Respectfully, I think the first 2 acts are perfect, and the last act falls off (although the ending is still solid). Still an awesome movie. It's my favorite Tom Cruise performance.
David Fincher gave us “Se7en” in 1995 and it was grimy, worn, and real. Feels like I’m actually in that world with the characters. His style led us to the 2000’s films you’re mentioning.
While it's more of an "action" movie, I'd put Drive in that wave of late 2000s to 2010s indie dramas. It's got more of that look and feel than the rest of the "Nolan Cool" style imo.
Drive is definitely gritty to the point of being unexpectedly ultra-violent and brutal. Though maybe that's its own stylistic thing instead of being part of the Nolan trend, which is gritty but still like, dad-movie friendly and not transgressive.
@@LifeofSlicey1 You should do a video covering the horror movies of the 2000s both in America, Europe and Japan A lot of different opinions regarding Horror in the 2000s from some saying that it was the best ERA to some saying that it was the worst (the latter being somewhat true) era for horror Straight to video horror was pretty bad Taking off the trend of remaking horror movies from the 70s and 80s to mixed results with some being good like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The hills have eyes remakes Hidden gems such as night of the demons remake While others were pretty bad/terrible like Friday the 13th 2009 It was also the decade that gave rise to the torture gorn genre The decade that saw the return of the zombie genre All in all the 2000s can be seen as both the best and worst decade for horror in general.
@@LifeofSlicey1 Honestly a video series dedicated to Y2K horror movies would be very interesting Covering both the good, the bad and the ugly sides of the decade From original ip to remakes to JP ans European horror The rise of the torture gorn and found footage genre PG-13 horror rising to prominence and actually making more money than traditional R rated movies The rise of horror anthologies on television.
I feel like Christopher Nolan's aesthetic can really be attributed to his continuous references to Satoshi Kon and his works. Really this should be a "Satoshi Kon cool" video, but plenty of Hollywood people were willing to "not reference" as opposed to "reference" his works. "Daren Aronofsky... Ripoff." - Satoshi Kon
Another excellent video, mate! Nolan cool feel appropriate, and it rolls nicely off the tongue. I'm excited for the videos about tv shows and videogames!
Thanks as always for the support. I'll go back to 90s cool for awhile, and if this video does well I'll go back to the TV shows and games of Nolan Cool.
A movie that better fits that realistic feeling, action-grit, middle age man, cuts on faces, dirty, distrust of power, shaky cam, quick edits, tortured brooding protagonist, Hans Zimmer scored movie more than all of those is… Gladiator.
Dude thank you so much for your content. You absolutely nail what these eras / aesthetics were about, have a great taste in media and such a concise way of bringing your analysis across. One of the best channels I subscribed in recent time. Also I appreciate so much you included Children of Men. Its my favourite movie ever. Keep it up!
That means a lot man, thanks. I never expected to rank Children of Men that high, but when I watched it again it blew me away. It's highly influential too. The Last of Us and Logan had to be looking hard at Children of Men.
Blindness (2008), Contagion (2011), Traffic (2000), Dawn of the Dead (2004), Babel (2006), Amores Peros (2000), City of God (2002), The Raid (2012) Tropa De Elite (2007), Oldboy (2003), The Host (2006), De Ja Vu (2007). Steven Soderbergh films were the early adopters of the gritty 2000s and went on to produce Insomnia for WB directed by, you guessed it, Christopher Nolan.
Nice suggestions with some movies I never saw in there. I'll have to check them out. I never thought about Steven Soderbergh as one of the big creative minds behind the style, but now that you mention it he fits well.
@@LifeofSlicey1 yeah, i'm obsessed with this type of films when i'm in my teens and twenties. Honorable mentions, Irreversible (2002), The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005), A Prophet (2009), Demon Lover (2002).
Mission Impossible 3 I think fits more with the gritty style more than Ghost Protocol. Ghost Protocol uses way more comedy and I think is way more light in tone than 3
You make a good point. A concept I want to talk about in the future is "bridge movies" that bridge the gap between eras and have a mix of features. MI: Ghost Protocol is perhaps a good example of a bridge movie between the gritty realism and Disney/Marvel eras. Thanks for making me aware of that.
Nothing is 90's about 1998-1999. Look at 1988-1996 that's the real 90's. The uploader is a kid that thinks the late 90's is aesthetically and culturally 90's when there's no 90's in it except in name. He also adds early 2010's movies as 2000's movies when the 2000's culture and aesthetic was done after 2008.
I grew up during this time, and I remember people talking about how Superhero movies had to be grounded in realism now, and how that was the cool thing to do. You now got me thinking of what 2010s cool is as its cultural time is starting to wear off, and I would say 2020s cool is starting to fully take over. I have my own ideas about this, however I would love to see your take.
Surprised Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds (2005) didn't make the list. The film subverts a lot of typical tropes associated with the "alien invasion" genre. And has a ton of post-9/11 commentary. This film wasn't the "roo-haha! America! Fuck yeah!" that a film like 1996's Independence Day was. It also transitions into an almost Horror-Survival film halfway into the film.
"In my recollection the 2000s were a dark and somber decade" As someone who was a kid back then, this couldn't feel further from the truth. Terrorism and financial crises didn't reach me at that age, so I remember it as an age of bright colors and the last decade of somewhat tolerable pop music.
Well, you must have been living under a rock around 2001, because I was a kid then too, and saw on the television one random day that the twin towers were hit by planes, which rocked not just the country, but it changed the world. And I instantly knew right then that nothing would ever be the same again.
@@geeebuttersnap2433ig it depends how old a kid you were, and how emo/gritty realistic/american you were heh. 2000s still had some silliness, but yeah silver compared to 90s gold.
@@geeebuttersnap2433 I'm a 96' baby, and I agree with the OP. 🤷🏽♂️ I didn't feel affected by 9/11 at all. My childhood was filled with great entertainment: WWE, Tony Hawk PS, GTA VC & SA, Mortal Kombat, Rap & Rock, and fun movies.
Personally, I think 28 DAYS LATER is the best on this list. It still remains the best horror film I've seen in the 21st Century: relentless, nasty, harrowing, and yet humane in its depiction of apocalyptic turmoil and finding humanity during times of - sadly more prevalent and realistic - disease outbreak, desolation, loss and oppression. That it was shot on digital video, didn't have any prettied-up people and certainly didn't let up in its take-no-prisoners approach, while at the same time making the audience think about the complexity and total state of the human condition during such horrors while scaring us in ways both seen and unseen makes it a masterpiece. Watching it after the pandemic made me realize how it was even more timely.
Awesome review of 28 Days Later! It's insanely influential too. No "28 Days Later", No "The Walking Dead" or "The Last of Us". I listened to the theme a lot while making this video. In my head, it's like the unofficial theme of that era.
Hostel deserves a mention, even more so than Saw. What Dark Knight did for Hero flicks, it did for Horror. It really tapped into the post 9/11 American fear of foreigners and went to the extreme on what violence could be shown in a mainstream movie. The hip quirkinesses of 90’s Scream movies were over, people wanted something more brutal.
I personally think Saw is a better movie, but you make a great point that Hostel perfectly represents the zeitgeist of that time. People wanted sick, twisted, and brutal horror movies. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre reboot and The Devil’s Rejects also need to be included in that conversation I think. Too many good movies to choose from in that era really.
I dig ultraviolet but Maybe audiences were over it. I dig both and I will always wish 90s cool would come back. Because it was cool. And I watch movies for entertainment mainly, not realism. Christopher Nolan is one of my favorite directors.
I'm surprised this has so few views compared to your 80's and 90's cool videos. As someone who was born in 1994, this has more relevancy to me than those. By the time I reached adolescence, 90's cool had begun to be seen as tacky and dated. From a purely stylistic point of view, I'd say Sin City, The Spirit, Resident Evil: Afterlife and the Max Payne movie were peak mid 2000's-early 2010's cool. The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift also has a lot of very 2000's cool aesthetic scenes, especially the ones that take place at night with that dark blue-green colour palette that was everywhere in the mid 2000's-early 2010's. I've begun calling it the stormy evening colour palette because that's what it reminds me of the most.
@@corymiller536the 00s is a lesser era than the 90s, but it's kinda a silver age compared to the 2010s, which combined both too much realism and too much dorkiness/irony (see marvel) and is not aging as well. Also, replying to op, yeah ig i also reached adolescence/college years at this time (late 00s, early 10s), but idk, gritty realism was refreshing for its time but eventually became a chore, all looking and sounding samey old grey serious while not that deep (twists everywhere that eventually become expected, speeches everywhere, good guys are just gray everymen, only nihilistic survival matters and/or "muh family", bad guys are only terrorists and corporations [meanwhile irl occupy didnt accomplish anything and obama led to trump], shaky cam everywhere, zombies everywhere lol, etc). Fwiw i liked the videogames more than the movies at this time, bc the gritty realism translated better to having to explore difficult environments, and games in general had never been as serious as movies - and even then, i vastly preferred san andreas and gta v to gta iv, or dead space to tlou. Outta the list in this video, i preferred the departed, inception, district 9, and casino royale the most; tho perhaps i should watch drive, shudder island, and nightcrawler - i get the sense i would like drive the most, and drive is the most unique outta them all. And as for your list, i'd have picked original fast and furious to tokyo drift lol, tho it is true that the latter has cool visuals (which are perhaps from a transitional period to the grittier late 00s), but as a whole movie it pales to original (then again, the following sequels became an increasingly large circus act, and starting from the original the series as a whole has less gravitas, which kinda explained how it survived into the marvelistic 10s). And yeah i'm surprised the video didnt even give honorable mention to sin city, pretty much one of the inaugural salvos of the gritty era, literally violence in grayscale everything. Idk if the mila jojovich r.e. movies were that gritty, if anything they were transitional from the 90s cool, but it is true afterlife seems more 00s. Ive yet to see that max payne movie, reviews say it sucked, but it does look appropriately gray af.
Other aesthetic of this era that I can think of are colors exaggeration (thinking movie like Black Hawk Down or Domino as an example) character are often sweaty and the movie must taken itself very seriously (so serious that it seems like no humor are allowed in this period of cinema) Also, I hope you would do the worst of 2000s gritty cool as a companion piece to the worst of 90s cool...
Maybe its just me but ive grown to really dislike Nolans impact on Comic book Filmmaking,at least when it comes to DCs heroes because its led to such a massive isolation of Batman from the rest of the DC Universe hes supposed to be apart of including his own Batfamily. Batman in Cinema outside of the Snyderverse hasnt gone up against anything actually SUPERHUMAN or Supernatural. Plus Nolan's refusal to let batman be apart of the anything but his movies in terms of Live action,and then his refusal to help out on any other Superhero stuff except as a producer is really heartbreaking
Man, remember when the worst we could do was complain that things had a dark filter and too much grit? Lol to return to the era of non cringe entertainment
I liked that past this we got more collors and comedy, the Nolan era is too serious, like The dark knight is great but is too serious for a movie with the lead uses that Goofy voice, i glad we get things like Guardians of the galaxy and Stranger Things@@LifeofSlicey1
Thing of it is, John Wick ran in parallel and yet in isolation of Marvel/Disney, and became like a reverse parody of it, both spectacle and bombastic, just that one with serious kills and the other one with Deadpool. Something like Cyberpunk is more fit for the 20s, more grit yet also keeping some of the stylized neon, relatedly very neo-90s and with John Wick lookalike (bc Keanu Reeves has become him) as character.
@@CinderUnitkinda transitional from late 90s hot teens dying horror into 00s realistic memorable deaths horror, while not delving into the gritty grey and/or supernatural post-the ring mid to late 00s to early 10s horror, nor into the lamer mid to late 10s creepy doll/creepy face horror (tbh horror is on a downward slide, but it is always inundated with movies given there always has to be halloween movies to massproduce, and horror/gore buffs can be literal addicts just demanding more mass production of movies in the genre, not to mention all the remakes).
Very interesting and fitting that you incorporate the later Harry Potter movies into this category. I wonder if also the Hobbit films share elements of this style and thus departure for the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The depiction of the dwarf kind Thorin as a brooding angry man and the inclusion of bad as slow motion action are hints for me. Also the over the top action scenes with Legolas now make a lot more “sense”.
That's a very interesting point. I think the LoTR triology/ the first Harry Potter actually represent the opposite trend of 9/11 escapism, which was not intentional, but caused them to explode in popularity. But almost everything being made at that time was touched by gritty realism in one way or another, and I'm sure some of it made it into the Hobbit as you said.
District 9 is upsetting to watch because it’s basically made up of the skeleton of that Peter Jackson’s failed halo movie. Which would have been infinitely better than Amazons halo tv show with mister cheeks.
Wow, I not only missed most of these movies, I haven’t even *heard* of many. But I did see some and I loved that this was an era rife with experimentation. You had Nolan telling stories backwards, you had ambiguous “I’m not sure whose story is true” or “I’m not sure who I should be rooting for,” you had genuine novelty. It was also the birth of CG that looked good. There was some “let’s make lazy sequels of beloved franchises” like Star Wars I…III but it wasn’t like now where every big summer movie is another Marvel cash grab that’s 99% CG from start to finish. Given your track record for 90’s cool movies, you’ve given me a lot I need to catch up on. I appreciate that you’re not just making lists of movies you like, you’re discussing a specific aesthetic and building your list around that. I’d love to see a gaming version of this, as 2000’s were also the era when games became much more detailed and immersive, still had a lot of novelty, and weren’t just doing numbered sequels on top of sequels.
Thanks Josh. Honestly, this was the most formative era for me. I wholeheartedly recommend every movie I listed here, even the honorable mentions. I hope you enjoy them.
There was experimentation, but idk, looking back they all eventually ended similarly, there was always twists and eventually it became so common you figured the twist was coming, and there was always terrorists or corporations behind it all against the typical everyman, but not much else. Ex. District 9 was fun, but it was telegraphed that the corporate boss dad-in-law would have been a major enemy against the everyman dork lead. A few did pull it off right though. Perhaps earlier eras were more straightforward in plots, but as such, they could build their characters up more and make them more iconic. A more morally grey, twist and turn character, is more remembered by the plot developments and not by his character's set of qualities in itself, much less so if the film is grey gritty and realistic and not much stands out visually (barring good shots and some character designs - again, there's really good exceptions that pulled it off).
Discussing a look of cinema in 2000s, it's a good point to start by looking at Tony Scott's Enemy of the State (1998). The influence of this film is hard to overstate: the quick cuts, the topics of mass surveillance and paranoia, rapid montage - in essence this what we saw later with news reports, various crime and counter-terrorism themed movies and shows. Hell, even Fox's 24 tv series adopted this style I also would like to add another example of peak Tony Scott style - his remake of The Taking of the Pelham 123 from 2009
You can also include: Minority Report The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo The Place Beyond The Pines The Social Network Elysium Zodiac V For Vendetta Hellboy
V for Vendetta and specially Hellboy werent that realistic. But they were darker/grittier than other comicbook movies of the time, yes. Zodiac was a period piece, altho yeah gritty, and goodness too damn long and silly how they wouldnt catch him with all the clues right there, many people in the theater fell asleep.
I loved Collateral. Have to disagree with the third act. The scene where he goes after Jada Pinkett in the office, is tense and terrifying. The worst thing about this film, is that Foxx was nominated for an Oscar and Cruise wasn't. Foxx was very good in the film, but Cruise was transcendent. Luckily, I don't take much stock in the Oscars.
LOVE THIS CHANNEL BUT WHAT IS THAT NOSTALGIC SONG RIGHT AROUND 6:05 IM RACKING MY BRAINS TO FIND IT BUT NO HELP :/ PLZ COMMENT ON WHAT SONG THIS IS, IVE TRIED BETWEEN PORTISHEAD OR MASSIVE ATTACK AND NO LUCK =|
Looking foreword to your take on the series 24 which is the definitive 2000s cool TV series in my mind. And still the most tense and thrilling show ever made.
You can realy see the Gritty 2000 in Harry Potter, Batman and Bond, but also in Men Of Steel, The Amazing Spiderman, the Total Recall remake, Robocop, Planet Of The Apes, the Battlefield movie and so on... everything was grey in that era.
Man of Steel was so damn grey, and long, and slow. Damn Snyder. Didnt care for Amazing Spiderman, not charismatic Peter Parker at all, could have been a HIMYM character. Should watch that Robocop remake tho, I heard good things about it, loved the original ones.
After 2001, everything gets darker and rawer. Not just movies. The culture of the pre 9/11 era was quite silly and fun, and that died immediately. One example is the backlash against the show Survivor. The cast members were being treated like heroes and "survivors" and that idea immediately became a joke after 9/11. The sheer amount of gritty realism movies being made in the 2000s is staggering, and the ones mentioned in this video barely scratch the surface. I would say with confidence that the explosion of these movies is due in large part to 9/11, the Patriot act, and the war on terror.
@@LifeofSlicey1 that’s a very good point - I’ll agree that there’s definitely a lot more plots with themes around terrorism and security following 9/11 and the war on terror. But I wonder if films with gritty tones like Inception would’ve been popular anyway, regardless of whether 9/11 happened or not. Like, I live in the UK and I was only 2 when 9/11 happened, so it didn’t really affect my interests, I just like gritty realism because I find it very immersive
It's a fun thought experiment. Do I think movies would have gotten as dark without 9/11? No. Could Inception have still been made? Probably, yes. Would it have been as successful? Who knows. And who knows if Batman would have gone the direction it did or if Nolan would have become a superstar director with the pull to make Inception. I can say this for sure: Pierce Brosnan would have gotten another shot as Bond if not for 9/11. Die Another Day was actually very financially successful, but they saw the cultural writing on the wall and knew a drastic change was desperately needed.
@@LifeofSlicey1 yeah I can definitely agree with that, I think all media including non-fiction and news was affected by 9/11 in that media conglomerates realised they could profit off of people’s fear, and even if some of the films would’ve been made regardless, there’s clearly a surge of popularity in gritty realism and the topics associated with the war on terror which lead to films like the dark knight ending up the way they are
I think the list is spot on. If I had to add on anything, maybe _From Paris With Love_ (2010) which ticks most of the boxes that it's borderline satirical but not in a self-aware manner; subtle yet dead serious. Kind of like _21 JumpStreet_ (2012) which knows what kind of movie it is but doesn't let the hints and gags become the main focus that can pull you away from the plot.
He seems like the kind of guy who would be a responsible neighbor and a reliable coworker... you just have to look past the weird smell coming from his basement.
When you connected Memento and Unbreakable I immediately subscribed. It's nice to watch an opinion video that is an actual unique opinion, and it helps that you're right.
Thanks man. I think Unbreakable deserves more recognition for how it set the table for the next decade. Seems that more people agree with me than I thought.
I think this is cherry picking, there were a lot of dark and gritty grounded movies in the 90s and plenty of fun and silly movies in the 2000s. Falling Down in 1993 is social commentary on the death of the American dream and Fight Club has the same vibe in 1999.
The gritty realism / Nolan "cool" era was the beginning of the end, this era of filmmaking has killed imagination and creativity in movies because they put themselves inside of a box that's hard to get out of at this point. It's still going on even to this day, now everything is dark, bland and filled with political messaging. It is the first strike to kill escapism.
To me Nolan cool is a little harder to put my finger on than 90s cool. Especially given the timeline overlaps But some movies to consider that were of the same feeling A Place Beyond the Pines The Master There Will Be Blood The Revenant Watchmen
Loved Watchmen. Have heard great things about A Place Beyond the Pines, gotta watch it; tho perhaps seems a bit more artistic and with less of these tropes, kinda like Drive.
I never contextualized all those action movies as you did, and it’s really interesting. even so, I was kinda disappointed when you were talking about mature superhero movies near the end and didn’t mention “Watchmen”(2009), which for me is one of the grittiest and edgiest movies to come from the era with it’s nihilistic characters and a pessimistic world drowned in blues and greens. Not even an honorable mention, huh! Why so?
I considered Watchmen for the list, but I think it's a little too much of an outlier that would look out of place. It has that 2000s gritty style, so in that sense it fits, but Dr. Manhattan takes it out of the conversation of any sort of "realism". It and 300 belong in a different category I think.
@@LifeofSlicey1 Ngl didn't realise Fincher directed it before saw this vid, will definitely check it out! Swedish one was really good as well, had the dark/gritty feel to it.
Take a drink every time the narrator says “gritty” or “grimy” and you’ll feel as good as I do right now… 😎 😉 🥃 Also, as a cinemaphile for all things 1940-2017, thank you for this movie essay/tribute. 🍻 ❤️
If Running Scared (2006) isn’t on this list, I’d have to say this list is too mainstream! Truly one of the grittiest movies of all time! City of God (2002) should also most definitely be on this list, because it’s probably the best Black movie of all time & so should Alpha Dog (2006), since honestly, if Emile Hirsch acted in more movies like he did as Johnny Truelove, or Matthew Kidman in The Girl Next Door (2004) or the titular character in Speed Racer (2008), or even as a jaded gay in Milk (also 2008), because he is the absolute DEFINITION of “Nolan cool” without ever even coming close to being in a Nolan film!
@@LifeofSlicey1I still like the use of the term 90s cool. I know I'm biased since I was a teenager in the 90s but no era since has been that cool! No one even cares as much about things being cool. I do though. 90s cool explains why I don't see as much entertainment as cool. Everything was edgy and rocking in the 90s.
I think it fits very well too (and hell, it was Jay from RLM who came up with the term). It's just that people constantly assume that I'm going to talk about "cool things in the 90s" and not the "90s cool" style, which leads to a lot of confusion about including 2000s movies. I promise I'm not trying to mislead anyone lol.
inception is Paprika without the collors and imagination ''the movie is a dream and Nolan can do whatever he want'' I guess here dont want to do anything that is really imaginative
@@joshxipi'm the opposite, i dont care for nolan but found inception was his most memorable for me, and even then it was just a bunch of dream sequences.
I feel like a lot of the Independent Films and Foreign films had A primary influence on the style of these mainstream Hollywood films. Because you will see a lot of dark and gritty films from F foreign and independent studios in the 90s That Have it got any mainstream attention Same thing with the 90s cool era. It takes a big event from a social, political and cultural view that shove these films into the mainstream.
Man, I really disagree with you on Looper. As far as I'm concerned it's a masterpiece start to finish, and easily the best time travel movie I've ever seen.
One thing to remember is that part of the grittiness of '00s cinema was often in service of the "gritty reboot." Nolan's Batman was the perfect movie example of this, but far from the only one. (Battlestar Galactica, which even predates Batman Begins, is probably the perfect TV example.) It became a downright cliche that got especially tiresome by the mid-2010s. Someone once pointed out that the Recyclops gag on The Office even captured that trend- you have a regular character who starts out with a message that is eventually lost as the character gets progressively more unhinged until in the end he's just angrily smashing stuff because of his gritty tragic backstory. Not all grittiness was as dark and moody- compare Nolan's work to Snyder's, for instance. And there are plenty of quality gritty reboots, from RDJ's Sherlock Holmes to the Rise of the Planet of the Apes. But yeah I was just wondering if you think any other gritty reboots would fit your list in this video? Or maybe it's a concept that, while it originated in the '00s, still continues to this day?
Battlestar Galactica is another excellent example. You're right, the "gritty reboot" was definitely a big part of this. It's funny you mention Sherlock Holmes. It was the movie I was debating including in the list right up to the last minute. I think it fits Nolan Cool, but I wanted the list to be as consistent as I could so I decided to cut it.
@@deathmetal271true to some degree, but at least Reeves' grittiness is somewhat stylized at times, see Bat-Pattinson's Batmobile compared to the minitank Bale-Batman drives. If anything, Reeves-Batman reminds me of Arkham-Batman, tho not without flaws (ex Oz Cobb lol)
Definitely not my favorite era for movies, while I will always put Inception at the top of my all time great list, everything else just isn’t my jam. I will take 90s cool over gritty realism any day of the week.
In my opnion the best movie of this era is SAW, not the best movie(I stand with a tie between Devils reject and Wolf creek) But Saw is peak of Pos 9\11 Nihilism
I swear the uploader is just making things up. Bro took all movies from 1999(which was already aesthetically and culturally the 2000's by then) and calls it "90's cool". What a fony hipster.
God damn, when you compare the movies in this list which was basically all of the 00s to anything that came out from 2015 till now it really shows how bad movies are
True, but it was cgi dirt and grit heh. Plus the 70s also had its share of scifi sfx craze, altho with the depressed vibes and tech limitations of the time ofc.
Collateral doesn't overstay its welcome at all. I think it's a perfect movie.
Respectfully, I think the first 2 acts are perfect, and the last act falls off (although the ending is still solid). Still an awesome movie. It's my favorite Tom Cruise performance.
@@LifeofSlicey1 Yeah, I guess I can see where you're coming from. The last act isn't as amazing as the first 2 but that's a tough bar.
@@LifeofSlicey1the last act is my favorite part ngl lol
@@LifeofSlicey1how the hell did you leave out MINORITY REPORT 😱
Its an awesome movie
David Fincher gave us “Se7en” in 1995 and it was grimy, worn, and real. Feels like I’m actually in that world with the characters. His style led us to the 2000’s films you’re mentioning.
While it's more of an "action" movie, I'd put Drive in that wave of late 2000s to 2010s indie dramas. It's got more of that look and feel than the rest of the "Nolan Cool" style imo.
That's a good point. I think there's some 2000s grit in there, but you're right, it's more colorful than the rest of the movies I listed.
Fun fact: Both Chris Nolan and Nicolas Winding Refn are colourblind
Drive is definitely gritty to the point of being unexpectedly ultra-violent and brutal. Though maybe that's its own stylistic thing instead of being part of the Nolan trend, which is gritty but still like, dad-movie friendly and not transgressive.
@@LifeofSlicey1
You should do a video covering the horror movies of the 2000s both in America, Europe and Japan
A lot of different opinions regarding Horror in the 2000s from some saying that it was the best ERA to some saying that it was the worst (the latter being somewhat true) era for horror
Straight to video horror was pretty bad
Taking off the trend of remaking horror movies from the 70s and 80s to mixed results with some being good like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The hills have eyes remakes
Hidden gems such as night of the demons remake
While others were pretty bad/terrible like Friday the 13th 2009
It was also the decade that gave rise to the torture gorn genre
The decade that saw the return of the zombie genre
All in all the 2000s can be seen as both the best and worst decade for horror in general.
@@LifeofSlicey1
Honestly a video series dedicated to Y2K horror movies would be very interesting
Covering both the good, the bad and the ugly sides of the decade
From original ip to remakes to JP ans European horror
The rise of the torture gorn and found footage genre
PG-13 horror rising to prominence and actually making more money than traditional R rated movies
The rise of horror anthologies on television.
I save these videos to my ‘watch later’ playlist so I can view them on my home TV instead of a phone.
These are legit video essays… stellar content!
Really appreciate that, thanks.
I feel like Christopher Nolan's aesthetic can really be attributed to his continuous references to Satoshi Kon and his works. Really this should be a "Satoshi Kon cool" video, but plenty of Hollywood people were willing to "not reference" as opposed to "reference" his works.
"Daren Aronofsky... Ripoff." - Satoshi Kon
That's a great point. Perfect Blue is to Nolan Cool, what Akira is to 90s cool.
Micheal Manns HEAT is a good comparison
Another excellent video, mate!
Nolan cool feel appropriate, and it rolls nicely off the tongue.
I'm excited for the videos about tv shows and videogames!
Thanks as always for the support. I'll go back to 90s cool for awhile, and if this video does well I'll go back to the TV shows and games of Nolan Cool.
A movie that better fits that realistic feeling, action-grit, middle age man, cuts on faces, dirty, distrust of power, shaky cam, quick edits, tortured brooding protagonist, Hans Zimmer scored movie more than all of those is… Gladiator.
I never thought about Gladiator since its a period piece, but its a really good suggestion. You're right, it fits a lot of the criteria.
@@LifeofSlicey1 still an awesome video dude
Dude thank you so much for your content. You absolutely nail what these eras / aesthetics were about, have a great taste in media and such a concise way of bringing your analysis across. One of the best channels I subscribed in recent time.
Also I appreciate so much you included Children of Men. Its my favourite movie ever.
Keep it up!
That means a lot man, thanks. I never expected to rank Children of Men that high, but when I watched it again it blew me away. It's highly influential too. The Last of Us and Logan had to be looking hard at Children of Men.
Blindness (2008), Contagion (2011), Traffic (2000), Dawn of the Dead (2004), Babel (2006), Amores Peros (2000), City of God (2002), The Raid (2012) Tropa De Elite (2007), Oldboy (2003), The Host (2006), De Ja Vu (2007). Steven Soderbergh films were the early adopters of the gritty 2000s and went on to produce Insomnia for WB directed by, you guessed it, Christopher Nolan.
Nice suggestions with some movies I never saw in there. I'll have to check them out. I never thought about Steven Soderbergh as one of the big creative minds behind the style, but now that you mention it he fits well.
@@LifeofSlicey1 yeah, i'm obsessed with this type of films when i'm in my teens and twenties. Honorable mentions, Irreversible (2002), The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005), A Prophet (2009), Demon Lover (2002).
The Raid should be number 1 on this list. The best martial arts film ever made and it isn't close.
@@LifeofSlicey1 i think he brought it this aesthetic most in the late 90's and 2000s, especially Traffic, Che and Out of Sight.
Out of Sight was Soderbergh right ?
I personally think Fincher is even more indicative than Nolan
The whole 2000s had that edge. Just look at the PS2, music, even product branding like Cherry Coke (their slogan was "Do something different").
Mission Impossible 3 I think fits more with the gritty style more than Ghost Protocol. Ghost Protocol uses way more comedy and I think is way more light in tone than 3
You make a good point. A concept I want to talk about in the future is "bridge movies" that bridge the gap between eras and have a mix of features. MI: Ghost Protocol is perhaps a good example of a bridge movie between the gritty realism and Disney/Marvel eras. Thanks for making me aware of that.
Angry Liam Neeson became it's own subgenre of action movie. I swear I've seen at least 10 ALN movies in the cinema alone 😂.
Michael Mann’s Heat is one of the greatest thrillers I have ever seen. The style from that movie heavily influenced 2000s crime films in my opinion 😊
The Die Hard franchise is the perfect example for this phenomenon. Compare Die Hard 4 compared to the previous movies
Yes, this is a great example.
Lame and bad?
underrated channel
Very nice essay, 90’s cool and Nolan cool movies will always be a part of me, I grew up on both worlds, but I do love the 90’s cool more
Thanks Michael. It's a toss up between them for me to be honest. The "Nolan Cool" era very much reminds me of my high school days.
Nothing is 90's about 1998-1999. Look at 1988-1996 that's the real 90's. The uploader is a kid that thinks the late 90's is aesthetically and culturally 90's when there's no 90's in it except in name. He also adds early 2010's movies as 2000's movies when the 2000's culture and aesthetic was done after 2008.
I grew up during this time, and I remember people talking about how Superhero movies had to be grounded in realism now, and how that was the cool thing to do. You now got me thinking of what 2010s cool is as its cultural time is starting to wear off, and I would say 2020s cool is starting to fully take over. I have my own ideas about this, however I would love to see your take.
This channel is great.
Thank you.
Surprised Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds (2005) didn't make the list. The film subverts a lot of typical tropes associated with the "alien invasion" genre. And has a ton of post-9/11 commentary. This film wasn't the "roo-haha! America! Fuck yeah!" that a film like 1996's Independence Day was. It also transitions into an almost Horror-Survival film halfway into the film.
Thanks for the suggestion. That movie is another good representation of that trend, I agree.
Training Day could have made the cut, but it is a bit 90’s hood movie in spirit.
I considered Training Day, but felt it fit a little more in the "2000s Urban" camp. A good argument could be made for it though.
"In my recollection the 2000s were a dark and somber decade"
As someone who was a kid back then, this couldn't feel further from the truth. Terrorism and financial crises didn't reach me at that age, so I remember it as an age of bright colors and the last decade of somewhat tolerable pop music.
Well, you must have been living under a rock around 2001, because I was a kid then too, and saw on the television one random day that the twin towers were hit by planes, which rocked not just the country, but it changed the world. And I instantly knew right then that nothing would ever be the same again.
@@geeebuttersnap2433ig it depends how old a kid you were, and how emo/gritty realistic/american you were heh.
2000s still had some silliness, but yeah silver compared to 90s gold.
@@geeebuttersnap2433 I'm a 96' baby, and I agree with the OP. 🤷🏽♂️ I didn't feel affected by 9/11 at all. My childhood was filled with great entertainment: WWE, Tony Hawk PS, GTA VC & SA, Mortal Kombat, Rap & Rock, and fun movies.
The 2000s is nostalgic
genz!
It's only nostalgic to people born between 1993 and 2002!
@@Ykickamoocowi was born in 85 and the 2000s are definitely nostalgic. The end of my teens and beginning of my 20’s.
@@prilljazzatlanta5070They're definitely not nostalgic to me, 90s are nostalgic
Inception was inspired by anime classics such as Donald Duck.
12 monkees was a 90s film that had a lot of that gritty realism aesthetic
Been binging your stuff. Great work.
Personally, I think 28 DAYS LATER is the best on this list. It still remains the best horror film I've seen in the 21st Century: relentless, nasty, harrowing, and yet humane in its depiction of apocalyptic turmoil and finding humanity during times of - sadly more prevalent and realistic - disease outbreak, desolation, loss and oppression. That it was shot on digital video, didn't have any prettied-up people and certainly didn't let up in its take-no-prisoners approach, while at the same time making the audience think about the complexity and total state of the human condition during such horrors while scaring us in ways both seen and unseen makes it a masterpiece. Watching it after the pandemic made me realize how it was even more timely.
Awesome review of 28 Days Later! It's insanely influential too. No "28 Days Later", No "The Walking Dead" or "The Last of Us". I listened to the theme a lot while making this video. In my head, it's like the unofficial theme of that era.
Hostel deserves a mention, even more so than Saw. What Dark Knight did for Hero flicks, it did for Horror. It really tapped into the post 9/11 American fear of foreigners and went to the extreme on what violence could be shown in a mainstream movie. The hip quirkinesses of 90’s Scream movies were over, people wanted something more brutal.
I personally think Saw is a better movie, but you make a great point that Hostel perfectly represents the zeitgeist of that time. People wanted sick, twisted, and brutal horror movies. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre reboot and The Devil’s Rejects also need to be included in that conversation I think. Too many good movies to choose from in that era really.
I absolutely love hostile and saw movies, 2000s was a amazing decade from horror movies, also great decade for animation and videogames
I dig ultraviolet but Maybe audiences were over it. I dig both and I will always wish 90s cool would come back. Because it was cool. And I watch movies for entertainment mainly, not realism.
Christopher Nolan is one of my favorite directors.
I was just thinking about this today when the Dark Knight soundtrack popped up on my shuffled playlist
I'm surprised this has so few views compared to your 80's and 90's cool videos. As someone who was born in 1994, this has more relevancy to me than those. By the time I reached adolescence, 90's cool had begun to be seen as tacky and dated. From a purely stylistic point of view, I'd say Sin City, The Spirit, Resident Evil: Afterlife and the Max Payne movie were peak mid 2000's-early 2010's cool. The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift also has a lot of very 2000's cool aesthetic scenes, especially the ones that take place at night with that dark blue-green colour palette that was everywhere in the mid 2000's-early 2010's. I've begun calling it the stormy evening colour palette because that's what it reminds me of the most.
Because the 00s sucks
@@corymiller536the 00s is a lesser era than the 90s, but it's kinda a silver age compared to the 2010s, which combined both too much realism and too much dorkiness/irony (see marvel) and is not aging as well.
Also, replying to op, yeah ig i also reached adolescence/college years at this time (late 00s, early 10s), but idk, gritty realism was refreshing for its time but eventually became a chore, all looking and sounding samey old grey serious while not that deep (twists everywhere that eventually become expected, speeches everywhere, good guys are just gray everymen, only nihilistic survival matters and/or "muh family", bad guys are only terrorists and corporations [meanwhile irl occupy didnt accomplish anything and obama led to trump], shaky cam everywhere, zombies everywhere lol, etc). Fwiw i liked the videogames more than the movies at this time, bc the gritty realism translated better to having to explore difficult environments, and games in general had never been as serious as movies - and even then, i vastly preferred san andreas and gta v to gta iv, or dead space to tlou. Outta the list in this video, i preferred the departed, inception, district 9, and casino royale the most; tho perhaps i should watch drive, shudder island, and nightcrawler - i get the sense i would like drive the most, and drive is the most unique outta them all.
And as for your list, i'd have picked original fast and furious to tokyo drift lol, tho it is true that the latter has cool visuals (which are perhaps from a transitional period to the grittier late 00s), but as a whole movie it pales to original (then again, the following sequels became an increasingly large circus act, and starting from the original the series as a whole has less gravitas, which kinda explained how it survived into the marvelistic 10s). And yeah i'm surprised the video didnt even give honorable mention to sin city, pretty much one of the inaugural salvos of the gritty era, literally violence in grayscale everything. Idk if the mila jojovich r.e. movies were that gritty, if anything they were transitional from the 90s cool, but it is true afterlife seems more 00s. Ive yet to see that max payne movie, reviews say it sucked, but it does look appropriately gray af.
Brother throwing in Yamaoka and M,E Mcglynns always on my mind was a stellar choice!
It's really insane that Die Another Day and Casino Royale were only made 4 years apart.
Other aesthetic of this era that I can think of are colors exaggeration (thinking movie like Black Hawk Down or Domino as an example) character are often sweaty and the movie must taken itself very seriously (so serious that it seems like no humor are allowed in this period of cinema)
Also, I hope you would do the worst of 2000s gritty cool as a companion piece to the worst of 90s cool...
Running Scared 2006 film by Wayne Kramer starring Paul Walker is a hidden gem.
Great call on Running Scared. Could have been an honorable mention but I forgot about it.
I feel like Training Day opened the door for these kinda movies
Maybe its just me but ive grown to really dislike Nolans impact on Comic book Filmmaking,at least when it comes to DCs heroes because its led to such a massive isolation of Batman from the rest of the DC Universe hes supposed to be apart of including his own Batfamily.
Batman in Cinema outside of the Snyderverse hasnt gone up against anything actually SUPERHUMAN or Supernatural.
Plus Nolan's refusal to let batman be apart of the anything but his movies in terms of Live action,and then his refusal to help out on any other Superhero stuff except as a producer is really heartbreaking
Damn , half of these are my favourite movies!
Man, remember when the worst we could do was complain that things had a dark filter and too much grit?
Lol to return to the era of non cringe entertainment
Entertainment is cringe...The best movie ever made is Friday the 13th part 6 and is cringe as fuck
This, to me, is the last good era of entertainment. Or at least, the last one I was on board with. After this, we enter the Disney era.
I liked that past this we got more collors and comedy, the Nolan era is too serious, like The dark knight is great but is too serious for a movie with the lead uses that Goofy voice, i glad we get things like Guardians of the galaxy and Stranger Things@@LifeofSlicey1
but saddly Shake can still a thing(outside John wick and adjascents)@@LifeofSlicey1
@@LifeofSlicey1why the Disney era vs the john wick era? Or the Snyder era? or the quick cut era?
Great videos. Keep them coming.
90s=90s cool
2000s=Gritty/Nolan Cool
2010s=John Wick Cool????
I would describe the John Wick era as more "neo-90s cool". The 2010s is the Disney/Marvel "cool" era.
@@LifeofSlicey1 Weird suggestion but do the Final Destination Movies count in anyway?
Thing of it is, John Wick ran in parallel and yet in isolation of Marvel/Disney, and became like a reverse parody of it, both spectacle and bombastic, just that one with serious kills and the other one with Deadpool. Something like Cyberpunk is more fit for the 20s, more grit yet also keeping some of the stylized neon, relatedly very neo-90s and with John Wick lookalike (bc Keanu Reeves has become him) as character.
@@CinderUnitkinda transitional from late 90s hot teens dying horror into 00s realistic memorable deaths horror, while not delving into the gritty grey and/or supernatural post-the ring mid to late 00s to early 10s horror, nor into the lamer mid to late 10s creepy doll/creepy face horror (tbh horror is on a downward slide, but it is always inundated with movies given there always has to be halloween movies to massproduce, and horror/gore buffs can be literal addicts just demanding more mass production of movies in the genre, not to mention all the remakes).
Very interesting and fitting that you incorporate the later Harry Potter movies into this category. I wonder if also the Hobbit films share elements of this style and thus departure for the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The depiction of the dwarf kind Thorin as a brooding angry man and the inclusion of bad as slow motion action are hints for me. Also the over the top action scenes with Legolas now make a lot more “sense”.
That's a very interesting point. I think the LoTR triology/ the first Harry Potter actually represent the opposite trend of 9/11 escapism, which was not intentional, but caused them to explode in popularity. But almost everything being made at that time was touched by gritty realism in one way or another, and I'm sure some of it made it into the Hobbit as you said.
If only the Hobbit had only been one condensed more focused film
District 9 is upsetting to watch because it’s basically made up of the skeleton of that Peter Jackson’s failed halo movie. Which would have been infinitely better than Amazons halo tv show with mister cheeks.
Wow, I not only missed most of these movies, I haven’t even *heard* of many. But I did see some and I loved that this was an era rife with experimentation. You had Nolan telling stories backwards, you had ambiguous “I’m not sure whose story is true” or “I’m not sure who I should be rooting for,” you had genuine novelty. It was also the birth of CG that looked good. There was some “let’s make lazy sequels of beloved franchises” like Star Wars I…III but it wasn’t like now where every big summer movie is another Marvel cash grab that’s 99% CG from start to finish.
Given your track record for 90’s cool movies, you’ve given me a lot I need to catch up on. I appreciate that you’re not just making lists of movies you like, you’re discussing a specific aesthetic and building your list around that. I’d love to see a gaming version of this, as 2000’s were also the era when games became much more detailed and immersive, still had a lot of novelty, and weren’t just doing numbered sequels on top of sequels.
Thanks Josh. Honestly, this was the most formative era for me. I wholeheartedly recommend every movie I listed here, even the honorable mentions. I hope you enjoy them.
Only one I haven’t seen is district 9
@@theitfactorjameswheezer2852 whoa you need to fix that, quick! District 9 was a Neill Blonkamp’s masterwork.
There was experimentation, but idk, looking back they all eventually ended similarly, there was always twists and eventually it became so common you figured the twist was coming, and there was always terrorists or corporations behind it all against the typical everyman, but not much else. Ex. District 9 was fun, but it was telegraphed that the corporate boss dad-in-law would have been a major enemy against the everyman dork lead. A few did pull it off right though.
Perhaps earlier eras were more straightforward in plots, but as such, they could build their characters up more and make them more iconic. A more morally grey, twist and turn character, is more remembered by the plot developments and not by his character's set of qualities in itself, much less so if the film is grey gritty and realistic and not much stands out visually (barring good shots and some character designs - again, there's really good exceptions that pulled it off).
I’d personally would put “Crank”’on the list as well
Or any Statham, tho tbh he had some special brit street cool presence and delivery setting him apart
No training day?
I don't watch anime, but perhaps I should though...🤷🏻💯✔️
Discussing a look of cinema in 2000s, it's a good point to start by looking at Tony Scott's Enemy of the State (1998). The influence of this film is hard to overstate: the quick cuts, the topics of mass surveillance and paranoia, rapid montage - in essence this what we saw later with news reports, various crime and counter-terrorism themed movies and shows. Hell, even Fox's 24 tv series adopted this style
I also would like to add another example of peak Tony Scott style - his remake of The Taking of the Pelham 123 from 2009
Good stuff, this is the gravitas I’m looking for
You can also include:
Minority Report
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
The Place Beyond The Pines
The Social Network
Elysium
Zodiac
V For Vendetta
Hellboy
V for Vendetta and specially Hellboy werent that realistic. But they were darker/grittier than other comicbook movies of the time, yes.
Zodiac was a period piece, altho yeah gritty, and goodness too damn long and silly how they wouldnt catch him with all the clues right there, many people in the theater fell asleep.
I loved Collateral. Have to disagree with the third act. The scene where he goes after Jada Pinkett in the office, is tense and terrifying.
The worst thing about this film, is that Foxx was nominated for an Oscar and Cruise wasn't. Foxx was very good in the film, but Cruise was transcendent. Luckily, I don't take much stock in the Oscars.
oh god.. shakycam. I hate it so much
LOVE THIS CHANNEL BUT WHAT IS THAT NOSTALGIC SONG RIGHT AROUND 6:05 IM RACKING MY BRAINS TO FIND IT BUT NO HELP :/ PLZ COMMENT ON WHAT SONG THIS IS, IVE TRIED BETWEEN PORTISHEAD OR MASSIVE ATTACK AND NO LUCK =|
Algorithm showing me this on 9/11
Looking foreword to your take on the series 24 which is the definitive 2000s cool TV series in my mind. And still the most tense and thrilling show ever made.
24 is absolutely the poster child for post-9/11 TV. Perhaps the most post-9/11 feeling piece of media ever made.
You can realy see the Gritty 2000 in Harry Potter, Batman and Bond, but also in Men Of Steel, The Amazing Spiderman, the Total Recall remake, Robocop, Planet Of The Apes, the Battlefield movie and so on... everything was grey in that era.
Man of Steel was so damn grey, and long, and slow. Damn Snyder.
Didnt care for Amazing Spiderman, not charismatic Peter Parker at all, could have been a HIMYM character.
Should watch that Robocop remake tho, I heard good things about it, loved the original ones.
Are you sure 9/11 has something to do with it? There's loads of gritty realism films that came out before 9/11, like Heat
After 2001, everything gets darker and rawer. Not just movies. The culture of the pre 9/11 era was quite silly and fun, and that died immediately. One example is the backlash against the show Survivor. The cast members were being treated like heroes and "survivors" and that idea immediately became a joke after 9/11. The sheer amount of gritty realism movies being made in the 2000s is staggering, and the ones mentioned in this video barely scratch the surface. I would say with confidence that the explosion of these movies is due in large part to 9/11, the Patriot act, and the war on terror.
@@LifeofSlicey1 that’s a very good point - I’ll agree that there’s definitely a lot more plots with themes around terrorism and security following 9/11 and the war on terror. But I wonder if films with gritty tones like Inception would’ve been popular anyway, regardless of whether 9/11 happened or not. Like, I live in the UK and I was only 2 when 9/11 happened, so it didn’t really affect my interests, I just like gritty realism because I find it very immersive
It's a fun thought experiment. Do I think movies would have gotten as dark without 9/11? No. Could Inception have still been made? Probably, yes. Would it have been as successful? Who knows. And who knows if Batman would have gone the direction it did or if Nolan would have become a superstar director with the pull to make Inception. I can say this for sure: Pierce Brosnan would have gotten another shot as Bond if not for 9/11. Die Another Day was actually very financially successful, but they saw the cultural writing on the wall and knew a drastic change was desperately needed.
@@LifeofSlicey1 yeah I can definitely agree with that, I think all media including non-fiction and news was affected by 9/11 in that media conglomerates realised they could profit off of people’s fear, and even if some of the films would’ve been made regardless, there’s clearly a surge of popularity in gritty realism and the topics associated with the war on terror which lead to films like the dark knight ending up the way they are
The 1990s already got darker compared to the 1980s and I would debate the 1990s had a grittier vibe compared to the 2000s.
I think the list is spot on. If I had to add on anything, maybe _From Paris With Love_ (2010) which ticks most of the boxes that it's borderline satirical but not in a self-aware manner; subtle yet dead serious.
Kind of like _21 JumpStreet_ (2012) which knows what kind of movie it is but doesn't let the hints and gags become the main focus that can pull you away from the plot.
I never saw From Paris with Love before, but at a cursory glance, it looks like it could be a candidate for "Nolan Cool Trope: The Movie."
8:36 no, Tom Cruise IS a villain. By all accounts, he’s a complete psychopath.
He seems like the kind of guy who would be a responsible neighbor and a reliable coworker... you just have to look past the weird smell coming from his basement.
@@LifeofSlicey1lol
When you connected Memento and Unbreakable I immediately subscribed. It's nice to watch an opinion video that is an actual unique opinion, and it helps that you're right.
Thanks man. I think Unbreakable deserves more recognition for how it set the table for the next decade. Seems that more people agree with me than I thought.
I think this is cherry picking, there were a lot of dark and gritty grounded movies in the 90s and plenty of fun and silly movies in the 2000s. Falling Down in 1993 is social commentary on the death of the American dream and Fight Club has the same vibe in 1999.
Its important to note that the Fight Club book was written in 1995 and released in 1996. So its part of the dark 90's era(1988-1996).
The gritty realism / Nolan "cool" era was the beginning of the end, this era of filmmaking has killed imagination and creativity in movies because they put themselves inside of a box that's hard to get out of at this point. It's still going on even to this day, now everything is dark, bland and filled with political messaging. It is the first strike to kill escapism.
True to some degree, there must be a way out of it while still keeping some believable realism at times at least
To me Nolan cool is a little harder to put my finger on than 90s cool. Especially given the timeline overlaps
But some movies to consider that were of the same feeling
A Place Beyond the Pines
The Master
There Will Be Blood
The Revenant
Watchmen
Loved Watchmen. Have heard great things about A Place Beyond the Pines, gotta watch it; tho perhaps seems a bit more artistic and with less of these tropes, kinda like Drive.
Nightcrawler is such a goated film
I extended the list to 2014 just because I wanted to talk about Nightcrawler.
Urban terrotism definitely played a huge role in mpvies after 911
I never contextualized all those action movies as you did, and it’s really interesting. even so, I was kinda disappointed when you were talking about mature superhero movies near the end and didn’t mention “Watchmen”(2009), which for me is one of the grittiest and edgiest movies to come from the era with it’s nihilistic characters and a pessimistic world drowned in blues and greens. Not even an honorable mention, huh! Why so?
I considered Watchmen for the list, but I think it's a little too much of an outlier that would look out of place. It has that 2000s gritty style, so in that sense it fits, but Dr. Manhattan takes it out of the conversation of any sort of "realism". It and 300 belong in a different category I think.
Perhaps it is a transitional superhero piece between 90s cool superheros and post-avengers superheros, could simply be "gritty 00s superhero/fantasy"
Great video! Some classic movies on here. Never saw the US girl the dragon tattoo, is it worth watching if you've seen the swedish version?
I actually haven't seen the Swedish version yet. But, I would say absolutely. You can never go wrong with a David Fincher thriller.
@@LifeofSlicey1 Ngl didn't realise Fincher directed it before saw this vid, will definitely check it out! Swedish one was really good as well, had the dark/gritty feel to it.
Take a drink every time the narrator says “gritty” or “grimy” and you’ll feel as good as I do right now… 😎 😉 🥃
Also, as a cinemaphile for all things 1940-2017, thank you for this movie essay/tribute. 🍻 ❤️
If Running Scared (2006) isn’t on this list, I’d have to say this list is too mainstream! Truly one of the grittiest movies of all time! City of God (2002) should also most definitely be on this list, because it’s probably the best Black movie of all time & so should Alpha Dog (2006), since honestly, if Emile Hirsch acted in more movies like he did as Johnny Truelove, or Matthew Kidman in The Girl Next Door (2004) or the titular character in Speed Racer (2008), or even as a jaded gay in Milk (also 2008), because he is the absolute DEFINITION of “Nolan cool” without ever even coming close to being in a Nolan film!
“Nolan Cool” is a term I can get behind. What a bafflingly good director. And just baffling, too.
I appreciate that Josh. I'm hoping it will be less confusing than "90s Cool", but who knows. Either way, it's all in good fun.
@@LifeofSlicey1I still like the use of the term 90s cool. I know I'm biased since I was a teenager in the 90s but no era since has been that cool! No one even cares as much about things being cool. I do though. 90s cool explains why I don't see as much entertainment as cool. Everything was edgy and rocking in the 90s.
I think it fits very well too (and hell, it was Jay from RLM who came up with the term). It's just that people constantly assume that I'm going to talk about "cool things in the 90s" and not the "90s cool" style, which leads to a lot of confusion about including 2000s movies. I promise I'm not trying to mislead anyone lol.
inception is Paprika without the collors and imagination
''the movie is a dream and Nolan can do whatever he want''
I guess here dont want to do anything that is really imaginative
I like Nolan, but inception was absolutely nothing special to me. Dreams= third-rate action sequences
@@joshxipi'm the opposite, i dont care for nolan but found inception was his most memorable for me, and even then it was just a bunch of dream sequences.
Really good video
Nailed it!
I feel like a lot of the Independent Films and Foreign films had A primary influence on the style of these mainstream Hollywood films. Because you will see a lot of dark and gritty films from F foreign and independent studios in the 90s That Have it got any mainstream attention Same thing with the 90s cool era. It takes a big event from a social, political and cultural view that shove these films into the mainstream.
Man, I really disagree with you on Looper. As far as I'm concerned it's a masterpiece start to finish, and easily the best time travel movie I've ever seen.
This is the best channel on TH-cam I swear to fuck
One thing to remember is that part of the grittiness of '00s cinema was often in service of the "gritty reboot." Nolan's Batman was the perfect movie example of this, but far from the only one. (Battlestar Galactica, which even predates Batman Begins, is probably the perfect TV example.) It became a downright cliche that got especially tiresome by the mid-2010s. Someone once pointed out that the Recyclops gag on The Office even captured that trend- you have a regular character who starts out with a message that is eventually lost as the character gets progressively more unhinged until in the end he's just angrily smashing stuff because of his gritty tragic backstory.
Not all grittiness was as dark and moody- compare Nolan's work to Snyder's, for instance. And there are plenty of quality gritty reboots, from RDJ's Sherlock Holmes to the Rise of the Planet of the Apes. But yeah I was just wondering if you think any other gritty reboots would fit your list in this video? Or maybe it's a concept that, while it originated in the '00s, still continues to this day?
Battlestar Galactica is another excellent example. You're right, the "gritty reboot" was definitely a big part of this. It's funny you mention Sherlock Holmes. It was the movie I was debating including in the list right up to the last minute. I think it fits Nolan Cool, but I wanted the list to be as consistent as I could so I decided to cut it.
@@LifeofSlicey1 The gritty reboots for video games are even funnier! Remember the gritty reboot of Bomberman?
This era should just be renamed "American Sausage Fest"
Gritty realism my ass, nolan batman messed up comic book movies for dc
And now Reeves is trying to out-Nolan Nolan with his take on Batman
@deathmetal271 yup and now look where jokers gone 😆 penguins good shot but it's like sopranos 😆
@@deathmetal271true to some degree, but at least Reeves' grittiness is somewhat stylized at times, see Bat-Pattinson's Batmobile compared to the minitank Bale-Batman drives. If anything, Reeves-Batman reminds me of Arkham-Batman, tho not without flaws (ex Oz Cobb lol)
Definitely not my favorite era for movies, while I will always put Inception at the top of my all time great list, everything else just isn’t my jam. I will take 90s cool over gritty realism any day of the week.
In my opnion the best movie of this era is SAW, not the best movie(I stand with a tie between Devils reject and Wolf creek) But Saw is peak of Pos 9\11 Nihilism
I love Saw, but some of the performances take me out of it a bit. Still one of the greatest endings of all time.
@@LifeofSlicey1 and i love every movie of the franchise outside Spiral and Jigsaw, is Grey's anatomy for horror fans
To me writer good choice
Everyone is a film historian.
search 90s green day
The place beyond the pines
“Shook the world forever” and it’s just America
Nah BS. " Xmen" The first gritty comic book movie and "Gladiator" the first dark depressing sword and sandal flick came out in 2000. Before 9/11.
Technically blade, the crow, spawn, Tim Burton Batman, Batman returns came out before X-Men and they were dark for superhero movies
I swear the uploader is just making things up. Bro took all movies from 1999(which was already aesthetically and culturally the 2000's by then) and calls it "90's cool". What a fony hipster.
MAX PAIN!
THE GAME
God damn, when you compare the movies in this list which was basically all of the 00s to anything that came out from 2015 till now it really shows how bad movies are
You didn't mention anywhere in the title this is a top ten so I feel deceived. Bailing at 6:40.
Saw!?
Christopher Nolan makes pro American propaganda films that look like episodes of a major network cop show.
Sicario and True Detective
im sorry but these films aren't "gritty realism" films
Your term is giving Nolan way too much credit. There are films on this list which shit on his work.
Traffic and Crash
I see no mention of Minority Report. Dislike warranted
I think what you mean is just called "Neo Noir" Thriller movies
They became to serious that they became just to boring to watch
Have you even seen a 70's movie? 2000's were dripping with overproduced, CGI festivals.
True, but it was cgi dirt and grit heh.
Plus the 70s also had its share of scifi sfx craze, altho with the depressed vibes and tech limitations of the time ofc.
The Bourne movies also inspired the worst trend to come out of this era; the shaky, rapid-cut action style 🫨