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

I've taken the last film off my "yet to see" list and moved it into the top ten at #10.

I finally received the superb Malena from rentmydvd.com and had to find a place in the top ten for it to the detriment of Shadow of the Vampire.

Malena is the story of a beautiful young woman and the effect she has on a small Sicilian village during WWII. At times funny, sad, powerful and dramatic, this is also a beautiful film to look at. It is the latest from Giuseppe Tornatore, the director of Cinema Paradiso.

I am now hopelessly smitten with Monica Bellucci, the model-turned-actor, who is astounding in the title role. I thought she was beautiful in the movie, but that pales in comparison to how she looks in the "Making Of" feature on the DVD. Wow! I'm looking forward to seeing her again in the Matrix sequel.

Giuseppe Sulfaro in the role of young Renato is also a standout. The only negative is that the DVD has the worst positioning of a layer change I've ever seen.

Highest recommendation. Check it out!

Rob

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"That suits me down to the ground."

[Edited last by Rob Willey on July 27, 2001 at 03:16 PM]

Finally saw Panic last night. While it was good (out of four), (i.e. its themes of father/son repressed anger and resentment, among other things), in the end, it was not as compelling as that of 1998's Affliction with Nick Nolte, James Coburn and Sissy Spacek, which dealt with the same themes.

~Edwin

[Edited last by Edwin Pereyra on July 27, 2001 at 04:46 PM]

I also had a chance to screen Sunshine but I was not in the mood for a 3-hour film. I had to put this off for a later time.

~Edwin

I thought Panic was a tad sloppy, but it had it's moments.

Sunshine is a nice film, even over the long running time, but it's not LoA, Fiddler or Ben-Hur nice. Worth seeing for sure, but I don't think you've "robbed" yourself by skipping it for now.


Pollock left me feeling in a similar way. I liked it, but it was a bit like Man in the Moon in that it felt like it was just skipping along showing me the facts without exploring the person enough. Don't get me wrong, I found the acting terrific and I know we did see his drinking problems, but it only hinted at the forces behind his drinking.

Before Night Falls had a bit of this as well, but we did see a lot of his developing life that helped give insight into what made him a great artist. For Pollock, I didn't really get a sense of that. He starts with respected greatness and keeps it till the end for the most part.

Less time with the BS business of it all and more into the person behind the art.

Good, but not great. Not a top 10, and while I like Harden's performance I'm not sure it was more deserving than the ladies from Almost Famous.

I'm only considering one more film, 13 Days, this weekend.

Just had to pipe up that while I saw quite a few bad films from 2000, Malena was the only one I hated. I thought it was brutally exploitative, I've never been closer to walking out on a film. I stayed, hoping for some kind of redemption or at least a satisfying conclusion, but this movie just slaps you in the face even harder.

I have Panic and American Pimps left on my Netflix list, but both are long waits. Consider my list complete.

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"It's funny how the colors of the real world only seem really real when you viddy them on the screen"

S&S Challenge: 72 ...25
DVD BEAVER

My DVD Collection

Well, I finally saw 13 Days tonight, which was a pretty strong film actually. Not quite Oscar stuff, but lingering just outside that area perhaps.

It's style and pace really reminded me of how Apollo 13 was done. I thought Apollo 13 was better than 13 Days, but they are certainly "relatives" in the world of film. 13 Days won't crack my top 10, but I can understand why it makes other people's top 10 lists. Good, interesting film. I loved seeing the dynamic relationship between Jack, Bobby and Kenny.

Anyway, that's it for me. I'm considering my list closed, at least in the context of this thread. It only took me 7 months after 2001 to see all of the top film contenders for the year but I finally made it.

I'll let it go for 1 more week and then will do the final totalling and perhaps put together a webpage of the lists in this thread, along with the final talleys, so we can have some archive of our 2001 lists.

Since it looks like Seth will soon throw six feet of dirt on this thread, I thought a post-mortem might be interesting.

Seth can be counted on to tally our results as a group, but it might be fun to look at our own lists and comment on them.

Specifically, we could first list the relevant statistics. In your top ten, how many are comedies and how many are dramas? Any musicals? Live action vs. animation? Any summer blockbusters? How many big studio releases vs. indie films? How many foreign language films made your list? Etc.

I know when I first joined this thread I assumed my eventual final list would be top-heavy with films I saw in a theater compared to those I only caught on DVD. How many did you only see in your HT?

After the statistics, feel free to add any comments on what those stats mean (to you). Any surprises? How would those stats compare to other years? Etc.

Have fun. Any and all comments welcome.

Rob

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"That suits me down to the ground."


[Edited last by Rob Willey on July 31, 2001 at 02:04 PM]

In the spirit of answering my own challenge, I'll go first:

I've got two comedies on my list, eight dramas (no musicals). All are live action. The closest thing to a summer blockbuster is Erin Brockovich and I don't count that.

It's hard to peg what is indie and what isn't but I'd say it's about half and half. I've got two foreign language films on my list.

And much to my surprise, I saw five of my top ten in theaters and the other five on DVD only. In fact, eight of my top 13 I saw on DVD only. I guess that goes back to how many of the really good movies never make wide release.

The only other big surprise to me is how few comedies are on my list (O Brother and Virgin Suicides). It is probably my favorite genre, but it seems as if there are a lot fewer good comedies being made nowadays.

An additional surprise was having two films from the same director on my list (Soderbergh). I haven't maintained these lists in previous years, but I think this is pretty rare.

That's about it. I'll add more if I think of it.

Thanks Seth for a great thread!

Rob

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"That suits me down to the ground."

[Edited last by Rob Willey on July 31, 2001 at 04:00 PM]

Ok Rob

3 comedies (Oh Brother, American Psycho, High Fidelity)

5 Foreign films, though DITD is in English

3 Studio films (Oh Brother, Traffic, High Fidelity)

Saw all of mine in the theater

Unlike '99 when there were several films I saw multiple times in the theater, last year the only movie I saw more than once in a theater was Requiem For A Dream, 3 times

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"It's funny how the colors of the real world only seem really real when you viddy them on the screen"

S&S Challenge: 72 ...25
DVD BEAVER

My DVD Collection

1. Dancer in the Dark
2. Yi Yi
3. In the Mood for Love
4. You Can Count on Me
5. Wonder Boys
6. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
7. Chicken Run
8. High Fidelity
9. Almost Famous
10. Traffic

The most interesting stat from my list, IMO, is that of the 4 foreign productions, 3 are from China/Taiwan/Hong Kong (Yi Yi, In the Mood for Love, and Crouching Tiger). And 2 of those films made my top 3.

Another stat of personal interest is that 2 films on my list incorporate Bob Dylan songs at key points (Wonder Boys uses 4 Dylan tunes in all, and High Fidelity uses at least 2... maybe 3, I need to view it again). And 2 films feature the album cover from Dylan's Blonde on Blonde (High Fidelity and Almost Famous).

Rob, I just wanted to say that your idea is a good one and that I saw it but was too busy to do anything with it myself yet.

Hoping to make some time for the final count and some thoughts on my own list tomorrow.

I just brought an HDTV into the house and a new TV stand, plus some other projects around the house requiring efforts. Kills my thread times.

1. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wo hu cang long)




2. Cast Away



3. The Virgin Suicides




4. Unbreakable




5. Battle Royale (Batoru Rowaiaru)




6. The Emperor's New Groove




7. Chicken Run




8. High Fidelity



9. Fantasia 2000



10. The Patriot

1. Requiem For A Dream Drama
2. Almost Famous Romance/Comedy/Drama
3. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Adventure/Action/Fantasy/Romance/Drama
4. Traffic Crime/Drama
5. Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? Comedy/Adventure/Crime
6. Wonder Boys Drama/Comedy
7. High Fidelity Comedy
8. Best In Show Comedy
9. Billy Elliot Drama
10. Erin Brockovich Drama

I hate the fact that I haven't been able to catch the few straggling 2000 films that I had on my 'to watch' list but here's my top 10.

This is how IMDB classifies the movie.
As far as blockbuster vs. indie, there are a few that fit both of those categories.

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My Top 10 of 2000 My Top 10 of 2001

[Edited last by John Thomas on August 27, 2001 at 04:02 AM]

Sorry Rob, I didn't notice the post list idea. Here I go:

1. Requiem For A Dream
2. Dancer In The Dark
3. Memento
4. Amores Perros
5. With A Friend Like Harry
6. Maelstrom
7. In The Mood For Love
8. Almost Famous
9. Traffic
10. Cast Away

From Top 10 only:

-Films I saw theatrically in 2001 that were 2000 titles: 7 (2,4,5,6,7,9)
-Major studio films: 2 (8,9)
-Films shot flat 1.85:1: 7 (1,4,6,7,8,9,10)
-Films shot scope 2.40:1: 3 (2,3,5)
-Films over two hours in length: 5 (2,4,8,9,10)
-Films under two hours in length: 5 (1,3,5,6,7)
-Films under 90 minutes in length: 1 (6)
-Films over 180 minutes in length: Zero
-Films shot on DV: 1 (2)
-Films released by Miramax: 1 (5)
-Films that won at least one oscar: 2 (8,9)
-People besides me who have seen Maelstrom: Matthew Chmiel, Mark Pfieffer, Marc Colella
-People besides me who have seen Maelstrom whose first name begins with an M: 3

Will add more later. I'm off to bed
-Films with Cate Blanchett: Zero
-Last film Cate Blanchett was in that was on my top 10: Elizabeth (1998)
-I own on DVD: 6 (1,2,6,8,9,10)

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jason_whyte@yahoo.com ICQ: 16733922 I Am Jack's DVD List
"Look, I'm Mrs. Hitler!" Rat Race

Film Critic, DVD In Detail

New member here - I've been over on the boards at DVDtalk for a good while, but have just recently become acquainted with these boards.

Anyway, I'm big with lists, and so I figured this would be a good place to chime in with my first post. Brief write-ups will follow shortly when I get around to writing them over at epinions.

1) Requiem For a Dream - 10/10
2) Traffic - 10/10
3) Dancer in the Dark - 10/10
4) Beautiful People - 10/10
5) Quills - 9/10
6) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - 9/10
7) Wonder Boys - 9/10
8) Perfect Storm - 9/10
9) Tigerland - 8/10
10) Thirteen Days - 8/10
11) Frequency - 8/10
12) Panic - 8/10
13) Black and White - 8/10
14) Boondock Saints - 8/10
15) Erin Brockovich - 8/10
16) You Can Count On Me - 8/10
17) Sunshine - 8/10
18) Road Trip - 8/10
19) Waking the Dead - 8/10
20) Best in Show - 8/10

Honorable Mentions (8/10): Big Kahuna, Cast Away, Five Senses, Love and Basketball

Everything Else I've seen:
7/10:
Almost Famous
Chicken Run
Family Man, The
Finding Forrester
Gift, The
Girlfight
Gladiator
High Fidelity
Keeping the Faith
Meet the Parents
Nurse Betty
Original Kings of Comedy, The
Pollock
Rules of Engagement
Titan A.E.
U-571
Whole Nine Yards, The

6/10:
Bamboozled
Billy Elliot
Boiler Room
Contender, The
Crime and Punishment in Suburbia
Hamlet
Joe Gould's Secret
Mission Impossible II
Patriot, The
Pitch Black
Way of the Gun, The
What Women Want

5/10:
Beach, The
Charlie's Angels
Gossip
Malena
Me, Myself, and Irene
Miss Congeniality
Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?
Reindeer Games
Scary Movie
Shadow of the Vampire
State and Main
Timecode
Unbreakable

4/10:
American Psycho
Final Destination
Hollow Man
Legend of Bagger Vance, The
Poor White Trash
Saving Grace
Scream 3
Small Time Crooks

3/10:
Animal Factory
Committed
Coyote Ugly
Dude, Where's My Car?
In Crowd, The
Shaft
Yards, The

2/10:
Cell, The
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
Woman on Top

1/10:
Eye of the Beholder
Watcher, The

I've seen 86 films from 2000 - I'll eventually see Yi Yi, George Washington, Before Night Falls, Girl on the Bridge, Maelstrom, Jesus' Son, House of Mirth, Remember the Titans, Chocolat, Space Cowboys, Men of Honor, The Claim, Butterfly, Pay It Forward, Shanghai Noon, The Grinch, Tao of Steve, Urbania, Cecil B. Demented, Dr. T and the Women.

Snatch (9/10) will be on my 2001 list.

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"You know, I swear if I had a DVD player when I was 15, I wouldn't have gone to film school. I learned more watching ... Magnolia or listening to the commentary on Boogie Nights or Fight Club than I did ever in film school. It's phenomenal. - Todd Phillips (director - Road Trip)


[Edited last by JonTurner on September 08, 2001 at 05:36 PM]

Hey, remember when I was going to cap this with the final total? No? Good, because I got busy and forgot.

I'll try to get to that ASAP.

Hmm..
I'm a bassy guy and as you know bassy guys love bass in there movies...
I really haven't seen too much this year but I'll tell you I liked "The Mummy Returns" "13 Days" and "Jurassic Park 3"

Nathan

Hmm..
I'm a bassy guy and as you know bassy guys love bass in they're movies...
I really haven't seen too much this year but I'll tell you I liked "The Mummy Returns" "13 Days" and "Jurassic Park 3"

Nathan

Back from the grave it comes...

Huh, I never did one of these. Well, what the heck, better late than never...

Top Ten

1. Sound And Fury (documentary) - This movie's compact 80-minute running time contains one of the most searing family dramas you'll ever see. It starts from an almost science-fictional premise - a device (the cochlear implant) that allows the deaf some hearing, which works better the earlier it is implanted. It seems like something any parent would want to do for their deaf child, but it isn't that simple, especially when other members of the family are deaf, and the difference of opinion tears this family apart. A shocking, astoundingly powerful documentary that generates days of discussion.

2. Almost Famous - A victim of poor marketing, perhaps; people came in looking for a biting movie about rock and roll and instead got a sentimental coming of age story. They wound up with a darn good one, funny and sad and improbable all at once. Crowe may be looking back through rose-colored glasses, but then again, I figure the world's got all the cynicism it needs.

3. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - It's a wonderful thing when a movie leaves the audience breathless, as Ang Lee's film here does. While most foreign-language films are unfortunately less engaging because of the extra level the subtitles put between the audience and cast, CTHD transcends language not just because so many of its delights are visual, but because most of the really important communication is what's left unsaid.

4. Wonder Boys - A charming meander with a pleasant cast. I think what I liked most is that it's a film about smart people that doesn't spend all of it's time showing you how smart it is.

5. Chicken Run - It's amazing how effortless people like Nick Park and John Lasseter make this sort of thing look. Animation is a chance to create life from scratch, and yet only a scant few people are able to do what Park does in Chicken Run - create a fantasy world, fill it with interesting characters, give it its own style, and then tell a story... And do it within the "confines" of a G rating.

6. O Brother, Where Art Thou? - The Coens aren't slouches in the world-creating department, either. The world Everett McGill travels through is bizarre and surreal, but also feels authentic. George Clooney continues to choose interesting projects to work with the best directors, rather than just picking up $20M paychecks for forgettable movies.

7. Fantasia 2000 - I wish I'd gotten to see this in IMAX, but Disney's conficatory contract means it's not worth much to what was, at the time, the only IMAX screen in or near Boston. Though the "Firebird" sequence got the most praise, I must confess to my biases - I've always loved Donald Duck and toys which come to life, and those were my favorites segments of the movie.

8. High Fidelity - Deserves a spot in the top ten if only for introducing a wide audience to Jack Black and Iben Hjejle, but John Cusack is in top form as a guy you can't help but like even when he's being a jerk - maybe because we so much of ourselves in him (does anyone else get told they're having a "High Fidelity moment" when pondering where a new DVD goes on the shelf?). The DVD also contains one of the best deleted scenes in the history of deleted scenes.

9. Shadow Of The Vampire - Personal biases time again; the original Nosferatu is my favorite vampire movie, and SOTV uses it as a springboard. Also, I can't say enough good things about Willem Dafoe in this movie. Working through an accent and a lot of prosthetic makeup, he gives what is easily the year's best performances - funny and monstrous and tragic all at once.

10. Best In Show - Christopher Guest has carved himself a great little niche in the improvisational mockumentary, and he's chosen a great subject - the dogs humanize their ridiculous owners.

The Dregs

n-9. What Lies Beneath - Memo to Robert Zemeckis: When you do a ghost story, either make the ghost interesting, or do away with it altogether. It's too bad, because WLB has a great cast that could have really done something with a good story.

n-8. Red Planet - I could actually feel myself getting dumber during this movie.

n-7. Bait - Fortunately, I have purged this from my mind to the point where I can't write much about it.

n-6. Reindeer Games - A pair of Portland, ME filmmakers did a great psychological thriller by this name about a year earlier. This movie, however, is awful, an ugly, violent mess with two many plot twists which keep you from ever caring what happens to any of the characters.

n-5. Hollow Man - Man, those are cool special effects. Indeed, this movie is worth seeing for the invisibility effects. But, oh, the stupidity of what comes between, exacerbated by how Verhoven and company try to convince us that they're clever.

n-4. The Fantasticks - This movie has its defenders, but they're wrong. Left on MGM's shelf for good reason and only given a theatrical release because they contracturally had to before dumping it on video, this movie is so clangingly artificial that it seems, at first, like the artificiality might be part of the point. Sadly, this is not the case - it's just a poorly-told story.

n-3. Me, Myself & Irene - The Farrellys apparently learned the wrong lesson from There's Something About Mary, retaining the vulgarity but not the comic timing, wit, and affection for the characters that make the vulgarity work (exception: the triplets. Those guys were legitimately funny and likable).

n-2. Trixie - One of those depressing movies where not only does nothing happen, it doesn't not happen in an amusing or original way, and the writer and director seem to think "realistic" characters are better than "interesting" ones.

n-1. Battlefield Earth - At Boston's SF/26 sci-fi movie marathon in February '01, the normally-raucous audience watched this movie in silence, because any mocking we could do would have just seemed hopelessly banal and unclever. It's that bad.

n. X (animated) - Purlple bloznip carruthers! Virtuous grapefruits unfurl their toes, kibbutzing with pantoons. Okay, this Japanese import wasn't quite that incoherent, but it's close.

You will understand, Jason, that your list didn't make our totals. Missed by 6 months.

I have no idea how you missed it. Hell, I thought this thread was gone possibly.

I think it was a case of not being ready to formulate a Top Ten until late, at which point the thread was humongous, and I didn't want to dig through it.

EDIT: I've updated my list to include In the Mood for Love and You Can Count on Me.

From Page 2 on this thread:
So, it's been about a year and a half, and I think I'm finally ready to begin putting together my list.


1. Dancer in the Dark
2. Yi Yi
3. In the Mood for Love
4. You Can Cunt on Me
5. Requiem for a Dream
6. O Brother Where Art thou
7. Almost Famous
8. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
9. Best in Show
10. House of Mirth


Honorable Mention: The Emperor's New Groove

All in all, not a very strong year. For me, the top two stand out from the rest (and will likely be joined by In the Mood for Love once I see it). Requiem is a powerful film, but it didn't meet my expectations. Crouching Tiger isn't my cup of tea, but Lee's visual flair makes it a standout. The others are just well told stories.

So, did anyone here actually see Sunshine? That is one of the 2000 films I still have yet to see.

~Edwin

Yes, I rented it though.

I thought it was a pretty solid film, although flawed in length and struture enough to hold it back from greatness. I believe it was well within my top 30, although honestly I don't remember right now.

Fiennes plays several different generations of the same Jewish family and it sort of plays as a walk through time while also being a family character study a bit like Fiddler on the Roof.

That's vague enough to almost be correct.


edit - I looked and saw that I placed it at #20 for 2000 on my list. pretty good company it's in.

It played the Brattle sometime last spring, and, well, it was OK, but it went on, and on, and on, and on... The director didn't quite go to the Anthony Mighella school of making 2.5 hours seem like 7, but by the end I was weary enough that I had a hard time appreciating what a good movie it was. If I had to watch it again, I'd be tempted to spread the three generations over three nights.

Top 10 of 2000:

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)

8)

9)

10)

Honorable Mention:
Bring it On
Finding Forrester
George Washington
Meet the Parents
Me, Myself and Irene
O Brother Where Art Thou?
Remember the Titans
Shanghai Noon
Titan A.E.
The Virgin Suicides
What Lies Beneath

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

Best of 2000

1. Traffic



2. High Fidelity



3. Yi Yi



4. Wonder Boys



5. You Can Count on Me



6. Best in Show



7. Meet the Parents



8. Faithless



9. Requiem for a Dream



10. Pollock