Greetings all,
I've finally seen enough films to put together the top ten of 2000. The pickens were slim, I'm sure you'll agree. I barely had 10 that could be used! But here's what I've come up with without having seen "Chocolat", "Croupier", "The House of Mirth", "Pollack", "Wonder Boys", "Loser", "Bless the Child" or "Gone in 60 Seconds":
10. GLADIATOR - This film impressed me. I was done watching it, and I said to myself, "I'm impressed". It was quite impressive the way I was impressed by it. OK, OK, it was BIG. It's basically 'Braveheart' with Romans and Spaniards, instead of English and Scottish. It's still a revenge tale that grows to be a grand-scale kingdom-wide battle. Crowe is great, he was great in 'LA Confidential' and has that same Oh-my-God-he-is-going-to-kill-everyone-he-sees smolder that made him so watchable before. This'll probably win the Oscar because it is so much like 'Braveheart' and "Hey, that worked before, so let's do it again!!" (a common theme in Hollywood...). Wait, my Oscar rant is another e-mail entirely. But there's no doubt that Ridley Scott re-creates place and time effectively (with top-notch special effects), and Joaquin Phoenix is great as a sniveling little puke of an emperor. Actually, with Connie Nielson, Richard Harris and the late, great Oliver Reed, this film is filled with good acting. I'm just shocked that someone could make a seriously-taken Gladiator film in this post-'Airplane' society.
9. THE PATRIOT - I said it when I reviewed 'What Women Want', I'm a BIG fan of Mel Gibson, so I went with him every step of the way in this film. It's basically 'Braveheart' with British and Colonists, instead of English and Scottish. It's still a revenge tale that grows to be a grand-scale kingdom-wide battle. OK, that being said TWICE, can you tell I really, really liked 'Braveheart'. At it's core, this is a story of a family. And director Roland Emmerich (first time not making my 10 Worst list) has put together some VERY memorable scenes - the "ghost" imagery is fascinating, the tomahawk and sniper attack with Mel and his two sons is brilliant, the shots where the war is off in the distance and it gets closer and closer to the family's home until it's right in their laps is scary stuff. There are a few lines that taint the screenplay ("It's a free country, at least it will be" - UGH. UGH!!!!), but the overall presence of Mel's character in this film drives it. His secret past, his persistence and drive. It was this stuff that drove Harrison Ford's greatest characters in "The Fugitive" and "Frantic". I love watching Mel, and he's in a good movie here.
8. YOU CAN COUNT ON ME - Excellent story about a brother/sister relationship that doesn't play out like dopey film schlock. Laura Linney is as great as Meryl Streep would've been fifteen years ago in the role. Kenneth Lonergan (also great in the small role of a priest) has written a VERY real drama about real people. It's about what happens to people when they can't control every aspect of their lives and make shaky decisions. Everyone can relate to that, and that's the same feeling you get with this film. The performances throughout are good, including Matthew Broderick and Mark Ruffalo. This is screenplay-writing school - taut and smart.
7. QUILLS - I had to wait forever for a new Philip Kaufman movie! I think his last was 'Rising Sun', reason to lie low for about 8 years. But he's right back in the form he was in for his great, envelope-pushing films like 'Henry & June' and 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being'. Geoffrey Rush is great, and that's crucial to the center of the film. It's a crime that this script was not nominated for an Oscar, to listen makes you think that great thought went into every line. Wait, my Oscar rant is another e-mail entirely. I do long for another film that shows us the Marquis DeSade in his heyday. Maybe Tim Burton could direct, or Scorsese.
6. ERIN BROCKOVICH - Yeah, I liked this. I liked 'A Civil Action', too. They both have the same poor-people against the establishment thing going on. But only this film has Julia Roberts and THE GREAT Albert Finney. Finney rocks! Their play off one another kept this movie very unpredictable for me. Are they pissed at each other? Are they working together? Will he sabotage her? Soderbergh does a great job, too, as there are many defining scenes to this film. It's more than a Roberts vehicle. It's her best work, no doubt, and if she wins the Oscar, at least she deserved it, as opposed to if she won for "Pretty Woman". Wait, my Oscar rant is another e-mail entirely. But there are layers and layers of good writing and acting here. Liked it.
5. BILLY ELLIOT - So, have you seen this since I told you to go see it? It looks like the big art flick that'll "win your heart". It's more, much more. And it has such a great ending. This film is also surprising, I found it less predictable than you'd think. Jamie Bell is outstanding, and how you could not nominate this kid for an Oscar is ridiculous. He carries the movie with more charisma than Brad Pitt has shown in years! Wait, my Oscar rant is another e-mail entirely. You can't help but root, root, root for Billy Elliot, and the whole theater was involved when I saw it. Don't miss it.
4. CAST AWAY - A film rich with emotion from the Robert Zemeckis who made 'Contact', not the Robert Zemeckis who made 'What Lies Beneath'. First of all, is it a game in Hollywood that every plane crash that appears in a movie has to trump the previous plane crash scene? 'Cause this one was particularly frightening, better than 'Fight Club', which was better than 'Fearless', which was better than 'Alive' and so on, and so on, and so on. Hanks was great, delivering his near-the-end-of-the-film monologue with perfect subtlety and resonance. This is a film I enjoy more the more I talk about it. I want to see it again.
3. TRAFFIC - A truly engaging ensemble drama. There is real control here. A director and screenwriter who manage to tell many stories at once without losing the dramatic power of any of them. I could've gone another hour (and I'm told it's based on a 5 hour British miniseries that's even better!) in Soderbergh's capable hands. Del Toro is the story here. He's finally got a role that is worth his unique screen presence. Michael Douglas continues to be effective, even if he's played the rich-white-man-in-downward-spiral role in all of his most popular movies. I love Juan Guzman in everything he's in, and here he's great again as Don Cheadle's partner. The GREAT Don Cheadle.
2. CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON - Since my review of this film, I've raised this a half of a star to an even four stars. There is really nothing wrong with this film, and when I looked at this year's Oscar nominations, I said, "Oh, 'Tiger' should win." So, why should it only have ***1/2? It shouldn't! This movie takes all the great formulas of the genre (revenge tale, mythic warrior, epic battles, magic sword, fighting techniques, classic stand-offs, tragedy, comedy and romance) and makes them fresh again. The actors make it all look easy. And the flying-through-the-air method of fight scenes is magical. It's been done in some of the best Jet Li movies, but never with such grandeur.
1. REQUIEM FOR A DREAM - If you're a film lover, or filmmaker, see this film! Although it covers the most depressing and shocking territory a movie could cover, as we watch the spiritual, mental and physical breakdown of it's four lead characters, I was exhilarated! Is that strange? Darren Aronofsky absolutely thrilled me with his filmmaking technique. Not to say that this film is style over substance. I was involved in the story just as much because of the way Aronofsky tells it. His fast editing, haunting music and every-trick-in-the-book-Natural-Born-Killers film style elevated this above other "junkie movies" I've seen. Ellen Burstyn is fantastic. She delves into the murkiest depths to pull out this performance, and it pays off. She deserves the Oscar. Wait, my Oscar rant is another e-mail entirely. 'Requiem' and 'Crouching Tiger' are dream films. 'Tiger' is a fantastic, otherworldly fantasy, 'Requiem' is a horrific nightmare. But both are masterpieces.
Runners-up:
ALMOST FAMOUS - Great scenes, not enough story arc to put it in the Top 10.
CHICKEN RUN - For the Pot Pie machine scene alone!
MY DOG SKIP - I know this sounds like my Gene-Siskel-Babe-Pig-in-the-City vote, but it's an excellent film. Frankie Muniz is great!
The Worst:
UNBREAKABLE - I said before that the end ruined the film, so the whole film then became bad.
PAY IT FORWARD - I said before that the end ruined the film, so the whole film then became bad.
DINOSAUR - Eight months later, I'm still saying to myself, "Why did they have to talk? Why, God, why?!?!?!?"
BLACK & WHITE - Two hours with the most annoying people on the planet. The characters in this film suck.
BATTLEFIELD EARTH - Karen and I went dutch to this film. I paid her back half way through. What a piece of junk.
Comments?
- Paul