In light of the Writer’s Strike having just ended, I thought it might be a fun idea to write an article based around 10 really great movies within the last 10 years (1 movie per year) that were just incredibly smartly written. Whether it be dialogue, scenario, or just brilliance all around, something about each of these screenplays turned out 10 magnificent movies. Each of these descriptions isn’t overly long, and they say roughly the same thing. I just felt it was important to at least state some reasons why I thought these movies were chosen for their specific year. So let’s get started.
1997 – Chasing Amy.
Written by: Kevin Smith
Arguably one of Kevin Smith’s best movies (though maybe not his wittiest, which would go to Clerks), Chasing Amy is a story about a lesbian and the man in love with her. Whether you are straight, gay, or bi, you can’t deny that Chasing Amy has heart. And its script is really well done, at that. My personal favorite scene would be when Jason Lee is trying to explain to Ben Affleck why the relationship can’t work, using examples with Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, and the Man-Hating Dyke. It’s just classic Smith dialogue.
1998 – The Big Lebowski.
Written by: Joel and Ethan Coen
Very quick, smart, and hilarious. It’s a movie full of memorable characters and scenarios. And when the main character is known as The Dude, you know you have a classic (in one form or another) on your hands. Fuck it, let’s go bowling.
1999 – Fight Club.
Written by: Jim Uhls (based on the book by Chuck Palahniuk)
This was the hardest year to choose from. Do you have any idea how many great movies came out in 1999? A large chunk of them, actually. It was almost like everybody was afraid the world was going to end with Y2K and decided to get all their best movies out all at once. From movies such as The Matrix, The Sixth Sense, and American Beauty, it was incredibly hard to pick just one. But I finally decided to stick with Fight Club. Yes, it’s based on a book, but it was just so smart and witty that it was hard not to choose it. There’s so many scenes in this movie that are memorable, dialogue-wise, it’s hard to even pick one thing. And to top that off, you even have that narration about the ‘I am Jack’s’ such-and-such. At the very least, it was intelligent adaptation.
2000 – Requiem for a Dream.
Written by: Hubert Selby Jr.
On the other hand, 2000 was the year of a lot of crap, with such gems as Battlefield Earth. It seems that in getting out all their best ideas in 1999, and upon realizing the world didn’t end come 2000, they realized “Well hell, we still have movies to make… um…” I’ll be honest, I haven’t completely watched this movie all the way through because I didn’t care for it while I was watching it. It’s possible that it was because I was watching it after
2001 – Memento.
Written by: Christopher Nolan (based on a short story by Jonathan Nolan)
(See what I did there?). And that scene where he’s running from somebody thinking he’s chasing somebody and realizes he’s being chased instead is classic. The idea behind this movie was brilliant in and of itself. This movie can’t get enough recognition. So what can I say about Memento?
2002 – Donnie Darko.
Written by: Richard Kelly
This movie is such a mind-freak (sans Chris Angel). It still boggles the minds of us years later. It’s twisted, dark, and smart. Time travel is tricky business, and this movie handles in a great way.
2003 – Adaptation.
Written by: Charlie and ‘Donald’ Kaufman (based… around?... a book by Susan Orlean)
After the first time I saw this movie, I couldn’t watch another movie without it messing with my brain. This is the movie about movies that will forever alter the way you see movies. Love or hate Nicolas Cage, this is one of his best flicks. Not to mention it was written by Charlie and Donald Kaufman about Charlie and Donald Kaufman… and Donald Kaufman doesn’t even exist. Seriously… a movie about adapting a book that cannot be adapted so he adapts his own life and merges it with the story of the book he can’t adapt… all of this being based on the true story of how Charlie Kaufman being unable to adapt a book that cannot be adapted so he adapts his… yeah, you get it. My brain hurts, too.
2004 – Shaun of the Dead.
Written by: Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg
This movie has one of my favorite scripts in existence. I continue my claim that this movie was one of the most brilliant things ever written. Everything in this movie is either said or done at least twice in two different circumstances. And everything that happens in the latter half of the movie is foreshadowed in the first half. It had to have taken ages to plan this movie out to the degree it was. I still catch stuff in this movie after countless times of seeing it. It’s a hoot.
2005 – Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.
Written by: Shane Black (based on a book by Brett Halliday)
Regardless of the entirely overcomplicated and confusing ending, this movie was insanely quick-witted and smart. The story is tight and the characters are vibrant. It’s funny and it’s just good all around.
2006 – Brick.
Written by: Rian Johnson
2007 – Juno.
Written by: Diablo Cody
Possibly not the best film of 2007, but it was certainly one of the most original and funny. The characters are round (in the literature sense), the dialogue was fast and snappy, and everything about this movie screamed “love me, I’m brilliant.” You can’t help but love the character of Juno and her quick wit.
36 comments:
I love this list and agree with all the ones I've seen. Except, I would totally have substituted Stranger Than Fiction for Adaptation every time. It's a much better movie on rewatching. Memento is still mind-bogglingly good, and I agree these don't all make the best film of the year, but are among those that stood the test of time.
Like or love just about every movie on this list, though I have yet to see Kiss Kiss.
I wouldn't put Brick on here, though - it looked and felt like a great movie, but the dialogue, and more to the point the stlye of the dialogue, fell flat for me. I just wasn't buying that all these high schoolers were so, well, smart and well-spoken. They might as well have cast 10-year olds and I would have believed it just as much. Lukas Haas as some 16-year old, basement-dwelling mob-like kingpin was beyond hilarious.
lol... so it seems the consensus is that I should have listened to my first reaction and kept Stranger than Fiction for that year instead of Brick.
Fletch: I have to agree, though... I didn't care too much for the dialogue in Brick. I just put it there because I thought it was still a fun idea and smartly written, albeit unbelievable.
What.A.Great.List.
My favourites were Juno, Adaptation, The Big Lebowski and Fight Club.
I loved Stranger Than Fiction, I think it sucks that it was not as recognized as it should have been. Brick was also good, but in an atmospheric way, not necessarily dialogue driven, but the writing was still good, so I think you can take comfort in the fact that you made a good choice.
Adaptation is the best written film on this list, it was so original and unbelievably well-crafted, it is one for the ages.
Juno will no doubt win Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars next Sunday, Diablo Cody is my new GOD.
Great blog. Great Writing. Expect me to return, all the time, I am now hooked!
Later
You FUCKING idiot! It's Criss Angel, not 'Chris' Jesus! oh and btw, juno was way overrated, but props for recognizing brick, shaun of the dead and fight club
good list - apart from:
donnie darko, the directors cut showed us that Kelly didnt actually know what his own film was about...
Brick was OK, nicely shot but hopelessly predictable and came close to disappearing up its own arse.
Shaun of the Dead? a film that is mediocre at best?? wouldnt surprise me if the screeplay was written on a napkin
Not a bad list. I appreciate you taking the time to think up and post your list. How about checking out three more screenplays/movies? 1975 (yeah, way before the last ten years), Farewell, My Lovely. The best film noir/detective script in the last 30+ years (honorable mention: Body Heat - 1981). Best script of 1980 -- and I'm not kidding --Airplane! Think about it: taking a dead serious movie (Zero Hour) and crafting the funniest movie of the 1980s from it. 1991's City of Hope encompasses so many levels (politics, race, geography, economics, societal class, etc.) in one story that it was the best screenplay of the entire 1990s.
Great list! Great topic. I would agree w/Jess, the Stranger Than Fiction deserves a posting. As much as I enjoyed Brick, the severely affected dialogue was hamstrung by it's own overtly hardboiled dialogue. Kiss, Kiss Bang, Bang also went down the noir road of nostalgia, but with great success. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and the 40 Year Old Virgin deserve inclusion (The Lives of Others, if you throw in intl). So to make it a clean 10 based on the aforementioned, I would remove Brick, Big Leibowski(yeah, I'll get hate mail for that), and Shaun of the Dead (I liked Hot Fuzz better anyway). Thx for the thread.
I will say good choice with "Brick" over "Stranger Than Fiction".
Adaptation was released in 2002. Donnie Darko was released in 2001.
argh who on earth mentioned Stranger than Fiction. Not only was it internally illogical (see Adaptation to realise how it's done), but the little love story between ferell and maggie was just so dull. One minute she hates his guts, the next she bakes him some cookies. I totally understand the whole opposites attract thing, but please, there's got to be some constructive communication for that to be plausible. Brick is the work of a far, far more intelligent and talented writer. I didn't think it needed or tried to be believable. When I watched Juno I loved how it created its own slang, it sucked me in, made me laugh, made the movie interesting. But I never for a minute thought Cody wrote it to be realistic, that people actually talk like they do. It was too versed, too witty. It's the same with Brick- it makes up its own language to entertain and liven, not to make things believable.
To the writer of the list: some fine choices, not all the same as I would have done, but I wouldn't argue too much. Chasing Amy wouldn't make mine- maybe Grosse Point Blank for 97. 2006 I would have given to Volver. 2001 was a hard one too, Royal Tenenbaums, Amelie, Memento- all good.
Great post! Although, if you weren't a big fan of Requiem you shouldn't have picked it. There were other quality screenplays in 2000! How about Almost Famous? Or High Fidelty? Traffic? O Brother Where Art Thou?
Here's a few more:
Wonder Boys
Jesus' Son
Steal This Movie!
Sunshine
You had me until Juno (I can't forgive the "honest to blog" line, I just can't), but the inclusion of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang makes up for that. Not all of them are my favorites from each of those years but they're all pretty solid in their own rights.
What a shotty list.
First of all, finish watching a movie before you put on a list of "10 Great Screenplays", unless of course you read the screenplay. In fact, did you read any of these screenplays?
1997 was the year of LA Confidential. I don't even want to bother with the rest of this list.
2000... you really shouldn't admit to not watching the entire movie, ruins the credibility. So... 2000 best screenplay. "Traffic", "Almost Famous", "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?", "Quills". All better than a movie you can't complete.
IMO
1997: "Secrets and Lies"
1998: I won't argue with "The Big Libowsky"
1999: "Fight Club" definately but tie with "Magnolia".
2000: "Traffic"
2001: "Memento" is great, but it gave me a headache. I'll go for "In The Bedroom".
2002: I'll have to check out "Donnie Darko". Thanks for the tip.
2003: "Adaptation" is an American attempt at Felini's "Roma". The best line is the voice over saying "you should never use a voice over!" I'll cast my vote for "Lost in Translation"
2004: "Sideways"
2005: eeuuch! I'll have to see "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang."
2006: I've been wanting to see "Brick", but it was out for such a short time. Another one to check out. I thought "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters From Iwo Jima" were great.
2007: wow... I haven't seen "Juno" yet, but "There Will Be Blood" was amazing.
Im sorry.
Juno should not be there.
Yes Juno isnt that bad of a movie, but people have been acting like retards over it. HAs no one noticed how every single character in the movie talks the same way.
Its not cute, its far fetched and most scenes simply don't work.
No Country for old men
There will be blood
Gone baby gone
Those are just 3 that could be there. Do you watch a lot of movies? I doubt it looking at your list.
While the list, overall, is competent, I have to disagree about a couple of things:
1) Fight Club is a well-written movie and the film is better than the book despite its fairy-tale ending. Lauds for this coup sit squarely on the shoulders of David Fincher, because the screenplay reads almost word for word from the book. One notable exception is the excised abortion joke, where Uhls definitely improved on Palahniuk.
2) Chasing Amy is a brilliantly written film and should be enough to prove Kevin Smith's worth, bad later work not withstanding, to the most hard-boiled of haters. That is to say: it won't, but it should. LA Confidential is fantastic as well, but in comparison to the source book, it comes off trite, appearing to pull its story beats directly from Syd Field.
3) Donnie Darko will have much to atone for in cinematic hell. It's not even a particularly bad movie, but it confuses its own daft self to such a degree that it has the appearance of depth and originality. Thereby,
cinematic dilettantes feel they can name-drop it with the apparent intention of sounding intelligent. Also: it's crap at time-travel. That's part of the schtick. Go find a copy of Primer or Back to the Future (yes) and see how to do it right. That goes for you, too, Richard Kelly.
aside from the big lebowski, this could easily be my list of worst screenplays
I thought "Fight Club" is one of those the-journey-is-better-than-the-destination. I felt that the ending was a cop out when it was all revealed to be only in his head.
I agree with "Shaun of the Dead", tho'.
To the guy who got pissed off at me for spelling Criss Angel's name wrong: Get a life.
To the guy who tried to correct me on the release dates of Adaptation and Donnie Darko:
Adaptation - January 10, 2003.
Donnie Darko - January 30, 2002.
The dates after the titles on imdb are often production dates, not release dates.
For everybody saying I haven't seen many movies: I've probably seen more movies than you can imagine. What you're referring to is my taste in movies, not my actual having seen them.
And for the record, as stated in the actual article, this is NOT a list of what I believe to be the best films of the year. This is a list of what I believe to be some smartly written movies that came out in said year. I never once said these were the best movies or best screenplays (except for maybe Shaun, but that's because it's a personal favorite of mine). I said they were *great*.
Also, for the record, I've seen both No Country and There Will Be Blood. They are both excellent movies, but I still think Juno was more creative and original, which is why it made the list.
Love the list, not a bad movie on there! (havent seen Kiss Kiss yet but i am definitely going to check it out now)
Someothers to consider are Mulholland Dr (2001)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
The Fountain (2006)
All great mindfuck movies!
1997 As Good as It Gets
1998 Pleasantville
1999 American Beauty/Fight Club
2000 Requiem for a Dream
2001 Amelie
2002 The Hours
2003 Kill Bill: Vol 1
2004 Sideways/Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2005 Everything is Illuminated
2006 Little Miss Sunshine/The Science of Sleep/Stranger than Fiction
2007 Death Proof (Grindhouse)
MMMkay, see, I agree with this list. The screenplays are original, but don't always work on screen. Brick in particular didn't work. There are many other screenplays I would have liked to include, but judging on the parameters you give, the list makes sense.
By the way, the ending to Old Country still pisses me off. I prefer There Will Be Blood and Juno to it, but I see it winning Sunday despite what I have told everyone around me. i hate it when I'm wrong...
That poster was right about the release dates of Adaptation and Donnie Darko. Jan 30, 2001 and Jan 10, 2003 are the wide release dates so if that's what you count as an official release for the list that's fine. But Darko was at Sundance 2001 and most other festivals that year and Adaptation was released in 02 because that's when I saw it and it had to be released in some form to be eligible for the 03 Oscars against Chicago, Gangs of New York, etc which it was.
Great job on the list though, 99 was really a phenomenal year. Glad someone finally gave respect to Lebowski as a great script in a list like this. But Juno, that movie will be forgotten in 5 years as just a fad while There will be blood will be a classic.
Yo, Brick was a great pick! I love that movie! I agree with most of your films except for Chasing Amy, there must have been something better in '97
ugh... pretty lame list.
why was this linked on imdb? it screams "i'm a college freshman who has just started to watch 'smartly written' movies in the past year or two & feels superior enough to claim to be an expert on cinema to all of my equally film-ignorant friends". you didn't read the screenplays, you WATCHED the movies... and not even all of them, at that. at first glance, your reviews are suspect for their shallow, surface-level "insight" into what made them such great films... er, screenplays ("this screenplay was good because it was just so crazy! i can not believe it, the craziness! it was also just so well-written and smart and original! what a crazy, smart, original well-written movie this was, but done in a smart way!! what more can i say about this movie?"), but your statement about RFAD was, without a doubt, the final nail in your credibility's coffin. you honestly can't include a film that you watched half of in the middle of the night on TV on your top 10 list. that's just... that's simply mind-boggling. i've read a lot of idiotic stuff on the internet, but my lord, man...
by the by, adaptation came out on DECEMBER 6TH, 2002 in New York & LA & rolled out into other cities over the following weeks leading up to it's wide release on JANUARY 10TH, 2003. by that time, it was playing in every major market in the US - i have a ticket stub from when i saw it on christmas day of 2002 in detroit, about 2 weeks before your release date. in addition, ALL OF THE AWARDS IT WAS NOMINATED FOR PERTAINED TO THE YEAR 2002.
while we're at it, donnie darko WAS released in 2001 - October 21st, 2001. It played at my local arthouse theater & was pushed out within the week cause nobody knew anything about it. the january 30th, 2002 imdb release date that you're referring to is THE FRENCH RELEASE DATE.
christ, learn your shit before you try to school someone, kid. your ignorance is obvious.
on a lighter side, i do have to begrudgingly agree that most of these films were fun on a bun, with the exceptions of "chasing amy" & "juno". still, learn how to write & review, dude...
I don't see anyone mentioning that this is ELEVEN years, and ELEVEN screenplays? Duh?
I like this list mainly because you included Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, one of the most underrated movies of 2005. Brick would not have been my first choice for 2006; Match Point and Capote (among others) were great, but to each his own. I also agree that Juno shouldn't be on there - it's not bad, just overhyped and there were plenty of others that were better. There Will Be Blood truly is one of the best screenplay I've seenin years, same with No Country. But overall, not bad.
1997) "Wag the Dog". David Mamet is God. "Boogie Nights", "The Sweet Hereafter", and "L.A. Confidential" (I actually think the "L.A." script improved on the book in severael ways..
1) The elimination of the subplot w/ Exley's father and the girl;
2) The shootout at the Victory Motel was masterful. I believe in the book the shootout was on a train (Jack Vincennes was killed in the shootout, not by Dudley Smith).
My only beef about the movie was that Dudley was killed. He needs to live as a symbol of entrenched evil!
(By the way, that friendly lesbian/man-hating dyke joke isn't exactly original.)
1998) "Pleasantville", "A Simple Plan", "Primary Colors".
1999) "Being John Malkovich", "Magnolia".
2000) "Almost Famous", "Wonder Boys", "High Fidelity", "Traffic" -- take your pick.
2001) "Ghost World", "In the Bedroom", "Amores Perros"
2002) "Adap-freakin'-tation". ONe of my top ten films of all time.
2003) "Lost in Translation"
2004) "Million Dollar Baby", "The Aviator", "Vera Drake", "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind".
2005) "Syriana", "Capote", "Munich", "Brokeback Mountain"
2006) "The Departed", "The Lives of Others", "The Queen"
2007) "No Country for Old Men", "Juno", "Zodiac"
Sorry, but this list is an embarrassment. Nothing but easily accessible Pop fluff, no surprise that they're all American films. Most of these films are a joke, & it seems offensive to say that any of these scripts are 'great', when really a high rating on the overtly clever meter is what makes this list stand-out. Not to mention how the list epitomizes what your average 17 to 23 year old faltering scenester would have on their DVD shelf. The whole list is dimly obvious, uncultured, & lacks any real sense of cinema. Bland beyond belief.
What possesses people to randomly insult others they don't even know over the internet is beyond me.
I admit to who caught it that you are quite correct: It is 11 years... but I suck at math anyway, so that's expected.
I would also like to state, to whoever mentioned otherwise, that I am a senior at university, not a freshman. But my major is not in film (obviously). This is simply a hobby when I have time.
I never claimed to be a master of cinema or to have the definitive opinion of movies. I'm just a random guy who loves movies and likes to talk about them. I don't care about credibility or any of that bullshit. I'm not here to be the next Roger Ebert. I'm just here to blab about something I enjoy, like it or hate it.
I also never stated, which boggles my mind that none of you seemed to grasp, that these were the best movies of the year. In fact, I actually stated that these were NOT necessarily the greatest movies of the year, and were simply representation of a good movie that came out in said year.
As for the rest of you, I'm not even going to bother, because it's not worth the energy.
Good list for the most part. I love how some people criticize Brick for its dialogue, yet fall over themselves with praise for Juno. At least there was a fucking reason for Brick's characters to talk that way, as opposed to Diablo Cody's idea of inserting "hip" catchphrases into every other sentence.
I think this is a pretty good list, Nick. I haven't seen a few of these listed (Like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), but I agree with you on the the others I have seen.
I have to watch Adaptation again, cause the first time I saw it, it blew my freakin' mind.
-Jason
brick was the kind of movie you had to see the last half of and then cry about how awesome it was stranger than fiction although also amazing did not bring much extra to the table it was the same kind of movie seen many times before in indy movies to have it portrayed as better than a movie moving an old genre into modern day totally different portrayal is just spectacular
uhhh... 2000 was a shitty year? I guess that is true if you forget about Gladiator, Traffic, Crouching Tiger, Almost Famous, O Brother Where Art Thou? (My choice for that year), Snatch, American Psycho, High Fidelity, Ammores Perros and Battle Royale. You clearly have no idea what you are talking about if from that list you picked a movie that you didn't even finish, well either that or you just haven't seen many movies. Just because some Scientology Propoganda came out that year doesn't mean there wasn't a lot of great film.
Seriously, you stink at this. Here is a list worth watching:
Seriously Fuck that dude Here is my list:
1997: Good Will Hunting (Narrowly edging out Gattica)
1998: Run Lola Run (although I did consider Rushmore and Lebowski)
1999: The Matrix (Beating out Office Space, Magnolia and Being John Malcovich)
2000: O Brother
2001: The Royal Tanenbaums (Beating Momento Amelie and Super Troopers)
2002: Bubba Ho Tep (runners up: City of God, Gangs of New York, Igby Goes Down)
2003: Oldboy (and not: Adaptation, Lost in Translation, or Kill Bill Vol1)
2004: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind (No Brainer)
2005: Match Point (Also ran: Serenity, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Batman Begins)
2006: Hard Candy (Gettin the Scrooge: Brick, Children of Men, Little Children)
2007: Juno (Close but no cigar: Once, The Host and Superbad)
Rob: I'm going to ignore the rudeness, but comment to you nonetheless. I've seen the majority of the movies you've listed (with the exceptions of Run Lola Run, Royal Tenanbaums, and O Brother, though I've seen bits and pieces of the last and will eventually get around to seeing the whole thing). The reason I didn't use foreign films, such as Oldboy, is that I was limiting it to American movies only due to the WGA opening.
The problem was that the source I was using to give me the movies of each year was incomplete, so I didn't have a chunk of movies for each year that was listed. Also, I was basing a lot of my years on the source I was using. So in all honesty, all this rage comes from the fact I didn't use a reliable source for my information.
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