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My Top 10 of 2002
1. PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE (Paul Thomas Anderson)
“Here we go.” PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE is the most beautiful, touching, funny, and heart-warming film of 2002. It sparkled with originality - situations resolved themselves in completely unexpected ways. Adam Sandler proves that he CAN act. He handled his role very well. I wish he’d stick to working with better directors. I remember walking out of the theater with a HUGE smile on my face that didn’t go away for days afterwards. PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE is like a drug, and it gave me the best high I’ve ever had.
2. 25TH HOUR (Spike Lee)
There’s a scene in 25TH HOUR that shocked me, and almost offended me. It’s a scene where Monty Brogan (Ed Norton) sees a bathroom mirror that has the words “F*** YOU” written on it. He lets fly with a torrent of profanity, insulting everyone from gays to blacks to Jesus Christ. When his verbal assault against everyone and everything has ended, he looks at his reflection in the mirror and says “F*** you Monty. You blew it.” That’s one of the film’s major themes - not blaming anyone but yourself for your mistakes. As the film follows Monty on his last day of freedom before going to prison for seven years for dealing drugs, we meet a group of supporting characters who are just as rouded, fleshed out, and well-developed as the protagonist himself. It’s so rare that we see so many characters jump off the screen like this. 25TH HOUR is a gem.
3. ADAPTATION (Spike Jonze)
If there’s one thing the Academy awards did wrong this year, it was to not give the Best Adapted Screenplay to ADAPTATION. Although not really an adaptation of Susan Orlean’s THE ORCHID THIEF, this film had, without a doubt, the most inventive, original, and best screenplay of the year. Nick Cage was perfect as twin brothers Charlie and Donald Kaufman. He was so good, in fact, that it was easy to tell the two brothers apart just from his performance alone. I also thought that the editing was fantastic. It really put me inside Charlie’s head, especially the hectic jump-cuts in the scene where he talks frantically into his tape recorder with his ideas for the screenplay he’s writing.
4. RABBIT-PROOF FENCE (Phillip Noyce)
This is a film that touched me beyond words. It tells the true story of three Australian half-caste (half Aborigine, half white)sisters in 1931. During this time period, the Australian government took these half-caste children away from their families, and brought them to schools which taught them to be servents. The three sisters run away and follow the rabbit-proof fence to find their way home. Director Phillip Noyce made a wise decision to use non-professional Aborigine girls to play the parts of the girls. They all did marvelous jobs. At the end of the film is a documentary-like shot of the two sisters who have survived to this day, accompanied by a footnote about the Australian government's continuation of this practice. I kid you not, these final images and words, coupled with the story of these three girls, overwhelmed me so much that I had a hard time walking out of the theater.
5. THE FAST RUNNER (Zacharias Kunuk)
There are shots of such indescribable beauty in this film that it’s almost impossible to look away, wich adds to the hypnotic feel of the film. At about 2 hours, 45 minutes in length, it’s a very long film, but not once did I feel it’s length, and there was not a single second where I was bored. It completely drew me into it’s story of love, evil, and vengance, and into the Inuit world, a world I knew nearly nothing about until I watched this film.
6. THE PIANIST (Roman Polanski)
Even more touching than the film itself is knowing how personal this film is to Roman Polanski, who saw his mother killed by the Nazis during World War II. The film’s hero, a Polish Jew named Wladyslaw Szpilman, is saved from being shipped to a concentration camp, only to see his family shipped away. In the scene after this, the best scene of the film, we see just how brilliant Adrien Brody’s performance is as he walks down a desolate, ravaged street of the Jewish ghetto and just cries. It’s easily the saddest scene of the year. There are long stretches of time where there’s almost no dialogue, as we see Szpilman hiding, and at one point watching an uprising against the Nazis. These, along with the scene where Szpilman plays the piano for a German officer, have an amazingly hypnotic power.
7. SPIRITED AWAY (Hayao Miyazaki)
Watching SPIRITED AWAY, there were more than a few times where my jaw literally dropped in response to the amazing animation. It’s visuals are far more stunning than any of the “regular” 2002 films I’ve seen. I think it’s comparable to FANTASIA (the greatest animated film ever IMO) in that they’re both beautiful, hypnotic, breathtaking, and far ahead of their times. There are so many unforgettable scenes, my favorites being giving the “Stink Spirit” a bath and the train ride near the end. This is a touching, funny, engrossing, and just plain awesome film. Easily one of the best animated films I’ve ever seen.
8. BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE (Michael Moore)
BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE is the only film of 2002, and one of the very few films I’ve ever seen, to actually make me cry. The tears started coming when actual security camera footage of the Columbine shootings was show. It was... hard to watch. This film caused extreme mood changes for me. I’d laugh, then cry, then be touched, then be agry, etc. Even when I didn’t agree with what Moore was saying, it still made me think long and hard about my beliefs on guns and violence. I owe Mr. Moore some kind of thanks, too. On the drive home from the theater, the film sparked one of the best conversations I’ve ever had with my father.
9. THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (Peter Jackson)
Although not as good as THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, THE TWO TOWERS is still a great, action-packed epic. Peter Jackson’s visual style is astounding. Every single shot is great, and there were more than a few times where I thought to myself, “Now that’s an awesome shot.” The visual effects in this film are unbelievable, especially the digital characters, like Gollum and the Ents. And the Battle of Helm’s Deep... it was exciting as hell and way too much to take in on one viewing.
10. 8 MILE (Curtis Hanson)
I’ll say it from the begining: I am an Eminem fan. That didn’t keep me from looking at this film with a critical eye, but even with said critical eye, 8 MILE was still a very good film. It’s been described as having a ROCKY-esque story, with boxing replaced by rap. I’ll admit, it’s an accurate description. Still, 8 MILE was done with so much energy that it comes off as being fresh. In this, a greatly energetic film, the climactic rap battles were the the most energetic scenes in the entire film, and probably in the entire year. The visuals made me feel like I was there in The Shelter, and I had to consciously stop myself from cheering.
Honerable Mentions GANGS OF NEW YORK (Martin Scorsese)
Although I thought it faltered a bit after the opening battle, it quickly picked back up and became completely engrossing. Everything about it, visually, was stunning. The sets, the costumes, and the cinematography were all outstanding. Aside from Cameron Diaz (and I didn’t have that much of a problem with her), all the performances were great, especially Daniel Day Lewis as Bill “The Butcher”, who was intense, violent, corrupt, and racist, but yet still likeable. Although there were flaws, I can’t help but sing it’s praises. Martin Scorsese did a wonderful job telling the story, and don’t we go to the movies to see a great story?
ONE HOUR PHOTO (Mark Romanek)
Sy Parrish is a lonely man. With no family or friends, he “adopts” a family for whom he has been developing photos for years as his own, making copies of each of their pictures to put on his wall at home. When this picture perfect family is revealed to him as not being so perfect, Sy snaps. During the first half of the film, we are made to care about Sy, to pity his lonliness (although he is a bit creepy). Once he snaps, Sy becomes menacing enough to make my skin crawl. Robin Williams is unnerving as Sy. Hell, the whole film is pretty damned unnerving. Although it’s not really frightening, it’s a very uncomfortable and unsettling film.
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