This has been a powerful and wonderful decade for me. I got married to an unbelievable woman, made lifetime friends at a very unlikely place, saw the resurgence of Alabama football, worked everywhere from political campaigns to banks to churches, and had a movement toward agnosticism arrested by hearing the Gospel in April of 2003. I laughed, cried, and blah, blah, blah.
Anyway, here are my Top 5 lists:
Top 5 Movies Made in the Decade of the Naughts:
1) Black Snake Moan – If there is a more Gospel-centric movie, I would like to see it. Not for the kiddies.
2) Stranger than Fiction – Another powerful movie with Gospel themes.
3) 21 Grams – I have a love/hate relationship with this movie. It sent me into crisis for about a month. I never want to see it again.
4) Into the Wild – I always thought I would like to live alone in the Rockies until I saw this movie. All the love this guy just ignored.
5) The Squid and the Whale – All lot of folks were able to relate to this movie.
Honorable mention: Star Trek, Letters from Iwo Jima, Melinda and Melinda, K-Pax, Waitress, City of God, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
Top 5 Movies I First Saw in the Naughts:
1) The Enemy Below – May be my favorite movie of all time.
2) Diary of a Country Priest – Absolutely jarring movie.
3) The Browning Version – Inverse of Goodbye Mr. Chips. Gospel-centric.
4) The Spy Who Came in From the Cold – Ezekiel 36:26
5) Shenandoah – Jimmy Stewart and the death of Pelagianism.
Honorable Mention: Forbidden Planet, Au Revoir Les Enfants, Hiroshima Mon Amour, M, Stardust Memories, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Marnie
Top 5 TV Shows of the Naughts:
1) Mad Men – Best TV show I have ever seen.
2) Battlestar Galactica – Gripping.
3) The Wire – Brilliant.
4) Breaking Bad – No pretense.
5) The Office – How could it be left out?
Honorable Mention: The Sopranos, South Park, Freaks and Geeks, In Treatment, Weeds (until they started getting all political), Friday Night Lights
Top 5 Musicians I Discovered in the Naughts:
1) Fred Eaglesmith – “I think the bottom of the barrel is where the answers are.” – Fred
2) Chris Knight – “There’s a gift that good Southern writers have, an ability to see beyond the surface of things and connect the landscape in which they live with the raging tempest of the human spirit.” – article about Knight
3) Mofro – Soulful swamp boogie
4) Townes Van Zandt – Sick prophet.
5) Blaze Foley – Was shot and killed in the late eighties while trying to defend his elderly friend.
COMMENTS
13 responses to “Top Five from the Past Decade”
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Hey Browder! So very happy to hear about your experience with "The Browning Version" — and that you saw the old black-and-white with Michael Redgrave (rather than the remake decades later).
I think this is one of the greatest movies ever made; and one of the best at communicating death and resurrection and a life seen through the cross. There are so many great scenes in that movie — and the arc of the story as a whole is very precious.
Thanks for letting us all know about it! Best and fondest wishes… SD
The Browning Version is vastly underrated.
Please add Gran Torino to your list of movies made in the decade. One of the most powerful Christian films ever, although I did learn it is hard to recommend to one's church, no matter how many warnings regarding language!
As always, inspired, Sir David.
Gran Torino was wonderful, Bill. It's definitely up there.
Has anyone seen True Blood? I had blown it off as tween porn, but I got it for X-mas and watched all 12 episodes in 2 days. It is really good.
Another great movie of the decade is Hussle and Flow. It should not be missed.
Hustle & Flow is really good. Forgot about that one.
MOVIE TRIVIA MOMENT FOR HUSTLE & FLOW:
Since the title words come from African American culture, proper translations were rarely found for the overseas release of the film. For example, the Russian translation of the title means "The fuss and the torrent".
ROLL TIDE!!!
I am from the Shenandoah valley. Also a pacifist. Have you ever met a pacifist who was not a pelagian? If not, we should meet. I believe that God saves elect bad guys (not by means of water) but by imputing the death of Christ to those elect bad guys so that they are no longer guilty. I even try to defend old ladies, but not by killing the bad guys. For a good book on this, read Paul Zahl's Grace in Practice.
Dave- Wonderful, wonderful list. Thank you. Didn't the guy who directed Black Snake Moan also do Hustle and Flow?! That guy sure has his finger on the pulse – I can't wait to see what he does next.
A few other relatively Gospel-themed movies from the last ten years that I'd add besides Gran Torino (which we use prominently in the Good News For People With Big Problems series btw – plug!) are Lives Of Others, Little Miss Sunshine, Spiderman 2 and maybe The Dark Knight. I guess I tend to go for lighter fare… I fully agree with your take on 21 Grams btw. Oy vey.
p.s. that Office video you link to is amazing. Speaking of which, I would include the ending of the BBC Office [the best tv show of the decade imho] as one of the greatest unintentionally Gospel-ish pop culture moments of the decade.
ROLL TIDE ROLL. I AM CRIMSON ALL THE WAY..
Black Snake moan, was truly inspired i have never seen a better illustration of the law than the chain, and grace was depicted as it is in a simul iustus et peccador way. It was a mixed bag of sin and selfishness and hardship and love and grace and self hatred. YEAH it rocked..