Film Revisionism: Your Top 10 For the Past 13 Years

C

Cena's Little Helper

Mid-Card Championship Winner
My main man Benjamin Franklin once said that the only certainties in this world are death and taxes. Another certainty, in my humble opinion, is that a film's appreciation will change over time. With this thread I intend to look at the most critically-acclaimed and/or financially successful films from the years 1997-2009. For each year, I will post links for box-office hauls and BAFTA, Academy Award, and National Board of Review nominations. Additionally, for each year, I will list those films that competed at Cannes and those films that Roger Ebert included in his year-end top 10 list. From these lists and from your own knowledge of film from a given year, I want you to post your own top 10 list that must take into account the reputation these films have acquired throughout the years since their release. We'll start with 1997:

1997 In Review​

Linked: Top 100 Grossing Films*
*Many films were re-released in 1997, most notably the Star Wars trilogy. Any film re-released or re-issued in 1997 should not be considered for your top 10 list.

Linked: Films Receiving BAFTA Nominations**
**Romeo + Juliet received multiple BAFTA nominations for the 1997 ceremony. Since it was theatrically released the years before in the US, it should not be considered for your top 10 list.

Linked: Films Receiving Academy Award Nominations

Linked: National Board of Review Nominations

Films Competing at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival
12 Storeys by Eric Khoo
A, B, C... Manhattan by Amir Naderi
After Sex by Brigitte Roüan
Akrebin Yolculuğu by Ömer Kavur
American Perfekt by Paul Chart
Assassin(s) by Mathieu Kassovitz
The Banned Woman by Philippe Harel
Brat by Aleksei Balabanov
The Brave by Johnny Depp
La Buena Estrella by Ricardo Franco
La Cruz by Alejandro Agresti
Happy Together by Wong Kar-wai
East Palace, West Palace by Zhang Yuan
The Eel by Shohei Imamura
The End of Violence by Wim Wenders
Funny Games by Michael Haneke
Gudia by Gautam Ghose
Happy Together by Wong Kar-wai
Histoire(s) du cinéma by Jean-Luc Godard
The House by Šarūnas Bartas
The Ice Storm by Ang Lee
In the Company of Men by Neil LaBute
Inside/Out by Rob Tregenza
Kini and Adams by Idrissa Ouedraogo
L.A. Confidential by Curtis Hanson
Love and Death on Long Island by Richard Kwietniowski
Marcello Mastroianni: I Remember by Anna Maria Tatò
Marius and Jeannette by Robert Guédiguian
Mrs. Brown by John Madden
Nil by Mouth by Gary Oldman
The Prince of Homburg by Marco Bellocchio
Private Confessions by Liv Ullmann
The Serpent's Kiss by Philippe Rousselot
She's So Lovely by Nick Cassavetes
Sunday by Jonathan Nossiter
The Sweet Hereafter by Atom Egoyan
Taste of Cherry by Abbas Kiarostami
The Truce by Francesco Rosi
Welcome to Sarajevo by Michael Winterbottom
The Well by Samantha Lang
Western by Manuel Poirier
Wind Echoing in My Being by Jeon Soo-il
The Witman Boys by János Szász

Roger Ebert's Ten Best Films of 1997
1. Eve's Bayou
2. The Sweet Hereafter
3. Boogie Nights
4. Maborosi
5. Jackie Brown
6. Fast, Cheap and Out of Control
7. L. A. Confidential
8. In the Company of Men
9. Titanic
10. Wag the Dog

Here's My Top 10 List for 1997:

1) Titanic: Though not my favorite film of 1997, Titanic is a timeless love story reminiscent of Hollywood's golden age, not to mention an amazing cinematic achievement. Besides Robert Zemeckis, there's no other Hollywood director I respect more than James Cameron.

2) Happy Together: My favorite film of 1997 and perhaps one of my favorite films of all time. About a gay couple from Hong Kong who take a trip to Argentina to salvage their relationship, Happy Together tackles the loneliness one feels during an extended stay in a foreign land and the relief intimate familiarity brings to one in such circumstances. All of this is to say that Happy Together is much better and came before Lost in Translation.

3) Funny Games: Not Michael Haneke's best film but still better than almost every other film released in 1997 and definitely the film that marked the beginning of his path to the world's greatest living European auteur.

4) Boogie Nights: The film that inspired me to create this thread and, in my opinion, one of the two greatest American independent films ever made (along with Pulp Fiction). John Cassavetes might be the father of American independent cinema but he never made a film as good as Boogie Nights and almost every US indie film made after Boogie Nights is laughable in comparison.

5) In the Company of Men: I don't know what happened to Neil LaBute the filmmaker (maybe he sold out so he could finance/concentrate on his plays) but In the Company of Men was a hell of a debut and one of my favorite films for many years. Many films have tried to emulate the sincere and unabashed mean-spiritedness of In the Company of Men but I don't think any have ever succeeded save for LaBute's own The Shape of Things.

6) As Good As It Gets: The last great film James L. Brooks made before he ruined his reputation with Spanglish. Also, Greg Kinnear losing to Robin Williams for Best Supporting Actor is the greatest Oscar travesty behind Shakespeare in Love winning Best Picture over Saving Private Ryan, Life is Beautiful and Roberto Benigni being nominated (and winning for that matter) anything, and Adrian Brody beating Daniel Day-Lewis for Best Actor.

7) Cop Land: What can I say? I love movies where patronized protagonists with low self-esteem and dashed dreams refuse to compromise their values.

8) Starship Troopers: An excellent blockbuster that came out when R-rated films rarely performed well at the box-office. If this film came out today it would have broken $200 million at the domestic box-office. As great as his films are, Paul Verhoeven was born about 30 years too early to be a Hollywood great.

There are other films that I enjoy from this period but I don't think any of them are as significant as the ones I've just mentioned. I'll stop here.
 
1) Boogie Nights - No brainer. Easily a top ten favorite of mine period, let alone top 10 favorite from the year 1997. I will always be a massive Paul Thomas Anderson fan because of this film and Magnolia alone. While I enjoyed The Master and There Will Be Blood, I sincerely wish he would go back to making movies like this. Anyway, Boogie Nights is as much fun as you could ever have watching a film... it contains a little bit of everything. And personally, I think you can make the argument that the drug deal gone bad/fireworks scene very well may be the greatest scene in movie history. I love this film with all my heart.

2) Good Will Hunting - Another favorite of mine. Brilliant performances all around in this one, with a heart tugging script that leaves a permanent mark in your head forever. It's funny, sweet, thoughtful, intelligent... pretty much any compliment you can think of you could perhaps say it about this film.

3) Jackie Brown - I'm a gigantic Quentin Tarantino fan and even though Jackie Brown is in my bottom favorites from him, it's still a film I love very deeply and one I believe deserves all the respect in the World. The dialogue is every bit as sharp and witty as all of his other films, as is the suspense.

4) As Good as It Gets - Probably my 3rd favorite performance from good ol' Jack Nicholson. He was brilliant in this and perhaps made the movie better than it should have been. Not to mention I'm a sucker for small dogs, so of course I adored the dog storyline in this film on top of everything.

5) A Better Place - Very low budget independent film released by Kevin Smith's View Askew Productions. I think it's by far the best View Askew movie not directed by Smith himself. It's thought provoking all throughout and has a shocking ending, not to mention awesome performances by the two male leads, especially by the highly underrated Eion Bailey.

6) The Devil's Advocate - Al Pacino's most underrated performance ever. Perhaps Charlize Theron's as well. The final 15 minutes are what really make this movie though. Completely unpredictable and just an absolutely shocking spiel from Pacino in which you really believe he transforms into the devil.

7) The Ice Storm - Ang Lee's first American film and one that would pretty much set the tone for the rest. Could be very uncomfortable at times, but it's loaded with admirable performances, an intriguing script, and wonderful direction.

8) Donnie Brasco - It's really hard to make a good undercover cop movie, but of course how could this ever go wrong with Al Pacino and Johnny Depp staring? It couldn't, and it didn't.

9) Liar Liar - Even though it's a guilty pleasure, it has to make my list. It's the only movie on my list that I actually saw at the theater. I loved it as a preteen, and surprisingly watching it again about a year or so ago, it still holds up pretty damn well. Yeah, it's cheesy and predictable, but regardless it's a great family film and Jim Carrey has some of the best physical comedy in it that you'll ever witness.

10) Rainy Dog - Your typical Takashi Miike gangster movie. Not as special as his top efforts, but still very good regardless.



Let me add that I'm not including Titanic to be a snob or to act like it's not a great movie... it is, and it's definitely better than a few films on my list. However, I did then, and I still do now fucking DESPISE the present day scenes. It's completely unnecessary and makes the movie much longer than it should have been. You cut the present day scenes out of the picture, it probably ends up being #2 on my list, however with them I contain resentment for the movie since it really drags it down for me. And since I'm going to do these lists as top 10 favorites instead of best, I had to stay true to myself and leave it off.
 
1. Boogie Nights- I'm always torn between Fear and Boogie Nights for my favorite Mark Wahlberg performance, but I still love this film. It's a risqué drama, that gives you a behind the scenes look at the porn industry, and PTA did a wonderful job of capturing the landscape and lifestyle of 70's pornstars. And the supporting cast was just excellent. Julianne Moore, Heather Graham, Burt Reynolds, John C. Reilly, and a few others I'm forgetting. Boogie Nights is a shining example for the "perfect movie."

2. L.A. Confidential- A compelling and absorbing crime drama, that features a great cast. When you think about great films of the 90's, you can't forget about L.A. Confidential.

3. Good Will Hunting- The plot is predictable, but the story packs a powerful emotional punch with a few sweet and tender moments here and there. Good Will Hunting features two great performances from Matt Damon and Robin Williams. Ben is damn good (in fact, his performance in this film kind of mirrors the Doug character in The Town), but he's overshadowed by Williams and Damon.

4. Jackie Brown- A great comeback film for Pam Grier, and Jackie Brown really works as a homage to 70's Blaxploitation films and a crime drama.

5. As Good As It Gets- Helen Hunt still annoys me to this day, but Greg Kinnear is fantastic in the supporting role. Jack is just amazing in this film. Melvin is such an unlikeable asshole, but Jack adds a certain charm to this character, and you can't help but feel sympathy for him towards the end.

6. Titanic This is a begrudging pick for me. Titanic is a wonderful film (featuring my favorite Kate Winslet performance ever), but fuck me it's a torturous film to sit through. I saw it once as a kid in theaters, once on VHS, another time on DVD, and that's it. I haven't sat through this film from beginning to end in YEARS, and I always switch to something else after watching it for a few minutes on HBO or Cinemax.

7. Donnie Brasco- Al Pacino and Johnny Depp shared some great chemistry together, and Michael Madsen was he perfect choice for Sonny Black. Plus, Donnie Brasco features one of the most bittersweet endings you'll ever see.

8. The Game- A gripping and suspenseful thriller, that keeps you guessing until the very end. The Game is a real mind-fuck, and atmospherically creepy most of the time. Two strong performances from Michael Douglas and Sean Penn, and The Game is one of David Fincher's most underrated films as a director.

9. Scream 2- Good horror sequels (especially for slasher films) are rare, but Scream 2 is a great follow-up to the original. The jokes are funnier, the intro with Jada Pinkett and Omar Epps is one of the best in the series, and Craven is still sharp behind the camera here.

10. I Know What You Did Last Summer- Nice thrills, some gore, and good humor, I Know What You Did Last Summer is a well-made teen slasher flick. I enjoyed the sequel, but they should've stopped after Still.
 
1998 In Review​

Linked: Top 100 Grossing Films*
*Don't count re-releases such as Grease.

Linked: Films Receiving BAFTA Nominations**
**Do not count Wag the Dog.

Linked: Films Receiving Academy Award Nominations

Linked: National Board of Review Nominations

Films Competing at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival
All the Little Animals by Jeremy Thomas (opened theatrically in 1999; do not count here)
The Apostle by Robert Duvall (opened theatrically in 1997; do not count here)
The Apple by Samira Makhmalbaf
Aprile by Nanni Moretti
August 32nd on Earth by Denis Villeneuve
The Celebration by Thomas Vinterberg
Claire Dolan by Lodge Kerrigan
Class Trip by Claude Miller
Dance Me to My Song by Rolf de Heer
The Dreamlife of Angels by Erick Zonca
Eternity and a Day by Theodoros Angelopoulos
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Terry Gilliam
Flowers of Shanghai by Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Foolish Heart by Héctor Babenco
For Sale by Laetitia Masson
The General by John Boorman
The Gospel of the Marvels by Arturo Ripstein
Henry Fool by Hal Hartley
The Hole by Tsai Ming-liang (opened theatrically in 1999; do not count here)
The Idiots by Lars von Trier
Illuminata by John Turturro (opened theatrically in 1999; do not count here)
The Impostors by Stanley Tucci
In the Presence of a Clown by Ingmar Bergman (opened theatrically in 1997; do not count here)
Island, Alicia by Ken Yunome
Khrustalyov, My Car! by Aleksei German
Killer by Darezhan Omirbaev
Leaf on a Pillow by Garin Nugroho
Life is Beautiful by Roberto Benigni
Little Tony by Alex van Warmerdam
Louise (Take 2) by Siegfried
Love is the Devil by John Maybury
Lulu on the Bridge by Paul Auster
The Man Who Couldn't Open Doors by Paul Arden
The Mutants by Teresa Villaverde
My Name Is Joe by Ken Loach
One Evening After the War by Rithy Panh
Passion by György Fehér
Places in Cities by Angela Schanelec
The Power of Kangwon Province by Hong Sang-soo
Rehearsals for War by Mario Martone
River of Gold by Paulo Rocha
The School of Flesh by Benoît Jacquot
The Shoe by Laila Pakalniņa
Tell Me I'm Dreaming by Claude Mouriéras
Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train by Patrice Chéreau
Tokyo Eyes by Jean-Pierre Limosin
Velvet Goldmine by Todd Haynes
La vendedora de rosas by Víctor Gaviria
Zero Effect by Jake Kasdan

Roger Ebert's Ten Best Films of 1997
1. Dark City
2. Pleasantville
3. Saving Private Ryan
4. A Simple Plan
5. Happiness
6. Elizabeth
7. Babe: Pig in the City
8. Shakespeare in Love
9. Life is Beautiful
10. Primary Colors

Here's My Top 10 List for 1998:

1) American History X: I thought this was the best film of 1998 when I first saw it in 1999 and I still think it's the best film to come out that year. Even with Daniel Day-Lewis's renaissance Edward Norton's Derek Vineyard remains the greatest performance of the past 20 years. In hindsight, 1998 was a damn good year for film. We rarely think of 1998 as such since AMPAS, one of the arbiters of film greatness, gave Oscars to some of the most undeserving and forgettable people to ever be nominated (the prime example being Roberto Benigni who beat out four actors much more deserving actors).

2) The Thin Red Line: One of the best war films of all time and arguably the greatest film about World War II ever made. Yes, it's even better than Saving Private Ryan, something I will touch on later in this post.

3) There's Something About Mary: My favorite romantic comedy and a film that, if seen today, makes you pine for what Ben Stiller and Cameron Diaz used to be (or at least what they pretended to be on screen). Was it ego that made Stiller transition from lovable underdog roles to ones featuring him as a sarcastic asshole? In the case of Cameron Diaz, well, she never really was the girl next door this film made us believe she was.

4) Pleasantville: Yes, it's a bit overly sentimental at times but I can't think of a film outside of Terrence Malick's oeuvre that has had such breathtaking cinematography and production design. Without its mawkish tone and its uncreative and boring setup, Pleasantville would have been an instant classic.

5) Dark City: I probably should rate this film as number one given its originality and creativity but I can't help but sigh when I think of what Alex Proyas (this film's director) has become. Had he not taken the route of long breaks between films and choosing to opt for blockbusters with Will Smith and Nicholas Cage, Proyas would be just as highly regarded as the next man I'm going to talk about.

6) Pi: I still remember MTV covering Darren Aronofsky shortly after winning Sundance's Directing Award and how I couldn't wait to see this film when it hit theaters. Thankfully, I wasn't disappointed and I eagerly awaited to see what kind of mark Aronofsky would make on the world of cinema. Unfortunately, after Pi, Aronofsky turned into an over-hyped, wannabe auteur who has only managed to put out one other great movie in Black Swan. While he certainly buys into the praise his adulators lavish upon him, I was glad to hear that both Christian Bale and Michael Fassbender didn't and that they passed on his upcoming film, Noah.

7) The Celebration: When I first saw The Celebration as an older teenager, I dismissed it as a dumb, pretentious Danish film that took instruction from Dogme 95, a film manifesto co-written by Thomas Vinterburg, The Celebration's director, and Lars Von Trier, the categorically terrible filmmaker best known for having ceaseless aspirations to become cinema's premier iconoclast. Fortunately, I saw this film for a second time after engaging in a debate over its merits and my opinion changed for the better. This is a must-see for anyone who considers themselves knowledgeable about foreign film. Be forewarned though that this is an unsettling, cringe-inducing film that relies solely on the horror of words.

8) Rounders: What the fuck happened to Edward Norton's career? What the fuck happened to Matt Damon's career for that matter? I want to see Damon go back to gritty dramas like this one, not writing shitty, politically-motivated movies with John Krasinski.

9) Affliction: This film featured a career-performance from Nick Nolte, a man that has been tragically overlooked throughout his career. I could've lived with Edward Norton losing out Nick Nolte.

10) Saving Private Ryan: When it comes to the depiction of actual World War II combat, no film has ever topped Saving Private Ryan. On the other hand, almost all World War II films have topped what happens between the beginning and end of Saving Private Ryan. Although Terrence Malick and The Thin Red Line should have respectively taken home Best Director and Best Picture at the 1998 Academy Awards (given the choice of nominees), Shakespeare In Love had no business winning Best Picture over any of the other contenders (save for the dreadfully stupid Life is Beautiful).
 
1. American History X- Edward Norton was robbed of an Oscar. The character was written to perfection, and Norton gives a once in a lifetime performance. Shocking, disturbing, and the entire film packs one hell of an emotional punch.

2. Dark City- I think I was eighteen or nineteen, and I accidentally ran across this on TNT one day years ago. Was hooked in from beginning to end, IMMEDIATELY ran out and bought the DVD afterwards, and since then I've fallen in love with this film. The backdrop of a creepy and eerie sci-fi world smoothly blends in with a stylish neo-noir story. Dark City is visually stunning film, but I think it's another one of those "love it or hate it" films.

3. Saving Private Ryan- Powerful, raw, and you can never shake the strong sense of realism in Ryan. Tom Hanks gives us the excepted strong performance, and before all of his personal problems got too bad, Tom Sizemore was pretty damn good here. I'll never forget the scene, where one of the soldiers threatens to leave, because he's sick of risking his life searching for Ryan, and Sizemore pulls a gun on him:

The solider- "What? You're gonna shoot me because of Ryan?"

Sizemore- "No. I'm gonna shoot you, because I don't like you."

4. The Thin Red Line- Not the biggest Terrance Malick fan in the world, but The Thin Red Line is a great war film, there's no denying it.

5. Pi- Ambitious and exhilarating. Pi isn't my favorite Aronofsky film, but I mainly remember it, because it was the first Aronofsky film a friend brought to my attention years ago.

6. The Big Lebowski- I know a lot of The Coen's films are labeled as overrated and undeserving Oscar winners, but The Big Levowski shouldn't be grouped in with the pack. The Big Lebowski features two memorable and hilarious performances from Jeff Bridges and John Goodman, and it's one of the few comedies I can still watch years later and laugh my ass off every time.

7. There's Something About Mary- Loved it as a kid, but I've kind soured on Mary over the years. And yeah, the constant spoofing and "do you remember that!" for the hair gel scene really annoys me.

8. The Faculty- The biased side of me would put this film at #1, but I know it's not that good. I can't not count the number of times I've watched this movie over the years, and The Faculty will always have a special spot on my list of favorite horror comedies. Great cast, and it's just a lot of fun from start to finish.

9. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later- A bittersweet pick for me, because the epic turd known as Halloween: Resurrection was the follow up for this film. Jamie Lee Curtis' return came at the right time, because the Halloween franchise was sort of going through the motions until this point. And to top it off, you had Josh Hartnett AND Michelle Williams in the same cast. Sucks a young Joesph Gordon-Levitt had to die so soon.

Anyway, Resurrection could've been the perfect resurgence film. I mean, you bring back Jamie Lee Curtis, and Steve Miner was the right choice for director (the same man, who directed Friday The 13th Part II and Part III), but of course, they took a massive dump on any chances for a resurrection (no pun intended) with the next film. Ugh, still bothers me today.

10. BASEketball- Yeah, I thought about leaving it off, but I just couldn't. As expected, Matt and Trey were hilarious together on screen, but oddly enough, Dian Bachar (Squeak/Little Bitch) is probably the funniest character in the entire movie.

I was tempted to put Armageddon on here as a guilty pleasure, but I can't put any Michael Bay film on a top ten list, and live with myself. And the same thing goes for the Godzilla remake (with the exception of Bay of course), especially when I can think of better choices. I still love that film, though.
 
1) American History X - Agreed with Tdigle and Mitch 100% on this one. Tremendous film that contains one of the best performances we'll ever see in cinema. It's a true shame Edward Norton didn't get his Oscar for this portrayal.

2) The Truman Show - Jim Carrey's finest hour; he was brilliant, as was Ed Harris. The entire movie was damn brilliant. It really was ahead of its time too. This was right before the reality tv explosion and man did this movie get it right or what?

3) Out of Sight - My favorite movie from Steven Soderbergh, who I'm a big fan of. Simply one of the most well done "sexy thrillers" you'll ever see.

4) Rounders - Never will you see a movie so thrilling revolved around playing cards, lol. But seriously, awesome flick. Matt Damon and Edward Norton are at their best here. And like The Truman Show, this movie came out and then boom... a couple of years later The World Series of Poker became more popular than ever on ESPN, and I personally believe this movie had everything to do with that.

5) Happiness - The only movie Todd Solondz that I really dig, but man... I dig it a LOT. Hilarious and extremely disturbing; just the perfect blend for a true dark comedy.

6) Pleasantville - I think this is as creative and magical as a movie could ever hope to be, especially one geared towards adults.

7) Saving Private Ryan - This film's biggest attribute is also its biggest flaw... the first 15 minutes. The first 15 minutes or so of Saving Private Ryan is some of the greatest imagery, suspense, and action ever put to film, but it makes it impossible for the rest of the movie to live up to that opening sequence. Regardless, it's still a great movie and one of Spielberg's best.

8) What Dreams May Come - Perhaps my favorite movie ever done on the afterlife. Heartbreaking and magical, and contains one of Robin Williams best performances.

9) Dark City - Mind-boggling flick where the ending leaves you breathless. Couldn't ask for more from a mystery sci-fi movie.

10) Dead Man on Campus - Just one random day my mom bought me into Blockbuster, and I decided to buy this on VHS just because it starred Zack Morris. And I ended up loving it to the point of watching it over, over, and over again the next couple of years or so. Truly I believe one of the most underrated comedies of all time.
 
1999 In Review*
*1999 was an excellent year for film. Please feel free to put up to 15 films on your list.​

Linked: Top 100 Grossing Films**
**Don't count re-releases.

Linked: Films Receiving BAFTA Nominations***
***Don't count The Celebration or Run Lola Run

Linked: Films Receiving Academy Award Nominations

Linked: National Board of Review Nominations

Films Competing at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival
8½ Women by Peter Greenaway
All About My Mother by Pedro Almodóvar
As Bodas de Deus by João César Monteiro
Away with Words by Christopher Doyle
Beautiful People by Jasmin Dizdar
Beresina, or the Last Days of Switzerland by Daniel Schmid
Cradle Will Rock by Tim Robbins
The Emperor and the Assassin by Chen Kaige (released theatrically in 1998; do not count here)
Felicia's Journey by Atom Egoyan
Genesis by Cheick Oumar Sissoko
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai by Jim Jarmusch
Harem Suare by Ferzan Özpetek
Humanité by Bruno Dumont
If I Give You my Humbleness, Don't Take Away my Pride by Karin Westerlund
Judy Berlin by Eric Mendelsohn
Kaizokuban Bootleg Film by Kobayashi Masahiro
Kadosh by Amos Gitai
Kikujiro by Takeshi Kitano
The Letter by Manoel de Oliveira
Limbo by John Sayles
Love Will Tear Us Apart by Nelson Yu Lik-wai
March of Happiness by Lin Chen-Sheng
Moloch by Alexander Sokurov
Nadia and the Hippos by Dominique Cabrera
The Nanny by Marco Bellocchio
New Dawn by Émilie Deleuze
No One Writes to the Colonel by Arturo Ripstein
Olympic Garage by Marco Bechis
The Other by Youssef Chahine
Our Happy Lives by Jacques Maillot
The Passengers by Jean-Claude Guiguet
The Personals by Chen Kuo-Fu (released theatrically in 1998; do no count here)
Pola X by Leos Carax
Ratcatcher by Lynne Ramsay
Rosetta by Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
The Shade by Raphael Nadjari
Sicilia! by Jean-Marie Straub, Danièle Huillet
So Close to Paradise by Wang Xiaoshuai (released theatrically in 1998; do not count here)
The Straight Story by David Lynch
Tales of Kish by Abolfazl Jalili, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Nasser Taghvai
Throne of Death by Murali Nair
Time Regained by Raúl Ruiz
Vanaprastham by Shaji N. Karun
The Winslow Boy by David Mamet
Wonderland by Michael Winterbottom

Roger Ebert's Ten Best Films of 1998
1. Being John Malkovich
2. Magnolia
3. Three Kings
4. Boys Don't Cry
5. Bringing Out the Dead
6. Princess Mononoke
7. The War Zone
8. American Beauty
9. Topsy-Turvy
10. The Insider

Here's My Top 10 List for 1999:

1, TIE) Being John Malkovich: The most creative, original, and hilariously weird film I've ever seen. The rise in popularity of alternative comedy over the past decade (namely Adult Swim) owes everything to Being John Malkovich. This film is a milestone in absurdist humor and neither Spike Jonze nor Charlie Kaufman have been able to top it (yet).

1, TIE) The Matrix: I love Being John Malkovich and although it's no slouch in terms of its influence, The Matrix is unarguably the most important film to be released in the last 15 years. The Matrix revolutionized studio decision-making in a way that many of us take for granted. Without The Matrix and its success, there wouldn't be ANY R-rated blockbusters without the involvement of Michael Bay and without the likes of a Bruce Willis, Harrison Ford, or Nicolas Cage (who are all now extremely washed-up action stars), Fox would have greatly tampered with the edgy vision of Bryan Singer's X-Men, and Christopher Nolan wouldn't be a household name since Joel Schumacher would still be helming the Batman franchise.

3) American Beauty: Time hasn't been kind to American Beauty; in retrospect, critics and film buffs alike do not appreciate this film as much as they used to. This is more than likely due to the Great Recession and the aversion many now have to films about middle-class/upper middle-class white people and their existential crises, but I don't buy this bullshit for one minute. If anything, Kevin Spacey's Lester Burnham anticipated what many middle-aged American males now must cope with: the loss of a hated but much-needed job, the inability to connect with a teenaged child firmly entrenched in the Generation Me mindset, and the gradual diminution of a spousal love that once brought forth feelings of empowerment and fearlessness. American Beauty is a timeless classic and there's no valid argument that can say otherwise.

4) I Stand Alone: Gaspar Noe's first feature-length film. Did you really think that I wasn't going to put him up here. To make up for the fact that I'm not taking into account how little known this film, I'm going to include another film here that I personally hate but that must be recognized as an important film.

5) Magnolia: I love Magnolia but not as much as Boogie Nights. Furthermore, I think it slightly overreached in its aims and could have been about 25-35 minutes shorter. Still, this is a great film and much better than anything Paul Thomas Anderson directed afterwards.

6) Fight Club: Oft-quoted and -cited cult classic (I say cult classic here since it wasn't as well-received by critics or audiences until a few years after its initial release). This film was about two to three years ahead of its time and would have been a sure-fire awards magnet has it been released at the time nihilistic humor was in vogue. Then again, without Fight Club, nihilistic humor wouldn't have come into fashion. Let's just say it martyred itself for the greater good of cinema.

7) The Insider: I knew Michael Mann was great before The Insider and went to see this film because of him. It's too bad this wasn't released a year later as it would have swept the Oscars the next year.

8) The Talented Mr. Ripley: Probably the most-snubbed film of 1999. Not only a great film but one that featured, in my opinion, Matt Damon's greatest performance. Matt Damon deserved a Best Actor nomination over Sean Penn in Sweet and Lowdown and The Talented Mr. Ripley should have been nominated for Best Picture over The Cider House Rules. But hey, when you have the Weinsteins as producers, you know they're bound to either suck off or pay off someone at AMPAS for nominations.

9) Audition: Uggggggggghhhh, I can't believe I'm including this piece of shit in my list. Regardless of my personal feelings for it, Audition is considered by those who matter a horror classic, not to mention a harbinger of things to come in the world of horror. Takashi Miike is the closest thing "torture porn" horror has to a godfather and it's well-deserved. Thankfully, many of his later horror films would be much better.

10) Julien Donkey Boy: Another one by Harmony Korine that I love almost as much as Gummo. I'm putting this here since I made a grievous error in not including Gummo in my 1997 list (it would be number two on that list) and since I still need to wash the bad taste of Audition out of my mouth.

11) Office Space: Probably should be higher on my list due to how significant it has become over the years but this is such a good and important year for film.

12) Boys Don't Cry: American Beauty almost became the first film since (the highly, highly overrated) The Silence of the Lambs to win the "Big 5" (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Screenplay) but AMPAS decided to go with Hilary Swank's performance as Brandon Teena. As much as I loved Annette Bening's performance in American Beauty, the Academy got it right in going with Swank instead. Swank's portrayal as Brandon Teena is one of the greatest performance ever to be given by an actress.

13) Election: Great, great black comedy that showcased both Reese Witherspoon's burgeoning acting talents and how Matthew Broderick could have had a renaissance in independent film. Alexander Payne is now one of America's most esteemed filmmakers and rightfully so...it's just too bad that Election couldn't have been considered his first feature-length film instead of Citizen Ruth.

14) American Pie: Damn, I'm almost at the end of my list and still have many films to consider!

15) A tie between Bringing Out the Dead, The Best Man, Dogma, 8 MM, Eyes Wide Shut, South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut!, The Thomas Crown Affair, and Sleepy Hollow: Just too many good films, man.
 
1. The Matrix- The special effects are outdated, and I still hate Revolutions with a burning white hot passion, but The Matrix was a groundbreaking and revolutionary film, and I can still have a blast, when I pop it into the DVD player. An ingenious screenplay is supported by imaginative and thrilling fight sequences, and The Matrix is an easy pick for my #1 spot.

2. Being John Malkovich- A threw up in my mouth a little bit, when I saw Malkovich in Transformers Dark Of The Moon, because you just know he's better than that. A Charlie Kaufman screenplay is GUARANTEED to blow your mind, and make you laugh every now and then, and Being John Malkovich is my favorite film written by Kaufman.

3. Fight Club- Two extraordinary performances from Brad Pitt and Edward Norton, and this film features my favorite Helena Bonham Carter performance ever. It's a twisted, violent, and eccentric drama/comedy. Fincher's stylish directing is just mesmerizing, and the final scene is forever burned in memory: it's the final shot of Norton and Carter holding hands, while they watch the exploding buildings collapse from the windows.

4. Three Kings- A damn near perfect blend of action, comedy, and drama. My second favorite David O. Russell film (The Fighter is still #1), and Clooney, Wahlberg, and Ice Cube form the perfect trio.

5. Magnolia- Kind of low on my totem pole for PTA favorites, but it's kind of hard to forget about Magnolia after you watch it. It's a bold and emotionally draining drama with a superb cast.

6. South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut- Fuck Toy Story 2. South Park is taking the cake in my top ten. Another comedy I can still watch years later after the first time, and still laugh my ass off each time. It's like a longer, bigger, badder, and bolder episode of South Park. And for someone, who usually HATES musicals, I LOVE every single profane musical number in this film ("Blame Canada" still brings a good laugh out of me). Love it or hate, you'll never forget SPBL&U after you watch it. And it's a good thing Comedy Central runs unrated showings of this movie every now and then late at night.

7. October Sky- A wonderful coming-of-age story, fueled by two excellent performances from Jake Gyllenhaal and Chris Cooper in a very believable and emotional father/son rivalry. Damn shame what happened to director Joe Johnston afterwards. He just had to be the man behind the camera for Jurassic Park III, Hidalgo was mediocre at best, and the panning for The Wolfman (2010) nearly ruined his career. But he sort of bounced back with the recent Captain America flick.

8. The Talented Mr. Ripley- Gwyenth Paltrow was actually a very popular actress at one time. Wow how time flies. I mean, the Iron Man/Avengers films are helping her a lot now, but still. Anyway, Matt Damon tears the house down again with another memorable performance. EVERYONE knew he had a bright career after Good Will Hunting, but to follow that up with a performance like this? Simply outstanding.

9. Girl Interrupted- Still can't believe James Mangold is going to direct The Wolverine (and I don't mean that in a good way. man, that trailer is shit.), but whatever. Angelina Jolie has transformed herself into ass-kicking action heroine for the most part, but I'm still a fan of old school Jolie. She is just superb in this film, and Girl Interrupted reminds me Winona Ryder was actually on a fast track to being someone worth watching in Hollywood. You know, before she started shoplifting shit.

10. The Hurricane- An inspirational and powerful sports drama, and you can't go wrong with Denzel in the lead.

11. Mystery Men- An absurd and hilarious "real" superhero comedy. And what the fuck ever happened to Janeane Garofalo?

12. American Pie- One of my first "naughty, because you're too young to watch" movies, so the original American Pie will always have a special place in my heart. Unfortunately, the barrage of shitty straight-to-video films almost ruined this franchise, but I loved American Reunion, though.

13. Office Space- I know it should be higher, but Office Space doesn't really do anything for me now a days. Memorable characters (mainly Lumbergh), but I struggle to laugh and get through this sometimes.

14. Toy Story 2- There's no clear cut choice for the "best" Toy Story film. You could put #3 at the top spot, #2, or the original, and it wouldn't bring a big fuss out of me either way.

15. Sleepy Hollow- One of Depp and Burton's better efforts as a director/actor duo. Beautifully filmed by Burton, dark, creepy, and just the right amount of gore and blood. And yeah, this is one of Christina Ricci's last good films. You know, before she started putting out unwatchable abominations year after year.

I'm not putting American Beauty up here. Loved it as a teen, but can't stand it now. Too many unlikeable, and pretentious douchebag characters.
 
Damn, I have to admit that I'm guilty of never seeing Being John Malkovich. Can't give you an explanation as to why... I just haven't. Held in such high regard by you two though I will definitely now get around to finally seeing it sooner rather than later. But, with that said...

1) The Matrix - Up there with T2 as the greatest Sci-Fi movie ever made. I don't think any film has had quite the affect on the industry as The Matrix did the last 15 years. The sequels sucked ass unfortunately, but that didn't ruin just how incredible the first movie was and how it'll undoubtedly stand the test of time.

2) Magnolia - I expressed my love and admiration for Paul Thomas Anderson earlier with my ranking of Boogie Nights as the #1 movie of 1997, but it's also Magnolia why I think so highly of him. Not quite as good as Boogie Nights, but it's still a masterpiece in my mind. Shocking, humorous, heartbreaking, epic score, and Tom Cruise's best performance are what make this movie as great as it is.

3) South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut - Perhaps my favorite comedy film of all time. It never gets old no matter how many times I've seen it (which is probably more than 2 dozen at this point). And its message still holds relevance today.

4) Election - Awesome little film that that represents the best of American Indy filmmaking. Reese Witherspoon gives an unforgettable performance in it and Matthew Broderick was finally able to shake off his Ferris Buellar image with his terrific performance. Love this movie.

5) American Beauty - Tdigs post said it... when this was first released, American Beauty was hyped up as one of the greatest movies ever, but now it doesn't get nearly the same amount of praise. Personally though, I still think it's highly entertaining and touching. As much as I loved Revolutionary Road, Sam Mendes will never top this.

6) Office Space - Easily Mike Judge's best work outside of Beavis and Butthead.

7) The Green Mile - One of the biggest tearjerker movies ever. No matter how many times I watch it, it still gets to me like I'm some depressed little cunt.

8) Fight Club - Personally, I think it's a tad bit overrated at this point, but regardless of that, it's still a great film with Brad Pitt's performance being one of my favorites ever.

9) Varsity Blues - Now we're in the guilty pleasure zone. I saw this when it was released and it was easily my favorite movie for a good 5 years after it. Today it doesn't quite hold up after Friday Night Lights and just me maturing as a person, but it's still a great time and contains some of the most imitable one-liners in film history.

10) Idle Hands - I end up despising most comedy horrors, but this is the major exception. I adore this movie. Hilarious and unpredictable... Idle Hands is just a blast to sit through no matter how many times I've seen it.
 
My Flickchart is proving very useful at dragging up a Top 10 from what is one of my favourite cinematic years.

1) American Beauty
Hands down my favourite film ever. Funny, tragic, life affirming and with brilliant performances from everyone involved.

2) Magnolia
An incredible piece of work, just astonishing when you properly examine it's complexities.

3) The Green Mile
It's heartbreaking but it's also worth watching just to see Tom Hanks get blown off the screen by a relative unknown.

4) South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
I wasn't able to fully appreciate it at the time but this might end up being one of the best comedies ever made. Not only is it brutally funny & childish but it's a savage criticism of American culture.

5) Girl, Interrupted
The film to remind you of what a bizarre career Angelina Jolie has had. She wins a best actress Oscar for this as a relative unknown with obvious talent, then follows it up with a decade of crap.

6) Toy Story 2
For me this is the point when Pixar really step up with a proper examination of characters and move away from simply telling an entertaining story.

7) Office Space
Mike Judge > Kevin Smith

8) Man on the Moon
The film that changed my opinion of Jim Carey and proved that he can act. It helped that I'm a big fan of Andy Kaufman

9) Dogma
I loved this at the time, it doesn't quite stand up so well these days.

10 Fight Club
The first hour or so is really good but once you start moving towards "Project Mayhem" and the ending, the wheels fall off in a big way until it's just a big stupid mess.

And others that missed out

The Ninth Gate
The Sixth Sense
A Midsummer Night's Dream
The Matrix
 
1) Dazed and Confused
Aside from the fact that it makes for a great drinking game, for some reason I really love this movie. And I think it's the only movie I can recite completely. And I use a quote or two from it almost daily. Despite being fun, it has a ton of lessons built in that I think were as relevant when I was younger as they are now. Most importantly of all, you just gotta do what Ra- I mean what YOU want to do, man. L-I-V-I-N!

2) A Midsummer Night's Rave
Just a good time; I love watching this. It makes me feel euphoric, kind of nostalgic for the few raves I got a chance to go to. I think it was the first time I saw a girl with a cat-ears hoodie. I wish Elena got together with Xander, since I identified somewhat with him and crushed hard on her. But hey it's loosely based on Shakespeare, so I guess they had a direction to follow. I dunno, I never knew anything about Shakespeare.

3) Mortal Kombat
I'm a huge MK fan. The main storyline of the series is just freakin' awesome.

This movie just makes me mark out completely. I love the second one too. I don't care what anyone says. Stop looking at me like that.

4) Clerks
Clerks is my JAM. It has influenced my writing style so heavily that sometimes I get mad at it and set up a cage and have a cage match with the DVD. For some reason I don't feel satisfied when I win. BUT YEAH it's definitely influenced my own writing in that it really turned me on to dialog. Hell, I write a web series that is purely dialog, and sometimes I get reminded of Clerks. Anyway, I like most of Smith's stuff; it doesn't take itself too seriously, like a lot of Hollywood stuff does, and it feels creative. Red State was pretty sweet brah. CLERKS 3 2014!!!

5) The Man from Earth
As previously mentioned, I love me some good dialog. This is a thinking man's film, as it mostly involves people sitting around talking. It gets pretty deep and if you're open-minded, it takes you on a wonderful journey.

6) Friday the 13th; pick one
Just flat out fun. Good for blowing off steam, if you don't want to think too much.

7)The Silence of the Lambs
I once had an argument with a friend who insisted that evil people are not smart. I was like well one, that's kind of a generalization, you might as well say something racist in my opinion, BUT WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT

Anyways, Hannibal, bro! Gotta love a smart and psychotic serial killer.

8) The Usual Suspects
That ending was so epic I almost cried. But I'm a MAN'S MAN AND I EAT MY MEAT RAW wait, what? No, but yes I love a good mystery and this one's fun and ties up nicely.

9) Reservoir dogs
The ending made me a bit sad, but bonus points for originality. I love the way the story unfolds almost as much as I love the plot itself.

10) The Godfather
I love the mafia. The Sopranos has to be one of my favorite series. Anyway, The Godfather is just EPIC.
 
2000 In Review*
*Many people have wondered over the years why I look down up American films and praise foreign films. The simple answer to this is that most foreign films are just flat-out better. This wasn't the case from the 70s to the 90s, and I don't think anyone can deny my love of American film in the years 1997, 1998, and 1999. However, I now clearly see a watershed in my relationship with American films. American films started going to the toilet in 2000 and they've gone farther down the pipes every year since. As you will see, only two Oscar-winning films find it on to my list for this year, and one of them is not American.​

Linked: Top 100 Grossing Films**
**Don't count re-releases.

Linked: Films Receiving BAFTA Nominations***
***Don't count Boys Don't Cry

Linked: Films Receiving Academy Award Nominations

Linked: National Board of Review Nominations

Films Shown At the 2000 Cannes Film Festival

Roger Ebert's Ten Best Films of 2000
1. Almost Famous
2. Wonder Boys
3. You Can Count On Me
4. Traffic
5. George Washington
6. The Cell
7. High Fidelity
8. Pollock
9. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
10. Requiem For A Dream

Here's My Top 10 List for 2000:

1) Castaway: I remember seeing this one in the theater and being completely floored by its power. Robert Zemeckis is easily the most underrated blockbuster filmmaker of all time. Yeah, I know he won an Academy Award for Best Director, but there's at least ten pretentious assholes on the Internet per day who go on a worked-up rant about how he shouldn't have beaten Quentin Tarantino for Pulp Fiction. Zemeckis has far more talent than both Steve Spielberg and George Lucas and is only rivaled by James Cameron. This film should have been nominated for way more Oscars and should have sweeped the ceremony; Gladiator and Traffic are two pieces of pure shit.

2) In The Mood For Love: Wong-kar Wai is the man. If you haven't seen any of his films, don't start here, start with Happy Together or Chungking Express. This film can only really be appreciated once you have of the man's signatures and aesthetic.

3) Almost Famous: One of my all-time favorite films. However, this is due to its sentimentality rather than its execution...this is enough to merit the third spot on my list.

4) Two Family House: Guys, if you're tired of films about unfulfilled, married women who go on to find love in an extramarital affair, this film is for you. This one's about an Italian-American dreamer and entrepreneur with a nagging wife who finds his soulmate in an impoverished Irish lass with a half-black baby who's squatting in a shit heap of a house that he has just bought. I would love to discuss this one with someone who has seen it, especially the bittersweet ending.

5) Croupier: Great British thriller that convinced me Clive Owen was destined to become a big star. What the fuck happened to his career?

6) The Cell: Reallllllly shitty acting and screenplay, but I'll be damned if Tarsem Singh isn't a great visualist. This guy shouldn't have taken such a long hiatus from the director's chair. The Fall was great but it looks like he took the route of being a hack with such stinkers as Immortals and Mirror Mirror. Yeah, I know the upcoming Selfless sounds like Tarsem Singh passion project, but having Ryan Reynolds as your lead signals one of two things: either your producer is pulling all the strings or you're a fucking idiot for casting box-office kryptonite who should only be in bro comedies and romcoms.

7) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: A film good enough to make it onto my list. I don't have much else to say about it since I wasn't particularly fond of it...yeah, that's all I got.

8-10) No other film merits mention here. Have fun making your list.
 
I want to say that since my 1999 list, I've seen Being John Malkovich and Eyes Wide Shut.

I actually didn't like Being John Malkovich. It wasn't anything like I expected... and I don't know, it just never clicked with me.

Eyes Wide Shut, on the other hand, might be my #1 movie for 1999 now. I'd have to see it again, but man.... I fucking loved it. So incredibly intense, fascinating, sexy, and filled with great mystery and debatable topics. Awesome, awesome movie.

As far as the year 2000...

1) Battle Royale - I can watch this over, and over, and over again. Such a fun/cool movie and in my opinion, it set the standard for Japanese cinema for the 00's, which ended up giving us some of the greatest, most unique films in history. Battle Royale is at the very top of that list for me.

2) Requiem for a Dream - Arguably the greatest movie ever made that deals with drug addiction (Candy starring Heath Ledger is the only film that competes for me). The acting, direction, and unique presentation all made this one of the creepiest, saddest, and most surreal experiences you could ever have sitting through a film. Also, the score for this movie might be my favorite score of all time.

3) Almost Famous - The Tiny Dancer scene alone puts this in the top 3, lol. But this film is great from start to finish. Just a joyful comedy with massive amounts of heart and sweetness and also of course great music. It's impossible not to love.

4) J.S.A.: Joint Security Area - Heartbreaking Korean flick that shows the conflict between North and South Korea and how it tears lives apart for the most mindless of reasons. What I also love about it is that it never takes a side; it's just a sad yet very powerful story about that region.

5) Wonder Boys - I remember watching this only because I was so in-love with Katie Holmes at the time, and I ended up really digging it. I haven't watched it in quite sometime, but I loved it in the early 00's and it's hard to believe that on a reviewing of it that I wouldn't feel the same way about it.

6) Remember the Titans - The only movie on the list I actually saw in the theater. I was a Freshman in high school and went with a bunch of new friends and had a blast. Just a fun movie. Yeah, it's a conventional sports flick, but who cares? Fun is fun, and Remember the Titans was a blast to sit through.

7) American Psycho - Christian Bale's performance is what makes this film so great. The film is beautifully shot as well, but it's the performance from Bale that makes it what it is. Without him, it's mediocre at best, but with him it's easily one of the best movies of the year.

8) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - Great martial arts film that really changed Chinese cinema forever. I don't think it's as good as its successors, but regardless it still holds up pretty well and has to be respected for its originality and influence on future films.

9) The Patriot - Great "feel good" about America's history movie. There aren't very many of those, but this is one of them despite I'm sure taking tons of liberties. This is also the film that made me a Heath Ledger fan, so it holds a special place in my heart for that alone considering how his career ended up.

10) Gladiator - A bit overrated, but still fun and paved the way for more epic historical dramas which became really out of style by the 90's. So Gladiator deserves a lot of credit for bringing popularity back to that kind of genre for film.

Lastly, I want to say that I dig Castaway. I think Tom Hanks was awesome in it, and he easily gave the best performance for the year 2000. The fact that we can be so fascinated by one man hanging around on a deserted island really speaks of his brilliance. However, the ending to this film is one of the worst I've ever seen to any good movie ever and I'll always hold distaste for Castaway because of it, so that's why it doesn't make my top 10.
 
1. Requiem For A Dream- A default choice for me, because I want to put my #2 pick in the top spot, but something about that film bothers me. Anyway, Requiem For A Dream is intense, bleak, and there's a deep, heartbreaking sadness about the film you can't ignore. But Requiem doesn't have the same impact it had on me when I was younger now a days. I dunno. There are times, when I watch this one, and I really don't feel anything. Weird.

2. Castaway- I agree with Jmt about the ending. It's absolutely horrendous. 90% of the time, when I watch Castaway, I cringe because the ending is just that bad. Hanks' performance is great, and he deserves all the credit in the world for being able to captivate an audience as the only living being for the vast majority of the film. But the ending is pure shit.

3. High Fidelity- John Cusack delivers his best performance in High Fidelity. One of my favorite romantic comedies, that doesn't settle for the usual Hollywood mold of a predictable and cliched "Happily ever after" ending. Sad Cusack has been so erratic with the quality of his films lately. I still believe 2012 is one the most preposterous and ridiculously stupid disaster films ever made.

4. Memento- My first Nolan film. It was because a friend let me borrow it, and he said it was something I had to see. A trippy psychological thriller with a lot of surprising twists and turns. Plus, Memento doesn't take itself too seriously, and it's not an overly pretentious film (unlike Inception).

5.American Psycho- I love this movie. Bale's performance is just great, and I can't imagine a better film without him. Patrick's breakdown/confession towards the very end is an amazing scene to watch, because for a few brief moments, Bale is able to convince you to feel sympathy for this bloodthirsty maniac.

6. The Patriot- I've always felt The Patriot relies on melodrama too much, but it's a good film in my eyes. And Mel Gibson's powerful performance saves this one from ordinary status.

7. The Cell- I think if someone else besides Jennifer Lopez was in the starring role, The Cell could've been a MUCH better film. Lopez isn't 100% terrible, IMO, but she strays the line between mediocre and unconvincing too much throughout the movie. The Cell is visually stunning and the premise is unique. But for a film that's loaded with so many grandiose set pieces, and for a film that features a villain, who's supposed to be so complex and diabolical, you expect a lot more from The Cell. I really enjoy this film, but it's a little bit too pedestrian at times.

8. Remember The Titans- Still one of my favorite sports flicks ever. Good cast from top to bottom, and it's a whole lot of fun from beginning to end. Plus, I've always appreciated the approach to Will Patton's character. At first you would think Patton's character is going to be the typical racist redneck from the South. Instead, Patton's character is a man, who won't be bullied or pushed around by Denzel, because he's motivated by being the best, and nothing more.

9. Gladiator- Highly overrated, but Gladiator still features two great performances from Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix.

10. Meet The Parents- Unfortunately, the franchise was ruined by two awful, AWFUL sequels (between Meet The Fockers and Little Fockers, I can never decide which film is worse, because they're both so terrible), but Parents is still a superb comedy in my eyes. With Stiller's Greg trying to be the nice suck-up/kiss ass, De Niro's Jack Byrnes was the perfect foil for that character. The chemistry between De Niro and Stiller is excellent, and although parents features a story we've seen a thousand times before (the girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/husband dreading the visit to meet their spouse's parents) Parents is elevated by De Niro's presence and consistent laughs.

I don't care how many Academy Awards Traffic won. It was an average, boring, and overrated drug-thriller. And this is coming from someone, who actually enjoys most of Steven Soderbergh's films.
 
My List: 2000

1. O Brother, Where Art Thou?: Positively my favorite film featuring George Clooney. It was a nice change of pace for a reinvisioning of the classic "Odyssey", and has arguably the best usage of folk songs "Man of Constant Sorrow" and "O'Death".

2. Battle Royale: So much fun. It really made you feel for each and every death with as little character development used. That's virtually impossible in American films. Bloody, gritty, and like I said; so much fun.

3. Remember The Titans: My favorite Denzel Washington flick. Arguably the best sports movie that tackled real world issues like racism and once again used a well-known song to its fullest with "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". Great movie they play in schools repeatedly.

4. Scary Movie: Yeah, this is my list and here we go. Scary Movie was fresh when it began- just rip on horror movies. And it was hilarious. It even had one hell of a twist ending that one would never expect from a comedy. It too was fun at the time.

5. American Psycho: Christian Bale going nuts. Him running around naked with a chainsaw is one of the most memorable horror scenes of all time. And that chainsaw kill? Right up there with Leatherface.

6. Ginger Snaps: I'm a lover of Horror. Just felt like stating the obvious with the few horror flicks in this list. With that said, Ginger Snaps is one of the greatest werewolf movies of all time.

7. Requiem for a Dream: Man, this movie was dark. And has one of the most overused pieces of music ever used on Youtube...but that is because of how epic the main theme is. You really dive into the lives of these three characters and are just submerged in a drug-fueled nightmare of a movie.

8. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Deserves to be up higher on this list, but I only enjoyed it. Wasn't a complete favorite of mine. But it delivered beautifully while showing amazing martial arts ever constructed on wire.

9. Pay It Forward: Had one of the most beautiful messages ever recorded on camera. Deeply thought provoking and a tear jerker if ever there was one.

10. The Legend Of Bagger Vance: Many probably thought this one was a bit boring, and I can see why. But I am a huge fan of Jack Lemmon and this was his last role. Will Smith does a terrific job in a golf movie. That alone should be something worth noting. And Matt freaking Damon.
 
2001 In Review​

Linked: Top 100 Grossing Films*
*Don't count re-releases.

Linked:Films Receiving BAFTA Nominations


Linked: Films Receiving Academy Award Nominations**
*Don't count Sexy Beast.

Linked: National Board of Review Nominations

Films Shown At the 2001 Cannes Film Festival

Roger Ebert's Ten Best Films of 2001
1. Monster's Ball
2. Black Hawk Down
3. In The Bedroom
4. Ghost World
5. Mulholland Drive
6. Waking Life
7. Innocence
8. Wit
9. A Beautiful Mind
10. Gosford Park

Here's My Top 10 List for 2001:

1, Tie) Artificial Intelligence: In my opinion, the only truly great film Steven Spielberg has ever made. It is almost impossible to pull off a film that is so touching and effectively dark in equal amounts. Never say never, but I don't think any other film in my lifetime will be able to duplicate AI's perfect mixture of hope and despair without feeling forced or like it's pandering. Oh, and Teddy's the greatest non-human film character of all time, PERIOD. Yeah, you heard me: fuck Yoda, Chewbacca, Andy Serkis's voice work as Gollum, and that little dog from The Artist.

1, Tie) Mulholland Drive: I remember seeing this film and telling myself, "Wow, that just blew me away in possible sense of the phrase...what the fuck just happened?" I don't think anyone will ever be able to solve the mystery at the center of Lynch's masterpiece, and, truth be told, I subscribe to the theory that Mulholland Drive is just a patchwork of scenes from a pilot Lynch shot for ABC and some new material that was filmed when the pilot wasn't picked up. Whatever the case may be, Mulholland Drive is a good film because it mesmerizes all of its viewers; it's a great film because it continues to mesmerize even after a significant of repeat viewings.

1. Tie) La Pianiste/The Piano Teacher: The film that cemented Haneke's status as an auteur and not just purveyor of shock cinema. Looking forward in his career, Cache establishes Haneke as a great filmmaker, The White Ribbon establishes Haneke as the greatest living filmmaker, and Amour places Haneke in the pantheon of cinema's greatest filmmakers of all time.

4) Freddy Got Fingered: The funniest film ever made. I remember jmt and cookie both laughing at me when they found out about my love for Tom Green's directorial debut (and the film that ruined his career), but things are different now, homies. This film is being recognized now as one of the best comedies of all time, and rightfully so.

5) Memento: This film technically came out in 2000, but it didn't hit American shores until the around springtime the following year. Anyway, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention this film somewhere since it's the film that launched the career of whom many think is the best director currently working in Hollywood. Christopher Nolan has so far made three great films: this one, Batman Begins, and The Prestige. I am interested to see what he can come up with in the future.

6) Spirited Away: I hate Japanese aninmation/anime, but Spirited Away is one of the few exceptions.

7) Vanilla Sky: A rare case where the remake is much better than the original. This is one of my all-time personal favorites, but this is mainly due to a brilliant last 15-25 minutes and an awesome soundtrack. I'm trying to be objective here, so...Vanilla Sky probably shouldn't be in my top 10 list but I've at least put ahead of it several films that are undoubtedly better.

8) Bully: Larry Clark's best film. This should probably rank much higher but I'm the inspiration significantly wanes when I realize how great a year was in terms of film. 2001 definitely rebounded from the abysmal 2000.

9) Monsoon Wedding: Another personal favorite due to its sentimentality. If you haven't seen this one, it's an ensemble piece about the days leading up to an Indian wedding. If you have a girlfriend that's given you some ass after agreeing to watch a film written by Richard Curtis (e.g. Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, Love, Actually, and a few others), you'll definitely get similar results with this one (so long as she doesn't hate Indians).

10) Ichi The Killer: My man Takashi Miike produces a film that had me gaggin, wincing, and laughing in equal measure. Man, this is one fucked-up film.

Your turns!
 
1) Mulholland Drive - Tdigs nailed it, although for me it's never been much of a mystery outside of the little ghoulish horror aspects that surround the film, which actually can be explained when you realize that as Tdigs pointed out, it was originally a pilot for television and like Lynch's Twin Peaks, the supernatural/horror elements would have been eventually been exposed as the show went on. Lynch only left the stuff in I think because it was so cool and truly horrifying. But as far as the the brilliant Naomi Watts/Laura Harring storyline, the explanation for me has always been that we were seeing Watts' *********ory thoughts regarding her "relationship" with Harring, I won't go more into it since this isn't what this is about, but obviously my love and admiration for this film goes very deep and I could talk about it all day.

2) Suicide Club - Sion Sono's debut and the closest thing there is to another David Lynch, except a Japanese version. This brilliant movie has one of the most surreal and shocking opening scenes of all time, and the mystery and curiosity only goes up a step further with each new scene. It's an incredible movie that like Mulholland Drive stays with you due to it's unbelievably thought-provoking mysteries, eerie subject matter, and unique presentation.

3) Frailty - The twist at the end of this movie is what makes it so great. Afterward, you immediately want to see it again so you can view it from the point of view of knowing what's really going on.

4) Read My Lips - One of my all time favorite French films starring my all time favorite French actor, the great Vincent Cassel. This film is about a thug who uses a deaf woman to read lips so he can rob other thugs. The premise alone tells you this movie is something different and special, but there's much more to it than that and in the end, while it can be a riveting thriller, it's ultimately a sweet and very beautiful love story.

5) Blow - Scarface gets all the love when it comes to the cocaine industry being depicted in film, but Blow is every bit as good and even more realistic. Highly underrated movie.

6) 61* - Brilliantly acted by Barry Pepper and Thomas Jane, this baseball film is undoubtedly one of the best sports films of all time. Yeah, there's extreme bias and not completely accurate, but the story told here is a very entertaining one and Pepper and Jane simply do a wonderful job in making these two legends Roger Marris and Mickey Mantle very sympathetic characters who you can't help but to root for.

7) Donnie Darko - The Director's Cut, of course. I thought the original was a piece of shit when I first saw it as a teenager (outside of the soundtrack, which was amazing), but one random night I decided to check out the Director's Cut on Starz or IFC and ended up loving it. The Director's Cut made things much more clear for me and when you understand the film, it's a very enjoyable and compelling experience to sit through.

8) Training Day - Very fun good cop/bad cop movie with awesome performances from Denzel Washington and Ethane Hawke. Nothing more needs to be said.

9) Manic - Great little indy flick starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a troubled young man who gets sent to a psychiatric ward after nearly beating a kid to death during a baseball game. He's surrounded by other unique, complex individuals in a movie I feel is the most realistic to ever approach the subject of teenage mental disorders.

10) Ghost World - My favorite Steve Buscemi performance outside of Reservoir Dogs. He stars as a lonely middle aged vinyl collector who gets cruelly pranked by two teenage girls, one of which who ends up feeling sorry for him and starts to hang around the guy to make up for it. It's just a sweet, touching little movie with hilarious moments scattered throughout.
 
1. Mulholland Drive- I couldn't stand this film the first time I saw it years ago. A lot of that had to with me being younger and enjoying loud Hollywood action blockbusters and stupid comedies more. It wasn't until a handful of years later that I decided to give it another try, and I fell in love with Mulholland Drive. A strange, bizarre, and twisted film that's guaranteed to stick in your mind after you're done with it, and Naomi Watts is just great.

2. A.I. Artificial Intelligence- Probably my second favorite Spielberg film ever. What I enjoy most about A.I. is Spielberg giving the audience an unexpected and surprisingly complex look and understanding at childhood. An ambitious effort from Spielberg, and a great sci-fi film.

3. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring- I still feel Fellowship is the best of the trilogy, and it's hard to forget about a film that's loaded with so many iconic and memorable moments. Frodo stepping forward to take the ring, Gandlaf's stand against the Balrog, Boromir's death, and Gandalf explaining the origins of the ring in the early stages of the film. Fantastic cast, and I can still remember how I couldn't wait to see the Two Towers after this.

4. Donnie Darko- Jake Gyllenhaal delivers his best performance in Donnie Darko. One of the most intriguing and fascinating time travel films you'll ever see, and the constant twists keep you guessing until the very end. A shame they had to release that shitty straight-to-video sequel S. Darko. Such utter trash.

5. Blow- Horribly underrated in my eyes as a great crime drama, with two superb performances from Johnny Depp and Penélope Cruz. A lot of critics complain about Depp, because George Jung was such a sucker, and an unbearable main character. Depp's just portraying the man. It's not his fault Geroge Jung was a gullible dumb ass.

6. Black Hawk Down- Definitely a top three pick for Ridley Scott's more current films. The runtime wears on me a bit (I think it's close to three hours or something like that), but Black Hawk Down is still a visceral, violent, and gritty depiction of a life-threatening rescue mission.

7. Training Day- Denzel reminds us why he is one of the greats here. Not only did he journey into unfamiliar territory as a bad guy, but Denzel nailed the Alonzo character to deliver one of the most memorable performances in his career.

8. The Majestic- Jim Carrey is just outstanding in the leading role. It's an earnest and nostalgic drama romance film with a genuine old school feel to it. Too bad Carrey destroyed his chances of people ever buying into him as a serious actor with that steaming pile of shit The Number 23.

9. Vanilla Sky- The love/hate relationship for Vanilla Sky is unreal. People, who love Vanilla Sky really love Vanilla Sky. But the people, who hate it really hate it. One of the main complaints is Crusie's David, because the character is too narcissistic and full of himself. But Vanilla Sky will always have a place on my list of favorites as an exhilarating and thought-provoking physiological thriller.

10. Bully- Kind of a bittersweet film for me, because after watching Bully, you would've thought Nick Stahl was destined for a great career. But he hit some rough bumps in the road along the way (i.e. Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines). Still, Stahl is just superb in the leading role, as this despicable low life/bully, who can bring legit feelings of anger out of you. But when the graphic and savage beating at the end occurs, it's hard to not feel sympathy for Bobby (Stahl). Bottom line, Bully is a brutal and dark drama that's hard to forget about after you're done with it.
 
2002 In Review​

Linked: Top 100 Grossing Films*
*Don't count re-releases.

Linked:Films Receiving BAFTA Nominations


Linked: Films Receiving Academy Award Nominations**
*Don't count Spirited Away.

Linked: National Board of Review Nominations

Films Shown At the 2001 Cannes Film Festival

Roger Ebert's Ten Best Films of 2001
1. Minority Report
2. City of God
3. Adaptation
4. Far From Heaven
5. 13 Conversations About One Thing
6. Y Tu Mama Tambien
7. Invincible
8. Spirited Away
9. All Or Nothing
10. The Quiet American

Here's My Top 10 List for 2001:

1, Tie) City of God: If you have not seen this film yet, you are truly missing out on one of the greatest and most important films ever made. One of the rare cases where AMPAS knew they fucked up so they gave City of God belated Oscar love the next year. If you like movies but hate subtitles (i.e. "reading" during watching a movie), get over that shit right now. This film is about child gangs in Rio de Janeiro's favelas, or ghettos that make the south side of Chicago look like a gated community in an ultra-rich exurb. Get it now, thank me later.

1, Tie) Irreversible: As one amazon reviewer once put it, a simply soul-shattering cinematic experience. If you love transgressive cinema with experimental elements, then this film is for you. This film takes reverse chronology much more seriously than Memento and its visceral impact on the viewer is unequaled. That being said, if you find simulated rape and male on female assault unconscionable, DO NOT WATCH THIS FILM.

1, Tie) Russian Ark: A walk through Russia's premier museum, The Hermitage, as 300 years of Russian history literally comes alive. Yeah, I know that sounds fucking boring to most of you, but what makes Russian Ark so great is the fact that its 96-minute runtime is composed of nothing more than a single, continuous shot. If you have a love for film, then don't miss this one; it's one of cinema's greatest technical achievements.

3, Tie) The Gangs of New York: AMPAS really fucked up here by not giving Scorsese the Oscar this year. They also fucked up by not giving Daniel Day-Lewis the Oscar. What were the results? They give the Best Actor Award to someone who not only didn't deserve it, but who hasn't amounted to shit since then (they also give Daniel Day-Lewis an award for essentially the same performance five years later). Additionally, they give the Best Director Award to an absconding rapist whose directorial acumen was no more apparent that year than Scorsese's. This latter action perpetuates injustice years later when AMPAS finally awards Scorsese for a remake that, while decent, was given so much consideration only due to the fact that he was overdue for an Oscar. Anyway, this film is great and it's unfortunate that my passion over the politics of 2002's Oscars overshadow this fact.

3, Tie) Talk To Her: A light tragicomedy about two Spanish men who meet in a hospital, one a caretaker (possibly a nurse, I don't remember) and one the lover of a comatose female bullfighter. This is probably Pedro Almodovar's greatest film. Unfortunately, everything he has subsequently made has been decent at best, but people continue to heap praise on him because they want to seem like they're cultured (go watch a Michael Haneke film, assholes).

3. Tie) Far From Heaven: I have no clue why people don't talk about this film more. I don't know who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor Oscars this year, but both Dennis Quaid and Dennis Haysbert should have been nominated. Also, Julianne Moore should have won over Nicole Kidman. Moore evoked and contributed to the 1950s spirit of this film. What the fuck did Nicole Kidman do in The Hours besides wear a nasty prosthetic nose and act like a nagging bitch? I can't imagine someone as depressed and suicidal as Virginia Woolfe to have been anything like Kidman portrayed her.

3, Tie) The Rules of Attraction: The best Bret Easton Ellis adaptation made so far. I've never understood the love people have for American Psycho. It's comical at times, and Christian Bale is pretty good, but it totally misses the darker, and most important, elements of the novel. Because of American Psycho's film adaptation, people have now reinterpreted it as some sort of satire. It is satirical in some portions, but how can anyone with a knowledge of Ellis's whole body of work not take its descriptions of violence and sex seriously? Get the dumb-ass thoughts that American Psycho put in your mind and watch The Rules of Attraction. It will make you correctly reevaluate the work of one of the most significant and original writers of our lifetime. Oh, and jmt, I wanted to bring up one thing to you here. I know you take BEE's tweets as gospel (as evidenced by you mentioning what he had to say about Michael Haneke), but, if he influences your choice of what to read, there is one author which he is dead wrong about: David Foster Wallace. There are many theories as to why BEE hates the late Wallace, but Wallace is nonetheless an author whose greatness will transcend time. While Ellis's influence on other writers is evident through their prose, this is not the case with Wallace because his style is inimitable. Wallace was, is, and always will be a greater writer than BEE, many times over. I know this, everyone else who has read both authors knows this, and, in his heart of hearts, BEE knows this as well.

8) Better Luck Tomorrow: Great little film by Justin Lin about overachieving Asian-American high schoolers whose extracurricular activities include warming benches on the basketball team, academic decathlons, and various criminal activities. Man, Justin Lin could have been something great, but now his most significant contributions to film have been four films in The Fast and the Furious franchise. I can't blame him, though...he probably has a lot of fucking money now. By the way, James Wan is headed in the same direction by taking over for Justin Lin in the aforementioned franchise. I'm a little bit more dismissive of him though because of how much he looks down upon the horror genre that made him who he is today (Death Sentence was pure shit, homey).

9) The Collingswood Story: Really, really, REALLY creepy found-footage horror film that takes place through web cams. Man, this one still gives me chills when I think about it from time to time.

10) Signs: This would have been ranked much higher had M. Night Shyamalan not become the laughingstock of Hollywood. Man, what a fucking tragedy. This is his best film, by the way, and the last good movie he made. I'm being unfair, but could you really be fair after having to sit through some of the shit he's put out over the years?

Your turns!
 
1-Tie- City Of God- A shocking, compelling, and powerful drama you'll never forget. I think I saw Tdigle, Jmt, or someone else mention City Of God in a thread, when the Movies & TV forum was still around, so I gave it watch, and loved every second it. So much that I went out and bought the film the very next day.

1-Tie- Gangs Of New York- A travesty Gangs Of New York was cheated out of a few deserved Oscar wins in favor of that overrated and over hyped piece of shit Chicago. I VIVIDLY remember watching the Academy Awards live that night, and letting out some "What.....the fuck?" reactions. Daniel Day Lewis and Scorsese should've won, and the pity prize for Scorsese's work on The Departed was too bittersweet for my taste.

3. Adaptation- Another amazing piece of work from Charlie Kaufman and one of his screenplays. Adaptation works as a satire on the Hollywood system, and a thought-provoking comedy with the right amount of sentimentality. Plus, the film is elevated by four high quality performances from Nicolas Cage, Chris Cooper, Meryl Streep, and Brian Cox.

4. Far From Heaven- I accidentally stumbled across this one a few years ago, while randomly flipping through the channels and landing on Starz one day. Far From Heaven really blew me away. A bold drama, and an Oscar worthy candidate by far. Probably my favorite Julianne Moore film to date.

5. Insomnia- Bonus points for a film that'll remind you Al Pacino can still be a great actor (when he's not choosing shitty films. Fuck, I still can't believe he took that part in Jack & Jill. Ugh). Outsadnting work from Robin Williams and Hillary Swank also.

6. Minority Report- And intense, sleek, and kinetic sci-fi thriller with a unique premise. Minority Report is one of those sci-fi flicks that's guaranteed to leave a lasting impression on you after you're done with it.

7. Catch Me If You Can- A stylish crime comedy/drama with a few tender moments, but Catch Me If You Can doesn't receive so much praise without DiCaprio and Hanks. In this film, you really see Leo starting to come into his own as a better actor, while breaking away from/and or growing out of the teen heartthrob mold.

8. Signs- Joaquin Phoenix and the kids reactions sold the moment, but I still remember this scene for M. Night Shyamalan delivering one the most creepy and chilling moments I've ever seen.

[YOUTUBE]4RGtC2S22Z0[/YOUTUBE]

A shame M. Night Shyamalan drove a nail into the coffin of his own promising career with Lady In The Water, The Village, The Happening (one of the few times, where I genuinely felt like someone stole ten dollars from me), The Last Airbender, and more recently After Earth.

9. 8 Mile- First of all, Lose Yourself is still one of the best original songs for any genre of film. And the scene where Eminem tears Papa Doc to shreds on the mic during the final battle ranks high up on my list of memorable movie moments. The speechless look of shock and embarrassment on Anthony Mackie's face is priceless, because he had no words for a comeback.

Really wish Em' would've done more films after this, because unlike 50 Cent in that piece of trash Get Rich Or Die Tryin', Em' actually proved himself as an actor with some promise. Although, I guess you could say he would've ran into a too one-dimensional problem with more starring roles. And the supporting cast of Kim Basinger, Michael Shannon, and Brittany Murphy deserve a lot of credit too.

10. Road To Perdition- A bit overrated in my eyes, but Road To Perdition is still one of my favorite mob films, and you can't complain about the performances from Hanks and Newman.
 
1) The Rules of Attraction - Up there with Pulp Fiction as the movie I've seen most thus far in my lifetime. For like 2 years, almost every night when I went to bed I had this on in the background. Just the music and dialogue... it was all very soothing.

But yeah... this is the film that put me on to Bret Easton Ellis, who is now by far my favorite author. I saw this one random night on HBO and fell in love instantly with it. James Van Der Beek as Sean Bateman is easily one of my favorite portrayals in the history of film. And after seeing this movie so many times, I finally said fuck it and bought the book, loved it just as much and ended up reading all of Ellis' other work. I definitely agree with Tdigs that this is the one movie to fully capture an Bret Easton Ellis atmosphere on film. I liked American Psycho, but that doesn't even come close to comparing to this.

2) City of God - If I'm being honest with myself, this is truly the best film of the year. I just put The Rules of Attraction 1st out of pure favoritism. Nothing more I can add that hasn't already been said by Tdigs and Mitch.

3) Hero - Jet-Li's best work and probably my 2nd favorite film to come out of China. Inspired by Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, this masterpiece took that new genre of martial arts film to a whole different level. The visual effects are simply awe-inspiring, while the story is itself is spectacular.

4) The Pianist - Perhaps my favorite movie ever on the Holocaust. Adrien Brody won his well-deserved Oscar for a reason. He was mind-blowing in this flick, in what has to be one of the most powerful and heartbreaking pieces ever done not only on the Holocaust, but on isolation and war period.

5) Bang Bang You're Dead - The best movie to be made out of the slum of school shooting films that got released after Columbine. What separated this movie from the others was that you could really relate to the main character (wonderfully acted by Ben Foster) and understand his pain and why he had such bad intentions. And the film was able to give us a satisfying 'happy' ending without being sappy or corny. Very hard to do.

6) Gangs of New York - Again, nothing I can add that Tdigs and Mitch hasn't already said.

7) The Bourne Identity - A film I feel changed the action genre forever. I mean, when Arnold became governor and Stallone just fell off the fact of the Earth, what happened to action movies? From like 1998 until this was released, they were a thing of the past and Spider-Man exploded and thus the golden comic book era of film began. However, the Bourne movies showed that you could still make awesome, successful action flicks with just good 'ol fashion ass kicking, a cool character, and creative stunts. What separates the Bourne films though from the popular action flicks of the 80's is that it also tells one hell of a compelling story, which inspired the Daniel Craig Bond movies, which brought James Bond back to relevancy. The impact the Bourne movies made can not be overstated, and it all started with The Bourne Identity.

8) The Good Girl - Jennifer Aniston's best performance about an unhappy, bored, working class woman who falls for a younger co-worker, who ends up being more unhappy and troubled than she is. What makes this film so special is how real it feels. The characters feel so authentic that you can't help but believe that their reactions to situations are genuine and how it would truly go down if they existed in real life. It's hard to really capture that on film with only 90 minutes to get the know the characters, but thanks to the fantastic acting and writing, this movie accomplishes that and shows what can be so good about American indy filmmaking.

9) Minority Report - Steven Spielberg's most underrated film by my estimation. Just an entertaining, action packed, well-told story that had some of the best special effects I've seen in a film to this point. It still holds up very well to this day, which speaks a lot of its quality.

10) Punch-Drunk Love - Paul Thomas Anderson's weakest film is still a top 10 film of the respective year. That's how brilliant that guy is. This also contains Adam Sandler's best performance to this day.
 
2003 In Review*
*There are two omissions on my top ten list that some might reasonably find to be glaring: Monster and Lost in Translation. While they are, in and of themselves, films worthy of inclusion on a year-end best of list, I have certain values as a viewer that preclude me from considering them as such. One, I don't put a high value on modern biopics whose main claim to greatness is the performance of its lead actor/actress. Aileen Wuornos was an extensively-covered documentary subject. While it's possible Charlize Theron was able to delve into the warped psyche of such a tortured soul, it's also just as possible that she just let herself go and mastered Wuornos's mannerisms through lots of film study.

Two, if a film combines themes that have already been masterfully and conclusively covered by previous films, then you cannot consider it great (or original) based off of this combination. Lost in Translation was a favorite of many critics in 2003 because of how it explored the fickle nature of creativity and the loneliness and need for familiarity one feels when abroad. While I once considered Lost in Translation as one of my favorite films, things changed after I saw Fellini's 8 1/2 and Wong Kar-wai's Happy Together. 8 1/2 is not only one of the greatest films ever made, but it is THE definitive film about the nature of artistic creativity. While not nearly as significant a film as 8 1/2, Happy Together is an excellent film as well, and one that explores the "stranger in a strangeland" theme much better than any other film ever has.​

Linked: Top 100 Grossing Films**
**Don't count re-releases.

Linked:Films Receiving BAFTA Nominations

Linked: Films Receiving Academy Award Nominations***
***Don't count City of God.

Linked: National Board of Review Nominations

Films Shown At the 2003 Cannes Film Festival

Roger Ebert's Ten Best Films of 2003
1. Monster
2. Lost In Translation
3. American Splendor
4. Finding Nemo
5. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
6. Mystic River
7. Owning Mahowny
8. The Son
9. Whale Rider
10. In America

Here's my top 10 for 2002:

1, Tie) Memories of Murder: Oh my God, if I could have sex with one movie, it would be this one. Adapted from a play (with both based off of true events), Memories of Murder follows the investigation of South Korea's first serial murders (it's also worth mentioning here that these murders will probably always remain unsolved due to South Korea's statute of limitations regarding murder). This is Bong-joon Ho's second film, as well as his best so far, and features all of the signatures of a Ho film: stunning cinematography, droll humor found in the most serious of situations (this is his premier signature and also what makes him a great director; no one else could pull it off), a great Song Kang-ho performance (one of South Korea's biggest movie stars, although nothing he has done matches his work with Ho), and an examination of the differences between urban haves and rural have-nots. If you've seen the later-made Zodiac, then you'll probably find a lot of similarities between these two. However, any objective film watcher will consider Memories of Murder the better of the two, even if they're a Fincher fanboy (and even though Zodiac itself is still a great film).

1, Tie) Oldboy: The instant film classic that is unfortunately being released as a Spike Lee remake this year. I first watched Oldboy as a twenty year-old in the summer of 2005 because of its awesome premise (a wayward man is abducted and imprisoned for 15 years only to be released by his mysterious captor to discover the reasons behind his imprisonment) and the promise of excessive and stylish violence. While I initially didn't warm to Oldboy (I watched it a few days after just having seen Ichi the Killer, a film that comparatively makes the still quite violent Oldboy look like the latest Disney release), I watched it again a couple of times over the next few years and came to appreciate it much more. Oldboy is a parable about one of life's most important lessons: the only intended consequence revenge achieves is the infliction of harm upon the ones you seek to hurt; its accomplishment never brings you the satisfaction that you expect and, whether it's the precious time or invaluable relationships you lose through an obsession over its execution, revenge ultimately hurts you the most.

3) Mystic River: The events surrounding the murder of a Boston mobster's daughter reunite three men forever linked through another tragedy in their childhood. This right here, folks, is Clint Eastwood's best film and the one that began his remarkable directorial renaissance. Although this was the best film nominated at the 2003/4 Oscars, I didn't find fault with Peter Jackson getting Best Director over Eastwood; I have never considered any film in the LOTR trilogy worthy of a place on my best of lists, but together they are an incredible cinematic achievement that rests almost wholly on the shoulders of Jackson. However, Martin Scorsese's films in 2004 and 2006 were bested by Eastwood's films in those years, and Eastwood should have won Best Director both times (this all goes back to AMPAS giving an Oscar to that undeserving rapist Polanski). Since I'm in rant mode right now, I should probably also tell you that I can't stand Sean Penn. He is the most overrated and "over-accoladed" actor of the past 30/35 years and I thought Penn's performance in Mystic River was not Oscar worthy. The greatness of Mystic River rests solely on the shoulders of Eastwood, Tim Robbins, Marcia Gay Harden, and Kevin Bacon.

4) Shattered Glass: You love movies about the collapse of the house of cards upon which the main character's success rests? Then watch Shattered Glass, the film that chronicles the discovery of either complete or partial fabrication in all the articles written by Stephen Glass, a forever-disgraced journalist who was once the hottest thing in the print industry. Besides just being a flat-out great, Shattered Glass is also the film that makes me scratch my head in regards to the acting careers of Hayden Christensen and Peter Sarsgaard. Even though he sucked complete ass in the second and third episodes of Star Wars, Christensen completely redeems himself in this film as the titular Glass, a portrayal that blows away anyone who sees this film. As far as Sarsgaard goes, well, I know why his career went to toilet (seriously, all Hollywood agents need to counsel their clients on the lethal career consequences of starring in any Ryan Reynolds vehicle), but he sure as hell doesn't deserve a career where his biggest role in the past two years is a one-season series regular on The Killing.

5) The Shape of Things: Another unflinching and unapologetically mean-spirited film from Neil Labute (as a playwright, I think Neil Labute took this one to the theater before adapting it into a movie). This is the only man, besides David Chase, that can rivet you to your seat with a feature whose main characters are soulless and unrepentant pieces of shit.

6) 21 Grams: Great film by Alejandro González Iñárritu. I wasn't expecting much out of this man given how shit his much-lauded directorial debut (Amores Perros) was, but I loved 21 Grams and Babel is a masterpiece. Also, really great performances from his cast (besides Sean Penn), with Benicio Del Toro proving his performance in Traffic wasn't a one-time thing and Naomi Watts getting what should have been her second Oscar nomination.

7) Bad Santa: I like unapologetically mean-spirited films, but I also don't mind those films that start off this way but see a morally reprehensible character change for the better, so long as this change occurs for believable reasons. Any film with an asshole, male protagonist who changes for the better due to a woman he's sleeping with is automatically bad in my book because it's unrealistic and insults my intelligence. This is not to say that females can't change men for the better (they absolutely can), rather it is to say that a woman cannot change a man if sex constitutes even the smallest part of their relationship. This realization is why Bad Santa is such a great film; although Thornton's mall Santa/drunkard/ace safecracker when sober does change for the better, it is for his selfless love of a boy living a life even worse than his own.

8) A Tale of Two Sisters: Great Korean horror film remade in the US as The Uninvited.

9) Gozu: Takashi Miike doing on impression of David Lynch. I don't remember much about this one (save for the weird guy with some sort of growth, or maybe burn, covering half of his face), but I do remember it being awesome!

10) The Triplets of Belleville: Weirdest animation film ever made. This superlative excludes the consideration of most of anime, which is purposefully weird to such an extent that it always comes of as trying too hard.
 
1. Mystic River- Can't say anything Tdigle already said.

2. 28 Days Later- I think 28 Days Later had a premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2002, but it wasn't released to the public until 2003. One of the most genuinely terrifying zombie flicks I've ever seen, and there's enough graphic bloody gruesomeness to satisfy the most bloodthirsty gore fiends. The scene where Cillian Murphy, Brendan Gleeson, and the others (I don't know the other actresses by name) are stuck in that dark tunnel, while a pack of zombies are running towards them is a memorable pulse-pounding moment. Too bad 28 Weeks Later had to be your typical and underwhelming horror sequel.

3. X2- X-Men United- Along with Spider-Man 2 (2004), X2 is one of the best superhero sequels ever made, and it's a legit contender for the best superhero film ever, easily surpassing the first X-Men film in every way possible. X2 has a deeper emotional spectrum, more extravagant action sequences, and a great cliffhanger ending.

4. 21 Grams- I really hated 21 Grams the first time I watched it (the non-linear style of storytelling had a lot to do with that), but after a few more viewings it grew on me. A moving and ambitious drama with a great, great cast, and Naomi Watts is just superb.

5. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King- Sort of a reluctant pick from me, but Return Of The King was a more than satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. That counts for a lot in my book, because when you think of other trilogies or superhero/fantasy franchises, having everything fall into place for the right ending isn't an easy task to accomplish. But Jackson and the cast nailed it for Return Of The King. Of course, I think 11 Oscars is a bit much, but still a very good film regardless.

6. Bad Santa- Tdigle covered everything, and I really enjoy Bad Santa, because it's not your typical phony, cliched, and kiss ass pandering Hollywood Christmas film with a corny ending.

7. Monster- Charlize Theron's first great performance, and she proved she wasn't a one trick pony with another Oscar worthy performance in North Country. Of course, Theron hit a few rough bumps in the road. Head In The Clouds, Sleepwalking (a travesty to watch), and Aeon Flux (although I will admit, I'm probably in the group of five people, who actually like this film). But Theron made a strong comeback recently with Young Adult, her role in Prometheus, and she made SnowWhite & The Huntsman bearable (no thanks to the horrendously, dull, uncharismatic, and bland Kristen Stewart in the leading role, who almost ruined the fucking movie). In Monster, Theron showed all of us a sign of great things to come, and I hope she'll be able to keep it up, and not fall into a hole of shit again.

8. Tupac Resurrection- An engaging documentary piece that shows the more gentle, human, and likeable side of Tupac.

9. Kill Bill: Volume 1- A highly stylized, brutal, and VERY bloody revenge flick, and this film introduced us to one of the most lethal and bad ass characters (The Bride) you'll ever see in any genre of film. I know a lot of people complain about the absurdity of Uma taking out O-Ren Ishii's entire clan by herself, but it's one of my favorite Tarantino film moments ever. Fantastic performance from Uma, and Lucy Liu is pretty good too.

10. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre- I don't give it a shit about the RT rating, and what other critics say (especially mainstream critics, who rarely give favorable reviews for horror films anyway), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a damn good horror remake. One of the best. R. Lee Ermey and Jessica Biel help raise the cast above the average level, and Marcus Nispel (the director) did a wonderful job of creating a bloody and gory B-movie. A whole lot of fun, if you're willing to take yourself out of the "IT'S NOT BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL!!!!!!" mindset.
 
1) Memories of Murder - Haha... I loved Tdigs description of the film. How could I ever top that? Just take his word for it.

2) Kill Bill: Vol. 1 - Of course, Tarantino's detractors (*cough* Tdigs *cough*) say this film is Tarantino doing nothing more than ripping off obscure, better films from the past and using modern technology to hide it. Well, I couldn't disagree more. Sure, there's some homage being made to certain films, but that's as far as it goes. The story itself is original in my book, as is the dialogue and the unbelievably mind-blowing fight scenes.

3) Lost in Translation - I'm surprised me and Ebert are the only two thus far to list this. I think this is one of the sweetest and best "feel-good" movies ever made. Bill Murray gives one of his finest performances, and you couldn't help but fall in love with the young Scarlett Johannsen. It's a shame Sofia Coppola couldn't deliver anything else as special.

4) The School of Rock - I never expected to love this movie as much as I ended up doing so. Richard Linklater at this point is one of my favorite filmmakers of all time, but when I saw this almost 10 years ago, I had very little expectations. I thought it was going to be filled with cliches and over-acting from Jack Black. But man, I couldn't have been more wrong. Jack Black is simply brilliant in this movie. And the kids were unlike any other ever done in a children's movie. There were no villains, bullies, or troublemakers. All the kids were good kids who were actually interested in learning and making something of themselves. And the principal wasn't some evil bitch, but someone who we could sympathize with. Yeah, there's the typical big "hoorah" moment at the end, but never has a kid's movie gotten there with such satisfaction.

5) Oldboy - No more needs to be added to Tdigs explanation.

6) The Rundown - The story isn't very strong, but the action scenes in this film are some of the best ever done by my estimation. Plus, there's comedic gold between The Rock, Seann William Scott, and Christopher Walken. It's just the perfect popcorn movie.

7) Zero Day - I said Bang Bang You're Dead was the best movie to be made out of the slum of school shooting films that got released after Columbine. Well, this is the 2nd best. This is also one of the very few films where the "found footage" style actually worked.

8) The Last Samurai - I am a HUGE Tom Cruise fan and this might be my favorite performance from him to date. Yeah, the whole "American saves Japan" thing is a bit silly, but who cares when the story told is so heartfelt and strong? Not to mention the war scenes are simply stellar and the acting from everyone couldn't have been more on point.

9) Peter Pan - As classic as this story is, it says something that I believe this is the best adaptation of it ever put to film.

10) Bad Santa - I thought this filmed paved the way for more vulgar, in-your-face R-rated comedies. By the time this film came out, R comedies revolved around pretty much nothing but silly sexual situations and dialogue, but this film here was just hilariously cruel and unforgiving.
 
1) Mystic River: This has remained on my list of favorite films since I first watched it in high school. It's a fantastic story with several terrific performances, and it's a more complex film than most of its fellow crime dramas. Also, I now live about 5 minutes away from Mystic River, so that's cool too. Also, to throw in with tdigs' thoughts on the film: I thought Tim Robbins and Laura Linney gave the best performances in the film, hands down.

2) Lord of the Rings: Return of the King- Probably the second best movie in the trilogy, I have no issue saying that these movies hold a special place in my heart. Between seeing them in theaters with my dad every Christmas to watching it on a lazy afternoon with my roommates in college, Lord of the Rings films bring back fond memories for me. Return of the King is the most action heavy of the trilogy, and that makes it the easiest to just sit down and watch. It's a slightly less rewarding viewing experience than Fellowship, but Aragorn's, "Today is not that day," speech still gives me the tingles on occasion.

3) Oldboy: Enter freshman JGlass, an undeclared kid who is taking a film class to see if this is something he can get in to. On the second or third day of class, one of the professors (it was team taught) puts on the first 10 minutes or so of Oldboy. I see this creepy room that he's locked in, using television as an alarm clock and calendar, some creepy hallucinations, and generally emotion provoking cinema. I went home from class and watched the whole damn thing and loved every second of it. Saying Oldboy helped me decide to be a cinema major might be an overstatement, but it definitely opened my eyes to the beauty of world cinema. It was probably the first foreign film I loved watching.

4) 28 Days Later: Aside from a few classics, 28 Days Later is probably my favorite horror film, and for my money is one of the few American horror flicks worth a damn made since the 1980s. 28 Days Later managed to make zombies terrifying without going too over the top–an easy trap to fall into. The last action sequence is fantastic, especially considering the budget the film had to work with. It's the type of action sequence that makes hundred million plus budgets look silly, and I give it all the credit in the world for making a thrilling movie with a 5 million pound budget.

5) Elf: I say with no apprehension that this is my favorite Christmas movie. Will Ferrell cracks me up, Zooey Deschanel is her pretty self without being TOO Zooey Deschanelish. James Caan is one of my favorite actors, and he plays this role like a champ.

6) Kill Bill Vol. 1: I will run the risk of saying I really love Tarantino in a tdigs thread, and Kill Bill is definitely one of the best. The action is exciting, it's very colorful, and just corny enough to still be serious fun.

6) Old School: When I first saw this film I thought it was a mediocre comedy at best, but each time I see it (and I've seen it a lot since it's always on TV) I find myself liking it more and more.

7) City of God: Likely the best foreign film I've ever seen. Amazing stroytelling, amazing acting, amazing visuals, beautifully shot and edited... this is a film you watch and you realize, "Wow, this is an important film."

8) The Italian Job: The cast is awesome, it's funny and charming, there's a reference to Northeastern, and Charlize Theron was smoking hot in it.

9) School of Rock: This film really made Jack Black a bankable actor, which makes me happy because he seems like a nice guy that just wants to make fun movies, and that's exactly what he did here. It's not going to be referenced in any thesis papers about great filmmaking, but if you're looking for a fun way to kill an hour and a half, School of Rock is the perfect film for that.

10) X2: As one of the biggest X-Men fans on the forum, I have to say I've never been terribly enamored with the X-Men films, but this was the closest they came to getting it right.
 
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