Best recent movie

So I mentioned Amazon's list of essential movies and Heidi wondered where the recent movies are. Well...let me put forth two theories. The first is that movies have to sit for awhile before we can judge how good they really are. We've all had that movie that we loved at the time but ten years later we think, "Really? Is that all there was to it?". The flip side is that movies that have been around for decades have enormous amounts of goodwill built up for them. That's why these lists are dominated by movies made in the 30's, 40's and 50's.
My second theory is that over the last ten years we've seen an explosion in the number of movies that are available for us. Take a look at the list of 2006 movies here. I count 192 movies in wide release (and another 100 or so in limited release). That's almost four new movies at the cineplex every weekend. This flood of movies creates so much noise that it's hard for a single movie to stand out.
(I've also got a third theory that suggests that Hollywood makes better films when there's a Democrat in the White House. I need to work on the background reason but if you look at the overall film industry since 1980 or so you'll see what I mean.)
Ok. So my question is this, what's the best movie since 2000? Here's the list of Best Picture nominees:

2000 (73rd)

Chocolat
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Erin Brockovich

*Gladiator
Traffic

2001 (74th)

*A Beautiful Mind
Gosford Park
In the Bedroom
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Moulin Rouge

2002 (75th)

*Chicago
Gangs of New York
The Hours
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Pianist

2003 (76th)

*The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Lost in Translation
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Mystic River
Seabiscuit

2004 (77th)
The Aviator
Finding Neverland

*Million Dollar Baby
Ray
Sideways

2005 (78th)

Brokeback Mountain
Capote

*Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck.
Munich

2006 (79th)
Babel
*The Departed
Letters from Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen

I'd argue that the LOTR movies are all time good but what else? I loved 'Moulin Rouge' but will people remember it in 2041? How about 'The Hours'? Or 'Capote'? 'Babel'? One movie not on this list, 'Passion of the Christ' will be long remembered but certainly not by film critics.
And this is just the hoity-toity serious films. What's the best comedy so far this decade? Maybe the first 'Pirates of the Caribbean'? 'Anchorman'? What else?