We had a lot of comic book adaptions in the zeros, and the best of them, contrary to what you might have heard, is Iron Man. I promise you that this is a better movie than The Dark Knight. Go back and watch them again if you don’t believe me. I’m not sure what’s led people to get confused about this—I think maybe people have decided that the use of a darker color pallet makes Dark Knight more serious, which is itself a lot sillier than using bright colors in your comic book adaptation. Dark Knight isn’t even as good as Batman Begins!

There is no question that The Dark Knight was overrated. At the time of its release a lot of ink was spilled about the mythic, Shakespearean dynamic of the film's central conflict, but I found that sort of chatter embarrassing. This was, after all, a movie about a guy who dressed up like a bat fighting with a guy who dressed up like a clown.

Moreover, the Harry Dent / Two-Face subplot added so much weight to the narrative that the movie nearly collapsed .

While I agree that Iron Man was a delightful movie, it's easy to forget how much it owed to Sam Raimi's Spider Man, which captured perfectly the blend of mythology, action, personal angst and humor that defined Marvel comics in the Silver Age. Even so, to my mind Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins was the best comic book adaptation of the decade; it made the entire Batman mythos plausible for the first time.

As long as we're on the subject -- and what the hell, everyone is doing it anyway -- here are my picks for the ten best movies of the decade, arranged in no particular order:

Mulholland Dr.

Amelie

The Man Who Wasn't There

Brick

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

The Prestige

Wonder Boys

The Incredibles

Downfall

TV Series of the Decade: Mad Men

Band of the Decade: The Soviettes.

Now that I have slaked your thirst for my opinions, off with you! Go play in our shiny new decade.