10 - Los Cronocrímenes (pictured above)

Directed by Nacho Vigalondo, 2007

The first of two time travel mind-benders, Timecrimes is layer upon layer of just-right plot twists and smarts in a style very reminiscent of old episodes of The Twilight Zone.

09 - Volver

Directed by Pedro Almodóvar, 2006

Pedro Almodóvar is one of the great directors of our generation. He sports a resume full of great films dating back to 1980.   Penelope Cruz is one of the most under-appreciated actresses around.  These two Spanish heavyweights get together to craft a quirky feel-good story about incest, death, and the supernatural.

08 - Primer

Directed by Shane Carruth, 2004

Break out your pencil and notebook - you’ll need a page or two full of notes and diagrams to keep up with Primer.  Actually, I’d recommend just watching it 3 or 4 times.  Attempting to digest exactly what happens in this movie is near impossible in a single viewing.  In a nutshell - two dudes accidentally invent time travel.  Paradox ensues. Alot.  This is the ultimate low-budget, no budget sci-fi flick.

07 - Yi Yi: A One and a Two (pictured above)

Directed by Edward Yang, 2000

What I think I love most about Yi Yi is that it’s many plot-lines are all so engaging and believable.  It’s so easy to feel something (usually sympathy)  for each these characters.   After sitting through this 3 hour tale, I found myself wanting another hour or two.  This was also  one of the very first foreign films I ever saw as a young college kid exploring independence for the first time, so it definitely has added meaning to me for that.

06 - Fa yeung nin wa (In the Mood for Love)

Directed by Kar Wai Wong, 2000

Far more than for its characters or its plot, I love this movie for it’s visuals. You can almost watch this with no subtitles and still have a good idea what’s going on.  Every camera angle, every room and corridor portrays the secrecy and lust and deception that is central to the story.

05 - Hable con ella (Talk to Her)

Directed by Pedro Almodóvar, 2002

This time with feeling: Pedro Almodóvar is one of the greatest directors of our generation.  This movie gets off to a pretty slow start, but you’ll be rewarded with a story about human emotion and relationships (minus the preachiness you might expect, given the subject matter).

04 - Once

Directed by John Carney, 2006

The music.  It’s all about the music.  Also, the charming Markéta Irglová.  But mostly the music.  This might be my all time favorite romance - boy meets girl, boy and girl make beautiful music together.  The on-screen musical and interpersonal harmony feels so genuine because it is genuine.  Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová are dating and performing together as The Swell Season (were I to put together a list of great music of the decade, both Swell Season albums would definitely find their way onto that list).

03 - Oldboy

Directed by Chan-wook Park, 2003

This movie draws you closer and closer to the screen with compelling characters, interesting visuals, gritty toughness, and amazing fight coreography just so it can give you a good solid slap across the face with it’s completely unexpected final act.  Definitely see this before the long-rumored American remake finds it’s way to the screen.

02 - Das leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others)

Directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2007

Set amidst a landscape of suppression, surveillance, fear and mistrust, The Lives of Others tells an engaging and delightful story with one of the least cheesy feel-good endings around.  The acting is top-notch, the drama is powerful, the characters are well drawn - this is just an all around great movie.

01 - 4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile (4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days) (pictured above)

Directed by Cristian Mungiu, 2007

Remember how it felt to watch the last 10 minutes or so of Requiem for a Dream?  Remember how it left you emotionally drained and unsettled?  This movie is that feeling drawn out for a solid 80 minutes.  I absolutely love how this movie tells a story in a very natural and realistic way - things happen that are never explored or explained, things do not wrap up neatly, many many questions remain - Just Like Real Life™.  Every character and every setting adds to the palpable tension, even the happy and carefree family celebrating a birthday around an overflowing dinner table (an image, by the way, which is a very interesting contrast to the image at the ending of the movie…).

Quick disclaimer - this is the movie I saw most recently, and it definitely left  a very strong impression.  If I had seen this 2 years ago, would I still rank it #1?  I don’t know, but I’d like to think so.

I spent some time crawling around my Netflix, Movielens, IMDb, iCheckMovies, FlickChart, and The Auteurs accounts, putting together a list of all the movies released this decade that I’ve seen.  I came up with 5 different lists I’ll be posting over the next few days (because my taste in movies really matters to you )

• 10 independent / art house / foreign movies
• 10 movies I didn’t particularly like but probably owe a second viewing
• 15 movies I haven’t seen but are well reviewed and show up on lots of “Top” lists
• 15 personal favorites that I loved but I get it if they don’t get the same praise from others
• 50 critically acclaimed, pretty well known, legit best movies of the decade.

That’s 100 movies across 5 lists that I’ll (hopefully) have up by New Years.

Christmas season is in full swing, so I thought I’d share a pretty great Christmas “album” I put together.  I think it captures the feel and spirit of an awesome poem called In the Bleak Midwinter by Christina Rossetti published in 1904.  Check out the poem, then click the image above to listen to some of my absolute favorite Christmas songs.

Concerning the SEPTA strike (in the middle of which I unexpectedly find myself):

According to a source close to the negotiations, the union was willing to accept SEPTA’s economic package of raises totaling 11 percent over five years with zero increase and a $1,250 signing bonus in the first year, a 120 percent (six percntage points, from 5 to 11 percent) in contributions to the employee pension fund, and no increase in employee contributions to the healthcare plan. The main sticking point, the source said, was proposed changes in longstanding work rules that allow maintenance employees to pick the equipment they will work on based on seniority.

So, wait…  300,000 commuters and daily riders have no reasonable way to get around America’s 6th most populous city because SEPTA wants the dudes that have been maintenance workers for 6 years to have the right to make the dudes that have been maintenance workers for 4 years fix the toilets?  Am I reading that right? They’ve agreed on the money but have gone on strike over this?

The leaves are changing and Northeast Ohio on the banks of Lake Erie is particularly scenic this time of year.  It’s a sort of last chance to enjoy the outdoors before the oranges and yellows and reds are replaced by the whites and greys of winter.

I really love this shot and just wanted to share it with everybody.