The following is a list of fifty films released during the first decade of the 21st Century. Each rank among my favorite and represent what I believe to be the best of the last ten years. A number of wonderful films fell victim to the chopping block but with a second glance at the list below, I feel minimally regretful about those.

As with any group of this size and scope, I will undoubtedly want to make changes with the passage of time, but this list will stand here as a monument to my end-of-decade state of mind. The last decade has brought with it a number of film trends that I've criticized, but I've seen at least as many movies since 2000 as I have from any decade before it and many of these hold a special place in my heart.

1. The Lord of the Rings trilogy
2. WALL•E
3. Slumdog Millionaire
4. Gladiator
5. The Dark Knight
6. Up
7. Almost Famous
8. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
9. Big Fish
10. (500) Days of Summer
11. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
12. The Departed
13. Spider-Man 2
14. The Incredibles
15. Kill Bill: Volumes 1 and 2
16. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
17. Minority Report
18. The Passion of the Christ
19. There Will Be Blood
20. Sideways
21. No Country for Old Men
22. Ratatouille
23. Up in the Air
24. Dreamgirls
25. Monsters, Inc.
26. Children of Men
27. Walk the Line
28. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
29. Changeling
30. Tropic Thunder
31. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
32. Doubt
33. The Wrestler
34. The Last King of Scotland
35. Inglorious Basterds
36. Meet the Parents
37. Avatar
38. Signs
39. Catch Me If You Can
40. Treasure Planet
41. Gangs of New York
42. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
43. Bruce Almighty
44. Juno
45. Finding Neverland
46. The Queen
47. Enchanted
48. Michael Jackson’s This Is It
49. Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle
50. Zoolander