Not All Texans Ride Horses to School's Top 15 of the 2000s (so far...)

Sometime in the past two weeks, IMDb released the top 15 highest user-rated films of the 2000s, and after giving some commentary on each one, I decided to make my own list. However, instead of simply giving a list, I'm going to count down my top 15 favorites of the 2000s one day at a time. I took into consideration performances, editing, emotional impact, and rewatch value, among many other criteria and tt certainly wasn't easy, but after several days of comparing and reevaluation, I think I've finally made a (ranked) list that I'm ecstatic about. So, without further delay, let's get this started.


Coming in at #15 IS...




#15. "Zodiac" (2007) by David Fincher: Given proper marketing and a better timed release (ie: NOT mid-February), "Zodiac" could have been a significant player in awards season 07. Unfortunately, Fincher's lengthy, exhausting, expertly executed real-life thriller was a bit of a box-office failure. Despite making it onto a number of critics' Top 10 lists was a relief to see, but this didn't convince the studio to take notice and launch any sort of Oscar campaign, which is unfortunate. For despite its lengthy running time, "Zodiac" was a masterful, intelligent, and at times downright terrifying thriller. From its opening scene, where a cheating wife and her lover are attacked on the side of the road, Fincher does a brilliant job at bringing out the tension, aided by the eerie green-blue and orange flooded nighttime visuals. Yet while the few times we actually see the Zodiac killer attack his victims are frightening, the movie actually gets even better the less we see of him. It makes his threats of attacking a school bus full of children, or his taunting faxes and letters all the more unnerving. Deftly maneuvering the twists and turns of the Zodiac story, Fincher and writer James Vanderbilt manage to keep the film from sinking to the level of a slasher flick, and instead let truth, which here is much much stranger and freakier than fiction, play out in full. The ways in which Fincher and Vanderbilt navigate the complexities of the Zodiac case, keeping so much detail intact without any of it ever feeling extraneous or boring, is a remarkable achievement in its own right. In some ways, the film is like a fact-based, more epic version of Mr. Fincher's "Se7en", although its villain lacks any sort of "gimmick". The film's only weakness is that, unlike "Se7en" or "Fight Club", which boasted few primary characters and excellent performances, "Zodiac"'s characters aren't nearly as interesting and neither are the performances, no doubt because of the fact that they are constrained by reality. However, everything else, from the tension to the storytelling, is so phenomenally well done, that such a flaw fails to register strongly against the overall success of this gritty, fascinating thriller.

Final Grade: A

Best Performance: Mark Ruffalo (I never thought I would say that about a film)

Best Scene: The Basement Scene, which might be one of the most terrifying, hold-your-breath moments ever put on screen.