25 Best Movies of the Decade: 9

"In extreme circumstances, the assailants can be stopped by removing the head or destroying the brain. I will repeat that: by removing the head or destroying the brain."

9. Shaun of the Dead(2004)

Shaun has no direction in his life. He's 29 and still working as a clerk at an electronics store, he has terrible relationships with his stepfather and flatmate(well, one flatmate) and his girlfriend, tired of their social life(specifically that he brings her to the same bar every night), breaks up with him. Despondent, Shaun finally resolves to sort his life out the morning after a binge. Only problem is, the next morning happens to be the dawn of a zombie apocalypse.

Shaun of the Dead could have easily been another Scary Movie. Just make a comedy with some horror background and then make stupid jokes. But Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright and crew have a deeper appreciation for cinema and made a zom-com(technically a rom-zom-com) that doesn't mock or parody, but lovingly references. While the whole cast is fantastic, but the real stand-outs are obviously Simon Pegg and Nick Frost who have perfect chemistry as Shaun and his crude pal Ed.

To quote a review, "Shaun of the Dead isn’t just the best horror-comedy of the decade – it’s quite possibly the best horror-comedy ever made"

25 Best Movies of the Decade: 10

"What I say is true; anyone can cook, but only the fearless can be great."

10. Ratatouille(2007)

Remy, gifted with a keen sense of smell and taste and the innate ability to cook, has the aspiration to become a great French chef. There's only one problem: Remy, for all his gifts, is the greatest enemy of any kitchen: a rat.

I think what makes Ratatouille so great is that it's not a WALL-E or an Up. It's a film that's on a smaller scale. It's just a rat who wants to be a great cook, inspired by the words of a deceased chef. But it's hard not to enjoy it and to see the obvious fun director Brad Bird had in making the movie. And the mix of fun animation and storytelling is able to make this film into some form of artwork.

25 Best Movies of the Decade: 11

"What we saw was impossible. You know that, don't you? What do we say? How do we convince them? Ollie, what the hell were those tentacles even attached to?"

11. The Mist(2007)

Fear is what drives us. Everything we're afraid of, we can recognize and thusly have some kind of coping mechanism. But what if we didn't know what we feared? What if there was something out there, in the darkness, waiting to kill you? Would you try to cope under extreme circumstances or would you fight to survive?

David Drayton is soon forced to face this question as he and a choice number of fellow citizens find themselves trapped in a local grocery store trying to survive a mysterious fog filled with murderous creatures. Locked inside with a number of people trying to make sense of what has happened, the survivors slowly break down from stress and fear and eventually become devoted followers of unstable religious fanatic Mrs. Carmody, who soon tries to commit sacrifices to drive away the monsters.

By the end of the film, though, Drayton can't seem to leave the mist and, faced under immense pressure, has to make one of the most daunting choices any human being could make. One that he almost immediately regrets.

25 Best Movies of the Decade: 12

"All the time you spend trying to get back what's been took from you, more is going out the door."

12. No Country For Old Men(2007)

In Texas, 1980, Llwelyn Moss is hunting pronghorn when he comes upon a satchel full of money(roughly two million dollars). Naturally he takes it and soon, very soon, regrets his decision. The men who the satchel belongs to hires cold hitman Anton Chigurh to recover the money by any means necessary. Soon after, another hired operative, Carson Wells also comes tracking down Moss, but to offer protection in return for money.

Eventually and by the time the final chapter of the film comes along we are answered the question we've been wondering: "Does Moss get away with it?" Once the answer is revealed we slowly come to realize this was never about Moss. This was never even about Chigurh(although Javier Bardem's portrayal of the killer is a terrifying three-dimensional slasher movie villain who thrives on the decision of a coin). It's actually about Sheriff Ed Bell and it may as well be. The middle-aged(going on elderly) Bell's search for an answer to the stolen money and escaped criminal is almost a representation of his own culture shock. His uneasy look towards the future that's changing the country from the one he knew as a child, from when he was growing up.

To realize that, near the end of a film, your supposed protagonist doesn't succeed in his task and to have your view shift to the perspective of a completely different character is something that film rarely makes you do: think.

25 Best Movies of the Decade: 13

"Even though I'm no more than a monster - don't I, too, have the right to live?"

13. Oldboy(2003)

Oh Dae-Su has been locked in a hotel room for 15 years, severely tortured by his captors, with no knowledge of why. Released and bitter, he seeks revenge on the men who destroyed him, only to get caught up in a web of violence and fear and falling in love with an attractive sushi chef.

The way all of Oldboy presents itself is not what you would normally see in your traditional film. It strips down the bare essence of humanity and presents an almost animalistic quality to it. Everything within, the extreme violence and gore, the fearless approach of the subject matter and especially the plot as a whole once the ending is revealed, is raw and brilliant against all the other films that it could be put up against.

It's not often a film can make me feel so unnerved and so detatched from humanity. Oldboy can and does, almost as if it know it's just because it can.

25 Best Movies of the Decade: 14

"Once you've met someone, you won't really forget them. It just takes a while for your memory to return."

14. Spirited Away(2001)

Ten-year-old Chihiro is moving with her parents to a new home only for the family to get sidetracked in the countryside. Soon Chihiro finds herself lost in a world of spirits, dragons, witches and other monsters.

If there was anyone we could owe animation to, it's Walt Disney. If there's anyone we could owe a return to the fantastic in animation to, it's Hayao Miyazaki. The reason Pixar exists, the reason it's able to make such beautiful, fantastical films is more or less because of Miyazaki. Much of his work is greatly influenced by great Japanese art which lends it an incredibly natural look to whole film.

It's fascinating to watch Chihiro's metaphoric, "Alice In Wonderland"-like maturation on her adventure in this traditionalist Japanese fantasy world.

Also No-Face is an awesome character.

Also also Hayao Miyazaki looks like a Japanese Colonel Sanders.

25 Best Movies of the Decade: 15

"All these years, all these memories, there was you. You pulled me through time."

15. The Fountain(2006)

It's really hard for me to vocalize what is so amazing about The Fountain. It could just be the beautiful visuals or the sweeping mesmerizing score. It could be the fantastic performances of Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz as lovers in three different time periods. But I think what really gets me is the themes.

The whole thing is about living longer whether it be Captain Tomas Verde's search for the tree of life or Dr. Tommy Creo's desperate search for the cure to his wife's brain tumor. It's a matter that we're all afraid of death and we all try to extend our life before the fear destroys us or death takes us.

And it's all told in one of the most beautiful ways possible. Seriously it's hard to explain this, so just watch it.