The Top 40 Films of the 2000s: 40-31

40. DANCER IN THE DARK, Lars von Trier (2000). An emotional gut-punch as strong as any this decade.

39. THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN, Judd Apatow (2005). The best sophomoric comedy for adults this decade.

38. BRICK, Rian Johnson (2005). Classic film noir gets a reboot in a high school. Moody goodness.

37. CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS, Andrew Jacecki (2003). In this era of people trying to get on camera and documenting themselves for no good reason, it's downright creepy that this family happened to be filming its own implosion for years without even knowing it.

36. ZODIAC, David Fincher (2007). One of the classic true crime stories of the past century gets a tense, brilliant second look.

35. TRAFFIC, Steven Soderberg (2000). Revitalized the Robert Altman style of converging character arc storytelling and introduced us to the now-trendy "small world" concept of global exploration seen in dozens of films this decade, from "Syriana" to "Babel." Other directors like Inarritu would succeed with this style in the 2000s, but Soderberg invented it.

34. SIDEWAYS, Alexander Payne (2004). If "40 Year Old Virgin" was the best sophomoric comedy for adults this decade, this was the best sophisticated one. Perfect acting performances, to boot.

33. MULHOLLAND DRIVE, David Lynch (2001). I still don't get it, but I love trying. Admittedly, this is a "snobby" pick made with my head and not my heart. Maybe I feel obligated to include it, but it is one of the best films of a very important filmmaker.

32. ONCE, John Carney (2008). The scene in the film that introduces the Oscar-winning "Falling Slowly" is one of the most romantic scenes of the decade, and the lovers don't even kiss. A film that was truly able to harnass the power of music.

31. IN BRUGES, Martin McDonagh (2008). Fantastic lead acting performances and whip-smart direction from the Irish Tarantino. Few movies this decade had me laughing this hard.