1. Spirited Away - Miyazaki's Spirited Away (the main
character Chihiro is based on the daughter of a friend) is one
of the most beautiful films about growing up I've had the
opportunity to see.
2. Road to Perdition - A very powerful look at honor
among thieves and honor within family. Tom Hanks pulls off a
fantastic performance, as does Jude Law (who I hope will be
nominated for a supporting actor Oscar).
3. Bowling for Columbine - Michael Moore's documentary
about fear, violence, and the media's scapegoats is a funny and
eye opening experience. Trey Parker and Matt Stone's animated
saga of why white people are so damn paranoid is a highlight of
the film.
4. One Hour Photo - This film was a great pleasure to see
because it constantly challenges you. Is Robin Williams a much
sicker and more pathetic man than we are led to believe.
5. Insomnia - Christopher Nolan's remake of Insomnia is
just as interesting as the original. Great performances all
around. A fine, little thriller.
6. Below - Why did Dimension Films screw this film
over? This is an extremely intense supernatural thriller. Maybe
they were unsure of the plot, after all it is a ghost story set
on a WW 2 sub. Still, Twohy and Aronofsky's script make it much
more than that.
7. LOTR: The Two Towers - The next chapter in The Lord of
the Rings builds from the foundation Fellowship started and
manages to throw in a few new surprises.
8. Panic Room - A simple concept. Interesting,
multi-layered characters. It never cheats on itself (characters
don't pop back from the dead like in other films of this type).
9. Shiri - Hong Kong's #1 film is an great espionage
film. Try and find it, it's worth your time.
TIE
10. Lilo and Stitch - Lilo is possibly Disney's most
un-Disney film. The film was actually ABOUT something, not just
another homogenized fairy tale.
10. Metropolis (Osamu
Tezuka's) - Metropolis was a joy to see, Tezuka's manga homage
to Fritz Lang's groundbreaking film is brought beautifully to
life by Rin Taro. This film (like Spirited Away) should be shown
to those who think anime is nothing more than Sailor Moon or
Dragonball Z.
Top 10 Losers
TIE
10. Warm Water Under a Red Bridge - This one is
nothing more than a failed comedy about a woman who must do
something 'naughty' in order to release (i.e. orgasm) the water
that is pent up inside her.
10. The Fast Runner - This
one sadly faults with an extremely long running time for the
material (which seems to consist of people cutting flesh from
bones, women crying, children with snot hanging out of their
noses, guys kicking dogs, some bits of melodrama - minus music,
and a guy running butt naked - full
frontal - through the snow).
9. The Mothman Prophecies - Yawn. The "True Events" are
an urban legend and a bridge collapse.
8. XXX - While this, on some very primitive levels is
nothing more than brain dead fun, XXX is mostly brain
dead. Come on, Vin, be the action hero that the
90's left us without.
7. Rollerball - Sadly, I think the remake is better than
the original. Of course, that really isn't saying much for the
original.
6. Super Troopers - While the trailers made this film out
to be much worse than it really is, Broken Lizard needs to learn
what comedy is before they try and do it.
TIE (Yay, just what we need! More
crappy horror films.)
5. Jason X/Halloween Resurrection - Uh, didn't
they finish the bad guy off for all time in the previous film?
5. Queen of the Damned - Worst
vampire film of all time.
5. Resident Evil - George Romero's
worst film is, by far, ten times better than this embarrassment
to the game. All the fans of this film should be ashamed of
themselves (especially those of you who say that it is a zombie
film. Shame, shame!)
5. The Ring - Fans of the Ring
remake, see the original and you'll realize what a load of
Hollywood crap the remake.
4. Slackers - If you saw the trailer to this and thought
it was going to be a good film, seek professional help,
NOW!!! Oh, and look for my cameo in the first scene. I'm on
screen right, in the third row from the back.
3. Jackass: The Movie - I do not understand why people
would pay money to see this idiot, when, I'm sure, he'd gladly
do it for free.
2. Kung Pow! Enter the Fist - Two words best describe
this film. Pure. Shit. The DVD has one saving grace, however,
the Book on Tape Version of the Film audio track is, honestly,
pretty funny.
And what could possibly be worst than the waste of celluloid
that is Kung Pow!?
1. Vulgar - This is possibly the most disturbing film I
have ever seen. And not in a good way. While this film has some
good performances, but the fact that it never decides whither it
is an extremely black comedy or an extremely dark drama works
against it, just like it's subject matter.
