Calling Yi Yi a masterpiece and the late Edward Yang one of the greatest Taiwanese directors is fair, but deserves some context — after all, outside of Ang Lee, most Taiwanese film directors are best known to film festival patrons. But Yang’s films stand apart from his peers for his global sensibilities. Perhaps this should come as no surprise — he studied electrical engineering in the U.S. and has claimed that Werner Herzog and Michelangelo Antonioni are two of his biggest influences. Alongside Hou Hsiao-Hsien (City of Sadness) and second generation new-waver Tsai Ming-Liang (What Time is it There?), Yang’s works have been revered in international film festivals (Yi Yi won the best director prize at Cannes). However Yi Yi is still the only one of his pictures available stateside. My review of Criterion’s Blu-ray of Yi Yi follows after the jump.

It’s been almost 10 years since David Lynch’s Mulholland Dr. made its debut in theaters, but it still holds a very high place in the hearts of L.A. film critics. Here’s is [via Indiewire] the L.A. Film Critics Association’s just-released Best of the ’00s list:

1. Mulholland Dr. -  David Lynch
2. There Will Be Blood -  Paul Thomas Anderson
3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind -  Michel Gondry
4. Brokeback Mountain -  Ang Lee
5. No Country for Old Men -  Joel and Ethan Coen / Zodiac -  David Fincher (tie)
6. Yi Yi -  Edward Yang
7. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days – Cristian Mungiu / The Lord of the Rings – Peter Jackson (tie)
8. Spirited Away -  Hayao Miyazaki
9. United 93 – Paul Greengrass / Y Tu Mama Tambien -  Alfonso Cuaron (tie)
10. Sideways -  Alexander Payne

Hit the jump for my thoughts on their Top 10 as well as my personal list for the best of the last decade.