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Member
Join Date: Dec 1969
Local Time: 07:23 AM
Local Date: 10-14-2008
Posts: 12,182
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I feel completely ridiculous doing this before 2002 is actuallly over, but here goes. Note that it'll probably get rearranged quite a bit when I do the next throrough shake-up of the list, scheduled for sometime at the end of January.
Top Ten (Plus)
(1) Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis - And Sony hasn't even submitted this for best animated picture. An absolutely dazzling display of creativity, with nifty ideas, striking visuals, the year's catchiest soundtrack, and a climax (set to Ray Charles's "I Can't Stop Loving You") that is tragically beautiful. Back in January, I said my reaction after seeing this was "I want to see it again... right now." Just thinking about it now, almost 12 months later, makes me feel the same way.
(2) Minority Report - You'll notice a trend toward spiffy-looking sci-fi on this list. Hey, I know my biases, but what other type of film is more satisfying? Anyway, this movie has everything that I love about science fiction and movies - a fully-realized other world, a good mystery story, good performances, striking visuals, and great action scenes. Minority Report is the best 2.5-hour package of "what if?" since... well, since last year's #1, Mr. Spielberg's A.I., and this year's.
(2.5) Cidade de Deus (City Of God) - Eligible as "Best Foreign Film", but not Best Picture, this is a stunning saga of crime in a Rio de Janeiro slum, tracking characters from childhood to death (which can come quickly), using achronological storytelling to good effect, going off on little side-stories... I can't wait for more people to see it, so I have more folks to talk about it with.
(3) Spirited Away - Though it's got some flaws (the CGI and traditional animation don't always mix perfectly, and the plot logic doesn't always make sense) - it may be the most beautiful movie of the year, with every frame a masterpiece wedded to a delightful fantasy story and a nifty soundtrack. A beautiful movie.
(4) Standing In The Shadows Of Motown - Pure joy in celluloid form. While some would have used this to be angry at how Motown kept the Funk Brothers in relative anonymity, Justman & Slutsky instead let us get to know them as people... And as musicians. Even though most of them are in their 60s and 70s, they can still play, and the festival audience burst into applause several times during the movie.
(5) The Quiet American - Philip Noyce has two great Australian films in release right now, after making Hollywood mediocrity for years. This Vietnam story is getting buzz for Michael Caine's great performance - and being held in the vaults for being, perhaps, less than commerical during the post-9/11 excessive patriotism period - but that's only part of it's appeal. Brendan Fraser gives one of his sneaky-good "hey, there's more to this guy than The Mummy and Encino Man" performances, and the film doesn't let anyone off easy.
(6) Road To Perdition - I can't describe exactly why I liked this movie so much. Part of it's the performances, part of it's the sincerity I would never have expected from the director of American Beauty, and part of it's the exquisite attention to visual detail I'd expect from a movie translated from a graphic novel. But this movie kept drawing me closer and closer to the screen.
(7) Solaris - Soderberg takes the same material as a famously... deliberate Russian film and distills it down to its essence, embracing the science-fictional elements Tarkovsky had no time for while making the (in other years) rare sf movie with a human heart.
(8) Lucía y el sexo - A hot, erotic drama from Spain. A beautiful and compelling story of a love triangle, as well as one of the most sensual, exciting depictions of falling madly in love put on film.
(9) Rabbit-Proof Fence - Noyce's other great movie, it tells its story with very few words, and in doing so communicates the vastness of its environment and the determination of the girls walking home across a continent. Also has a great supporting turn by Kenneth Branagh.
(10) Punch-Drunk Love - I didn't love this one while watching it, but on the way home, I couldn't get my mind off it. P.T. Anderson puts more into this ninety-minute film than goes into many other movies an hour longer, and it just takes up residence in your mind and won't leave. And as much as I think his other movies are crap, give Adam Sandler credit for taking a role that deconstructs the movies which have made him rich and famous.
Bumped
Le Pact des Loups (Brotherhood Of The Wolf) - How "popcorn movies" should be. Chock full of monsters, villains, noble heroes, fair maidens, swashbuckling, martial arts, secret societies... And all pulled off without ever condescending to the audience. In my top 10 last year when it played the Boston Film Festival, and still good enough to make the top 10 this year when it got a theatrical release.
Signs - Geez, what a great year for science fiction. While the science in this was at times goofy, and Night Shyamlan doesn't even hide which strings he's pulling, he does it so effectively that it works anyway. And after ratcheting the tension up to nearly-unbearable levels, he follows through with one of the great releases of that tension in recent memory.
The Cat's Meow - A charming film which lets us share in director Peter Bogdanovich's obvious enthusiasm for Hollywood history and legend. It's filled with nifty period detail, a great Kirsten Dunst performance (which really should have gotten more attention, coming so soon after Spider-Man), and a deft directional touch that makes the movie fun despite the darkness beneath the surface.
Antwone Fisher - Would there have been a lump in my throat if I didn't know this was based on a true story, or would I have found the revelation of horror on top of horror a little implausible, like piling on? I don't know, quite frankly; I somewhat suspect the latter, but Denzel Washington and Derek Luke do well enough that I think I would have really enjoyed the movie regardless.
...
Bottom Ten (Plus)
(n-9) Impostor - I go back on forth on this one, between disliking it and despising it. It's stunning how the writer/director took a good original author, a great cast, some nifty sci-fi concepts, and apparently a non-trivial budget and yet somehow managed to crank out yet another guy crawling through a grimy "futuristic" city.
(n-8.5) The Warrior - At last check, Miramax is dumping this festival entry in May. Quite possibly the dullest "master warrior on the run from former employers & protegés" movie ever made.
(n-8) Full Frontal - Congratulations, Mr. Soderberg, on the widest spread between two movies you did this year! As sublime as Solaris was, this was boring navel-gazing shot on digital video so bad as to make the movie almost unwatchable.
(n-7) The Strangler's Wife - Locally filmed Roger Corman-produced serial killer flick. Laudable for the apprenticeship program in which aspiring Boston filmmakers got valuable experience, but really just painful to sit through.
(n-6) The Salton Sea - A freak show without any interesting freaks. Despite a strong cast, nobody gets to create a memorable character.
(n-5) The Adventures Of Pluto Nash - The most padded, repetitious 90-minute movie I can remember. There's a good movie in here somewhere, but somehow everyone but John Cleese (who was probably nowhere near the set) does the worst work of their respective careers.
(n-4) National Lampoon's Van Wilder - A perfectly cast Ryan Reynolds isn't given a single funny thing to do.
(n-3) Sweet Home Alabama - Not funny. Not romantic. Which means, as a romantic comedy, this more or less fails completely.
(n-2) Harvard Man - Pretentious and nonsensical. You know it's a bad sign where the gratuitous minor celebrity cameo is the most believable, entertaining part of the movie.
(n-1.6) Besotted - Ugh. This film is a complete mess, with the writer/director casting herself as a sorceress who moves pieces around a table and thus apparently controls the lives of the people in a small Cape Cod fishing town. Unfortunately, combined with the poor acting, it leads to a movie where only one character (the one never aware of the sorceress) ever seems believable, or interesting.
(n-1.3) Don't Ask, Don't Tell - Take a terrible 50s alien invaders movie and dub it over with a soundtrack that makes it about aliens making men gay and you get... Something worse.
(n-1) The Tuxedo - A great Jackie Chan concept done in by a shrill Jenifer Love Hewitt (who is waaaaaaaay too young for him) and execution that is so CGI- and wire-intesive that it doesn't need Jackie's unique gifts.
(n) Swept Away - Seeing this made me feel dirty. Like my $6 had gone to support violence against and degredation of women. And the movie was mind-numbingly awful besides.
The HTF Movie Awards
I've included nominees, plus alternates who were also considered (and if my first choices are deemed ineligible for one reason or another).
Best Director: Steven Spielberg (Minority Report), Phillip Noyce (Rabbit-Proof Fence), Rintaro (Metropolis), Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away), Spike Lee (The 25th Hour)
Alternates: Martin Socrcese (Gangs Of New York), Julio Medem (Sex And Lucia), Sam Mendes (Road To Perdition), Phillip Noyce (The Quiet American), Brian De Palma (Femme Fatale), Paul Thomas Anderson (Punch-Drunk Love), M. Night Shyamalan (Signs), Pedro Almodovar (Talk To Her), Steven Spielberg (Catch Me If You Can), Steven Soderbergh (Solaris), Oliver Hirschbiegel (Das Experiment)
Comments: Spielberg and Noyce both had tremendous years, each with at least one bona-fide fantastic movie and another which could be considered very, very good. I suppose nominating the animation guys is unusual, but when you think of it, they probably have much more direct control over the final picture than the others - and their movies were very good indeed.
Best Actor: Daniel Day Lewis (Gangs Of New York), Michael Caine (The Quiet American), Ray Liotta (Narc), Alfred Molina (Frida), Edward Norton (25th Hour)
Alternates: Nicholas Cage (Adaptation), Derek Luke (Antoine Fisher), Adam Sandler (Punch-Drunk Love), Matthew McConaughey (Thirteen Conversations About One Thing), Leonardo DiCaprio (Catch Me If You Can), Hugh Grant (About A Boy), David Arquette (The Grey Zone), Steve Coogan (24 Hour Party People), Darío Grandinetti (Talk To Her), Pierce Brosnan (Evelyn), Tom Cruise (Minority Report), Dennis Quaid (The Rookie)
Comments: So close to having Nicholas Cage up for both Lead and Supporting Actor for the same movie! A number of the people I have up for "Best Actor" are probably on others' supporting lists, but, honestly... Can you say Liotta or Molina aren't leads?
Best Actress: Nicole Kidman (The Hours), Sandrine Kiberlain (Alias Betty), Jenifer Aniston (The Good Girl), Paz Vega (Sex And Lucia), Marie-Josée Croze (Maelstrom)
Alternates: Julianne Moore (Far From Heaven), Kirsten Dunst (The Cat's Meow), Evelyn Sampi (Rabbit-Proof Fence), Renee Zelwegger (Chicago), Emily Watson (Punch-Drunk Love), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Secretary), Cate Blanchett (Heaven)
Comments: I'm not sure what to make of all the non-English-speaking entries here. It wasn't really that thin a year for women in American cinema, was it?
Best Supporting Actor: Robin Williams (Insomnia), Jeff Goldblum (Igby Goes Down), Brendan Fraser (The Quiet American), Dennis Quaid (Far From Heaven), Nicholas Cage (Adaptation)
Alternates: Alan Arkin (Thirteen Conversations About One Thing), Christopher Walken (Catch Me If You Can), Paul Newman (Road To Perdition), Tom Hanks (Catch Me If You Can), Kenneth Branagh (Rabbit-Proof Fence), Mick Jagger (The Man From Elysian Fields)
Comments: And I didn't even like Igby Goes Down.
Best Supporting Actress: Samantha Morton (Minority Report), Meryl Streep (Adaptation), Clea DuVall (Thirteen Conversations About One Thing), Angela Lindvall (CQ), Susan Sarandon (Igby Goes Down)
Alternates: Natascha McElhone (Solaris), Selma Blair (Storytelling), Emily Watson (Equilibrium)
Comments: This category gets weird when you're not terribly impressed with Chicago.
Best Breakthrough Performance: Evelyn Sampi (Rabbit-Proof Fence), Derek Luke (Antoine Fisher), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Secretary)
Alternates: Kieran Culkin (Igby Does Down), Paz Vega (Sex And Lucia), Thandie Newton (The Truth About Charlie), Eminem (8 Mile), Émilie Dequenne (Brotherhood of the Wolf)
Comments: I'm not sure what exactly constitutes a "breakout performance". One thing that bums me out about all the acting categories is that there doesn't seem to be much room for comic performances. Then again, there weren't that many really funny movies this year.
Best Animated Feature: Metropolis, Spirited Away, Lilo & Stitch
Comments: The usual about Sony not even submitting Metropolis for nomination.
Best Art Direction: Frida, Minority Report, Star Wars: Attack Of The Clones, Road To Perdition, The Cat's Meow
Alternates: CQ, 8 Women, Equilibrium, The Happiness Of The Katakuris, Chicago, Far From Heaven, Catch Me If You Can, Auto Focus
Comments: It's Frida and everything else, really. An eye-poppingly gorgeous movie.
Best Costume Design: The Cat's Meow, 8 Women, Far From Heaven, Brotherhood Of The Wolf, Road To Perdition
Alternates: Star Wars: Attack Of The Clones, Frida, Catch Me If You Can
Comments: Can't really go wrong with any of them.
Best Cinematography: Rabbit-Proof Fence, Brotherhood Of The Wolf, Insomnia, Road To Perdition, 8 Women
Alternates: Narc, The Quiet American, Panic Room
Comments: Oftentimes it's hard to conceive of traveling truly vast distances in a movie, but Rabbit-Proof Fence never had that problem.
Best Editing: Standing In The Shadows of Motown, The Hours, 25th Hour, Femme Fatale, Just A Kiss
Alternate: Spy Kids 2
Comments: Well, if there's no documentary category, I'm voting for SitSoM here.
Best Foreign Language Film: Metropolis, Spirited Away, Talk To Her, The Happiness Of The Katakuris, Sex and Lucia
Alternates: Brotherhood Of The Wolf, Italian For Beginners, Children Of Petroleum, Atanarjuat
Comments: Pretty good crop out of Japan and Spain, eh? Now, please, somebody else tell me that they've seen Katakuris
Best Makeup: The Cat's Meow, Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers, The Hours, Chicago, My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Alternates: Human Nature, Frida, Insomnia
Comments: The thing about this category is, except for elaborate prosthetics, how can you tell "good" from "none"?
Best Music Score: Toshiyuki Honda (Metropolis), John Williams (Catch Me If You Can), Elmer Bernstein (Far From Heaven), Jon Brion (Punch-Drunk Love), James Newton Howard (Signs)
Alternates: Howard Shore (Panic Room), Kôji Endô And Kôji Makaino (The Happiness Of The Katakuris), Philip Glass (The Hours), Randy Edelman (Who Is Cletus Tout?), Peter Gabriel (Rabbit-Proof Fence)
Comments: Buy Honda's score - it's the catchiest of the year.
Best Screenplay, Original: Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away), Charlie & Donald Kaufman (Adaptation), Antwone Fisher (Antwone Fisher), Jay Cocks, Steven Zailiam, Kenneth Lonergan (Gangs Of New York), Chris Sanders & Dean deBlois (Lilo And Stitch)
Alternates: Paul Thomas Anderson (Punch-Drunk Love), Patrick Breen (Just A Kiss), Chris Ver Wiel (Who Is Cletus Tout?), Adam Resnick (Death To Smoochy), Denis Villeneuve (Maelstrom), Joe Carnahan (Narc), Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers), Brian DePalma (Femme Fatale)
Comments: I feel like there should be more comedy here - what's harder than that?
Best Screenplay, Adapted: Peter Hedges and Chris & Paul Weitz (About A Boy), Scott Frank and Jon Cohen (Minority Report), Jeff Nathanson (Catch Me If You Can), David Benioff (25th Hour), Katsuhiro Ôtomo (Metropolis), Christopher Hampton and Robert Schenkkan (The Quiet American)
Alternates: Christine Olsen (Rabbit-Proof Fence), John Ridley & Michael McCullers (Undercover Brother), Steven Soderbergh (Solaris), Tim Blake Nelson (The Grey Zone), Hilary Seitz (Insomnia), Erin Cressida Wilson and Steven Shainberg (Secretary), Kikumi Yamagishi (The Happiness Of The Katakuris)
Comments: The top two may switch before the deadline.
Best Song: "Lose Yourself" (8 Mile), "Hands That Built America" (Gangs Of New York), "Island Of Lost Dreams" (Spy Kids 2)
Comments: Because that's all that really made an impression on me. It doesn't help that I can't remember the names for any of the numbers from Death To Smoochy, The Happiness Of The Katakuris, or Treasure Planet, or find a list on the IMDB.
Best Sound
Best Sound Effects Editing
Comments: I'm not even going to pretend I know the difference between "Sound" and "Sound Editing", or that I'm capable of judging which impressed me more.
Best Visual Effects: Star Wars: Attack Of The Clones, Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers, Minority Report, Spy Kids 2, Spider-Man
Alternates: Solaris, Blade II
Comments: Star Wars wins both by volume and quality. As impressive as Gollum was, Yoda was a notch higher.
Jay's Movie Blog - A movie-viewing diary.
Transplanted Life: Sci-fi soap opera about a man placed in a new body, updated two or three times a week.
Trading Post Inn - Another gender-bending soap, with different collaborators writing different points of view.
"What? Since when was this an energy ball movie?" - Overheard during a screening of Takashi Miike's Dead Or Alive
"What the hell religion are you people?" - Overheard during the Captain Marvel serial at SF/29
"If I feel even one bullet hit me, I will rip your lungs out through your nostrils!" - Ron Silver as himself, "Heat Vision And Jack"
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