Battle of the Aughts Round 2 - Spike Lee vs. Spike Lee

Note: Happy-Go-Lucky, which received the most votes out of any non-winner last round, returns to fill out an odd number of winners.

Punch-Drunk Love (9)
In the Mood For Love (6)

Dancer in the Dark (8)
Pulse (2)

Mulholland Drive (8)
The New World (4)

Dogville (8)
Jackass Number Two (1)

Up (10)
Flight of the Red Balloon (1)

No Country For Old Men (12)
American Psycho (1)

Memento (10)
Primer (2)

American Splendor (5)
8 Women (4)

Kill Bill vol. 2 (10)
Almost Famous (4)

I'm Not There (5)
A Prairie Home Companion (3)

Spirited Away (8)
Y tu mamá también (4)

Pan's Labyrinth (7)
No Direction Home (3)

Ratatouille (5)
Sideways (4)

The Royal Tenenbaums (9)
Amélie (3)

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (7)
The Beat That My Heart Skipped (0)

WALL*E (8)
Before Sunset (3)

25th Hour (5)
Before Sunset (4)

Children of Men (8)
The Dark Knight (3)

There Will Be Blood (11)
Zodiac (2)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (8)
Beau Travail (1)

Inglourious Basterds (9)
Time Out (1)

Yi Yi (4)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (3)


28 Days Later/Happy-Go-Lucky (tie - 4 each)

Battle of the Aughts: FYC - Star Trek

"I like to have fun when I go to the movies. I don't really notice the lighting or how a shot is framed until the second or third viewing. I want to be engaged with the characters and story first and foremost. Otherwise why go to the movies? Star Trek is why I go to the movies. After 10 movies and numerous t.v. shows, J.J. Abrams manages to reinvent Star Trek without losing its spirit. In every moment I feel the spirit of what Gene Roddenberry created. Every character is perfectly cast, from Captain Pike to Scotty. These actors bring the essence of the original characters without turning them into a parody, which could have easily happened. I am truly engaged with these people and care about their outcome.

"If that wasn't enough, the sets are amazing. They are grand without distracting me from the story. The ships are massive and complex, with beautiful lines. They're not the boxy models of yesteryear. They are smooth and sexy. They are impressive and truly makes me feel as if I'm in the future. The worlds are real but distinct. The action is also well balanced with the regular banter scenes. Its perfectly paced and truly an adventure. A joyful journey from beginning to end." - Annabelle Proulx

Battle of the Aughts Round 1 - Spock vs. Frodo

I matched up the films in round 1 randomly, which makes the super-geeky titular battle much funnier. I'm happy that there are a number of offbeat pairs below - everyone who sent me their top 10 helped make this a very eclectic contest. Thanks, guys. Each round will last approximately 72 96 hours. I can't wait to see how it all pans out.

In the Mood For Love (5 votes)
Happy-Go-Lucky (4)

Punch-Drunk Love (10)
A Christmas Tale (0)

Pulse (4)
Reprise (0)

Dancer in the Dark (8)
Half Nelson (0)

The New World (8)
Run, Fatboy, Run (2)

Mulholland Drive (10)
Irreversible (1)

Jackass Number Two (4)
The Consequences of Love (1)

Dogville (5)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (1)

Flight of the Red Balloon (3)
Electric Dragon 80.000 V (1)

Up (6)
Silent Light (1)

American Psycho/Primer (tie - 3 each)

No Country For Old Men (10)
Talk to Her (1)

Memento (8)
Secretary (4)

8 Women (4)
Shotgun Stories (1)

American Splendor (5)
In Praise of Love (1)

Almost Famous (4)
Blissfully Yours (1)

Kill Bill vol. 2 (6)
Synecdoche, New York (4)

A Prairie Home Companion (5)
Running on Karma (0)












I'm Not There/Y tu mama tambien (tie -3)

Spirited Away (4)
Hamlet (1)

No Direction Home (2)
The Best of Youth (0)

Pan's Labyrinth (5)
Adaptation (4)

Sideways (3)
Werckmeister Harmonies (2)

Ratatouille (5)
Exiled (0)

The Royal Tenenbaums (7)
Waking Life (2)

Amelie (5)
Gerry (2)

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (4)
The Devil's Rejects (2)

The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2)
Old Joy (1)

Before Sunset (4)
Zombieland (3)

WALL*E (6)
24 Hour Party People (2)

Inside Man (4)
Audition (3)

Children of Men (9)
Burn After Reading (1)

The Dark Knight (4)
The Son (2)

Zodiac (7)
In the Bedroom (2)

There Will Be Blood (5)
Bad Santa (3)

Beau Travail (1)
Survive Style 5+ (0)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (8)
The Brown Bunny (1)

Inglourious Basterds (8)
The World (0)

Time Out (2)
Black Hawk Down (0)

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (5)
Star Trek (4)

Yi Yi (3)
Southland Tales (0)

28 Days Later (6)
The Aura (0)

An end to inertia.

I recently did some research on a self-help program that will go unnamed to help a friend determine if a family member had joined a cult (alas, no). In reading about this program's tenets - basically, a grab bag of Eastern and Western philosophy backed by an aggressive marketing strategy - I was struck by the distinction the program makes between "change" (bad) and "transformation" (good), words that I had believed to be synonyms. The difference, according to this program, is that change is defined in contrast to the past (like Mant), whereas transformation is a present-tense decision to start a new way of being independent of the past (like Brundlefly). Fascinating. So in an effort to transform, I've decided to skip the part explaining the reasons why I've let the blog stagnate (mostly mundane) and get on with one of the many ideas I've been procrasinating on.

So now then.

I wanted to wait on one idea until the flood of end-of-decade lists had slowed down and give time to some of my readers who, like me, needed the DVD window to fully absorb last year's movies. Those of you who have been visiting the blog for a long time might remember the tournament-style voting competition a few years back to determine the readers' choice for Best Movie Ever (the winner was 2001). I'd like to try to same thing to determine Cinevistaramascope's Best of the Aughts. As with the previous contest, a pool of films will be created from readers' top 10 lists, with more points awarded by ranking (unranked lists = equal points for each movie). The highest-scoring films - up to 128 - will face off over the course of five or six rounds until a winner is named. Hopefully, as with any "best of" list worth its salt, lively debate will ensue.

The only rule is that movies submitted must have made their non-festival (or commercial, if you prefer) theatrical debut between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2009. The more diverse the selection of competing films, the more fun the contest will be (and with 128 slots open, it's very possible that one vote is all a film will need). So whether you wish to bring attention to the work of Pedro Costa or argue that Kangraroo Jack is ripe for rediscovery, please e-mail your top 10 to cvrscope@gmail.com. Please also indicate if you'd be interested in contributing a brief write-up of a film from your list, which I hope to run during the contest as well (I'd also appreciate suggestions for a contest title). Top 10s will be accepted until 12PM EST on August 29; the contest will start on September 1. Those of you looking for ideas should check out my friend Paul Clark's ongoing Top 25 of the Aughts, or the submissions from last year's Muriel Awards.

Speaking of the Muriels, the recently launched blog Our Science is Too Tight looks to serve as a sort of meeting place for the many talented film writers and bloggers who contribute to the awards every year. Nearly every day there are new links to Muriel voters' work as well as original content. I'm looking forward to writing for the blog - I'm looking forward to writing, period.