Person Pitch
13 Sigur Rós – Ágaetis Byrjun
14 Antony and the Johnsons – I Am A Bird Now
15 Brian Wilson – SMiLE
16 Interpol – Turn On The Bright Lights
16 Why? – Alopecia
17 Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
18 Madvillain – Madvillainy
19 Outkast – Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
20 Super Furry Animals – Rings Around the World
Kev
***
THE 10 MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS
FIONA McCANN
No Logo Naomi Klein (2000)
The Miseducation of Ross O’Carroll Kelly Paul Howard (2000)
The Tipping Point Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
The Corrections Jonathan Franzen (2001)
Fast Food Nation Eric Schlosser (2001)
The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown (2003)
Persepolis: the Story of a Childhood Marjane Satrapi (English version 2003)
The Pope’s Children David McWilliams (2006)
The God Delusion Richard Dawkins (2006)
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius Dave Eggers (2000)
IF IT’S A list of the most influential (rather than best) books of the decade, I’m afraid Dan Brown certainly has to be in there.
The Da Vinci Code
spawned a phenomenon. You would probably have to include
Twilight
as well, and the
His Dark Materials
Trilogy by Philip Pullman – they are a modern Narnia series but better written.
Deirdre
Men in Spaceby Tom McCarthy was a wonderfully experimental effort that pointed the whole novel form in a new direction. There's life in the old dog yet! The Book of Illusionsby Paul Austen was pure reading pleasure, while Then We Came to the Endby Joshua Ferris was the novel of the decade, because it achieved the impossible by taking the most unlikely and unlikeable characters and transforming them into people we care about deeply. Eamonn Barrett
Richard Dawkins – anything and everything by him, but namely The God Delusion. Definitely a landmark in religious denunciation. If you haven't read it, do before you criticise. Caragh
Did you ever notice that the covers of other women's fiction often had the same design and fonts as the covers of Cecelia Ahern's? Declan Cashin
If you're talking domestic influence only, then The Pope's Childrenand Rosserjustifiably feature, but globally, sadly, I think Declan is probably right in that Cecelia Ahern's predictable urban mush has had more "influence". I read PS I Love Youfor work – and work it truly was. Markham
Very much of their time, as befits a list of influential books of a decade. And the weighting toward Irish books is fair enough – God knows someone has to read our books. Of the 10, I've read five, dismissed another four with a grand gesture, and one passed me right by. Of the five I've read, not one bears rereading. No Logowas particularly disappointing, saying so little so laboriously. But yes, they were the ones we talked about over our wine and very good chips in the IFC, as it was called for much of that decade. Already it seems so long ago. Mise
A pretty fair list from the looks of it. I loved A Heartbreaking Workbut the missus gave up on it after growing frustrated with the massive preamble. I'll get her back to it one day. It's also a shame that No Logo wasn't a whole lot more influential.
And, as a side note, why do these kinds of lists seem to flush out the most angry bastards on the internet? Andrew
