Our top 10's of 2000 - Time to throw down

Quills: Not quite in my top ten.

The opening 30 minutes are, for me, the highlight of the film. Exceptional character introductions for everyone and hilariously perverse humor throughout.

Eventually though, the film seemed to lose the humor and cinematic beauty that marked the early acts, before finally stumbling through its six or seven conclusions.

It was a Top 5 film after 45 minutes, a Top 10 after an hour-and-a-half, and only a Top 20 by the end credits.

Too bad.

Evan

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"* * * * * * * * * * * * *" - Buster Keaton
AFI List: Meesa finished!
S&S: 36 films left

So, Seth, is Jesus' Son a 2000 or 1999 release? I think you will agree with me that it is a 2000 release even though IMDB says 1999. It wasn't officially released in the US theaters until 2000. I'll post my thoughts on the movie as soon as I am done with my analysis.

~Edwin

Edwin, I know I'm not Seth but looks to me that Jesus' Son
is a 2000 release if we are going by Academy standards.It
did first come out in 1999 @ Telluride but didn't come into
full release (NY/LA) until 6/2000.

Seth, have you got the new numbers on the top 10 yet? Go
engineer boy, go!

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I finally saw Jesus’ Son (out of four). Billy Crudup’s performance was the highlight of this film although I found it to be too episodic. It is considered a road picture. Characters are constantly introduced but they don’t stay long enough to make an emotional connection with the audience or with me. Still, it is a well-acted film but I’m afraid it won’t crack into my Top Ten list.

I am including this as a 2000 film for the same reason I am including Fantasia 2000 as a 2000 film *even though* its first public showing was in 1999 as a benefit.

Here is my Top Ten List .

~Edwin

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American Film Institute Top 100 Films Home Theater Forum Challenge
Countdown Of AFI Movies Left To Watch: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12!

Evan
Anson and I had similar comments about the film. Probably it's biggest weakness IMHO.

If it were "live" I would probably have resorted to heckling them off the stage with "ENOUGH ALREADY".

Okay, I wouldn't be that rude. Instead I would have said "Fire all Zig. For Great Justice."

Jesus Son is NOT a 2000 film simply because it SUCKS!


ok, that had nothing to do with reality, just throwing the curveball. Yea, I'm saying we default to Academy standards and must be careful about the IMDb years. I know there are different sides to the debate and I'm not looking to win, I just want to have some standard cut-off point. Somewhere between the first draft of the script and the DVD release.

So Jesus Son is pretty good, huh? Guess I have another film to consider for my list. This thread is a bit like the AFI thread in that it gives a good, solid "to see" list for the year. I may not love all the contenders, but going through the top list makers here has helped me get more out of my theater going dollar.

I'm going to go back and retabulate as soon as I watch Wonder Boys (membership has it's privledges so to speak ). Dancer in the Dark next week on DVD, hurray.

I'll also get some final tab done right before the Oscars, just so we can see how our top 10 fare in the awards.


And, btw, if anybody notices films that are being thrown about as 2000 films when by AA standards they aren't, please let us know. I haven't made sure on each film or anything, I've been trusting the list makers to do that, although I have taken a few out of consideration that I knew were wrong for sure.


BTW, I have yet to see a 2001 film. Seems weird that I have somehow managed to avoid them all. Hopefully, Mood for Love will break that streak.

Has it been decided that we're gonna call IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE a 2001 film?

I don't really have a preference, but since it's gonna be right at the top of both of my lists (no. 2 from 2000 or no. 1 from 2001 so far), I'd like to know!

Funny, I'm calling it a 2000 title because that's exactly what it is, but some here are going by North American release first. So be it, but you'll be seeing my 2000 list updated when I see ITMFL and Pollock next week.

Jason

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AWESOME Movie Of The Week
jason-whyte@home.com
ICQ: 16733922
I Am Jack's DVD List

"Wow, a blue car!"

Sorry im a little late on this but here are my Top 10 of 2000:

1.Traffic
2.A Time For Drunken Horses
3.Erin Brokovich
4.Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
5.Gladiator
6.Billy Elliot
7.Almost Famous
8.The Gift
9.Snatch
10.Nurse Beaty

I am a big fan of Iranian film and would recommend A Time For Drunken Horses, The Wind Will Carry Us, and Color of Paradise to anyone.

EDIT: I have to add Almost Famous, which I saw last night on DVD. I decided to simply replace it with Finding Forrester. I thought these two films were somewhat similar but Almost Famous touched me deeper and overall was a better film.
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I hope life isn't a big joke, because I don't get it.

Jason, I realize that it may have hit NA at some point in 2000, but with a 2001 NY/LA opening I would say it belongs on the 2001 list.

Here's one very good reason why - come next year when Oscars are being discussed and best films of the year are being figured, ITMFL is going to be brought up. Heck, it may get a Foreign Language nomination. Then we will be sitting here having this same damn debate over when it came out, etc.

We have to have SOME standard of grouping. Otherwise we will have films being the best film of 2-3 different years, and to me that is kinda dumb. I'm not saying that the Academy standard is the end-all, be-all. But I am saying that no matter what standard we use, we should agree upon it. If we were to use the IMDb standard then people would be saying "I couldn't see it that year, it belongs in year X instead."

We could use the first NA release, the first world release, the first festival release, the first UK release, but whatever we use it seems to me that we should be using the same standard. And since each standard has faults in the logic, I'm going with Academy standards because they are famous and films tend to gear releases toward meeting those standards.

We all realize that many of us will not get to see all of the list at the same time. Making ITMFL a 2000 flick doesn't cure that. It can kick ass on next year's list just as well as it could this year's.

If someone has a BETTER cutoff point that makes better sense FOR EVERYONE participating, then I'm all ears. But at this point I think any cutoff point is going to divide things differently. If we aren't comparing from the same group of films, then this whole thread makes little sense.

Welcome, Bobak. Lists are always welcome, especially if you've just joined us.

If you decide to modify your list after seeing some films you've missed, PLEASE just go back to your original list you just posted and EDIT it. When you do, you might want to put a "last modified" date there as well.

Also, I like to come in and post a new post notifying everyone reading along that my list changed, just don't repost your list. I'm trying to keep each person's list in it's original spot in the thread.

For everyone,

I just watched Wonder Boys which barely bumped Vampire out. Man, WB, SotV, and Contender were very, very close for me. I think WB made it just because of the laughs. I still may go back and rearrange things as I'm not totally settled with the bottom of my list.

I do feel good about at least the top 10+, maybe even 15 films. That is, that they are really strong and accomplish some really good goals, even if some of them have flaws. It was a really good year for small or low-key films, maybe even above normal. If only the big boys could have kept up and won over critics AND mainstream audiances.

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"We keep you alive to serve this ship. So row well, and live."

"This is the new cut. Y'all be bad. Woo, woo, woo.

Jumping in with another addition...Fantasia 2000..
making it in the top 10

My top 10 list for 2000.

I honestly had forgotten how superb ALmost Famous was for me. God Bless DVD I guess...it was hands down my #1 film last year. I've updated my list and since I've seen essentially all of them, I've marked it as final.

Question: When is the cutoff to make these final? Or do we even have to? I'd think that we may want to make these lists final before most of 2001 is over

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Ric Perrott
My Theater ;My DVD's
"The two most common elements in the Universe
are Hydrogen...and Stupidity." - Harlan Ellison

Well, Chicken Run just got knocked out of my Top Ten by the most-oddly titled film of the year (and one I had not even heard of until yesterday): Life as a Fatal Sexually Transmitted Disease.

It was Poland's official offering to the Academy as Best Foreign Film so it is a 2000 film by their standards. I don't know how much of a release it got in the U.S. (I might very well have been the only person in this thread to have seen it!)

Caught it at the Carnegie Museum of Art where the director, Krzysztof Zanussi, introduced the film.

The title came from a graffiti slogan he read in Warsaw. In relation to the film, it makes about as much sense as a Marx Bros. title.

Maltin Review-style Spoilers:

In the most general sense, the film seems like a reworking of Ikiru except that the terminally ill man is a doctor and not a bureaucrat (Alas, Zanussi had to fly back to Poland tonight and couldn't stick around for questions or I would have asked him if this was intentional).

Great acting, Wojciech Kilar's score, and the assured hand of (I'm told) one of Poland's finest directors add to the poignancy of the tale (which is not without humor or an ambiguously hopeful conclusion a la Ikiru). Zanussi (who is also a physicist and a philosopher) said that growing up in Poland during the war aided in his meditation on death as well what it means "to live" (ikiru).

Complaint: It does run a bit long. (Also, the cancer "sickness" scenes are very tough to watch)

It sits at my 10 spot for the moment but will probably be knocked off before I'm through.

Catch it if you can. (Get there early so you don't miss the dazzling prologue! )

Evan

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"* * * * * * * * * * * * *" - Buster Keaton
AFI List: Meesa finished!
S&S: 36 films left

Just saw Pollock today. This was a big disappointment for me. I posted my comments in the official review thread. There is no change in my top ten list thus far.

Next up : The Tao Of Steve

~Edwin

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American Film Institute Top 100 Films Home Theater Forum Challenge
Countdown Of AFI Movies Left To Watch: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12!

Ok, going to skip the 'glowing review' portion and just state that I'm adding Almost Famous to my list; another great movie that I missed at the theaters. Where was I when this came out? Anyhow, here's my *list* for those interested.

Just finished The Tao Of Steve – another (out of four). No threat from this one. My comments on the film are here .

Next Up: Wonder Boys

~Edwin

Ric,

1) I just did the same thing. I watched The Rock Criterion in DTS on the new Denon 3801 (coolness, although the film is falling quickly in my book). Then I wanted just to demo a bit of Almost Famous on the system while I still had the projector on. Over an hour later and my demo had run almost the whole movie and only the fact that I had to be somewhere kept me from the end. But in all fairness, I think the films I have above it on my list would have the same effect once I get them in the house.

It did make me feel better about dinging some of these quality films to the bottom of the list, or even off. I was starting to think it might be fond memories or something, but for me AF is the real deal.

PS - for those in the Oldman thread, I should give Hoffman a bit more credit. He still has similar nuances, but his AF character is a bit of a change from other stuff he's done.

2) I'm not sure about a cut-off date. Maybe after Traffic, CTHD, Before Night Falls, Pollock have all had a few weeks on DVD. That should be about the last of them. Then maybe we can archive it, or I could simply streamline it down to our lists for posteriety sake.

Now I know some of you are saying that even given till July there will be some good 2000 films you won't catch. But that is probably a bit true for all of us every year, so I will simply trust your efforts to get to MOST of the big ones.

After all, no money is being awarded and there is no shame in saying Dude, Where's My Car is your #1...ok, there's a little shame. The whole point of the thread is to get a pulse of what people think of films. The totalling I have been doing is just to give us a view of our collective feelings to go with the many individual looks at film.

So if you don't see Traffic till it plays on Starz! in November it just won't get to be on the list here I guess (and why did you WAIT so long?


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"We keep you alive to serve this ship. So row well, and live."

"This is the new cut. Y'all be bad. Woo, woo, woo.

Seth, why is there a need for a 'cutoff' date? If only for
archiving, we can keep it going and replace the old
archival with a new one at any time. However, I am watching
them as quickly as I can, regardless. Most of the ones I
have on my list to still see are coming via Netflix or
purchased. There are a few that just aren't available, some
are going to be released within a month and of course
there's always the 'long wait' at Netflix.

So, when exactly do we assign a cut-off date? Nah, won't
start yet another debatable time period in the same thread.
That's just wrong.


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"You're going to wear the t-shirt of the band that's playing? Don't be that guy."

Hey, don't look at me John, Ric brought it up.
I guess we ride it out till all the people chiming in feel satisfied and are ready to move on.

I mean, I think it's safe to say that if we were to ask in 5 years what the top 10 of 2000 were, the lists would be quite different and then we would have 5 other threads going too. At some point it's just going to seem natural for everyone to be moving on to summerizing 2001. Like I said above, that will probably be after the last big 2000 films hit DVD for those of us who missed some first runs.

I won't put a clampdown on it though.


I just endured Dancer in the Dark, which I found to be both inventive, creative, and powerful, but also a bit manipulative on the story side of things. Too much "a blind bunny gets killed by a croc and orphans are thrown to the snow...do you feel sad now?" Well, hell yeah I do.

But despite that aspect the ability to weave musical elements into what I assume to be a Dogme film, and even more so one with such bleak settings, certainly shows Lars' desire/ability to push the boundries of what can be done with film. I certainly felt the same need to escape into those numbers as Bjork did whenever they mercifully arrived.

So it's going on my list somewhere, I have to look at my list now. Roughly in the 7-10 range I'm guessing. BTW, the Dancer disc looks and sounds fantastic, I thought. DTS surround was nicely done, although my late night viewing meant that when the louder musical numbers kicked in I had to be quick on the draw with the remote. Haven't messed with the extras yet, but if this film is your cup of tea then New Line should be making you happy.

And hey, Charlies Angels is only about a week away, so some lists should change when that streets. I sure could have used it tonight as a chaser.

Hey Seth, just read your comments about Dancer in
your top 10 list. More depressing than Requiem? Ugh.
Watching it almost became uncomfortable due to it being
so depressing. I almost don't want to watch Dancer now..
BTW, doesn't it come out this tuesday?

I've rearranged my list a bit recently after watching a few
of the movies over and adding some more to it. It's
definately not concrete and can change at any time. What
will probably need to happen is a repeat viewing..
just so I get everything out of the movies in question.

Sadly, by trying to catch up on my 2000 list, I've let
2001 fall to the wayside. I've only seen one movie this
year (released this year...by Academy standards...)


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"You're going to wear the t-shirt of the band that's playing? Don't be that guy."


"PCU / Nerds are both on the release schedule for the first half of 2001." - from the Fox chat.

Just looking at the DVD release calendar, I'd be very surprised if most of us aren't still updating our lists into May, perhaps even June.

I know I won't feel comfortable calling my list complete or final until I've seen Quills, Shadow of the Vampire, Yi Yi, Best In Show, and Requiem -- all due for release in May.

Rob

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"That suits me down to the ground."

Oh Sure!! Blame the guy who brought it up!

I was just kind of semi-serious. I just figured, knowing myself...I could still be debating my top ten from 1994 today! so in a way I guess these lists will never be "final", but I was just wondering if we'd archive it for posterity so that someone couldn't come back in 2 years and say "Theres no way Gladiator was my best film of 2000",

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Ric Perrott
My Theater ;My DVD's
"The two most common elements in the Universe
are Hydrogen...and Stupidity." - Harlan Ellison

I thought that pasting the IMDb Top 10 would be neat for
comparison..

Votes___Average___Movie

12292_____8.8_____Wo hu zang long (2000)
2244______8.6_____Requiem for a Dream (2000)
902_______8.6_____Memento (2000)
5621______8.5_____Traffic (2000)
4820______8.5_____Almost Famous (2000)
1129______8.5_____You Can Count on Me (2000)
3172______8.3_____Dancer in the Dark (2000)
2903______8.3_____Billy Elliot (2000)
25666_____8.1_____Gladiator (2000)
4835______8.1_____O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

...and out of the Top 10 grossing movies, only Gladiator
is on this list. Some of the movies, however, haven't had
as much of a run as some of the others. Still..only
Gladiator? It appeals to a wide audience and they thought
highly of it, as opposed to 'Grinch' which only garnered
a 6.5 average (but earned $260M)

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"You're going to wear the t-shirt of the band that's playing? Don't be that guy."


"PCU / Nerds are both on the release schedule for the first half of 2001." - from the Fox chat.

Memento a 2000 film? Where? It only opened in NYC last week!

Is this really a 2000 film or is IMDB screwed up again?

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Ric Perrott
My Theater ;My DVD's
"The two most common elements in the Universe
are Hydrogen...and Stupidity." - Harlan Ellison

Country Date:

Italy 5 September 2000 (Venice Film Festival)
France 7 September 2000 (Deauville Festival of American Cinema)
Canada 9 September 2000 (Toronto Film Festival)
France 11 October 2000
UK 14 October 2000 (Raindance Film Festival)
UK 20 October 2000
Switzerland 26 October 2000 (German speaking region)

They did the same thing for Jesus' Son and Fantasia 2000 by categorizing them as 1999 films. Another good reason to use the Academy rules.

~Edwin

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American Film Institute Top 100 Films Home Theater Forum Challenge
Countdown Of AFI Movies Left To Watch: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12!

Late entering...wanted to see as much as I could, just squeezed in Dancer viewing...

1) In the Mood For Love
2) Requiem for a Dream
3) Traffic
4) Dancer in the Dark
5) The Contender
6) High Fidelity
7) State and Main
8) Gladiator
9) Almost Famous
10) Wonder Boys

Conspicuous by absence: Boiler Room, Tao of Steve, Chicken Run, X-Men...

Mediocre - Erin Brockovich, Small Time Crooks, The Perfect Storm, Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai

Worst films I saw 2000 - The Beach, The Cell...

Haven't seen Yi Yi, Beau Travail, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Quills, Gohatto, Croupier or Nurse Betty, Cast Away and many many more, yet...


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Gary@2ze.com
DVD COLLECTION CONTEST , My DVD Collection ,My Home Theatre
DVDBeaver's 15 Member choices of the TOP 111 DVDs available today!

Another late entry, and I don't even have ten films to put on it. Writing a thesis and working full time hasn't left me a lot of time for watching movies these days, but I've caught a few:

1. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
I expected to be disappointed, but was totally charmed and drawn in. I believe Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh (especially) have been robbed by the Academy.

2. Traffic
Ran me over like a steamroller with sheer virtuosity.

3. Wonder Boys
Lovely and low-key. Bravo Curtis Hanson.

4. High Fidelity
Loved the book. Was sure the movie would ruin it. What a shock when it didn't!

4. Chicken Run
Beautifully animated, clever, funny, exciting.

Haven't seen, but am pretty sure I'll like a lot: Almost Famous, You Can Count On Me, O Brother Where Art Thou?

Want to see, but withholding judgement: Requiem for a Dream, Dancer In the Dark.

Liked, but not well enough to put on this list: Erin Brockovich, Cast Away, The Contender.

Only so-so: Gladiator

Another late entry.. wanted to wait for Dancer in the Dark cause I knew it would make its statement in the top 10... and yep, it did =)

1. Requiem for a Dream - I could watch this movie 100 times and still find something new. Ellen Burstyn deserves the Oscar but won't get it... here's hoping she wins the Independent Spirit award. All of you who haven't seen this movie, prepare to shuffle your top 10 list to make room.

2. Dancer in the Dark - Lars Von Trier, please keep making movies.

3. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
4. Traffic
5. Almost Famous
6. You Can Count On Me
7. Gladiator
8. O Brother, Where Art Thou
9. Paradise Lost 2: Revelations
10. Best in Show

Honorable Mentions: American Psycho, Virgin Suicides

Updated my Top Ten List to include Agnes Varda's The Gleaners and I, causing Santosh Sivan's The Terrorist to drop off the list.

The ranking order of Dancer in the Dark and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is now interchanged, with Varda's film situation between the two.

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Strictly Film School