Ten Years of Metacritic: The Best (and Worst) Movies of the Decade

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor December 17, 2009

Our top movies from 2000-09

Image

Earlier this week, we published our list of the best music of the decade. Now, it’s time to do the same for movies.

Our film staff has been collecting reviews for each week’s new theatrical releases since the fall of 1999, and, as a result, we have a nearly complete database of films from the past decade: certainly every major release from 2000-09, and virtually all minor releases, including obscure titles that barely made an appearance on the big screen.

As a result, the various lists below represent the best the decade had to offer — at least in the eyes of top professional film critics. Below, we look at the best and worst overall movies from the past ten years. On the next page, we break down the results by genre, with lists of top comedies, documentaries, blockbusters, comic book adaptations, horror films, musicals, and many other categories.

Our top overall movie: Pan’s Labyrinth

ImageThe eyes have it

Guillermo del Toro’s gothic fairytale Pan’s Labyrinth may not have been the most seen movie of the past ten years (that honor goes to The Dark Knight, which led all films with over $533 million in domestic box office receipts) but it was the one most praised by critics. With a Metascore of 98, it tops our list of best-reviewed movies of the past decade.

What won’t you see on the list below? Some of the most commercially successful movies of the decade. Shrek 2 (#2 on the decade’s list of top-grossing films, and a Metascore of 75), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (#3 box office, 53), and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (#4 box office, 35) were among many box office successes that didn’t score big with critics. In fact, just two of the ten highest-grossing films of the decade appear in the Top 100 list below: Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

The Best-Reviewed Movies of the Decade, 2000-09
  Title Year Metascore Users
1 Pan’s Labyrinth 2006 98 8.3
2 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days 2008 97 8.0
3 Ratatouille 2007 96 8.6
4 Spirited Away 2002 94 9.3
5 Hurt Locker, The 2009 94 7.6
6 Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The 2003 94 8.6
The best-reviewed of all Best Picture winners of the decade
7 Sideways 2004 94 6.1
8 WALL-E 2008 93 8.9
9 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2000 93 7.0
10 35 Shots of Rum 2009 93 7.3
11 Yi Yi (A One and a Two) 2000 92 8.2
12 Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The 2007 92 8.1
13 Class, The 2008 92 6.9
14 There Will Be Blood 2007 92 7.1
15 Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The 2001 92 8.4
16 Werckmeister Harmonies 2001 92 7.0
17 Moolaadé 2004 91 7.9
18 Fast Runner, The 2002 91 7.8
19 Triplets of Belleville, The 2003 91 7.8
20 Queen, The 2006 91 6.0
21 Beau Travail 2000 91 7.8
22 Waltz with Bashir 2008 91 8.1
23 No Country for Old Men 2007 91 6.9
24 My Voyage to Italy 2001 90 7.0
25 Bloody Sunday 2002 90 8.4
26 Incredibles, The 2004 90 8.7
27 Before Sunset 2004 90 8.2
28 Almost Famous 2000 90 8.3
29 American Splendor 2003 90 8.0
30 Gosford Park 2001 90 6.1
31 United 93 2006 90 7.5
32 Capturing the Friedmans 2003 90 8.5
33 Persepolis 2007 90 8.1
34 Lost in Translation 2003 89 6.3
35 Best of Youth, The 2005 89 9.1
36 Lives of Others, The 2006 89 9.0
37 Still Walking 2009 89 9.1
38 House of Flying Daggers 2004 89 7.7
39 Man on Wire 2008 89 8.1
40 Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan 2006 89 6.9
41 Finding Nemo 2003 89 8.5
42 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 2004 89 8.6
43 No End in Sight 2007 89 8.2
44 Goodbye Solo 2009 89 7.5
45 Letters from Iwo Jima 2006 89 8.1
46 Once 2007 88 8.0
47 Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The 2002 88 8.9
48 Ghost World 2001 88 8.4
49 Capote 2005 88 7.9
50 Tulpan 2009 88 5.7
51 Time Out 2002 88 7.2
52 Away from Her 2007 88 8.0
53 Chicken Run 2000 88 7.1
54 Up 2009 88 9.0
55 Y Tu Mamá También 2002 88 7.8
56 Nobody Knows 2005 88 9.0
57 L’Enfant (The Child) 2006 87 8.4
58 Gomorrah 2009 87 6.1
59 Fog of War, The 2003 87 8.7
60 Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit 2005 87 8.2
61 Maria Full of Grace 2004 87 8.4
62 Fateless 2006 87 8.4
63 Brokeback Mountain 2005 87 8.2
64 Tarnation 2004 87 7.3
65 Murderball 2005 87 9.0
66 Grizzly Man 2005 87 6.7
67 Marooned in Iraq 2003 86 7.3
68 Wind Will Carry Us, The 2000 86 8.2
69 Slumdog Millionaire 2008 86 7.9
70 Million Dollar Baby 2004 86 7.8
71 To Be and to Have 2003 86 10.0
72 In the Bedroom 2001 86 7.4
73 I’m Going Home 2002 86 7.0
74 Ten 2003 86 8.3
75 Russian Ark 2002 86 7.1
76 Deliver Us from Evil 2006 86 8.5
77 Beaches of Agnes, The 2009 86 8.2
78 Traffic 2000 86 8.0
79 Under the Sand 2001 86 8.7
80 Talk to Her 2002 86 8.4
81 Our Daily Bread 2006 86 7.7
82 This Is England 2007 86 7.4
83 Son, The 2003 86 7.5
84 Sweet Sixteen 2003 86 8.5
85 Departed, The 2006 86 7.7
86 Ponyo 2009 86 7.6
87 Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film 2006 86 8.0
88 Flight of the Red Balloon, The 2008 86 5.5
89 Before Night Falls 2000 85 9.0
90 Bourne Ultimatum, The 2007 85 7.7
91 Pianist, The 2002 85 8.6
92 You Can Count On Me 2000 85 8.5
93 Children Underground 2001 85 9.8
94 Edge of Heaven, The 2008 85 8.7
95 Savages, The 2007 85 7.4
96 Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition, The 2001 85 8.2
97 Offside 2007 85 8.6
98 Los Angeles Plays Itself 2004 85 7.8
99 Knocked Up 2007 85 6.4
100 Turtles Can Fly 2005 85 9.4

Movies released between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2009 and having 7 or more reviews in Metacritic’s database were eligible for the above list as well as all other lists in this report. Re-releases and alternate versions (e.g., director’s cuts) are excluded. All Metascore data is from December 16, 2009, and all data on this page will be updated at the end of the year (if necessary) to reflect any late 2009 releases. The Metascore is a weighted average of scores from top professional critics, on a scale from 0 (bad) to 100 (good). User scores represent an average of scores assigned by Metacritic.com site visitors.

But where are the real movies?

Unless you are a cinema aficionado, you probably noticed something else about the list above: you haven’t heard of many of those movies. Indeed, a large portion of that Top 100 is occupied by foreign films and less-publicized art house films — films that played in few theaters (especially outside of Los Angeles and New York). A full 43% of the films listed above are foreign-language films, and many of those that are in English are obscure gems, like the documentary Los Angeles Plays Itself (which isn’t even available on DVD) and the unconventional buddy drama Goodbye Solo.

What if we filtered out those limited release movies, and compiled a list of the Top 100 wide releases from the past ten years? It would look a lot like this …

The Best-Reviewed Wide-Release Films of the Decade, 2000-09
  Title Year Metascore Users
1 Pan’s Labyrinth 2006 98 8.3
2 Ratatouille 2007 96 8.6
3 Spirited Away 2002 94 9.3
4 Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The 2003 94 8.6
The first of four films in the Top 100 for director Peter Jackson
5 Sideways 2004 94 6.1
6 WALL-E 2008 93 8.9
7 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2000 93 7.0
8 There Will Be Blood 2007 92 7.1
9 Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The 2001 92 8.4
10 Queen, The 2006 91 6.0
11 No Country for Old Men 2007 91 6.9
12 Incredibles, The 2004 90 8.7
13 Almost Famous 2000 90 8.3
14 Gosford Park 2001 90 6.1
15 United 93 2006 90 7.5
16 Lost in Translation 2003 89 6.3
17 House of Flying Daggers 2004 89 7.7
18 Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan 2006 89 6.9
19 Finding Nemo 2003 89 8.5
20 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 2004 89 8.6
21 Letters from Iwo Jima 2006 89 8.1
22 Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The 2002 88 8.9
23 Capote 2005 88 7.9
24 Chicken Run 2000 88 7.1
25 Up 2009 88 9.0
The decade of Steve Jobs? "Up" is the fifth Pixar movie in the Top 25
26 Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit 2005 87 8.2
27 Brokeback Mountain 2005 87 8.2
28 Slumdog Millionaire 2008 86 7.9
29 Million Dollar Baby 2004 86 7.8
30 In the Bedroom 2001 86 7.4
31 Traffic 2000 86 8.0
32 Departed, The 2006 86 7.7
33 Ponyo 2009 86 7.6
34 Bourne Ultimatum, The 2007 85 7.7
35 Pianist, The 2002 85 8.6
36 Knocked Up 2007 85 6.4
37 About Schmidt 2002 85 5.4
38 Atonement 2007 85 7.2
39 Children of Men 2006 84 7.6
40 Milk 2008 84 7.4
41 Mystic River 2003 84 5.4
42 Shrek 2001 84 8.7
43 Volver 2006 84 8.8
44 Dave Chappelle’s Block Party 2006 84 7.3
45 Hero 2004 84 7.0
46 Adaptation 2002 83 7.4
47 Avatar 2009 83 n/a
48 Fantastic Mr. Fox 2009 83 8.2
49 Star Trek 2009 83 7.9
50 Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride 2005 83 7.0
51 Up in the Air 2009 83 7.9
52 Spider-Man 2 2004 83 7.7
53 Drag Me to Hell 2009 83 6.1
54 U2 3D 2008 83 7.8
55 Kill Bill: Volume 2 2004 83 7.3
56 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street 2007 83 7.4
57 Constant Gardener, The 2005 82 6.9
58 School of Rock 2003 82 9.3
59 Pride & Prejudice 2005 82 8.9
60 Chicago 2002 82 7.9
61 Michael Clayton 2007 82 7.0
62 Dark Knight, The 2008 82 8.8
The decade’s highest-grossing film, with a total domestic take of $533,345,358
63 Eastern Promises 2007 82 7.2
64 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 2004 81 6.6
65 Mighty Wind, A 2003 81 7.5
66 History of Violence, A 2005 81 6.8
67 Juno 2007 81 8.5
68 Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World 2003 81 5.6
All the good reviews in the world couldn’t save this big budget adventure from disappointing at the box office
69 Hot Fuzz 2007 81 8.5
70 Wrestler, The 2008 81 8.2
71 Hours, The 2002 81 8.5
72 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 2005 81 7.8
73 Hairspray [2007] 2007 81 7.7
74 King Kong [2005] 2005 81 7.0
75 Casino Royale 2006 81 7.7
76 District 9 2009 81 7.9
77 Simpsons Movie, The 2007 80 7.2
78 Coraline 2009 80 7.8
79 Good Night, and Good Luck 2005 80 7.4
80 Little Miss Sunshine 2006 80 7.4
81 Minority Report 2002 80 7.5
82 Frost/Nixon 2008 80 7.5
83 March of the Penguins 2005 79 8.2
84 Hotel Rwanda 2004 79 8.5
85 High Fidelity 2000 79 8.5
86 Flags of Our Fathers 2006 79 7.0
87 Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire 2009 79 8.1
88 Iron Monkey 2001 79 8.2
89 Iron Man 2008 79 8.3
90 Monsters, Inc. 2001 78 8.7
91 28 Weeks Later… 2007 78 7.0
92 Hellboy II: The Golden Army 2008 78 7.2
93 Punch-Drunk Love 2002 78 6.0
94 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 2009 78 6.6
95 Insomnia 2002 78 6.6
96 Zodiac 2007 78 7.7
97 Kung Fu Hustle 2005 78 8.9
98 Aviator, The 2004 77 6.8
99 Happy Feet 2006 77 5.8
100 8 Mile 2002 77 8.3

And now for something terrible

But enough with all the good movies. Let’s get to the important list: the worst films from the past ten years. Just over half of the 50 films below are comedies, although several others might also fall into that category if you have an open mind.

The Worst Movies of the Decade, 2000-09
  Title Year Metascore Users
1 Singing Forest, The 2003 1 3.1
The next time you make a romance movie, maybe you should skip the Holocaust footage
2 Chaos 2005 3 2.5
3 Strippers 2000 5 5.1
Congratulations go out to writer-director Jorge Ameer, for landing two of the bottom three films
4 Vulgar 2002 5 4.1
5 National Lampoon’s Gold Diggers 2004 6 2.7
6 Hottie and the Nottie, The 2008 7 2.1
7 Screwed 2000 7 7.2
8 Miss March 2009 7 3.9
9 Transylmania 2009 8 2.7
10 State Property 2002 9 5.6
11 Dirty Love 2005 9 3.0
12 Meet the Spartans 2008 9 2.7
13 Alone in the Dark 2005 9 1.7
14 Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 2004 9 2.3
We’d call this a "rare misfire" for the director of A Christmas Story and Porky’s, but then how do you explain Baby Geniuses 1?
15 Battlefield Earth 2000 9 2.6
16 Whipped 2000 10 5.8
17 Pinocchio [2002] 2002 11 2.3
18 Date Movie 2006 11 3.1
19 3 Strikes 2000 11 4.8
20 King’s Ransom 2005 11 1.2
21 Master of Disguise, The 2002 12 4.0
Remember when Dana Carvey was funny? It wasn’t in this decade
22 Adventures of Pluto Nash, The 2002 12 4.9
Ditto for Eddie Murphy
23 Slackers 2002 12 6.0
24 Strange Wilderness 2008 12 4.7
25 New Best Friend 2002 13 7.2
26 Down To You 2000 13 7.7
27 Beautiful Life, A 2009 13 3.3
28 Freddy Got Fingered 2001 13 6.4
29 Fascination 2005 13 5.1
30 Daddy Day Camp 2007 13 1.4
31 In Crowd, The 2000 14 2.5
32 Dungeons & Dragons 2000 14 5.3
33 Glitter 2001 14 5.7
34 From Justin to Kelly 2003 14 4.0
It was a dominant decade for “American Idol,” but not on the big screen
35 Sculptress, The 2000 14 4.5
36 Kung Pow!: Enter the Fist 2002 14 8.9
37 Rollerball 2002 14 2.5
38 Dischord 2003 14 n/a
39 What Love Is 2007 14 8.7
40 House of the Dead 2003 15 1.6
41 College 2008 15 2.5
42 Disaster Movie 2008 15 1.4
43 Yu-Gi-Oh! 2004 15 5.2
44 Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 2000 15 3.3
45 Darkness 2004 15 2.9
46 In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale 2008 15 8.1
47 Tomcats 2001 15 6.2
48 Cookout, The 2004 15 5.6
49 Kangaroo Jack 2003 16 4.5
50 Deuces Wild 2001 16 7.4

On the next page, we return to examining good movies, as we reveal the top films of the decade in over a dozen different genres and categories …

Jump to:
  1. Top/Bottom Overall Films
  2. Top Films by Genre
2. Top Films by Genre
Comments on This Article

Comment by Matt on 12/17/09 at 9:30am  |  Link to this

No Mulholland Drive? That was my favorite, and it got an 81 and other 81s were listed?

Comment by j on 12/17/09 at 10:55am  |  Link to this

Brilliant commentary on the worst movies. Laughed out loud at the Ameer jab. only wish there was more.

Comment by Jason Dietz on 12/17/09 at 11:10am  |  Link to this

Matt: I assume you are referring to the Top 100 Wide Release chart. For all the publicity that film received, “Mulholland Drive” never made it to wide release, so it did not qualify for that chart. (At its peak, it only screened in just under 250 theaters, which is considered to be a limited release.)

Comment by Kain on 12/17/09 at 12:19pm  |  Link to this

I love that “Kung Pow: Enter the Fist” made the top 50 worst of the decade. I love that movie, and it’s interesting that it has an exremely respectable 8.9/10.00 when it came to user reviews. Go figure :)

Comment by Nelson on 12/17/09 at 12:53pm  |  Link to this

Has anyone seen The Room? It’s not a big film but I think it might be one of the worst movies ever. Check it out.

Comment by Jason Dietz on 12/17/09 at 1:06pm  |  Link to this

Nelson: You bring up a great point: We do not have Tommy Wiseau’s undisputed classic “The Room” listed on Metacritic, since there were virtually no reviews for the film when it first surfaced (except, I believe, for one in Variety). There’s no doubt that had “The Room” been included, it would have surfaced on one of the above lists … the one with all the red scores.

Comment by Marc Doyle on 12/17/09 at 1:26pm  |  Link to this

Nelson: You got “Roomed!” Tommy’s classic is the best thing since Rocky Horror. Kids are lined up around the block at the Sunset 5 to see this thing a couple of times a month. There are footballs flying, spoons being thrown in the crowds. I think you need to see it with other people to get the proper perspective on this modern cult classic.

Comment by D. Eric Franks on 12/17/09 at 2:30pm  |  Link to this

Fantastic analysis, Mr. Dietz. I used metacritic data last year to perform a light analysis, but you’ve taken it a to a whole other level! I especially love the breakdown by genre on page 2.

It is odd to see 43% of the top films bias towards what I affectionately call “artsy fartsy” films and 100% of the worst films straight out of Hollywood. Part of the reason is certainly that we get the best of the best over here (meaning that distributors smartly select only the best foreign films – and certainly there’s a ton of crap we never see), but it’s also gotta be Emperor’s Clothes softball reviews: a “majestically paced” Taiwanese film might simply be “boring” if made in Hollywood.

Comment by Will on 12/17/09 at 3:00pm  |  Link to this

Why isn’t “The Proposition” in the top 5 Westerns? It has a 73.

Comment by Tom P on 12/17/09 at 3:08pm  |  Link to this

Yes. Pan’s Labyrinth.

Pingback Metacritic’s best-(and worst-)reviewed movies of the decade | The Hollywood Reporter | Risky Business | Film Reviews, Movie News and Interviews on 12/17/09 at 4:00pm  |  Link to this

[...] posted its Best-Reviewed Movies of the Decade list today. And their [...]

Comment by Michael on 12/17/09 at 4:28pm  |  Link to this

How is “Amelie” (Le Fabuleux destin d’Amelie Poulain – 2001) not in this list?
It’s #43 in the IMDB’s Top 250 list, and it scored a 90% on RT.

I’ll never understand Metacritic’s math – the film received glowing reviews from top critics, yet the metascore is 69, because a handful of critics gave it a negative review.
how is “Knocked Up” in the Top 100 of the decade?

Comment by Paul on 12/17/09 at 4:46pm  |  Link to this

Good lists, but I would love to see a list that displays movies that had large budgets and received the worst reviews. For instance, where would Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen be placed on the list?

Pingback Best movies of all time expanded by Metacritic Top 100 of decade | Movie Room Reviews on 12/17/09 at 5:03pm  |  Link to this

[...] c0ntributed to the growing collection of best movies of all time with its just released top 100 best movies of the decade (2000-2009).  The 2006 film Pan’s Labyrinth, one of the best foreign films of all time, was [...]

Pingback Worst movies of all time expands with Metacritic Top 50 of decade | Movie Room Reviews on 12/17/09 at 5:23pm  |  Link to this

[...] contributed to the growing collection of worst movies of all time with its just released top 50 worst movies of the decade (2000-2009) to ago along with its additions to the growing list of best movies of all time.  The [...]

Comment by BobSmith77 on 12/17/09 at 9:24pm  |  Link to this

How is Nickelback not on this list?

Pingback Some Raspberries for Christmas - Carpetbagger Blog - NYTimes.com on 12/18/09 at 6:30am  |  Link to this

[...] the season for best-of lists and, even better, worst-of lists. The handy review aggregators Metacritic [...]

Pingback Daily Links for 18 Dec 2009 (Film Biz) « Jabcat On Movies on 12/18/09 at 8:30am  |  Link to this

[...] Iron Man 2 trailer – exceptionally cool. 2. A strange but fascinating list of the best reviewed movies of the decade (2000-2009) from Metacritic. Pan’s Labyrinth numero uno. Ratatouille third? Now we know why [...]

Comment by Evan on 12/18/09 at 8:50am  |  Link to this

It’s a fascinating exercise – but it feels off. Ratatouille was a better film than The Incredibles?

Comment by John on 12/18/09 at 9:41am  |  Link to this

the good movie list doesn’t make a lot of sense in general, but how was ratatouille rated the highest of all the pixar movies in the 2000’s? Also Steve Jobs doesn’t own Pixar anymore, he sold it to Disney.

Comment by Dan J on 12/18/09 at 9:46am  |  Link to this

This might be the first time ever that I wished they would separate the charts onto different pages. I normally hate having to cycle through page after page of ad drivel, but i scrolled forever, not knowing i was looking at different chart!

Comment by robert hunter on 12/18/09 at 10:34am  |  Link to this

where would films like clash of the titans and fantastic planet and other animation movies like this fall into a seperate catalog

Pingback Best Reviewed Movies of the Decade | /Film on 12/18/09 at 11:00am  |  Link to this

[...] Metacritic has released their list of the best and worst reviewed films of the decade. Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth sits in the #1 spot.  I’ve included the top 10 after the jump [...]

Comment by brian on 12/18/09 at 12:08pm  |  Link to this

Top 10 lists are always provocative. But at least Metacritic’s is a distillation of overall critical consensus and not just a single critic’s viewpoint. As a cheerleader of documentary, which has experienced a halcyon period over the last decade, I am disappointed to see the omissions of “Up the Yangtze” and “the Betrayal.” The former is unquestionably a minor masterpiece.

Comment by Ebrahim Kabir on 12/18/09 at 1:43pm  |  Link to this

The first list shows a great diversity. I wish I can watch the best reviewed of this decade!!!!

Comment by Scott Kirby on 12/18/09 at 2:47pm  |  Link to this

Well, I’ve seen all but one of the top 6 Best Reviewed (and still want to see 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days). I’ve seen 20 of the top 30 Best Reviewed, and absolutely NONE of the worst. Thanks for a great list. (Oh, and I’ve seen 74 of the 100 Wide Release films, but then I go to a lot of movies.)

Comment by Chloe on 12/18/09 at 6:55pm  |  Link to this

Or you can just watch the IMDB’s top 250 and be done with it. http://www.imdb.com/chart/top
If you really only want this decade,
http://www.imdb.com/chart/2000s
The best thing about IMDB is its hard to game, and very obscure movies rate as highly as blockbusters.

Comment by Ngandu on 12/18/09 at 8:04pm  |  Link to this

I just love the fact that the sublime Jerry O’Connell classic “Tomcats” made the list. I was seriously starting to wonder if any of the movies that I had seen would make the “worst-of” list

ngandu.com

Comment by Brad on 12/18/09 at 9:46pm  |  Link to this

Hellboy is “horror”? Don’t think so.

Pingback Friday night movie news dump on 12/18/09 at 9:59pm  |  Link to this

[...] According to Metacritic, the best reviewed film of the decade is…”Pan’s Labyrinth.” Not a terrible [...]

Comment by Wes on 12/18/09 at 11:02pm  |  Link to this

Not trying to be homophobic, but “Brokeback Mountain” is the best Western of the past decade? It’s not even a Western. Metacritic doesn’t even have it listed as such on the movie’s own page (they’ve got it as a “Drama” & “Romance”).

If cowboys are the only requirement for being a Western (which is the only way you could consider “Brokeback” a Western) “No Country for Old Men” should’ve taken this category as well.

Comment by Seth on 12/19/09 at 5:59am  |  Link to this

Which Harry Potter movies did not make the list?

Comment by Alan Smithee on 12/19/09 at 6:08am  |  Link to this

OMG. No Troma films made the Worst list.

Comment by IvanN on 12/19/09 at 6:12am  |  Link to this

Moulin Rouge? >.<
Crash? ¬¬

Comment by Devin on 12/19/09 at 9:31am  |  Link to this

NO MULHOLLAND DRIVE!!??!!? It received an 81. Way to go metacrapic.

Comment by geoffrey on 12/19/09 at 10:52am  |  Link to this

Why isn’t The House of the Devil included in the best horror movie section? It scored 74 which is more than most of the movies on the list.

Comment by Jezzalex on 12/19/09 at 12:45pm  |  Link to this

I think the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy was the cinematic achievement of the decade (positions 4, 9 and 22 confirm that). But I also think Peter Jackson’s follow-up “King Kong” deserved to qualify for this list. It had a bigger budget than “Pan’s Labyrinth”, and therefore had more to live up to, especially as it remade a masterpiece. Well it succeeded, and Jackson is the director of the decade.

Pingback Entertainment Link-Off: Out of Body Experience « The Lowdown Blog on 12/19/09 at 3:02pm  |  Link to this

[...] Metacritic has compiled a list of the best movies of the decade. (Metacritic) [...]

Pingback Metacritic’s Best Reviewed Movies of the Decade (2000-2009) | Film-Book dot Com on 12/19/09 at 3:07pm  |  Link to this

[...] listed below the top five for Dramas, Action, Blockbusters, Horror, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, and Thrillers. Metacritic’s algorithm takes the scores for all the major review outlets, who give a movie a score [...]

Comment by Brad on 12/19/09 at 3:54pm  |  Link to this

What, no Gigli on the Worst list?

Comment by sa'neer on 12/19/09 at 11:16pm  |  Link to this

Where are the Emmerich movies on the worst list? What no 10,000 BC or 2012? Come on!

Comment by TBolNZ on 12/20/09 at 12:38am  |  Link to this

The Proposition is 71/100 but not included in Western – Shame on You as this film is amazing

Comment by Jason on 12/20/09 at 7:35pm  |  Link to this

Why is “Let the Right One in” not in these lists, especially in the horror section? It received an 82 overall rating, I believe. It was much better than the overrated “Pan’s Labyrinth.”

Comment by Ryan on 12/20/09 at 9:50pm  |  Link to this

Ratatouille!? Hahahaaaaa…
Can’t believe you all like kids’ stuff…

Pingback links for 2009-12-20 - Nerdcore on 12/20/09 at 10:04pm  |  Link to this

[...] The Best (and worst) Movies of the Decade – Metacritic (tags: 00ers Movies Lists) [...]

Pingback Uwe Boll miffed only three of his films on Metacritic’s ‘worst of decade’ list « on 12/20/09 at 11:03pm  |  Link to this

[...] the biggest hack in the industry, so when only three of his films appeared on Metacritic’s “Worst Movies of the Decade” list, Boll was understandably [...]

Comment by Marcus on 12/21/09 at 12:03am  |  Link to this

Would be interesting to see a decade’s best of rom com.

Pingback The Entertation Index: December 21 « The Brown Tweed Society on 12/21/09 at 3:31am  |  Link to this

[...] Link: The Best Movies of the Decade (Metacritic) [...]

Pingback Critics Favorites of the Decade · rogdykker on 12/21/09 at 1:48pm  |  Link to this

[...] Here you can find not only the 100 best reviewed movies and the 50 worst, but also the best reviewed wide release films (the version of the list that eliminates teensy indies and most foreign films), best reviewed docs, and then lists by genre (blockbuster, comic book adaptation, animated, comedies, westerns, etc). It’s a lot of fun. Go check it out yourself, but I’ll give you the ten best reviewed, just to get you started. [...]

Pingback Movies Directed by Guy Ritchie - Metacritic on 12/21/09 at 4:20pm  |  Link to this

[...] Ten Years of Metacritic: The Best (and Worst) Movies of the DecadeDecember 17, 2009 [...]

Pingback Metacritic’s Best-Reviewed Films of the Decade | Hollywood Life Magazine on 12/21/09 at 7:45pm  |  Link to this

[...] of the past 10 years. We’ll borrow the Top 25, continued after cut. Check out Metacritics Top 100 on their featured chart. metacritic—s [...]

Comment by PhJ on 12/22/09 at 9:30am  |  Link to this

Im surprised that Moon isn’t on the list. Best movie of 2009 in opinion.

Comment by Christopher G on 12/22/09 at 10:59am  |  Link to this

Not sure what the bashing here of Ratatouille is all about. In my mind it’s absolutely the best movie that Pixar has made, and the one that can be compared on stature to Disney classics like Pinocchio and Snow White. It deserves to be the highest ranking animated film of the decade.

Comment by Avi W on 12/22/09 at 2:27pm  |  Link to this

I think the issue with Ratatouille, and all the Pixar movies really, is that they get a free pass with reviewers. Are they good? Sure, but they are kids movies (albeit enjoyable to all). They are simple, beautiful, uncomplicated, and have little wrong with them. In my book though, that’s B level at best. That’s a good hamburger on a summer day. Nothing doing.

I want to see an 85+ rated movie take some risks.

Comment by newbie on 12/22/09 at 6:53pm  |  Link to this

I agree…Pan’s Labyrinth. No contest.

Comment by niall on 12/23/09 at 3:17am  |  Link to this

Fully agree with Ratatouille’s ranking. Only WALL-E can really compete with it out of the Pixar cannon–it’s surely head and shoulders above Nemo and the overrated Incredibles.

The reason Pixar do so well on this list is because it’s based on an amalgam of scores, and there will be no poor ratings to drag their average down. Whereas for a truly great movie (like say Mulholland Dr.) there’ll always be a Rogert Ebert who “doesn’t get it” and marks it poorly.

Comment by niCK on 12/23/09 at 6:48am  |  Link to this

where is “In the Mood for Love” … I feel metacritic needs to get updated reviews (Like when Ebert reviewed Persona @ 25 years old compared to the review when he was 65. The website “they shoot pictures dont they” might have the most accurate list at least this site cites reviewers, film makers, and like people of the film industry

Comment by Luiz on 12/23/09 at 7:20am  |  Link to this

Where is City of God? It scored a 79 and is not on this list!

Pingback Best Music / Films of 2009 / Decade on 12/23/09 at 2:57pm  |  Link to this

[...] Metacritic compile reviews from all sorts of other publications and websites to calculate their listings. Their Best and Worst Movies of the Decade is a fine overview of the decade in film. [...]

Comment by beastie109 on 12/24/09 at 6:24am  |  Link to this

oh c’mon jack! that movie was incredible! what don’t you like about it?

Comment by jack on 12/24/09 at 6:25am  |  Link to this

pans labrynth, huh? sorry, i didn’t like that movie, thought it was too gory and the story seems dull.

Comment by Chris on 12/25/09 at 8:06pm  |  Link to this

truly aweful lists, i mean there were some good ones in there but there were also a whole bunch of films that shouldnt have been on the lists at all

Comment by Daniel on 12/26/09 at 8:58pm  |  Link to this

What about Notes on a scandal and Let the right one in?

Pingback Top Movies of the Decade That Was « Scribe's Express on 12/26/09 at 11:59pm  |  Link to this

[...] another list from Metacritic titled, Ten Years of Metacritic: The Best (and Worst) Movies of the Decade. I won’t list the “Worst” titles, though. First, their list of all-time [...]

Comment by Jeff on 12/27/09 at 9:40am  |  Link to this

“truly aweful lists, i mean there were some good ones in there but there were also a whole bunch of films that shouldnt have been on the lists at all”

Well it’s the guild of critic’s fault then, as the list is based on the aggregate scores of reviewers

Interesting to see some of the Pixar movies on the list, I feel that many times they have sacrificed the story for the sake of pretty pictures and then they get great reviews for being gorgeous while having no substance.

Comment by Linda on 12/28/09 at 8:12am  |  Link to this

I would like to see a “best foreign films” category, since only the occasional foreign movie (e.g. by the much-admired Almodovar) manages to squeeze onto these lists here and there. Loved seeing those such as “Yi Yi” and “Best of Youth,” but would add several others such as “Cache,” “Look at Me” and “Paris, Je T’aime.”

Comment by Lauren on 12/28/09 at 12:10pm  |  Link to this

I am very happy Sweeney Todd (2007) made it on best wide-released movies of the decade. But for some of the worst movies, the Pink Panther 2, should have made it on there because it was awful. Then, again, the Dark Knight deserved all of the acclaims it got, because we all know, that everyone loves that movie… not everyone, but you know what i mean.
Nice Job.
Good movies, and horrible ones.

Comment by slask on 12/28/09 at 1:00pm  |  Link to this

Where’s THE DARK KNIGHT???? I can’t even consider a list about 2000’s movies which doesn’t include that masterpiece in it.

Comment by Nick on 12/30/09 at 2:30pm  |  Link to this

Why isn’t “Best in Show” (2000) on the list of best-reviewed comedies? It has a metascore of 78.

Pingback Periannath.com » Blog Archive » ‘Lord of the Rings’ featured on dozens of ‘top films of the decade’ lists on 12/30/09 at 11:09pm  |  Link to this

[...] Metacritic: “Ten Years of Metacritic: The Best (and Worst) Movies of the Decade” 6. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The (2003) “The best-reviewed of all Best Picture [Oscar] winners of the decade.” [...]

Comment by Paul on 12/31/09 at 1:05am  |  Link to this

I like how Kung Pow (#36 worst) has a better user rating than Pan’s Labyrinth.

I’m incredibly happy to see The Hurt Locker at #5. I couldn’t stop thinking about it for weeks after I saw it.

Pingback THE DECADE IN REVIEW -- media | Osmosis Online on 12/31/09 at 2:50pm  |  Link to this

[...] Metacritic’s best movies list [...]

Comment by david on 1/1/10 at 6:45am  |  Link to this

…mmm Where’s michael haneke’s films??? i can’t believe it….

Comment by Caitriona on 1/1/10 at 7:46pm  |  Link to this

1. Man On Wire
2. Taxi to the Dark Side
3. Bus 174
4. Deliver Us From Evil
5. The Taste of Others
6. Afghan Star
7. Still Walking
8. Pray the Devil Back to Hell
9. You, the Living
10. Life of Reilly
Jury prize: Once

Pingback anotherpanacea :: Double-Oh-Decade on 1/1/10 at 8:13pm  |  Link to this

[...] person could do worse than just read through the Slate Interactive List or the Metacritic list and add things to their Netflix queue, but here’s my personal short list for true [...]

Comment by Kyle on 1/2/10 at 9:22am  |  Link to this

Technically Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within wasn’t a videogame adaptation. Yes, it was made by Square, who develops the FF series, but the movie wasn’t based on any of the games. Of course, since almost none of the games have anything to do with each other in terms of big-picture details, the argument could be easily made that it was, in fact, an adaptation, or at least another entry in the series that just happened to be a movie, not a game. Still, when I think of an adaptation, I think of a movie that incorporates some aspects of the franchise it’s based on, such as characters or locations, and other than a lifestream of sorts and someone named Cid (in this case Sid), I can’t remember anything that linked it with other FF games (I also haven’t seen it in a while, so I may be forgetting things).

Pingback Best of the Decade | Eric Bryant // Innovator, Speaker, Author, and Navigator at Mosaic in LA on 1/2/10 at 3:02pm  |  Link to this

[...] The Best (and Worst) Movies of the Decade from Metcritic [...]

Comment by TonyS on 1/3/10 at 3:53am  |  Link to this

No 21 Grams, Where is Crash?

Sorry, some of the hardest laughs I had this decade were in Freddy Got Fingered

Comment by harminder on 1/3/10 at 8:56am  |  Link to this

best list of movies of the decade

Comment by Brian on 1/3/10 at 3:47pm  |  Link to this

I must admit the only movie that doesn’t deserve the worst movie distinction, let alone the number four spot, is vulgar. Needless to say it wasn’t for most but in no way was it a failure. Daring, sick, sad and uplifting.

It’s certainly not a worse film than Gold Diggers (the number 5) or the horrendous Meet The Spartans (#12). It beat out Battlefield Earth, jeez. Judging the material on face value instead of the movie as a whole.

Pingback 2000-09: Another one bites the dust… :: Tuesday Creative on 1/4/10 at 1:14pm  |  Link to this

[...] Metacritic: “Ten Years of Metacritic: The Best (and Worst) Movies of the Decade” [...]

Pingback Awards Daily's Oscar Countdown--Watching Oscar 24/7 » Blog Archive » Metacritic’s Best-Reviewed Films of the Decade on 1/4/10 at 8:14pm  |  Link to this

[...] of the past 10 years. We’ll borrow the Top 25, continued after cut. Check out Metacritics Top 100 on their featured chart. AWARDS [...]

Pingback Renerd Radio » Blog Archive » Solid mass of delicious goodness on 1/4/10 at 8:16pm  |  Link to this

[...] For our last show of 2009, Jason and I run down the IMDB top 25 movies of the 2000’s list. We touch on a few other lists as well, and Jason even had the gumption to come up with his own top 10. The IMDB list can be found here, and in case you’re interested MetaCritic has posted their best (and worst) of the decade, right here. [...]

Comment by morakdais on 1/7/10 at 9:52am  |  Link to this

WOW… pan’s labyrinth was utter garbage, seriously i know one person that actually likes it. corpse bride?!? united 93?!? WTF you have no idea what a good movie is. you didn’t even add pandorum, which was amazing. it is good to know that any article or review posted from here is no worth reading

Comment by uva-.- on 1/7/10 at 11:34am  |  Link to this

Where’s “Let The Right One In” ? It has an 82 and doesn’t even appear on the op horror movies? Why?

Pingback From the Palantir! Jon Stewart Takes on George Lucas Over the Crappy STAR WARS Prequels. Plus, is AVATAR Racist? | TheTorchOnline.com on 1/7/10 at 3:34pm  |  Link to this

[...] three movies in three different spots, not just lumping them together in one slot. Interestingly, Metacritic says that The Return of the King was the best-reviewed of the all the decade’s Best Picture [...]

Comment by Aetherech0s on 1/10/10 at 1:14am  |  Link to this

Why arent the Fountain and the Prestige on that list?

Comment by Anonymous on 1/11/10 at 6:48pm  |  Link to this

Yugioh a bad movie?! It was advertisement for cards, yeah, but … well i admit that the american dubbed movie was horrible, but the japanese had a very good story, but really one of the worst movies? i think not, harr potter and the half blood prince must be there.

Comment by Chad S. on 1/12/10 at 12:47am  |  Link to this

1. Almost Famous 2. The Piano Teacher 3. Million Dollar Baby 4. The Squid and the Whale 5. Dancer in the Dark 6. In the Cut 7. The Saddest Music in the World 8. Before Sunset 9. Signs 10. 13 Conversations About One Thing

Comment by gioval marreus on 1/13/10 at 7:53am  |  Link to this

I believed that metacritic was excellent but what a dissapointment here, this are not the correct order for the best, truly… I guess the pastemagazine make it better than you, specialized people. At least in the first numbers… I think that Pan’s Labyrinth get the no. 7, or maybe less than that, and these are not global movies, what a fraud, mostly american cinema, you must specify it. See you (but I don’t know now)

Comment by jporter on 1/13/10 at 7:47pm  |  Link to this

What? How did Far Cry not make the list?
I’m talking, of course, about the Worst 50 list. We love you, Uwe Boll!

Pingback Nerdtalk Episode 134 : Nerdtalk on 1/13/10 at 8:05pm  |  Link to this

[...] Metacritics best Films of the decade [...]

Pingback 2010 Movie Preview - Metacritic on 1/14/10 at 8:31am  |  Link to this

[...] Ten Years of Metacritic: The Best (and Worst) Movies of the Decade (92) [...]

Comment by ray weller on 1/17/10 at 5:02am  |  Link to this

No Donnie Darko??!!

Comment by Chad S. on 1/18/10 at 11:03pm  |  Link to this

As a film critic wanna-be, I’ve come to realize that being an actual film critic is not a whole lot of fun. There are weeks where every studio film with a wide release could be a candidate for the worst film of the decade. The only truly great wide release film to come out of a major studio this year was, I think, Sam Raimi’s “Drag Me to Hell”. The worst film was, without a doubt(and this isn’t film snobbery, it’s just common sense), “Transformers 2″, which brings me back to the point of this blog entry: What is the worst film of the decade? Yes, it’s another title from Michael Bay’s filmography, and that title is “Bad Boys 2″.

Comment by Lin D. on 1/28/10 at 8:03am  |  Link to this

I think Ratatouille was good but I admit that I did get bored after a while. Nemo and WALL-E are definitely better in my opinion. Anyway, Spirited Away owns them all – not that you can compare them directly but still, animation and story-wise it’s more complex and enchanting.

+1 for the Mulholland Drive nagging, I would have loved to see it (high) the list.

Pingback A formula for creating a movie with stink on it — Weye.org on 2/9/10 at 4:04pm  |  Link to this

[...] movie, so who the hell cares about it. A great example of this is Date Movie, which is listed as one of the worst movies of the decade on MetaCritic. For movie lovers, the studio did us a huge favor with that [...]

Comment by Nasim on 3/7/10 at 5:32am  |  Link to this

what about the asian cinema films like oldboy, my sassy girl, internal offairs. audition and much much more. Plus theres no requiem for a dream & moon (sam rockwell)???

Pingback "The Hobbit" starts shooting this summer - Page 2 - Hardware Canucks on 3/18/10 at 2:56pm  |  Link to this

[...] of this decade, yup, beating all the LOTRO movies. I think he has potential to do a damn fine job. The Best Movies of the Decade – Metacritic __________________ =Synth= Gaming [...]

Comment by Collin on 3/23/10 at 3:29pm  |  Link to this

it appears as though Wall-E should now be a 94….

Comment by SOUP on 5/3/10 at 11:40am  |  Link to this

NOOOOO AVATAR. THAT MAKES NO SENSE IT WAS MADE IT 2009.

Comment by john on 5/25/10 at 7:12pm  |  Link to this

shouldn’t there be Alice in the wonderland?? That is awesome weird movie i would give it a 95-94

Comment by rizzo on 6/8/10 at 1:55pm  |  Link to this

The Hillz with paris hilton should be on the crappy movies list. it was painfully bad.

Pingback Uwe Boll miffed only three of his films on Metacritic’s ‘worst of decade’ list | The Hollywood Roaster on 6/25/10 at 1:28pm  |  Link to this

[...] the biggest hack in the industry, so when only three of his films appeared on Metacritic’s “Worst Movies of the Decade” list, Boll was understandably [...]

Comment by Brent M on 7/2/10 at 3:25pm  |  Link to this

the best of the decade should have Law Abiding Citizen, Man on Fire, Behind Enemy Lines, Wedding Crashers, The curious Case of Benjamin Button, What Lies Beneath , and The Bourne Identity. The wosst movies of the decade were Surrogates, RV, Four Christmases, Vanilla Sky, Training Day, and Gone Baby Gone. Most overrated films of the decade were Avatar, Harry Potter films, Lord of the Rings films, and Million Dollar Baby.

Comment by Sagen on 7/10/10 at 3:26pm  |  Link to this

Donnie Darko: The Director’s Cut? It received a score of 88, and it’s nowhere to be found. This seems oddly selective; I’m sure there are several highly rated films missing.

Comment by Sagen on 7/10/10 at 3:27pm  |  Link to this

I know! What the hell?

Comment by Grandma on 7/14/10 at 4:59pm  |  Link to this

The Proposition was a western you know.

Comment by Anonymous on 7/17/10 at 4:17am  |  Link to this

Silent Hill is better than the other 5 you place on the Video Game adaptation list.

Comment by chump jackson on 7/24/10 at 1:55pm  |  Link to this

Omission of “City of God” alone bleeds these lists of credibility.

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