R2D2's Ultimate Top 10 Countdown Of The 2000s #2 - Dramas.

[For the last 10 days of the decade, I'm doing a Top 10 list a day, all culminating into an ultimate post of Top 10 lists. We have previously seen Top 10 Comedies. Now we're moving on.]

Top 10 Dramas of the 2000s

We start with comedy and go straight to its opposite, the drama. I'm not typically a big fan of the drama. For me, there has to be something a little extra to go with it. Whether it's a bit of comedy or a pinch of the fantastical, dramas need a little extra besides, well, drama to keep me invested. Otherwise, they're typically too depressing. For this reason, this category was tough to come up with. But I believe my choices, while mostly compiled of cross-genre films, are moreso dramas than their co-genre, which is why I placed them here. But then, once I got 10, it was tough putting them in a Top 10 order... but I somehow did. This being said, let's get to it.

10. Adventureland (2009)

This was one of my favorites of this year. It was advertised as a comedy; it was everything but. It did have some funny moments, but this is no ha-ha comedy. It's also one of those "crazy" movies that actually proves Kristen Stewart can act. And having Ryan Reynolds in it doesn't hurt, though he's not playing his usual shtick. If you're not going in thinking it's a comedy, you should go out loving it, much like I did.

9. Catch Me If You Can (2002)

Leo DiCaprio isn't one of those actors I go out of my way to see. He's good, for sure, and I'm pretty excited for his upcoming Shutter Island. But in the middle of his rise to stardom, he starred in this flick alongside Tom Hanks and Christopher Walken. On the surface, it's essentially a drawn-out heist/chase flick. But at its core, it's a character drama, a drama between the relationships between a boy and his father, as well as a boy and the FBI agent chasing him. But that heist/chase aspect is what draws me in, and the reason it made this list.

8. Driving Lessons (2006)

The adults of the Harry Potter films aren't the only ones that can act. While Dan Radcliffe has shown his chops on stage and in a few other things, I've always said that two of the better younger actors were Rupert Grint (Ron) and Matt Lewis (Neville). While Matt hasn't really done anything outside the Potter flicks, Rupert has, and Driving Lessons is the best of what I've seen (I've yet to see Cherrybomb or Wild Target). Tonally, the film is similar to Adventureland, but with a slight bit more comedy. However, like Catch Me If You Can, it's a character drama more than anything... a film that focuses on the relationships between a boy and his mother, a boy and the opposite sex, and a boy and the crazy old retired actress he has to take care of. Funnily enough, Grint was cast in this movie (opposite Potter mom Julie Walters) because the director felt he wasn't given enough in the Potter films for what he knew Grint could do. And I have to agree. Grint is great in the film, and thus the film itself is great.

7. Finding Neverland (2004)

What a cast! Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Julie Christie, Dustin Hoffman, Radha Mitchell, Freddie Highmore... telling the story of J.M. Barrie and how he came up with the idea of Peter Pan. This is a truly wonderful and magical film. On the surface, it's a fantastical film about imagination... a film with great visuals and wonderful acting. But at its core, it's about the dramas of a childish man with marital issues and his innocent friendship with a dying woman and her children. Great stuff.

6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Speaking of Kate Winslet, she has another on my list. Some might say this is Jim Carrey's best film (that award still goes to The Truman Show for me). This film was hard to place. I knew it was going to go on one of my lists, but it could honestly fit in numerous places. It could go under sci-fi/fantasy, due to its "in the head/erasing memories" nature. It could go under comedy, as it does have moments of a dark comedy. But I think at its core, it's a total drama. A couple want to forget about each other because being with one another is too hard. A young woman is in love with her boss, who is married... and other relationship dramas. It's all over the place in this film. But the character depth, even for the secondary characters, really helps this film shine.

5. Black Snake Moan (2006)

There's nothing fantastical about this movie... and you'd be hard-pressed to label it a comedy. So what draws me in with this one? I love the atmosphere. The deep south bluesy feel that emanates from every pore of this film keeps it going for me. And Christina Ricci mostly naked throughout... but I digress. It's a highly sexualized film, but there's a lot of metaphor thrown about it. There's a ton of great acting in it, too, including Sam Jackson and Justin Timberlake (believe it or not). It's not a movie you wanna watch with your momma, but I do recommend it if you love deep south culture or blues music (especially if you like blues music).

4. The Last Samurai (2003)

I'm usually not one for period dramas, but I have a soft spot for Japanese culture. I loved this film from the day I saw it in theater. Love or hate Tom Cruise, this is one of his finer films (and I'll have my other favorite on another list later). Many were skeptic about Tom Cruise being "the last samurai," but most people took it out of context of the film. Yes, it's basically your Dances With Wolves story, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable (looking at you, Avatar haters).

3. The Prestige (2006)

Another film that could have gone into a couple different categories. It could have fit under the Sci-Fi/Fantasy list, as it does have Sci-Fi aspects (particularly the sub-genre of steampunk). I could have also put it under my action/thriller section, as it has many mystery/thriller aspects. But I placed it under drama, as at its core, it's the story of a bitter rivalry and what either of these two men would do to outdo the other (and/or gain revenge). It's the study of man vs. man and the degradation of man in the process. And that's totally dramatic.

2. In Bruges (2008)

I went back and forth on this one. Drama... dark comedy... drama... dark comedy. I ultimately chose drama, because I always found this film much more dramatic than funny. Sure, it had funny moments ("Ah! A bottle!"), but the movie was way too serious to label it fully under comedy. It's pretty much the study of the lives of hit men and how they deal with life. This is probably Colin Farrell's best film, as well. It also stars three Harry Potter alums, all of which were ironically introduced in the same film. And, strangely, it's the second film in my Top 10 lists so far that stars a dwarf actor. Huh.

1. Bang Bang You're Dead (2002)

This was practically the first movie I put on my drama list, and it was automatically my #1, no matter what. This is what I feel to be one of the best and/or most important films ever made, and a film hardly anybody knows about. It's also actor Ben Foster's finest/strongest performance to date. There are no magic tricks, no fantastical trips into the imagination... there's hardly even comedy. This is straight-up drama if there ever was one. It tells the story of Trevor, a troubled boy who threatened to blow up the football team. He comes back to school the following year to even worse situations and a Zero Tolerance policy. Nobody trusts him except for his theater teacher, played by Tom Cavanagh, who gives him the lead role in a (real) play titled Bang Bang You're Dead, a play about a school shooter. Of course, this brings up a ton of controversy throughout the community. The movie is brilliant and powerful. It delves into the mind of a teenager and shows us what really brings out troubled kids... and I'll give you a hint: it's not the movies or the video games. I highly recommend this movie to anybody... really... go try to find a copy. (And don't tell me to go see "Elephant," or I'll punch you in the face.)

ADVENTURELAND.

I’m almost happy this movie didn’t get more advertisement than it did, because the advertising it did have made it seem like a big comedy, the next Superbad. And it couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s the 80s, and James (Jesse Eisenberg) just graduated college with a literature degree and plans to go to Europe as a graduation present before heading off to grad school in New York. But when his dad gets demoted, he not only loses the money to go to Europe, but nearly loses the chance to go to grad school. So he’s forced to get a summer job so that he can pay to live in New York. His old friend Frigo (Matt Bush, AKA the kid from the AT&T rollover minutes commercials) get him a job at a theme park, Adventureland, where he’s hired by owners Bobby (Bill Hader) and Paulette (Kristen Wiig). He gains a new friend, Joel (Martin Starr). But he also starts to fall for fellow co-worker Em (Kristen Stewart). Of course, it’s not that easy. Between maintenance man Connell (Ryan Reynolds) and sexy co-worker Lisa P (Margarita Lavieva), their relationships and friendships will be tested.

Like I said at the start, this movie is much more a drama than a comedy. Sure it has some comedic moments (usually in the form of Matt Bush, Bill Hader, and Kristen Wiig), but the majority of the movie is about how freakin’ miserable everybody is. But unlike movies like Knocked Up, where I thought it got too serious, the drama in this movie didn’t bring it down any, for me. It stayed at a healthy level of both drama and comedy—it wasn’t too serious to make the comedy seem random, and it wasn’t too funny to make the drama seem like too much of a downer.

My only issue with the story was that it did focus a lot on the crappy lives of these characters, but outside maybe Em and James (and more specifically Em), it didn’t go into a whole lot of depth about it. It was as if the entire cast of characters was trying to be fully developed, but fell just short. However, there’s only so much you can do in the time frame of the movie. But I don’t think adding scenes would have worked either, because then it might have come off as repetitive. That’s why I don’t think it was a huge issue, and why I think just hinting at a lot of it instead of blatantly coming out with it worked much better. And by the end of the movie, I honestly didn’t care about it anymore, anyway.

As far as acting went, everybody was brilliant, for the most part. I think maybe the role was written for Michael Cera, because Jesse Eisenberg channeled him quite often. However, I don’t think Cera could have pulled off some of the scenes the way Jesse did, particularly at the end. And Kristen Stewart? She’s completely redeemed herself from Twilight (not that she was particularly terrible there, but just for being associated with it in general). She was great in this, showing all necessary emotions. And she was incredibly sexy, to boot. I also want to see more of Matt Bush and Martin Starr in the future. I’ve seen Martin Starr in tiny roles in the past, but the guy deserves better. And the only thing I’ve ever seen Matt Bush in are the rollover minute commercials, where I think he’s hilarious, too. It was also interesting to see Ryan Reynolds in this type of role. It’s not his usual quipster, sarcastic, funny man. It’s a more serious and subdued role, though he was great in it.

I think what I liked most about the movie was that, although I don’t remember too much about the 80s (I was born in 86, so I was still rather young at the time), I could still associate myself with a lot of the happenings. James reminded me a lot of, well, me… except without the pot… or the parties and drinking… or the select group of women wanting to be with him. But like James, I’m a college grad with an English/Lit degree, who wants to travel the world, and is quite awkward when it comes to the opposite sex (at least in matters of dating). Though I was right there with Joel, too, at times. And other things, too. Anyway, the point is, I was able to identify with the movie and the characters quite a bit.

I’ve seen very few good movies in theater so far this year (that were actually movies for this year, not last year’s just taking their time), but I’d wager that this is one of the first “great” movies of the year so far. Depending on the rest of the year, I might end up putting this on my Top 10. I didn’t know what to expect going in, but I think that made it better.

So to end this review, I want to share two anecdotes about the man sitting next to me during the movie. First, I knew I was in for a rough time when the very first trailer starts, and it’s for the upcoming Spanish film Sin Nombre. The man proceeds to say, once the trailer is over (and keep in mind, this is a foreign movie with a completely Spanish title), “Looks like it might be pretty good… except it looks like it might have a lot of subtitles.” I knew that if I ever got closer to slapping a stranger for idiot statements, it would be too soon. So the movie’s not very far in, and it shows them driving up onto their driveway or whatever, and the guy points out the car and goes “A Panzer? You don’t see those everyday.” That’s because the movie takes place in the freakin’ 80s, you Dumbass. Anyway, the point is… well, there isn’t a point. I had a stupid guy sitting next to me. And he talked (and breathed) quite loudly. But the movie was brilliant, and that’s all that matters.

Royale With Cheese