Top Drama Films of the Decade

Here are my picks for the top movie dramas of the decade. Some you know, others you don't know. These films brought about powerful stories with excellent acting and their greatness will stand the test of time (according to me):

Sexy Beast 2000 20th Century Fox
Ray Winstone, Sir Ben Kingsley
Kingsley is on top of his craft as an aggressive, eccentric mobster dispatched to Spain to bring a fellow mobster, played by Winstone, out of retirement for one last job.

No Country for Old Men 2007 Miramax
Javair Bardem, Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones
The going gets rough when a hunter stumbles on a stash of drugs and money in the Rio Grande. The film won 2008 Best Oscars for Joel and Ethan Coen for best writing and achievement in directing. Javier Bardem won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar and the film won a Best Picture Oscar.

Crash 2004 Lions Gate Films
Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Brendan Fraser, Terrence Howard
A fantastic ensemble cast in a film about crime and racism in the lives of inter-related characters over several days in Los Angeles. The film took home a Best Writing Oscar for Director Paul Haggis, as well as a Best Motion Picture Oscar. It might make you sad and it might make you angry but it will move you.

Mystic River 2003 Warner Brothers
Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon
Clint Eastwood directed three powerhouse actors and an excellent supporting cast in a tale about how crime, present and past, destroys lives. Sean Penn won a Best Actor Oscar and Tim Robbins won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. I got the feeling (rightly so) that I was in the hands of a masterful storyteller in Eastwood.

Slumdog Millionaire 2008 Fox Searchlight
Dev Patel, Anil Kapoor
Danny Boyle directed this tale of love and ambition amongst the Mumbai slums. Slumdog Millionaire, despite the cast of unknowns, won 8 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Directing. Talk about the little film that could!

The Wrestler 2008 Fox Searchlight
Mickey Rourke, Marissa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood
Director Darren Aronofsky and Mickey Rourke went to great lengths to chronicle a broken down pro wrestler who holds on to his past because it is all he has. In case you don't know, the way Rourke's character cuts himself open to draw blood is how they really do it in pro wrestling.

Memento 2000 Newmarket Films
Christopher Nolan directed Guy Pearce in this tale of a guy who no short term memory. The film's story line was unique in that is began at the end of the story, working its way backwards. Write this down all over yourself: "I must watch this film."

Good Night, and Good Luck 2005 Warner Independent Pictures
David Straithorn
George Clooney co-wrote and directed this film, which featured a career-defining performance by David Straithorn as Edward R. Murrow in his quest to stifle the paranoid US Senator, Joseph McCarthy. They sure smoked a lot back in the fifties.

The Queen 2006 Miramax
Helen Mirren
This is the story of the Royal Family's reaction to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. The always excellent Helen Mirren brought the goods as Queen Elizabeth II, winning a Best Actress Oscar.

Half Nelson 2006 ThinkFilm
Ryan Gosling, Shareka Epps
Half Nelson is an excellent, independent movie that seemed to fly under the radar. Ryan Gosling is excellent as an inner-city school teacher with a drug problem and Shareka Epps is a student who discovers his secret.

Sources:
Imdb.com
Wikkipedia.com
Timesonline.com