Our Top 10's of 2002 -- Time To Throw Down / The HTF 2002 Film Awards (See Post #1) (1 Viewer)

[Dean DeMass]

My list may change after I see Gangs of NY and Catch me You can.

#1 was a tough choice for me but I am going with.....

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

2. Minority Report

3. Road to Perdition

4. Insomnia

5. Signs

6. We Were Soldiers

7. Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones

8. Spider-Man

9. Jackass: The Movie

10. Red Dragon

-Dean-

 

[Craig S]

I feel 2002 was a pretty good year for film - certainly the best since 1999 (what a year that was!). There were only a few great films this year, but there were a lot of very good films. Anyway, here's the latest iteration of my Top Ten:

1. The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
2. The Pianist
3. The Hours
4. Y Tu Mama Tambien
5. The Quiet American
6. Road To Perdition
7. About Schmidt
8. Chicago
9. Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind
10. Spirited Away

Bubbling Under - these 16 films were at one time in (or in consideration for) my Top Ten. There's no dishonor in being on this list. In alphabetical order:

• The 25th Hour
• About A Boy
• Adaptation
• Antwone Fisher
• Catch Me If You Can
• Far From Heaven
• Frida
• Gangs Of New York
• Minority Report
• Monsoon Wedding
• One Hour Photo
• Rabbit-Proof Fence
• The Rookie
• Signs
• Sunshine State
• We Were Soldiers

The only major Top Ten contender I have yet to see is Talk To Her.
I try to avoid bad movies, but here's the bottom 5 I saw this year, with number 1 being the worst:

1. Mr. Deeds
2. Impostor
3. I Spy
4. Collateral Damage
5. Windtalkers

HTF Award Nominations
Best Director
Peter Jackson - The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
Stephen Daldry - The Hours
Roman Polanski - The Pianist
Rob Marshall - Chicago
Philip Noyce - The Quiet American & Rabbit-Proof Fence
Best Actor
Michael Caine - The Quiet American
Daniel Day-Lewis - Gangs Of New York
Adrian Brody - The Pianist
Sam Rockwell - Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind
Nicolas Cage - Adaptation
Best Actress
Julianne Moore - Far From Heaven
Diane Lane - Unfaithful
Edie Falco - Sunshine State
Emily Watson - Punch-Drunk Love
Meryl Streep - The Hours
Best Supporting Actor
Andy Serkis - The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
Chris Cooper - Adaptation
Christopher Walken - Catch Me If You Can
Dennis Quaid - Far From Heaven
John C. Reilly - Chicago
Best Supporting Actress
Viola Davis - Antwone Fisher
Nicole Kidman - The Hours
Samantha Morton - Minority Report
Mirabel Verdu - Y Tu Mama Tambien
Catherine Zeta-Jones - Chicago
Best Breakthrough Performance
Sam Rockwell - Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind
Andy Serkis - The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
Derek Luke - Antwone Fisher
Best Animated Feature
Spirited Away
Lilo And Stitch
Ice Age
Best Art Direction
The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
Gangs Of New York
Far From Heaven
Frida
The Pianist
Best Costume Design
The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
Gangs Of New York
Far From Heaven
Frida
Chicago
Best Cinematography
Edward Lachman - Far From Heaven
Conrad Hall - Road To Perdition
Andrew Lesnie - The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
Pawel Edelman - The Pianist
John Schwartzman - The Rookie
Best Editing
The Hours
Chicago
The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
Adaptation
Gangs Of New York
Best Foreign Language Film
Y Tu Mama Tambien
Monsoon Wedding
Best Makeup
The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
The Hours
Frida
Chicago
Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets
Best Music Score
Howard Shore - The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
Philip Glass - The Hours
Elmer Bernstein - Far From Heaven
Thomas Newman - Road To Perdition
Craig Armstrong - The Quiet American
Best Screenplay, Adapted
David Hare - The Hours
Frances Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Stephen Sinclair & Peter Jackson - The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
Ronald Harwood - The Pianist
Bill Condon - Chicago
Charlie Kaufman - Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind
Best Screenplay, Original
Carlos & Alfonso Cuaron - Y Tu Mama Tambien
Antwone Fisher - Antwone Fisher
John Sayles - Sunshine State
Todd Haynes - Far From Heaven
P. T. Anderson - Punch-Drunk Love
Best Song
Howard Shore & Fran Walsh, "Gollum's Song" - The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
Eminem, "Lose Yourself" - 8 Mile
Kander & Ebb, "I Move On" - Chicago
Elliot Goldenthal & Julie Taymor, "Burn This House" - Frida
Bono, "The Hands That Built America" - Gangs Of New York
Best Sound
The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
Gangs Of New York
Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones
Chicago
Signs
Best Sound Effects Editing
The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones
Road To Perdition
Best Visual Effects
The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
Minority Report
Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones
Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets
Spider-Man

 

[John Spencer]

Spence's Top Ten of 2002
1. Spirited Away (10/10)
2. Punch Drunk Love (9/10)
3. Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers (9/10)
4. Adaptation (9/10)
5. Minority Report (9/10)
6. Metropolis (9/10)
7. Bowling For Columbine (8/10)
8. Catch Me If You Can (8/10)
9. Spider-Man (8/10)
10. 24 Hour Party People (8/10)
Almost There
Kissing Jessica Stein (8/10)
Frailty (8/10)
Changing Lanes (8/10)
Chicago (8/10)
Panic Room (8/10)
Blade II (8/10)
Signs (8/10)
25th Hour (8/10)
Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets (8/10)
Brotherhood Of The Wolf (8/10)
Red means stop
Star Trek: Nemesis (4/10)
Wisegirls (3/10)
Out Cold (3/10)
Pumpkin (3/10)
jackass: the movie (3/10)
The Sweetest Thing (2/10)

 

[Declan]

Your list must contain a complete top 10 of films originally released in 2002. --JW
ok, some are new, some are old. But i seen them all for the first time this year.
In no particular order:
When Harry Met Sally-
Brilliant, saw it for the first time about 2 weeks ago and loved it from frame one. Very funny and very touching. Had a seriously big smile on my face at the end. Missed it when it was on the TV there a few days ago, so i went out and bought the DVD the next day.
Two Towers-
Gollium, probably the best character i have witness come alive on screen in ages. The film itself is only slightly not as great as Fellowship, but Peter Jackson says that Return Of the King is his favourite of the 3, roll on 17th December 2003
About a Boy-
Just one of those films that puts a smile on your face. Hugh Grant is'nt so Hugh Grant-ish and has a great soundtrack by Bladly Drawn Boy.
The Dish/October Sky-
2 very different (based on true stories) films about (near enough) the same thing. Both endlessly enjoyable with great performances. October sky just clinches it for that ending when you find out what became of the lead character in it. Plus for me seeing it the week that I had to hand in all my work for University it really touched a nerve.
Road To Perdition-
Tom Hanks, Tommy gun, Rain, Thomas newmans music. Those of you who have seen it know what bit i'm on about. Fantastic movie and a definite improvement on the graphic novel it was based.
American Warewolf In London-
Was hummin "I see a bad moom rising" to myself for nearly the entire day after i watched it. Which contains one of the most "jaw to floor" moments when David finally goes through "that time of the month".
Black Hawk Down-
What was all this reviewers were saying about Flagwaving in this, bullshit, this was the saving Private Ryan of modern warfare. Plus the Black hawks looked seriously cool.
Godfather part 2-
Seen the first one years ago, but never saw this (for some reason). A truly great peice of cinema, alltoghter...."Fredo your my brother and i love you.....BUT..........."
Insomnia-
Who could think that Robin Williams could be scary. Great atmosphere, fantastic direction. But the best thing about this is Pacino getting no sleep and looking REALLY FRIGGIN TRIED the more and more the film progresses. Kinda what I felt doing all them projects for my degree.
Royal Tenembaums-
Don't know if I spelt that right. Anyway a really werid film about a seriously disfunctional family. Laughed my ass off at it "I'm sorry for your loss, your mother was a terribly attractive woman". Better than Rushmore.
Hounorable mentions:
Spiderman,
Dog Soldiers,
Minority Report (damn good show),
The Last Castle,
Spy Game,
Vanilla sky,
Ice age,
Monsters Inc. ("bucket"),
Lilo & Stitch (frickin hilarious),
Great Escape (does'nt look a quarter as good on TV as it does on DVD),
Moulin Rouge/The Others (Nicole kidman shows oul hubby Tom a thing or 2),
Changing Lanes,
Hearts In Atlantis,
the Majestic,
Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back ..... and lastly...... Requiem For A Dream (was great but once was definitley enough for me, you'll need a stiff drink after the last 15mins).
Worst movies i seen this year:
Rollerball 2002, xXx, Die Another Day, 15 Minutes, Men In Black 2,
(Jason, Band Of brothers is a TV show )

 

[Kristian]

2002 Eligible Films Seen: 104
2002 Films - The Top Ten

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
"Where is the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? They have passed like rain on the mountains, like wind in the meadow. The days have gone down in the West, behind the hills, into shadow. How did it come to this?" - King Theoden

2. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
"Victory! Victory you say? Master Obi-Wan, not victory. The shroud of the dark side has fallen. Begun, the clone war has." - Yoda

3. Minority Report
"Can you see?" - Agatha

4. Spirited Away
"I'm see-through!" - Chihiro

5. Catch Me If You Can
"Two mice fell into a bowl of cream. The first mouse quickly gave up and drowned. The second mouse fought and struggled until he churned that cream into butter and he crawled his way out. I am that second mouse." - Frank Abagnale Sr.

6. Spider-Man
"With great power comes great responsibility..." - Uncle Ben

7. Signs
"The nerds were right..." - Merrill Hess

8. Adaptation.
"I don't want to cram in sex or guns or car chases or characters learning profound life lessons or growing or coming to like each other or overcoming obstacles to succeed in the end! The book isn't like that, and life isn't like that, it just isn't." - Charlie Kaufman

9. Gangs of New York
"On my challenge, we have come upon this chosen ground to settle, for good and all, who holds sway over the five points. Us natives... or the foreign hordes!" - Bill the Butcher

10. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Who am I, Hedwig? What am I? - Harry Potter
2002 Films - The Bottom Ten
1. Equilibrium
2. Resident Evil
3. The Truth About Charlie
4. Maid in Manhattan
5. Men in Black II
6. Drumline
7. Scooby Doo
8. The Count of Monte Cristo
9. The Good Girl
10. xXx
Older Films Seen For the First Time in 2002 - The Top Five
1. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
2. King Kong (1933)
3. Amadeus (1984)
4. Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
5. Braveheart (1995)
Links: 2002 Film List, 2001 Top Ten/Bottom 5

 

[Chris_Richard]

Top 10 Films from 2002
1. Chicago
2. Far From Heaven
3. Igby Goes Down
4. The Pianist
5. Talk to Her
6. 25th Hour
7. Spirited Away
8. Time Out
9. The Fast Runner
10. Maelstrom
Total 2002 films seens = 113
HTF AWARDS
Best Director
Pedro Almodovar, Talk to Her
Todd Haynes, Far From Heaven
Spike Lee, 25th Hour
Roman Polanski, The Pianist
Martin Scorsese, Gangs of New York
Best Actor
Adrian Brody, The Pianist
Michael Caine, The Quiet American
Jack Nicholson, About Schmidt
Daniel Day Lewis, Gangs of New York
Sam Rockwell, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, Heaven
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Secretary
Isabelle Huppert, The Piano Teacher
Julianne Moore, Far From Heaven
Renee Zellweger, Chicago
Best Supporting Actor
Chris Cooper, Adaptation
Jeff Goldblum, Igby Goes Down
Philip Seymour Hoffman, 25th Hour
Dennis Quaid, Far From Heaven
John C. Reily, The Good Girl
Best Supporting Actress
Kathy Bates, About Schmidt
Patricia Clarkson, Far From Heaven
Viola Davis, Antowne Fisher
Kyra Sedgwick, Personal Velocity
Meryl Streep, Adaptation
Best Breakthrough Performance
Ryan Gosling, The Believer
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Secretary
Derek Luke, Antwone Fisher
Best Animated Feature
Spirited Away
Metropolis
Best Art Direction
Chicago
Far From Heaven
Gangs of New York
Minority Report
The Pianist
Best Costume Design
The Cat's Meow
Chicago
The Emperor's New Clothes
Gangs of New York
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Best Cinematography
Far From Heaven
The Fast Runner
Minority Report
Rabbit-Proof Fence
Road to Perdition
Best Editing
Chicago
Gangs of New York
The Hours
Best Foreign Language Film
The Fast Runner
Maelstrom
Read My Lips
Talk to Her
Time Out
Best Makeup
Frida
Gangs of New York
The Hours
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Best Music Score
Catch Me If You Can
Far From Heaven
Rabbit-Proof Fence
25th Hour
Best Screenplay, Original
Antwone Fisher
Far From Heaven
Igby Goes Down
Lovely and Amazing
Talk to Her
Best Screenplay, Adapted
About Schmidt
The Hours
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Pianist
25th Hour
Best Song
The Hands That Built America
Best Sound
Gangs of New York
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Minority Report
Spider Man
Star Wars: Attack of the Clones
Best Sound Effects Editing
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Minority Report
Star Wars: Attack of the Clones
Best Visual Effects
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Minority Report
Spider Man
Best Documentary
Standing in the Shadows of Motown

 

[ChuckDeLa]

My top 10 (in order from best to worst):
1. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
2. Possession
3. About a Boy
4. The Ring
5. About Schmidt
6. Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones
7. Catch Me If You Can
8. The Good Girl
9. Chicago
10. Minority Report
My bottom 5 (from worst to best):
1. The Tuxedo
2. xXx
3. Ghost Ship
4. Jason X
5. The Time Machine
Possible top 10 contenders (haven't yet seen):
Y Tu Mama Tambien
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Adaptation
Far From Heaven
Bowling for Columbine
The Pianist
24 Hour Party People
Monsoon Wedding
Antwone Fisher
Moonlight Mile
My 2002 List

 

[Ruth_F]

My work in progress:
1. The Pianist
2. Chicago
3. Antwone Fisher
4. Lord of the Rings
5. Far From Heaven
6. Gangs of New York
7. Igby Goes Down
8. Standing in the shadows of Motown
9. Rabbit Proof Fence
10. About a Boy
It will change a great deal when i finish seeing some films.

 

[Joel Turpin]

Updated - 2/7/03
Quick hit top ten (with the usual disclaimer of changes likely to follow):

1 Chicago
2Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
3Panic Room
4Gangs of New York
5Road to Perdition
6Minority Report
7 Adaptation
8 25th Hour
9Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys
10Tadpole



Somewhat surprised at how "Hollywood" top-heavy the list is, and that no foreign movies have made it on thus-far.

Honorable mention to all of the following:
Bourne Identity
Punch Drunk Love
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
One Hour Photo
Insomnia
Spider-Man
Lilo and Stitch
Blade 2
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Y tu mamá también
Ring, The
Far From Heaven
Sum of All Fears
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Good Girl, The
About a Boy
Signs
Brotherhood of the Wolf
Mostly Martha
Italian for Beginners
Count of Monte Cristo
Red Dragon
Moonlight Mile
Ice Age
Kissing Jessica Stein
Emperor's New Clothes
8 Mile
Barbershop

Bottom Ten - Bad to Worst

10Scooby-Doo
9Like Mike
8Showtime
7Queen of the Damned
6Mexican, The
540 Days and 40 Nights
4Time Machine, The
3Rollerball
2Adventures of Pluto Nash
1Driven


I've seen a total of 78 2002 releases, and 23 of our current "Top 30"

Comments to follow at some point in time.

Joel

 

[L. Anton Dencklau]

..

 

[Dustin Woods]

Final Top Ten of 2002
1. Punch-Drunk Love
2. Road to Perdition
3. Gangs of New York
4. Insomniac
5. About Schmidt
6. LOTR: The Two Towers
7. Adaptation
8. Bourne Identity
9. jackass: the movie
10. Minority Report
Comments on these films coming soon...
Dustin

 

[AaronJB]

1. Spirited Away

2. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

3. Enigma

4. Bowling For Columbine

5. Bourne Identity

6. Far From Heaven

7. The Ring

8. Panic Room

9. Minority Report

10. Scotland, PA


*11 (Best Guilty Pleasure): Blue Crush


Most overrated: My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

 

[Nick Sievers]

Nick’s Top 10 of 2002
1. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
2. The Pianist
3. Punch-Drunk Love
4. Solaris
5. Chicago
6. Adaptation
7. The Hours
8. Spirited Away
9. Heaven
10. 25th Hour

 

[Steve Lockwood]

Top Ten List
1> Minority Report
2> The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers
3> Star Wars Epsoide II - Attack of the Clones
4> The Ring
5> Signs
6> Ice Age
7> Spider-Man
8> Gangs of New York
9> Blade II
10>Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

 

[Jason Seaver]

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.

 

[Brian Lawrence]

As of Now my top 10 stands like this...
#01- The Hours

#02- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

#03- Far from Heaven

#04- Lilo and Stitch

#05- Monsoon Wedding

#06- Resident Evil

#07- Lovely and Amazing

#08- Last Call

#09- Ice Age

#10- Punch Drunk Love

Older flicks first seen in 2002
01- Napoléon ('27)
02- The Crowd ('28)
03- Nights of Cabiria ('57)
04- Fitzcarraldo ('82)
05- Ivan's Childhood ('62)
06- Through a Glass Darkly ('61)
07- Top Hat ('35)
08- Palm Beach Story ('42)
09- Cross of Lorraine ('43)
10- Garden of Finzi-Continis ('70)

 

[Nick C.]

finally caught up on most everything I wanted to see in the past year...
Top 10 of 2002

1. Minority Report

2. Solaris

3. Adaptation

4. City of God

5. Punch-Drunk Love

6. Igby Goes Down

7. Narc

8. Heaven

9. Lovely and Amazing

10. Insomnia
didn't quite make my top 10:
25th Hour
LOTR: The Two Towers
The Pianist
Salton Sea
Road to Perdition
Tadpole
Frailty
Undercover Brother

 

[Larry Sutliff]

My Top 10:
1)LORD OF THE RINGS:THE TWO TOWERS
2)Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN
3)GANGS OF NEW YORK
4)STAR WARS EPISODE II:ATTACK OF THE CLONES
5)MINORITY REPORT
6)CHICAGO
7)FAR FROM HEAVEN
8)LILO AND STITCH
9)PANIC ROOM
10)SIGNS
I haven't seen GANGS OF NEW YORK or CATCH ME IF YOU CAN yet, so I may be revising this list at some later date.
EDIT: I've reworked my list a little bit since I've seen GANGS OF NEW YORK and it took my number three spot, knocking SPIDER-MAN out of my top ten. Also, I rewatched MINORITY REPORT via the DVD and moved it up a couple of notches since it was even better than I remembered.

 

[Bill J]

My 2002 Film List
Top Ten Last Updated: 3-23-03
2002 Top Ten List
1. Gangs of New York
2. Minority Report
3. 25th Hour
4. Frailty
5. Signs
6. Solaris
7. The Grey Zone
8. Changing Lanes
9. Insomnia
10. Road to Perdition
2002 Bottom Five List
1. Reign of Fire
2. FearDotCom
3. John Q
4. Bad Company
5. The Time Machine

 

[Rob P S]

As of 01/28/03:
1. Antwone Fisher
2. Bowling for Columbine
3. Road to Perdition
4. Punch-Drunk Love
5. Insomnia
6. We Were Soldiers
7. The Bread, My Sweet
8. One Hour Photo
9. The Rookie
10. The Emperor's Club

Runners-up:
Spider-Man
Knockaround Guys
Mutant Aliens
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Changing Lanes