THE DECADE SO FAR

I've been meaning to do this for weeks. We're more than halfway through... what are we calling this decade? The oo's? the "Aughties"? That time when the rest of the world laughed at us for electing, as Daffy Duck would say, such a "maroon" for a president? Who knows. Anyway, here's my favorite 25 films and albums released between 2000-2004. I know, who cares, but these lists (and how their entries may shift) might be good for a laugh when I look back at them in another five years.

FILMS

1. The Royal Tenenbaums
2. Y Tu Mama Tambien
3. Beau Travail*
4. Lost In Translation
5. Mulholland Drive
6. Waking Life
7. In The Mood For Love
8. Donnie Darko
9. Yi Yi
10. The Return
11. Far From Heaven
12. Tarnation
13. Before Sunset
14. What Time is it There?
15. Ghost World
16. American Splendor
17. Hedwig and the Angry Inch
18. Judy Berlin*
19. Sideways
20. Gosford Park
21. Spirited Away
22. The Wind Will Carry Us*
23. Raising Victor Vargas
24. Dogville
25. Our Song

*all technically 1999, but they did not receive a US release until 2000.

ALBUMS

1. THE AVALANCHES Since I Left You
2. TORI AMOS Scarlet's Walk
3. STEW The Naked Dutch Painter... and Other Songs
4. SUFJAN STEVENS Seven Swans
5. THE SHINS Chutes Too Narrow
6. RUFUS WAINWRIGHT Want One
7. KINGS OF CONVENIENCE Riot on an Empty Street
8. STEVE WYNN Here Come The Miracles
9. AIMEE MANN Bachelor # 2 (or the Last Remains of the Dodo)
10. SLEATER-KINNEY One Beat
11. THE WHITE STRIPES Elephant
12. STEW Guest Host
13. BELLE AND SEBASTIAN Dear Catastrophe Waitress
14. SAM PHILLIPS A Boot and A Shoe
15. PJ HARVEY Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
16. BLACK BOX RECORDER The Facts of Life
17. NELLIE MCKAY Get Away From Me
18. ALISON MOYET Hometime
19. TED LEO AND The PHARMACISTS Hearts of Oak
20. DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE Transatlanticism
21. SLEATER-KINNEY All Hands on the Bad One
22. SUFJAN STEVENS Greetings From Michigan: The Great Lakes State
23. GILLIAN WELCH Time (The Revelator)
24. BADLY DRAWN BOY About a Boy
25. AC NEWMAN The Slow Wonder