In case you were wondering, Leo and Scorsese have worked together in the past on ‘Gangs of New York,’ ‘The Aviator,’ ‘Shutter Island,’ and ‘The Departed,’ the latter winning Best Picture at the Oscars as well as earning Martin Scorsese a much deserved Best Directing award for the film, even if it wasn’t his best picture ever, ahem, ‘Goodfellas.’ So based on their past track record we can all assume this ones going to be a treat!

‘The Gambler’ is a remake of the 1974 film starring James Caan as an English professor (who Leo will presumably be playing) with a gambling addiction. The professor falls into a debt of $40,000 with the mob and it follows the man’s downward spiral of bad luck. Although I am not thrilled it is a remake, we must all remember that ‘The Departed’ was a remake as well and that turned out golden so let’s have some faith!

The project is being developed by Paramount Pictures and also has William Monahan attached to write (he also worked with Scorsese on ‘The Departed’).

Stay tuned for more news on this exciting new project Banters!

Ok folks, we have arrived at the countdown. This week and next week, Craig, Nick and myself will each give you our list of the top 10 films of the decade.  Since this topic has been hotly debated over the recent weeks amongst film critics and fans, we want to give ample time to you Banterers to tell us your thoughts of our lists.

Thus, this week, we will each give you our 10-6 and give 48 hours for everyone to agree, yell, bicker, and criticize our picks; then it will be followed by the next list. So today you will get Matt’s 10-6, on Wednesday Craig will post his, and Nick will post his on Friday. We will then follow the same procedure for next week with our 5-1. With further or due, here we go.

Matt’s 10-6

The 2000-2009 decade in film was a quite a decade.  We had the decade of epic film making, the onslaught of special effects, the emergence of the awkward comedy, Pixars CGI denomination, Indie movies that became monster box office hits, and performances that will resonate through time. It was very tough to narrow it to 10, but a list is a list.

Honorable Mention:

The Prestige, The Last Samurai, Minority Report, V for Vendetta, Layer Cake, The Incredibles, Memento

10. Blood Diamond (2006)

I walked into Blood Diamond expecting a good movie. I walked out of Blood Diamond nearly in tears and completely shocked. Not since the Matrix had I been so pleasantly surprised with a film. This film was entertaining, extremely well done, perfectly acted, and powerful. It hits my list at 10

9. Big Fish (2003)

Tim Burton’s 2003 masterpiece somehow missed the Best Picture boat. 2003 happened to have been an amazing year for film. Regardless, this movie told one of the most creative stories I’ve ever seen on screen. Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney dominated the screen, starring in one of the greatest father-son movies ever made.

8. Gangs of New York (2002)

Gangs of New York was ummm, awesome. This was Daniel Day Lewis’s introduction to this generation of movie goers. Bill “the Butcher” was one of the most compelling film characters of all time. Leonardo DiCaprio was also top notch. Gangs was a classic. 3 hours went by in a flash, which was a red flag for one heck of a movie.

7. Old School (2003)

I had to, yes. One comedy needed to make this list. Todd Phillips gave birth to the new era of comedy’s with this movie. Vince Vaughn and Will Ferrell were catapulted to super stardom. This movie had it all. It was laugh-out-loud funny that got funnier the more times you watched it. I credit this movie for being responsible for the success of Apatow and his crew as well. Coincidentally both Jeremy Piven and Perrey Reeves (Mr. and Mrs. Ari Gold)  had big parts in this movie. Perhaps the funniest script of the decade; Mitchapalooza, Frank the Tank, I’m here for the gang bang, and you’re my boy blue, are all lines we will continue to drop. You know it, and I know it.

6. Something the Lord Made (2004-HBO)

Not many people know about this movie. If you haven’t seen it, you need to. It was an HBO movie about the discovery of open-heart surgery starring Alan Rickman and Mos Def.  This movie was absolutely incredible and extremely interesting. I really did not know much about the story when I saw it, and found myself all over the internet doing follow up research after it finished.   I was completely glued to the screen the entire 2 hours it was on television. If my mother had fallen down the steps during me watching this, I would have told her to hold on sec.  If you want to see an inspiring movie about over coming odds, then look no further.

What do you think?