Compiling a list and putting it in order was very difficult. Thanks to both The Lab Rat and Bootleg Willy for paving the way.

The beginning of this decade marks the time that I really started to become obsessed with film, so this list is very personal to me.

There are many more excellent films that I did not include and on a different day they might have made the final cut, but right now these 25 stand above the rest.

25) Wall-E - Andrew Stanton, USA, 2008

Everything Pixar does right is highlighted in this touching story of robot love. It is also a sci-fi masterpiece that shows where our society is heading.

24) Wayward Cloud - Tsai Ming-liang, Thailand, 2005

A man and a woman tentatively connect during a long drought. Melons, porn and big-budget musical numbers. Tsai Ming-Liang knows how to create a mood with his odd style, but he always keeps his characters real no matter how absurd the film gets.

23) Irreversible - Gasper Noe, France, 2002

Brutal content and dizzying style help tell this story of loss and revenge. Showing the scenes in reverse makes the climax touching rather than sadistic. A very powerful film.

22) The Constant Gardener - Fernando Meirelles, UK, 2005

It’s a thriller, a mystery, and a political drama full of social commentary. But at its heart it is a love story. Meirelles shows that his first film was not a fluke. That he can tell a mature, beautiful and assured story in the way it deserves.

21) Birth - Jonathan Glazer, USA, 2004

It’s a moody story that builds and builds and lets loose at just the right time. The performances are very strong, the direction is superb and the story is full of questions that kept me hooked.

More»

As a preview to our official Top 25 of the Decade lists we have enlisted some help from some fellow film-buff friends. Their lists are below, and LCD and TC will both be giving our opinions about them below in the comments.

A bit about the reviewers:

The Lab Rat - If TC and LCD had a baby the film tastes of that unholy offspring would probably match The Lab Rat. He is a constant presence at the ReelFriction movie nights and his opinion will color whatever films they decide to watch, for better or worse.

Bootleg Willy- It’s no secret that Bootleg Willy’s film tastes align closer to TC than LCD. He did after all initiate TC into the pleasures of cinema back in his formative high school years. Still, their tastes are different and sometimes TC and LCD agree more often than TC and Willy.

And here are their lists!

The Lab Rat

25. Once
24. Juno
23. The Fountain
22. Synechdoche, NY
21. No Country for Old Men
20. History of Violence
19. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
18. The Hurt Locker
17. A.I.: Artificial Intelligence
16. District 9
15. The Life Aquatic
14. Southland Tales
13. Up
12. Lost in Translation
11. Royal Tenenbaums
10. Memento
9. Adaptation
8. Shaun of the Dead
7. Wall-E
6. Donnie Darko
5. Requiem for a Dream
4. There Will Be Blood
3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2. City of God
1. Lord of the Rings

Bootleg Willy

25. Nobody Knows
24. Tarnation
23. Minority Report
22. Blessing Bell
21. Shaun of the Dead
20. Capturing the Friedmans
19. Oldboy
18. The Heart of the World
17. The Pianist
16. Me and You and Everyone We Know
15. In the Mood For Love
14. There Will Be Blood
13. Moon
12. Mulholland Drive
11. Dancer in the Dark
10. Finding Nemo/Triplets of Belleville
9. Audition/Visitor Q
8. Piano Teacher
7. Waking Life
6. Brick
5. Morvern Callar
4. Battle Royale
3. Lord of the Rings
2. Once
1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

It is very hard to come up with a list of the best films of the decade, so thank you both for your contributions! Coming soon will be TC and LCD’s official lists for best 25 of the decade.

I haven’t written much because I have been busy watching films trying to get my Top 10 of the Year and Top 25 of the Decade lists ready. At some point, I just had to stop and lock it in. I can’t see every film, and I can’t obsess about the order forever.

So, with that in mind. Here are my Top Films from 2009. This goes to 11!

11 - An Education - Lone Scherfig, UK

A young highshool girl is swept away by a glamorous older man. This films show how a great script, acting and direction can elevate a simple story into something special.

10 - Not Quite Hollywood - Mark Hartley, Australia

Ever wanted to know about Australian Exploitation film? This documentary will give you the run-down. It’s an incredibly entertaining history of an incredibly interesting style of film-making. A cinephiliac’s dream.

9 - Goodbye Solo - Ramin Bahrani, USA

The story of an unlikely friendship between a immigrant cab-driver and an old suicidal man. Beutifuly told and wonderfully acted. It has an authenticity to it that you rarely see in film.

8 - Away We Go - Sam Mendes, USA

Sam Mendes changes his tone for this smart story of a young couple trying to find the best place to raise their unborn child. It’s very funny and touching. John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph show they can act and be likable at the same time.

7 - Avatar - James Cameron, USA

I struggled to rank this film accurately on my list. It definately is one of the best of the year. With a decent story and a so-so script Cameron was still able to create a incredible celebration of cinema. Give in to it and it will take you away.

6 - Inglorious Basterds - Quentin Tarantino, USA

Tarantino does World War II in this suprisingly assured non-Tarantino film. It’s a segmented story, and the suspense of each segment is ratcheted up to the breaking point before letting loose. All with the use of great scriptwriting. Christoph Waltz is as good as everyone says he is. He handles the strong dialog perfectly.

5 - Desert Within -  Rodrigo Pla, Mexico

An intense story of a man obsessed with building a church in the desert to atone for his sins in turn of the century Mexico. Unfortunately, his family gets the worst of it as his obession with god becomes stronger and stronger. The film is gritty and surreal and very heavy. Mario Zaragoza gives it his all playing the father diving headlong into religious madness.

4 - Up - Pete Doctor, USA

Pixar does it yet again! They flout convention by making this story about an unlikely hero. The montage at the beginning may be the best of the year, telling a complete emotional story dialog free. Their production design is through the roof, but they always make the characters the center of the story and that is why their films are so good.

3 - Revanche - Gotz Speilmann, Austria

A robbery goes wrong and a man sets out to get revenge. Emotions run high and deep in this slow but very intense thriller. The tension is real because the direction is subtle and superb. Just look at the scenes with the wood-cutting machine and you will see a master director at work.

2 - Watchmen - Zack Snyder, USA

I always looked at this story as a character-study about how different types of people react when the world is falling apart. Except the world is an alternate reality and the characters are two generations of superheroes. How this film got made in the studio system is a mystery. It remains loyal to the comic, keeps the style and the message, and remains as dark, complicated, and layered as the original work, and has big-budget production quality. Zack Snyder took a huge step forward in this film, showing he can pull of story as well as style.

1 - White Ribbon - Michael Haneke, Germany

The film is stark black and white. It looks like it came straight out of a photograph from turn of the century Germany. It tells the tale a village experiencing a series of shocking accidents with mysterious causes. Who is to blame? The question is never really answered but fingers are pointed at the children. The children, raised in strict and cruel catholic households. Repressed and tormented and subsquently given no choice but to take it or lash out. As the war arrives, we are left to think about how this generation of children will contribute to the horrors of World War II. Subtle, enigmatic, and brilliantly directed, the film is classic Haneke.

Stay tuned for the best of the decade!