Xtra-visions Marshall Julius picks a personal top ten of his favourite films of the Noughties.

Just so we're clear, right from the start, with regards to the movies of the past ten years that most successfully knocked my socks off, what follows is a personal list. Top tens are a subjective thing, and I fully expect you to have your favourites. If I'm lucky, our lists will cross over a bit, just enough to make my choices seem informed and reasonable. If not, well, I can live with that, and I'm sure you can too. With the new blogging feature that we have here at Xtra-vision, now you can have your say too, and you're more than welcome to share your views with us on any number of movie-related subjects.

For now though, it's my turn. And though I'm focusing here on my top ten, I have to at least mention movies 11 to 20 on my list, just in case you felt like adding them to your list: The Darjeeling Limited, Superbad, Wall-E, The Descent, Napoleon Dynamite, Borat, X-Men 2, Little Miss Sunshine, Team America and Memento. But now to business. In ascending order then, my pick of the Noughties...

10. Dead Man's Shoes (2004)
An amazing British crime flick, in its own way every bit as good as Goodfellas and The Godfather, Dead Man's Shoes is a tale of "human justice" from the incomparable Shane Meadows, director of Twenty Four Seven and A Room For Romeo Brass. Inspired by a disturbing event from Meadows' own past – as a lad he watched a skinhead mate beat a man half to death – Dead Man's Shoes is a bloody tale of vengeance made and played with absolute realism. As a disaffected soldier with a powerful grudge against a gang of thugs, co-writer Paddy Considine cemented his reputation as one of the best actors in the business.

9. Drag Me To Hell (2009)
From Evil Dead director Sam Raimi came this characteristically comical, visually arresting and terrifying flight of the fantastic. Easily the barmiest fright flick of the decade, Drag Me To Hell detailed the outrageous fate of a humble loan officer (Alison Lohman) whose decision to evict a vengeful old gypsy woman (Lorna Raver) from her home sees her saddled with a rapidly-escalating demonic curse. All together now... "You shame me!"

8. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
A smartly silly tale of men being men in the days before equal rights spoiled everything for them forever, Anchorman was the perfect vehicle for the considerable but frequently squandered comic talents of former Saturday Night Live star Will Ferrell. As the newsreader of the title, Ferrell plays a man of deep shallows with perfect hair and a stone age attitude to women that's perfectly in keeping with the male-dominated, Seventies setting. Bolstered by an awesome supporting cast (Christina Applegate, Steve Carell, Paul Rudd and David Koechner) and a hoard of all-star cameos (Ben Stiller, Tim Robbins, Vince Vaughan, Luke Wilson and Jack Black) Anchorman is endlessly hilarious, easily re-watchable comedy gold.

7. Zombieland (2009)
A contrasting foursome of oddball characters form an appealingly dysfunctional family unit in post-apocalyptic America in Zombieland, a film that manages to be both cynical and full of heart, as well as hilariously funny, gory as hell, scary and exciting, all at once. In a world overrun by zombies, four very different people come together for safety and companionship, each with their own distinctive survival style. Starring Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin and a former Ghostbuster in the best cameo role of all time, it's the first feelgood zombie film ever made.

6. Spirited Away (2001)
Probably the greatest anime of all time, Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away follows the adventures of an increasingly confident 10-year-old girl who stumbles into a magical world full of witches, dragons and mischievous spirits. A feast for the senses with unbound imagination and a sweet sensibility, Miyazaki's masterwork is fantastic in every sense of the word.

5. American Splendor (2003)
A painful, hilarious and honest biopic based on the life and work of underground comicbook author Harvey Pekar, American Splendor is a comicbook movie for the arthouse set, a smart, fresh and stylish film about genuine eccentrics, all of whom appear in the movie, alongside their screen selves. At the heart of the movie is an irresistibly irascible, star-making performance from the great Paul Giamatti, pre-Sideways, proving to the world how great he can be.

4. Star Trek (2009)
Co-writer and director J.J. Abrams was the first to admit the incredible, unthinkable and to many, quite shocking truth that he was never a Trekkie. Yet as the co-writer and director of the glorious new Star Trek movie, the one that takes us back to the earliest days of Kirk and crew aboard their beloved Starship Enterprise, he's largely responsible for revamping the franchise with one of the best damn adventures the series has ever seen. Though he may not have grown up quoting Kirk and sporting Spock ears, Abrams surely knows how to spin a yarn, and direct a film which perfectly balances irresistible characterisations with pedal-to-the-metal action sequences. Star Trek is a dream come true, not only for lifelong fans, but also for newcomers to the comings and goings of 23rd Century thrills and spills.

3. Being John Malkovich (2000)
Hairy, bearded and speccy, John Cusack is almost unrecognisable as a troubled puppeteer who discovers a portal into the mind of actor John Malkovich in this offbeat, surreal comedy from director Spike Jonze and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman. Co-starring Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, Orson Bean and John Malkovich, here playing an increasingly peculiar version of himself, it's a movie that's almost too strange and wonderful for words, something that you should just experience, over and over, and love with all your heart.

2. Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003)
I had to cheat here, bunch all three of Peter Jackson's epic movies together as one, because that's really what they are: the best 10-hour film ever made. I'd no more choose which film I liked better than I would pick one of my kids over the other. A flawless adaptation of Tolkien's challenging fantasy, one that improves upon the books in numerous, audience-pleasing ways, Jackson's ambitious but perfectly-realised adventure is an eye-popping, jaw-dropping, mind-expanding spectacle, a perfect bit of cinema, one that lived up to, and possibly even exceeded, the incredible hype surrounding it.

1. Batman Begins (2005)
Because it was more about the hero than the villain, and because it embraced rather than shunned its comicbook origins, I'm happy to admit to all who'll listen that I liked Christopher Nolan's first Bat-flick better than the second. Much better. In fact, I loved it. As a card-carrying Batman obsessive, I'd always yearned for a good live action Batflick, something true to the spirit of the comicbook that didn't pander to kids and clueless movie executives. And finally it arrived, the oh-so-beautiful Batman Begins, a film I had to see twice just to make sure I hadn't dreamed it the first time. Thanks largely to Memento director Christopher Nolan, Blade writer David S. Goyer and brooding star Christian Bale, Batman Begins is deep, dark, smart and exciting with an amazing cast and spectacular action. An epic yet intimate adventure detailing the origin, training and earliest trials of the ultimate superhero, it was the film I'd been waiting to see all my life, and it didn't let me down.