The Troy’s top 10 films of the decade

10. Traffic
An enormously intertwined story set within the highly dangerous world of international drug trade. The cast includes great performances all around, namely Benicio Del Toro who in the end won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of a cop in Baja Mexico who is recruited to aid in the takedown of multiple drug cartels. Rounding out the superb cast are Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Don Cheadle, Dennis Quad, Erika Christiansen and Topher Grace. Traffic was not only nominated as Best Picture for 2001, but won Best Director (Steven Soderbergh) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Stephen Gaghan) and is one of the best films to come out of the past decade.

9. Children of Men
A generation into the future, 2027, the world’s youngest citizen at age 18 has just died and mankind is on the brink of extinction. We are bravely led by Theo Faron (Clive Owen) on a terrifying voyage through a savagely torn apart London covered in anarchy and chaos. All of the performances were terrific, from Julianne Moore, Michael Caine to Chiwetel Ejiofor. Hailed as the “Blade Runner” for the 21st century, Children of Men in all its beautiful cinematic glory is a palpable and highly-charged story that takes you on a journey to save humanity.

8. Mystic River
Three friends separated by a gloomy childhood catastrophe, are forcefully reunited as adults when one of their daughters is brutally murdered. Sean Penn and Tim Robbins lead this extraordinary cast of heavyweight actors, both earning Oscars for their portrayals of a cold blooded father and a lumbering and timid overgrown child respectfully. The rest of the cast is just as solid with Kevin Bacon shining the brightest. The true weight of this film is in the telling. Clint Eastwood directs this classic crime drama that truly challenges the strength of friendship and the bonds they create. It pushes some of the most basic human emotions; fear, love and revenge to their absolute breaking points. Mystic River is a great American film smothered in tragedy and darkness that delivers in every theatrical aspect and takes you to the end of the line.

7. Cinderella Man
A deeply felt and emotional true story of the one of the greatest sports comebacks in history. When James J. Braddock, at one time a premier prize fighter, suffers a broken hand in the thicket of the Great Depression, he nearly loses everything. After some hefty lifting down on the Hoboken docks strengthens his hand, Braddock finds himself back in the ring, though this time fighting for more than just victory, fueled by something more than mere competition. His unrelenting pride is in the ring for his family. Russell Crowe turns in one of the most unrewarded performances I’ve ever seen. He’s nothing short of brilliant. His presence of dominating and his only competition is in the inspirational performance by Paul Giamatti who plays Jim Gould, Braddock’s coach, personal trainer and friend, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Renee Zellweger, Craig Bierko, Paddy Considine and Bruce McGill also turn in worthy performances in one of the best told stories of perseverance. When America was on its knees, he brought us to our feet.

6. No Country For Old Men
When Llewellyn Moss stumbles upon a satchel filled with 2 million dollars in cash, he sets off a chain reaction of violence and mayhem in the likes of psychopathic killer Anton Chigurh that not even the law, in the form of Sheriff Ed Tom Bell understands. Faithfully adapted from Cormac McCarthy’s beloved novel, Joel & Ethan Coen’s No Country For Old Men is a searing western thriller that’s almost flawlessly crafted from start to finish. It was nominated for 8 Academy Awards, collecting 4 including Best Picture, Best Director & Best Adapted Screenplay (Joel & Ethan Coen) as well as Best Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem). Though, I feel that Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin were just as awards worthy for their roles as Sheriff Ed Tom Bell and Llewellyn Moss. Its philosophical undertones such as, “you can’t stop what’s coming,” are more bold and mysterious as the film’s ending.

5. Memento
Leonard Shelby is a man who suffers from short term memory loss. He remembers everything up until the time of his accident, but everyday since, he can’t make new memories. To help aid him in his quest for vengeance for the rape and murder of his wife, Leonard takes Polaroid pictures and draws notes in the form of tattoos all over his body in order to hunt down the man he believes killed his wife. Guy Pearce is phenomenal as Leonard Shelby. His searing and gritty determination gives us the rhythmic urgency that takes on the precision and clarity of a dream. He’s literally in every single scene in the film, excluding a handful of flashbacks and despite those few scene in which he’s physically absent, his presence is still felt. Memento is just one of those films, tough to really understand and yet you’re awed every time it pops on the screen. Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay (Christopher Nolan & Jonathan Nolan), Memento is truly a work of art by one of the absolute masters of filmmaking in Christopher Nolan.

4. There Will Be Blood

This film reaches enthralling heights because of Daniel Day-Lewis’ gargantuan performance alone. His shear brilliance ranks among the greats of all-time. There will always be Orson Welles in Citizen Kane, Marlon Brando in The Godfather, Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs, Robert DeNiro in Raging Bull, Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and now….Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood. Daniel Plainview is an Oil Prospector whose charisma equals his ruthlessness. He learns of a small town in Southern California that has an abundance of oil flowing like a river beneath it and can be bought cheaply. Thus, beginning his manipulation of local farmers and landowners into selling their property.  Plainview’s ambition and thirst for wealth and power feeds into his eventual alienation. Wildly different from his other work, Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood is a creation of absolute greed and awesomeness. It was nominated for 8 Academy Awards collecting 2 statues. One for Best Actor (Daniel Day-Lewis) and one for Best Cinematography (Robert Elswit).

3. Gladiator
Maximus, one of Rome’s greatest and most powerful Generals and loyal servant to the dying emperor Marcus Aurelius, is betrayed and the emperor’s cruel and corrupt son Commodus orders Maximus and his family to be executed. Maximus escapes, though not in time to save his family, and assumes the identity of “Gladiator” an anonymous fighter in the Roman Colosseum where he seeks revenge for his families death and to bring Rome back to her true self. Russell Crowe as Maximus and Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus is one of the great duels in cinema and both equally extraordinary. Though Russell Crowe won a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Maximus, with an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor Joaquin Phoenix cements himself as one of the great villainous characters in recent memory. Gladiator went on to win 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture and remains one of the most ferocious and entertaining films ever.

2. Walk the Line
A biopic that chronicles the life of Hall-of-Fame musician Johnny Cash and his passionate love affair with June Carter. From his younger days living on a cotton farm during the Great Depression era, to his time in the Air Force, Walk the Line explores the dark side of Johnny Cash. Drugs and booze which led to his emptiness, but it also explores the lighter side of him. His big return live performance and recording at Folsom Prison and June accepting his 40th marriage proposal which led to his triumph. While Reese Witherspoon walked away with the Oscar for Best Actress, it was Joaquin Phoenix who single handedly elevated this film to the next level. As a coach might say, he left everything out on the field, and poured his heart and soul into his portrayal of the greatest music legend ever. Though without the combination of Reese and Joaquin and the romance they projected, there would be no “Ring of Fire.”

1. The Departed
A gritty, intense and “wicked-awesome” movie from legendary director Martin Scorsese, who takes us into the lives of cops and criminals. The Irish Mafia and the Boston State Police send two men undercover to infiltrate the others ranks. Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), each seemingly working for the same man Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson), are now in danger of being exposed and are thrust in a race to uncover the others true identity in time to save his own life before its to late. It doesn’t take long before each side of the law believes they have a mole in their midst. When identities are discovered, the blood of hot-tempered men boil to violent levels which leads to absolute mayhem….and lots and lots of dead people. The Departed is by far the most entertaining and action-packed film of the past decade. With the combination of great acting from the whole cast in general with the standouts being Leonardo DiCaprio and Jack Nicholson, and the direction of one of the greatest filmmakers of all-time its easy to see why The Departed is so highly regarded. In 2006, it won Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay (William Monahan).