OldBoy

so for the decade that has just passed, which single year did you think had the most enjoyable movies in total? (going by initial release year in theaters, or if foreign, first release on DVD)

now, for me, i am going by how i initially felt in theater or rewatchability on DVD and the following have been watched more than any other in my collection since their DVD and/or theatrical release and ones i just really love and never tire of seeing.

2005:
Serenity
Batman Begins
High Tension
The Descent
Sin City
Four Brothers
Hustle & Flow
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance
A History of Violence
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Walk the Line
The 40 Year-Old Virgin

Fist of Doom

2007:

Sunshine
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood
Hot Fuzz
Eastern Promises
Zodiac
Michael Clayton
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Shooter

AnonomusBob15

2007. I remember sliding out of the "loop" in terms of films after 2005/2006 were such slow years for good films. Seeing Zodiac and There Will Be Blood in the theaters were the theater highlights of the decade for me. Didn't get to see No Country for Old Men at the theaters though....

Aegean2007

It's not even close for me: 2007.

There Will Be Blood
No Country for Old Men
Zodiac
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
The Lives of Others
Once
The Bourne Ultimatum
Michael Clayton
Gone Baby Gone
Ratatouille
Hot Fuzz
Into the Wild
The Savages
The King of Kong
The Assassination of Jesse James
Control
The Orphanage
This Is England
The Host
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
Eastern Promises
Persepolis
3:10 to Yuma
Knocked Up
Superbad

Arthur Dent

2007--easily: NCFOM, TWBB, Zodiac, Ratatouille, Hot Fuzz, The Lookout, Grindhouse, Knocked Up, Superbad, 3:10 to Yuma, Enchanted, Sweeney Todd.

ETA: Forgot Once, Into the Wild, and Persepolis.

Cardsfan111

I'd probably go with 2007 as well. Looking at the films others have listed, I realize that I went to the theater more that year than any other (had a lot of movie cash to use up).

RichC2

2001 for me, almost by default since BHD, Mulholland, Darko, Spirited Away and Tenenbaums rank amongst my favorite of the decade --

Black Hawk Down
Mulholland Drive
Donnie Darko
Amelie
Spirited Away
The Royal Tenenbaums
Memento (says 2000 on imdb but was released in US theaters March '01)
Lord of the Rings: Fellowship
My Sassy Girlfriend (Korean)
No Man's Land
Brotherhood of the Wolf
Ichi The Killer (Japanese)
Frailty
AI
Hannibal (not a popular choice but still one of my most memorable movie going experiences, found the movie hilarious as well)
Super Troopers
Shaolin Soccer
Bully

fumanstan

I like 2000. Gladiator, Memento, Snatch, American Psycho, X-Men

I like 2008 quite a bit too with Dark Knight, Iron Man, Taken, Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Dr Mabuse

That is a hell of a list.

Hard to argue with that. 2007 for me I guess.

I would add 'Seraphim Falls' and 'The Lookout' and that would pretty much settle it for me.

Drexl

The first thing that came to mind was 2007.

story

Poll? I'd need to also see little lists. So far, 2007 looks pretty good.

OldBoy

that would have been a good idea...

Ash Ketchum

2003 hands-down. Why? KILL BILL VOL. 1.

Two great anime movies came out that year also: TOKYO GODFATHERS and, in Japan, POKEMON JIRACHI WISHMAKER (which didn't come out in the U.S. till the following year, and only on DVD).

Solid Snake

2007 for me. A lot of flicks I loved seeing that year.

Mr. Cinema

Definitely 2007

superdeluxe

2001

inri222

2000

Yi Yi
Traffic
Werckmeister Harmonies
Dancer in the Dark
Memento
Amores Perros
George Washington
Animal Factory
Battle Royale
The Wind Will Carry Us
Best In Show
Magnolia
Pollock
Ghost Dog
Faithless
The Town Is Quiet
Code Unknown
Murderous Maids
Devils on the Doorstep
Shadow of the Vampire
Mifune
Requiem For a Dream
In the Mood for Love

PopcornTreeCt

Without a doubt.

I would also add:

Elizabeth the Golden Age
Sweeney Todd
Across the Universe
I'm Not There
The Darjeeling Limited

It's not just the greatest year of the decade, it's one of the greatest years of all-time.

Arthur Dent

I wholeheartedly agree.

Moonstone

Hard to argue with 2007, although I also enjoyed 2000 and 2001 just as much.

shakti

Some favorites that come to mind :

2007

Dark Matter (Zheng)
Flight of the Red Balloon (Hou)
Snow Angels (Green)
Before the Rains (Sivan)
War Dance (Fine)
Arranged (Crespo & Schaefer)
My Father My Lord (Volach)
The Counterfeiters (Ruzowitzky)
Bad Habits (Bross)
Brick Lane (Gavron)
The Secrets (Nesher)
Trade (Kreuzpaintner)
Up the Yangtze (Chang)
Le Tete de Maman (Tardieu)
Lust, Caution (Lee)
Mongol (Bodrov)
The Orphanage (Bayona)

2006

The Bothersome Man (Lien)
Tell No One (Canet)
Babel (Inarritu)
Eden (Hofmann)
Avenue Montaigne (Thompson)
I Served the King of England (Menzel)
The Lives of Others (Von Donnersmarck)
Dreamland (Matzner)
Love For Sale (Ainouz)
Four Minutes (Kraus)
12 : 08 East of Bucharest (Porumboiu)
The Great Happiness Space (Clennell)
The Education of A Fairy (Cuerda)
Snow Cake (Evans)
Offside (Panahi)
Notes On a Scandal (Eyre)


2008

The Children of Huang Shi (Spottiswoode)
Tulpan (Dvortsevoy)
The Duchess (Dibb)
Heaven on Earth (Mehta)
Let the Right One In (Alfredson)
Doubt (Shanley)
The Reader (Daldry)
Man On a Wire (Marsh)
Frozen River (Hunt)
Brideshead Revisited (Jarrold)
Cherry Blossoms (Dorrie)
The Class (Cantet)
Wendy and Lucy (Reichardt)
The Forbidden Kingdom (Minkoff)
Last Chance Harvey (Hopkins)

2005

The New World (Malick)
Cache (Haneke)
The Promise (Chen)
Water (Mehta)
The House of Sand (Waddington)
Broken Flowers (Jarmusch)
L' Enfant (Dardenne)
Lady Vengeance (Park)
Aurore (Dionne)
The Secret Life of Words (Coixet)
Sabah (Nadda)
Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (Zhang)
Lemming (Moll)
Le Petit Lieutenant (Beauvois)

2004

Campfire (Cedar)
3-Iron (Kim)
Look at Me (Jaoui)
Spider Forest (Song)
2046 (Wong)
A Very Long Engagement (Jeunet)
House of Flying Daggers (Zhang)
Agata and the Storm (Soldini)
Antares (Spielmann)
The Motorcycle Diaries (Salles)
The Beautiful Country (Moland)
Bad Education (Almodovar)

2002

Zhou Yu's Train (Zhou)
Ararat (Egoyan)
Broken Wings (Bergman)
Frida (Taymor)
Japon (Reygadas)
Marooned in Iraq (Ghobadi)
The Hours (Daldry)
Morvern Callar (Ramsay)
The Pianist (Polanski)
8 Women (Ozon)


2003

Ginger and Cinnamon (Luchetti)
Monsieur Ibrahim (Dupeyron)
Swimming Pool (Ozon)
Saraband (Bergman)
Zatoichi (Kitano)
Calendar Girls (Cole)
Coffee and Cigarettes (Jarmusch)
Warriors of Heaven and Earth (Ping He)

2001

Y Tu Mama Tambien (Cuaron)
The Son's Room (Moretti)
Beijing Bicycle (Wang)
Baran (Majidi)
A Girl at the Window (Leclerc)
The Piano Teacher (Haneke)


2000

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Lee)
The Vertical Ray of the Sun (Tran)
Smell of Camphor, Fragrance of Jasmine (Farmanara)

2009

Sin Nombre (Fukunaga)
Julie & Julia (Ephron)

Travis McClain

I'm going with 2004 for the following samples:

Shaun of the Dead - my pick for Movie of the Decade in another thread

Bubba Ho-Tep - You just don't see many geriatric hero movies. Strange that my two favorite films of this year are zombie movies, given that I've never really been big on the genre.

Fahrenheit 9/11 - Politics aside, Moore asked some important questions of important people at a time when the media wouldn't, and it was nice to be reminded what it was like to be in a theater with an attentive audience

Sideways - My favorite road trip movie ever. Rex Pickett's novel is still better, but Alexander Payne's adaptation still captures the cynical spirit of the novel's characters. Great performances, and because of the Californian landscape and the clever lighting and cinematography, it's one of my favorite movies to actually look at.

The Aviator - For my money, DiCaprio completed his transition from movie star to actor with this nuanced performance as Howard Hughes.

The Incredibles - Possibly still the greatest comic book superhero movie of the decade, and a bold entry in the illustrious Pixar canon.

Shrek 2 - Haters might not like the sequels, but this is my favorite of the three to date. I responded more strongly to the Puss in Boots humor than the Donkey humor, and my inferiority complex identifies with the self-doubt of not deserving the woman you love. Plus, I love the "I Need a Hero" sequence.

Dr Mabuse

^^Here we go...

Why not just cut and paste the list of every movie ever made since 2000?

Maybe just cut and paste a list of every movie you've ever seen?

My goodness those are some obscure titles, you are a REALLY advanced cinephile.

Please post some more lists! None of us will be able to go on without this information!

shakti

Forgot to list these for 2007

On the Wings of Dreams (Biplob)
The Knot (Yin Li)
Satanas (Baiz)
Persepolis (Satrapi)
The Edge of Heaven (Akin)

OldBoy

I don't think Shrek 2 is that obscure. it may only be for the advanced cinephile to comprehend the premise of beauty and the beast in a sardonic way, but obscure...no