Our Top 10's of 2001 -- Time To Throw Down (1 Viewer)

[Matt Stone]

Haha...I also love that scetch...great stuff!

 

[David Oliver]

Well after seeing Black Hawk Down this weekend I have updated my list, putting it all the way up at #2.

 

[Mark D]

See an introduction, what didn't quite make the cut, and a special mention at the http://mark-reviews-movies.tripod.com/features/10best/10best2001.htm

10. (Tie) Monsters, Inc. and Shrek
Two superior examples of family films technically make this a list of eleven and have something for everyone. Although they are creatively and technically equal, they couldn’t be more dramatically different. Pete Docter’s Monsters, Inc. is a sweet, tender, undeniably cute comedy about two monsters trying to hide a "deadly" little girl, while Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson’s Shrek is an edgy, pop-culture laced, occasionally ribald comedy about a lovable ogre on a quest for solitude. Both contain imaginative worlds and characters and allow these to provide more than ample humor. Both show huge technical leaps in the art of computer animation. Both have perfectly relevant themes. Shrek exceeds the boundaries of "kid’s" movies with universal and wicked humor; Monsters, Inc. exceeds them with a surprisingly touching central relationship. Both are an unadulterated joy to experience.

9. Panic
For his debut, Henry Bromell wrote and directed this film about the mid-life crisis of a hit man played by the incomparable William H. Macy. Panic is alternately quirky and poignant but somehow always genuine. The premise may be a familiar one nowadays, but Bromell allows his characters to simply exist and play out their lives without the convention of a solid plot. Ultimately, it’s about the sins of the father passing onto the son and one man’s desire to break free of a lifetime of psychological abuse in order to save his son. Macy captures this internal struggle, and Donald Sutherland plays the demon of the father with a deeply unsettling calm. This is one of the prime examples of a great film stuck in the limbo of obscurity and extremely limited release.

8. The Royal Tenenbaums
Wes Anderson has only made three films, and he’s already established himself as a respected filmmaker--a director whose future works we should anticipate with eager hearts and open minds. With The Royal Tenenbaums he’s made a masterful, heartfelt, and distinctly American comedy, combining elements of screwball humor and wit. The dysfunctional family of geniuses, much like J.D. Salinger’s Glass family, is not the target of ridicule, but instead the script by Anderson and Owen Wilson allows the characters to grow from extreme types into human beings we sincerely care about. A great ensemble cast, led by Gene Hackman’s patriarchal screw-up, holds it all together. The purely bittersweet tone of the film just feels right as the atypical American family falls apart and comes back together--usually at the same time.

7. Waking Life
A revolutionary achievement in animated films, Waking Life is bursting with energy and thought. Pop philosophy and brilliant images are combined to bring a wholly unique and surprisingly engaging experience. Abandoning almost all traces of traditional plot structure, writer/director Richard Linklater gives us an episodic series of debates and discussions about the nature of dreams, society, violence, life, art, and death. The conversations and monologues range from intellectually stimulating to genuinely frightening, and they are all fascinating. The animation is dreamlike with characters and backdrops changing at will. Shot on digital and then essentially drawn over and colored in with a technique called "rotoscoping," the film was created on ordinary computers. This groundbreaking technology adds another intriguing possibility to the already countless available to modern filmmakers--especially independent filmmakers.

6. A Beautiful Mind
Russell Crowe drops his intense, fiery persona to give a brilliantly authentic and subtly rich performance in Ron Howard’s grand, uncompromising Hollywood drama. At heart, A Beautiful Mind is a biopic. Yes, some parts of mathematician John Nash’s are glossed over or ignored, but the screenplay by Akiva Goldsman has no pretense that the film is a wholly accurate portrayal of his life. Even so, it still manages find the arc of one man’s life and present his faults in an honest, respectful way. The film gives the sense of a full life passing by and also serves as an engrossing and disturbing study of schizophrenia. Jennifer Connelly more than holds her own as Nash’s long-suffering wife, and the combination of these two indelible performances makes for a heartbreaking and sincere look at the price at which love sometimes comes.

5. Gosford Park
This is not your typical Anglophile’s murder mystery, and like most great films, it defies convention and categorization. Gosford Park weaves a rich tapestry of characters and class as the aristocracy of Britain slowly and stubbornly breathes its death rattle. At times a comedy of manners, the film is intriguing in the way it observes and mocks the social system at hand. The murder in question is the least important thing to happen in the film, and its purpose is more crucial in terms of symbolism than plotting. Robert Altman’s film is about a specific time and place. It’s about its characters and the way everything to which they have become accustomed will slowly fade away. An outstanding ensemble cast manages to create characters that simultaneously serve as caricatures for the allegory and richly developed people for the human drama.

4. Moulin Rouge
The movie musical makes a triumphant return with Baz Luhrmann’s flashy and melodramatic spectacle. Moulin Rouge relies on big emotions and basic storytelling but somehow transcends this simplicity with its intelligent and innovative assortment of pop songs. The film is stylistically strong and varied without becoming overbearing. Instead of assaulting us with a barrage of images the entire time, Luhrmann makes distinct choices. Some of the song and dance sequences are cut like a music video, while others are far more restrained. The theatrical performances are on the mark, and the actors are more than prepared for their big singing numbers. Nicole Kidman shines as Satine, the sickly courtesan, in a performance that solidifies her star status. It’s a thoroughly involving, audacious, and polarizing experience, which is destined to become a cult classic and perhaps revive the genre itself.

3. Memento
Christopher Nolan’s ingenious revenge thriller certainly uses a gimmick, but a great part of its success is that it is not controlled by it. There’s method behind Memento’s reverse-ordered confusion. As each new scene unfolds, we realize that we have no way to place it. When we see the following scene, the scene before it makes sense, but there’s still something missing until we see the next scene. Multiple viewings not only clear up the plot details but also help illuminate something deeper under the surface. Guy Pearce is given an extremely difficult task, playing a man whom, in all reality, we should have no emotional connection, but his performance is utterly compelling, intense, and sympathetic. Underneath all the lies and deceptions is the tragic study of man-turned-machine--an honest and human look at the futility of revenge.

2. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The big Hollywood epic was absent from view until mid-December when The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring rolled into theaters, and it completely filled the void. A grandly realized, fiercely executed work, Fellowship seemed destined to crumble under expectations, but it not only lives up to them, it exceeds them. Director Peter Jackson has delivered the kind of film that works on multiple levels. Full of rich landscapes, developed and developing characters, intense action sequences, and impressive special effects, here’s the kind of film big budgets were meant for. So it doesn’t have a clear conclusion--that’s the point. This is only the beginning, and this installment stands on its own and establishes itself as an instant classic. That it promises two more chapters within the next two years is only the icing on the cake.

1. A.I. Artificial Intelligence
One of the most anticipated ventures of the year and a film that took me two viewings to fully appreciate, A.I. Artificial Intelligence is the most ambitious film to be released this year. It’s not only visionary; it has a heart, a soul, and a brain. Perhaps it’s not the experience that everyone expected it to be, but Steven Spielberg has created something timeless--a film that will last--and solidifies his role as auteur. The special effects are perhaps the best I have ever seen, and a young actor named Haley Joel Osment holds the weight of his difficult character on his shoulders, giving the best performance of any actor this year. Many have complained about its "happy" ending, but I argue it’s better described as hopeful and bittersweet. Either way, it’s given us something to ponder, argue, and discuss for years to come, and that is a rarity for Hollywood these days.

 

[Joel Turpin]

A top ten and bottom five to add to the list. This is a much better group than I anticipated in mid-year:

1Le Fableaux Destin du Amelie Poulian

2Lord of the Rings:Fellowship of the Ring

3Memento

4A.I.

5Moulin Rouge

6Mulholland Drive

7Royal Tennenbaums

8The Man Who Wasn't There

9Shrek

10A Beautiful Mind

5Princess Diaries, The

4Serendipity

3Saving Silverman

2The Wedding Planner

1Tomb Raider

Not many choices for the bottom of the barrel (that I've had the displeasure to view, that is) Heck, if it wasn't for in-flight movies, I'd have missed three of the above five.

Joel

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

Just updated my list...putting Black Hawk Down in the No. 7 spot. Superb film, masterfully crafted.
Black Hawk Down:star: :star: :star: 1/2
Bruce

 

[Jim Tressler]

I see many people bashing American Pie 2.. I laughed my a@@ off on that one.. Funny as heck!!!!

Jim

 

[Josh_Hill]

Hell yes! I loved AP2 as well. I havent laughed so hard in a while!

 

[JohnS]

Ok. Made a change to replace Enemy at the Gates with Lost and Delirious.
Alos put up a bottom top 10(11-20 list)

 

[Shad R]

OH BOY! I'm ready to bashed, but here goes...

10. Pearl Harbor

9. American Pie 2

8. Rat Race

7. Rush Hour 2

6. The Others

5. Snatch

4. Monsters Inc.

3. Fast and the Furious

2. Shrek

1. LORD OF THE RINGS:FELLOWSHIP OF THE RINGS

Sorry, I like popcorn flicks!

The worst...

JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK...what the hell was kevin Smith thinking???!!!!! I love his movies, but this?

 

[Matthew Chmiel]

5. Snatch

Snatch was released at the end of 2000 in NY/LA to qualify for the Oscars, so it's a 2000 movie, and not 2001.

 

[Dana Fillhart]

I've updated my list to reflect my overall 2001 movies list; Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone moved down 2 notches from #9 to #11, and in its place I put In the Bedroom.

 

[Mike_Ped]

Best:

1) Black Hawk Down

2) Memento

3) A Beautiful Mind

4) Moulin Rouge

5) Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

6) Spy Game

7) Monster's Inc. (sorry, really enjoyed that one!)

8) Shrek

9) Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

Only nine...I didn't see as many movies as I would have liked too and these are all the movies that I saw that deserve to be on this list.

Worst:

1) Apocolypse Now:REDUX - (While the original version is a very good movie, the extended version was unneccesarily lllooonnnggggg.....

2) Driven

3) Plant of the Apes

4) Behind Enemy Lines - (While it "looked" good, the movie was just too unbelievable)

5) Tomb Raider

Mike

 

[Craig S]

I've updated my list a couple of times over the past week. Black Hawk Down & In The Bedroom pushed Shrek & Vanilla Sky out of my Top Ten.

 

[John Thomas]

Snatch was released at the end of 2000 in NY/LA to qualify for the Oscars, so it's a 2000 movie, and not 2001

I'm getting that it was only released in LA in 2000 (only on in 1 theater in 2000 in the US); I can't find anywhere that it was released in NY in 2000.
12/6/2000 @ LA; 1/19/2001 wide. Anyway, I've got it down in my 2001 list - just don't want to change it.

 

[Dean DeMass]

BEST
1. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowsip of the Ring
2. Memento
3. A.I.
4. Moulin Rouge
5. Black Hawk Down
6. Monster's Inc.
7. Harry Potter
7. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
9. Enemy at the Gates
10. Hannibal
(updated to add Black Hawk Down)
There are several films I have yet to see for 2001.
WORST
1. Driven
2. 3000 Miles to Graceland
3. Tomb Raider
4. The Planet of the Apes
5. Final Fantasy

 

[Matthew Chmiel]

Well anyway, Snatch is in my top ten worst films of 2000. I liked the film better when it was called Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels.
I did a little format change to my list and added Princess and the Warrior, The to my honerable mentions (at #11).

 

[Dean DeMass]

Updated my Top 10 to add Black Hawk Down, which pushes Shrek out of the Top 10.

-Dean-

 

[John Thomas]

Well anyway, Snatch is in my top ten worst films of 2000.

I'm sorry to hear that. Entertainment Weekly’s Owen Gleiberman would agree with you (to a degree). He put Snatch on his worst of 2001 list.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Updated with Lantana, slipping in at #5 and pushing Ghost World out of the top ten.

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

Updated with Hedwig and the Angry Inch settling into the 8th spot. I didn't really "love" the film...I found it very well done and entertaining...but, it was too original and real to leave out.
Bruce