Best films of the noughties

Remakes, sequels, prequels, CGI spectaculars. Much of mainstream cinema has become tired and a bit dull. But there are still plenty of great films around. Our very short list of noughties film highlights takes in a docu-drama, a pyschological thriller and a time twisting romantic comedy. So get the popcorn out, throw it at a picture of Michael Bay and celebrate some of the best films of the last ten years.

1. United 93 (2006)

Given what Oliver Stone did with similar subject matter, Paul Greengrass' achievement with this film is all the more surprising. Greengrass avoids Stone's schmaltz and doesn't pretend that Nick Cage saved the day. The film focuses on the United Airlines Flight 93 that was brought down by the passengers in a field in Pennsylvania on September 11th 2001. Refusing to demonise the hijackers and eulogise the passengers, Greengrass generates an intense and horrifying claustrophobia through a documentary style. This is a disturbing and unsettling attempt to recreate one part of the most extraordinary day in modern history.  www.amazon.co.uk

2. Hidden (2005)

The film that brought the Austrian auteur Michael Haneke to a wider audience. A wealthy, middle-class family start to receive videotapes that show that their house is being watched. The tapes lead to an Algerian man whose parents were killed in the massacre of pro-FLN Algerians in Paris in 1961. Haneke's thriller plays with the modern obsession with surveillance and voyeurism and offers a subtle treatment of national and personal guilt. www.amazon.co.uk

3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

The best romantic comedy since When Harry Met Sally. Take two characters, a memory destruction machine, mix up the narrative until the point of confusion and you have screenwriter Charlie Kaufman's finest hour. Jim Carrey is on Truman Show form as Joel and Kate Winslet is equally outstanding as Clementine. There's a wonderful soundtrack from Jon Brion and a winningly melancholic tone. www.amazon.co.uk

4. Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were Rabbit (2005)

In the age of CGI Nick Park and co show that there's nothing quite like stop-motion animation. Wallace and Gromit have to come to the rescue of a village which is being attacked by a monster rabbit. Will they manage to save the giant vegetables before the annual gardeners' competition? Beautifully shot and wonderfully written, this features the typical Parkian word play, references to everything from An American Werewolf in London to A Clockwork Orange and the understated English charm and eccentricity that have made these characters famous around the world.  www.amazon.co.uk

5. Sideways (2004)

Alexander Payne's film divides opinion. People either seem to find it depressing and tedious, or wonderfully funny and worthy of repeated viewings. Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church star as Miles and Jack, two old friends on a week's wine tasting holiday before Jack gets married. While Miles is dour and melancholic, Jack is relaxed and interested only in having a fling before his wedding day. The combination of Miles' self-loathing and Jack's adolescent priapism is superb. www.amazon.co.uk

6. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007)

Cristian Mungiu's Palme D'Or winning film is set in the last years of Nicolae Ceausescu's reign in Romania. Otilia and Gabita are roommates at university. Gabita is pregnant and goes with Otilia to meet Mr Bebe, who performs illegal abortions. Mungui creates a tense and mesmerising tale of corruption, compromise and the limits of friendship. This is the highpoint of the Romanian New Wave which has seen such superb films as The Death of Mr Lazarescu and California Dreamin'.  www.amazon.co.uk

20 November 09