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2002 Film List - Page 14

post #391 of 419
8/17/03 at 1:27am
Ararat - I have to wonder at this film about the Turkish massacre of a million+ Armenians in 1915 and the ways current generations deal still deal with the memories and psychological damage. It must have been a very personal story for Egoyan to tell, so it puzzles me why he filtered such an important, painful, and almost unknown event through the guise of making a film-within-a film about it. This places a barrier between the audience and the actual events and also trivializes it at times. I know Egoyan likes to provide narrative twists and turns ala Exotica and The Sweet Hereafter, but in this case, I think a more straightforward telling would have served better and been more informative and eye-opening to the audience. Still, the movie is never uninteresting and has some quality performances by Christoper Plummer, Arsinee Khajani, Bruce Greenwood, and Elias Koteas. B-

Reign of Fire - Cool dragons blow up stuff real good! Has its action cliches but nothing too egregious. Entertaining with some well done set pieces though I wish there was a big military vs. dragons Godzilla-type showdown scene. B

Have Love Liza and Jason X in the house to watch. After that is The Kid Stays In The Picture, Bowling For Columbine, and Red Dragon.
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post #392 of 419
8/17/03 at 7:22pm
Updated with Brad Silberling's Moonlight Mile - a film that desperately needs to come out of its shell.

~Edwin
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post #393 of 419
8/18/03 at 12:47am
Love Liza is a pretty good film about a man (Philip Seymour Hoffman) trying to deal with the suicide of his wife. Thanks to Hoffman's performance, the film is touching and rings true despite some questionable script developments that would sink a lesser actor. Its also saddled with a trite ending that chooses hamfisted symbolism instead of something more challenging. B-

Jason X Why did I feel the need to see this? I guess it was the same compulsion that drove me to see the first 9. I should have known what to expect so I guess I can't be too harsh, these movies are what they are, but I thought this was the worst yet. The movie's cheap sets and cheaper actors make this look like some sci-fi channel product. The redesigned Jason is stupid. Every single one of the actors is incredibly annoying. Even the kills are blah for the most part and ineptly filmed. A few laughs but really the only good thing I can say about it is that its cured any desire I have to see the last Halloween film. D+
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post #394 of 419
8/21/03 at 12:13am
Updated my list with the stupid DTV Slaughter Studios and the damn good HBO flick Live from Baghdad.

Man do I dig that Helena B. Carter...
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post #395 of 419
8/21/03 at 10:26am
Updated with the excellent,

Bowling for Columbine (***1/2 / ****)

and,

Solaris (***1/2 / ****)

And the good, but should have been better,

Frida (*** / ****)

That just about covers it for 2002 films. There's still probably around 5 or so I still want to see at some point. I still can't believe I've seen pretty much every 2002 film that I want to. Time to start cracking on those 2003 flicks.

Lowell
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post #396 of 419
8/23/03 at 1:20am
Red Dragon - Ok, the material is alright and I kind of dug Ed Norton here, but Hopkins seems to just be going through the motions, or maybe its a case of the character just being less interesting the 3rd time around, particularly in a film that just doesn't measure up to Mann's original Manhunter. B-

Bowling for Columbine and Solaris up next.
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post #397 of 419
8/25/03 at 2:54am
Bowling For Columbine - I'm conflicted in my views on this film. The ideas and questions expressed in this film are important things that need to be expressed and asked. But Moore's methods of deception and manipulation seem to make him a purveyor of the very things he professes to hate. Incomplete
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post #398 of 419
8/27/03 at 12:54am
Solaris - Appreciate Clooney's performance, some of the cinematography, and Soderbergh's desire to work on another noncommercial project, but I don't think he got it quite right. Perhaps it is closer to the book, I have no idea; but the film contains none of the philosophy or spirituality of Tarkovsky's version. Also, by giving more explanation and edge to the wife character, Soderbergh's version is more a Vertigo-like tale of obsession than painful love story that Tarkovsky created. I also much prefer Tarkovsky's ending. Perhaps if I'd never seen Tarkovsky's, I would like this film more, but I can't separate the two in my mind or resist making a comparison.

Also both supporting scientists were extremely annoying and needlessly interfered with the focus of the film.
B-

Next: The Kid Stays In The Picture
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post #399 of 419
8/28/03 at 12:46am
Guess I'm the only one here :b

The Kid Stays In The Picture: Robert Evans can spin a great yarn and he has plenty of stories to tell in this documentary about his life. Using first person narration and stylish photographic collages, the filmmakers raise the movie far above the level of the A&E style typical biopic. And for the filmic minded, it mostly sticks to his moviemaking exploits and doesn't spend much time on the women he bedded, the trappings of celebrity, and thankfully doesn't go VH1 Behind the Music in its treatment of his drug addiction. Even if only half of what he says is true, it really is a wonderful life. Also, even if you've already seen this, renting the DVD is a must for the hysterical gag reel with Dustin Hoffman imitating Evans. B+

I believe the final 3 2002 films on my Netflix list are : Porn Star, Nowhere In Africa and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.
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post #400 of 419
9/12/03 at 3:00am
Added Tom Tykwer's Heaven (3.5 stars out of 5) - A flick that starts out as fascinating and eventually becomes a bit too abstract for its own good. Blanchett is absolutely fantastic throughout.
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post #401 of 419
9/12/03 at 11:09pm
Updated my list with Bowling for Columbine, 80%.
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post #402 of 419
9/14/03 at 6:08am
El Crimen Del Padre Amaro

Lost In Translation – No, not the current Sofia Coppola film, but that is how I would characterize certain films that become box office hits in one country but along the way, something happens and don’t translate very well in other countries. It could be that country’s culture or its sociopolitical climate at the time that is oblivious to others outside of its borders.

Miyazagi’s Spirited Away and its low box office performance here in the U.S. is one example even with its English language version for the younger crowd. And for that reason the same can be said with the hit film Chicago that has Germans scratching their heads over there.

Which brings me to Carlos Carrera’s El Crimen Del Padre Amaro that is now Mexico’s #1 box office film of all time. This film must have struck a lot of chords in Mexico but it left me untouched, unmoved and indifferent much like its principal character.

------------------

On another film, Moonlight Mile, there is definitely nothing lost in translation here. Simply forgettable.

~Edwin
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post #403 of 419
9/15/03 at 1:49pm
Just when I thought I had nailed down my Top Films for 2002 a few months back comes Aleksandr Sokurov's beautiful and mysterious Russian Ark planting itself firmly at #6.

~Edwin
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post #404 of 419
9/16/03 at 12:27pm
Agree with you on Russian Ark (though I have it even higher) and Padre Amaro. Moonlight Mile may be forgettable, but I enjoyed it while I was watching.

Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind - For half or more of this film I thought it was excellent, extremely funny, witty, and stylish with Sam Rockwell a standout and solid supporting work from George Clooney and Drew Barrymore. But for me the movie loses its way as it heads into the inevitable celebrity "downward spiral"; trying to explain Barris with awkward symbolism about his Mother, a nightmare sequence that seemingly belonged in another movie, and who could forget the always amusing "celebrity goes on bender and holes up in cheap hotel room".

For me it REALLY worked when it was a comedy, but stumbles when it tries to take itself too seriously. B

That's almost it for me. I think Nowhere In Africa and The Man Without A Past will close out 2002 for me. I'm mostly working on 2003, the S&S list, and Criterions I haven't seen, before the month-o'-horror starts.
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post #405 of 419
9/16/03 at 9:17pm
Updated my list with:

The surprisingly excellent:

Enigma (***1/2 / ****)

Philip Noyce's second very good film of the year (Rabbit-Proof Fence was better imo):

The Quiet American (*** / ****)

And the absolutely horrible:

The Truth About Charlie (* / ****)

I wish I wasn't compelled to watch this after renting it to see the excellent Charade, alas, I did. How this movie turned out as awful as it did is a surprise to me. An unmitigated disaster.

Lowell
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post #406 of 419
9/17/03 at 9:17am
Added to my list a DAMN good movie that everyone but me has long since seen: Bloody Sunday - 4.5 stars out of 5
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post #407 of 419
9/19/03 at 9:34pm
Also added the silly Jean Reno flick Wasabi.
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post #408 of 419
9/28/03 at 9:22am
Updated with Brett Morgen’s and Nanette Burstein’s The Kid Stays In The Picture

The third in the series of documentaries I have seen this past week following Lost In La Mancha and Capturing The Friedmans proves to be another winner as it chronicles the ups and downs of the life of Hollywood producer Robert Evans. His story is told with such frankness and audacity including some of the shortcomings in his own personal life that few people in his position (and ego) are willing to accept.

Next up in my documentary series: Stevie

~Edwin
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post #409 of 419
10/4/03 at 5:44pm
Added Love Liza which bring my 2002 tally up to 315!
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post #410 of 419
10/25/03 at 10:18pm
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post #411 of 419
10/26/03 at 3:16pm
Updated with Ramin Serry's Maryam.

The film tackles so many issues but none of them deep enough to leave a lasting impression. Maybe, an appropriate vehicle for its story would have been a documentary than the present one it took.

~Edwin
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post #412 of 419
10/28/03 at 10:20pm
I finally caught The Kid Stays in the Picture
9 of 10, which puts it somewhere from 15-20 on my best of 2002 list.

Not just an interesting documentary, good at getting the viewer inside the head of the subject and giving them greater insight into the person, but also very stylish in the telling. There are several artistic choices made that give the picture added life and expand its watchability to audiences outside the high-art and cinephile circles.



I can't remember if I ever mentioned them in this thread, but I also added Secretary sometime back (8.5 of 10, good film) and Narc (8.5 of 10) which is a nice, gritty film that is better at being a tough, emotional cop film than Training Day was (which resulted in an Oscar win for acting).

I need to update my list post still.
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post #413 of 419
10/30/03 at 10:44pm
.
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post #414 of 419
10/31/03 at 5:35am
Quote:
The Kid Stays In The Picture... Best documentary of 2002

I will have to agree with you there.

~Edwin
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post #415 of 419
11/3/03 at 4:53am
Updated with what will likely be my last 2 2002 viewings for the foreseeable future.

People will pay extra for an ocean view

The Man Without A Past is a very enjoyable quirky gem from Finland. Director Aki Kaurismaki uses dry humor, a mannered romance in a most ill-mannered situation, a visual sense a half-turn from realism towards fantasy, and sets it all to a rockabilly beat. A flat out fun movie that just misses my top 10. B+

Nowhere In Africa a story of a family in crisis, both due to the pressures of history and the shaky interpersonal relationship between husband and wife. But while moving and interesting when shown primarily from the daughter's point of view, the movie shifts to a more story-telling oriented style that no longer really gets inside the characters and is more content to describe events in their lives. The Kenyan scenery and solid score help to create a more epic feel. B (another case of the "safer, comfortable" movie winning the Oscar)
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post #416 of 419
11/8/03 at 9:25am
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post #417 of 419
3/21/04 at 9:32pm
Wow, did Ghost Ship suck. I try to stay open but this script was really hack work, barely distinguishing itself from Event Horizon in plotline (someone should sue actually) and doing it much, much worse.

I gave it a 2.5 mostly on acting which was the only part worth a crap, and even then they were working with terrible dialog most of the time.

It didn't quite make my 10 worst of 2001 though.
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post #418 of 419
6/5/04 at 2:25pm
24 Hour Party People
8.5 of 10
It's a little jumpy on the explanations of some of the major shifts, like the success of the rave scene suddenly, but the film has a great, fun style. On top of that Coogan is enormously entertaining as Tony Wilson.
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post #419 of 419
9/4/05 at 10:43am
Updated my List with:

Inner Senses
Friday Night
The Weather Underground
Unspeakable
Stone Reader
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