While computer-generated technology may have been the technological phenomenon of the decade (see Part I), one could also revel in the refreshing lack of CG technology in films where a solid script and fine performances (and lack of zombies, aliens or talking dinosaurs) heralded a gifted effort the “old-fashioned way.”

While somewhat avant-garde films like “No Country for Old Men” and “There Will Be Blood” found their way to many a critic’s Top 10 list, alas, they did not find their way to mine. “Blood” was a decent effort, a fine period piece, but as a character arc (Daniel DayLewis playing oilman Daniel Plainview) it went nowhere. “No Country” was far too disorganized for my taste; again, not a bad movie, but not the stuff of greatness.

The best dramatic efforts of the decade:

•“Billy Elliot” (2000) •“City of God” (2002) •“The Cooler” (2003) •“Finding Neverland” (2004) •“Hotel Rwanda” (2004)

•“Motorcycle Diaries” (‘04)

•“Brokeback Mountain” (2005)

•“Cinderella Man” (2005)

•“The Squid and the Whale” (2005)

•“The Illusionist” (2006)

•“The Last King of Scotland” (2006)

•“Little Children” (2006) •“The Lives of Others” (‘06) •“Into the Wild” (2007) •“A Mighty Heart” (2007)

•“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (2007)

•“Slumdog Millionaire” (2008) •“Michael Clayton” (2008) •“Gran Torino” (2009)

•“The Hurt Locker” (2009)

Romantic comedies took a rocky road this decade. The rollicking rom-com of yesteryear spawned the weightier “dramedy”—part love story, part angst fest, typically infused with a healthy dose of skepticism and emotional confusion.

No longer the simple three-act staple of “boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl,” rom-coms made for some interesting interpersonal relationships (and cinema). Now and then, the girl (or the romance) wasn’t even all that crucial. Is the traditional romantic comedy dead? It may be cowering in some basement celluloid corner.

The best romantic fables of the decade:

•“Chocolat” (2000) •“High Fidelity” (2000) •“What Women Want” (2000) •“Before Sunset” (2004) •“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” (2004)

•“Garden State” (2004)

•“The 40 Year Old Virgin” (2005)

•“The Holiday” (2006)

•“Stranger Than Fiction” (2006)

•“Lars and the Real Girl” (2007)

•“Juno” (2007)

•“Forgetting Sarah Marshall” (2008)

•“Ghost Town” (2008)

•“(500) Days of Summer” (2009)

•“It’s Complicated” (2009)

And for those comedies without the romance as key ingredient:

•“About a Boy” (2002) •“Napoleon Dynamite” (‘04) •“Sideways” (2004)

•“Wedding Crashers” (2005)

•“The Devil Wears Prada” (2006)

•“Little Miss Sunshine” (‘06) •“Enchanted” (2007) •“Superbad” (2007) •“Waitress” (2007) •“I Love You, Man” (2009)

•“The Hangover” (2009)

And lest we forget the actionadventure genre, which pretty much belonged to Russell Crowe and Johnny Depp and Matt Damon this decade, here are the best of the bunch:

•“Cast Away” (2000) •“Gladiator” (2000) •“Memento” (2000) •“The Mexican” (2001) •“The Bourne Identity” (2002), “Supremacy” (2004), and “Ultimatum” (2007)

•“The Transporter” (2002)

•“Kill Bill, Vol. 1” (2003) and “Vol. 2” (2006)

•“The Last Samurai” (2003)

•“Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World” (2003)

•“Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” (2003)

•“Hero” (2004)

•“Kingdom of Heaven” (2005; the 192-minute director’s cut)

•“Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang” (2005)

•“The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” (2007)

•“Gone Baby Gone” (2007)

For a look at The Movie Nut’s Best of the Decade in other categories (musicals, for eign films, documentaries, weirdest films, etc.) go to: www.TheAcornOnline .com/movies.