The Decade Mix Tape (Reprinted From An Email Exchange)

My criteria - I'm stuck on a desert island and can bring 20 movies from the decade. Not the "best" or even "my favorites." Simply, a mixed tape of films. I also must give a preemptive shout out to the greatest work of the decade - The Wire followed closely by the Sopranos and followed closely thereafter by Deadwood. The history books will talk about the 2000s as the decade TV eclipsed movies as the gold standard for quality drama. But we are talking movies, so here we go-

The Mix Tape

Red Belt. Can a great ending make up for many flaws? I think so.
Enemy at the Gates. An under-the-radar war film. If it's on TV, I can't turn it off.
Michael Clayton. I've watched the movie 8-9 times. It is an above-average drama, the type of mid-budget movies the studios ought to release every year. The dearth of movies like it, is why it makes the list.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. A great epic adventure story, hampered and underrated by a lame title.
In The Mood For Love. Tony Leung should teach a class on how to wear a suit.
The Man Who Wasn't There. Tony Shalhoub steals all his scenes.
The Queen. How Frears got me into in a movie about Queen Elizabeth...I don't know. Find me a move moving moment than when the little girl insists, "The flowers are for you."
Brokeback Mountain. Ennis Del Mar is the most fascinating and painful character put on screen this decade.
Grizzly Man. I believe the common character of the universe is not harmony, but chaos, hostility, and murder.
Memento. The most clever storytelling devise employed in our lifetimes.
25th Hour. The first movie to capture the mood of post 9/11 America.
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. How did Herzog get that performance out of Cage? He told him, "there is such a thing as the bliss of evil." It sound better out of Herzog's mouth than written down.
Elephant. The best of Van Sant's trio of tragic recreations.
City of God. A movie oozing with life.
Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Gimme a strong cup of strong coffee and a seat in a theater and I can think of few ways to better spend 3 hours.
Zodiac. My favorite procedural ever made. Ruffalo is not a movie star, but he is a fine, fine actor.
Collateral. Why not Miami Vice, you ask? Because the way Michael Mann photographs Los Angeles makes me want to live here.
United 93. Some people say they shouldn't have made this movie. My question is: what good are movies if they can't?
No Country For Old Men. No movie this decade made me think more about the big, heavy questions.
Sideways. I can't watch, talk, or think about this movie without warm feelings of joy.