2001 Critics' Top Ten Lists (1 Viewer)

[Mitty]

From Mike Clark's list (thanks to Edwin):

6. Black Hawk Down. Gladiator director Ridley Scott's best movie in a decade...

Although, he doesn't say it outright, it's, um, comforting to see that someone else might also think Ridley Scott hasn't really done anything worth seeing since Thelma & Louise.
It's nice to see Ebert didn't forget Mike Nichol's Wit just because it didn't get a theatrical release. I don't think I've seen it on any other lists.

 

[Seth Paxton]

Well I'll believe it when I see it.
I wonder if given an HONEST choice between having to sit through MR again OR FGF, Druids, Glitter, which would really be chosen. Any time difference will be made up by beginning the shorter film over again.
And since we are trying to determine WORST film, you don't get to say "I wouldn't watch either again". I'm talking about being forced to; which would be the one film that you would HONESTLY watch ANY OTHER 2001 film again to avoid seeing one more time?
Like I would watch Tomcats again rather than Freddie Got Fingered, so FGF goes down my list. Repeat with all titles, don't just compare MR to films you liked. Do it Clockwork Orange style, tear drops and all.
Heck, Nicole's nipple would be enough to make me choose MR over many films, even if I hated MR.

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

It's nice to see Ebert didn't forget Mike Nichol's Wit just because it didn't get a theatrical release. I don't think I've seen it on any other lists.

I also missed this one altogether not having HBO. The video is coming and I will definitely check it out.

~Edwin

 

[Paul_D]

I'm glad the Swedish film, Together, is getting the notices it deserves especially from Sight and Sound and Time Out London. That film contains one of this year's best ensemble acting. Definitely one of this year's best films.

Oh my god, I thought it was the grimest film I'd ever seen..... grimmer (is that a word?) than Kids!!! Too much reality for my tastes.

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

] Oh my god, I thought it was the grimest film I'd ever seen..... grimmer (is that a word?) than Kids!!! Too much reality for my tastes.

Grim? You must have interpreted the underlying narrative way too seriously. After all, this is a satire.
~Edwin

 

[teapot2001]

Edwin, where did you get Ebert's list? I can't find it on his site.

~T

 

[Terrell]

Mike Clark putting Shrek at #2 is puzzling to me. No way is that even close to being better than a lot of those other films. I guess opinions vary, and in this list quite drastically.

 

[Seth Paxton]

Well, Shrek was a quality mainstream comedy and I think the placement of less serious films can be a little more jumpy.
I have Jay and Bob in my top 10 despite it having no dramatic merit. Why? Because I judged the setup of the jokes and performances designed to play toward the jokes to both be spot on. If you do a comedy and make the pieces fit, it has to count as top-notch filmmaking.
The tricky part is trying to pull your taste in humor away from the actual humor execution.
This is why FGFingered is so low to me. The horse masturbation is a great example of a joke with NO setup, no consistancy even within the comic thread, and therefore not very well done. No scene in Muholland Drive confused me nearly as much as this sudden, awkward, temporary, pointless departure from the current story thread. Gross joke or not, at least let me understand WHY I just saw that scene.
So I can see Shrek doing very well on some lists, but being a bit more varied in it's rating than dramatic films will be. Same with Jay and Bob for that matter.
I mean Airplane!, Duck Soup, Arsenic and Old Lace all have to fit in somewhere and I think it's inaccurate to place them below all dramas (I'm sure we all agree on that), so at what level does a comedy stop passing the dramas on the list - does a 10 comedy go above an 8 drama.
Definately a debatable question. I assumed Shrek being up his list meant that he values comedies equal to drama and that he found Shrek the best done all-around comedy. Maybe for cross-appeal to kids/adults or something like that.
To me, it's not as strong, but it is in my top 30. It's not like Shrek hasn't had Oscar buzz as well.

 

[Mark Palermo]

Part of what makes the horse scene in FGF a joke is that it does have absolutely no relevance to anything. The first reaction is usually "what the hell was that" whether you laugh afterward is up to you (though Green's gleeful expression is what made the scene work for me). FGF shouldn't really be compared with Jay and Silent Bob anyway. Green's film is a Dadaistic send-up of gross-out comedies--"You thought Scary Movie was extreme, let's see how you react when we take it to THIS level!" Though FGF follows the typical narrative of most teen and gross-out films, it manages to ridicule them along the way. This is well expressed in the scene near the end where Gord makes amends with his father which, well somewhat saccharine, is played out as his father is drenched in elephant cum. But FGF is NOT a work of anomie. While it wields a genuine punk-aesthetic, the film is strongly moral. This isn't directed at you Seth, I just feel I've gotta stand up for this picture when most other critics are reacting like Tom Green broke into their homes and raped their pets.

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

Edwin, where did you get Ebert's list? I can't find it on his site.

Ah, I finally got a scoop. He probably will not put it up on his site until after he reveals it on his show. But trust me, that's his list.
~Edwin

 

[Kevin Leonard]

Edwin, where did you get Ebert's list? I can't find it on his site.

http://slate.msn.com/?id=2060073&entry=2060194

 

[Seth Paxton]

Mark, well-thought opinions defending ANY picture are more than welcome. You can address it to me since I clearly brought up the subject.
I see where you are coming from with that although I just didn't get that vibe anywhere in the picture. He lingered too much in the standard narrative character development for me to buy in to expressionistic gross-out/performance art humor aspect.
At least within the narrative establish SOMEWHERE that he is this sort of character. OR, just avoid the narrative pattern totally (like his TV show).
IMO, he is simply throwing every bit of paint and clay he has at the canvas with no rhyme nor reason and sometimes something sticks. ("Daddy do you want some sausage" the only laugh in the picture for me).
I am always willing to give someone a chance and sometimes I think Green hits onto something. The problem is that I don't think he is capable of constructing well-thought out setups and deliveries and aiming for 85% joke success. I see his efforts as boring because often they seem to rely ENTIRELY on being gross without any "why is this FUNNY" behind it.
My "thread derailment" alarm just went off. Whoops!

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

Here is Jonathan Rosenbaum's:

1. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg)

2. Waking Life (Richard Linklater)

3. The Circle (Jafar Panahi)

4. In The Mood For Love (Wong Kar-wai)

5. Chunhyang (Im Kwon-Taek)

6. Gohatto (Taboo) (Nagisa Oshima)

7. Yi Yi (A One And A Two...) (Edward Yang)

8. George Washington (David Gordon Green)

9. The Gleaners & I (Agnès Varda)

10. Mulholland Dr. (David Lynch)

~Edwin

 

[Mitty]

Although he may not be respected, and may not even technically be a critic, here is Richard Roeper's top 10:

1. Memento

2. Vanilla Sky

3. Mulholland Drive

4. A Beautiful Mind

5. In the Bedroom

6. Amores Perros

7. Dinner Rush

8. Happy Accidents

9. The Deep End

10. Shallow Hal

 

[Chris Harvey]

Shallow Hal?
Good God. I wonder if it turns up on anyone else's list. :rolleyes

 

[Marvin Richardson]

I can understand most of Roeper's picks, even if I don't agree with them, but Shallow Hal? Did I miss something?

 

[Mark Pfeiffer]

Don't kill Roeper just yet. I think David Edelstein at slate.com has Shallow Hal on his list, and he's probably held in more esteem.

While I don't think it was good enough to merit that high of a ranking, I won't begrudge him that choice. And it's not as if that "chair", so to speak, hasn't done this before either. Siskel put Kingpin on his list when the Farrellys weren't as known, or even respected, as they are today.

 

[teapot2001]

James Berardinelli:

1. Memento

2. LOTR

3. In the Bedroom

4. The Princess and the Warrior

5. Amelie

6. Shrek

7. Bully

8. Bridget Jones's Diary

9. A Beautiful Mind

10. Waking Life

~T

 

[Mark Pfeiffer]

The various lists of writers at The Austin Chronicle can be found Link Removed
The cumulative list looks like this:
1. Ghost World
2. Waking Life
3. Moulin Rouge
4. In the Bedroom
5. The Royal Tenenbaums
6. (tie) Amelie, The Lord of the Rings: The
Fellowship of the Ring
8. The Others
9. Memento
10. Amores Perros

 

[Jay E]

Here's the top 25 in the Village Voice's Film Critic's Poll in which 57 critics from independent papers were polled:

1- Mulholland Drive

2- In The Mood For Love

3- Ghost World

4- Memento

5- A.I.

6- Waking Life

7- In the Bedroom

8- The Royal Tanenbaums

9- The Circle

10- Fat Girl

11- Moulin Rouge

12- Together

13- Under the Sand

14- Werckmeister Harmonies

15- The Gleaners & I

16- Donnie Darko

17- Gosford Park & The Man Who Wasn't There

19- Va Savoir

20- Amores Perros

21- The Day I Became a Woman

22- Eureka

23- The Lord of the Rings

24- Cure

25- Sexy Beast