bryant

In no particular order, my top ten movies of the year. Turned out to be a better year for film than I'd expected in August.

The Best

Mulholland Drive

David Lynch finds a balance point between the untethered surrealism of Lost Highway and the noir dreamscapes of Twin Peaks. An incredibly beautiful film; also very foreboding.

Ghost World

Everyone says this is a perfect picture of outsider teen life, but I'm not really sure it is. It might be a perfect picture of what aging movie fans want outsider teen life to be. But movies are fantasy anyhow.

The Royal Tenenbaums

Perfect peek into a slightly skewed universe. Best use of music outside a musical. Best use of the Wilson siblings. Best use of a Baldwin brother (it's in there). I reviewed it a couple of entries ago; you can check back if you like.

Moulin Rouge

I chortle with joy. Diamonds are a girl's best friend. A movie made in fear, to paraphrase another Luhrmann flick, is not worth seeing. Moulin Rouge is all heart, except for the bits which are pure balls.

The Man Who Wasn't There

I really need to see this again before I can judge it well. The audience I saw it with took it as a bit of a comedy, which meant there was a lot of laughter, particularly in the tense portions. I walked out thinking that the Coen Bros. had drifted too far over into the whimsical, but on reflection I'm really not at all sure. Regardless, it's probably the best looking movie I've seen all year. God, that cinematography.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

I know, I know, but it really is that good.

Amelie

Utterly charming French fluff. I mean, really total fluff. Sweet, precious, fluff. Engaging fluff. The characters are just weird and flawed enough not to cloy, and Jeunet's sense of whimsy keeps the movie on track by means of electric visuals.

Ocean's Eleven

Best heist flick of a year full of heist flicks. It's a loose, relaxed movie full of star power. Julia Roberts is kept off to the side where she won't get in the way.

Series 7: The Contenders

Savage parody of reality shows and American society. The bite isn't in the faux reality show, but in how people react to the news that they've been selected to fight their fellow contestants to the death. Reality shows are merely the medium by which the director conveys the message.

Memento

Technically flashy as all hell. The acting is top-notch, but it's mostly about the gimmick, which might just mean that it's mostly about the story. Hard to separate 'em, which means it's hard to judge the movie. But I enjoyed it a lot, so it can fill out my top ten. I'm very curious to see what the director will do with his Insomnia remake.

Didn't See, But Maybe If I Had...

Black Hawk Down

Ridley Scott is back on a winning streak. Given the excellent source material, I wouldn't bet against this being very good indeed.

Gosford Park

Robert Altman is brilliant; chances are this is good.

Battle Royale

From all reports, a very intense Japanese flick. A more brutal Lord of the Flies. I really wish I'd seen this, and it's probably not releasable in the US. We don't like movies about kids killing kids.

Devil's Backbone

Guillermo del Toro gives good horror. I'm really looking forward to Blade II, and I'm really looking forward to Hellboy, and I'm going to try and see this.

Brotherhood of the Wolf

French historical martial arts juicy pulp; releases in the US soon, and I can't wait to see it. Made mad money in France.

The Others

I'm a dork for not seeing this. Unlike Sixth Sense, I intend to remain unspoiled until the DVD comes out.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

I'm a dork for not seeing this, too. I hear it's sort of like Moulin Rouge's black sheep sister or something. I suspect that I'll want to watch Moulin Rouge, Hedwig, and Velvet Goldmine in quick succession and then lounge around in a sequinned smoking jacket.

Worthy of Contemplation

Training Day

Denzel Washington gets his teeth into a bad guy role and milks it for all it's worth. Might have been top ten if the script hadn't fallen into a morass of unlikely coincidence in the last half an hour or so.

Hannibal

I didn't even consider putting this on my top ten list, but I did enjoy it a lot. Ridley Scott does such lush film, even if he can't get the most out of his actors. Julianne Moore was wonderful. The source material was flawed.

Waking Life

Mmm, trippy. This is another one where the technique overshadows the rest of the movie. I have no idea at all how to judge the acting. The philosophy is not so very deep as all that. The movie still held my interest.

Donnie Darko

OK, so my personal theory is that John Hughes decided to get into indie film and did this under an alias. It's a Hughes film in structure, from beginning to end, and the characters are Hughes to a T. But the story is something rich and strange: SF film for those jaded by explosions and special effects. I'm very glad that young filmmakers are treating SF as a meaningful genre. Misses the top ten due to gratuitous self-insertion by the producer.

Sexy Beast

Mostly for the superb acting. Come to think of it, this was a good year for actor role reversal: Ben Kingsley does the same kind of turn as Denzel Washington in Training Day. The rest of the acting is up to his quality. The heist portion of the movie, alas, was weak.

Pulp and Proud

The Fast and the Furious

Yes, I'm serious. This might have made top ten if Paul Walker hadn't been so damned terrible. Vin Diesel is an immensely strong presence, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster are good, and the script is taut and sinewy. Paul Walker is a black hole. Alas.

Josie and the Pussycats

As satirical as it gets in teen film, y'know? Kay Hanley, late of Letters to Cleo, does vocals. It's not brilliant but it was a lot of fun, which is more than I can say for most movies that came out this year.

Joyride

Surprisingly tense thriller, which owes a lot to Spielberg's Duel but isn't shy about it. John Dahl proves once again that he's the best B-movie director in the world. Paul Walker was in this, too, but Dahl apparently knew how to get decent work out of him. Steve Zahn turned in a remarkably subtle performance which held the movie together.