1. City of God (2002) A movie so good that you could almost taste it. Fernando Meirelles' City of God ( Cidade de

Deus) is in many respects a very traditional movie – a coming of age story, a Bildungsroman – yet because of where it's set, the favelas of Rio de Janerio, it becomes so much more than what it says on the tin. Meirelles' great achievement was to bring vividly to life the colours, the music and the soul of Rio. 2. The Lives of Others (2006)

In a decade that saw German cinema gain mainsteam and international success Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's Lives of Others ( Das Leben der

Anderen) wowed cinema goers the world over. Focussing on the operations of the Stasi (secret police) and on the lives of those it spied upon, it provided a catharsis for those Germans still struggling with the legacy of the DDR.

3. Mystic River (2003) The noughties were the decade of Clint. Million Dollar Baby may be Eastwood's most famous movie of the decade, but Mystic River is the superior film. Based on a novel by the acclaimed Irish American novelist Dennis Lehane (famous as a writer with HBO TV series The Wire) it featured a stellar cast performing at their very best in a thrilling, gripping story. 4. The Dark Knight (2008)

It took seven years but eventually it came – the ultimate post 9/11 movie. The star of Christopher Nolan's movie wasn't Christian Bale, it wasn't even Heath Ledger, it was fear. From the very first frame of this picture – the glass of a skyscraper smashing and crashing to earth – fear was pervasive. Ledger's performance as the joker was, of course, exceptional. The best screen villain last decade. 5. The Constant Gardner (2005) Another entry from Fernando Meirelles, this time an adapation of a John La Carre novel of the same name. The Brazilian director does for Africa what he did for Rio bringing to life a continent that all too often is associated with death. Given its La Carre associations the fact that the movie is above all else a brilliant thriller hardly comes as a surprise, but like most La Carre stories it's a little bit more than just that. 6. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy should really be viewed as a single movie, but if you're to pick one out as the best of the bunch then it has to be The Return of the King. The visuals were spectacular, the acting sublime, the story elemental. The one problem with The Return of the King was that it dragged a little towards the end, but when a movie is this good it can afford to drag a little. 7. Lost in Translation (2003) Sofia Coppola's tale of isolation and culture shock in Tokyo was probably the greatest indie breakthrough movie of the decade. Made on a tiny budget of just $4m, it became a massive global hit. Brilliant performances by Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray – who, let's face it, was brilliant playing a version of Bill Murray – lit up the screen and moved Coppola (daughter of Francis Ford Coppola) from indie director to Oscar winner. 8. Good Night and Good Luck (2005) A flim with post 9/11 undertones. George Clooney shows that he's more than just a pretty face in directing this historical thriller. Filmed in black and white the movie tightly focusses on the CBS newsroom of the 1950s and the battle between journalist Edward R Murrow and Senator Joe McCarthy – the anti-communist, demagogue responsible for Senate Hearings into "Un-American Activities".

9. The Departed (2006) The film that finally earned Martin Scorsese his director's Oscar deserves its place on any list of the best movies of the past decade. The main criticism of the movie is that it wasn't one of Scorsese's best and while this is probably true (and while he should have won his Oscar for one of his better pictures) it shouldn't take away from the fact that this is a brilliant thriller, brilliantly executed by the finest director working in cinema today. 10. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000) Asian cinema had a profound influence on filmmaking in the noughties. Several Hollywood movies were adapations of Asian movies – The Ring and The Departed (a version of Hong Kong picture Internal Affairs). Crouching Tiger was the first Asian movie to break into the Western mainstream market, others have followed like the Korean movie Old Boy, but few could match Ang Lee's visual spectatular.

Notable Others Slumdog Millionaire (2008) Downfall ( Untergang) (2004) District 9 (2009) No Country for Old Men (2007) There Will Be Blood (2007) Crash (2004) Frost/Nixon (2008) Capote (2005) Kill Bill Vol 1 (2003) The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)