My Favorite Movies of the Noughties: A Study in Mainstreamyness

My friend Carlos assures me we are NOT approaching the end of the decade. As there was no calendar year "0", the year 2001 was the REAL start of the new millennium. Therefore, 2011 will be the start of the second decade of the millennium.
But I am FAR more interested in being able to refer to the actual decades of my life as 'the seventies', 'the eighties', and 'the nineties' etc. Because that's what everybody else does.
Sorry, Science! And Carlos.
Therefore, as my lovely wife suggested, I'll do a bunch of posts this month summarizing my impressions of the pop culture of the Nifty Noughties. My favorite movies, comics, TV shows, books, cartoons, and songs.
Why 'Favorite' and not 'The Best'? Because I don't have to justify the word favorite. I also see no reason to justify things that are probably already covered earlier in this very blog.
So today I'll forgo my list of Andrew W.K.'s most soothing lullabies and get right to:

MY EIGHT FAVORITE MOVIES OF THE NOUGHTIES:

Why eight? That's how many fingers I have left over with both thumbs up!

8. Watchmen- You bet! My only regret is that I saw it just once. Of course, there's every possibility that over time it will slide down the list, past Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Lilo & Stitch, Shrek and its sequel, Clerks II, Titan A.E. and so on, spiraling down into obscurity. I like to believe it has staying power, but, well, time makes fools of us all (as Phillip Fry once commented when a hat full of curdled milk was discovered in his locker).

7. Serenity- There are so many things wrong with Joss Whedon's Firefly being cancelled half a season in and Dollhouse getting two seasons! Grreh! I can't let it stick in my craw forever, because at least I got some resolution to the series in this splendid effects-laden adventure romp. I loved these characters. I loved this story. Yes, even more than Lord of the Rings. Because at least my wife will watch this with me again.

6. Shaun of the Dead- Comedy trumps effects. Who knew? And a horror outweighs a sci-fi? Who would believe it? But it's true, this movie can't die. I love it to death. It shambles in to the number six spot, forcing me to wonder if I wouldn't have been better off with a standard Top 10 list. Well, too late now...

5. Spider-Man 2- Marvel dominated the celluloid decade as far as I was concerned. You can keep your Batmans and your terrfyingly ill-considered Supermans Returnses and just keep trying to give me superhero movies that are more like this. Also, develop a way to make every movie my first date with the love of my life. Is that too tall an order?

4. The Incredibles- Not even Marvel could make my favorite super-hero flick in the last ten yar. Because Pixar made it already.

3. Revenge of the Sith- It's not your regular wall-to-wall special effects prequel space opera tragedy. That's how I justify my atypical abilty to love a movie with an unhappy ending. However, technically, this movie only makes the happy ending of Return of the Jedi happier!
So there. The circle is now complete. If watching 'Fanboys' with my friend Anthony this weekend taught me anything, love for Star Wars is the strongest love of all.

2. Star Trek- Except for Star Trek.

1. WALL-E- Utterly unable to quantify whether I was more enamored in the long term of Star Trek or Star Wars, I picked a neutral party to top the list and quell the roiling confusion in my soul. (Also, it's just a bunch of movies. Of course my love for MY WIFE is the strongest love of all. Right, hon? Right? Aw...)That's correct. That's Mike's favorite movie of the Noughties. Unless you ask me point blank sometime when I haven't given it any thought and I blurt out something else even more honest, surprising me as much as it does you.
And if I feel any shame that they are all mainstream American genre blockbusters without a single obscure low-budget wristslitter I sure as hell won't tell you lot. The word Favorite means never having to justify your pedestrian choices. Yea, bo!

My Favorite Characters: A Lovelorn Loadlifter

This week my subject is the titular character of Disney-Pixar's Wall-E. Quickly rising to the top 10 of my favorite films and remaining there with excellent staying power on many repeat viewings, I cannot gush enough about this movie and Wall-E himself.
I have always been fascinated by fictional robots, and particularly those robots who are eccentric or broken, robots whose initial programming is not their primary focus. It's all very well to have a well-programmed machine that does exactly what its designers intended. In fact, in real life, I think that's probably for the best. Far too many robots who supersede their instructions proceed to run amok on deadly killing sprees. (I'm looking at you, Skynet)
But some robots have wormed their way into my heart by choosing different paths than those they were built to follow. A small, rusting, 700-year-old garbage mashing robot on the environmentally ravaged Earth of 2805, Wall-E is one such beloved character.
He is generally practical, efficient, methodical. He's performed his repetitive task well beyond his design limits (the other Waste Allocation Load Lifters of the Earth class have succumbed to time)
He's steadfast, even brave in his lonely job. He's uncomplaining in his mission to clear the debris of the culture who created and abandoned him. But he's long past the single-mindedness of his early centuries. Like myself, he enjoys collecting and surrounding himself with junk and trinkets. He likes musicals, as I do, or possibly just one musical, I'm not sure. Certainly he likes to dance.
And when the opportunity arises, and a sleek, young, driven new model robot, EVE, arrives in his life he pursues her with the same sense of purpose he had previously poured into his work.
I admire a robot who knows what he wants and goes after it. (again, not talking about you, Skynet).
EVE does not have eyes for WALL-E at first, she is devoted to her own directive, plant detection. But our hero is determined, he does not give up, and, as you may imagine, their purposes intertwine and robot affection is born as a new hope for the planet is kindled.
Golly gosh, oh gee. I swear to God, I'm a real sap sometimes.
Wall-E is a robot short on words, but long on matters of the heart, and I love him, just as I love his ancestors.

If our robots can be kind and loving when they break away from our programming, perhaps our world will be in good pincers when we leave it behind. Or perhaps if we continue in our douchbaggery, they'll just sing over our graves. Either way, I'm glad SOMEONE will be cheerful.
(Thanks to my wife for the picture of Number 5.)