List: 2000s Best of the Decade Awards (all nominees and winners)

This week on the InSession Film Podcast, we featured our Best of the Decade Awards for the 2000s! We had a great time celebrating the very best that the decade had to offer in terms of film. We discussed everything from best animated film, to best documentary, to the best acting performances and so much more. We started this journey nine years ago, so to end it here was a little bit surreal, but we wouldn’t have wanted to celebrate 600 episodes any other way.

For every category, we each listed our own nominations and winners. Winners are highlighted in bold.

Best Actor

Brendan:

• Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
• Haley Joel Osment, A.I. Artificial Intelligence
• Gene Hackman, The Royal Tenenbaums
• Adam Sandler, Punch-Drunk Love
• Denzel Washington, Man on Fire

JD:

• Gene Hackman, The Royal Tenenbaums
• Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
• Haley Joel Osment, A.I. Artificial Intelligence
• Tony Leung, In the Mood for Love
• Philip Seymour Hoffman, Synecdoche, New York

Best Actress

Brendan:

• Maribel Verdú, Y tu mamá también
• Björk, Dancer in the Dark
• Q’orianka Kilcher, The New World
• Julie Delpy, Before Sunset
• Maggie Cheung, In the Mood for Love

JD:

• Maggie Cheung, In the Mood for Love
• Q’orianka Kilcher, The New World
• Björk, Dancer in the Dark
• Maribel Verdú, Y tu mamá también
• Michelle Williams, Wendy & Lucy

Best Actor Supporting Role

Brendan:

• Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
• Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Along Came Polly
• David Carradine, Kill Bill: Vol 2
• Luke Wilson, The Royal Tenenbaums
• Brian Cox, 25th Hour

JD:

• Sean Astin, The Lord of the Rings
• Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
• Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
• Christoph Waltz, Inglorious Basterds
• Luke Wilson, The Royal Tenenbaums

Best Actress Supporting Role

Brendan:

• Gong Li, Miami Vice
• Frances McDormand, Almost Famous
• Kate Hudson, Almost Famous
• Rosemary Harris, Spider-Man 2
• Taraji P. Henson, Hustle & Flow

JD:

• Saoirse Ronan, Atonement
• Cate Blanchett, I’m Not There
• Taraji P. Henson, Hustle & Flow
• Rosemary Harris, Spider-Man 2
• Gwyneth Paltrow, The Royal Tenenbaums

Best Director

Brendan:

• Alfonso Cuarón, Y tu mamá también
• Wong Kar-wai, In the Mood for Love
• Zhang Yimou, Hero
• Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood
• Steven Spielberg, A.I. Artificial Intelligence

JD:

• Wong Kar-wai, In the Mood for Love
• Alfonso Cuarón, Children of Men
• Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings
• Steven Spielberg, A.I. Artificial Intelligence
• Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood

Best Original Screenplay

Brendan:

• Wes Anderson and Luke Wilson, The Royal Tenenbaums
• Charlie Kaufman, Synecdoche, New York
• Cameron Crowe, Almost Famous
• Brad Bird, Ratatouille
• Edward Yang, Yi Yi

JD:

• Sofia Coppola, Lost in Translation
• Cameron Crowe, Almost Famous
• Charlie Kaufman, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
• Alfonso Cuarón and Carlos Cuarón, Get Out
• Wes Anderson and Luke Wilson, The Royal Tenenbaums

Best Adapted Screenplay

Brendan:

• Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers, Where the Wild Things Are
• Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, Before Sunset
• Andrew Dominik, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
• Alvin Sargent, Spide-Man 2
• David Benioff, 25th Hour

JD:

• Charlie Kaufman, Adaptation.
• Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Stephen Sinclair, The Lord of the Rings
• Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
• Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, Before Sunset
• Steven Spielberg, A.I. Artificial Intelligence

Best Cinematography

Brendan:

• Roger Deakins, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
• Christopher Doyle, Pun-Leung Kwan and Ping Bin Lee, In the Mood for Love
• Robert Elswit, There Will Be Blood
• Janusz Kaminski, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
• Emmanuel Lubeski, Children of Men

JD:

• Christopher Doyle, Hero
• Emmanuel Lubeski, The New World
• Christopher Doyle, Pun-Leung Kwan and Ping Bin Lee, In the Mood for Love
• Roger Deakins, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
• Emmanuel Lubeski, Children of Men

Best Documentary

Brendan:

• Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
• Grizzly Man
• Man on Wire
• The Beaches of Agnes
• Tarnation

JD:

• Man on Wire
• Grizzly Man
• The Beaches of Agnes
• Murder on a Sunday Morning
• Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

Best Foreign Language Film

Brendan:

• The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
• Y tu mamá también
• Yi Yi
• In the Mood for Love
• Hero

JD:

• Hero
• Nobody Knows
• In the Mood for Love
• Y tu mamá también
• Beau Travail

Best Animated Movie

Brendan:

• Fantastic Mr. Fox
• WALL-E
• Mary and Max
• The Triplets of Belleville
• Ratatouille

JD:

• WALL-E
• Fantastic Mr. Fox
• The Incredibles
• Ratatouille
• Up

Best Original Score

Brendan:

• Tan Dun, Hero
• John Williams, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Joe Hisaishi, Spirited Away
• Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
• Jonny Greenwood, There Will Be Blood

JD:

• Hans Zimmer and Klaus Badelt, Pirates of the Caribbean
• Howard Shore, The Lord of the Rings
• John Williams, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Tan Dun, Hero
• James Newton Howard, The Village

Best Use of Soundtrack Music

Brendan:

• “Le Festin” by Camille and Michael Giacchino , Ratatouille
• “When Your Mind’s Made Up” by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, Once
• “Hard Out Here for a Pimp” by Three 6 Mafia, Hustle & Flow
• “Death to Birth” by Michael Pitt, Last Days
• “A Waltz for a Night” by Julie Delpy, Before Sunset

JD:

• “My Favorite Things” by Bjork, Dancer in the Dark
• “Falling Slowly” by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, Once
• “I’m a Man of Constant Sorrow” by The Soggy Bottom Boys, O Brother, Where Art Thou?
• “Hard Out Here for a Pimp” by Three 6 Mafia, Hustle & Flow
• “A Waltz for a Night” by Julie Delpy, Before Sunset

Best Opening/Closing Credits Sequence or Scene

Brendan:

• Catch Me If You Can (Opening Credits)
• The Lord of the Rings (Closing Credits)
• WALL-E (Opening Credits)
• Children of Men (Opening Credits)
• Wet Hot American Summer (Opening Credits)

JD:

• No Country for Old Men (Closing Scene)
• There Will Be Blood (Closing Scene)
• The Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (Closing Scene)
• Before Sunset (Closing Scene)
• A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Closing Scene)

Best Overlooked Movie

Brendan:

• The Triplets of Belleville
• American Splendor
• Baadasssss!
• The Proposition
• Last Days

JD:

• Man Push Cart
• Nobody Knows
• Hero
• Solaris
• Wendy & Lucy

Best Surprise Movie

Brendan:

• The Dark Knight
• Iron Man
• The Lord of the Rings
• The Village
• Spider-Man 2

JD:

• Murder on a Sunday Morning
• Baadasssss!
• The Curse of the Black Pearl
• Where the Wild Things Are
• The Station Agent

Best Surprise Actor/Actress

Brendan:

• Jim Carrey, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
• Hayden Christiansen, Shattered Glass
• Johnny Depp, The Pirates of the Caribbean
• Adam Sandler, Punch-Drunk Love
• Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

JD:

• Glen Hansard and Market Irglove, Once
• Will Ferrell, Stranger Than Fiction
• Ben Stiller, The Royal Tenenbaums
• Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
• Adam Sandler, Punch-Drunk Love

Best Movie Discovery

Brendan:

• Ziyi Zhang, Actress
• Sofia Coppola, Director
• Gael Garcia Bernal, Actor
• Daniel Craig, Actor
• Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson, Actors

JD:

• Ramin Bahrani, Director
• Saoirse Ronan, Actress
• Wes Anderson, Director
• Clint Mansell, Composer
• M. Night Shyamalan, Director

JD’s Individual Special Awards

Best Individual Score Track

• “He’s a Pirate” – Hans Zimmer, Klaus Badelt (The Pirates of the Caribbean)
• “Hope Overture” – Clint Mansell (Requiem for a Dream)
• “The Old Boy” – Cho Young-Wuk (Oldboy)
• “Yearning for Peace” – Tan Dun (Hero)
• “The Gravel Road” – James Newton Howard (The Village)
• “Arrival to Earth” – Steve Jablonsky (Transformers)
• “A Window to the Past” – John Williams (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of the Azkaban)
• “The Breaking of the Fellowship” – Howard Shore (The Lord of the Rings)
• “Death is the Road to Awe” – Clint Mansell (The Fountain)
• “Spider-Man Main Titles” – Danny Elfman (Spider-Man )

Best Directorial Debut

• Ramin Bahrani, Man Push Cart
• Miranda July, Me You and Everyone We Know
• Lynn Ramsay, Ratcatcher
• Charlie Kaufman, Synecdoche, New York
• Rian Johnson, Brick

Best Undervalued Performance

• Peter Dinklage, The Station AGent
• Max Records, Where the Wild Things Are
• Ahmad Razvi, Man Push Cart
• Naomi Watts, 21 Grams
• Gael Garcia Bernal, The Science of Sleep

The Decade of Blockbuster Filmmaking

• The Lord of the Rings
• The Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy
• Harry Potter
• Spider-Man Trilogy
• The Dark Knight
• Ocean’s Trilogy
• Bourne Trilogy
• The Matrix Sequels
• Casino Royale
• Iron Man
• Mission: Impossible III
• Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
• Pixar
• Transformers
• Star Wars Prequels

Brendan’s Individual Special Awards

Best or Most Interesting Failures

• Charlie’s Angels
• Jurassic Park III
• 2 Fast 2 Furious
• Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
• Mission: Impossible II
• Mission to Mars
• Silent Hill
• Vanilla Sky

Best or Biggest Reevaluation

• A.I. Artificial Intelligence
• Bad Boys II
• Hulk
• Man on Fire
• Miami Vice
• Ocean’s Twelve
• Star Wars Prequels
• The Village
• Speed Racer

Best Blockbuster That Represents a Better Time

• The Lord of the Rings
• Harry Potter
• The Pirates of teh Caribbean
• Spider-Man
• Unbreakable

Well that’s it for our Best of the Decade Awards for the 2000s! Hopefully you all enjoyed our nominations and winners. If you agree or disagree with us, let us know in the comment section below. We would love to hear how your nominations and winners would vary from our picks above. You can also email your selections to us at [email protected] or follow us on social media.

To hear our Top 10 Movies of the decade, be sure to listen to Episode 600!

Hear us talk about our “unique” categories and revised Top 10 lists here!