Note: This is a slightly-edited version of a post I made on Facebook on November 28 as I was beginning to draw a list together to make my top 40 films of the 2000s. That list will follow soon!
Here's my list of the most overrated movies of the last ten years. These are films that did very well with critics and/or audiences, but not with me.
HONORABLE MENTIONS, or "lifetime memberships":
* The films of Michael Moore:
Not too many filmmakers had as successful a decade as documnetarian Michael Moore, but to me, he's the left's answer to Rush Limbaugh: a blowhard with a movie camera instead of a radio show. "Bowling For Columbine," "Fahrenheit 9/11," "Sicko" and "Capitalism: A Love Story" (the last of which I have not seen) capture the far-left zeitgeist with the otherwise-talented Moore's trademarks of emotional manipulation, egregious fact omission and self-promotion. Moore is the only guy making documentaries who has to star in his own films, and my favorite of his films will be the one when he resists the urge. There are rumors that Moore is done with documentaries. That'd be great. There were some amazing documentaries made this decade, and while his were always among the most provocative, they were not the best.
* The films of Will Ferrell:
"Old School" worked because Ferrell wasn't the main focus, and "Stranger Than Fiction" was well-directed and scripted in such a way that Ferrell's clowning was kept in check. But does anyone else feel that Ferrell's true genius is limited to short bursts in the sketch comedy format? I truly feel that disaster strikes when Ferrell stretches clever ideas to 90 or more minutes. The worst offender, to me, is "Anchorman," a film that is practically worshiped by young men nationwide but was, for me, a painfully dragged-out version of what would have been another impressive "Saturday Night Live" character, had Ferrell used him on the show. Equally painful: "Elf," "Kicking and Screaming," "Bewitched," "Talledega Nights," "Blades of Glory," "Semi-Pro," "Step Brothers,"...sigh...
And now, my top 10...with brief comments.
10. AMELIE (2001)
Some of the most stunning art direction I've ever seen ruined by a main character I just wanted to punch in the face.
9. GLADIATOR (2000)
Why the adulation, every young man in America? Well-acted, well-directed, but it's story had nothing new to say that wasn't already covered by the sandal epics of Hollywood's glory years, and Ridley Scott made his masterpiece of this decade, "Black Hawk Down," the following year.
8. THERE WILL BE BLOOD (2007)
My milkshake was made with curdled, sour milk, and I just could not drink it. The campiest Oscar-winning acting I've ever seen in my life enveloped in one of the most self-important movies I've ever seen. I wanted desperately to appreciate it but couldn't. I'm actually hoping I can watch it again in 20 years and call myself an idiot for my comments here. But until then...
7. AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH (2006)
An Oscar-winning Power Point presentation. How far we've fallen...
6. A BEAUTIFUL MIND (2001)
Ron Howard is more than a competent craftsman. What he stops short of is being an artist. His lean "Frost/Nixon" was much better than this pompous, "gimme an Oscar" ploy, which for me worked on only one major level...he did get that Oscar.
5. BORAT (2005)
I'm all for schadenfreude, but "Borat" mined humor in the cruelest manner, all but victimizing it's unwilling participants. Naked wrestling scene aside, I was not laughing.
4. INSIDE MAN (2006)
Genius stylist Spike Lee gets his hands on a slick, dime-a-dozen Hollywood bank heist script and makes it look like any other director in Hollywood would have made it look. His sell-out.
3. THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (2008)
Creepy, indulgent, nonsensical, implausible and inflated. The story construct is so high-concept that it kills the love story and your ability to feel for its characters.
2. MICHAEL CLAYTON (2007)
George Clooney plays George Clooney (again!) in this film that seemed like a ditched episode of an NBC legal procedural show turned into a movie. Only Tom Wilkinson's performance cuts through the blah. Other than him (and maybe Tilda Swinton), I can't for the life of me understand what was so amazing about this movie.
1. WEDDING CRASHERS (2005)
The movie that made me stop giving Vince Vaughn chances. And so far down the list of the decade's greatest comedies, well...it's not even funny.
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